Mistletoe Mommy

by Tanya Michaels

  “Thank you.” Simple words, but there was a wealth of relief in his voice. He had obviously been worried about disappointing his children.

  Considering that she didn’t know him well, it was disconcertingly easy to imagine his expression, the gratitude in those dark eyes, the smile on his face.

  “I’ll see you there,” Brenna said, wishing she wasn’t so eagerly looking forward to it.

  IN THE BACK SEAT—where all three children had opted to sit—debate raged about what to call the cat. Morgan’s top choices seemed to be Hannah and Strawberry. Geoff, who had the cat in his lap, had scoffed that, as cats were distant cousins of lions and tigers, the dark gray bundle of fur needed a “tougher” name.

  “Why don’t we hold off on a name?” Adam suggested not for the first time. “Dr. Higgs needs to check her out, make sure she’s not sick. And even if she’s perfectly healthy, the vet might know who she belongs to. What if she has owners who are worried about her?”

  The cat was so thin, Adam doubted she had recently enjoyed a home, but she was undeniably comfortable with people. Lydia had found them a cardboard box; they’d set the cat inside, loosely swaddled in a beach towel to hamper any escape attempts. But she only stretched up out of her snug confines when someone stopped petting her. Adam could hear the purring in the front seat.

  “We haven’t named her,” Eliza said. “We’re just discussing possibilities.” She sounded hopeful rather than hostile. Any lingering anger she felt over the pool incident had dissipated when she’d seen the young cat in Adam’s hands.

  “That must be the place!” Geoff said, pointing. “I see Ms. Pierce.”

  To their left, three storefronts—a crafts shop, a ballet studio and Dr. Higgs’s office—shared a parking lot. Brenna sat on the front bumper of a white sedan; the only other vehicle outside the vet’s office was a blue truck. Adam parked next to Brenna.

  “Nobody open any doors!” he cautioned. “Just because the cat’s been calm up until now doesn’t mean she won’t try to make a break for it. The last thing we want is for her to be running onto the street. Geoff, wait for me to come around and help you with the box.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sir? The kids must really, really want a pet.

  Adam had to admit, the idea was growing on him. It would give the kids an extra reason to visit, give him a conversation starter when he didn’t know what to say to them, which happened more frequently than he cared to admit. While Morgan was the most vocal about wanting to keep the cat, her big sister clearly felt the same way. What would it be like if the next time Eliza came over she actually smiled?

  Before opening the car door to the potential chaos of cat and kids, he took the quiet moment as an opportunity to thank Brenna. “I really appreciate your meeting us.”

  “Don’t mention it. Always willing to go the extra mile for a new client.” She said it casually, but he found himself mentally replaying the statement, trying to put his finger on something—the way he might hum a song when he was trying to remember its title.

  “So did Dr. Higgs agree to see us?” he asked.

  Brenna straightened away from the bumper, standing. “I was lucky enough to catch his receptionist before she left. Winnie’s got the softest heart of anyone I’ve ever met. She not only harangued him into staying late, I think she actually got you a discount on his services. She probably deserves your thanks more than I do. I’ve barely done anything.”

  It clicked then, that vibe he’d been trying to pinpoint. Something in Brenna’s manner reminded him of a cardiac resident he’d once worked with—a gifted surgeon who, while professional and superficially amiable, had maintained an intangible emotional barrier between herself and her patients. It was a necessary part of the profession. Something in the way Brenna had immediately classified him as a “client,” the way she’d tried to give Winnie the credit for helping him, as if to distance herself personally.

  Or maybe he was too quick to make the analogy, too used to being surrounded by doctors and nurses who were virtually required to keep others at a friendly arm’s length.

  “I’d better get the kids and the cat.” He opened the back door, wedging himself in the space as much as possible in case the cat startled them all by bolting. Cats were quick, and this one was small enough to disappear into tight spaces. Adam didn’t relish the thought of diving for her as she tore across the asphalt.

  He needn’t have worried. Though she stopped purring and eyed him warily, she remained immobile inside the box. He backed away so that the children could file out of the car.

  “Hey, guys.” Brenna smiled at the kids, then leaned closer to peer over Adam’s shoulder at the cat. “Hi, there.” Her voice was a low, soothing murmur. “Aren’t you a sweetie?”

  The cat began purring again, blinking up at Brenna with admiration, and Adam found himself grinning. He knew how the cat felt.

  As they all walked toward the building, Morgan asked questions about what the vet would do. When Brenna explained that their cat would probably receive vaccinations for rabies, distemper and feline leukemia, Morgan winced in sympathy.

  “Shots hurt,” she complained. Her voice quavered. “After my birthday, when we get back to Tennessee, I have to have shots, too.”

  “I’ll bet you’ll be really brave,” Brenna said, holding the door open for them.

  “Prob’ly not,” Morgan said. “I cried last time, but my mom got me ice cream. Daddy, do you think you can take me to the doctor’s this time?”

  Adam paused, glancing over his shoulder. “I don’t know, pumpkin.” He would need to check his schedule—her five-year checkup was undoubtedly right after their return, and he was already missing an unprecedented amount of work.

  Her face fell.

  “Maybe I can,” he said. “I want to. I just—”

  “It’s okay, Daddy.”

  Eliza put her arm around Morgan’s shoulders and pulled her little sister closer. It made his heart hurt, the idea that his kids had to comfort one another because he let them down. Getting them a cat only made up for so much.

  Inside the empty reception area, Brenna called, “Hello?”

  A door opened at the other end of a hallway covered in posters of dogs and cats. “Back here, just finishing some paperwork,” a male voice answered. Seconds later, a tall man wearing a lab coat over a polo shirt and jeans appeared. Well over six feet, he had short, black hair worn with sideburns and extremely light eyes. “Hello, Brenna. And these must be the Varners?”

  “I’m Morgan!”

  The man bent down closer to her level. “I’m Dr. Higgs. How ’bout we go back to one of the exam rooms and make sure this kitty cat of yours is healthy?”

  “Okay! My daddy’s a doctor, too. But he only takes care of humans,” she said dismissively.

  Adam felt rather than heard Brenna’s muffled laugh. He turned in her direction with a sternly raised eyebrow, but the truth was, he enjoyed the mischievous sparkle in her expression. Lord, she was pretty.

  “The rooms are kind of small,” Brenna said. “Rather than all of us trying to squeeze in, I’ll just wait out here.”

  The vet studied her for a long moment.

  “Can I stay with Ms. Pierce?” Geoff asked.

  “It’s okay with me if it is with her,” Adam said.

  At her nod, he followed his two daughters and the vet into a room where he set the box atop a metal table. Despite having been reasonably compliant until now, the cat flattened her ears and half growled her disapproval.

  “Feisty little thing,” Dr. Higgs murmured as he lifted her. “Scrawny but looks healthy. Winnie said you found her out near the lodge?”

  “Do you think she belongs to someone already?” Eliza asked worriedly.

  “Doubt it. She’s lucky to have found nice people. Do you guys know anything about taking care of pets?” he asked them.

  “We’ll learn!” Eliza promised. “I can check out books at the library and look stuff up on the Internet. An
d we’ll, uh, ask Ms. Pierce for advice. She’s smart about animals, right?”

  “Very,” Dr. Higgs agreed. “She used to work for me. How did you guys meet her?”

  “We gave her a ride when her car broke down,” Eliza said. She rolled her eyes. “My brother thinks she’s a babe.”

  Dr. Higgs glanced up, startled. Something flashed in his expression, but he apparently thought better of responding. Adam suspected that Brenna’s charms hadn’t been lost on the man. Adam experienced a twinge of…jealousy.

  That’s insane. Adam barely knew her.

  “This is a case of good timing,” Dr. Higgs informed them, his focus back on the cat. “She’s not fully mature yet, but she’s past kittenhood. A teenager, more or less.”

  Great. Because Adam needed more teenage drama in his life.

  “It’s an ideal window of opportunity for getting her spayed,” the vet said. “Whenever possible, we like to do it before their first heat but not too far before.”

  “She’s getting sprayed?” Morgan asked.

  “Spayed,” Adam answered absently. “Do we have to leave her overnight for that?”

  “Nope, just bring her in early Monday morning and she should be ready to go home at the end of the day.”

  Or, more likely, to Brenna’s home. Adam found himself curious to see where she lived.

  “I can get you some test results in a few minutes, but other than needing to eat more regularly, she looks like she’s in good health,” Dr. Higgs concluded. “Congratulations. You guys have a new member of the family.”

  HE’D FIT RIGHT IN with Fred and Josh, Brenna thought with amusement. Her fifteen-year-old companion in the waiting room had asked what the verdict was on her car, then enumerated the qualities she should look for if she decided to buy a new one.

  She shook her head. “Don’t think that’s in my budget anytime soon. The old one’s just gonna have to last a little longer.”

  Geoff pursed his lips. “I know what you mean—no car in my budget, either. And I don’t even have a hunk of junk to fall back on in the meantime. No offense.”

  “None taken.”

  He leaned against the wall behind him, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. It seemed like just yesterday that Josh was this age, by turns cocky and endearingly awkward with his impending adulthood.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” Geoff added suddenly. “Dad would probably buy me a car as long as it was reasonably priced and a solid investment. Eliza might act like he’s…He’s not a bad guy. He’s smart, makes good money as a doctor. Some of the music he likes is even kind of cool.”

  Brenna noted the boy’s earnest intensity. Was he used to having to defend his dad, speaking up for him out of habit, or was he specifically trying to impress upon her that his dad was a great catch?

  “I’m sure he has a lot of good qualities,” she said neutrally.

  He nodded. “It’s just that, even if he helped me with the cost of the car, I need to save up money for gas, insurance, all that stuff.”

  Tell me about it, kid. She was painfully aware of how quickly “that stuff” added up.

  “Mistletoe seems okay, but since we’re here for almost a month, I’m not getting to work this summer,” he said miserably. “If I had a job, I could start setting aside money for my sixteenth birthday.”

  “That’s a very responsible attitude,” she said in praise. A lot of the teens she’d known, her stepbrother included, had spent money as soon as it was handed to them.

  Brenna, on the other hand, had hoarded money as a kid—coins she found, a dollar handed to her by one of her mom’s boyfriends, even change left under her pillow by the tooth fairy. As if having twelve dollars and sixty-two cents in a purple hippo coin bank would add any security to her life.

  “I’m very responsible,” Geoff said slowly. “A real hard worker. I mean, my mom hasn’t let me get an actual job because she worries it could interfere with classes, but I get great grades. And Mrs. Miller says I do a thorough job cutting her lawn. I do the edging by hand when I’m finished with the grass.”

  He paused, straightening in his chair. Brenna thought she saw where he was going with this. She wouldn’t be able to help him, but she was impressed with his resourcefulness.

  “I don’t suppose you need any help walking dogs?” he asked, his expression boyishly hopeful.

  “Sorry.” Technically she did need seasonal help—assuming she could generate enough income to pay a second person. But that person would have to be over twenty-one for her company to remain appropriately insured and bonded. “I have special liability insurance because I go in and out of people’s homes—like in case something gets broken while I’m there—so I have to follow the age requirements.”

  They were interrupted by a squeal of delight and Morgan skipping down the hall. She was followed closely by her sister and father.

  “Looks like it’s time to pick out a name, after all,” Adam announced. “And we’re gonna need some supplies.”

  “There’s a pet store on Juniper, three blocks over, that allows animals in the store,” Brenna said. She had a harness-style cat leash they could borrow; she traveled with a “just in case” plastic storage box stocked with tennis balls, pet leads and assorted treats. “You can follow me there. I’ve been meaning to drop off more business cards and promotional materials, anyway.”

  When Kevin joined them, she thanked him without quite meeting his gaze, told him to have a great weekend and excused herself to step outside and return some calls. She liked the good-looking veterinarian, but since their breakup, their conversations had been a touch awkward.

  She climbed into her car and had confirmed one schedule change and left a message by the time the Varners piled into their own vehicle. When she met them in front of the pet store, they’d reached a consensus.

  “Her name is Ellie,” Morgan informed her.

  Brenna dutifully assessed the cat that Eliza had cradled against her shoulder. “Yep, she looks like an Ellie! And I have something for her to wear in the store. It’s the smallest one I could find, but make sure you keep a good hold on her.” She handed Adam the orange kitty harness. His fingers brushed hers, so briefly she shouldn’t have even noticed.

  But she did.

  Chapter Seven

  Inside the store Brenna watched the three kids dart in seemingly a dozen different directions. Geoff grabbed a cart while his sisters made a dash for supplies.

  “Just the essentials,” Adam cautioned them. “Food, a litter box…” Trailing off, he glanced at Brenna questioningly.

  “You’ll need a cat carrier,” she said. “Ellie may have been pretty well behaved for a ride across Mistletoe, but you don’t want to drive back to Tennessee with an unsecured cat in the car.”

  “Definitely not. Carrier, check.”

  “Maybe a cat bed.”

  He stopped in front of a multilevel, carpeted kitty condo. “Scratching post?”

  “My recommendation would be a scratching pad—inclined corrugated cardboard with some catnip in it. It costs less, it’s portable and it’s effective for training, redirecting her if she scratches something you’d rather she didn’t.”

  They stopped on an aisle that sold beds and toys. Adam stood back, letting the kids debate colors and laugh at jingly mice. He smiled, but his expression turned sheepish as he faced Brenna. “You probably think I’m a bad parent, bribing my kids to win their affection.”

  It was odd—and unexpectedly touching—that he might care what she thought.

  “No,” she said softly. “I still remember my first pet.” It had been right after her mother walked out on them. Brenna had been in emotional turmoil, but Josh—who’d gone through his parents’ divorce, a remarriage and now a sudden abandonment—had been equally overwrought. Fred had taken them to the animal shelter and picked out an exuberant golden retriever puppy they’d named Otis.

  For Brenna, that dog had been a godsend. She’d spent far too much of her life, even the re
latively quiet and happy times, dreading her mother’s next mood swing or capricious life change. And though Fred Pierce was a wonderful man who’d shown her nothing but affectionate welcome, Brenna’s ingrained trepidation had remained. If her own mother hadn’t wanted her, why would a man with no real obligation to her? Otis had shown her unconditional love until the day he’d gone to the great Dog Park in the Sky.

  “You okay?” Adam asked.

  She blinked, startled to find that her eyes stung. “Sorry, my mind wandered. I was thinking about a golden retriever Josh and I used to have. I realize that, as someone who works with animals, I’m biased, but pets can be a miraculous addition to your life. As long as you don’t mind the occasional messes, clawed drapes, getting up to let the dog out at three in the morning and their bringing you something dead to show their love.”

  Adam’s laugh helped put her uncharacteristically sentimental moment behind them. “Wow, when you put it like that… No, I do know what you mean. There have been medical studies arguing tangible health benefits of owning pets, like lower blood pressure. A few people even maintain that chances of survival after a heart attack are higher for pet-owners.”

  “This one?” Morgan asked suddenly, approaching with a small red-and-ivory cat bed.

  After exchanging glances with Brenna, who shrugged, Adam nodded. His daughter put the bed into the cart, and the kids rounded the end of the lane into the next aisle. The adults followed at a more leisurely pace, Adam absently rubbing a purring Ellie as they walked.

  “So what got you interested in cardiac medicine?” Brenna asked.

  “My dad, indirectly. He was my hero when I was young—big, gruff, but with a truly gentle heart. He was an anesthesiologist, used to come home in awe of the surgeries performed at the hospital, the people who’d been healed and the lives that had been saved. I looked up to him, so I guess I decided early that I wanted to be like the doctors he looked up to.” Adam hesitated, his lips pursed. “Think I fell short of the mark, forgetting somewhere why my dad was such a hero to me in the first place. He was a great father.”