Page 107 of The Holiday Gift

After Destry climbed on the bus and Caidy waved her off, she hurried back to the house and carried the dog crate out to the ranch’s Suburban, then returned for the dog, who was moving around much more comfortably these days.

“Luke, buddy, you’re not making things easy on me. If not for you, I could pretend the man doesn’t exist.”

The dog tilted his head and gazed at her with an expression that looked almost apologetic. She laughed a little and hooked up his leash before leading him carefully out to the Suburban, where she lifted him carefully into the crate.

Maybe Ridge could take him into the vet for her.

The fleeting thought was far too tempting. As much as she wanted to ask him for the favor, she knew she couldn’t. This was all part of her ongoing effort to prove to herself she wasn’t a complete coward.

For a brief instant as she slid behind the wheel, a random image flitted through her memory—cowering under that shelf in the pantry, gazing at the ribbon of light streaming in under the door and listening to the squelchy sounds of her mother’s breathing.

She pushed away the memories.

Oh, how she loathed Christmas.

She was in a lousy mood when she pulled up in front of the vet clinic, a combination of her worry over Destry missing her mother and missing herownmother, not to mention her reluctance to walk inside that building and face Ben again after all the awkwardness between them.

This was ridiculous. She frowned at herself. She was tough enough to go on roundup every year to get their cattle from the high mountain grazing allotment. She helped Ridge with branding and with breaking new horses and even with castrating steers.

Surely she was tough enough to endure a fifteen-minute checkup with the veterinarian, no matter how sexy the dratted man was.

With that resolve firmly in mind, she moved around to the back of the Suburban with Luke’s leash. Border collies were ferociously smart, though, and he clearly was even more reluctant than she to go inside the building. He fought the leash, wriggling his head this way and that and trying to scramble as far back as he could into the crate.

She imagined this building represented discomfort and fear to him. She could completely understand that, but that didn’t change the fact that he would have to suck it up and go inside anyway.

If she did, he did.

“Come on, Luke. Easy now. There’s a boy. Come on.”

“Problem?”

Her heart kicked up a beat at the familiar voice. She turned with an air of trepidation and there he was in all his gorgeousness. A flood of heat washed over her, seeping into all the cold corners.

“You’ve got a reluctant patient here.”And his reluctant person.

“A common problem in my line of work. I saw you from the window and thought it might be something like that.”

“I didn’t want to yank him out for fear of hurting something.”

He gestured to the crate. “May I?”

“Of course.”

She moved out of the way and he stepped forward, leaning down to the opening of the crate. She tried not to notice the way the morning sunshine gleamed in his dark hair or the breadth of those shoulders under his blue scrubs.

She was beginning to find it extremely unfair that the only man to rev her engine in, well, ever, was somebody who was obviously not interested in a relationship. At least with her.

“Hey there, Luke. How’s my bud?” He spoke in a low, calm voice that sent shivers down her spine. If he ever turned that voice onher,she would turn into a quivery mass of hormones.

“You want to come inside? There’s a good boy. Come on. Yeah. Nothing to worry about here.”

As she watched, Luke surrendered to the spell of that gentle voice and stood docile while Ben hooked on the leash and carefully lifted the dog down to the snowy ground.

“He’s moving well. That’s a good sign.”

Luke promptly lifted a leg against the tire of the Suburban, just in case any other creatures around wondered to whom it might belong. Ben didn’t seem fazed. No doubt that also was a natural occurrence in his line of work.

After Luke finished, Ben led them to the side door she had used so many times when she worked for Doc Harris. “Let’s just head straight to the exam room. I had a break between patients this morning and I’m all ready for you. We can take care of the paperwork afterward.”

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