Morgan looked delighted. Its a playroom for animals!
Once they were all inside the room, which was barely big enough for five people, Brenna closed the door. Go ahead, put Ellie down. Well let her explore for a minute. Can one of you go get her litter-box supplies?
Adam shot his children a pointed glance. I seem to recall lots of promises in the car about taking responsibility for your new pet?
He got a trio of quick nods, and all three children started toward the bedroom door.
Be careful not to let Brennas cat outside, he warned.
Oh, she spends her day on the screened-in sunporch, Brenna said. Well let her in soon.
The kids slid through a partially open door while Ellie tiptoed around her new surroundings.
Adams conscience prompted him to ask, Youre sure its okay if we stay for dinner?
As long as no one looks too closely at any of the furniture. I vacuum a lot to keep up with the animal hair, but I dont spend a lot of time dusting. Just one of those things I unintentionally let slide because no one ever comes over.
Not even Josh? Ora boyfriend? Hed wondered since first seeing her yesterday if she was single. Though her stepbrother had all but confirmed it, Adam found that he wanted to hear it straight from her lips.
Not for a long time, she admitted. Not since Kevin.
Dr. Higgs? So he hadnt been imagining the veterinarians reaction to her.
Yeah. We dated for a while, but we wanted different things. My fault, probably. When youre starting your own company, it can be pretty all-consuming. I barely had time and energy left over for myself, much less enough for another person.
Being a surgeon is a bit like that, he commiserated. From what little I saw on our walk-through, your house looks clean to me. And you smiled and waved at about a dozen people in the Diner. Youve been working all day, and yet still managed to have a dinner waiting for you when you got home. I envy your balance.
Balance? She laughed. You should come to Sunday dinner and tell my family that. Theyd laugh you out of the house. You heard what Josh said about me last night.
Yes, but hes wrong, Adam said, questioning his own vested interest. In a few weeks hed be gone from Mistletoe, so what did it matter whether Brenna was able to balance romance in her busy schedule?
She arched an eyebrow. Hes known me most of my life. Youve only known me two days.
Still. He smiled. Its always best to get a second opinion.
IF ANYONE HAD told Adam that during his family vacation, hed be having dinner two nights in a row with the same beautiful woman, he would have assumed feverish delirium and checked the speakers temperature. Or possibly have ordered a CAT scan.
Yet here he was in Brennas kitchen, instructing his kids to scrub in for supper. Since there were only four chairs at the oval table in her kitchen, shed gone to grab the desk chair from her office. He asked Morgan to sit on the side closest to the wall since it was easiest for her to squeeze in; while he filled glasses with ice cubes, Geoff and Eliza seated themselves at either end. When Brenna returned, rolling the padded office chair up to the oblong table, Adam realized hed be sitting next to her. Closely.
As tantalizing as the food smelled, when he was in such close proximity to Brenna, he didnt notice the aromas of garlic or orange. Instead, it seemed as if he could only breathe in the heady smell of her, some kind of vanilla-based mixture that was sweet without being flowery or cloying. Her lotion or shampoo, maybe? Whatever it was, he liked it a lot. Much like Brenna herself, it was sexy without being blatantly obvious.
As dinner progressed, she finally struck a casual balance between trying hard-apologizing for any imagined housekeeping deficiencies, chatting a mile a minute about the towns amenities-and holding herself courteously aloof, as hed sensed her doing when they first arrived at the vets office. She regaled them with anecdotes about River, a long-haired tortoiseshell Manx with no tail. Unlike any other cat Adam knew, River would play fetch and loved to annoy the dog by taking off with Zoes smaller toys and hiding them in hard-to-reach places. As a child, Adam hadnt owned a cat, but thered been two big dogs in his home.
Smiling over long-forgotten memories, Adam recounted how their family German shepherd had been afraid of the yappy little poodle next door, and told the story of a dinner party that had been ruined when the pork roast that had been cooling on a counter disappeared entirely.
Until that evening, I didnt realize Mom even knew any bad words, Adam reminisced. His parents were retired near Crossville now and owned a medium-size mutt theyd brought with them in February when they visited for Geoffs birthday.
Adam frowned when he realized he hadnt seen them since then-and hed barely spent any time with them during that visit because one of his repeat patients had suffered a massive pulmonary embolism that week. His parents were generally more understanding about the demands of his career than his children, but the fact remained that Adam was struggling to prioritize between saving other peoples lives and being there for the people in his own life.
After dinner the kids checked on Ellie, then decided to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather by playing Frisbee in the backyard with Zoe.
I could call them back in, Adam offered, carrying three plates and a half-empty glass, and get them to help us with dishes.
Brenna shook her head. Nah, wed just be tripping over one another in this tiny kitchen. As it is, you and I keep
Bumping? Brushing against each other? Hed noticed. And he liked it. While he didnt deliberately collide with her-he had more maturity than Geoff, for pitys sake-he didnt go out of his way to step aside if she was passing him, either.
Anyway. She swallowed. Border collies are active dogs. Its good theyre giving Zoe the extra playtime and exercise since Ive been gone a lot this week.
Are you all done for the day? he asked, trying not to stare as she bent over to wipe the far side of the table. She had an amazing figure. It seemed as if, over the past few years, hed fallen into the implausible habit of thinking about the human form in only clinical terms. Brennas body was more art than science.
Nope. When she answered him, he struggled momentarily to remember what his question had been. Ill do about an hour of office work, then head back out to put some dogs in for the night. Not everyone has doggie doors installed, and there are a lot of reasons not to leave dogs out all night-weather, increased barking and, for the smaller dogs, the threat of coyotes.
So how did you come to work with animals? he asked. It sounds great in theory-be your own boss, play with cute puppies-but the reality seems pretty difficult.
Its rewarding, mostly. Ive loved animals ever since I was a little girl, and as I mentioned last night, the nine-to-five thing just wasnt for me.
Not enough working hours in the day? he teased.
She grinned over her shoulder. It was more the corporate culture, office politics. As it turns out, I apparently dont play well with others.
In her flippant response, she was selling herself short. He didnt know much about pet-sitting, but he knew what it was like to work with various personality types. His patients had all kinds of quirks and preferences, but they needed him. Brenna had made it sound as if she was actively striving to grow her business, which must require good word of mouth, which meant she had to be careful to cater to her clients. Even if one was being a pain in the butt.
Do you like the majority of the people you work for? he wanted to know.
She tossed her dishcloth into the sink. Yeah. I appreciate every one of them-even the ones who change their pets diet or medication and forget to tell me, or the ones who have nanny-cams installed every ten inches and make me feel like Im stuck in my own reality television show. Obviously I couldnt do this for a living without my customers, but its more than that.
Im grateful to them formaking me part of their lives. She winced. Well, that sounded corny as hell.
Adam smiled, charmed equally by the personal revelation and her subsequent cranky reaction.
Abruptly she changed the subject. Other than getting her a cat, which should qualify you as the most beloved parent in all of Mistletoe, have you figured out what youre going to do for Morgans birthday?
No. Finished with the dishes, he leaned against the counter. Im open to suggestions.
Earlier today I remembered something my stepmother did once. She treated me to a girlie day at the local spa. Mani, pedi, sparkly lipstick. At Morgans age, she might get a kick out of being treated like a princess. Eliza could do it with her, but I guess that leaves you and Geoff out in the cold.
It might work, Adam said slowly. With three kids, it was difficult to get one-on-one time with each. Maybe he and Geoff could have some time to chat while the girls enjoyed an hour or two of glamour. And it was the type of thing that would be a surprise-people expected moms to come up with beauty-day ideas, not fathers.
So, your dad married Joshs mom? he asked. If Brenna and her father were close, perhaps she could give him some insight into improving his relationship with Eliza.
No.
But Hadnt she said Josh was her stepbrother? And she mentioned a stepmother.
Brenna turned to the window overlooking that backyard. I hate to break up the kids fun, but I really do have some computer work I should get to.
Of course, sorry. The last thing hed wanted was to overstay his welcome. I should have herded them inside sooner, instead of sticking around to shoot the bull.
Ive never liked that saying, Brenna admonished with mock affront. But at least its not as bad as more than one way to skin a cat. What kind of monster came up with that? She gave an exaggerated shudder.
Was the silly banter her way of softening the impression that she was kicking them out?
From here on out, only metaphors in which no animals are harmed, he promised solemnly. Where do you stand on raining cats and dogs?
Her lips twitched as she tried to keep her expression deadpan. It depends. Are they wearing protective gear? At the last moment, her suppressed smile broke free, making her truly beautiful, and it was as if something inside Adam had been liberated, too.