“She did well. Better than expected. Dr. Keegan has a nicer touch than Dr. Mullins.”

  His mother hummed in her throat and went back to work.

  He wasn’t sure what that was about.

  10

  Want Everything

  “We are going to have so much fun,” Laine said to Josie the next day.

  “Josie has been looking forward to this all week. You are sure that Thursdays are a good night for this?”

  “Positive,” Laine said. “And it gives you time to go run some errands on your own.”

  She’d gotten out of work thirty minutes ago, running late and hating that, but fed Josie a grilled cheese sandwich and some chips, then let Betty out quickly and put her in the crate to bring Josie to her first drawing lesson.

  She figured she’d have to stay, but Laine had texted her earlier to tell her it’s better if it was only the two of them. Laine explained that kids tended to pay more attention and be open when their parents weren’t around.

  She’d take Laine’s word for it and since she wouldn’t mind getting groceries on her own and having the time to relax with a cup of coffee before she had to return in two hours, she’d take it.

  Time alone was rare since Josie entered her life, but she didn’t care. All that she was really worried about was Josie’s happiness now.

  “Are you okay on your own, Josie?”

  Josie wasn’t even paying attention to her and was walking around the studio looking at the pottery and paintings. “Can I do pottery sometime too?”

  “Sure,” Laine said.

  “Guess that means she’s fine,” Avery said. “You’ve got my number if you need anything. I’m going to run to the store and then get some dinner. I’ll be back at eight.”

  She left and drove the mile or so to the grocery store. Nothing was that far away that she’d noticed.

  There were two grocery stores on the island. One chain store and one supercenter. The chain grocery store was closer to her house even though it was further away than the supercenter from where she was now.

  She parked her SUV and got out. It looked busy but not as busy as Saturday when she’d been here with Josie. She would have preferred first thing in the morning, but Josie slept in. Just like her mother needed to have some time to do things and not stress or worry about rushing back, she supposed she did too.

  There wasn’t much she had to buy but found herself getting more than needed. The last thing she should have done was come here on an empty stomach.

  She was reaching up to get the cereal that Josie liked. They hadn’t had it when they were here last week. Too bad it was out of her reach.

  She was going to jump and try to get it, but she heard, “I’ll get it,” from behind her.

  She turned and saw Carter Bond standing there. “Thanks,” she said.

  He reached up and easily got it and handed it over. “Just one?”

  “Yeah. Josie likes it, but it’s full of sugar. It will be a nice treat. I’m hoping there is a dentist on this island. I know there are doctors and I’ve got to get that squared away at some point.”

  “There are dentists,” he said. “One of my cousins, Coy Bond, has his own practice.”

  “The Bonds have about everything on this island, don’t they?” she asked.

  “I guess,” he said.

  He looked down at her cart which was overflowing. She caught him doing it and his gaze lingering some. “I shouldn’t have come here before I ate dinner. I want everything in sight.”

  “The same,” he said. “I needed four things. I’m close to twenty.”

  She saw his basket had a variety of snacks and fruit in it. Some meat and bread, deli meats too. “I’m glad to know I’m not the only one that does that.”

  “Where’s Josie?” he asked. “Or is Betty babysitting her?”

  “She’s getting art lessons with my friend Laine right now. I’ve got two hours to myself.” She looked at her watch. “Well, a little over ninety minutes now.”

  “She draws well,” he said. “I can’t believe the picture of Dopey.”

  “You saw it?” she asked.

  “She gave it to me yesterday.”

  “That was nice of her,” she said. “I hadn’t known she’d done that. She shows me what she draws. I told her we can put them in frames at the clinic.”

  “She told me that last week,” he said.

  She felt her face flush. Of course Josie did. She knew that because she saw them talking last week and Josie told her why she wanted the pictures of Dopey and Doc.

  Avery couldn’t remember the last time she was scattered talking to a man, but this one in front of her seemed to bring it about.

  From his dark hair and eyes to his slow movements. He didn’t talk a lot, but what he said got across the point he was trying to make.

  Then she’d heard all about how Josie grabbed Carter’s hand and pulled him to the office and Carter looked both flustered and adorable, per Roseann.

  She’d wanted to ask more about Carter but didn’t want to raise any eyebrows over the reason either.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I knew that.”

  “Are you having any issues with anything at the clinic?” he asked. “Need anything else done?”

  “I think we are good,” she said. “And I haven’t had a chance to thank you enough. If you have time, could I take you for a quick dinner? I’m going to check out now, then run home and put these away.” Or maybe he had a girlfriend. Crap, why hadn’t she thought of that? Just because Laine said he wasn’t married didn’t mean Laine knew if he was seeing anyone.

  “Sure,” he said. “If you want. But you don’t need to thank me. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I’m glad I’m here too. Tell me where to meet. I’m not sure where to go that might be fast.”

  “There is a little cafe down the street,” he said. “If you want to meet there in let’s say twenty minutes.”

  “Can you do that?” she asked. “I don’t know how far away you live.”

  “Not far,” he said.

  She nodded her head a few times, then started to move. “See you in twenty minutes.”

  She was checking out and rushing home. She put everything cold away that she could, then threw everything else in its spot that she could and would finish when she got back later.

  At seven it wasn’t that busy and she saw Carter getting out of a big SUV. Didn’t he have a truck the other day at the clinic when she first went? Or was she getting confused?

  “Hi,” he said. “You found it I see.”

  “It’s not that hard,” she said. “I’m still trying to figure out where everything is on the island, but again there are only a few main roads and that helps.”

  “I’ve lived here my whole life,” he said. “It’s grown a lot.”

  “And now you’ve got a full-time vet,” she said, laughing. “It seems odd to say that.”

  “Island living is much different. I’m sure you’ll figure that out. But some things make it easy. Just not for everyone.”

  “Like what?” she asked. They walked into the cafe, were told to sit where they wanted and found a booth to the side.

  “Lots of people commute here to work. In the winter months it's harder with the ferry schedule being different, but there are plenty that live here or fly over on the choppers. Businesses make accommodations too with those that have to ride the ferry.”

  “Yeah, the chopper rides are a little out of my league,” she said, laughing.

  “Out of most,” he said.

  “Let me guess, some of your cousins use that service.”

  “Yes,” he said. “Egan Bond owns it. Not sure what you know of the island.”

  “I’m learning fast,” she said. “Laine filled me in and I’ve done some research too. I’ve also found that people talk a ton about it when they come in with their pets.”

  “Just like they talk when they bring their cars in.”

  She smiled at him after they placed their orders. Both got sandwiches and it’d be quick.

  “I bet you aren’t one for carrying on conversations,” she said.

  “Not usually. I speak when I’ve got something to say.”

  “Like at the town board meeting,” she said. “Laine told me about it. That is how I knew of the opening.”

  “It was a need here,” he said. “I’m sure you’re seeing that, as you weren’t even supposed to start working full time yet.”

  “Oh, I see it. I can’t believe how busy I am. I expected it at some point, but not right away. I’m still trying to figure out where everything is here and getting Josie all set. School is starting in a few weeks and that is going to be another new routine for us.”

  “News travels fast on the island,” he said. “Plus it was in the paper and all the island's social media accounts.”

  “I haven’t even gotten to that part of things yet,” she said, shaking her head. “The list of things I need to do for the business and my life. Things for Josie. It’s growing rather than shrinking.”

  “Do you feel overwhelmed?” he asked.

  She wasn’t sure why he was asking but found it refreshing that he was. “At times. Then I tell myself I can only do so much and it will all work out the way it needs to. You said you grew up here, so you always wanted to run a garage? It was your father’s, right?”

  She didn’t think it was bad to say that she knew that information.

  “It was,” he said. “My grandfather’s before that. My father has a brother, Bill. He’s the old chief of police. He didn’t see himself being a mechanic for a living, but he does enjoy it and in his retirement helps me out with overflow. My father, he’s retired from running the shop a few years now. He does things at a garage at his house too.”

  “You don’t have a problem with that?” she asked.

  “No,” he said. “I’m sending them the work. Most are fine with it. There are still plenty that only want my father doing the work and it’s just as well.”

  “I find that old-fashioned thinking.”

  “It’s the way of the world,” he said. “The truth is, it’s an honest living but hard work. Owning a business on the island isn’t easy either. Getting supplies or staff are the top of the hard part of the list.”

  “I’ve been told that and that I’ve got to plan things out or make trips to Boston if I want it faster than shipping.”

  “I have products shipped to Boston and there are couriers you can hire on the island to pick up things daily if you don’t have staff to do it.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yeah. There are a lot of Bond businesses at the docks in Boston. One is a shipping and receiving office. Packages are delivered there and then sent over with couriers or held if someone knows they will be in Boston. It’s faster at times than having companies deliver right to the island where it’d have to go through the post office most times.”

  “Which would tack on a few more days. Got it. Those are things that are good to know. I don’t suppose you’ve got the names of some couriers that you might use?”

  “I do,” he said. “Not the information on me. It’s at the garage. Bond Shipping does it as a service too, but it’s pricier. Sometimes I like to give the business to residents on the island trying to make some extra money.”

  She nodded, liking the way he thought. “Do you still have my card?” she asked, reaching for her purse. “Or did you give it to Connie?”

  “I gave it to Connie.”

  She pulled another one out, flipped it over and put her cell number on the back. “That’s my personal number if you want to text me the information. Or you can email me. That’s on the front, just a general mailbox.”

  “I can do that,” he said.

  Their sandwiches were brought out and he asked while they ate, “Did you always want to be a vet?”

  “I did,” she said. “I love animals. I think most little girls do, but I never outgrew it. What about you and working for the family business? Or was it assumed you’d do it?”

  “I guess it was a combination of both. I enjoyed it and I’m good at it. My brother Grayson is a year younger than me and he had no interest. He doesn’t like to get dirty.”

  She laughed. “I think that is where most little girls lost their love for being a vet. It’s not all about playing with puppies and kittens. There are a lot of dirty things involved with it. A lot of sad things too. When you see your first sick or hurt animal, reality hits you hard.”

  “Life is dirty,” he said.

  “I know that firsthand,” she said. “But I do want to thank you again for everything you did for the clinic. Just walking into the building and finding it so well maintained was a relief for me. I’m not one for asking for help. It’s hard for me for a number of reasons.”

  “And this prevented you from figuring it out, asking for help, or hiring people and waiting,” he said.

  “Exactly,” she said. “It’s an overwhelming feeling. I’ve felt that a lot in my life or recently. But this time, it was a nice one too.”

  She couldn’t explain it. It was like the residents of the island wanted her to feel at home here. They’d have no idea the pressure it took off her to walk in and find the place not only up to date, but clean. Pretty. Welcoming... not to her but to the patients.

  “It wasn’t just me,” he said.

  “So Roseann told me. I still appreciate all the work you did. I heard you were the one that spearheaded pretty much the whole project.”

  “For selfish reasons,” he said.

  “Really? What were they?” she asked as she ate the club sandwich.

  “It takes too much time to bring the dogs to the ferry. What took me forty minutes total of my time to bring Doc in the other day from the garage would have been a half a day with a ferry ride. It’s one more thing that makes it hard to get people on this island.”

  “And takes away from you running your business?”

  “That too,” he said.

  She was watching his large hands that held his sandwich. His mouth that took a bite and chewed.

  She had to be sex deprived to be thinking those things, but it’d been close to eight months at this point since she’d been touched by a man.

  Well, that was the last time, but it’s not like it was often before that. Not after Josie came into her life.

  What she found odd was she hadn’t thought of that once until she met Carter and had no idea why this man kept popping into her head.

  11

  Be Like Him

  “What is this I hear you had dinner with a woman the other night?”

  Carter turned to look at his cousin Alex Bond standing in the doorway. He hated how fast things spread on this island.

  Though he’d been looking for people that he knew when he was out with Avery, he hadn’t noticed anyone.

  That didn’t mean he wasn’t noticed though.

  “The new vet on the island wanted to take me to dinner to thank me for all the work I did at the clinic.”

  Alex laughed at him. His first cousin was a fireman and not at the firehouse today. He was here bright and early and reaching for his coveralls to get ready to see what work had to be done.

  “That sounds more like it.”

  He wasn’t going to say much more. If he would have liked that to be a date with Avery, he kept it to himself.

  She’d said she wanted to thank him for the work and she did.

  When the bill came he’d reached for it to pay and she all but slapped his hand that had him pulling it back as if Dopey were trying to get a steak bone from his fingers.

  “She’s nice,” Carter said. “She’s filling up with appointments fast and it’s good to see. You know the island needed it.”

  “Sounds like there is a lot more that you aren’t letting on. Has to be someone young and good looking for it to get back to me.”

  “Who told you?” he asked. And he hoped it didn’t get back to his mother, but he figured it might.

  “Just one of the guys at the firehouse. He saw you leaving with the woman.”

  “Not much more to say. Her name is Avery Keegan and she’s new to the island. If you read any of the news you’d know that.”

  Alex waved his hand, a charming smile on his face. His cousin used to be one of the biggest playboys on the island, but he was in a serious relationship now with Jennie Zale.

  Jennie’s brother, Griffin, was married to their cousin Penelope Rauch and Griffin also worked for their other cousin Eli Bond.

  There were all sorts of six degrees of separation on this island that he had long since given up on.

  “I don’t need to know those things,” Alex said. “I don’t run a business.”

  “No,” he said. “But you should know what businesses are what if there is a fire.”

  Alex only grinned at him, then walked over to get treats out of the jar he kept there. Both Dopey and Doc were on their beds napping. Once they heard the jar open, Doc was running toward Alex, Dopey lifting his head knowing it would be brought to him.

  “What’s on the schedule today?” Alex asked him.

  It wasn’t even eight yet, and they’d be opening soon, but some dropped their cars off last night or this morning and left their keys in the overnight slot.

  “A few oil changes and new tires. Some brakes.” He looked things over the day before so he knew what to plan for each day and could let Alex know when he needed him. Lately it seemed like he needed him on his day off all the time but wouldn’t always push.

  His cousin worked hard and had a life. He needed to sleep after he worked nights and he had a right to spend time with his girlfriend.

  Something Carter never seemed to be able to do with someone.

  Or so they told him enough times.

  Maybe he couldn’t or didn’t find the right person either.

  He went to the computer and pulled up what should be done in order. Alex stood next to him and looked over his shoulder. “I’ll take the brake job first,” Alex said, looking at the keys on the desk, finding the ones to the Chevy truck and then going to get it in the front and bring it onto the lift.