The Single Dad's Marriage Wish (Bachelor Dads) by Carol Marinelli Page B

death, and surprisingly she wasn’t on his mind.
    Instead, sick to the stomach at what surely lay ahead, he watched as Charlotte sank to her knees and buried her head in old Scottie’s worried, pain-riddled face where he lay on the floor. Hamish took over, grabbing a blanket and covering him, doing what little he could to make him comfortable till help arrived…and trying to support Charlotte.
    ‘The vet will be here soon.’
    ‘Is he good?’
    ‘He’s great. His name is Nick—Emma swore by him.’
    ‘Did you tell him it was serious?’
    ‘He’ll be here any moment.’ God, he hoped she wasn’t praying for a miracle here, Hamish thought as Charlotte closed her eyes and cuddled Scottie tighter, hoped to hell that Nick would get there soon.
    He did, though it felt like for ever. As for Hamish,there wasn’t a single thing he could do. All she’d asked from him was a vet—and he’d delivered. But as she knelt holding her pet, though Hamish was more than used to dealing with distraught people, when it came to Charlotte he didn’t have a clue, felt superfluous almost as he stood there. She wasn’t talking so he couldn’t answer, she wasn’t crying so he couldn’t put out a hand to comfort her—she was like this little self-contained package on which he couldn’t impinge.
    Nick dealt with her well, though, and, Hamish decided, residents could learn a lot from vets.
    There was no way animals could communicate, nothing to go on bar knowledge and instinct, and Nick had them in spades.
    ‘He’s got a lovely nature.’ Examining the old boy well, expecting a bite or a kick, when he got neither all he could do was give a sad smile. ‘Was he your first pony?’
    ‘No.’ Charlotte didn’t look up, her head buried in Scottie’s neck. ‘I had Patch and then Nutmeg and then Scottie—he was an RDA horse.’
    Hamish frowned as he tried to place the abbreviation, but Nick got it in an instant. ‘Riding for the disabled—no wonder he’s such a sweetie. What happened here Charlotte?’He ran his finger along a scar on Scottie’s abdomen. ‘It looks fairly new.’
    ‘Cancer!’ Charlotte said through shivering teeth. ‘In his colon. He had surgery last year—just for comfort—but he’s done well, he even put on a bit of weight in the last few months. Do you think he’s had a heart attack?’
    Nick ran his stethoscope along the bloated stomach,soothing and talking to the suffering animal as he did so.
    ‘I’m not sure…’ Nick admitted, hesitating before he broke the inevitable news, but Charlotte got there first.
    ‘Don’t shoot him!’ For a second the two men looked at each other. There was no way this horse deserved a battery of tests before the inevitable end, but they soon realised they’d misinterpreted her: that it wasn’t a question of prolonging his life, just rather more gently ending it. Standing up, dusting straw down from her nightdress, she ran a hand through her hair. ‘Do what you have to do, but I don’t want you to shoot him.’
    ‘I won’t. I’ll anaesthetise him. Do you want to stay with him?’
    ‘No, thank you.’
    ‘Would you like us to give you a moment to say goodbye?’
    ‘I already have.’ Her teeth were really chattering now as she spoke and all Hamish wanted to do was put his arms around her, but something in her stance told him she wouldn’t want it. ‘Can I pay you now? Only I don’t want a bill for this arriving in a couple of weeks—I’d rather just deal with it all today.’
    ‘There’s no charge,’ Nick said as he stared at the withered pony and reminded himself all over again why he did this job. ‘How many kids did this old boy make smile in his lifetime?’
    ‘Lots!’ Charlotte sniffed, and went to go but changed her mind, sinking to her knees for just one more fleeting second and kissing him goodbye for the last time.
    It was horrible being back at the house.
    Horrible watching her fill the kettle and chatting away as if nothing was going on