Puppy Love. Kelly Moran

so he's gone a lot.” April shifted on her feet. “You're staying up at the rental cabins, right?” When Avery nodded, April said, “We're right down the road in the apartments. We should get the girls together sometime. They seem to be clicking.”

      They pulled out their phones and exchanged numbers before April headed back to work. Avery needed to take off, too, but she glanced at Hailey one more time. Sighing in contentment, she walked to the clinic, her heart so happy it hurt.

      Until she walked in the door and found Drake leaning against the front desk, arms crossed and a surgical cap covering most of his dark hair. Flynn and Cade stood off to the side, watching her entry.

      Her steps slowed as she glanced at the clock, wondering if she was late. But no, she still had five more minutes. Dread pitted her stomach as she unbuttoned her coat with shaking fingers. “Is everything okay?”

      “You,” Drake said, pointing a finger at her, his face an unreadable mask. “Did you do this?” He jerked his chin at the lack of charts and newly available counter space.

      There was still a lot to be done, but not if they were angry. She'd asked Rosa first.

      Avery slowly walked to the desk and edged around Drake, the granola bar she'd eaten sitting heavy in her stomach. “The charts for today's appointments are here in this basket. When you're done with them, I figured you could just set them back here, and I'll file them away.”

      Cade dropped his chin to his chest, lips quirking as if fighting a grin. Flynn stood next to him, eyeing the ceiling. Both men's expressions were in direct conflict with Drake's.

      Silence stretched, but she kept her chin up. She'd done nothing wrong, had asked permission first, and heck, the place needed organizing. How had they found anything before she came along? And it had only been one morning.

      Drake straightened and stepped into her space. “You,” he said, stretching the word out, “are a keeper. Well done.” With that, he strode down the hall to his office.

      Avery's jaw dropped. She forced it closed.

      Cade chuckled and swiped a hand down his face.

      Flynn signed, “Thank you,” and followed Drake.

      At Cade's silent laugh, his shoulders bouncing, Avery narrowed her eyes. “Was it necessary to freak me out like that? You guys just can't pat me on the back like normal people?”

      Squawk. “Don't fear the reaper.”

      Cade laughed harder.

      Brent and Gabby walked in from the back. Brent lifted his brows at Avery's irritation and Cade's hysterics. “What'd we miss? Dish, doll.”

      Squawk. “Laughing on the outside.”

      She eyed the bird. “Be quiet.”

      “Don't go breaking my heart.” Squawk.

      Apparently, that had been the last thread of composure for Cade. He wiped his eyes and groaned in distress when he couldn't stop laughing. Walking past her, lips pressed together, he patted her on the back and followed his brothers.

      Avery rolled her eyes and went to finish charting.

      Squawk. “Don't go away mad.”

      Chapter 5

      After Cade and his brothers had mercilessly teased Avery for the systematic changes she'd made to the clinic, she'd stopped asking to do things and just did them. Her incentive was admirable, if not scary. It's not that the office was disorganized. It's just that it was…well, yeah. Disorganized. It had been so much easier just to succumb to the chaos than it had been to take the time to change.

      Cade had dubbed Avery the Nazi but, damn, the clinic was running smoother than ever. So much so that Aunt Rosa decided not to finish out her two weeks, making today her last shift. Avery had hardly needed any training at all. She jumped right in with fervor and retained knowledge with frightening skill.

      Once Avery had a chart system in place, she'd moved on to the storeroom. As in they had one now instead of boxes of supplies in various spots throughout the clinic. She'd cleaned out the janitor's closet, found some old shelving units, and unpacked. There were even—gulp—labels.

      It actually had taken Brent twenty minutes to find twenty-two gauge syringes because they weren't buried in a box in the boarding room. They were on a shelf now. In a closet. With a label. Cade blew out a breath and shook his head in awe.

      Finished with a round of patients, he headed up front where Aunt Rosa was reading a romance book and Avery was typing away on the computer. “Whatcha doing now?”

      Avery didn't glance up from the screen. “Making a supply list in Excel.”

      Hell. Why was that hot? She wasn't his usual type.

      Okay, to be honest, any female with too many brain cells wasn't his type. It wasn't out of a sense of shallowness he sought that variety, but preservation. Until he found someone who made his heart beat like Heather used to do for Drake, he'd stick with superficial. No point in getting hurt or hurting someone else. But ever since Heather died, Cade tried less and less to settle down or find that person. He was aware of it, aware he was doing it, and damn if he ever questioned his actions until now. People rarely recovered from that kind of love. Why search for it?

      Perhaps it was Avery's long legs in those black leggings, or her pink sweater the same shade as her cheeks when she blushed, or her brown hair—more chestnut really in the sun—piled on top of her head and held in place with a pencil that seized his interest. He bit back a sigh. Nope. It was her brain, her humor, and her strength.

      Hot.

      Aunt Rosa glanced at him over the top of her book, a knowing smirk on her face.

      Busted.

      “A supply list?” Bully for him. His voice sounded normal. He still had no freaking clue why, but if he wasn't bumbling like a moron around Avery, he was saying moronic things. Where the hell was his swagger?

      “Mmhm.” Type. “So we don't over order things or run out. Gabby and Brent can just check off what they need and I can order from the supplier.” Type, type. “Did you know you had ten cases of cat litter? Insane.”

      He scratched his jaw. “Uh. No.”

      “Putting Zoe's stuff on here, too. Her shampoos and whatnot for grooming.” Type.

      “She's making a supply list,” Rosa beamed, waving her hand like this was an epiphany. I told you I'm all-wise. I hired her!

      Cade frowned at his aunt. She'd been the office manager, for Christ's sake. She should've been doing this.

      Flynn came up to the desk and tapped Avery's shoulder. “Have you seen my backup bag? Gabby and I need to head out to Miller's farm.”

      Avery nodded. “In the supply room, stocked for you. Your new bag should be here Monday.”

      At Cade's questioning glance, Flynn signed, “A goat chewed my other one when Gabby was busy chasing a barn cat.”

      And this was why he wasn't the house call vet.

      Flynn tapped Avery's shoulder to get her attention again. “Marry me?”

      She laughed. “Not today, but you're welcome. Shoo, now.”

      What. The. Hell.

      As if sensing Cade's thought train and derailing it, Avery said, “He asks me to marry him daily. Hourly, depending on what I've done.” Type, type. “Relax, Dr. Cade. He's joking. Besides, I don't do office romance.” Right, Flynn? she signed.

      Flynn grinned, the asshole, and strode into his office, only to emerge moments later with Gabby and his travel bag.

      Cade flipped him off behind Avery's back as he was walking out the door.

      “Saw