DELANO WASN’T SURE how he got through Friday night but, somehow, he managed it.
Seeing Janice Gopaul had sliced his heart and soul into pieces again, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to put any of it back together.
As she stood there, unsmiling, he’d been thrown back in time. Suppressing the recollection of the last time he’d seen her, so he could speak to her normally and treat her dog, had taken everything he had inside.
He hadn’t known she was back in St. Eustace. After Everard’s death, she’d gone back to Guyana where she’d been born. No one had mentioned she’d returned, or was a client at the clinic and, he’d realized as they spoke, a board member of Mellie’s shelter. Her sudden appearance had floored him, and brutally reminded him why he hated St. Eustace, and all the memories associated with it.
It also made him angry.
Why hadn’t Mellie mentioned Mrs. Gopaul to him? Surely she knew their history, and would realize how devastating it would be for him to see her unexpectedly? Her failure to do so felt like betrayal and the worst type of cruelty.
He pled tiredness to his father and Aunt Eddie and went to bed early, but couldn’t help being aware of the worry in their eyes as they watched him. Yet, just like they had when he’d started seeing Mellie, they didn’t comment or ask any questions, and he was thankful for it.
Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, there was no way to stop the flow of memories.
Standing behind the almost closed door on the day of the funeral, hearing her voice from the living room, where she and Dad were.
“Someone should have stopped him,” she’d said, in a hoarse furious tone that was forever etched in his mind. “Del should have, or you.”
“Yes,” Dad replied, so sadly and softly, Delano hardly heard him. “Yes.”
But Dad hadn’t been there, down by the water. Only Delano had known. Had seen Everard running into the surf.
Only Delano could have stopped him, but hadn’t.
Had failed Everard, and Mum. Dad and Janice Gopaul.
And had paid for it, every day since.
Eventually, emotionally exhausted, he fell asleep, but woke up the next morning still weighed down with renewed sorrow and guilt.
The spay and neuter clinic was busy and bustling with vets, clients and volunteers. Thankfully, there was no sign of Janice, although she’d mentioned it to him when he’d seen her at the clinic.
It was easy to avoid Mellie, but Delano was constantly aware of where she was at all times. She didn’t search him out, nor did she go out of her way to ignore him, but on the few occasions when they had reason to talk, she treated him with the same cool contempt she had when he’d first arrived.
It should have hurt, but there was a barrier between him and all emotion that couldn’t be breached.
Sunday morning dawned overcast and drizzly, and suited his mood perfectly. Baldur hadn’t left his side since Friday night, staring at him with questioning eyes, and lying as close as possible whenever Delano settled anywhere. Despite the dreary weather, Delano took the dog for a run as usual, but even a punishing, wet five miles did nothing to improve his mood or break him out of his emotional bubble.
As he was getting out of the shower, Aunt Eddie knocked on the door.
“Delano, your phone has been ringing nonstop. It might be important.”
“Thanks,” he called back, toweling off.
It went off again as he walked into his bedroom, and he picked it up. Not recognizing the number, he was a little brusque when he answered.
“Hello?”
“Dr. Logan?”
“Yes.”
“Is Chappie Robinson, Doc, from up Preacher’s Mount. We have a jackass caught down in a hole, and we trying to get him out. Dr. Mellie said to call you because you the best horse vet around.”
At the sound of Mellie’s name, something shivered to life inside, and Delano said, without hesitation, “I’ll come up. Where are you?”
He rushed out of the house, leaving Baldur behind, followed by Aunt Eddie’s grumbling about his not having breakfast yet, and how he’d catch his death in this weather. His anxiety was rising, breaking through the wall that had come down around him just days before, and he drove as quickly as he could on the slick roads.
Donkeys, like people, came with all different types of temperaments. Depending on whether the animal was hurt or not, the size of the hole and its depth, whoever took on the task of going down into it could be in danger.
And he had no doubt in his mind that if there was anyone in the hole, it would be Mellie.
If she was even on-site.
The sudden realization that the man he’d spoken to hadn’t actually said Mellie was there brought such a rush of relief, Delano felt lightheaded for an instant.
But when he got to the site, that relief turned out to be misplaced.
Mellie was very much down in the hole, which was about six feet deep and perhaps eight across, with the frightened animal. She was damp and muddy, and utterly lovely, even while standing in inches of mud.
Without a second thought, he swung himself over the rim and landed next to her, squelching into the ankle-deep mud and making the donkey jerk against the rope halter Mellie was holding.
“Delano, you made it.”
How incredibly calm she sounded, while his heart was trip-hammering in his chest, and his mouth was dry with fear.
“I’ll take over down here,” he said, when he could get the words out. Then he gestured to the men standing above them, around the hole. “Why don’t you climb out and direct them as to what to do?”
The look she gave him was scornful and amused.
“Do you know me at all? I’ve already sent for straps, and one of the men has gone to see if his cousin can bring his bulldozer. The only thing we can do is wait, and make sure the animal is okay.”
“Both of us don’t need to do that.” It felt imperative to get her out of danger...to safety. “I can manage on my own.”
She didn’t even bother to reply to his words.
Instead, she said, “Take a look at his left front cannon. I think it’s hurt.”
Resigned to her not budging, he replied, “Better to wait until we get him out of here. If he’s in pain and I touch the area, he might kick.”
“Or bite,” Mellie said, clearly not too worried at the prospect. “I do say, though, he’s one of the calmest donkeys I’ve had to work with, although I know that could change at any time.”
Especially since the beast was, at that very moment, rolling its eyes at Delano, while its nostrils twitched.
There was a shout from above, and the earth beneath them rumbled.
“Shorty bring the excavator, Dr. Mellie. And he has the straps too.”
After a few more minutes of what sounded like confusion above, a different man stuck his head over the side, and surveyed the scene.
“Dr. Mellie,” he said, then twisted his mouth to the side. “What you want me to do?”
“You think you can hoist him up with the bulldozer, Shorty, if we get two straps under him?”
Another few seconds went by as Shorty’s mouth twisted from side to side, and his eyes roamed the hole, the donkey and then the ground around the hole.
“I have to bring the dozer close up, and as long as the ground holds it that can work.”
“Good. Tie the straps onto the bucket, and let’s get this done.”
Before Delano could object, Shorty disappeared.
“Did you hear what he said, Mellie?” Delano realized he was holding on to her arm in a too-tight grip, and forced himself to let go. “He’s not even sure the ground around the hole can hold the weight of the bulldozer.”
She shook her head. “If he was worried, he wouldn’t agree to do it. Shorty is one of the best bulldozer operators on the island.”
The rumbling of the engine got louder, and the donkey shifted nervously as the ground vibrated. Then the bulldozer bucket appeared, a man standing in it, holding the straps that had been tied onto the teeth.
Delano held up his hands, prepared to catch the strips of webbing, and the donkey brayed and bucked.
“Whoa, now.” He could hardly hear Mellie over the racket. “You’re okay. Don’t go crazy on me now.”
Laser-focused on getting them all out of the situation as quickly as possible, Delano passed the first strap under the donkey’s belly, just behind the front legs. When he realized the strap wasn’t long enough to be thrown back up to the bucket, he gestured for the bucket to be lowered farther, and the man above them passed the request on to Shorty.
After what felt like a year, he got both straps positioned, with Mellie too busy trying to calm the distressed animal to help.
When he shouted for the bulldozer bucket to be lifted, all he could do was hope the donkey wouldn’t freak out, and kick itself out of the straps before it was back on solid ground.
Mellie was on one side of the animal’s head, while Delano was on the other, both watching and keeping out of the way of the hind legs, as the donkey started rising out of the hole. It was still braying, like it was being murdered rather than rescued, but thankfully kept relatively still.
Delano had just let out the breath he’d been holding, when a shout rang out.
“Watch out! Watch out!”
The timbre of the bulldozer’s engine changed, and the bucket swung to one side, sending the donkey swinging, just as the side of the hole gave way and a cascade of mud rushed in. Delano shouted with fear, as Mellie disappeared under it.
Mellie had felt the shifting of the earth behind her and, although bogged down in the mud at the bottom of the hole, had the chance to move one leg forward as the mud pushed her over. Although she went down on her knee, hard, the landslide didn’t have a chance to engulf her, and she was in no real danger.
Not that you’d know it from Delano’s reaction.
He went nuts, using his hands to try to free her, even when some of the other men jumped down with shovels and made quick work of it. Someone lowered in a ladder, and in short order they were out of the hole, although caked in mud.
Chappie came over, all smiles.
“That fool jackass. As soon as we take off the straps, him take off down back to him pasture. Thanks, you hear?”
“Get your fence fixed, Chappie,” Mellie told him. “I’m not coming back up here to rescue him again.”
“Yes, Dr. Mellie. I will.”
The men were moving away in twos and threes, and the bulldozer had been shut off, and Shorty was walking over to join a group. Mellie was aware of Delano standing close beside her, but hesitated to turn to him.
She hadn’t gotten over his behavior on Friday, and then yesterday at the spay and neuter event, when he hardly even looked her way. And when he did, it was as though they were strangers.
In the depths of Friday night, as she lay awake, determined not to cry over him, she’d admitted to herself just how much she felt for him. In her mind, it was too soon to call it love. Or maybe she just didn’t really know what love looked like, to make the comparison. All she knew was that the end of their relationship had left a hole in her she wasn’t sure would ever be filled.
What she really wanted was to walk away, to pretend he was already gone.
But he’d helped her just now, and shown concern in a way that told her he cared for her, even if it wasn’t enough for him to be honest about how much, or why he was acting the way he was.
Mellie was fair-minded enough to at least thank him.
She turned, looking up at him, finding his gaze fixed on her. But it was the blank, shocked expression on his face that made her breath catch in her throat.
“Delano.”
He blinked, but otherwise didn’t react, like a sleepwalker, she thought. And when she put her hand on his arm, she realized he was shivering.
Impossible to leave him this way. He was in no condition to drive, and Mellie knew she’d rather take care of him than leave him to his own devices when he was obviously in some kind of distress.
“Come on,” she said quietly, tugging his arm until he started walking with her toward her car. Thankfully, none of the other men seemed to notice anything unusual, since they were still chatting and laughing amongst themselves.
Getting him into the car, she quickly jumped in as well and started it.
As she bumped down the farm track toward the main road, she was trying to figure out how best to handle the situation. If she took him back to his father’s house in this state, it might upset Dr. Milo.
Besides, if she was honest, she wanted to be the person to take care of him, to find out why he had reacted this way. It might also be a chance to figure out what had happened between them.
She was resigned to their affair having ended, but it would be nice to know why he’d done a one-eighty without any kind of explanation.
Getting to the house, she was relieved when Delano opened the car door himself and got out to walk with her to the back door. Before going inside, he even took off his mud-encrusted shoes; a sure sign he was coming out of whatever funk he’d fallen into at the rescue site.
Then he wandered over to the small kitchen table and sat heavily in a chair. Mellie followed, and took the seat across from him. When he reached for her hand, she didn’t hesitate to take it.
“You scared me, Mellie.” His voice was rough, the timbre raw and pain filled. “When I saw the hole collapsing...”
His fingers tightened almost painfully, but Mellie didn’t pull away.
“But I’m fine, Delano.” She didn’t add that in her opinion he was overreacting. She’d never make light of his distress that way. “You can relax now.”
He shook his head, his gaze never leaving hers.
“It was my fault you were almost hurt. I should have protected you. Stopped you from staying down in there.”
“You’re not thinking straight.” There was no sugarcoating it. “You couldn’t have stopped me. I do what I need to, to help and rescue animals. That’s who I am, and no one tells me what I can and can’t do.”
“Not even someone who loves you?”