Every couple of weeks, sometimes more if everyone was available, her family would meet at her parents’ house for Sunday supper and games. They’d always done it when they were kids living at home, and even as everyone had grown up and started to move out it had become a tradition to still go home and take part in the usual Sunday ritual.
When she and Joel had moved to the city to go to school, they’d soon found out how much they missed it when they couldn’t take part.
“I’m sure Travis won’t be late.” She laughed as Joel pretended to scowl when she mentioned their younger brother. “Fine, I’ll come. But I promise you that if Robyn or Mom or anyone mentions anything about me needing to try dating again, while giving me that sad, knowing look reserved for women who will surely die alone, I will scream.”
“That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think? No one thinks you’ll die alone. I’m certain your twenty cats will all be by your side.”
She glared at her brother as she threw one of the couch pillows at him. Stanley jumped up and chased it, excited that it might be time to play.
“I have three cats. And you’re one to talk considering how many dogs and cats you have staying out at your place at any given time.”
Joel was a vet, and he lived on an acreage in a small house behind his clinic, Quinn Valley Pawspital. But he also had kennels that housed animals while their families went on holidays, or strays who had no home and all other shelters and rescues were full. Brooke suspected many people took advantage of her brother’s extremely big heart, knowing he couldn’t say no to any animal in need, but he wouldn’t listen to her. If anyone was going to die alone surrounded by animals, it would be Joel.
They made their way down the stairs and out to his truck. She lived in an apartment above her clinic in an old house she was still in the process of fixing up. It was turning out to be a bigger project than she’d imagined when she started, but thankfully she had a couple of people working out of the clinic now with her to help pay for everything. Her sister Robyn was a midwife, so she used a small room as an office, and Jill Caldwell was an obstetrician who did her consulting with patients here.
“I am coming over here next weekend and fixing these steps. You’re going to end up falling and breaking your leg. Just because you’re the only one who uses this side of the house doesn’t mean you should just let everything fall apart back here.”
She rolled her eyes at her brother as she opened the door to his old truck. It squeaked loudly as Stanley rushed past her to jump up into his spot beside Joel. He perched himself in the middle, staring straight-ahead out the window with his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted with excitement.
“I’m not letting everything fall apart. I have to spend my money where it’s most needed and right now, that’s making the clinic and the front of the house perfect. The rest can wait.”
As they started to drive toward their parents’ house, Brooke settled back into the comfy seat of her brother’s truck. They all teased him about the old clunker he refused to get rid of, but the truth was it really did suit him. And she honestly couldn’t see him driving anything else. Besides, Stanley had made the perfect indent in his part of the seat that could never be duplicated in another vehicle.
“So, I have to ask, and you’re free to bite my head off if you want. But why are you suddenly so willing to put yourself out there and start dating again? Ever since…” Joel cleared his throat and glanced over at her nervously. “Well, you know. Since the stuff with Todd.”
He quickly looked back out at the road ahead. “You’ve been so focused on your career and getting your clinic set up back here in Quinn Valley, it just didn’t seem like finding yourself a boyfriend was high on your list of priorities.”
Stanley turned his head and licked her cheek before she had a chance to push him away. He always thought everyone would appreciate his affection and waited until their guard was down to shower them with his love.
“Yuck, Stanley stop that.” She wiped at her face, pretending to be annoyed with the dog, even though she was secretly thankful for the extra moment to ignore her brother’s question. But she knew he wouldn’t drop it. Joel was annoying like that.
“Would it have anything to do with certain cousins all starting to find love and talk about weddings?” Joel snickered as he looked at her again, then quickly averted his eyes when she glared at him.
“Well, in case you’ve forgotten, we are two of the oldest cousins in the Quinn family. And we all know how much Grams and Gramps want to see us falling in love and living happily ever after like they did. Honestly, I think it’s just about all Grams thinks about at the moment.” She shrugged and leaned over to pet Stanley as they got closer to their parents.
At almost thirty-two, she and Joel were the oldest in their immediate family, however there were a few cousins who were older and still single. And even though she didn’t want to admit it, it had been bothering her a bit finding out about some of the younger family members falling in love and talking marriage before she’d had her turn. She’d never really thought she was the type to care and had always said she’d be quite content to spend her life alone if she had to, as long as she had a career she loved.
But she guessed it must be something in the town water lately, or who knows what, that was making her start to question what she really wanted out of life. Maybe she did sometimes watch her cousins laughing and having fun with their new partners and secretly wished she could have that kind of love too.
The thought of someone to share her life with was starting to appeal to her a lot more than she’d have believed possible.
After she’d spent two years of her life, giving her heart and love to Todd, only to have him take it and stomp on it, it had taken her this long to be willing to try again. But it was obvious to her now that following the advice of her sisters to try online dating was not the way to do it.
They pulled up in front of their parents’ house and Joel turned the truck off. Brooke looked at the front of the house they’d grown up in, with the large columns framing the wraparound porch. Whenever she came here, her heart felt calm and secure. Even though they always pretended to grumble about each other, her family was like no other. The closeness they had wasn’t forced. They did everything together, and she always knew that no matter what happened in her life, there would always be four siblings and two parents cheering her on and prepared to do battle for her if needed.
Stanley was already vibrating with excitement knowing he was about to get attention from a whole new set of people.
“And, Joel?” He was just about to step out of his door, but he stopped and turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“You should possibly start thinking about finding yourself someone too. I’m not the only one getting up there in age. In fact, if I remember correctly, you’re a good ten minutes older than me.”
She opened her door and hopped out, with Stanley right behind her as Joel shook his head and rolled his eyes. He caught up to her and put his arm around her shoulder as they walked up the front step. “No, thank you. I’m having enough fun watching you endure dating torture. No sense in us both suffering.”
Chapter Five
“Be careful, Jared. The last thing I need is you ending up hurt too just before Christmas. I would never forgive myself if you were injured and had to miss going home.”
Jared laughed as he reached up and clipped the strand of lights to the eave. “First of all, even if I do fall, I’m in much better shape than you, so it’s unlikely I’ll end up with a broken hip…” He grinned down at her as she huffed loudly in indignation. “And second, Mom and Dad are going to Mexico for Christmas so I’m probably just going to hang around here anyway, if that’s okay with you.”
He knew right away how happy she was to hear it as she clapped her hands together. “Oh, I’m sorry that your parents are leaving you alone at Christmas, but I’m not going to lie and say I’m not secretly a bit glad to know you’ll
be staying with me during the holidays.”
Jared smiled to himself as he continued to work, peeking down at the older woman below, leaning against the rails on her deck. He hated to think of the Christmases she must have spent alone over the years. So many times, he would ask his mom if they could come to Quinn Valley to visit her during the holidays, but his parents just didn’t think Christmas was that big of a deal. They’d rather take a holiday somewhere exotic than make any kind of important family memories.
His own grandmother had passed away when he was just a baby, so he had no memories of her. But Maude had immediately stepped in after her sister died to fill that role as needed, and Jared was grateful he’d had her in his life. She’d never had her own children, so her nieces and nephews, then great-nieces and great-nephews, became her whole world.
“Well, even if they weren’t taking off somewhere, I’d probably have been staying with you anyway. There’s something about this little town and how they celebrate Christmas that just seems incredibly appealing to me. Not to mention the fact I know you’d be apt to climb up the ladder to change a bulb or something crazy like that if I left you alone, so I’m not taking any chances.”
“Jared! That’s nonsense, and you know it. It only takes me falling from a ladder once to learn my lesson.”
He climbed down and reached out for the bundle of lights she was busy trying to untangle for him. Her one arm in a cast was causing her some difficulties. “If you say so. Here, let me try getting these untangled. You go on in the house and warm up. There’s no need for you to be out here hovering to make sure I’m doing everything right. I’ll make sure your house is the most brightly lit up house on the block.”
The weather had cooled down a lot in the past couple of days, and he was feeling the cold even through his heavy jacket. He knew Maude had to be freezing too, but she was far too stubborn to ever admit it.
“Hello, Maude. I’m surprised to see you outside when the ground is slippery like this.”
Jared’s head whipped around as that familiar voice reached his ears.
Brooke. What was she doing here?
“Oh my goodness, Brooke. I forgot you were coming by to check up on me today.” Maude’s cast hand flew up to her mouth as she clung to her cane with the other.
Brooke tipped her head slightly and laughed. “So, you’re admitting that if you’d realized you might have been caught out here, you would have stayed inside?”
“Well, I have to get these lights up somehow. You know the judging for the Christmas yard displays will be starting in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure mine looks perfect.”
Jared tried not to let himself stare, but his cheeks burned when Brooke turned her head and caught him looking.
“Jared, this is Brooke Quinn. She’s a family physician here in town and the granddaughter of a dear friend of mine. Brooke, this is my nephew, Jared Webber. He’s the one I was telling you about who was coming to stay with me.”
She was his aunt’s doctor?
He put his hand out and nodded his head. Brooke slowly put her own hand out, but he was sure if his aunt hadn’t been watching she would have refused. As they shook, he silently cursed the gloves they were both wearing that prevented him from being about to feel her skin.
“Doctor Quinn.” He chuckled quietly as a grin spread across his face. “Like, as in Doctor Quinn…”
She quickly let go of his hand and put hers up, cutting him off before he could continue. “Don’t even say it. Everyone always thinks they are the first ones to realize that I am, in fact, Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman. But I assure you, I hear it every single day. So, unless you’re Sully and coming to sweep me up onto the back of a horse, don’t even think about calling me that.”
“I had no idea you were a doctor.” He couldn’t help the smile that was spread across his face at seeing her again.
She just shrugged and crossed her arms in front of her as she pulled her collar a bit tighter. “You never asked. Besides, I thought you would have found everything else out about me when you asked to know my name.”
He could see she was still angry about what had happened, and he didn’t blame her. He just hoped he could figure out a way to make things right with her.
Maude looked at Brooke, then back to him in confusion. “You two have met already?”
Brooke raised her eyebrows and watched him with interest to see how he would explain their meeting to his aunt.
“Oh, yes, Maude. Didn’t Jared tell you?”
He cringed slightly as he met his aunt’s confused stare. “Well, we did meet briefly the other day when I went to get your tacos. There was a slight misunderstanding and I’m afraid I might have acted like a bit of a horse’s backside…”
Maude’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open in shock.
“Jared Webber, you better not have!”
“I promise you, as soon as she will allow it, I plan to make it up to her.”
Maude turned to look at Brooke who was grinning with enjoyment at his discomfort. “Brooke, I’m so sorry. I don’t even want to know what he did. But let me assure you, he will be making it up to you. Tomorrow night, I insist that he take you out for a meal and show you how a proper gentleman is supposed to act.”
Now it was Jared’s turn to grin. Brooke’s mouth opened but she wasn’t saying anything. He could see she wasn’t the type of person who might cause a scene by refusing to let the nephew of her patient take her out on a date to apologize. She didn’t want to hurt Maude’s feelings.
He couldn’t have planned a more perfect moment. If he’d asked her, he had no doubt in his mind she’d have flat out refused.
Tilting his head slightly as he continued to work at untangling the lights, he smiled widely at her. “It’s the least I could do, Brooke. I promise you, I’ll be on my absolute best behavior. It would mean a great deal to my aunt to see me make things right.”
Her eyes squinted slightly as she faced him again. “Well, I don’t know, Maude. I’m so busy right now with Christmas coming up and everything. I have to get out to the tree farm and pick my tree up this week, then all of the decorating at the clinic. I’ve got so much going on.”
“Oh, please, Brooke. I feel just terrible that my nephew might have acted in any way to upset you. If you could just give him a chance to show you, he is actually a nice young man.” Maude glared at him. “Even if he does sometimes act like the back end of a farm animal.”
“Let me take you out to help pick your tree up. That way, I’m not interfering with all of the many things you have going on and it will give us the chance to get to know each other properly.”
“That’s a perfect idea. What do you say, Brooke?” Maude looked up at Brooke expectantly.
Normally, Jared would be mortified that his aunt was practically begging a woman to go on a date with him, but right now he could pick Maude up and kiss her for helping him. Brooke couldn’t say no even if she wanted to.
Giving them both a forced smile, Brooke finally nodded. “Okay, he can help me pick up my Christmas tree.” She didn’t sound thrilled about it but at least she’d said yes.
Maude reached over and patted her arm. “Thank you, dear. And don’t you worry about a thing. If he even so much as looks at you the wrong way, I want you to tell me. Of course, he will also be paying for everything.” She gave him a stern look. “Including your Christmas tree.”
He opened his mouth to mention that a tree would probably cost a lot more than a normal date would, but quickly shut it when his aunt continued to glare at him, daring him to argue. He was a smart man.
Brooke smiled and put her hand under his aunt’s elbow to start walking her into the house. “I’ll take that offer. Now, let’s get you inside so I can take a look at you. It looks like Jared has things under control out here.”
He stood watching them slowly make their way along the deck toward the front door. Brooke kept her hand on his aunt’s arm, keeping her steady so she wouldn’t sli
p. When she turned her head back and caught him staring again, his breath got stuck in his throat.
What was it about this woman that had him tied up in more knots than the lights he was holding in his hands?
Whatever it was, he was going to enjoy spending the time untangling it.
Chapter Six
“Won’t your tree be completely dried out by the time Christmas actually gets here?”
Brooke smiled to herself as they made their way down the next row of trees. The farm was located just outside of town with what seemed like miles and miles of trees planted in perfect rows. Each year it rotated the area that was to be used as the trees matured, and then new trees would be planted in their place. Some years, Brooke would just go with her family to get her tree at the ranch, but she also liked to support the local businesses too. Besides, since she wasn’t paying for her tree this year, she may as well make the most of it and get a perfectly grown one.
“It doesn’t if you keep it watered. And I don’t know why you think the beginning of December is too early to decorate. Everyone in Quinn Valley gets into the Christmas spirit early. I’m actually late getting started this year.”
Jared was walking beside her, the snow beneath their boots crunching as they walked up the row. The sun reflected off the whiteness of the ground, sparkling off the branches of the trees that were covered in a light hoarfrost. She pulled her neck warmer up a bit higher as the chill tried to sneak in under the warm fabric.
“It’s still the first week of December. When do you normally start?” He looked at her incredulously.
“I like to have my tree up by the first. My whole family is like that. Even my brothers, although they try to act like they’re scrooges, they don’t actually fool anyone. Ever since I can remember, Mom has made such a big deal over Christmas that I guess it just rubbed off on the rest of us.”
Becoming Brooke (Quinn Valley Ranch Book 6) Page 3