Page 6

Chapter 3

Beth stared at Eli from the passenger seat as he stood outside her opened door.

“I…don’t understand what’s happening here,” she told him.

Eli’s brows pulled together under the shadow of his cowboy hat. “Hopping down and out of the truck is a bit more perilous than climbing in.” He nodded at her cast. “Thought you might need a hand.”

She shook her head. “I mean, thanks for the chivalry and all, but why would I be getting out of the truck here?” She glanced at what looked like a modest ranch home behind him, a combination of light blue siding and a reddish-brown brick. If it wasn’t for the sign above the door that read MURPHY VETERINARY CLINIC plain as day, she would have thought it was someone’s home. One thing was certain, though. This was not Sam and Delaney’s home.

Eli still looked perplexed, the crease between his brows seeming to take up permanent residence. “Because this is where the clinic is?” He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “And the guesthouse?”

Beth’s stomach sank. She didn’t know what was happening, but she somehow knew it wasn’t good. She picked her tote bag up off the floor in front of her and held it to her chest as if it could protect her from the outcome of this scenario.

Eli’s expression morphed from confusion to what looked like realization as his eyes opened wide and he huffed out a laugh.

“She didn’t tell you. Unbelievable.” He mumbled the last word as if it was only meant for himself.

Meanwhile, Beth’s palms were starting to sweat, and that sinking thing that her stomach was doing turned into a sort of cartwheel or flip-flop. Maybe with a somersault or two.

“Eli, where did my sister tell you to take me?” She squeezed the quilted cotton of her bag, sure that it would leave handprints when she let go.

Eli crossed his arms and raised his brows.

“She told me to give you an hour to get settled into the guesthouse before getting you started at the clinic.”

The clinic?

The clinic?

Beth didn’t remember deciding to do it. She just slid out of her seat and onto the truck’s running board, teetering on her right sneaker before hopping onto the dusty drive. She pitched forward, and Eli made a move to catch her, but she held up a firm index finger, keeping him at bay. She righted herself and thanked the universe for letting her keep her pride intact. Then she marched toward him, slowly and with her uneven gait, thanks to the extra height of the cast.

“Do you mean to tell me”—she pointed at him, the tip of her finger grazing his forearm still resting against his chest—“that my sister invited me to stay with her and then pawned me off on you as an unwilling tenant and, what? Animal whisperer? Because I’m not the Spence sister who got that gene.”

He dropped his arms, but she was frozen where she stood, finger still pointed in accusation as she ran her conversation with Delaney back and forth in her head.

I’m sending you a ticket.

Beth had joked about the price. Delaney had joked about the luggage.

Oh god.

Delaney never said “You’ll be staying with us,” but why would Beth ever assume otherwise?

“Exactly,” she finally said aloud.

“Are you still talking to me?” Eli asked.

Beth startled and stumbled backward. Eli caught her this time with an arm wrapped firmly around her back. She sucked in a breath as she felt the tips of his fingers press against her shirt, though the skin beneath prickled…or tingled. She couldn’t exactly tell. All she knew was that her pulse was racing and her head was swimming.

“I’m okay,” she finally told him, shifting her weight to her good leg.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

If she’d busted a stiletto dancing in a Vegas club only to be caught by some smarmy tourist, the question would have been laced with innuendo, the expression on the man’s face anything from lewd smile to Zoolander-level smolder. She’d seen enough of both. But Eli stared at her with a clenched jaw and hooded eyes that transformed his light blue irises to the darkest of ocean depths.

“Yes,” she whispered, her voice nowhere to be found.

“Okay,” he responded, his voice rough as he gently let her go.