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Pippa hesitated outside the vet hospital. Part of her was desperate to go in—and part of her wanted to run away. It was Friday—three days after that night out with Matt at the Laughing Kookaburra. When they had talked and laughed. And almost kissed.
Pippa felt colour rising to her cheeks again as she thought of that moment when their lips had been so close, their breaths almost mingling. Had Matt thought that she was throwing herself at him? Was that why he had backed off so suddenly and left so abruptly? She hadn’t heard from him since. Her cheeks grew hotter. A gorgeous guy like him—he probably had girls trying to get his attention all the time. He must have thought she was pathetic and annoying!
Pippa almost turned and walked away from the vet clinic. But she reminded herself that she needed to find out about the kitten. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the way the furry little bundle had purred in her arms. Yesterday, she had picked up the phone to her landlord and asked about extending her rental contract to include pets. Now she needed to make sure that the kitten was still available. If she didn’t find out now, it might be sent off to the rescue centre tomorrow.
But what if you meet Matt?
So what? She would act as cool and as indifferent as needed—show him that she wasn’t desperately throwing herself after him. Squaring her shoulders, Pippa took a deep breath and went up the steps to the front door of the clinic. Inside, she crossed over to the reception counter and asked about the kitten.
“Yes, she’s still here,” Megan the receptionist said. “I think someone was going to drop her off at the rescue centre tomorrow.”
“I’d like to adopt her,” said Pippa quickly.
“Oh, great!” Megan smiled and pulled out some papers, which she handed to Pippa. “Okay, here are the forms you need to fill out. And there will be an adoption fee which covers her spay and vaccinations and other treatments. The money will be donated to the rescue centre that she was originally going to.” She watched for a moment as Pippa began filling out the form. “By the way, is it raining outside?”
“Just starting to,” said Pippa. “Sky’s looking very ominous. Why?”
Megan sighed. “I’m worried about our dryer. The clinic gets through a ton of laundry and if we don’t have straight sunny days, we’re forced to use the dryer. But the old machine’s been sounding very dodgy lately. The last thing we need is for it to pack up while we’re going through a spell of rainy days. I don’t know... it was so nice and dry back in December but it’s been really up and down since the New Year. And February is supposed to be mid-summer, you know! The driest time of the year...”
“I’ve got a dryer and I live just across the street—if you ever need help,” Pippa offered.
The other woman beamed. “Ta. That’s nice of you. Right...” She glanced over the forms that Pippa had filled in and then processed the payment. “I’ll go and get the kitten for you. Actually, I’ll just check with the vets as they might want to speak to you about her before you take her.”
Pippa’s heart skipped in anticipation as she went to wait in one of the consult rooms and wondered who was coming to speak to her about the kitten. She didn’t really want to see Matt, did she? And yet she couldn’t deny the sharp stab of disappointment when Charlie stepped in a few minutes later, carrying the little tabby. Did that mean Matt wasn’t here today? Or was he busy? Or was he just purposefully avoiding her?
“So you’re adopting this little one.” Charlie grinned.
“Yeah.” Pippa laughed. “I’m a sucker for a cute face and fluffy whiskers.”
“She’s been spayed and the stitches should come out next week.” Charlie turned the kitten gently over and showed Pippa the little shaved tummy, with the tiny row of stitches. “If you notice anything that looks abnormal, like swelling or inflammation around the sutures, contact the hospital immediately. She’s also due for two more sets of vaccinations—at twelve weeks and sixteen weeks. And she’s got to finish her course of de-worming treatment.”
“What about her ears?”
“She’s had some topical medication in the ears and the infection is already clearing up. You might just need to do a gentle ear cleaning to remove the wax and debris.” Charlie set the kitten on the examination table and they watched as she scampered to the edge and looked around curiously. “What are you going to call her?”
“I haven’t really decided yet,” Pippa said. “I was thinking maybe... Sparky because she was found in a car engine.”
Charlie gave her a teasing look. “You never mentioned Matt when you told me you found the kitten. I thought you just brought her in first thing Monday morning.”
“Oh... well... there was nothing to tell...” Pippa stammered. “He just happened to be walking past and saw me—and helped me get her out of the car.”
“Seems to be a bit more than that if you’re going for drinks together.” Charlie raised her eyebrows. She hesitated, then said, “Pippa, I probably shouldn’t interfere, but I just wanted you to know that Matt went through a bad break-up recently.”
“Oh.” Pippa looked at her. “Was it... did she break it off or did he—?”
“I don’t know. I think it was pretty serious on Matt’s side—they’d been going out for two years or something and I heard the nurses saying that Matt was about to propose. Then his girlfriend turned around and said that she was moving to Sydney. Just like that, with no warning.” Charlie made a face. “I’ve met her a few times and I have to say, I didn’t like her much. She seemed really pushy about wanting Matt to do more social climbing. He’s a low-key guy. Driving flashy cars, throwing money around just isn’t his style—you’d never guess how successful he is from just looking at him. You know, in addition to being a part-owner of this practice and a top veterinary surgeon, he’s got a winery business on the side?”
“Yes, he mentioned that he had a vineyard in the Hunter Valley,” said Pippa, remembering.
Charlie nodded eagerly. “Pearson Estate. Really fantastic boutique wines. He’s won several medals and international wine awards, and all the top restaurants in Sydney have him on their lists. Because of his winery success, Matt has an ‘in’ at lots of society functions and things, but he doesn’t like to hobnob much with the rich crowd.”
Pippa remembered the way he had modestly not recommended his own wines at the Laughing Kookaburra on Tuesday night. “No, I’d got the impression that he doesn’t like being a tall poppy.”
Charlie nodded. “But I think his girlfriend’s the opposite. She loves all the VIP attention. I think she’s been really hassling him to move to Sydney, but Matt’s his own man. Won’t be pushed into anything.”
“Is that why they broke up?”
Charlie shrugged. “Maybe Justine thought that if she left and went off to Sydney, Matt would go crawling after her.”
“So... he hasn’t?” Pippa asked.
Charlie shrugged again. “I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about her much. But we could all see that he took it pretty hard. It was just before Christmas too—what a horrible time to split up.” She looked at Pippa seriously. “Matt’s a really nice bloke, but I don’t want you to end up as someone’s rebound fling.”
Pippa swallowed. “I’ll remember that. Anyway, I think you’re jumping to conclusions. We only had drinks—it wasn’t romantic or anything,” she said, ignoring the memory of that almost-kiss.
“Hmm...” Charlie didn’t look convinced but she let the subject drop. “So—do you have all the stuff you need? Food, bed, collar, scratching post, toys? You can pick up a few basic items from the clinic shop, otherwise you’ll have to go to the big pet store out of town.”
“I’ll do that,” said Pippa.
“How’s the job hunt going, by the way?” asked Charlie.
Pippa gave a frustrated sigh and shook her head. “Nothing yet.”
“You’ll find something soon,” said Charlie encouragingly.
