Lucky Baby by Taryn Quinn

Four

How the hellI’d ended up driving Lucky’s battered Ford truck into Kensington Square, I did not know.

Okay, so the pathetic dog had hit me in a weak spot. His face—and Thor’s face as he worried over the tiny ball of dirty fur—were too much to handle.

I did not have any defenses against animals. Especially hurt ones.

Thor cooed over the little dog in his lap. He kept stroking its small head, telling him how brave he was. I didn’t quite have the heart to tell him I didn’t see any itty bitty doggy twig and berries when he pulled it out of the mud.

Then again, there had been a lot of mud.

The little dog preened, even with its poor nose all crusty with blood and dirt. The tiny tail stuck out of the towel and wagged with each rumbling tumble of Lucky’s stream of conscious conversation.

“I think I should call him Butch.”

“Butch? Dear God, why?”

“Well, he’s—”

“Might be a she.”

Lucky hunched his shoulders protectively. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. The little guy is Butch. Look how brave you are.” Lucky lowered his nose to the dog’s. “You’re a brave little guy, aren’t you?”

The dog was a maximum of six pounds—mostly fur.

“Couldn’t find a better name for him or her? Like Athena the warrior dog? Or how about Xena?”

He picked up the dog, towel and all, to look at it in the eye. “Nah. Butch.”

I rolled my eyes and downshifted as we came to a light. Kensington Square wasn’t far from suburbia nation. The clinic was barely out of the Cove and with the boom of families, it did very well, good enough to be open around the clock. It was almost noon and I had a bad feeling we’d be doing a whole lot of waiting to be seen.

Based on the dog’s situation, I imagined we’d be doing a whole lot of paying too. Not that it mattered. Animals would always win out when it came to my wallet.

“Just a few more minutes.”

Lucky snuggled the dog up against his chest. “Getting cold, little buddy? Should I boost the heat?”

“It might be a bit gross, but if you put him against your skin, he’ll—” Now he had me calling it a him. “It will warm up.”

Lucky grinned at me. “Even you think he’s a little dude.” Without hesitation, he tucked the dog into his tank top.

“I hope it doesn’t have fleas.”

Lucky stilled, then shrugged. “Guess we’ll both get a flea dip, hey?”

My lips twitched, but I managed not to smile.

Lucky gave me some side-eye. “I almost saw a smile.”

“You did not.”

“I did.” He snuggled down in the seat and inched him over to the middle of his chest. “She likes you, buddy.” He lowered his voice. “Think she likes me too.”

“No.”

Lucky snorted.

I shrugged. “The dog, maybe.”

He crossed his legs at the ankle. “Then why were you at my worksite?”

“You know why.”

“You could have texted.”

“I didn’t have your number. And I wanted to explain the expedited situation.”

“Expedited situation?” One bleached brow rose, and there was an intriguing scar through the arch.

Focus, Burns. There was nothing intriguing about this guy.

“Sounds interesting,” he added when I remained silent.

He laced his long fingers together over his little bundle. The smudge of mud striping his cheek was not cute, dammit.

I gritted my teeth together. I would not be swayed by a hot guy with a dog. Nope, not at all. Ever.

Keeping my gaze straight ahead, I turned off the dirt road that always snuck up on me. The clinic was a converted farm with a ton of land, but it was rather remote. A horse was grazing in the fenced off area to the side of the building, his ragged tail twitching happily. Maverick was a rescue from a shitty owner, and the vet, Grant Thorn, had nursed him back to health.

I knew that because when I’d nearly killed Dusty—since the stupid cat loved to lay in the middle of the damn road, and I’d clipped his tail swerving away so I didn’t kill him—the vet had been unloading the horse when I rolled up in a panic. Now I was the proud owner of a cat with a slightly crooked tail, and it looked like Maverick was living his best life.

I downshifted to gently roll over the tire ruts from the last good rain. Dirt became gravel the closer we got to the large horse stables. A little girl with a lopsided ponytail was chasing a tripod dog around the opening of one of the bays.

Someone must have been looking out for us since there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot. I parked and the little girl came running over to us.

Penny? P…something.

“Hey, Miss Dusty. Everything okay with your cat?”

Lucky stepped down from the truck.

Priscilla? No…she was a flower name. Poppy! “Hi, Poppy. Dusty is doing really well, but my friend’s dog not so much.”

“Oh, no.” Her huge eyes glittered with tears immediately. She rushed to Lucky, showing absolutely no fear toward the six-foot-four long-haired stranger.

I should probably talk to her dad about that.

Lucky crouched down to the kid’s level. “Are you the vet?”

The little girl’s tears dissolved away with a giggle. “No. I’m not big enough yet. Someday though. I’m gonna be just like my daddy.”

“I’m sure he’ll be proud. Think you could find your dad for me? My friend here could use some help.” Butch peeked out from the side of his shirt, the end of the rusty red rope frayed from Lucky’s knife.

“Oh, no.” Poppy’s eyes went fierce. “You didn’t tie his mouth shut, did you? We don’t use those kinds of muzzles, sir!”

“No. Not at all. We found him like this. It looks really painful though. We want to get him all fixed up.”

I resisted the urge to rub my chest. My heart was doing funny twirls and I really didn’t like it.

“I’ll go get my daddy. He’s having a tuna sammich, but I’m sure he’ll stop his lunch for your doggie.” She tipped her head and lifted a corner of the towel snaking out of Lucky’s shirt. “Is that Harry Styles?”

“Harry is taking good care of Butch, yes.”

Poppy giggled. “You’re funny. Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Lucky glanced up at me. “Cute kid.”

I swallowed. “Yeah, she is.” I cleared my throat. “Anyway, let’s go in. Dr. Thorn is a bit different, but he’s a damn good vet.”

“Hot too, right?”

I flushed and stalked past him. “Yeah, well, I have eyes. It was just an observation.”

A huge white sign hung next to the black door. Thorny Paw Clinic was open rain or shine, day or night. It had a few block sliders to say which vet or vets were on the premises. I was relieved to see Grant’s name there.

It was a rotating roster, but I knew Grant Thorn did good work. I opened the door for Lucky and resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the guy behind the desk.

Snooty Steve was manning the desk today. Great.

“Hi, we have an emergency.”

He didn’t even look up when we walked in. “Everyone has an emergency. We’re a clinic.”

I curled my fingers into my palm, hiding it beneath the half wall that divided the small vestibule.

Lucky came up behind me, his cedar scent with a side of dog curling around me followed by a wall of warmth. A cool fall day had nothing on his ability to pump out a disturbing level of heat from the furnace of his upper body. He wasn’t even wearing a coat, for God’s sake.

“I have a hurt dog we found tied to a bush. It’s an emergency.”

Steve’s gaze tracked up and his bored face cleared to attentive. “Right. Fill this out and I’ll go check with Dr. Thorn.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Lucky. “I had it.”

Butch peeked out from Lucky’s jacket, a little snaggle tooth peeking out from the dirt caked on him. Dammit, he was so sweet even with that damn rope around his face. I gently stroked his nose. “Dr. Thorn will fix you right up, buddy.”

Lucky angled down to look at me, his voice still rumbly. “I’ve never seen you so soft, Ruby.”

I frowned up at him. “Did you hurt your head?”

His eyebrow rose in question.

“Ruby?”

“Hair, racing stripe, helmet on your bike. Rich, dark ruby red.” His lids lowered to half mast over those dark green eyes of his. “Ruby.”

“Tish,” I reminded him.

“More of a Ruby to me.”

I didn’t have time for his nonsense. “Anyway, it’s a defenseless dog. I’m not an asshole.”

His lips kicked up at one corner, showing that slightly crooked incisor. He matched the dog. I refused to find that endearing. “I really like when you’re grumpy.”

“You’re weird.”

“The doctor will see you. Janice will show you to stall three.”

I stepped back and spun, almost taking Janice out. “Sorry.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “Which way?”

Janice blinked and took me in, then Lucky behind me. Being female and almost six feet tall was definitely not something I could forget. But it wasn’t often that a guy was taller than me to the extent Lucky was. The tech was barely over five feet tall. We probably looked like freakish giants—with a teacup-sized dog.

How was this my life?

Janice hugged the iPad against her chest. “Right. Um, this way, please.”

We headed past the waiting room as a few grumbling patients watched us walk by and down a hallway into the repurposed barn. Instead of horses, the large stalls were sectioned off with old sliding barn doors on glossy black rollers. Each door was a different color. A well used chalkboard hung from a nail in the center of each door and gave quick stats about the pet’s name and breed.

The first door was dark red with Larry the Macaw scrawled in chalk. The next was a whitewashed natural color with Baxter the Collie chilling inside, and the last one was navy with a blank chalkboard waiting for our details. Yellow caution signs signaled a freshly scrubbed cement floor. The sharp scent of bleach couldn’t quite cut the scent of many different animals even with the front and back of the barn open to give a cross-breeze. There was only so much the crisp fall day could do to clear the air with animals in various stages of fear or injury.

The yip of a dog followed by a chorus of responding canines echoed through the barn. The back of the clinic was also a bordering and adoption center. Grant had a big heart when it came to getting animals taken care of.

I might have donated a chunk of money to his vet practice. It was a good write-off for the business, and did I mention I was a sucker for animals?

Poppy came ripping around the corner. Her ponytail was a tad higher, but that was probably more out of annoyance than from help from a brush. Dr. Thorn brought up the rear mostly because his daughter was dragging him along. His white lab coat flew behind him over his typical faded black thermal shirt, jeans, and sturdy boots.

The three times I’d been in for Dusty he’d been wearing something similar each time.

He gave us a harried smile. “Poppy tells me we have a special case. Nice to see you again, Tish.” The lilt of Ireland teased like the breeze. There, but not at the same time.

“I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Me too.”

Lucky stiffened behind me. I wasn’t sure if that was his little growl or one of the dogs in the kennel. Considering the sound seemed awfully close, I chose to go with ignorance.

Grant’s dark hair fell forward as he gave me a rueful smile before tugging on his daughter’s ponytail. “Why don’t you go help Janice set up so we can take a look at our patient?”

“Okay.” Poppy dashed off to door number three.

“What have we got?”

Lucky stepped around me, then peeled back a corner of the towel to reveal Butch and his predicament.

The vet hissed in sympathy before muttering something under his breath. Lucky was blocking me so I couldn’t hear exactly what he said, but I could infer. Grant’s personality bordered on a miracle in patience, but he definitely wasn’t happy.

“I was putting in a fence for a family in Cove Garden and found him tied to the trunk of one of the bushes.”

“Bastards.” His Irish was thick and sharp.

“Think you can help him?” Lucky’s voice was rough with more gravel than I was used to hearing out of him. “I just want to get that rope off him. Ruby said we should do the vet thing instead of doing it ourselves.”

I crossed my eyes at his broad back. Honestly? Not my name. I clenched my fists inside my jacket pockets.

“Glad that you came here first. Looks like it’s pretty dug in there. We’ll do what we can to get him…?”

Lucky nodded.

I peeked around him. “We’re not sure if it’s a girl or boy.”

Grant gently stroked the dog’s head. “Either way, we’ll get you all fixed up.” He glanced up at Lucky. “I’ll need to give him or her a bath to see what’s what. There’s a farm sink in there we can use. Might need your help since we’re pretty booked at the moment.”

Lucky nodded. “Just tell me what to do and where to go.”

“Good.” The vet nodded decisively. “Let’s do this.”

The next forty minutes revealed that Butch was, in fact, a girl, and was actually a creamy white color under all the mud and muck. I felt very unnecessary and chose to stay out of the way along the one wall.

Poppy came up beside me and held my hand. “My daddy is very good at this.”

I frowned down at the little girl. “I know. Why we’re here, sprite.”

She shrugged. “You looked worried.”

I dropped my shoulders and ordered my muscles to loosen and relax. “Thanks, kid.”

“Welcome,” she said brightly. But I let her keep holding my hand. She seemed to need it.

Okay, I needed it. I went on my toes, but I couldn’t see over the shoulders of the two males. The dog was not thrilled with the situation and let them know it with pitiful cries. Poor thing probably had never seen a bath in her life.

Lucky was endlessly patient and focused as they both slowly washed her matted fur. Once they got most of the dirt off, Grant started the equally painstaking process of removing the rope.

Butch wasn’t having any of that. Grant had to send his daughter out of the room because she was getting so upset by the dog’s whines. I wasn’t faring much better, but that stupid piece of rope needed to come off. I peeled off my jacket and waded into the fray.

I had strong hands and stopped her flailing back legs. Grant’s ever soothing voice finally dented the terror in the dog’s little body. He was speaking a language I didn’t know, but the rolling sounds seemed to do the trick to calm Butch down.

However, we were all soaked by the end of it.

Her terrified whine would sit with me for a damn long time. Fucking humans. I was far better with machines and animals.

The raw welt around her little nose had me dabbing at my eyes. Lucky gave me a fierce look, but there was definitely some red rimming his green eyes as well.

“There’s a lass. I know, we’re almost done, I promise.” Grant finally straightened, cracking his neck as he stretched. “All in all, she’s in good shape. It’s a bit cold for fleas, so she was saved from that, though I won’t know about the ticks until we get her blood panel back.”

Lucky sniffed and gathered her close in a fresh towel. Harry was fairly destroyed, but I tucked the pop star towel in a plastic bag the tech laid out. Butch seemed to freak out when I tried to throw it away.

Her tiny black nose poked out of the towel, but she only had eyes for Lucky.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself a dog, Mr. Roberts.”

“Lucky.”

“Yes, you are.”

Lucky laughed. “No, that’s my name.” He gave a choked laugh and sniffed. “But I think I’m pretty lucky too.”

“Not even a second thought? I would be disappointed of course, but I could find her a home.”

Lucky settled her closer into the crook of his arm. “Nope. Butch is mine.”

I shook my head as I used one of the towels Janice offered to dry off my shirt—not that it really helped. “Still going with Butch? Not Xena? Come on.”

He shook his head. “You like Butch, right?” The little dog wiggled in his arms and popped her head out to lick his face. “See?”

Grant tapped something into his iPad. “Butch Roberts it is. I’m just going to give her the shots she’s probably never had and you’ll need to put this cream on her nose three times a day. It’ll take some time for her fur to grow back, but as long as you keep her nose clean, she’ll be in good shape.”

Lucky gently lifted her out of the towel and up to his eye level. “Any idea what she is?”

“She’s a bit of a mutt, but I’m pretty sure there’s some Pekinese and Chinese street dog in there. Not sure how she ended up over here, but there’s a lot of illegal dog breeding in every corner of the world.” He took the dog back from Lucky.

Butch wasn’t thrilled. She squirmed until she could see Lucky. I was pretty sure there were little hearts bubbling around her head. Lucky stroked his big ol’ finger down her paw as the vet quickly gave her shots. The dog didn’t even notice—she was too busy mooning over her new dad.

When Grant stepped back, Butch leaped off the table and Lucky caught her like a football. She was still wet and squirmy, but she quickly scrabbled her way up to press her small face against Lucky’s.

I laughed. “Looks like you have a new bit of Velcro in your life.”

Lucky grinned and perched her on his shoulder. Butch decided that was almost as good. She curled up there and stuffed her little face into his hair.

“Don’t think you have to worry about her running away.”

“I forgot to check if she was chipped.” A loud buzz came from Grant’s belt. He lifted his phone and glanced at the notification. “Shoot. Another emergency. Bring her back in about ten days?” He tapped on the iPad. “Have the front scan her to see if she has a chip. If not, we’ll take care of that next visit.”

Lucky nodded. “Sounds good. Anything I should watch for?”

“Dogs have a higher temperature than humans so if she feels a little warm, that’s okay. But if she is panting a lot and feels super warm, give me a call. She might have an infection. I’m writing a script for a general antibiotic that should cover the usual suspects. I’ll check the bloodwork after my next patient and contact you if there’s anything out of the ordinary.”

“Thanks, doc.” Lucky held his hand out. “I’m grateful.”

Grant shook his firmly. “Best kind of client.” He waved at Butch. “Take care of your new dad.”

“She will.” Lucky nuzzled the dog.

“Wow, you are sunk,” I muttered.

Lucky’s cheeks pinked up. “She’s sweet and just needs love.”

“Kinda cute, Thor.”

Lucky’s eyebrows waggled. “I know.”

The large barn door squealed on the rollers as the tech stuck her head in, interrupting my epic eye-roll. “They need you doctor.”

“Right. Okay, Janice will check you out.” He turned his attention to his assistant. “Check if the dog has a chip too, please.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Then he was gone.

Lucky followed Janice out, his crooning voice full of soothing words for his charge.

I gathered up the bags and meds, following behind him like some idiot girlfriend. He moved like his nickname suggested. For once, I had to trot to catch up with them. I overheard Lucky asking if they did payment arrangements in a low tone.

My eyes burned again.

How many times had I needed to ask that same thing in my life? Living paycheck to paycheck was more commonplace than not. And as I’d recently paid an emergency fee myself, I knew it was going to be cringeworthy.

A chorus of barks and howling cat screeches met us as we came around the corner. An orange and black cat was zipping all around the waiting room, leaping from the table to the turtle enclosure, its back arched, teeth bared. A black puppy in the Labrador family was happily chasing the cat from surface to surface.

The turtle enclosure was a Plexiglass tank, but oversized puppy feet jumping up against it were no match for gravity. It slid off the large farmhouse end table and crashed to the floor.

Turtle dude went onto its back, flapping his feet wildly as the puppy changed from the cat chase to a whole new point of interest. The dog licked the turtle’s face exuberantly as its owner tried to drag him away.

The door to a cat carrier was wide open and the cat flew back inside. I was pretty sure that was the only time a cat had actually willingly gone into a carrier. The puppy gave a happy bark and tried to climb in with it.

Janice ran forward with Steve huffing out an exasperated sigh before slowly following. Another dog was curled up under the table on the other side of the room, its nose tucked under its body to make itself smaller.

“Turtle, come out from under there.”

Well, that was a fitting name.

A slashing paw must have finally made contact because the black puppy whined and backed out of the carrier batting at its nose. The dog’s owner was shrieking uselessly from the sidelines. A smear of blood streaked the floor before the puppy stumbled away from Janice and its owner. The puppy made a beeline for the front door.

Another pet owner was backing through the door, utterly oblivious to the chaos he was walking into.

“Oh, shit.” I dropped my bags and jacket, then sprinted toward the door and made a grab for Wiggles, the trouble maker. I managed to scoop him up around the middle since the devil must have slipped his collar. I landed on my butt with a tongue bath across my face for my trouble.

The puppy knocked me onto my back, covering me in kisses and slobber from neck to hairline. “A little help here?”

Steve finally made it over to me and hooked a contraption around the dog’s neck. He hauled him off me. “Down, Toby.”

I craned my neck to narrow my eyes at Lucky. “Thanks for the help.”

Lucky shrugged and cuddled Butch closer. “I had faith in you, Ruby.”

I collapsed back on the floor. “I hate you.”

He moved closer and peered down at me. “Sure you want to lay on that floor?” He held his hand out and I slapped it away. He tried again as I struggled to my feet.

“I got it.”

“Of course you do.”

I picked up my things and tried not to think about what had been on the floor. Maybe I’d just burn these leathers, to be safe.

Janice and Steve had restored semi-order to the waiting area, but now everything was backed up time-wise.

I slapped my credit card down before Lucky could ask about payment plans.

“You’re not paying for my dog.” His voice was tight.

“I’ll just take it out of your fees for doing the remodel.”

He frowned. “No.”

“Look, Thor. This is just easier. You can pay me back if you want or I can just make it part of your remodeling fee.”

“My fee is covered for helping Caleb.”

“That’s a damn big favor for a friend.”

“So? I only have one best friend and he’s worth it.”

My gut churned. I didn’t have one of those. I had my brothers, but I’d never really had a best friend. Gage and Dare came close, but they felt more like another set of brothers. I was surrounded by them, for God’s sake.

“Whatever. It’s just easier. And the dog is worth it too.”

Lucky huffed out a growl. “I’ll pay you back.”

“Fine.” I slid the card closer to Janice. “Ring it up. Oh, and Grant wants us—Lucky—to come back in ten days. Could you make him an appointment?”

“Sure thing.”

The little dog was now his problem. I had enough of my own.