The vet gave the nurse more instructions and Molly lingered. She couldn’t bear to leave Valentine. What if something happened to him in the night and she wasn’t here? What if he knew she’d left and felt abandoned? What if he—
She sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs. “I’ll wait. It’s fine. You go, Daniel, and thank you.”
“You should both go,” the vet urged. “There’s nothing you can do here. You need to get some rest. I recommend you take up your friend’s offer.”
Rest? Was he kidding? Did he really think she was going to be able to rest while Valentine was this sick?
“Molly.” Daniel dropped to his haunches in front of her. “I wasn’t kidding. I live five minutes from here. It will be no different than being in the waiting room, except it will be a lot more comfortable. If there’s any change, Steven will call.” He was rock-steady and calm.
Absorbing some of that calm, Molly looked at the vet. “What time do you go off duty?”
“I don’t. Tonight is my night shift and I have a new colleague with me so I’m going to be here all night.”
That made her feel a little better.
Reluctantly, Molly stood up and gave Valentine’s head a last stroke. His eyes were closed and his tail was still. Feeling sick, she stepped back and tried to think about practicalities. “I need to give you insurance details. I don’t have anything with me. My card—”
“I’ve handled it. We can talk about it later.” Daniel put his arm around her shoulders and started to guide her to the door when a man appeared.
“Steven, I’ve put the—” He broke off when he saw Daniel. Molly saw recognition and surprise. And she saw something else.
Caution.
She felt Daniel’s arm slip from her shoulders and when she turned her head she saw his jaw lock tight.
She sensed tension, and yet how could there be tension when they were strangers?
“This is Seth Carlyle.” Steven introduced them. “He’s a critical care specialist who has just joined us.”
Molly waited for Daniel to respond, but he was silent, his gaze locked with Seth’s.
The silence stretched forever and still the two men stared at each other, like stags weighing up whether to engage in overt aggression.
And she realized they weren’t strangers.
They knew each other.
The atmosphere was taut to the point of snapping.
Seth Carlyle was as tall as Daniel, his shoulders as broad. Both men were dark-haired, but where Daniel’s eyes were the blue of the ocean on a summer’s day, Seth’s were almost black.
Molly was bemused.
Maybe Daniel had represented Seth’s ex-wife. That was the only explanation she could come up with.
With a brief nod to Steven, Daniel urged her through the door. He strode away so fast she almost had to run to keep pace with him.
“Er—do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“About what just happened in there. Do you know that guy? The other vet? I thought you were going to attack each other.”
“We’ve had dealings.”
“Not good ones.” It was raining outside and within moments Molly was soaked and shivering. “Did you handle his divorce or something?”
“No. Forget it. It doesn’t matter. We need to get you home. You’re cold.” Emerging from whatever black cloud had enveloped him, Daniel shrugged off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders.