by Carol Ross
“Mom, too. She tells me my addiction is ‘out of control.’ She’s always making these sugar-free creations. The other day it was banana muffins with this natural alternative sweetener. I tried to eat them. I did. But I just...” She shuddered. “Thankfully, my dog, George, will literally eat anything and I was able to slip a couple to him. I had to stop at Bakery-by-the-Sea on my way to work and get a maple bar to get that taste out of my mouth.”
He laughed and they discussed the glories of the bakery’s treats for a moment.
“I know what you mean about those muffins. Aubrey makes these disgusting...” He watched Mia’s lips curl into a smile that seemed to be on the verge of laughter. Then she flickered her eyes up and to the left. “Peanut butter–oatmeal–date blobs that—”
He jumped as Aubrey’s voice sounded next to his ear. “They’re called energy bites, Jay.”
Mia let out a laugh. “I tried to warn you.”
“Jeez, Wynn. I swear you’re part cat. They give me energy all right—the energy to get as far away from them as possible. Did you deliver Captain Shear his poison?”
Aubrey chuckled. “I did. Along with a gentle lecture about the healthy protein-packed benefits of a Greek yogurt and fruit parfait versus an ice cream sundae.”
“Eww,” Mia drawled. “That stuff is the texture of wallpaper paste. Sorry, but who suddenly decided gummy, dried-out yogurt was a delicious treat? What’s wrong with regular smooth and creamy yogurt?”
Aubrey peered at Mia. “Did he tell you to say that?” She glared at Jay. “Did you tell her to say that?”
Chuckling, he held his hands up, palms out. “No, I swear.” He explained to Mia, “Aubrey and I had a conversation about this very topic yesterday morning. I told her that her plain Greek yogurt tastes like glue.”
Aubrey shook her head. “You’re hopeless. Should I be concerned about the fact that you just admitted you know what glue tastes like?” Turning a sweet smile on Mia, she asked, “How’s your mom, Dr. Frasier?”
“Please, call me Mia. And she’s doing great. The doctor says she might get to come home in a day or two. Nothing broken. They’re still not sure why she was unconscious for so long.” She shrugged. “The MRI didn’t show any subdural hematoma or significant swelling. But she’s had this headache, so I don’t know...”
They visited for a while until Aubrey glanced down at her phone. “I have to get going, but I’ll stop by to see your mom again. I’m surprised we haven’t met before. Do you ever do yoga with your mom?”
“Um, occasionally. I don’t share my mom’s passion, or ability level, but I know it’s good for me so I try.”
“I love it,” Aubrey said. “Your mom is an awesome teacher. I’ve been trying for like a year to get Jay to try a class. My boyfriend has been going with me for a while now and he can’t believe how much it has enhanced his overall fitness level.”
Jay scoffed. Because the idea of Aubrey’s boyfriend, big, strong, tough guy Eli Pelletier doing yoga was funny. “Did he say that? ‘Enhancing his overall fitness level’? You know I have to give him a hard time now, right? Besides, now that he’s going with you, I figured I was off the hook.”
“Why would Eli getting into better shape preclude you from wanting to do the same?”
“See what I’m dealing with?” He shot Mia a desperate look. “This woman is relentless.”
“Well, she is right about the yoga,” Mia said, standing. “It does amazing things for your body.”
“Ha.” Aubrey slapped him on the shoulder. “See?”
Without thinking it through he said, “Since your mom teaches, maybe I’ll have to give it a try.”
Mia’s eyes sparkled. “She would love that.”
Aubrey chimed in, “I’m holding you to that.”
“I didn’t mean it, Aubrey,” he quipped. “It’s just a polite thing you say in these kinds of situations.”
Mia laughed and the sound seeped into him, further improving his mood. She had the kind of laugh that made you want to laugh, too, even if you didn’t know what was funny.
“Thank you guys so much for stopping by. Mom will be thrilled when I tell her you were here.”
Aubrey hugged her. Not for the first time, Jay marveled at Aubrey’s ability to befriend people and make them feel comfortable.
Jay managed to articulate what he thought was a suitable goodbye, and as they walked down the hall toward the elevators he wondered how big of a fool he would make of himself at yoga class. Would the humiliation be worth seeing Mia Frasier again? There had to be another way... She was a vet. Maybe he could borrow a cat? Or a dog? Aubrey’s sister, Nina, had a dog. He could offer to dog-sit and then pretend the animal wasn’t feeling well. Pointless fantasies, he reminded himself. Especially where a woman like Mia Frasier was concerned. He’d really enjoy getting to know her, which meant he needed to keep her at arm’s length.
Aubrey interrupted his musing. “Are you going to ask her out?”
Jay wasn’t surprised by the question. Now that she and Eli were together, Aubrey was on a quest to find him a partner. “I already did. We’re going to Lincoln City for the weekend. We’re going to practice yoga on the beach and watch the sunset.”
She stopped, opened her mouth, snapped it shut, chuckled, smacked him on the shoulder and took off marching again. “Funny.”
He kept walking, but let out a laugh of his own as she called him a name under her breath. “Well, seriously, Aubrey. No, I didn’t ask her out. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“You’re defensive.” With a smug look, she pulled open the door leading to the stairwell. “I know what that means.” She motioned him through. “You better be careful.”
“Careful?”
“Yes, careful. Because, despite your best efforts, one of these days a woman is going to come along and sweep you off your stubborn bachelor feet. You do know that, right? And it’s going to be someone like Mia Frasier—smart, funny, kind, beautiful, compassionate. You know she’s a vet, right? I’m talking about an animal doctor here and not a military veteran.”
“Yes, I know what she does for a living. What does that have to do with anything?”
Aubrey gave him that look she often did just before she called him dense. “She’s one of us, Jay. She’s a rescuer, a saver. It’s going to be someone like her that manages to get to you. And I, for one, cannot wait to see it happen. I know the reason you don’t get involved with women.”
He responded with his blankest stare as he wondered what she knew.
“You’re scared.”
And for a brief moment, he was. He was afraid that she’d somehow found out. Not that he was ashamed of his family necessarily. It was just...a lot to explain. And Jay didn’t like to explain. For his entire life, explanations had been met with judgments or pity or advice. This often led to “help” in some well-meaning form, most of which was usually not helpful. At all. A neglectful single mother made for a complicated and difficult childhood for him and his five younger siblings on the best of days. Add in the challenges of her mental illness and, well, it was more than most people could truly comprehend.
She went on, “I get that. I was scared, too. People like us, all type A and independent and stubborn, aren’t the best relationship material. Before Eli, I couldn’t imagine ever settling down. You don’t have me fooled, though. You don’t even give women a chance—one or two dates and you’re done. Down deep, I think you’re lonely. You need someone, and I want that for you.”
His answer was a long, slow blink. “That is so sweet,” he drawled in a syrupy tone. “So I can be like you and Eli, right? Long walks on the beach, holding hands, late-night talks. And eventually, when the time is right, some nest-building. You know, I want that, too.” He placed one hand on his chest. “So much. And I’m truly touched, Aubrey. The fact that
you care about me this much—”
She punched him in the shoulder again, hard this time. “Shut up.”
“Ouch.”
“I’m telling you, I have a feeling about her.”
“Mmm-hmm,” he answered in his best unconcerned tone that didn’t at all match how he felt. Because he had some feelings, too. Aubrey was wrong about him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a nest. He did. He just couldn’t have one. Not now, and not for a very long time to come. But Aubrey’s assessment of Mia Frasier had only confirmed his own. That’s why he could never ask her out.
* * *
“HEY, MOM,” MIA said a couple days later as she bent and kissed her mom’s cheek. Nora was propped up in her hospital bed, her sky-blue eyes twinkling, her short black hair stylishly mussed. Bright pink slippers on feet crossed at the ankles stuck out from the blanket draped across her legs. “You look fantastic.”
“Hi, honey. Thank you, I’m feeling it. Those must be my discharge papers. Doc says I get to blow this Popsicle stand today.”
“Blow this Popsicle stand?” Even though her mom had kept improving, the doctors had opted to keep her for a couple extra days for observation. They were still unsure about the cause of her prolonged unconsciousness.
“Isn’t that right, Ty?” Nora looked over at the bed beside hers. It was occupied by a teenage girl with short, spiked blue hair. A cast stretched from just below her shoulder all the way down her arm and around her hand. The pastel purple cast bore evidence of visitors via an array of scribbled signatures covering its surface.
“That’s it, Mrs. K. You’re way live now. And this Instagram pic of your brain scan is lit. I wonder if I can get a copy of my X-ray?”
“Sure you can, this is America. Freedom of information and all that.” She looked back at Mia. “Ty’s been helping me with my street lingo. We’re homes.”
“Yeah,” she drawled. “I picked up on that. That’ll come in handy with your pinochle group in Pacific Cove. But I’m not sure the Freedom of Information Act really applies to medical records.”
“Are you even kidding me? That’s messed up.”
Mia rolled her eyes. Ty giggled.
A smiling young nurse with deep dimples, a long ponytail and colorful butterflies decorating her top came in pushing a wheelchair. Her name tag read Betsy. She stopped between the two beds and swiveled her head from one patient to the other.
“Hey, Bets,” Nora asked, “wha’s up?”
The nurse gave a breezy wave. “You know—same old, same old.”
“I hear that.”
Nurse Betsy chuckled. “We sure are going to miss you around here, Nora.” To Mia, she said, “It’s rare to get patients as entertaining as your mom. And these two together—” she gestured between the roommates “—could take their act on the road.” She asked Nora, “You ready to get out of here?”
“You know it.”
Betsy helped Nora get settled in the wheelchair while Mia gathered her mom’s belongings. When they were ready, Betsy began pushing her toward the door.
“Don’t forget to give me your John Hancock on the way out.” Ty waved a purple marker. To Mia she said, “That lingo thing is working both ways. I’m going to take some vintage vocab home to my squad.”
Betsy situated the chair so Nora could comply. Ty and Betsy both stared transfixed as her mom worked her magic with an assortment of colors. Mia understood their fascination. She had seen her mom draw a million times, yet she never seemed to get enough.
“Get. Out!” the girl exclaimed as she examined Nora’s handiwork, a blue-haired girl flying through the air on a skateboard. Her arms were outstretched, an apple in one hand and a book in the other. A slice of the skate park stretched out before her.
Nora pointed to the apple and then the book. “Health and knowledge. Notice how this gal keeps her body leaning forward so she doesn’t have an epic wipeout in the bottom of the skate bowl?” Nora winked at her.
“Duly noted.” Ty grinned. “You’ve got mad skills.” She looked at Mia. “Your mom is like a real artist.”
Mia nodded, pride welling inside her. “I know.” She loved seeing her mom using her skills. Since they’d moved to Pacific Cove, she’d been doing so more and more. It filled Nora with joy and Mia knew that her mom could have done extraordinary things with her gift. Her dad, however, had never wanted her to pursue it, believing that art was a “hobby,” not a profession. According to Bill Frasier, if it wasn’t military, it was neither interesting nor worth pursuing. Mia’s love for animals and her choice of veterinary medicine as a career also fell into this category.
Nora squeezed Ty’s hand. “Come by the shop to see me when you get sprung. I’ll be competing in the Sandcastle Expo next month with my squad, the Sand Bandits. I’m serious about teaching you some sculpting if you’re up for it. And you’ve got my Instagram.”
“Sounds perfect. I love you, Mrs. Frasier,” Ty said without a trace of the hip that had been previously lacing her tone.
“Love you, too, kiddo.”
Yes, Mia thought with satisfaction and a bit of wonder as they made their way through the hospital, my mom is back. And we’re both alive.
No more wasting time.
She’d already parked her SUV near the curb in the loading area. Mia wasn’t surprised to see her mom had plenty of strength after her hospital stint. That, and the fact that her mom didn’t weigh much over a hundred pounds, made it an easy job getting her settled in the passenger seat.
“If I never see the inside of that place again it will be too soon.”
“I hear that, girlfriend,” Mia said.
“That’s the spirit,” her mom answered with a laugh. “One quick stop on the way home?”
“Definitely,” Mia said, figuring she was going to ask for a carton of her favorite organic frozen soy cream “treat” or a take-out garden burger.
“Great. You know how to get to the Coast Guard Air Station, right? I’ve got some thanking to do.”
Mia felt a surge of nervous tension at the thought of seeing Officer Johnston again. She hadn’t exactly been in the best state of mind when she’d seen him last, babbling about who-knows-what and gushing with gratitude. Not that he didn’t deserve the gratitude part, but she could have done a better job of maintaining her composure. As much as she appreciated his kindness, and the rest of him for that matter, because they’d had fun and he was pretty cute, she’d kind of been hoping she’d never see him again.
CHAPTER THREE
“JAY? HERE YOU ARE.”
Jay glanced over his shoulder to see Aubrey walking through the door. He was sitting in a chair in a storage room off the main hangar at the base trying to decide what to do with the fur-covered bundle in his arms. It had finally quit shivering but didn’t seem inclined to move from his lap.
“We have visitors and—” She’d been talking as she moved but now stopped in midsentence to gasp. “Is that a dog? It’s adorable! Where did it come from?” She continued toward him and the animal cuddled in a fuzzy pink baby blanket on his lap.
“We rescued her early this morning. A sailboat went down trying to cross the bar. Her owner didn’t make it. Can’t locate any family.” As if sensing she was the topic of conversation, the dog lifted her brown-and-white head. Wide brown eyes lit with curiosity as she sniffed Aubrey’s fingers.
Aubrey caressed one of her silky ears. “That is a heartbreaker. And you have her why? Did you call Holly?” Holly ran Paws for a Second Chance, the local no-kill shelter. She was their go-to person in the surprisingly often occurrences when they rescued animals.
“She kind of latched onto me for some reason. Maybe because I took care of her in the helo? I don’t know, but yeah, I called Holly. No answer. Left a message.” He sighed, feeling the weight of both the man’s death and the uncertai
n fate of the poor dog on his shoulders. “She’s going to need a trip to the vet first anyway. I haven’t had the heart to move her yet. Poor thing is exhausted and traumatized.”
He waited for Aubrey to rib him about calling a vet they knew when a different woman’s voice chimed in, “Well, it’s your lucky day, isn’t it? I literally brought you a vet.” A chuckle followed and then, “You must be Petty Officer Johnston? The young man the doctors credit with saving my life.”
He looked toward the doorway again, this time to find Nora Frasier standing there smiling. His pulse stuttered when he saw Mia by her side. Nora moved his way.
He returned her smile. “Yes, I am—the first part of that, anyway. Please, call me Jay. I’m glad to see you looking so well.” He started to stand, but she waved him off.
“No, no. Sit. You’ve got some precious cargo there. I’m feeling great, thanks to you.” She walked closer and reached out a hand.
He shook her hand and settled back into his seat because she had that kind of bossiness about her. “I don’t deserve the credit you’re giving me for saving your life, though. That was a team effort.”
“I already thanked Aubrey when she came by the hospital for a second visit. I was awake that time. My daughter tells me you stopped by and I slept through it?” At his nod, she went on, “We met the pilot and the copilot out there in the hangar. But they all say they couldn’t have done it without you.”
Jay grinned. He could see where Mia got her sparkle and vitality. He also remembered that she was a teacher, and he could see that about her as well. “That’s the way we work, ma’am. We’re a team. I couldn’t have done my job without them, either.”
“What’s wrong with the dog?” Mia asked, stepping around her mom and into his line of sight.
Their eyes met and Jay felt that same pull of attraction, even stronger this time if that was possible. Had she had enough time to get over the gratitude-attraction thing?
“Laceration on her back,” he answered.