Feels Like Home by Lisa Ireland Page A

school pick-up from the bus stop. Neither Ella nor the bus driver looked too chipper when he arrived five minutes after the official time. His profuse apologies were met with a gruff response from Bill, the normally cheerful driver. ‘I’ve got a schedule to keep, Ryan.’
    And now he was ignoring his child. Ella, clearly frustrated by his lack of attention, had pushed back against the table so that the timber chair balanced on two legs. ‘Don’t rock on the chair, Ella.’
    She did as she was told but not before rolling her eyes and letting out a theatrical sigh. ‘Well?’
    â€˜Well, what?’
    â€˜Can I wear lipstick at Steph’s wedding? The girls at school say all proper bridesmaids wear lipstick.’
    Ryan shook his head. ‘You’re not a bridesmaid, you’re a flower girl and no, you’re not wearing make-up.’
    â€˜That’s so unfair. I bet my mum would have let me.’
    Ella’s words squeezed his heart. He honestly didn’t know what Carly would have done in this situation. ‘Look, lipstick is kind of a girl thing. It’s not something I know much about. How about I talk to Gran and Steph and see what they think?’
    Ella smiled, obviously confident that she had won this battle. ‘Okay.’
    â€˜Now, I have a sick dog out in the clinic that I need to go have a look at. Do you want to help or are you going to go up to Gran’s and get started on your homework?’
    â€˜I’ll go to Gran’s,’ she said.
    Ryan raised his eyebrows at this unexpected answer. It wasn’t like Ella to turn down an opportunity to help out in the clinic. Clearly the lipstick campaign was her first priority. No doubt Gran would be well and truly lobbied for the next half hour or so. He smiled. ‘Okay. Don’t forget your school bag.’
    With Ella safely despatched to the granny flat Ryan was free to let his mind wander back to the unfortunate events of yesterday. Could have been worse. Much worse.
    At least he hadn’t actually kissed her.
    But the temptation to do so had been overwhelming. How the hell was he going to trust himself to be around her for the next couple of weeks?
    He had to start using his head, not his heart — or other organs — to make decisions where Joey was concerned. Even if she was free to be with him, which she wasn’t, she would be off home to New York in a few short weeks and he knew he didn’t have the ticker for a casual fling. Not with her.
    It wouldn’t happen again. He wouldn’t let it.
    As he made his way from the house to the clinic at the end of the driveway he heard a car coming up the road. Hopefully it wasn’t another client. He had all the work he could handle right now, although strictly speaking it was his own fault. The trickiest case he had at the moment was a stray labrador pup. A local kid had found her a few days back and brought her in, floppy and lethargic. It was a classic case of parvo. With no owner and no identification, he really should have euthanised her on the spot, but she’d looked at him with those big chocolate eyes and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. To be honest he didn’t think she’d make it through the first twenty-four hours, but the pup was a fighter and now, three days later, she was starting to look like she might make a full recovery.
    The cattle grid clunked as the car turned into his driveway. It was a Jeep, and not one he recognised. Oh bloody hell, it couldn’t be…
    Jo pulled the car up in front of the clinic. Ryan happened to be standing right there, so there was no backing out. Katherine’s words had plagued her all the way back from Bellington. She hadn’t managed to get any more detail about exactly what her mother had said, or done, to convince Ryan that taking up with Carly was a good idea. Katherine’s mind had wandered from the subject and there was no coaxing her