Mistletoe Magic (2 page)

“
Is that… ?” Dr. Noah Sullivan took a second look at the
greenery tied with a red satin bow and hanging from the ceiling in
the Copper Mountain Animal Hospital’s waiting room “…
mistletoe?”

Veronica, the
receptionist behind the front desk, nodded. Her wire-rimmed glasses
slid down her nose. The felt antlers in the older woman’s short,
white hair bobbed. “Mistletoe on Christmas Eve is tradition,
doc.”

“
I get the Christmas tree, the lights, even the display of
cards, but this isn’t a pickup joint. Owners will be bringing in
sick and injured pets tonight. Mistletoe is completely
inappropriate.”

“
Don’t be such a Scrooge or you won’t be getting any
kisses.”

His jaw
tensed. “I’m no Scrooge. I like Christmas, but I take my job
seriously.”

“
We all do, but there’s no harm in a little fun. Or
kissing.”

“
Do I look like the kind of man who wants a kiss under the
mistletoe?”

Veronica’s
hazel eyed narrowed.

“
At work,” he clarified, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze.
He adjusted the hem of his scrub shirt. Sure, he was the new guy
here, used to people staring, but she studied him as if he were a
biopsy specimen and couldn’t decide whether to diagnose him as
benign or malignant.

Maybe he’d
started off on the wrong foot with the staff. He’d been at the
clinic for only five weeks, the beginning of his three-year
commitment to a program that brought veterinarians to rural areas
in exchange for a vet school loan repayment. No sense making each
of the remaining one thousand seventy-four days miserable. He
leaned against the front counter, smiled. “So?”

She tsked.
“Hate to say it, but you look like a man who desperately needs to
be kissed.”

His mouth
gaped. He straightened, but his insides twisted. “Okay, I deserve
that.”

“
That’s a better attitude. You’re an attractive young man, but
wound tighter than a brand new mattress spring.” Veronica adjusted
her glasses. “When was the last time you relaxed? Enjoyed a nice
meal with a woman?”

“
I haven’t been in town that long.”

“
How about the last time you went out before you
arrived?”

He tried to
recall, but he’d been so busy finishing up his residency and making
plans…

“
It’s been so long you don’t remember.”

Unbelievable.
How did she know? Was his non-dating status stamped on his
forehead?

She’d nailed
him somehow. The least he could do was admit the truth. Lying never
got him anywhere. He nodded.

Veronica’s
gaze softened, not with pity, but compassion. Something he was used
to giving out, but not receiving. “You’re overdue then, honey.
Don’t turn into another Doc Seeley. He used to work here, put
everything into caring for animals and nothing into his personal
life. Don’t be a workaholic. You finished school. You have a job.
Hang out at Grey’s Saloon on a Saturday night and find yourself a
pretty woman to spend the rest of your life with.”

“
Slow down. I’ve barely unpacked. Give me time to settle in
before mailing out the wedding invitations.”

Veronica
leaned over the front counter. She looked down the hallway to the
treatment area, but Kelly, the certified vet tech, was in the back
with Chewey, a naughty Chihuahua with a chocolate-eating induced
stomach ache.

“
So who was she?” Veronica asked.

“
What are you talking about?”

“
Not what. Who. The woman who broke your heart and turned the
blood running through your veins to ice.”

He
half-laughed.

She patted his
hand. “I have two sons. It happens. But just like riding, when you
fall off you have to get right back on the horse. Get out there. Go
on lots of dates. That’s the only way to move on and keep your
heart from hardening.”

Sincerity
filled Veronica’s voice. She wasn’t butting in—okay, a little—but
she was also being a mom. He appreciated her concern, especially
since his parents were spending Christmas in Oregon with his sister
and her family.

“
No ice and my heart’s not hardened.” He mentally ran though
the list of women he’d dated over the years. The timing had always
been wrong for a more serious relationship. But one stuck out—a
pretty freshman he’d dumped right before graduating because he
thought continuing a long distance relationship might affect his
vet school studies. He’d tried to find her when he realized over
the summer how much he’d missed her. But her cellphone number had
been disconnected. She hadn’t re-enrolled at Montana State for her
sophomore year. His fault, he realized, and after that he stuck to
casual dating, always putting school first—and now his
job.

These days he
didn’t have time to date. Sleep was his favorite hobby. Being the
newest vet at the clinic meant working the worst shifts. Like
tonight. His Christmas would be spent working or being on call
alone. Maybe Veronica was right. Maybe he needed to put himself out
there instead of falling into bed when he got off work. “I wasn’t
dumped and I’m not emotionally scarred. I’ve been focused on my
career. Probably a little too focused, now that you mention
it.”

Veronica
pushed her glasses lower on her nose. “I knew it. You reminded me
of Doc Seeley so much. Though he was a skinny fellow. You could see
his veins. Beady eyes. Yellow teeth. Not exactly a hottie, if you
know what I mean, so I understood why he worked so much. But
you—”

The clinic’s
front door opened.

A woman in a
puffy powder blue down coat entered. Her hat pushed long strands of
brown hair over her face. She carried something bundled in a black
and white checked fleece blanket. “Please help me.”

The crack in
her voice and pale complexion sent him into action. Two long
strides, he was at her side. “I’m Noah. A vet.”

Worried green
eyes met his. Familiar eyes, except these weren’t as young and
innocent as the ones he remembered. These eyes were wary and
concerned. But they still reminded him of that girl he’d just
thought about, the freshman with cute freckles and twinkling
jade-green eyes.

Her gaze
widened with recognition. “Noah. It’s you.”

His heart
crashed against his chest. His world tilted.

“
Caitlin.” His arm reached forward, as if touching her would
assure him this—she—was real. That of all the vet clinics in
Montana, she’d walked into this one. “I can’t believe
it.”

“
Me, either.” She gave her head a shake, then lifted the
blanket toward him. “I found a kitten in the snow. Something’s
wrong with him. Or her. I don’t know which. Can you
help?”

Noah
remembered where he was, what he was. He took the bundle, ignoring
the million questions racing through his mind. Talking could wait.
“I’m going back to the triage area. Does she have a name?”

“
A stray. I think.” Caitlin glanced around the waiting room.
Looked up. Her gaze narrowed. “But it’s Christmas time. Mistletoe
sounds like a good name, don’t you think?”

Noah nodded.
He preferred that use of the word to the offending greenery
overhead. But he wondered if Caitlin’s kiss was still as sweet and
if his kiss might put the spark back into her eyes.

What the hell
was he thinking?

He hurried
down the hall, forcing himself not to glance over his shoulder to
look at her again. His vet skills to help the kitten were all she
cared about. What they’d shared had been in the past. He’d been a
fool for walking away. She had no idea he’d had regrets and tried
to find her. But now she might be someone’s girlfriend, someone’s
wife, someone’s mother.

Damn, he
hadn’t noticed if she was wearing a ring. Of course not, idiot, she
was wearing gloves. But a woman as beautiful as that most likely
had a man in her life.

No matter what
her relationship status, Noah knew one thing. She was still the
same Caitlin he’d known and loved, a woman who thought nothing of
rescuing a kitten on Christmas Eve.

He might not
be able to make up for his past mistake—okay, stupidity—but he
wanted Caitlin to know how sorry he was, how much he regretted
breaking up the way he had. And he would tell her and
apologize.

But first the
kitten needed his full attention.

Mistletoe.

Caitlin leaned
back against the padded chair in the waiting room. She pulled off
her gloves and beanie.

Not exactly
her finest name-the-cat moment.

But she had a
good excuse—a six-foot-tall, dressed in surgical scrubs,
sandy-blond hair, high forehead and cheekbones, blue-eyed
honest-to-goodness excuse. Standing next to him under mistletoe
hadn’t helped.

No. Do. Not.
Think. About. Kisses.

Not with
Noah.

Seeing him had
awakened places inside her she’d forgotten existed. Wrong on so
many levels she didn’t know where to begin.

“
Would you like a cup of coffee?” the white-haired woman
wearing antlers asked from behind the front desk.

“
No thanks.”

“
We have tea.” The woman looked vaguely familiar, like someone
Caitlin had met before. A friend of her mom or a preschooler’s
grandmother? “Or cocoa and cider mix if that’s more to your
liking.”

“
I’m not thirsty, but appreciate the offer.”

“
Worried about the kitten?”

Caitlin
nodded. “She was so wet and cold.”

“
Doc Sullivan is one of the best.”

She wasn’t
surprised. He’d talked so much about going to vet school. “Good to
know.”

Mistletoe is a
cute name.”

“
Thanks.” Caitlin picked up a magazine then opened the cover.
She didn’t want to be rude, but she wasn’t up for making
conversation right now.

She had the
kitten on her mind.

And Noah
Sullivan.

Recognizing
him had rendered her stupid. That was the real explanation behind
naming the kitten Mistletoe. She couldn’t think of anything but the
bunch of greenery hanging above them, wondering if there was some
ethics code that kept a vet from kissing a patient. Rather, the
patient’s human. Not that the cat belonged to her. See…

Being near him
short-circuited her brain. Fried logic. Turned off common
sense.

The same thing
had happened her freshman year of college when he’d gone from crush
to date to boyfriend. She’d been living a freshman fantasy until he
broke up with her in April two weeks before his commencement
ceremony.

Vet school
means everything to me. I like you a lot, more than I’ve liked
anyone, but I can’t afford the distraction of a long distance
relationship. Pullman, Washington is too far away. You still have
three more years here in Bozeman. Trust me, breaking up is the best
thing for you.

Funny how
years later, seven if she wanted to be exact, she wished she’d
gotten a chance to tell him how she knew what was best for her, not
him. But she’d been too upset, a combination of shock and surprise,
to string two words together let alone a snappy comeback.

But Noah was
here now.

Her first love
just down the hallway.

Maybe she
would finally get her chance.

Who was she
kidding? She was usually at the top of the nice list. Saying
something would be out of character though she was a little peeved
he would have to look more handsome than before. She rubbed the
back of her neck. Not that she’d hoped he’d lost his hair and
gained a hundred pounds. Well, maybe once.

In her
defense, Noah had broken her heart and crushed her dreams.

She’d cried
for weeks, lost ten pounds, sworn off men for the entire summer and
part of fall. Eventually she’d realized breaking up had been the
right thing to do.

Noah had
shared his plans with her. Plans to be a vet in a big city where
the larger population could support specialties.

She’d tried to
be supportive, but she hadn’t been, not really. A big town was the
last place this small town Montana girl wanted to be. Marietta was
the only place she wanted to live. She assumed Noah had figured
that out.

Yet here he
was in the same place she’d been born, grew up, and still lived.
She could hardly believe it.

A romantic
Christmassy ballad played. The melody washed over her, but didn’t
ease the tension knotting her neck.

Christmas Eve.
The kitten. Noah Sullivan.

Jen would say
none of this was a coincidence. She’d call finding the kitten and
seeing Noah synchronicity or fate. Caitlin shook her head. Maybe
even destiny. But Jen was a dreamer, an optimist who believed in
Christmas magic and miracles and happy endings.