Fragile Hearts (Poplar Falls #4) - Amber Kelly Page 0,14

since. It’s been hard to pull myself back together, and I’m not there yet, but making this purchase is a huge step forward. Maybe I’ll be able to restore both of us.

I swing into the parking space behind the clinic and enter through the back door.

Mom is sitting at the desk on the phone, with Lou-Lou lying at her feet, and she turns as I approach.

She raises her eyebrows in question, and I wave the envelope in my hand.

Her eyes fall to the paperwork, and she smiles hugely. She turns back and finishes the call as I walk to my office and grab my lab coat. I have three appointments here this afternoon before I have to head out to give some vaccines at a farm outside of town.

I hear her hurried footfalls as she reaches my door.

“Everything went through? You bought it?”

“Yes, ma’am. Since the property was owned by the bank, they accepted my cash offer on the spot.”

I made a lowball offer, sight unseen. No inspection. No haggle. I figured I’d salvage what I could of the bones of the main house and tear down everything else and build from there. Mr. Stroupe assured me the septic had been serviced and inspected recently and that a new well had been dug last year. That was enough for me. I followed my gut, and now, for better or worse, I am the proud new owner of a huge chunk of land in the Rocky Mountains.

“Wonderful!” she exclaims as we hear the bell above the front door chime.

She turns on her heels and hurries back to greet our client.

“Is it bad, Doctor?” Ms. Krause asks as I examine her white Maine Coon.

“He might have scratched his cornea, and it’s caused irritation. That’s why the eye is red and oozing. Or it could be a bacterial infection. I’m going to get a swab of the discharge and take a better look, and we’ll get a blood sample to send off to the lab, just to rule out anything more serious. But I’m ninety-nine percent sure it’s nothing an antibiotic and eyedrops can’t fix,” I assure the nervous cat owner.

She sighs in relief. “Thank goodness. Hazel is my best friend, aren’t you, boy?” she coos at the large cat.

“Hazel?” I ask.

“Yes, I named him before I knew he was a boy. He was a little ball of white kitten fur, and he just looked like a Hazel. My husband complained about his name until the day he passed,” she explains.

“I think it suits him just fine. If you want to check out with Mom up front, I’ll finish up here, and I’ll bring Hazel out to you.”

She scratches the cat behind his ear before exiting the exam room.

I put a few numbing drops in Hazel’s right eye, do a quick eye swab, and collect a blood sample, and then I pick him up and carry him out to Ms. Krause in the waiting area.

“Here you go.” I hand the pet off to her.

“We’ll give you a call in a couple of days with the results. Until then, here are some eyedrops to help with the discomfort. You can put them in the affected eye twice a day. We’ll call out for any other prescriptions needed once we know exactly what we are dealing with, and you can swing by and pick those up next week.”

“He already looks better,” she cries as she cuddles Hazel close to her.

“He’s going to be just fine,” I tell her.

“Thank you, Dr. Haralson. You’re a doll.” She places Hazel in the carrier to take him home. “Bye, Miss Elaine. We’ll see you next visit,” she calls down the hallway to Mom.

The bell above the door chimes again, and Bellamy Wilson breezes into the office.

“Bellamy!” Ms. Krause calls.

She comes fully in and stops in front of the elderly woman.

“Well, hello. How are you and Mr. Hazel today?” Bellamy asks as she reaches into the carrier and pets the cat.

He closes his eyes and purrs loudly.

“Oh, we’re okay. He just has a little eye infection, but Dr. Haralson is getting him all patched up.”

“That’s good to hear,” she says as she smiles a beautiful smile at the pair.

In fact, everything about her is beautiful, not just her smile.

She has her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, which hangs through the back of a charcoal-gray ball cap that says, Charm and Chaos. She’s wearing a pair of well-worn, faded jeans, which have ripped knees, topped with a tight sage-green