Season Of Wonder

Ruben was aware of a little pinch of discontent again as the two of them kissed. He did his best to ignore it. Marsh had been Ruben’s friend long before he became his boss and Ruben was glad the sheriff and Andie seemed so happy together.

He was always aware when he was with them that if the two of them hadn’t found each other first, Ruben definitely would have made a move. Andie was the kind of woman he had always thought he wanted—someone soft, warm, compassionate.

Worlds away from a certain prickly, cool, reserved veterinarian.

Somebody should probably tell that to his subconscious, which had filled his dreams with all kinds of inappropriate situations involving the woman the night before.

Friday was a long, difficult day. She would have liked to take the day off since the girls were out of school but her time off was limited as a new veterinarian.

She was lucky enough to have a few good caregivers in her rotation and Gloria, the clinic receptionist and office manager, had a daughter home from college for the holidays who was looking for a little extra cash.

Dani had hoped to be done by two, her usual schedule on Friday, but a bichon frise with an abdominal obstruction came in right as she was wrapping up for the day and the dog required emergency surgery.

The surgery had been much more complicated than she had expected and she had ended up calling on Frank to help. She found it demoralizing that she had needed his expertise, yet more evidence she wasn’t up to the challenge of her new vocation, but Frank wouldn’t let her beat herself up.

“Don’t ever be embarrassed to ask for help.” His eyes—so like his son’s—were warm and kind. “I’ve been in the vet business for more than forty years. Just when I think I’ve seen everything under the sun, something new walks through the door to prove me wrong. You should never hesitate to call me, even after the practice is officially yours.”

She wasn’t sure that day would ever come—or ever should come. Who was she kidding, to think she had what it took to be a veterinarian? She was a failure. A nothing. Hadn’t she heard that enough when she was growing up?

As usual when that negative self-talk intruded, she did her best to focus on how fiercely she had worked to get where she was. All the sleepless nights of studying, the hand cramps from propping a textbook in one hand while rocking a crying baby in the other, the many creative ways she had found to stretch a dollar.

We can do hard things. That was the message she tried to reinforce to her girls. She couldn’t help wondering when it would be her turn to do the easy things.

By the time she finally made it home just after five, three hours later than she’d planned, she was exhausted.

“Thank you for staying extra with them,” she told Heidi, Gloria’s youngest daughter.

“Not a problem. I need the extra cash. I’m saving up to get my belly button pierced.”

Since the girl had four rows of pierced earrings and a ring in her lip, what was one more puncture wound? “Glad I could add to the pot, then. Have a good evening.”

“Thanks, Dr. C. Silver’s been in her room most of the afternoon doing homework and Mia is in the family room.”

“Thanks.”

After Dani let the babysitter out, she headed to find the easier of her children and found Mia playing quietly with her dolls.

“Hey, sweetie pie. How did your day go?”

Mia shrugged, without looking up at her.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“You said we should never lie but you lied.”

Dani scanned over her day, trying to figure out where she had gone wrong this time.

“About what?”

“You said you would be home right after lunch and we could put our Christmas tree up today. Lunch was a long time ago and now it’s almost dark and I bet you’re going to say you’re too tired to put up a Christmas tree.”

Going through the hassle of putting up a tree was the absolute last thing she wanted to do right now. After the difficult day, her brain was mush and she wanted to collapse on the sofa and sleep for the rest of the evening.

She had made a promise, though, something she took very seriously.

She sat on the floor beside her daughter. “I’m sorry, Mia. I did tell you I would be home after lunch but then I had a dog emergency. Sometimes that happens when you’re a veterinarian. We’ve talked about it before, remember? This time the emergency was a little bichon frise who had something stuck in her stomach. She was throwing up and couldn’t eat or poop.”

Her compassionate youngest child looked distressed at that. “Is she okay?”

“She is now. Dr. Morales came in and helped me fix things. It will take a day or two, but Princess Snowbear will be back to herself in a few days.”

Apparently saving a dog’s life warranted a few points in her book, at least where her youngest was concerned. Mia cuddled up to her. “I like Dr. Morales. He’s nice.”

“He is, indeed.” She would have been in trouble without him during the surgery. What would she do when he finally retired?

She put that worry away for another day. “How’s your sister been?”

Mia looked down the hall toward the bedrooms. “I don’t know. She stayed in her room almost all day. Earlier, I asked if she wanted to play with my Shopkins and she told me they’re stupid and I am, too.”

Apparently at least one of her children had no problem being a snitch. “She shouldn’t have said either of those things. You’re not stupid and neither are your toys, honey.”

The two girls were separated by seven years, which sometimes seemed such a vast chasm in their relationship. Sometimes Silver could be the sweetest thing to her sister and sometimes she barely tolerated Mia.

“What did you have for lunch?” Dani asked.

“Grilled cheese sandwiches, only Heidi left the crusts on and I had to cut them off myself.”

“That’s a hard day all around. Let’s see what we can do to make the afternoon and evening better. What do you think about calzones for dinner?”

“I love calzones! Can I help you make them?”

“You got it, kid. Maybe we can talk Silver into helping us, too.”

Mia looked doubtful but followed her down the hall. The doorbell rang before they reached Silver’s bedroom door.

“Who’s that?” Mia asked, looking nervous.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to answer it to see.”

She looked through the peephole and saw a big, solid chest dressed in a brown sheriff’s uniform. As she opened the door for Ruben Morales, she told herself it was only her exhaustion that had her feeling a little light-headed.

“Deputy Morales. Hello.”

He smiled, looking big and dark and absolutely delicious—something she was furious with herself for noticing.

“Afternoon. I was on my way home but thought I should stop here first to let Silver know about the conversation I had with the graffiti specialist for the county and what it’s going to take to clean up her artwork from last night.”

Just once, couldn’t she see the man when she wasn’t exhausted and rumpled and feeling as if she’d been dragged behind his big boat for an hour?