Hope Flames

Chapter 8

EMMA WAS NERVOUS and excited about Adoption Day at the Hope Small Animal Hospital. But thanks to the local animal shelter, they had eighteen animals—a group of dogs and cats—available for adoption today.

They’d had the sign running for over a week on the outside marquee, and her mother had helped her by advertising it in the local paper and on the town website and social media pages. It was up on the clinic’s website, too. She could only hope people would show up. If they could get even a few of these animals adopted out today, she’d call it a win.

Jane came by early with her boyfriend, Will, along with Jane’s kids, Ryan and Tabitha, two of the cutest kids Emma had ever met. Tabitha was so excited she was bouncing on the heels of her purple tennis shoes. Ryan tried to play it cool, but his eyes widened at all the animals on display.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Emma said to Jane as the kids looked at the animals with Will.

“Are you kidding?” Jane said. “It’s all the kids—and Will—have talked about for the past week.”

“Mom. You have to come see this dog,” Ryan said, taking her hand and dragging her away.

Jane gave her a look and a grin and wandered off.

After that, the clinic started to fill up as people wandered in, some with kids, some without.

“This is looking good,” Leanne said.

“I hope so.”

When Luke came in with Boomer, Emma’s stomach twisted in a mix of delight and trepidation.

It had been a week since they’d slept together. She hadn’t exactly expected him to come by today, had figured they’d had one night of awesome sex, and she probably wasn’t going to see him again.

It had been the right thing to do. Luke was a complication she didn’t need in her life. Not right now.

Maybe not ever.

And he’d seemed willing enough to walk away at her suggestion.

But she’d missed him during the week. And she hadn’t wanted to miss him. Several times she’d thought about picking up the phone to call him, or to send him a text. Which would have been a very, very bad thing. Because seeing him now caused every nerve ending in her body to ping to life, and every memory from that night she’d spent with him rushed forth, causing her face to heat.

But she was so glad he’d shown up and had brought Boomer today. He was in uniform, too, which made all the kids excited.

And he was smiling at her, which made her stomach tumble.

Guess he wasn’t out of her system entirely just yet.

“Morning, Emma.”

“Morning. I’m so glad you came today.”

“I said I would. So here we are.”

“Are you on duty?”

“I did a late shift, covering for someone. So I thought the kids might get a kick out of the K9-cop thing.”

“I’m sure they will. Thanks so much for coming today.”

He grinned and her knees weakened. “Wouldn’t miss it. I heard there’d be donuts.”

“Funny. There are, plus coffee.”

“I could use the coffee.”

She lost sight of Luke as the shelter manager came over to talk to her. Then she got busy examining a calico that had just been adopted, which sent her heart soaring, because after that, there seemed to be one animal after another that ended up having a clinic file started because they’d been adopted.

Things were going so well.

Her mother stopped in and came to the back when she was examining a sheltie/poodle mix. And her mom had the biggest grin on her face.

“Picking up some new clients today?”

She hugged her mother. “I don’t always tell you thank-you like I should, but thank you. And not just because I’m ending up with new clients today, but animals have been adopted.”

Her mother looked around. “It seems like a successful event. You should do it twice a year.”

“That’s a good idea.” She squeezed her mom’s hand. “Stick around for a bit?”

“Of course.”

After her mother disappeared, things seemed to quiet down.

“We’ve got six new files,” Rachel said with a wide smile. “That’s so awesome.”

The one thing she loved most about Rachel and Leanne was that they didn’t just work at the clinic because it was a job. They had a love of animals as big and as fierce as Emma had.

“It is awesome.”

“There’s a black-and-white kitten I have my eye on,” Leanne said. “But I don’t know what Oscar would think about me bringing another cat home.”

Emma leaned against the desk. “He probably wouldn’t like it one bit. But he’d adjust, and he might enjoy the company during the day while you’re at work.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. Plus, she’s a female, so there’d be no fighting for territory. I’m going to give her another nuzzle and see if she needs to go home with me.”

Emma looked at Rachel.

“She’s a goner,” Rachel said. “That kitten’s going home with her today.”

Ten minutes later, Leanne caught up with Emma. “I’ve already told Patrice that the black-and-white kitten is mine. I had Rachel set up a chart for her. I’m going to call her Olivia.”

“Oscar and Olivia? So cute, Leanne.”

“I know, right? From the minute I saw her, I knew she was mine.”

Emma patted Leanne’s shoulder. “We’re doomed sometimes. Same thing happened to me with Annie. I don’t know why I bothered posting signs.”

Leanne laughed and then moved on.

“Dr. Emma. Look what we got.” It was Tabitha, Jane’s daughter, with the cutest golden retriever/lab mix puppy.

Emma crouched down and pulled the puppy into her arms. “Well, isn’t he the cutest thing.” She looked up at Jane, who stood next to Tabitha. “He’s the one?”

Will came up alongside Jane. “He’s the one.”

“His name is gonna be Archie. We all agreed,” Ryan said.

“All right, then. Let’s go do Archie’s exam and get him updated on his shots. I’ll have Rachel start a file for him.”

By the end of the day, they’d adopted out thirteen of the eighteen animals, and Patrice, the shelter manager, had received interest on the remaining five. In addition, several people stopped in and made appointments to spay or neuter their pets, since Emma’s mother had also suggested Emma advertise that anyone who stopped in that day to become a new client would receive a discount on spaying and neutering services, or twenty percent off on a first appointment.

It had been a spectacular day.

“Thank you, Emma. I can’t tell you how well this went,” Patrice said. “Just making the community aware of the importance of adopting a shelter dog instead of buying pure-bred animals will go a long way to improving community relations. I have high hopes the other five animals we had here today will be adopted.”

“I hope so, Patrice. And I hope we make this a regular function. I’d like to do it again in the fall.”

Patrice smiled. “Definitely. When I get back to the office on Monday, I’ll give you a call, and we’ll put it on the calendar.”

By the time they helped pack up Patrice’s cages and the rest of the animals, Emma was wiped out. She headed back inside to find Luke in conversation with her mother.

Uh-oh.

“Mom,” she said. “Do you know Officer McCormack?”

“I do now. I make it my business to know our fine police force. I hear you treated Boomer for a sprained leg not too long ago.”

“Yes. He’s doing fine now, though. And Luke—Officer McCormack—was nice enough to bring Boomer by today. He was a big hit with all the kids.”

Her mother crossed her arms and grinned. “Yes, he was. It was so nice of you to do that.”

“No problem,” Luke said. “Emma’s done a great community service by offering the shelter dogs for adoption. Which I heard was your idea, Mrs. Burnett.”

“Really.” Emma’s mother looked from her to Luke. “So the two of you must be having regular chat sessions, then. Or are you dating?”

Emma coughed. Luke smiled. “We went to the Double-A ball game a week or so ago. It was Bring Your Dog to the Ballpark Day.”

“Oh. That’s so interesting.”

“Well,” Emma said, leading her mom by the elbow. “We have a lot of cleanup to do here, and it’s already been a long day. I can’t thank you enough for this idea, Mom. It was brilliant.”

“Uh huh. In other words, you’d like me to leave.”

“Of course not. You can stay. There’s plenty of mopping and cleaning up to do.”

Her mother grabbed her purse and dug out her keys. “No thanks. I just think up the ideas. You execute, then clean up after.”

Emma walked her to the door, then kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”

Her mother kissed her back. “I love you, too, Emma.” She turned and waved to Rachel and Leanne. “Luke, you have Emma bring you by the house for Sunday dinner.”

Luke smiled. “I’d love to.”

“Great. Next Sunday, then. Emma, make it happen.”

Emma just stared. Luke shrugged. “Okay. Next Sunday, then.”

“Mom,” Emma said, stepping outside with her. “Luke and I are not dating.”

“Sure looked to me like there’s some chemistry between the two of you.”

“I don’t want to talk about this here.”

“Fine. I’ll call you later.”

She did not want to have this conversation with her mother now. Or ever. “We’re not dating. There’s no chemistry.”

Her mom laid her hand on her arm. “Don’t let him win by shutting yourself down forever, Emma. Luke’s a very nice man. Go out. Have some fun. Start living again.”

Her mother had emphasized him, and she knew who her mom had been referring to.

Vaughn. Her huge past mistake. She took a deep breath. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good. And I will talk to you later. Now go clean up, and then have a glass of wine and relax. You did good today. And don’t forget Sunday dinner. With Luke.”

“Bye, Mom.” Emma watched her mother leave, then went back inside. Rachel and Leanne had disappeared, no doubt to the back to start the cleanup. Only Luke was out front with Boomer.

He was leaning against the counter, still looking sharp and fresh and oh-so-sexy in his uniform. His hand was wrapped around Boomer’s leash, and her gaze tracked there. She liked his hands. They were big, strong, and masculine. Powerful hands. A man’s hands. She still remembered how they felt gliding across her skin. She suddenly flushed hot, inhaled a very deep breath, and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind.

“You’re mom is awesome,” Luke said.

“Yeah, she is. So are you. Thanks so much for being here today. I’m sure you were exhausted after working last night.”

He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I wanted to be here.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

Watching Emma in her element had been fun for Luke. He’d mostly stood by and had fun with the kids, who loved Boomer. And Boomer, as always, was great with all the kids.

It made him want to have a few of his own so Boomer would have kids to play with all the time.

But he wasn’t ready for that, and he didn’t know when—or if—he’d ever be ready.

Although watching Emma with all the kids today had been a revelation. Not only did she love animals, she also had a natural rapport with children, something his ex-wife had never had. The few times they’d been around kids, Becca had acted like children had some kind of communicable disease. She hadn’t wanted anything to do with them. He should have noticed it early on, but he’d been so lovestruck by her, he’d been blinded to many of the issues that should have been lightbulb moments for him.

“I’m sorry about that whole invitation thing to my parents’ house for dinner,” she said. “You don’t have to come.”

“It’s okay. I like your mom. And I’d love to come for dinner. Unless you don’t want me there.”

She cocked a brow. “Seriously?”

“Hey, I’m a single guy. Home-cooked meals are a treat.”

She shook her head. “You don’t know my mom. She’ll grill you. About us. I mean, I know there’s really no ‘us,’ but you know what I mean. She thinks there’s something going on between us.”

He laughed. “I understand. And I can take it.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Sunday dinner it is, then. I’ll call you with the details.”

He walked out, actually happy about the dinner. He hadn’t been lying about the home-cooked-meal thing, but he was surprised to find he wanted to be with Emma, to hang out with her family.

And it was just dinner. It didn’t mean they were a couple. He could compartmentalize Emma as a friend.

With benefits.

Or not.

Or something.

Hell if he knew what they were. And if he didn’t think about it, he didn’t have to name it, right?