Carolyn McSparren - Tennessee Vet

Is he ready to soar like an eagle...

and live again?

When Stephen MacDonald brings Barbara Carew an injured bald eagle, the widowed veterinarian doesn’t expect to heal two wounded males! Although he came to rural Tennessee to recover from his own accident, Stephen seems invested in Orville’s future...and Barbara’s. But even as their connection grows, Barbara isn’t sure she’s ready. Or has she already started to teach Stephen—and herself—to soar again?

RITA® Award nominee and Maggie Award winner CAROLYN McSPARREN has lived in Germany, France, Italy and “too many cities in the US to count.” She’s sailed boats, raised horses, rides dressage and drives a carriage with her Shire-cross mare. She teaches writing seminars to romance and mystery writers, and writes mystery and women’s fiction as well as romance books. Carolyn lives in the country outside of Memphis, Tennessee, in an old house with three cats, three horses and one husband.

Also By Carolyn McSparren

The Wrong Wife

Safe at Home

The Money Man

The Payback Man

House of Strangers

Listen to the Child

Over His Head

His Only Defense

Bachelor Cop

Williamston Wildlife Rescue

Tennessee Rescue

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Tennessee Vet

Carolyn McSparren

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08611-0

TENNESSEE VET

© 2018 Carolyn McSparren

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

The eagle let forth with one of his horrendous screeches.

Startled, Barbara slipped and braced her hand against the front of Orville’s cage.

Stephen grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from the cage a second before Orville’s beak struck the wire. He kept her wrist and spun her to face him. “You okay?”

Her eyes were wide with fear and he heard her breathing speed up. He held her close. Those flecks in her eyes drew him to her as though he were a miner who’d discovered a seam of gold a foot wide.

A moment later they were closer still. The kiss came without thought or even volition. It started out as a friendly peck. A moment later it changed into something deeper.

It was one heck of a kiss before breakfast!

Dear Reader,

Losing a beloved spouse, the person with whom we share memories no one else shares, can feel as though we are stuck with a leftover life to live. The very idea that we could find another love feels like a betrayal. Yet, even when we turn our backs on love, it can sneak back into our hearts and our minds.

Barbara Carew, a veterinarian with a small practice by the Tennessee River, is too busy to think about love. The sudden death of her husband left her with complete responsibility for herself, their two children and all the animals that desperately need her help.

Stephen MacDonald, a history professor, not only lost his wife to cancer, but nearly lost his leg in an automobile accident. After a year in rehab, he still uses a cane. He seems to be functioning, but in reality he’s forgotten what it’s like to laugh, to love, to take chances.

Barbara and Stephen are brought together by a shrieking, angry, desperately wounded bird that Stephen names Orville. And through Orville’s journey of healing, Barbara and Stephen find their own hope.

This second book in the animal rehabilitator series Williamston Wildlife Rescue is also in praise of the wonderful people who take in and care for wild animals, raptors included. These people devote their lives and frequently their money to help the wild creatures that so often are in trouble because of human beings in the first place.

Watch for the third book in the Williamston Wildlife Rescue series, available in 2019.

Carolyn

This book is dedicated to the US Fish and Wildlife Service at Reelfoot Lake State Park in Tennessee, who watch over and protect our bald eagles. Thanks to them, the number of breeding pairs is increasing every year.

You go, guys!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

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

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

“THE CLOSEST SERVICE station that has snacks and drinks is eight miles away in that direction,” Emma Logan said and pointed out the window down the two-lane road to her left. “And it’s twelve miles in the other if you want to drive into Williamston. Can you stand to be so isolated? Seth and I live right across the road, but I’m either helping out down at the veterinary clinic or looking after whatever animals we’ve rescued. And in this condition—” she pointed down at her sizable belly “—I can’t pick you up if you fall.”

Stephen MacDonald thumped his Malacca cane with the silver wolf’s head against the floor between his knees. “I do not fall, Emma. I limp. I am not an invalid.”

“Then why hide out here? I’ve known you and your daughters since you all moved into the neighborhood years ago. I know you’re hiding. Takes one to know one. I came out here to hole up and lick my wounds when I lost my job and my fiancé, and look what happened.” She waved her hand at the living room of the farmhouse. From behind the back wall came the thud of nail guns and shouts of men. “It’s already nearly October. With Kicks almost here, we have to finish the nursery and the kitchen and the new bathroom fast before he, she or it arrives.”