The
Summer of No Attachments : A Novel
Lori
Foster
On Sale Date: June 22, 2021
9781335459893
Trade Paperback
$16.99 USD
336 pages
ABOUT
THE BOOK:
From
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Lori Foster
comes the heartwarming story of two best friends who cross paths with a pair of
new-in-town brothers with one angry little boy in tow. A standalone story of
second chances at life and love, with found family and rescued animals, perfect
for fans of Jill Shalvis, Sarah Morgan, and Lori Wilde.
Summer flings with no
strings mean nobody gets hurt.
At least, that was the
plan…
After putting the brakes
on her dead-end relationship, local veterinarian Ivey Anders is ready to soak
up this summer on her own terms. The way she sees it, no dating means no
disappointment. Why complicate life with anything long-term? But when she meets
Corbin Meyer—and his troubled young son, Justin—Ivey’s no-strings strategy
threatens to unravel before she can put it into practice.
Trust doesn’t come easy
for Ivey’s best friend, Hope Mage, a veterinary-clinic assistant who’s affected
by an incident that’s colored every relationship she’s had. Though Hope’s happy
for Ivey, she can’t quite open her own heart to the possibility of love. Not
just yet… Maybe not ever. Soon, however, she’s faced with a dilemma—Corbin’s
older brother, Lang. He’s charming, he’s kind…and he may just be the reason
Hope needs to finally tear down her walls.
And as the sweet summer
months unspool, the two friends discover love won’t give up on them so easily.
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Excerpt
Chapter One
Ivey Anders shoved back a wayward curl and gently secured
the dog against her body so it couldn’t move while her tech, Hope Mage,
carefully clipped away the twisted wire. The poor thing, a stray by the looks
of it, had gotten itself tangled pretty tightly and one hind leg was in bad
shape. Ivey wanted to get it to the clinic where she could properly assess the
damage.
Mud caked the fur, making it
difficult to find any other injuries just yet, but there was one astounding
fact Ivey couldn’t ignore.
Behind her, the homeowner groused
that the dog had likely been stealing eggs from his chicken coop.
Voice calm, temper mostly in check,
Ivey said, “You didn’t hesitate to call me, did you, Marty?” It was well-known
that Marty was not a fan of dogs, or cats for that matter, and mostly
considered them a nuisance. However, they’d come to an agreement some time ago.
Marty, who owned a fair amount of wooded acreage, was supposed to call her if a
stray showed up, and she, as the local vet, would take care of the “problem” for
him.
Laura, his wife, was quick to say,
“I called.” Defiant to Marty, she added, “Soon as I heard the poor thing, in
fact.”
Which didn’t mean much. The animal
might have been there for hours. Possibly more than a day, though Ivey couldn’t
bear the thought of that.
“She’s pregnant, you know.”
Refusing to take her eyes off the dog and unwilling to raise her voice since it
might frighten the animal more, Ivey said, “If she took an egg, it would have
been from starvation—and you already know I would have compensated you for it.”
Affronted, Marty grumbled, “I
wasn’t worried about one egg, just don’t want to lose my chickens.” He cleared
his throat. “If it helps any, I was out here this morning and she wasn’t caught
then. Afternoon I watered my garden, and that’s why there’s so much mud. So I
doubt she was hung up there more than a few hours.”
The fist around Ivey’s heart
loosened just a little. “That helps tremendously, Marty. Thank you.”
More times than she could count,
Ivey had taken on problems with stray animals who needed special love and care.
It didn’t matter that she’d been working as a veterinarian for years now,
seeing all manner of hurt, neglected or just plain ill animals. She still loved
them all, and when one hurt, she hurt with it.
“No thanks necessary,” Marty
complained, his tone gruff with insult. “Not like I’d let an animal suffer.”
Ivey had a feeling their
definitions of suffer varied a bit, but she realized this mattered to him, and
she was too grateful to quibble so she just nodded.
Almost got it,” Hope murmured, and
with one last clip, the wire loosened. “There.” Fingers gentle, she
disentangled the dog’s leg, exposing a painful wound.
Ivey murmured to the small animal
all the while, cooing softly, petting and holding her secure. The second she
was able to sit back on the muddy ground, she pulled the dog into her lap. With
her face close to the top of the dog’s head, she whispered, “There now, that’s
better, isn’t it? We’ll get you all fixed up, I promise.”
“Here.” Slipping off her zip-up hoodie,
Hope offered it to Ivey to wrap around the dog. “Do you want me to get the
carrier?”
Busy swaddling the dog, careful not
to jar her, Ivey shook her head. “She doesn’t weigh more than ten or eleven
pounds. I’ll carry her to the truck and we’ll see how it goes.” Feeling mud
seep into the seat of her pants, she realized she couldn’t get up without
letting go of the dog. Lifting a brow at Hope, she said, “A little help?”
“Oh sure.” Hope caught her under
one elbow, and Laura hurried forward to take the other, giving her the leverage
she needed.
Marty stepped back to avoid getting
muddy.
Carefully, the two women got Ivey
on her feet. The thick mud was heavy on the seat of her pants, dragging on her
stretch jeans that had loosened throughout the day. At least her rubber boots
wouldn’t be ruined. Since they treated all sorts of animals, including those on
farms, she and Hope each kept a pair at the clinic.
“Let’s go.” Plodding forward, Ivey
led the way to the truck. Halfway there, the dog started panting. Concerned,
she hastened her step, not at all worried about getting mud on the truck seats.
“No need for the crate. Just get us back to the clinic.”
Picking up on her angst, Hope ran
around to the driver’s side and got the truck on the road in record time.
“Everything okay?”
“Not really, no. Something’s
wrong.”
“What should I do?”
Poor Hope. A sick cat had kept them
an hour past closing, and then Marty had called… “I’m sorry.” Ivey barely took
her gaze off the stressed dog. “Do you think you could assist me at the
clinic?”
“Of course I will! You don’t even
have to ask.” Frowning, Hope muttered, “Did you think I’d drop you off with a
dog in distress? Tell you good luck?” She snorted. “Have I ever done that?”
She and Hope were close enough that
Ivey knew she’d inadvertently insulted her. “No, you haven’t. But it’s Friday
night after a very long day.”
“It’s Friday night for you, too,
you know.”
“What a sad situation for us both.”
Despite her worries, Ivey chuckled. “Most women would have plans, and yet we
never do.”
“You have Geoff.”
Ivey made a face. “Lot of good that
does me.” Likely Geoff was settled on the couch already, watching sports or
playing a video game. The excitement had left their relationship a long time
ago, so she doubted he’d even notice her absence.
For her part, Hope never dated.
That bothered Ivey a lot, but she loved Hope enough that she would never pry.
Smiling at her friend, Ivey said,
“I’m glad I won’t have to do this alone.”
“Not ever,” Hope vowed. “Even if by
some miracle I ever do have something worthwhile lined up for the weekend, I’d
still be here for you, okay?”
Her friendship with Hope meant so
much more than any other relationship Ivey had, including her lackluster
romance with Geoff. “Smartest thing I ever did was hire you.”
“I’m so glad you did,” Hope
whispered. “Otherwise we might not have become friends, then where would I be?”
“Let’s just agree that we’re better
off together.” Though Ivey was ten years older than Hope, they’d still hit it
off from the start, meshing together as if they’d been lifelong friends. Where
Ivey was take-charge and sometimes a little too outspoken, Hope was an intent
listener with an enormous heart.
Ivey often wanted to challenge the
world, and Hope, sadly, wanted to hide from it.
Or more accurate, she wanted to
hide from any interested men.
Hope had an affinity with animals,
plus a gentle but sure touch. She was never squeamish, but she exuded sympathy.
Ivey valued her. The clients loved her. And the animals trusted her.
Unfortunately, they were still five
minutes away from the clinic when the dog went into labor. “This is definitely
happening,” Ivey said, doing what she could to make the animal comfortable.
Leaning closer to the steering
wheel, Hope drove a little faster. “Be there soon.”
They’d barely gotten in the door
when her water broke. Hope ran ahead to prepare an area, moving with practiced
ease as she opened an already cleaned kennel and set up a whelping box, then
filled it with bedding material. The box had three tall sides to contain the
coming puppies, and one low side for the mother to step out for food and water.
Knowing Hope had it in hand, Ivey
began cleaning the dog as quickly and efficiently as possible. She managed a
cursory job, removing the worst of the mud, when Hope rejoined her. “We’re all
set.”
“With luck we’ll have enough time
to clean and wrap her leg before she gives birth.” Usually that happened within
two hours after the animal’s water breaking, so they didn’t have a minute to
spare.
A day that had already been long
just turned entirely endless.
Excerpted from The Summer
of No Attachments by Lori Foster, Copyright © 2021 by Lori Foster. Published by HQN Books.
