Hope Flames

Chapter 2

LUKE HAD BEEN a cop long enough to know two things were certain. One, when things were at their worst, more bad shit tended to pile on, and two, never judge a book by its cover.

The first came true tonight when he’d been chasing the crackhead he’d pulled over for a speeding ticket, only to have the moron bail and run on him. He and Boomer had taken off on foot in pursuit, and Boomer had ended up wrenching his leg in a hole in someone’s front yard. Good thing he’d called in for backup—the suspect had been located hiding in someone’s shed. Asshole.

The book with the pretty cover was currently taking an X-ray of Boomer’s leg. Dr. Emma Burnett was beautiful, but not in that fashion-model, take-your-breath kind of way. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, though some of it had escaped and framed her face. Her eyes were chocolate brown, framed by thick, dark lashes, and she had those full kind of lips that a man would want to spend hours kissing. She also had a body he’d be more than eager to pat down. Nice curves in all the right places, for sure, if a guy was in the market for a woman, which he wasn’t.

He had plenty of women popping in and out of his life these days, which was just the way he liked it. In one day, out the next. The out part was the best part.

Though right now the only thing that mattered to him was his dog. Dogs were the only creatures that were truly faithful. Women? Fun to play with. Definitely not fun to spend the rest of your life with. He’d tried that once.

Epic fail.

“The X-rays took just fine,” Emma said when she returned to the room. “I just need a few minutes to review them. I’ll be right back.”

“Sure.”

She led Luke and Boomer back to the exam room.

He watched her walk out, disappointed the lab coat hid her backside. Based on the front of her, he’d wager she had a great ass, though he didn’t see someone like Emma Burnett as a one-night-stand type. Too bad.

Hell, he hadn’t seen her in town at all before today, hadn’t even realized the clinic had opened up again. Good timing.

She came through the door a few minutes later. “I have good news. Nothing’s broken.”

He finally relaxed. “That’s great.”

“Boomer does have a sprain, though. I’m going to give him an anti-inflammatory injection and suggest you keep him calm. Which means no heroic police-dog activity for at least a week.”

Luke looked down at Boomer and scratched his ears. “He’s not going to like being off duty that long.”

Emma squatted and ran her fingers through Boomer’s fur. “I’m sure he won’t, but it’s a short period of time for recovery, compared to what could happen if he hurts himself while he’s still trying to heal.”

“Understood, Doc. I’ll make sure to take good care of him.”

“I’m going to wrap his leg, which will offer him some stability and ward off swelling. You can take it off after twenty-four hours. I’m also going to give you some anti-inflammatory meds. Give those to him once a day. They’ll help ease any discomfort he might feel.”

He watched her work. She was competent, and Boomer lay there like he was at a spa, his tail thumping while Emma talked to him in that soft, sweet way that females spoke to dogs. Boomer was eating it up, especially when Emma gave him a treat.

“He’s going to want to come here every day now,” Luke said.

Emma laughed, and Luke felt the twist of that sweet laugh all the way down to his balls.

“Yeah, I’m very popular with the canine crowd.”

“I imagine you’re very popular with every male, human and canine.”

She lifted her lashes, and he saw the blush creep on her cheeks. Surely she was used to being complimented, but she looked away just as quickly and got down to business.

Interesting. He didn’t see a wedding ring, but maybe there was a boyfriend and she thought he was hitting on her. Who knew? He was the last person to understand women.

After the shot and bandaging, Emma walked him to the front desk.

“What do I owe you?” he asked.

She looked over at the computer. “You know what? I have no idea. Rachel handles all the accounting.” She turned to him. “We can send you a bill.”

He frowned. “I can drop by tomorrow and settle up.”

“All right. Thanks.”

“No, thank you. You saved me a trip farther north to the other clinic. Boomer was in pain, so I’m glad you’re open and running.”

“It was my pleasure.” She went to the desk and pulled one of her cards. “If you have any problems, or Boomer doesn’t seem to be getting better, give me a call, or bring him back in.”

“Will do. Thanks again, Emma.”

She blinked, looked at him as if there was something she wanted to say, then nodded. “You’re welcome . . . Luke.”

EMMA BALANCED THE dog carrier in one hand while nudging away Daisy’s excited attempts to push through the door leading into the house from the garage.

“Daisy. I know. I’m hungry, too. Just give me a second to turn the knob, and it’ll be dinner time.”

Her purse drooped off her shoulder, the carrier tilted sideways, and Daisy barked. The pup whimpered.

“Hang on, guys.” She turned the knob and Daisy bolted inside, her toenails tapping on the wood floor as she disappeared into the darkness of the house.

She hit the switch and the hallway was bathed in light. She laid the carrier on the dryer long enough to punch the button, dropping the garage door closed. Daisy came bounding back to lick her hand and give her a hopeful stare, and the puppy cried again.

“I know, kids. I feel exactly the same way. I could use a bath and a glass of wine, but I’m sure that’s not first on your agendas, is it?”

Emma could have left the puppy at the clinic. She’d been cleaned up, inoculated, and fed, and she would have rested for the night. But she would’ve been the only guest at the clinic, and Emma couldn’t stand the thought of Annie—which is what Emma decided to call her because she was little and orphaned—being left at the clinic all alone.

Emma headed into the kitchen, placed the carrier on the counter, and grabbed some dinner for Daisy. Now that the dog was occupied chowing down, she turned to the puppy.

She set the carrier on the kitchen floor and opened it. Annie sniffed at the carrier opening for a few minutes, then not so gracefully tumbled out. Daisy, having already gobbled her bowl of food in about two bites, scrambled over to give Annie a sniff. She licked Annie’s face, which caused the pup to fall flat on her face.

“Daisy. Gentle,” Emma admonished. “She’s just a baby.”

Though she wouldn’t be for long. Emma scooped Annie up and gave her some love. She was trembling. “Poor little thing. Who would abandon you?”

Sometimes, people just sucked. Emma knew that from experience.

She fed Annie, brought her and Daisy outside. While the dogs were out doing their thing, Emma took a few minutes to admire the stars and take a few deep breaths to relax and roll her shoulders.

It had been a good day. She hoped they were all going to be like this.

The dogs came running back, so she let them in and locked the door. Emma put the pup back into her carrier. Annie curled up onto the blanket and went right to sleep. She was totally adorable. And Emma was not going to keep her, no matter how much the cute little thing pulled at Emma’s heartstrings. She hoped someone coming into the clinic would adopt her. She made a mental note to have Rachel post Annie’s picture and a notice on the bulletin board in the waiting room tomorrow.

In the meantime, Annie’s carrier could sit next to Emma’s bed tonight.

After heating up a rather unappetizing frozen dinner, washed down with a cheap glass of chardonnay, she grabbed the bottle and glass and headed into the bathroom, poured some great-smelling lavender gel into the tub and turned on the water.

Daisy came into the bathroom, sniffed at the steam rising up from the tub, looked up at Emma, and burped.

“Love you, too, punkin,” Emma said as she undressed and climbed into the tub. She grabbed her glass of wine and sank into the water up to her neck with an audible sigh.

Now this was the way to end the day. She took a few sips, and even though it wasn’t the finest vintage, it tasted good going down, relaxing her tired, stressed body. She set the glass on the edge of the tub and closed her eyes, replaying the events of the day.

She’d had a lot of clients—more than she thought she’d have. She’d been afraid they’d go elsewhere for veterinary care, but with only one other clinic in town, it was comfortable to stay with the familiar, even if there was a new doctor running it. Though she’d been gone a lot of years, she wasn’t a stranger—she had at least grown up in Hope. Her family was known. That helped.

And then there’d been Luke McCormack, the very attractive police officer.

No. She was naked in the bathtub and thinking about a hot man in uniform. What the hell was wrong with her? She did not want to go there.

She paused, about to shut down the thoughts, and sat up in the tub, reaching for her wine to take a long swallow.

How long had it been since she’d even thought about a man, let alone been out with one? How long had it been since one had even interested her?

She thought back to the practice she’d worked at in South Carolina. She hadn’t dated anyone there. No one had even remotely sparked her interest. Even further back, there’d been school. Who had time to date while in vet school? It was like living a nightmare. Nonstop classes and tests and clinicals and no sleep. There’d definitely been no men in her life then unless they’d been study partners, and they’d been as exhausted and stressed as she’d been.

The last time she’d had a man in her life had been . . .

Ugh. That was so long ago, and he’d been her nightmare. She refused to think about him ever again.

But today . . . now . . . she’d thought about a man. A very attractive, very sexy man. Was that such a bad thing?

She might not want to have a man in her life, and she might not have one in her master plan for right now, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t allow herself to think about one. She was human, after all. And a woman.

She had the right to fantasize, dammit. A sexual reawakening was a good thing.

Her phone rang. She wrinkled her nose, pondered ignoring it, but knew better. It would just ring again. And again, until she picked up. She wiped her hand on the washcloth and grabbed the phone from the edge of the bathroom counter, already knowing who it was.

“Hi, Mom.”

“You knew it was me, didn’t you? How was your first day? I was going to drop in, but when I drove by, the parking lot was full so I didn’t want to bother you. I’m so excited for you, Emma. I knew you were going to be a huge success. Dad says hi, by the way.”

So much for relaxation. Her mother was a tornado of energy, both physically and verbally. “It went great.”

“We should have had balloons and a big grand opening.”

“It’s not a retail establishment, Mom. It’s a veterinary clinic. No balloons. When they pop, the animals will swallow them. Bad for the intestines.”

“Oh, that’s right. Still, I think you need a grand opening. It won’t hurt to draw in more customers. You need to advertise, Emma. I already told you we’ll help with that. You have to push, push, push to be successful.”

Push was her mother’s middle name.

“And I already told you that Dr. Weston had plenty of customers. Let me see who we get back first. Word of mouth is the best way to draw in clients.”

“Whatever you think is best. For now. We’ll talk more about that when you come over for dinner on Sunday. Tell me all about your day.”

Emma stared longingly at her empty wineglass while she filled her mother in on her first day. She loved her mother, but Georgia Burnett was a force to be reckoned with and rarely took no for an answer once she had an idea in her head. She was opinionated, stubborn, and one of the strongest women Emma had ever known. They’d butted heads from the time Emma was a child.

She’d thought long and hard before coming back home to set up her practice, but buying out Dr. Weston’s practice had been a deal she couldn’t pass up. Plus, she’d wanted family in her life again, needed the comfort of familiar places and faces. It was scary enough going into debt, even though her parents tried to help with the loan for the practice, which she didn’t want. She’d been dependent before, and she’d never be that way again. This time she was doing it all on her own. But she was doing it with family close by.

“Do you need anything?” her mother asked.

“No, I’m good, Mom.”

“Your dad and I are worried about you, Emma. All the money you’ve poured into the business, plus your college-loan debt. It’s too much. We can help—”

“I’m going to be fine. You know I used some of the money Grandma left me in her trust to help fund the practice. It’ll start making money right away.”

“But it’s going to take years to pay off your college loans. It’s just you by yourself and it’s a huge burden. Why do that alone when you don’t have to?”

She took a deep breath, and let it out. “Because I have to do this myself. And you know why.”

Her mother was quiet for a few seconds, which Emma knew was a rare thing.

“I understand. Of course, I do. But, Emma, we’re here for you if you need us. No questions asked.”

Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back. She’d already cried enough tears for a lifetime. Never again. “I know, Mom. That’s why I came home.”