Risking It All for the Children's Doc by Tina Beckett

Author:Tina Beckett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-05-08T18:42:31+00:00

* * *

The visitation room at the shelter was busy, surprisingly enough. And the child had not let go of his hand, except for on the drive over there. This wasn’t quite what he’d signed up for, but it wasn’t like he could just shake her off.

And he was the one who’d offered to drive them over here in the first place. But Lyric had looked stricken when she’d looked at that picture her niece had drawn. He glanced at her now as she peered through the cattery window, where felines of all shapes and sizes were tucked away in different corners or perched on a huge cat tree.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” he murmured in a low voice so that Alia couldn’t hear. “An animal is a long-term commitment.”

“I know. And I actually think it is. But if we find one, I can come back in my own car and pick him or her up.”

“Why?”

Her mouth twisted. “Well, you’ve gone from coming with me to the preschool to volunteering to take us to the animal shelter. I know you said you would, but I don’t like asking you to transport him or her, if we find one we agree on.”

We agree on.

He knew she was talking about Alia, but the words sent a dart through his midsection. Hell, he’d done this to himself, but at the time it had seemed the right thing to do. And it wasn’t like he could back out of it now.

Nor did he want to. Not really. He liked Alia’s hand in his more than he wanted to admit, which was part of what made him so uncomfortable. Maybe because he’d once been this child. Or at least had a similar story.

Alia placed her hand on the glass window, and a big scruffy tabby—a slight hitch in his step—moved closer. He seemed to size up the child through the barrier, and then in a surprising move pressed his cheek against the clear surface and rubbed against it.

“Auntie Lyrie! He likes me. Can we have this one?”

Lyric’s eyes widened before meeting his. “I don’t know, honey. I thought you wanted a kitten.”

“He is a kitten. And he loves me. He really, really does.” The grizzled cat chose that moment to repeat the gesture, and Ellis could almost swear he could hear the animal’s purr through the glass.

Lyric knelt and stared at the animal through the glass. “I’m not sure...”

The cat head-butted the glass again, sliding the side of his face over the area where Alia’s hand was again. “Please, Auntie Lyrie. He’ll cry if we leave him here.”

Subtle blackmail? Surely the child wasn’t old enough to use tools like that. But Lyric had mentioned that Alia cried when she left her at day care.

Could an animal feel abandonment, like a human?

“Well, let me ask and see what he’s like.”

She went over to the desk, leaving Ellis alone with the girl. “You like him, don’t you?” she asked.

He evaded the question as much as he could.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.