Finding Forever (Living Again #4) Read online

  Brantley. That was his name. Brantley Tucker. Even his name was sexy. And that was nothing she should be thinking right now. He was here for them to help Max, not have her drool over him. She struggled to keep focused on the words Dr. Jenkins was saying as her mind went off on a tangent.

  Brantley’s eyes flicked to her momentarily, then back to Dr. Jenkins. He noticed as well and gestured towards her.

  “Where are my manners? I’m sorry. Brantley Tucker, meet Dr. Lacey Russell. She will also be part of Max’s care.”

  Lacey lifted her eyes to meet his, forcing a smile on her face. “Sorry to meet you under these circumstances.”

  Brantley nodded, his face grim. “It’s Brant. Thank you for helping take care of Max. He means a lot to me.” He cleared his throat, and she knew he was fighting emotion. For some reason, that made her stomach flip, and she fought against her own rising emotion.

  He turned back to Dr. Jenkins. “We were at home, and Max wanted to go out. He never needs a leash, he’s the best dog I’ve ever had and just stays right in the yard. He was just kind of walking around, enjoying the sunshine. I walked away for just a minute to go inside and grab a drink when I heard the screeching tires. When I ran outside, I saw him lying in the middle of the road, not moving.”

  “Did the driver stop?”

  Brant shook his head. “I never saw it. Whoever did this just drove away and left him there to die.”

  Lacey bit her lip, anger surging through her veins. Who would do such a thing to a helpless animal?

  “Did you call the police?”

  Brant shook his head. “No. I just picked him up and rushed him here. I-I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted him to be okay.”

  Dr. Jenkins smiled, placing his hand on Brant’s arm. Lacey just watched, like an outsider looking in. She had never felt so tongue-tied in all her life. “He’s going to be okay. You did the right thing, getting him here right away. We’re going to take him into surgery. Do you want to wait in the waiting room, or do you want me to call you once he’s out?”

  Brant looked down at a sleeping Max. He ran his hand over his big head, and Lacey had to look away to keep the tears at bay. What was wrong with her? What was it about watching him with this dog that made her such a hormonal mess?

  It was just the whole day, she decided. She was emotional already because she knew after work she had to go to the river with her sister and deal with all of the feelings that her mom’s death brought out in her.

  “I’ll wait. I can’t focus on anything else until I know he’s okay, anyway.” Brant stood up, his eyes sliding over to her. “Take care of him.”

  She nodded, her throat thick, and turned back to Max. Focusing on the dog made it easier to pretend that Brant Tucker wasn’t affecting her.

  The technicians laid Max gently in the huge kennel. His leg was all put back together and cleaned out, and he would sleep for a while. An IV drip delivered antibiotics and pain medicine. They would have to watch him to make sure no complications came up, but thankfully it had been a rather simple surgery. Lacey shut the door after the guys and stood there, watching Max’s chest move up and down in sleep. It was always a guessing game what an injured animal would do when they woke up, but she would be there for him.

  “Can you go tell Mr. Tucker that Max is stable? You can bring him back here to see him, but just for a few minutes,” Dr. Jenkins said from behind her. She nodded, waiting for him to walk away before she moved.

  Steeling herself, she took a deep breath before pushing the door open to the waiting room. The second her eyes connected to Brant’s, he stood up, his eyes searching hers for what she was going to say.

  “Dr. Russell?”

  “Lacey,” she corrected, trying to keep her tone professional. “Max is out of surgery and did well. There were no complications. Dr. Jenkins said that you could see him for a few minutes.”

  Brant breathed out, running his hands through his hair. “Thank God. Thank you, Lacey. Max is more than just my dog.”

  Lacey nodded, not trusting her voice. Not only was he the most ridiculously good-looking guy she’d ever seen, but he was so obviously in love with this dog that it made her knees weak. And she was fully aware that she was acting like a complete female around him, but he still showed no sign of realizing her silliness.

  “Follow me,” she finally said, pivoting on her heel and leading him back to the kennels. He followed her without a word. Once they reached Max’s kennel, he let out a loud breath, looking at Max and then at her.

  “Can you open the door, just for a minute?”

  Lacey nodded, unlatching the door. Once she did, Brant stroked Max’s head, running his hands along his sides and whispering so quietly she couldn’t make out what he was saying. She knew she should probably back away, give him a few minutes, but she couldn’t seem to make her feet move. She watched his jaw muscles work as he continued talking to his dog. Her eyes scanned the muscles of his arms, contracting as he caressed the sleeping animal.

  “He’s really okay?” She realized a moment too late that he was talking to her, and she looked up.

  “As long as he has no complications or infections, yes. The true test will be when he wakes up and if he’s controllable as far as not trying to fight us or get up on his leg too early.”

  Brant shook his head. “He’ll be okay. He’ll be looking for me, though, if he wakes up.”

  “He has to stay here at least through tomorrow. If at that point there’s no complications, he can be released but will still have to be checked daily for a while until he’s cleared. This isn’t going to be a quick recovery, unfortunately. His femur was shattered in several places, and we had to use screws to fix it.”

  Brant leaned down and kissed Max’s big head, tracing his fingers over his eyebrows like he was a lover he was expressing his love to. Standing back up, he shut the door and turned back to Lacey. “When can I come back to see him?”

  “I’ll double check with Dr. Jenkins, but tomorrow morning should be good. He should be awake by then and I’m sure would love to see you. Let’s go on out here,” Lacey lead him back to the lobby, where she verified that Brant could come back in the morning.

  “He’ll be okay, here, I promise,” Lacey said, seeing Brant looking longingly back at the door. He nodded, his gaze seemingly finding her for the first time. His eyes roved over her, making her squirm. A small smile played on his lips. He probably could sense her discomfort with his perusing.

  “If he wakes up and sees you, I’m sure he’ll be just fine. Max always did love a pretty girl. And a doctor to boot.” Brant whistled, and she blinked. He was flirting with her? Taking her hand in his, he pressed his warm lips to her hand.

  “Thank you again,” he rumbled, his breath whispering over her hand. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock. “Dr. Lacey Russell.” The way her name rolled off his tongue made her shiver from head to toe, and she fought to make her mouth work.

  “M-my pleasure, Brantley Tucker,” she responded finally, feeling as if her tongue was three inches thick.

  He winked, turning to walk to the door. “Brant.”

  With that, he walked out the door, the wind whooshing through her ears as the door swung behind him. What in the hell just happened?

  Brant slid into the cab of his truck, letting out the breath he had been holding for what seemed like hours. And if he was completely honest with himself, it wasn’t just because of Max, though that whole thing had scared the shit out of him.

  He looked back at the door he had just come out of, and wondered if she was still standing there, the shocked look on her beautiful face after he flirted with her. Dr. Lacey Russell. How had he not noticed her the second he walked into the office? He hadn’t lied, Max loved a pretty woman and had he not been in severe pain, he probably would’ve had his head in her lap. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t immune to good looking girls; hell, in his profession, they were a dime a dozen. The problem was, most of the ones that surrounded him o
n a daily basis knew how hot they were and constantly tried to use it to their advantage. Lacey seemed like a breath of fresh air in a world of fake women. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed many of those same women, but that was about all they were good for.

  He was stifling in the Tennessee summer heat, but he couldn’t move to turn the truck on. Between the adrenaline of thinking he might lose Max, to the conflicting feelings he had about Dr. Lacey, he felt discombobulated. Max was okay. Looking around the cab, he saw the towels spotted with Max’s blood, and anger boiled up inside him again at the person who hit his dog and left him to die.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he had been as scared as he had been when he saw Max lying in the street. He still had no idea what in the world would’ve made Max go into the street. He had seen so much blood, and he was so still, Brant had been sure that he was gone. Who would hit a dog and then drive away?

  As he told Lacey and Dr. Jenkins, Max was way more than a dog to him. Max was the only living thing that he felt completely loved him for who he was. Sure, his parents loved him, but only when he was doing what they wanted him to do. His dad had opted out of talking to him, since Brant had his own ideas on what he wanted to do for a living and it didn’t include the family business. His mother was always the peacemaker, trying to smooth things over between him and his hot-headed father, but she never quite knew what to do about her strong-willed son. Then there were his twenty-one year old twin sisters, Brooke and Heather. They were still in college and in their own little world, though he would do just about anything for them.

  His parents had the kind of marriage that books were written about, and he had grown up in a wonderful home. It wasn’t until he had become a rebellious teenager and told his dad he had no interest in becoming him that the trouble had started. Brant had been on his own since he was eighteen, reaching for his own dreams and doing things on his own terms.

  He thought he had been in love once, right after he moved out on his own. He had met Victoria through a friend, and they had gotten serious quickly. That was, until she decided that he couldn’t do anything more for her and moved on to someone else. Before breaking up with him, of course. Looking back, he knew he hadn’t really been in love with her, but in love with the idea that she represented and the dream of escaping the confines his dad was trying to put on him.

  Since then he had dated quite a bit, but not seriously, focusing instead on his career and had done quite well with it. Being a model, taking on a persona in front of the camera had always been so fulfilling to him and something he enjoyed from the time he was first discovered back in high school. His dad, Robert Tucker, the owner of one of the most successful ranches in Tennessee and third generation rancher, just couldn’t understand why his manly son would want to do something so feminine. He couldn’t even count how many times his dad had asked him if he was gay, just because he wanted to model.

  He had made quite a name for himself, and even had some national photographers and magazines contacting him now. His agent, Angela, was convinced he was going to be a household name very soon, but he was trying not to get his hopes up.

  Sweat dripped down his forehead, making him realize he was still sitting in the parking lot of the vet’s office. He could chalk up his insanity at sitting in a stifling car to having a rough day, right? It wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain brown-haired veterinarian wearing dog scrubs with the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Nope. Definitely not.

  Brant pulled the truck out of the parking lot, his mind elsewhere. It took him a few moments to realize that his phone was ringing, and he had to stop to find it. In his haste to get Max to the vet, he had just thrown it in the truck. The vet could be calling on Max. What if something was wrong?

  “Hello?” He knew his voice sounded panicked. He had just left there, something couldn’t have happened, could it?

  “Tucker!”

  Brant smiled, despite feeling as if his stomach could come up in his throat at any second. “Evan!” Evan Carmichael had been his friend since kindergarten, and one of the very few people that supported him with no contingencies. “What’s going on, man?”

  “Just checkin’ in, Cosmo,” Evan joked. He had taken to calling Brant Cosmo after the magazine once he had started modeling full time. While Brant would see that as an insult from many people, it wasn’t one from Evan.

  “It’s been a shitty day, Ev,” Brant admitted, turning the truck towards the only place he could think of to go right now. Even though Max wouldn’t be there to run through the water and chase birds, there was no way he could go home.

  Evan’s voice became serious. “What happened?”

  Brant filled him in, trying hard not to allow his voice to crack. Everyone knew that men shouldn’t show emotion. Well, according to his dad, anyway. He left out the part about Lacey, saying only Dr. Russell. He wasn’t in the mood for an inquisition.

  “Want to meet for drinks? Sounds like you could use a few to take the edge off.”

  “I sure as hell don’t want to go home. Let’s say 7? I’m going to walk the river right now, pretend that Max is with me. And I have a shoot next week so I won’t be drinking the rest of the week to prepare.”

  “Okay, Cosmo. See you later. I’m glad Max is going to be okay, man. I hope the asshole that hit him is caught.”

  Brant ended the call, pulling the truck into the parking lot he had been to so many times he could come there with his eyes closed. There was something about the river that just calmed him, centered him. Usually, as soon as he would pull up, Max would start whining, ready to get out. He loved it here as much as Brant did, if not more. It felt wrong to be here without Max, but then again, it would be even worse at home. At least he was going to be okay. He prayed that nothing happened overnight.

  Brant walked along the edge of the river, stopping every once and a while to skip a rock along the water. His thoughts were consumed between that big teddy bear of a dog and the brown-haired doctor that was taking care of him. She looked young, around his age. She was probably fresh out of school. He found himself wondering if she grew up around here and what her story was. Growing up around tons of animals, people that loved animals were always top on his list. What had made her want to be a vet?

  He smiled as he realized he would see her tomorrow when he went to check on Max. Unless she wasn’t working for some reason. He hoped she was. He had no intention of starting anything serious with her, but she intrigued him, that was for sure.

  Checking his watch, he realized he had been there for over two hours and probably should get going if he had a chance in making it on time to meet Evan.

  Turning around to head back towards the truck, he stopped in his tracks. His eyes were playing tricks on him, right? He took two steps forward and then stopped again. It sure did look like her. Maybe he just wanted it to be her.

  A figure that looked a lot like Lacey was huddled next to the water. He couldn’t see her face, and she was now wearing a pair of jeans and a button down shirt, but she resembled her enough to make him start walking in her direction. And what exactly was he going to do if it was her? Ask her how Max was? Two hours after he left there? Make small talk? Ask her out?

  He had no idea, and felt that this might be a bad idea, but his feet kept moving anyway. If it wasn’t her; hell, even if it was, this could become awkward quickly. As he got closer, his eyes scanned her long brown hair, now braided in one single braid down her back. Her back was still to him, but all he knew was that he was being pulled by some force bigger than him to keep walking.

  Close enough now to smell the same flowery perfume that had lingered on him after he kissed her hand, his stomach clenched at the gasping cries that were coming from her mouth. She was huddled over, her shoulders shaking. The instinct he had to go wrap his arms around her shuddering shoulders almost overtook him before he stopped himself from moving forward. He felt frozen. He should leave, he knew that. He had no business being here, invading her personal moment.
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br />   “Aubrey?” her wobbly voice called out, not turning around. He turned to look behind him, but saw nothing. Even if he walked away now, she would still see him if she turned around.

  “Lacey?” The second her name was out of his mouth, he regretted it. What was he doing?

  She scrambled up, wiping her eyes furiously. “W-what are you doing here?”

  Brant opened his mouth to respond, but he found that words failed him. She hadn’t been wearing much makeup earlier when he saw her, but now, her face was scrubbed clean, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. In his line of work, he saw women with so much makeup and so many fake parts, the natural beauty rolling off of her was enough to knock the breath out of him. “I…” He scrubbed his hands over his face, willing himself to stop acting like an idiot. “This is Max’s favorite place. We come here all the time. I couldn’t go home without him.”

  He stepped forward, and she eyed him warily. Before he could stop himself, he reached his hands out and grasped her small hands in his large ones. He could feel her quivering. “Are you okay?”

  Lacey looked away, over his shoulder, as if she was thinking about how much she wanted to tell him. He could understand that. “Fourteen years ago today, my mom died. She was my best friend.” Tears invaded her eyes again. He knew that wasn’t easy for her to say to him, a virtual stranger. She pulled one of her hands away from his and covered her mouth. “Why did I just tell you that? It’s not like you care. I’ll be fine.” She turned, and he put his hands on her shoulders before he could stop himself.

  “Of course I care,” Brant said into her ear. “I’m sorry doesn’t seem like the right words, because that just means I pity you. I know enough to know that isn’t what anyone in pain wants.”

  He felt her relax just slightly at his words, so he knew he must’ve said something right. “So, fourteen years? You must’ve been young.”