kitty slipped through the wire cage. “Sleep tight, little Holly,” she whispered, reading the name card. “Were you a Christmas kitten?”
She almost didn’t notice the weight of Declan’s hand on her back. Almost. The sick animals were riveting, pulling at her heart as they always did, striking a chord that made her ache to help and help hard.
But his touch was so soothing, and it nearly took her breath away.
“Dr. Dolittle,” he whispered, making her smile.
“I should never have forced you to see that movie with me.”
“But I swear you talk to them.”
“But they don’t talk back, sadly.” She took a step to the side to check on BooBoo, a darling little Yorkie, licking the bright green gauze that wrapped his tiny leg. “Because that would be too easy, right, BooBoo? If you could tell me what’s wrong, I could fix it.”
BooBoo stopped licking and looked at her, silent. But she could see the absolute agony in those sweet brown eyes.
“Excuse me, can I help you?”
They both turned at the question from a vet tech who didn’t look at all amused at the intruders.
“Sorry, I wanted…”
“The waiting room is right through that door.” The woman, young enough to be a student, nodded to the hall, her gloved hand holding a small syringe.
“So sorry.” Declan took a step forward, his hand still on Evie’s back. “This is Dr. Evangeline Hewitt, the head of the Department of Veterinary Neurology at NC State.”
“Declan, it’s okay, I—”
“Oh, Dr. Hewitt!” The woman’s eyes widened. “I’ve read your work in myotonic dystrophia. I’m writing my senior thesis on the subject, and your paper has been gold to me. I’m Valerie Kaufmann, by the way.”
“Hi, Valerie, and…thank you. So happy the work is helping with your thesis.”
“Are you lecturing at Vestal Valley? Because, oh my God, I’m there.”
“Goodness, I didn’t expect to be recognized.” Suddenly self-conscious, she felt her cheeks warm with a light flush. “No, I’m not here as staff or faculty, though. We brought in a dog for an MRI.”
“Oh, sure, sure. And jeez, I hate to be the one to boot you out, Dr. Hewitt, but that little fellow…” She nodded toward BooBoo’s cage.
“Is waiting for meds,” Evie said quickly. “So sorry to get in your way.”
“Not at all!” She smiled at Declan. “Are you Mr. Hewitt? I can tell you’re proud of your wife. She’s a legend in neurology.”
This time, the blush burned full force on Evie’s cheeks.
“Evie’s a talented doctor,” he said gracefully, too classy to embarrass the young woman for the mistake.
“But I don’t belong in here,” Evie said. “And you have work to do.” Back in the hall, she let out a noisy breath. “Nice save, Mr. Hewitt.”
“That’s Captain Hewitt to you,” he said, lightly elbowing her. “And who knew you were famous? A legend, no less.”
“Only to veterinary students.” But the feeling was nice—being here, talking about things that mattered to other vets, not messing with department administrivia. “I actually like it here, back in the trenches where the real vet work is done. But I shouldn’t be poking my nose in other doctors’ cases.”
“Come on.” He nudged her toward the reception area. “You’re going to crawl out of your skin with the need to heal every animal in the place if we don’t at least take a walk.”
“But the doc could come out at any minute.”
“They’ll text you.” He led her to the door. “I want to talk to you about something anyway.”
Finally, an explanation and apology? That she would take, gladly. “Okay.”
He didn’t let go of her hand as they walked out into a hall, then through some glass doors to the sunny campus of Vestal Valley College.
“There’s a little coffee shop around the corner that way,” she said, gesturing. “It used to have the most insane pecan pie. Super rich and gooey, and the crust could bring you to tears.”
“Gotta have a crust that will make me cry.”
They took a shady path that meandered through the heart of the small college campus.
“You sure know your way around here,” he mused.
“I went here for a semester, remember?”
“Vaguely. During graduate school?”
“I did one neurology rotation here. Molly was an undergrad then.” She eyed him as they neared the coffee shop. “You were, uh, otherwise involved at the time.”
He nodded. “I recall that now.”
“What was her name?”
“That I don’t remember,” he said, then laughed at her surprised look. “Okay, I remember, but it didn’t last.”
“Kept me from coming to Sunday dinners, though, when Molly invited me. I didn’t want