Carolyn McSparren - The Money Man

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Mark replied. “I do not have room in my life for a dog. She’s probably not housebroken, she’s probably sick and I’m away a lot of the time.”

As though she understood that her fate was being discussed, the puppy wriggled over and laid her head on Mark’s hand with a sigh. Her little rear wagged as she looked at him hopefully.

“See that?” Sarah said. “She is your dog. Besides, someone has to pay for all the treatment we’ve given her. Isn’t that what you always say, Mr. Scott?”

“Whoa.”

“No whoa. You found her, you helped me work on her, you saw what we did. It all costs money. The clinic has to make money. That’s also what you always say. Well, Mark, you’ve just spent about two hundred bucks, and by the time I get through loading you with all the things you need for her, you’ll have spent a bunch more.”

She rubbed the pup’s ears. “Sweet baby, Mommy loves a paying client.”

Dear Reader,

Those of us who love romance tend to love all God’s creatures. Personally, I draw the line at poisonous snakes, but I’m sure there are those of you out there with a soft spot in your hearts for copperheads. Our pets give us so much more than we could ever give them, and when they’re sick or hurt it’s up to us to help them.

Our veterinarians and their staffs are truly special. Who else would work through the night in a freezing barn to save somebody else’s calf?

Medical doctors need to know about one species—human beings. But a vet has to know that aspirin will kill a cat, that chocolate will poison a dog and that pythons sometimes can’t tell the difference between eggs and tennis balls. And then there are the owners—much more trouble than the animals, to hear my vet friends talk.

In The Money Man, Sarah Marsdon has completely uprooted her life to take over as large-animal vet for a new clinic, only to find that the equipment she needs—and was promised—hasn’t even been ordered, thanks to Mark Scott, her personal roadblock. He’s not going to spend another dime. After all, a bankrupt clinic can’t help even one animal.

Until the clinic is out of the woods financially, Sarah must make do with what she has. But she isn’t willing to offer less than the very best to her charges. She’s certain Mark could find the money if he really wanted to.

They’re both too bullheaded to give an inch, even though the romantic sparks fly between them from the minute they meet. Can they find some way to compromise before their conflict destroys their love? Or will everyone lose—the animals, as well as Mark and Sarah?

Carolyn McSparren

P.S. I love to hear from readers. You can reach me by email at cmcsparren@aol.com.

The Money Man

Carolyn McSparren

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To all the veterinarians I know, their families and their staffs. These wonderful people answered thousand of questions, let me watch procedures, recounted funny and heart-rending tales and taught me about the inner workings of a veterinary clinic.

For Dr. Melissa Poole of Mississippi State University, Camille and Dr. Mark Akin of the Akin Equine Clinic; everyone at the Bowling Animal Clinic; Elizabeth Lee, a great veterinary technician from Albuquerque, and Sam Garner and Bobby Billingsley, who convinced me all cows are crazy!

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

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

EPILOGUE

DR. SARAH MARSDON shoved open the double glass doors and walked into the reception room of Creature Comfort Veterinary Clinic.

She breathed in the faint odor of damp fur, disinfectant and enzyme cleaner used to remove doggie scents from floors.

From the area to her left came the occasional barking and yipping and the persistent baritone yowl of a Siamese cat. In the week since she’d left her job in St. Paul, she’d missed the sound of a waiting room filled with animals.

She’d paid a high personal and professional price to get here, but this job at Creature Comfort was a dream come true. At last she was going to be treating large animals—horses, cows, goats, sheep, even pigs.

“Why do you want to be a large-animal vet?” Steve, her previous boss, had asked. “Fancy pets—that’s where the money is. And you don’t get called out at two in the morning. Nobody wants to do large animals anymore.”

Well, this particular body loved working with large animals, even if that meant making less money and spending long nights treating colicky horses or orphaned calves.

She walked up to the reception desk, where a small man was speaking to the blond receptionist.

He could barely hold on to the leather leash of a young Great Dane who obviously wanted to be somewhere else. “Ernest T., down! Stay!” the man said.

The dog sighed and sank to the floor. He rolled his sad eyes up at Sarah.

“Okay, Mr. Bass, you and Ernest T. have a seat. It’ll be about ten minutes,” the receptionist said. She smiled and picked up the telephone beside her. “Creature Comfort Veterinary Clinic.”

“Come on, Ernest T.”

The dog sighed again and heaved himself to his feet. His uncropped ears flopped endearingly around his face.

Sarah walked up to the reception desk and said, “Hi, I’m Dr…”

“Watch out behind you!”

Sarah glanced over her shoulder and shrank back against the reception desk, but not fast enough to avoid a butt behind her knees from a stumpy black pig. She caught herself on the counter.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Egg Roll, stand still.”

The “miniature” Vietnamese pot-bellied pig stood nearly three feet tall at the shoulder and must have weighed about two-fifty. The woman he towed at the end of his leash weighed maybe one-ten. Anyone could tell who was in charge.

The receptionist punched her hold button and leaned over her desk. “Egg Roll, cut that out!” She tossed a piece of hard candy onto the floor.

The pig hesitated, snuffled, then scarfed up the treat. A moment later he collapsed into a big black blob of contentment. His owner wiped her forehead and gasped, “Thanks, Alva Jean. He hates having his hooves trimmed.”

“No problem, Judy. Candy gets him every time. You better wait in room three.” She picked up the phone once more. Judy nudged the pig with her toe. Still snuffling contentedly, he stood and lumbered through the door beside the counter.

A sigh of relief went up from the waiting dog and cat owners. Sarah sighed as well. The chaos felt just like home.

“NO.”

“But I promised when I hired her.”

“Un-promise.” Mark Scott leaned back in his rickety desk chair and propped one knee against the scarred edge of his elderly desk. Once the clinic was fully operational, this room would hold patients’ records, but at the moment it served as a general storeroom and Mark’s office.

From the far side of the wall came the pop of a nail gun. A small puff of plaster dust floated down from this side of the unprimed wallboard.

Rick Hazard sneezed, wiped his nose and eyes. “Mark, we need Sarah. She’s young, she’s top-notch, she’s hungry, and we’re getting her cheap because she wants to work large animals. She’ll build that side of the practice fast. Don’t act as if we’ve never talked about this. We’ve got to have another full-timer. She’ll start with evenings, some weekends—fill in whenever she’s needed, until the large-animal practice is big enough to occupy her full time.”