Page 9 of The Rescuer

Still on her knees, she crawled backward and climbed to her feet. “I, uh, was trying to helpyou.”

“Noted … and appreciated. I can always use that kind of help.” The hint of a smile twitched inside his beard.

Was he … Was that a double meaning he was playing with? No. Had to be her imagination. That would border on flirting, and if any characteristic defined Reece Hunnicutt, it was that heneverflirted. She wasn’t sure the man even knew how.

Sexual undertones intended or not, his quip made her own face flush the same shade as Shane’s.

She dusted off her shaking hands—more to steady them than to clear them from nonexistent debris—and took Mr. Whiskers back from a relieved Shane. Looking Reece over, she didn’t detect a telltale sign that his knee bothered him, though it would explain why he was no longer on the search and rescue team. Except neither he nor anyone in town had mentioned an injury serious enough to ground him. And news like that would mostdefinitelyhave made the rounds. This was Fall River, town of six hundred, and when he was working, Reece was the most valuablemember of the squad in the entire county. Had been for years. His daring feats were practically the stuff of legend.

Realizing she was staring at him, she evoked a medical demeanor in place of her flustered one. “What happened to your knee?”

“Just getting over a sprain.” He slid his gaze to Shane. “It’s not a big deal, but I was told to stay off it a while longer so I don’t do more damage.”

Neve canted her head to one side. “Then why are you putting weight on it for hours on end behind the bar?” Pearl sat and chuffed, as if adding her own, “Yeah, how come?” Mr. Whiskers let out a reedy meow.

“Who’s this?” Ignoring Neve’s question, Reece stroked the cat’s head with one long, tapered finger that showcased a neatly squared-off nail. A familiar smell of snow and pines drifted off him, and she quietly pulled it in and let it fill her senses.

“For now, he’s Mr. Whiskers. I’m hoping someone will claim him soon, and when they do, I’ll know his real name.”

“And get reimbursed? Because if I know you, you’ve put in hours of your own time trying to save him, not to mention anesthesia and antibiotics and all that other stuff you’re paying for out of your own pocket.”

The observation took her aback, and her reaction must have shown all over her face because he quickly added, “You hear all kinds of scuttlebutt when you work behind a bar.”

She glanced up at him. “I guess we’re kind of alike that way, huh?”

He raised one dark eyebrow.

“Saving animals isn’t so different from saving people, and you do whatever is in your power to help them survive.” Something akin to surprise flitted through his eyes, but he quickly directed them back to the cat. “Getting repaid would be nice,” she murmured, “but it’s not the reason I do it.”

“I know. Hey, I meant to ask you last night. How’s your sister?”

“My sister?” Neve’s parents had died in a plane crash in Egypt when she’d been fifteen, leaving behind her older sister, Brigit, and herself.

The fact that Reece was asking about Brigit was … odd. As if he was trying to make small talk, which was even odder. “Why are you asking about Brigit?”And why now?

“I haven’t heard you mention her for a while. Is she still a head librarian in … Where did she end up?”

Nine years older, Brigit had been determined to keep Neve out of foster care and had put her own life on hold to raise Neve. When Neve graduated high school and went on to college and vet school, they had drifted apart. Neve made a mental note to call her and catch up.

“South Dakota. She’s still there. We talk every month or so, and she’s doing fine.” Her sister was content, existing in a colorless background that Neve prayed wasn’t a preview of her own future.

Brigit claimed to be right where she wanted to be, but Neve often wondered if putting her first had crushed any dreams Brigit might have nursed before their lives had taken such a drastic turn. Though Brigit denied it, maybe she resented Neve for the sacrifices she had been forced to make. Neve hadn’t been a bad kid, but caring for her while pubescent hormones raged inside her teenage body couldn’t have been a cakewalk for a twenty-something.

Reece nodded in acknowledgment, and his focus strayed to the cat, who watched him warily with his one good eye. Meanwhile, Pearl, who had apparently lost interest in the discussion, tippy-tapped back to Neve’s office.

Reece dropped his voice to a low rumble. “He doesn’t look so hot. Is he going to make it?”

Unexpected tears welled, stinging the backs of Neve’s eyes. “I hope so.”

This career she’d chosen put her on a seesaw of emotions she sometimes struggled to contain. With one breath, it could swing from the low of heartbreak when she had to put an animal down to pure joy when she saved it.

In the background, Shane answered his phone, and she recovered herself enough to ask Reece, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what do you need? I have to get moving.”

“Get moving for what?”

“She has a date,” Shane hissed from the other side of the reception area.

“With Leo Cantrell?” Reece’s tone coasted in its usual neutral gear.

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