Moonlight on My Mind by Jennifer McQuiston Read Free Book Online

reminded, in that moment, of his former life, and his father’s expectations for him. Miss Baxter’s unwelcome appearance here did more than stir uncomfortable memories of dances and country house parties and the life he had once resented.
    She reminded him of the brother he had lost, and the unfortunate argument that had preceded Eric’s death.
    “I am fine.” Her eyes lifted to meet his. “Does the dog still live?”
    “Aye.” He moved on to light a tin lantern on the other side of the room, and then settled it on the edge of the nearby countertop. “I appreciate your assistance.” And he did. She had surprised him today, with her help in surgery. She was not precisely the empty-headed flirt with a flair for drama and a penchant for mischief he had believed her to be.
    No, today she had proven herself a levelheaded flirt. A more dangerous beast, entirely.
    “I did too little to warrant any measure of thanks.” Her words were deceiving, making her seem the complete opposite of the vivacious young woman who had stirred up brotherly jealousies at Summersby. She’d been trouble even before she’d kissed him in the foyer and then offered herself as the sole witness to his brother’s murder. He ought to pull her to her feet and send her packing.
    Instead, he slumped down on the floor beside her.
    Gemmy squirmed a few inches toward him and nudged Patrick’s hand with an insistent nose. He ruffled the dog’s fur. After the stressful circumstances of the past hour, it was soothing to touch an animal whose life didn’t literally rest in his hands.
    “I had heard a rumor you were serving as Moraig’s veterinarian.” Her voice wavered. “But I wasn’t sure I believed it. However did you learn to do all this?”
    Patrick kept his gaze trained on his dog. No doubt she was as horrified by this aspect of his life as the other. Only this part of his life he had chosen. The other parts had been wrenched out of his control.
    “What did you think I was up to these past few years, given my absence in Town? I was studying. In Italy.”
    Her pert nose wrinkled. “My father simply said you were traveling on the continent. Lazing away your days, spending money, if the rumors are to be believed.”
    Patrick rubbed the silken fur of Gemmy’s ear, weighing the possible implications of confessing the details of his time in Italy to a woman incapable of a single guarded moment. His desire to confess something won out over his need for silence.
    “I spent four years studying at the veterinary college in Turin. My father indulged my studies as a curiosity, but would not permit me to set up a practice. He considered it a hobby to pass the time, little more.”
    “So you are formally trained?”
    “Yes.” He shifted uneasily, surprised by the lack of censure in her voice. “Although it doesn’t take much skill to amputate a leg. A bit of brute strength and a strong stomach are the only requisite traits. The town needed someone to doctor their animals, and I needed them.”
    “What did you need from Moraig?” Her voice softened to a whisper.
    Patrick fanned his fingers over Gemmy’s reassuring coat. It did not escape his notice that Miss Baxter’s fingers swirled in similar circles mere inches from his own.
    Damned lucky dog.
    “Companionship.” He shrugged. “I’ve friends from my days at Cambridge who live here, and they’ve been good enough to not ask questions. Moraig offered some degree of anonymity, I suppose, while my father works to deflect the questions. No one has thought to look for me here, and there is very little news that makes it here from London. It’s a simple life. Adequate.” He did not add that his life, though lonely, was something he no longer took for granted.
    He exhaled forcibly. Might as well address the next question head-on, given that he needed to know whom to strangle. “How did you learn of my whereabouts, Miss Baxter?”
    “I heard your name in passing when I was on holiday in