Page 12 of The Geography of Happiness

I snorted. “Okay, well let’s not push your luck too long. How about you hold the pup’s attention while I sneak around back and try and grab it from behind?”

Chrissy thought about that for a second, then nodded. “Okay, we’ll give it a go.” She got on her knees and talked soothingly to the frightened puppy while I made a wide circle to the Hilux’s rear passenger door, keeping the tyre between the puppy and me.

“She’s backed against the tyre but more toward the engine,” Chrissy instructed, maintaining a singsong calming voice. “If you lean sideways a little, you should be able to see her tail.”

I did as she said and there it was. Two seconds later I held a wriggling puppy in my arms while a delighted teenager bounced at my side.

“Yes, we did it!” Chrissy exclaimed, stroking the pup. “Now wait there.” She scooted into the supermarket while I checked the pup’s undercarriage to confirm it was in fact a boy and then popped him onto the back seat of the ute so he couldn’t wriggle out of my arms.

Glimpsing the wet patch on my shirt, I sighed. “Dammit. Not a great first impression, you do realise that, right?” I eyeballed the pup who’d stopped trembling and was instead staring beseechingly up at me. “Oh no. Don’t aim those big eyes at me,” I warned. “I’m immune to your puppy wiles.” Then I scratched behind his small upright ears to show what a big fat lie that actually was.

The pup leaned contentedly into my hand, which made me think he hadn’t been on the streets his entire short life, a supposition confirmed a few seconds later when he rolled onto his back for a tummy scratch.

“We really need to have a conversation about playing hard to get,” I told him just as Chrissy arrived back with a brand-new collar and lead. “It’s a boy,” I informed her, securing the collar and lead in place. “And I think he’s too friendly to be a long-term stray.”

She gave a toothy grin. “Cool. But he probably hasn’t been vaccinated or wormed or anything. You need to get him checked out as soon as you can.”

I blinked. “Me?”

Chrissy met my obvious confusion with a level stare. “Well, Icertainly can’t take him. I’m working, and our family already has three dogs. Plus, I’m off to university next year.” She flicked her head toward the supermarket where Brian was watching through the glass. “And I can’t exactly tie him up outside all day until I’m done, can I?”

I returned her stare. “AndI’monly here for the week. There must be a local shelter I can drop him at.”

“You’d leave him at a shelter you didn’t know from Adam?” The horrified look on Chrissy’s face stopped me from blurting an immediate yes, and she continued. “How do you know it’s not a kill shelter? They might only keep him a week before putting him down.” She reached over and stroked the pup’s head. “Awwww, look at that face. Is that what you want?”

I bit back a smile, knowing full well I was being expertly handled. Chrissy’s tone reminded me so much of Hannah. And there was clearly only one acceptable answer. “No, obviously that’snotwhat I want. Aren’t there any non-kill shelters?”

Chrissy’s expression remained carefully neutral. “I’m not sure.”

I didn’t believe her for a second.

Chrissy’s gaze slid to the puppy. “There’s a vet on Main Street. You should take him there. They’ll know what’s best.”

My gaze steadied on hers. “I can’t take him with me, Chrissy.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t say you should. But like I said, they’ll know what’s best.”

And since tying the pup to a tree for hours wasn’t an option and delivering him to what was clearly the worst shelter in the world was an act likely to separate me from my balls, there was little for me to do other than plug the address of the vet clinic into my satnav and do as I was told.

An image of the unsettling and charming vet I’d met at the station came to mind as I pulled out of the car park, and my pulse ticked up. I frowned and shook my head. No. Surely not. The Mackenzie had to have more than one veterinary clinic, right?

CHAPTER THREE

Spencer

Connor’s headappeared around the door to the treatment room. “Hey, Boss. You got time to see a walk-in?” At almost eighteen, Connor was a trainee veterinary assistant and the clinic’s newest employee. Fresh to the Mackenzie the previous Christmas, he’d taken six months to decide whether training as a shepherd on Lane Station or working as a vet assistant with us was a better fit for him. Lucky for the clinic, we won. I could only hope he’d stay on after his exams were done at the end of the year.

Oakwood Veterinary Clinic was a busy two-vet practice, but we’d never employed a trained veterinary assistant. It was a misguided hangover from when the business was young and we were wary of any additional expense. Four months with Connor on the books and I had no idea how we’d ever managed without him. He saved us more money than his salary cost, and we’d been fools not to take the leap earlier. Then again, we wouldn’t have had Connor, and I suspected the right man made more difference that just an extra pair of hands.

I looked at the neat piles of dressings, drugs, and equipment that covered the stainless treatment table and sighed. I had a wickedly busy afternoon ahead of me at Lane Station and the last thing I needed was another interruption. Spring was hella busy in the Mackenzie. Between muster, shearing, lambing, docking, and a million other station activities that might require veterinary input, I barely had time to do more than throw a few replacement supplies into the black hole of my truck between visits and hope that I didn’t run out of anything critical.

“Unless they’re here to tell me I just won the lottery and can afford to bring on another partner, I really don’t want to know,” I answered peevishly. “Tell Matt it’s his turn. There have to be some perks to being the older partner, right? God knows it’s not the scintillating company or undying respect.”

Connor snorted. “Should I be offended?”

I grinned. “Be my guest.”

“You whined, oh master?” Matt’s cherubic face slid alongside Connor’s, his rusty curls hanging loose from the usual ponytail that kept them in check. “I’ll have you know, there are plenty of females who find me scintillating.”

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