Mistletoe Mommy

Chapter Eight

“Hey, sis.” Josh opened the front door wider to let Brenna past, but rather than flash one of his customary smiles, he scowled with concern. “Are you getting enough sleep?”

“Not even close,” she admitted with a wan smile. “So stop badgering me to go out with Nick Zeth or J. C. Delgorio or whoever you’re trying to fix me up with next and just let me stay home so I can go to bed early.”

Little does my brother know. She didn’t need his help finding a man to stir her interest-she’d been kissing just such a man in her kitchen two nights ago!

Josh narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“No, but you were thinking something. I could smell the smoke.”

“Ha ha.” She poked him in the shoulder. “You’re hilarious. You ever think about taking that act on the road…far, far from Mistletoe?”

Natalie appeared behind him in the doorway that led from the foyer into the dining room where they’d all be eating. “Josh, are you giving your sister a hard time?”

“Nah, we were just chatting. Apparently she’s too tired to date.”

Maggie poked her head around the corner, wiping flour-dusted hands on her apron. No doubt she’d just put one of her wonderful pies in the oven. “Date? Brenna, honey, did you go on a date this weekend?”

“What can I help with?” Brenna asked, effectively sidestepping the issue of romance.

For a whole twenty-three minutes.

As Fred passed the barbecued chicken to Brenna, he asked, “Know who I saw at Waide Supply?”

Brenna hazarded a guess. “One of the Waides?” Zachariah and his wife had owned the hardware and feed store for years, but it was mostly run these days by David Waide and his sister, Arianne.

“No, Gabriel Sloan, buying some equipment. He’s still single, isn’t he?”

At the mention of the man with the semi-infamous past, Maggie choked on her dilled cucumber and tomato salad. “Gabe Sloan? But he-”

“Don’t you think there comes a time when we all have to let go of the past and move forward?” Fred wasn’t looking at his wife as he asked the question, but his stepdaughter.

I am moving forward! She was building her own company, establishing real roots in the community, creating the stability she’d always craved.

Fred heaved a sigh. “I just want to see you happy, Bren. I’ve gone it alone and I’ve been in love. It makes a world of difference.”

“Well, when I can find a man as loyal as my dog, I’ll think about it,” she joked. “Let’s face it, Zoe would drag my unconscious body out of a burning building, while half the men in the world can’t even manage to call when they say they will.”

Natalie laughed, but tried to disguise it as a cough when Josh sent her a hurt look.

“Oh, honey.” Maggie’s expression was so maternal and concerned that it twisted something in Brenna sideways. “That’s not why you broke up with Kevin, is it, because you questioned his loyalty?”

“No, I wasn’t speaking literally,” Brenna said with a sigh. For starters, he broke up with me. “I just…So, Nat, how’s the flower business?”

Giving her a sympathetic glance, Natalie began telling them all about a wedding she was doing next weekend and the bride’s various meltdowns so far. Then there was a wedding scheduled for the Fourth of July in which the bride had gone wholeheartedly with the red-white-and-blue theme. Not only in the flowers, but in gowns-her two bridesmaids would be wearing red-and-blue dresses.

Brenna listened with half an ear. Maggie’s question about Kevin had reminded her of one of the last things he’d said before correctly deciding they were not meant to be. He’d been in Intense Discussion mode.

“It must have killed you when your mother left,” he’d said.

“Not so much.” She’d tried to joke away old pains. “Here I am, still alive.”

“Poor Brenna.” He’d brushed his hand over her hair soothingly. “Is that why you’re so aloof? Metaphorically leaving people before they can leave you.”

And about a week later, Kevin had left her.

Which was for the best, but he’d had a point. If she ever hoped to find the happiness Fred and Maggie shared, the kind that Josh and Natalie aspired to, she would have to get better at opening up to people.

Her mind flitted back to Adam. What would it be like if she let herself get involved, just on a short-term basis, with someone she already knew was leaving? It wasn’t as if she would have to wonder in the back of her mind when it would all end. The idea was morbidly appealing. It replaced chance and romantic whim with a modicum of control and certainty.

Lost in thought, she almost missed it when Josh suddenly said, “I saw the Varner family at the lodge this morning.”

Brenna’s gaze flew to his face, searching for any sign of knowing smugness. Had Josh guessed that she was thinking about Adam? Had he somehow sensed any of the attraction she felt for the doctor?

“I talked to them as they were headed out tubing.” He smiled. “That Morgan is one cute kid. Says she’s turning five this week.”

“Friday,” Brenna provided reflexively.

Maggie raised her eyebrows. “Who are the Varners? I can’t place the name.”

“I’m pet-sitting for them while they’re on vacation at the lodge,” Brenna said. They would meet her at the vet clinic in the morning when she dropped off Ellie for her procedure. Kevin would give Adam a call after the operation to let him know how the little cat was recuperating.

“The Varners are those tourists from Tennessee,” Josh clarified. “Remember? The surgeon who picked up Brenna? Adam really wants to take his two oldest rafting, but Morgan’s too young. Nat, I told him I’d see if you might be willing to babysit.”

Natalie bit her lip. “I don’t know. I mean, I’d love to, that’s not a question, but the shortest trip you do is almost four hours. I’ve got multiple weddings and receptions coming up, not to mention the float for the Independence Day parade.”

Brenna found herself hoping that Josh hadn’t made his babysitting offer within earshot of the kids. It sounded as if there had been past occasions when they’d had their hopes dashed when it came to time with their father, and she didn’t want her stepbrother indirectly contributing to that.

After dinner Fred said he wanted to check scores before dessert and, predictably, fell asleep in his recliner three and a half minutes later. Maggie shooed Josh and Natalie out the door the second they’d finished their pie so they wouldn’t miss the late movie they’d been planning to see.

“I’m more than willing to clear the table by myself,” Maggie assured them. “It’s worth it, getting to spend the evening with you all.”

Brenna hesitated. She could spare a tiny bit of time before starting her “good night” visits; the Turners lived over in this neck of the woods, anyway.

“I’ll help with the dishes,” she told Maggie. When the offer reminded her of Adam-and the steamy moment they’d shared in her kitchen-she nearly groaned. It was a bad sign when menial housework got you worked up over a guy.

Maggie looked taken aback. “Well, thank you, honey. I figured after the conversation earlier, you’d beat feet to get out of here.”

“Which conversation?” Brenna asked as she collected all the linen napkins for the laundry. “Oh, you mean the one where Fred has stooped to randomly pawning me off on any single man who crosses his path? I’ve forgotten all about it.”

“Sorry if we put you on the spot,” Maggie said sheepishly. “We’re just…”

“Trying to be my family.” And family members looked out for one another, even if it came in the form of unsolicited dating advice. “Maggie Pierce, you’re a hell of a good mother.”

For a second Maggie didn’t react. She went from frozen to blinking rapidly, tears welling up in her eyes. “I…I need to put these away in the fridge.” She blindly grabbed two containers off the dining-room table, one of which was empty.

Brenna gave her a second of privacy, then followed her into the kitchen with a stack of plates. Maggie had one arm braced against the kitchen counter and was wiping her eyes with her free hand.

“You okay?” Brenna asked softly. Jeez, no wonder she avoided the touchy-feely stuff as a rule. She hadn’t meant to make Maggie feel bad.

“I apologize for…” Maggie fluttered her hand in a vague gesture. “You just caught me off guard.”

If kind words from Brenna were startling enough to elicit an emotional meltdown, then she was the worst stepdaughter ever.

Abashed, she asked, “You do know that I…love you, right?” The words didn’t come easily, hadn’t for decades, but that didn’t mean the feeling behind them was absent.

“Oh, honey.” Maggie reached out to squeeze Brenna’s hand. “I do know. You’ve never wanted to talk about your mom-”

“I still don’t,” Brenna said quickly.

“But I hope you know I love you like my own daughter.”

Even though Brenna had been quietly prickly in the beginning about accepting that love. Oh, she’d never been as outwardly bratty as Eliza-she hadn’t been that brave-but scared and scarred, she couldn’t have made it easier for the older woman, either.

“Josh mentioned the Varner family?” Brenna began. She enthusiastically scrubbed dishes, glad to have something physical to do-and an excuse not to meet Maggie’s eye. “A divorced man and his three kids. I think watching him interact with them is part of what made me realize how much I appreciate you. He’s worried he’s not doing a good-enough job-”

“All parents feel that way,” Maggie empathized.

“-but he’s so patient with them, trying so hard to reach out to them. He may not see it as objectively as I do, but he’s a great kisser.”

It wasn’t until Maggie’s jaw dropped that Brenna realized what she’d said.

“F-father. I meant he’s a great father.”

Maggie raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“He really is great. With them. A very committed dad.”

Still silent, Maggie shifted her weight.

Brenna tossed her hands up in defeat. “Oh, all right, and he’s a great kisser. Judging from the single, solitary peck I have to go by.”

Maggie beamed at her. “And will you be kissing him again?”

“No!” Maybe. I sure hope so.