He chuckled. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it like that. I do know that I hate ducks.”

That was so random I burst out laughing. “Ducks?”

“When I was a kid, there was a duck on my grandparents’ farm. I don’t know why, but the bloody bird hated me and chased me every time it saw me. It’s a bit of a deep-rooted hatred, but I squirm like a bitch every time one gets brought into the clinic.”

“People bring ducks in there?”

“Where else are they going to take them? Urgent care?”

I showed him my middle finger. “I thought there was a special vet who went to farms.”

“Usually only for horses around here. There aren’t enough vets in town to split off like that, so it’s whoever is around at the time. I helped one of the farms just outside town save one of his lambs last year.”

“Oh, my God. I love lambs. They’re so cute and fluffy with their little wobbly legs.”

“Not so cute when they’re coming out the back end of a sheep.”

“And I am so glad I’m done eating.”

He laughed as I sat up and put the lid down on all the boxes before I stacked them. “It’s rewarding,” he said. “I like it that way.”

“But hard too, right?”

“Of course. I never like taking the babies back to be done, especially the girls. Spaying them is horrible, and I’m always arguing with my vet techs about how much fur they shave off before the operation.”

“I was talking about the—you know.” I stuck my tongue out of the side of my mouth and tilted my head.

“If that’s your impression of a dead animal, it’s absolutely terrible.”

“I didn’t want to say it!”

He laughed hard. “You’re crazy, do you know that?”

I held my hands out. “You’ve met my grandmother and my cousin. It’s not exactly a surprise, is it?”

“Your cousin? Oh—Imogen. Huh. I’ve never made that connection before.”

“Why would you have? I didn’t think you even knew I existed until a couple of weeks ago.”

His eyebrows shot up. “How the hell could I not have known you existed? We see each other at least every other day.”

“I know, but I assumed you had a supermodel girlfriend stashed away somewhere. Maybe the basement.”

“I did, but she was too tall for me, so I had to let her escape.” He winked and leaned forward. “Besides, I knew you were here. I watered your plant last summer when you went away. Even though it didn’t need watering.”

I frowned. “What do you mean it didn’t need watering? Of course it did. It would have died.”

“Hannah, that’s a plastic plant.”

My gaze followed where he was pointing to—to the big, suspiciously green plant in the corner of my living room. “That’s not a plastic plant.”

“Has it ever grown?”

“I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to those things.”