Holiday In the Hamptons (From Manhattan with Love 5)

“Plenty of owners think that. And some vets,” he added, thinking of a colleague he’d clashed with back in California.

“Is there anything at all you can do for him?”

“I can remove some of the tissue obstructing his airways and widen his nostrils.” Seth reached for paper and a pen and drew a rough sketch, showing Mary what he meant.

She studied the drawing. “You mean surgery? Would that help?”

It took another ten minutes to talk through the options, then he walked Mary and Maximus to the reception area to make an appointment.

Fliss was waiting there with Hero.

He’d been hoping she’d come to him. He’d made himself wait, but one more day and he would have gone to her.

He turned back to Mary. “Bring him in tomorrow. We’ll do it right away.” Then he dropped to his haunches to make a fuss of the dog. “There, buddy.” He stroked the animal’s head, feeling the floppy folds of skin around his face. “We’re going to make this better for you, I promise.”

Leaving Mary and Maximus in the capable hands of their receptionist, he gestured to Fliss. “Come in.”

She followed him into the room. “Maximus is a cutie. And he loves you.”

“He’s a great dog. I hate to see him struggling.”

“Breathing issues?” She paused in front of a poster urging people to get their pets vaccinated. “We see that a lot among our clients with brachycephalic dogs. We have to plan walks accordingly because the dogs are so tired breathing they can’t walk far. So you’ll operate?”

He talked it through with her, surprised at how knowledgeable she was. Even more surprised that he was able to concentrate enough to string words together.

She was wearing those cutoff jeans again, the ones that made her legs seem endless. Her arms were bare.

“You’re busy. I came at a bad time.”

He wouldn’t have cared what time it was, as long as she was here. “Not a bad time. I’ve finished for the morning.”

“And judging from your face it’s been a busy one.”

“Started the day by pulling three feet of string from a cat’s intestine, and it was all downhill from there.” He was more interested in finding out about her. He sensed something was wrong. “So what can I do for you? I presume you don’t need the services of a vet.” He dropped to his haunches and made a fuss of Hero.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said, that’s all.”

He straightened slowly. “You have?”

“Yes. I’m going to explore the possibility of extending our business to cover the Hamptons.”

The business?

He wondered if she’d thought about the other things he’d said. “I thought you said your stay here was temporary.”

“I was thinking I could stay on a little longer. See if it’s viable. And that way I can keep an eye on Grams for a while.”

“You’re staying on so you can keep an eye on your grandmother?”

She turned her attention back to the poster. “It’s the right thing to do. Not that she really needs me. The house is full of people most of the time.”

“Your grandmother has a lot of friends. So you’re not staying for any other reason?”

“What other reason would there be?” Her tone was casual, but then she glanced over her shoulder and gave him a wicked smile. “You might have something to do with it. But only a small, tiny part of the reason, so don’t get any ideas.”

He already had plenty of ideas.

“Just for the record, what changed your mind? My cooking, my boat, my shoulders or my eyelashes?”