Logan cracked a smile. “Thanks, Rachel. Is Emma around?”

“She’s checking on a surgery patient, but you can go on back.”

Logan put his hand on the small of Des’s back and propelled her forward. “Come on, movie star.”

She met Leanne on the way back, who she found out was one of Emma’s assistants. Leanne was sweet and super-friendly, but then had to run because she had a cat who needed inoculations and another one who needed a nail trim and a bath. Leanne was a talker, but Des liked her.

They found a stunning brunette back by the kennels. Wearing scrubs with her hair up in a ponytail, she sat on the floor near an open kennel, her ears plugged with a stethoscope as she listened to one of the dogs, who looked to be out cold.

“You’ll be fine, Pally,” the woman soothed, stroking her hand over the dog’s fur before closing the kennel door. “And you’ll be going home later today.”

She pushed off and stood, then her eyes widened when she saw them. “Oh, crap, Logan. I didn’t see you standing there.”

“Sorry, Emma.”

Emma stopped at the sink to wash her hands, then came over and hugged Logan. “It’s okay. I was just seeing to one of our patients who had surgery this morning.” She held out her hand. “You must be the famous Desiree everyone in town’s been buzzing about.”

Des shook her hand. “I don’t know about famous, but yeah, that’s me. Call me Des.”

“So nice to meet you. How’s the movie shoot going?”

“Pretty good. I was happy to get off the set today so I could come see your town.”

Emma paused to pick up a couple of charts, then led them down the hall and into her office, where she was immediately bombarded by two adorable dogs, one a yellow Labrador retriever, the other a white-and-brown pit bull. She leaned down and petted them.

“Okay, girls, calm down. We have visitors. Des, this is Daisy and Annie.”

Des crouched down to greet the dogs. “Hi there, girls. Aren’t you just the sweetest things?”

The dogs came over, sniffed her, then leaned into her for some love. Des’s heart swelled. She looked up at Emma. “They’re so cute.”

“Thank you. I’ve had Daisy for a while, and Annie’s still a puppy, though you could never tell by how big she’s gotten.”

After petting them for a few minutes, Des stood.

“Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink? I have water and pop.”

“I’d love some water,” Des said. Logan declined.

Emma grabbed two waters from her mini fridge in her office, handed one to Des and opened one for herself. They sat in her office and Emma leaned back.

“Long day?” Logan asked.

“Yes. Two surgeries this morning. One was a twisted bowel, so it was complex and took longer than I wanted it to. And the other was a knee surgery on a rather young canine.” She hunched her shoulders, then relaxed them.

“Sounds like you could use a spa day,” Des suggested.

Emma laughed. “Mmm. A spa. Exactly what Hope needs and doesn’t have.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I know a few people who would love to set one up in a town like this.”

“And I know several women—myself included—who would make use of it regularly.”

“Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

“We should definitely talk. Speaking of, Logan, did Luke ask you about dinner tonight?”

“He did. We’re all set.”

“Awesome. We’ll have chicken or something simple since it’s a workday for me. I hope you don’t mind simple, Des.”

“That sounds great to me. Thank you for the invitation.”

“You’re welcome. And I hate to be a lousy host at the moment, but I have patients to get back to.”

Des stood. “It was great to meet you, Emma.”

“Here, too. I’ll see you both tonight.”

Des followed Logan to the front of the clinic, where Rachel handed him a bag.

He took out his credit card and paid, and she said good-bye to Rachel and Leanne.

Photographers had parked in the lot next to the clinic, but Luke was doing a good job of keeping them from stepping onto Emma’s lot.

“How does he do that?” she asked.

“I think Boomer scares the shit out of them.”

Des frowned. “Oh. His dog?”

“Yeah. He has a mean growl. I’d bet none of those photographers would want to test him.”

She laughed. “Probably not. I should get a dog like that. Maybe I’d have fewer cameras stuck in my face.”

They climbed into the truck. “A dog for protection wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if this whole paparazzi thing is the norm for you, even when you’re on location.”

“Traveling as much as I do would be a hard life for a dog.”

“Dogs that are trained for protection services get used to the travel.”

She looked in the side mirror to see all the cars following. “I suppose they would be. It’s something to consider. And I do love dogs.”

“Are you hungry?”

“I am, actually. I’d hate to bombard some poor restaurant with the paps, though.”

“I think Bert’s can handle it. They’d enjoy the free publicity.”

“If you say so.” The restaurants in L.A. hated it, though she refused to stay holed up in her condo all the time. So she went out. Then again, it wasn’t this bad in L.A., because the media hounded other, more famous people than her. She might have someone with a camera follow her when she went out to eat, but it wasn’t a horde of photographers like today.

Thankfully.

He drove down the road and they ended up in front of a very charming restaurant at the side of the highway. Since they’d gotten a late start it was actually past the lunch hour, so the parking lot was nearly empty. It didn’t take long once they got out of the truck and headed inside for the procession of vehicles to pull into the parking lot, though Des noticed that Luke and the other police car pulled in, too, and came inside.

“I didn’t know you were so popular, Logan,” an older woman said once they got to their table.

“Yeah, the ranch is a real hot spot for photographers these days. Anita, this is Des.”

“Oh, I know who you are, Miss Jenkins. I’ve seen a few of your movies. Nice to have you in town.”