Mistletoe Mommy

Chapter Nine

Adam was so out of practice with women that for one insane instant he actually considered seeking the advice of his fifteen-year-old son. So, Geoff, tell me about the first time you kissed your girlfriend. Was it awkward the next time you saw her? Did you mention it or just play it cool?

Resisting the urge to bang his head on the steering wheel, Adam cranked up the music in the SUV to drown out his own asinine thoughts. All too soon, they’d reached the shopping center where Dr. Higgs practiced. It was very early in the day-technically the office didn’t even open for another half hour, but Dr. Higgs had explained that when the visit was surgical, he preferred to get an animal checked in before the lobby got hectic. It reminded Adam of the times he’d told a patient they needed to report to the hospital by 6 a.m. for pre-op. Most people agreed that was preferable to waiting half a day when they weren’t allowed to put anything in their stomachs after midnight.

Brenna could have gone in the clinic, but as she had last time, she was waiting out at her car. With the two of them meeting here in a deserted lot, this felt almost like a clandestine encounter. Until he parked and his kids all began chattering at once, unbuckling their seat belts and practically tripping over themselves in their haste to see Ellie and Brenna.

Adam lagged behind, studying her. She wore a black leather headband today, securing her coppery hair out of her face. She had on black-and-red athletic shorts and a white T-shirt emblazoned with her company logo. There was nothing sexy or glamorous about her appearance, but damn, he wanted to kiss her again.

She shaded her eyes against the sun. “Morning.”

“Hi. Thanks for meeting us here. Are you sure you want to pick Ellie up this afternoon? If you’re busy with other animals, I can come get her. We could meet back at your place,” he suggested impulsively. “The kids and I could bring dinner. We owe you.”

He was almost certain she would say no-after all, she’d made it clear how crowded her work schedule was. And he still wasn’t one hundred percent sure how she’d felt about his kissing her.

She nibbled indecisively at her lower lip, and it took real effort for him to tear his gaze away from her mouth. “Why not?” she finally said. “It might take some minor rearranging, but…I guess I have to eat sometime, right?”

The words might not have been the most enthusiastic encouragement a man ever received, but her casual statement was belied by the smile she gave him. Bright, appreciative and a touch mischievous. A smile like that could make a man weak in the knees.

“Brenna!” Morgan tugged at the hem of the woman’s shorts. “I made a card for Ellie. Wanna see?”

“Of course.” Holding Adam’s gaze for just a moment longer, the pet-sitter knelt and turned to give his daughter her undivided attention. They talked for a few seconds about how Ellie would be a bit groggy afterward, but wouldn’t feel any pain during the procedure.

“You guys can come visit her tonight,” Brenna said, brushing Morgan’s hair away from her face. “But she probably won’t feel like playing. Zoe, on the other hand, will be thrilled to see you. Think you could do me a favor and play some more Frisbee with her?”

Morgan brightened. “That would be so fun!”

“Great. Then I’ll see you later.” Having delivered the cat and agreeing that Adam would be the one picking her up, Brenna turned to go. She looked astonished when Morgan threw her arms around her legs in an impromptu hug.

Adam was surprised, too. Morgan was sweet-natured, but he’d never seen her warm up to someone this quickly. Heck, even with him she’d been timid on occasion, shy to tell him about her day. He’d picked her up at preschool once and when another child asked who he was, Morgan had said, “That’s Dr. Daddy.” Yet there was no sense of that formality or hesitation with Brenna.

A fact that did not escape his other children’s notice. Eliza and Geoff exchanged meaningful glances, then turned to him as if to ask half-a-dozen simultaneous, silent questions. He sighed. For an extremely educated man with fifteen years of parenting experience, Dr. Daddy had surprisingly few answers.

“MORE THAN PUPPY Love, this is Brenna.”

“Hey. It’s Adam.”

Inexplicably, Brenna was reminded of a day she’d gone with Fred and Josh to Kerrigan Farms and they’d helped make real old-fashioned ice cream-the kind you had to hand-crank. She recalled drizzling rich, golden caramel-her favorite topping-over a bowl of vanilla. Adam’s voice sounded the way that sweet liquid caramel had looked. Warm, addictive, delicious. If she hadn’t been driving her car, she would have closed her eyes to better savor listening to him.

“Brenna? You going through an area with bad cell reception?”

“N-no, I can hear you perfectly.” I’m apparently suffering delayed heatstroke because my brain has turned to mush, but nothing wrong with my hearing. “Are you calling with a status report on Ellie?”

“Dr. Higgs said she’s doing great, and we can pick her up in about an hour. He even spoke to Morgan when he called.”

Brenna smiled at that. “Sounds like Kevin. So where are you now?”

“We’ve been lazing by the pool.” Adam lowered his voice. “Which was incredibly peaceful until about ten minutes ago.”

“Why? What happened then?”

“Changing of the guards,” he snarled. So much for the smooth, dreamy caramel voice.

She laughed. “Have you guys jetted off to Buckingham Palace without letting me know?”

“Lifeguards,” he said succinctly. Beneath his breath, he added, “Punk.”

“Problem?”

“Yes. Boys are my problem. They’re inconsiderate, inconsistent and only out for One Thing,” he complained in a bitter undertone. “The other day, one of these horrid creatures caught my daughter’s eye.”

“I see.” Brenna tried not to laugh at his expense. “So is she over there flirting with him?”

She recalled that, in her teens, Fred had been so mortified at the thought of her dating, she’d more or less avoided the situation until college. And now he’s practically going through the phone book trying to find me a guy. She didn’t have the heart to tell Adam that parenting a daughter would probably never get any easier.

“The other day, he was flirting with Eliza. Who is way too young for him, I might add. But now he has the colossal nerve to stand there in plain sight flirting with some fourteen-or fifteen-year-old girl whose parents obviously lack the funds to buy her the whole bathing suit.”

“You’re cute when you rant.”

That stopped him cold. “Cute? I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“If it helps, I meant it in a good way.”

“Yeah?” He sounded positively cheerful now, the evil lifeguard forgotten. “Well, I think you’re cute, too. And by ‘cute,’ I mean incredibly sexy.”

Sexy? Her mouth fell open. She couldn’t recall the last time a man had called her that. “Thank you.”

The way he’d looked at her the other night, the way he’d confidently kissed her with no warning-that had all been sexy. At the time she just hadn’t been sure she wanted to act on the latent desires he provoked. Now that she’d had a couple of days to think about it…

“Adam?”

“I’m listening,” he said.

“About that k-”

“Oh, hell,” he interrupted. “I gotta go. My little girl’s crying.”

She knew he meant Eliza and not Morgan. “Go. I’ll see you tonight.”

Though she applauded his efforts to comfort his daughter, the aborted conversation was a reminder that an uncomplicated summer fling with a single dad was probably an oxymoron. How could anything remain uncomplicated when kids were involved? Common sense settled over her like an itchy wool blanket. She didn’t want to interfere in the Varners’ family time, and she didn’t want to set a controversial example for those kids. It was better that she and Adam remain platonic and that she didn’t think of him as anything more than a customer she liked and respected. In fact, it would probably be for the best that she stopped thinking about him entirely.

Yes, that was definitely what she would do. Put him out of her mind.

How hard could that be?

IT WAS WEIRD to come home to someone besides a dog and cat who wanted to be fed.

When Brenna pulled into her driveway, the Varners had already parked under the carport and gone inside. Adam had called her back earlier to find out if she had any food allergies or vehement preferences on what she wanted to eat. It had occurred to her that since her schedule was made up more of rough estimates than exact times, she should tell him where the spare key was hidden in the backyard. She warned him that Zoe would definitely come through the doggie door to investigate his presence. Since the border collie had already given the Varners her canine stamp of approval, however, the worst threat she posed was trying to lick one of them in the face.

Brenna had hesitated over telling him how to get into the house-it felt bizarrely personal to think of Adam and his three kids under her roof, amid her stuff, when she wasn’t there-but then she’d realized what a hypocrite she was being. After all, people let her into the privacy of their homes every day!

She opened the front door and did a double take. The enticing food smell wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, but the sounds of Adam calling out hello, Morgan scurrying to come greet her and Geoff laughing at some antic of Zoe’s…It was as if Brenna had turned the knob and accidentally walked into someone else’s life, instead of her own. She blinked, her stepfather’s words coming back to her: I’ve gone it alone, and I’ve been in love. It makes a world of difference.

“Brenna! I drew you a picture,” Morgan said. “It’s on your fridge. Wanna see?”

They passed through the living room, where Geoff and Zoe were playing tug-of-war with a stuffed toy.

“Ellie’s sleeping in the kitty den,” Morgan explained. “If she feels better tomorrow, will you play with her for us?”

“Absolutely,” Brenna promised.

They’d reached the kitchen, where Adam was popping open takeout containers and pouring food into bowls. The scene was so domestic that she felt she should kiss him on the cheek and ask him about his day. Platonic, she reminded herself. No kissing on the cheek or anywhere else.

“We had a craving for Chinese,” he said. “Please tell me Mistletoe has decent mu shu pork.”

“There is no bad food in Mistletoe,” she promised. “Well, except for a couple of ill-advised recipes I tried. But most of my dinner guests survived those and, with therapy and time, even went on to live normal lives.”

Morgan wrinkled her nose. “You’re funny.”

Choosing to take that as a compliment, Brenna glanced around. “Where’s Eliza?”

Adam jerked his head toward the sunporch adjacent to the kitchen. Brenna moved closer for a better look through the window, sidestepping Morgan as the little girl rejoined Zoe and Geoff in the living room. Seated on a white-wicker padded bench, Eliza had River in her lap and was singing along mournfully to a tune from her iPod.

“Ah. The continuing saga of boy troubles?” Brenna asked.

“Yeah.” Adam leaned in to peer over her shoulder and check on his daughter. Brenna’s body heated at his nearness. He smelled like outdoors and sunshine. And he was close enough that she heard his breathing quicken.

Maybe she should fill him in on the platonic plan.

She ducked away from him, gesturing at the window. “You want me to go talk to her?”

He gnawed at the inside of his cheek. “Can you talk to her about it without letting her know I told you anything?”

She thought it over. “Can do.” Whether it would actually help was a different story, but it seemed like a fitting homage to Maggie and all the times she’d tried to bridge the natural gap between her and Brenna. Plus, it put space between Brenna and Adam.

Even without those reasons, though, she admitted to herself that she probably would have felt compelled to reach out to the girl. Unexpectedly Adam Varner and his entire family were getting under Brenna’s skin in a remarkably short period. They were tugging at heartstrings normally reserved for litters of puppies and stray kittens in the rain.

It was ironic that Dr. Varner helped people improve their heart function. Because the more time she spent in his company, the more erratically her heart seemed to behave.

“HEY.” BECAUSE OF the iPod, Brenna spoke louder than she normally would. “Mind if I join you for a few minutes?”

Sniffling, the girl averted her face. “It’s your house.”

“That doesn’t really answer the question.” Brenna stood in front of the girl, scratching River under her chin. “Looks like you’ve made a new friend here.”

It had been the wrong thing to say.

“I don’t need new friends. I need my real ones, back home! They’re the people I want to talk to. Or even my mom. Do you know how gross it is to talk to a dad about boys?”

“Can’t say that I do. I never got up the courage to try.” She wasn’t sure who it would have psychologically scarred more, her or Fred. The man loved her, no question of that, but when it came to “female matters,” he’d invariably punted her in Maggie’s direction. “It just seemed too awkward.”

Eliza nodded repeatedly. “It is. Trust me. And what does he know, anyway?”

“Cut him some slack, Eliza. Your dad’s an intelligent guy, and he cares about you.”

“That doesn’t make him an expert on dating. He hasn’t had a girlfriend since my mom.”

Really? Women in Knoxville don’t know what they’re missing. Of course, Brenna doubted he kept his children posted on the particulars of his love life, so it was possible he was more experienced than they realized. For instance, she was certain they didn’t know about that kiss the other night-and she planned to keep it that way.

“What about you?” Eliza demanded suddenly. “You’re probably smarter about romance than him. Do you date often?”

Brenna guffawed. “Even less than your dad, actually.”

“But you’re pretty. And you have…” Eliza didn’t finish her sentence, but she glanced meaningfully in the vicinity of Brenna’s chest. “My friend Dee says that’s all a girl needs to attract a guy.”

There were so many things wrong with that statement-not that it was completely without truth-Brenna didn’t know where to start. “Those guys aren’t really worth attracting.”

“What kind are?”

“Scoot over.” It would be a snug fit, but the bench could accommodate both of them. Since it looked as if Brenna might need a few minutes to come up with answers, she preferred to get off her feet. “Okay. Boys are a pain in the you-know-what.”

Eliza giggled. Progress.

“But some of them are at least worth the trouble. Hold out for one of those, one who respects you, who’s courteous. He should be honest with you and listen when you talk. He needs to recognize your boundaries and not push you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

“I know this part,” Eliza said, rolling her eyes.

“All right. Well, since you should also listen when he talks, it helps if you have some common interests. And if he’s funny.”

The girl frowned. “Bobby likes to talk mostly about Camaros and himself. Hearing about him was interesting at first, but…”

“Did he ever ask about you?”

“Not really.”

“Find a guy who does. But there’s no hurry,” she stipulated.

That earned her another eye roll, but Eliza’s expression was much brighter than it had been. She set River aside and got to her feet. “Is dinner almost ready? I think I’m hungry.”

Brenna figured that doing a victory dance would be inappropriate-or make her look like an idiot, at any rate-but the impulse was there. While she wasn’t naive enough to think that Eliza would go forth and never suffer boy troubles again, helping the adolescent past this hiccup was far more rewarding than she could have predicted.

At the door leading back into the main house, Eliza paused. “What about you, Ms. Pierce? Is the reason you don’t date much because you’re still holding out? You haven’t found a guy who’s funny and respectful and a good listener?”

Brenna blinked, surprised to find herself the topic of conversation again. “Oh. I’ve been lucky enough to find a couple of guys who fit that description, but none of them were quite…I don’t have that much time to date. I work a lot.”

Eliza’s mouth thinned. “Like my father.” She clearly didn’t mean it as a compliment.

“He does an important job.” She experienced an uncharacteristically self-conscious moment when she compared their occupations. Scooping kitty litter and sprinkling fish flakes into an aquarium sounded a bit less impressive.

“People are important, too.” Eliza crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “Maybe you aren’t as smart about relationships as I thought.”