Read Online Shoreline Drive by Lily Everett - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lily Everett
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“Oh now, who’s a good boy? I love your new collar, such a fashion statement, very avant-garde. All the lady retrievers are going to be all over you.”
“That collar isn’t decorative,” Ben said from above her. “It’s a cone of shame, to keep Bosley from licking himself raw.”
“Oh, Doctor,” an old lady’s voice quavered. “Don’t call it the cone of shame. I hate for him to feel we’re laughing at him, even if he does look silly. Bosley, the girl dogs will love it!”
Ben snorted. “Trust me, Bosley doesn’t care if he’s a hit with the ladies—why should he? When his tongue can reach his own—”
Merry stood up so quickly, all the blood rushed from her head. “Hi, Mrs. Ellery. Great turban.”
Mrs. Ellery blinked the slow, lazy blink of a woman who’d had an extra good time in the sixties. She smiled and the tiny bells sewn into her purple paisley head scarf tinkled merrily. “Meredith, honey. How’s your mama? And that sweet little boy of yours. He was getting so big when I saw y’all at the playground last week.”
This, right here, was why Merry was determined to bring Alex up on Sanctuary Island. The warmth and welcome she’d received was beyond anything she’d ever imagined—especially since she’d shown up in this tiny town five months ago as an unwed mother.
But no one here batted an eye. Maybe Merry was automatically accepted as one of the Hollister women, who’d been living on the island for generations. Or maybe it was that Sanctuary Island was home to a variety of misfits and oddballs who followed the golden rule about their neighbors’ quirks.
Merry smiled back. She liked the way Mrs. Ellery always called her by her full name. “They’re both good. Thanks for asking. And I hope Bosley will be up to playing by next Saturday! Alex will sob his eyes out if he doesn’t get to pull on poor Bosley’s ears at the park.”
With plenty of fluttering and wispy hand wringing, Mrs. Ellery promised to see Merry and Alex in the park, got her marching orders from Ben on patient care—“Don’t let him lick himself. Use a squirt bottle if you have to, or he’s going to get an infection in a really nasty place”—and bustled out of the clinic with her faithful companion padding along beside her.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest, making Merry notice the muscles in his biceps and shoulders, the solid strength of him. The wide planes of his chest narrowed to a lean waist that made Merry’s palms itch to touch, to see if it was as hard and ridged with muscle as it looked.
“Hello?” Impatience snapped in Ben’s tone as he waved a hand in front of her face, and Merry jumped, heart racing. Crap, she’d been staring.
Desperate to distract herself from the heat pooling low in her body, Merry grinned and arched a brow. “I know Mrs. Ellery is a woman of the world—heck, she probably had more sex than you and me in our whole lives put together during the Summer of Love alone—but that dog is her baby. And trust me, no mama wants to think about her little boy doing the nasty to himself.”
“I wasn’t talking about your morality policing,” Ben said, glowering down his nose at her. “I meant all this. The office.”
“Oh!” Stupidly, Merry felt the urge to apologize choke up into her throat, but she swallowed it down. She had nothing to apologize for.
“This place is a hot mess,” she said instead. “What have you been doing since your assistant left? Throwing your bills and diagnostic notes onto her desk and waiting for the elves to come at night and file them by magic?”
Ben rocked back on his heels while his eyes did a funny, shifty squint. “No!”
Merry laughed. “Oh, for the love of … that’s exactly what you’ve been doing. Doc, come on. Just hire someone new.”
“I tried,” he growled. “You think I like living this way? I’m going out of my mind, and I’ve interviewed what seems like every empty-headed
“That collar isn’t decorative,” Ben said from above her. “It’s a cone of shame, to keep Bosley from licking himself raw.”
“Oh, Doctor,” an old lady’s voice quavered. “Don’t call it the cone of shame. I hate for him to feel we’re laughing at him, even if he does look silly. Bosley, the girl dogs will love it!”
Ben snorted. “Trust me, Bosley doesn’t care if he’s a hit with the ladies—why should he? When his tongue can reach his own—”
Merry stood up so quickly, all the blood rushed from her head. “Hi, Mrs. Ellery. Great turban.”
Mrs. Ellery blinked the slow, lazy blink of a woman who’d had an extra good time in the sixties. She smiled and the tiny bells sewn into her purple paisley head scarf tinkled merrily. “Meredith, honey. How’s your mama? And that sweet little boy of yours. He was getting so big when I saw y’all at the playground last week.”
This, right here, was why Merry was determined to bring Alex up on Sanctuary Island. The warmth and welcome she’d received was beyond anything she’d ever imagined—especially since she’d shown up in this tiny town five months ago as an unwed mother.
But no one here batted an eye. Maybe Merry was automatically accepted as one of the Hollister women, who’d been living on the island for generations. Or maybe it was that Sanctuary Island was home to a variety of misfits and oddballs who followed the golden rule about their neighbors’ quirks.
Merry smiled back. She liked the way Mrs. Ellery always called her by her full name. “They’re both good. Thanks for asking. And I hope Bosley will be up to playing by next Saturday! Alex will sob his eyes out if he doesn’t get to pull on poor Bosley’s ears at the park.”
With plenty of fluttering and wispy hand wringing, Mrs. Ellery promised to see Merry and Alex in the park, got her marching orders from Ben on patient care—“Don’t let him lick himself. Use a squirt bottle if you have to, or he’s going to get an infection in a really nasty place”—and bustled out of the clinic with her faithful companion padding along beside her.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest, making Merry notice the muscles in his biceps and shoulders, the solid strength of him. The wide planes of his chest narrowed to a lean waist that made Merry’s palms itch to touch, to see if it was as hard and ridged with muscle as it looked.
“Hello?” Impatience snapped in Ben’s tone as he waved a hand in front of her face, and Merry jumped, heart racing. Crap, she’d been staring.
Desperate to distract herself from the heat pooling low in her body, Merry grinned and arched a brow. “I know Mrs. Ellery is a woman of the world—heck, she probably had more sex than you and me in our whole lives put together during the Summer of Love alone—but that dog is her baby. And trust me, no mama wants to think about her little boy doing the nasty to himself.”
“I wasn’t talking about your morality policing,” Ben said, glowering down his nose at her. “I meant all this. The office.”
“Oh!” Stupidly, Merry felt the urge to apologize choke up into her throat, but she swallowed it down. She had nothing to apologize for.
“This place is a hot mess,” she said instead. “What have you been doing since your assistant left? Throwing your bills and diagnostic notes onto her desk and waiting for the elves to come at night and file them by magic?”
Ben rocked back on his heels while his eyes did a funny, shifty squint. “No!”
Merry laughed. “Oh, for the love of … that’s exactly what you’ve been doing. Doc, come on. Just hire someone new.”
“I tried,” he growled. “You think I like living this way? I’m going out of my mind, and I’ve interviewed what seems like every empty-headed
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