Page 8 of Fool Me

Her gaze drops to the floor. “We wouldn’t have.”

“Echo wants to work, and the team needed him today. You can’t control the weather, but you kept him safe, and you kept your patient safe.”

“Subject.”

“Hmmm?”

“Subject, not patient. That’s what we call them in the field. But I hate how impersonal that is, so I try to use their names. I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re just another call when they’re already having the worst day of their lives.” When her eyes lift to mine, there’s a fresh pain, one that goes deeper than today.

“How did you get into search and rescue?”

She smiles, soft and bright, even though she’s weary. The toll of the day is etched into the sag of her shoulders, but in the sterile treatment room, her beauty is even more evident than when she first walked into the clinic, and the question clears the haunted look making the blue in her eyes shine again.

Harlowe Corbin is stunning, but that’s not what I should be noticing when everyone in Timberline Peak is watching, waiting to see if I’ll fuck up or be able to fill Dr. McMullin’s shoes.

Still, I can’t help but be curious about her when the only thing I know is that she didn’t grow up here. And I like the fact that there’s someone in this town who doesn’t know me or my family—who hasn’t already formed an opinion based on the past, or what they think they know about me.

“My dad actually.” She curls her long legs under her, burrowing into the chair. “I have a little hero worship where he’s concerned.”

“Ah, I heard he was a legend.”

She laughs loud and bold, if not a little tired. “He would absolutely hate that.” Her smile lingers as she softens a little. “Why do I feel like you’re just trying to make me feel better?”

“Is it working?”

“It’s certainly not hurting.” She pauses before asking,“What made you want to be a vet?” Her hand sweeps the room.

“The short version is that I hit a stray cat the day I got my driver’s license. I stopped, and a car pulled up behind me. The driver found me kneeling on the pavement next to the cat, too afraid to touch it and hurt it worse, but I couldn’t leave its side.”

She winces. “Talk about a horrific memory to go along with a teenage rite of passage.”

“I was a mess. He got me up off the road and loaded the cat up into his car. He told me to follow him and I did—right back to his office. He saved the cat, and I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

“That’s not the direction I thought this story was going.”

“Nah, Bob lived happily ever after. He was possibly the most spoiled cat on the planet.”

Not every day in this job is a good one. In fact, some days are really fucking awful—they leave me questioning everything. But days like today are the reason I haven’t given up yet.

“You kept him?” She chuckles. It’s infectious and unrestrained, but I get the sense that Harlowe doesn’t hold anything back. Not her joy or her opinions. She’ll lay everything out and you can either take or leave it.

“We were trauma bonded and co-dependent for the rest of his life. He was fat and happy and I was a proud cat dad through college and vet school.”

“How very full circle. And now you’re here with a practice of your own. Did you just pick a dot on the map and call the local vet with an offer to buy?”

“Not exactly. The vet that saved Bob was Dr. McMullins. He’s been my mentor for a long time and we stayed close after I moved away.”

“So you’re from here,” she comments.

“I’m not sure this town claims people as residents when they’ve been away as long as I have.”

“But you’re back now. That’s gotta count for something.”

I shrug. “I’m pretty sure everyone I saw this week is waiting for me to fail simply because I’m not Ray. And the speculation about everything in my life . . . yikes.”

“Ouch. Small town gossip can be a real bitch. Don’t let it get to you.”

“Got any tips for brushing off all the comments about me still being an unwed, scrub-wearing slob that doesn’t take checks?”

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