Page 2 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘I’m ordering pizza. Are you in?’
Her stomach rumbled on cue. It was late afternoon, and a long time since her morning cup of tea and biscuit. That Buffy had eaten half of. ‘God, yes. Pizza sounds great.’
‘I’ll fire up the surgery,’ he said. ‘We can order when you get here.’ Sera didn’t know what she’d do without Toby. Dr Toby McManus, veterinary surgeon, took care of the animals she saved, and he did it all for free, which had saved Rose’s Rescue, the struggling animal shelter Sera owned and ran.
When Grandma Rose left her cherished property in Oxford Falls on Sydney’s Northern Beaches to Sera, her first thought had been to sell. A charming Federation-style home with a small paddock set against the bush and only minutes from the ocean, the place would no doubt fetch a sensational price and set Sera up nicely to travel, or to start that Masters of Creative Writing she was always threatening to do.
But with her grandmother’s home came three ancient cats, and until they passed on, Sera saw it as her responsibility to take care of them. Rose had loved those cats even more than she’d loved James Herriot, and Sera had loved Rose. So she put her plans to sell on hold, and instead moved in.
Then one day while she was out for a run, she spotted a wiggling hessian sack on a bush track off the side of the road, which she was horrified to discover contained four newborn puppies. Then and there, she decided to take them in and when they were old enough, find them the good homes they deserved. She hadn’t known her commitment to those puppies would completely alter the course of her life.
Toby’s was the closest vet surgery to her on that day, and she would forever be grateful for that, because without him, his encouragement and steadfast friendship, she may never have had the courage to use her inheritance to build an animal rescue and boarding facility on Rose’s land.
Two years later, Rose’s Rescue was a small but passionate shelter dedicated to saving lost and abandoned dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits – if there was an animal in need, Sera took them in and found a family to love them. She was even housing a malnourished horse and eternally cranky sheep in the barn at the bottom of her paddock, both of which Toby was helping to care for. He looked after all creatures great and small. Including her.
Buffy bounded out of the car and dashed towards Toby, her tail wagging furiously.
‘Hello, Stink,’ he said as he bent down to scratch the dog’s ear. ‘You’re getting fat.’
Sera lugged the kittens from her van and handed the crate to Toby.
‘She’s muscular.’ He hummed in disapproval and took the crate into his surgery. Placing them on the examination table, he peered in at the terrified kittens huddled together, staring back at him wide-eyed. ‘No mother?’
Sera leaned against his desk. ‘I didn’t see a mum, but I left food out just in case, and the woman whose house this lot were hiding under said she’d call if she sees a cat hanging around.’
‘Under the house, huh? That explains…’ He raised his eyebrows and nodded towards her t-shirt.
She glanced down and grimaced. She was smothered in dirt, and that rat goo she thought only ended up on her hand. ‘Ew. I think that’s dead rat gunk on me.’
He fake gagged. ‘Gross. Why don’t you go wash up? I’ll give these ratbags a once-over.’
Toby’s surgery adjoined his small house, where Sera spent so much time it was practically her second home. She hurried up the hall towards the bathroom, being careful not to touch anything. Looking in the mirror, she gasped; she was a mess. Her auburn hair was damp and plastered to her forehead, and she had a shadow of dirt under her chin and spatters of mud mingling with her freckles. She really could have done with a shower, but getting naked in Toby’s house was a line she didn’t feel comfortable crossing, even though she knew that made absolutely no sense (something he’d told her on more than one occasion).
She peeled off her grubby t-shirt and placed it into a plastic bag, then washed her face and neck, swept her hair into a ponytail with a scrunchie she found in her pocket and wiped down her jeans with a washcloth. Finally, she helped herself to Toby’s deodorant and one of his Petside Vet Clinic promotional sweatshirts, which was four sizes too big and swamped her petite frame.
She checked the mirror again. Definitely a little dishevelled, but at least she was clean. Ish.
Venturing back to the clinic, she smiled as she watched Toby coo to each kitten he examined. Toby was everything most women go crazy for. Tall, with caramel coloured hair that hung in soft, unruly curls around his face, and gentle eyes that were the perfect shade of milk chocolate. He was handsome in that people-can’t-help-but-stare way, and he was smart and kind and funny and, to top it off, he loved animals. She teased Toby constantly about how all his female clients, and the occasional male one, swooned in his presence.
Leaving him to his work, Sera scuffed to the lounge room, flopped onto the couch with a relieved groan and closed her eyes. She and Toby had never been anything more than friends. The best of friends. They’d clicked from the moment they met and spent endless hours together, watching movies and eating food they knew they shouldn’t. He was her confidant andtrusted adviser on everything from how to care for a pregnant bunny to how to handle her mother, and she was always there to cheer him up on the days his work left him a little heartbroken. She loved Toby like crazy, but not likethatand she knew he felt the same.
‘Oi,’ she heard, and fluttered opened her lids. ‘Am I keeping you awake?’ Toby pushed back his freshly showered hair.
‘I think I dozed off.’ Her head rolled to the side as her gaze followed him across the room. ‘How are the kittens? Also, I stole one of your sweatshirts.’
‘The kittens are fine. Also, that’ll be twenty bucks.’
‘Add it to my bill.’ She gave him a wry smile. God help her if he ever did give her a bill for what she owed. It’d probably cost more than her soul was worth. ‘How long before I can home them?’
‘I’d say they’re four to five weeks old, so they’re good to be weaned. We’ll start their vaccinations in the next week.’
‘Thanks, Herriot. What would I do without you?’
He huffed. ‘Do you want a drink?’
‘Are we talking your client’s home-brew?’
‘Yep.’
