Page 6 of Claiming Rose

“They’ll grow fast enough. I know this might make us late for dinner, but would you take me back to the house where you found the kittens?” Rose picked up the towel Oliver wrapped the kittens in. “Can I use this?”

“What are you thinking?”

“It has the kittens’ scent on it, if momma cat is around she’ll come for them.” Rose pulled one of the cat crates out of the cabinet and stuffed the towel into it. “This is humane. The door will close once momma is inside, this way we can bring her in with her kittens.”

Oliver nodded and they walked out of the exam room. The front was dark, so Kate had gone home as well. “Let me check the front door.” Rose made sure the door was locked, then she grabbed her purse from behind the receptionist desk. Oliver waited for her by the side door holding the crate.

“Shall I follow you in my car?” she asked as she locked the door after they left the building.

“How about you leave your car here and let me drive? Once we’re done with momma cat, we can go to dinner.”

“Sure.” Rose followed him to his small SUV. Once they were done placing the crate, he drove them to the Double D BBQ.

“Do you really think the momma cat will return?” Oliver asked after they’d ordered dinner.

“I hope so. But we’ll keep bottle feeding the kittens until they can eat solid food.” She took a sip of the beer she ordered. “Thank you for rescuing them.”

* * * *

“Of course. How did you become a vet?” Rose’s face lit up and Oliver was glad he’d asked her.

“I grew up on a rural farm in Nebraska so I’ve always loved animals. My father had some basic knowledge and I learn a lot from him, but for major things he called a vet. I’d hang around and watch.”

Oliver tilted his head. “I take it you weren’t squeamish.” He could barely stand the sight of blood. Not very manly, but it was one of those things that freaked him out.

“No. As a kid I embraced farming life.”

“Not as an adult?”

She shook her head. “I wanted to work with animals, but not have to worry about the next crop, or selling animals to keep a roof over my head, or deal with droughts and stuff like that.” She took another sip of her beer. “What about you? Did you always want to be in real estate?”

“My family would say yes because I would beat everyone at any type of real estate game, but it wasn’t what I planned on doing.”

“What did you plan on doing?”

Oliver looked away from the curiosity flashing in her blue eyes. This wasn’t first date talk for him, but then it wasn’t like he and Rose didn’t know each other. “I wanted to be an actor.”

“I can see you doing that. With your rugged good looks, nice deep voice, plus you’re tall. What happened?”

“I started off in NY with stage plays, then moved to LA. I did get a few bit parts, but nothing major. I needed to eat and I didn’t want to be a waiter, so a friend who worked at a real estate company got me a job there.” He paused. “I’m actually good at selling real estate, so after another two years, I packed up and came up to the Pacific Northwest.”

“Why here?”

“I could ask you the same thing?”

Her laugh was music to his ears. “True. Mainly I wanted to get away from very rural living. I love my family but farming wasn’t for me. I did get my undergrad degree in Nebraska, then decided I wanted to go to Washington for my D.V.M..”

“How did you end up in Pleasant Valley?” They both looked up as the waiter set their food on the table and asked if they needed anything, which they didn’t, before leaving.

“It was kind of an accident. I was trying to find a place to work, but believe it or not, it’s hard sometimes to get male vets’ to accept a female who’s more than a tech. I just happened to be driving through Pleasant Valley and saw the clinic with a help wanted sign. I parked and went inside without even thinking about it.”

“He hired you.”

“Dr. Phillips was the best. He didn’t care that I was a woman. He taught me a lot, and I was thrilled and humbled when he asked me if I want to buy his clinic when he retired.”

“You run it all by yourself?”

“I do have help.”

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