Annie Claydon - Healed By The Single Dad Doc

Could single dad Ethan be the one...

To put Kate together again?

When kindhearted single father Dr Ethan Carr comes to vet Kate Conway’s rescue one night, it forges an unexpected bond between them. Could Kate be the perfect woman for Ethan and his young son to let into their life? If Kate can learn to trust again and let Ethan help her, perhaps they can both move on—and be a family!

Cursed with a poor sense of direction and a propensity to read, ANNIE CLAYDONspent much of her childhood lost in books. A degree in English Literature followed by a career in computing didn’t lead directly to her perfect job—writing romance for Mills & Boon—but she has no regrets in taking the scenic route. She lives in London: a city where getting lost can be a joy.

Also by Annie Claydon

The Doctor She’d Never ForgetDiscovering Dr RileyThe Doctor’s Diamond ProposalEnglish Rose for the Sicilian DocSaving Baby AmyForbidden Night with the Duke

Stranded in His Arms miniseries

Rescued by Dr RafeSaved by the Single Dad

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Healed by the Single Dad Doc

Annie Claydon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07495-7

HEALED BY THE SINGLE DAD DOC

© 2018 Annie Claydon

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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To Kate. Wishing you unicorns.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

DR ETHAN CONWAY WAS no stranger to the saving of lives. And also no stranger to the desolate feeling of having to accept that sometimes there is nothing that can be done.

And Jeff wasn’t ‘just’ a dog. He was Ethan’s dog. The gentle, giant Newfoundland would be over ninety now in human years. Old age was finally catching up with him and, if his gradual decline over the last three weeks hadn’t come as any surprise, it had still been hard.

‘All right, Jeff. She’ll be here in a minute.’ Ethan had parked the car in the empty forecourt of the veterinary surgery, and he twisted round in his seat. Jeff lifted his head slightly at the sound of his name and Ethan reached back, stroking the dog’s head. Jeff had been with him for nine years, through love and loss, dreams and shattered hopes, and the thought of losing him now hurt.

It’s okay to be upset about this.

The words of the pretty red-haired vet who’d seen Jeff last week sounded in Ethan’s head. He’d explained to her that, in the scheme of things, this wasn’t so bad and she’d cut through his bravado with one look.

Another car swung onto the forecourt, its headlights blinding him for a moment. It stopped at an interesting angle, taking up two parking spaces, and the driver’s door opened. Kate Foster got out, hurrying across to where Ethan’s car was parked.

‘I’ll straighten it up in a minute...’ Ethan wound the driver’s window down and she grinned at him. ‘Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry, my last call took a bit longer than I anticipated.’

‘I was early. And it’s good of you to see us so late in the evening.’

She brushed the idea away with a wave of her hand, even though Ethan knew from his earlier conversation with the receptionist that Kate had been working all day. Despite that, she was all fresh-faced energy as she craned her neck through the window of his car, her gaze seeking Jeff out.

‘Hello, Jeff. How are you doing, old boy?’

Jeff’s tail thumped on the seat and he raised his head again. Kate smiled, and Ethan provided the answer to her question.

‘He’s been a lot more comfortable since you saw him last week. I’ve been giving him the medication regularly.’

She nodded. ‘Good. Let’s get him inside and I’ll take a look at him.’

Kate unlocked the main door of the surgery and waited while Ethan unclipped the car safety-harness. Jeff lumbered slowly inside. The door slammed behind them and she squeezed past him in the narrow entranceway, leaving a scent of fresh air and flowers behind her as she walked through the darkened reception area and opened a door to the surgery at the back, flipping on the light.

‘Bring him through...’ She held the door open and Ethan bent, ready to lift the large dog up onto the examination couch. ‘That’s okay. Sit down there with him. He didn’t much like it up on the couch last time, did he?’

She’d only seen Jeff once before but she remembered. Ethan sat down gratefully on the long vinyl-covered bench which ran along one wall of the surgery, and Jeff sprawled on the floor next to him, leaning against Ethan’s legs.

‘You’ll be okay there for a moment? I’ve got to go and get my bag from the car.’ She gave a smiling shrug that, for one moment, dispelled the weight in his heart. ‘I should probably take another shot at that parking bay, too. I’m told the white lines are there for a reason.’