The Vet's Secret Wish

Here's what's happening in Sweet Romance land. The third book in The Vet Series is in two places! The Spring Into Romance boxed set and as a single here. Get your copy of The Vet's Secret Wish today!

Across the office, Jade—my almost-fiancée's daughter—sat in a padded-wicker chair.  Her bare feet were bent at the knees and her cat, Murphy sprawled on top of them. Jade stroked his fur while speaking into his ear. Murphy mewed at Jade as if he understood what she'd said to him, and I had no doubt he did.

Ridley, the Pit Bull mix lay dozing on the tiles.

The moment my focus turned to the patient cards on the desk, Jade asked, "Doc, you busy?"

I'd never be too busy for her, so I laid down the pen and gave her my attention. "What d'you want to know?"

Jade was a powerhouse of questions and I'd learned to pay attention if I didn't want to wander onto a minefield that would blow up in my face.

"Daddy and I were talking about you and Mommy last night."

Now, I was riveted. "Yeah?"

She nodded, putting all her energy into it. "I told him about your rings and he said promises can be broken."

Here, she sighed. "I know because before now, he broke his promise to let me stay at his house a lot."

The upstanding side of my character told me to shut down this conversation now, but the part of my brain that suspected Jade's father still wanted her mother back made me ask, "So what else did he say about Toni and me?"

She stroked Murphy's forehead and made a funny face at him before frowning. "Um … he said … oh yes, a promise is a comfort to a fool."

I spun the promise ring on my finger, focusing on the pearls inset in the titanium finish. The stones were set inside one half of a heart, and Toni's ring contained the matching side. She'd given me the ring a month ago with a promise to marry me on Valentine's Day next year.

Now, I wondered if I knew what the heck I was doing to agree to that half-measure when I wanted Toni to be Mrs. Matthias Laing this minute.

So Toni wasn't as gung-ho about marriage as I was, but considering what she'd been through, and since I'd agreed to wait, I couldn't bum rush her at this point.

" … true, Doc?"

Jade's questioning tone jolted me out of my mental space. "What was that?"

"I was asking if that's true."

My blank stare gave me away, because Jade sighed and rolled her eyes. "Is it a comfort for a fool?"

"No, it's not. I've lived up to the ones I've made to you, haven't I?"

She nodded and then said. "Daddy wasn't talking about you and me."

My intense stare prodded her to continue. "He was talking about Mommy and you."

I would have asked why he was talking about Toni and me since they weren't together anymore, but that didn't serve any useful purpose so I bit my tongue. Jade's words made me uncomfortable because I suspected Dane had every intention of getting back into Toni's life.

Toni's reassurance that she had no desire for a second chance with Dane should have made me more relaxed, but it didn't, and Jade forced me to shelve my thoughts when she got up and approached the desk. She sat on the edge of one of the visitor's chairs with Murphy on her shoulder. She wrinkled her eyebrows. "So remind me what promise rings do again?"

Sucking in a lungful of air, I put a smile on my face and raised my left hand. "Next time your daddy asks, tell him your mommy gave me this ring and said she was going to marry me."

Even as the words left my mouth and though I said it in an even tone, shame crept over me. Why was I allowing Dane's snide remarks to disturb me?

He was in the past.

I was in Toni's future.

End of story.

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