The Homespun Holiday (12 page)

“It couldn’t have been
that
bad,”
Bree scoffed.

“Yes, it could,” Mack and Millie
declared in perfect harmony.

“Bree, one young man shared that
when he ran low on condoms, he’d found saran wrap to be a pretty kickass
alternative.  But the same young man couldn’t understand how the girlfriend
sitting next to him was four months pregnant,” Mack relayed sharply. 

“No,” Bree denied, staring at her
brother in sickened horror.

“Oh, yeah….it gets worse.  One of
the other young jackasses in the audience couldn’t understand why his
girlfriend insisted he wear a condom during anal intercourse because…and I’m
quoting here, ’Hey man, everybody knows you can’t catch any kind of crotch rot if
you do your bitch in the ass’,” Mack declared, mimicking the boy deep
gangsta-like voice.

“Sweet mercy, Mack!” Bree
blustered, her eyes widening.  “Where in the world are they getting these
misguided ideas from?”

“Hell if I know,” Mack growled.  “I
did my duty and  did what I could to dispel some of their more foolish notions,
but you can bet your last dollar some of those kids didn’t hear a single word I
was trying to say to them.  I mean, c’mon… who’s enough of a dumbass to use
saran wrap around their dick!”

Millie buried her face in her hand as
a throat cleared behind Mack’s chair, silencing his righteous rant on the
dangers of cling wrap. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Honor
McKinnon’s kind voice said softly. “But I think I need to remind the good
doctor here that this is a family friendly restaurant and we’re in the busiest
part of our day,” the beautiful young woman chided Mack quietly.

“Be nice, Mackenzie,” Bree ordered
in a hushed voice, well-accustomed to her growly brother’s mercurial mood
swings.

Of course, Millie could have told
her that she needn’t have worried.  Bree was new to town and didn’t know that
not even the ugliest soul would say a single nasty word to the youngest
McKinnon sister.  Between the horrible kidnapping and rape that had nearly
taken Honor’s life years ago and the younger woman’s genuinely loving
personality, there were very few individuals that would
ever
try to hurt
Honor’s feelings.  And for those few souls that were, in fact, stupid enough to
try and hurt Honor, they generally found Paradise’s own Sheriff standing in
their way, ready to defend the sweet woman in whatever way he needed to do it. 
And as far as Mackenzie went, Millie knew well enough that Honor was one of the
few people that Mack truly liked.  She was a patient and a friend.

Looking over his shoulder, Mack
frowned.  “Sorry, Honor.  Well, I’m sorry for being too loud.  I’m not the
least bit sorry for that other thing,” he remarked, his frown quickly becoming
a grin as he spotted the man approaching their table.

Honor looked momentarily
perplexed.  “What other thing,” she asked as another deep voice joined the
conversation.

“Oh, he’s probably talking about
the text he sent me about two hours ago.  You know, when you should have been
at your doctor’s appointment,” that deep voice accused, growing angrier with
every word he spoke.

“You told on me?” Honor yelled, her
blue eyes flashing with anger as she stared at her doctor.

Millie bit her lip as both Mack and
Zeke Monroe, Paradise’s sheriff, stared, unaffected, at a fuming Honor
McKinnon. 

“Millie, you let him tell on me to
Zeke?” Honor asked in a voice that clearly reflected that she felt a small bit
betrayed. 

“Not exactly.  I just told him that
you were going to reschedule your appointment, and he said, ‘Like hell,’ and
went off to contact the sheriff,” Millie returned quickly, shooting Honor a
sympathetic smile.

“I thought we were
friends,
”
Honor mumbled unhappily, ignoring Zeke’s angry snort as the Sheriff crossed his
arms over his chest.  “And you,” she growled, poking Mack in the shoulder. 
“Have you ever heard of HIPAA?  I have a right to confidentiality as your
patient.”

Mack shook his head as he pointed
at Millie. “
She
is your friend. 
She
refused to call Zeke.  Now,
as to your other concerns, first off, you only have a right to confidentiality
if you show up to the appointment, my dear patient.” He paused while flashing a
look of understanding toward the Sheriff. “And second, if you don’t want the
good Sheriff to know anything about your doctor’s appointments, then don’t make
him a point of contact in your file.”

“Oh, this is ridiculous.  I didn’t
make him anything at all!” Honor shouted.  “Aunt Orla did!”

Mack shrugged.  “Six of one, half
dozen of the other.  I’m not lettin’ you suck
me
into any of your manic   McKinnon
madness.  Be at my office this afternoon at three o’clock, Honor.  You were in
a serious car accident just a few weeks ago.   You very nearly died.  You’re
recovering from major surgery, woman!  You need to be monitored by your
doctor.  I know you’re feeling better, but I need to make sure you’re healing. 
I promise you, I’ll hunt you down.  If you don’t show up this time, then I’ll
come here and do your examination,” he threatened grimly, his stern gaze
focused on his young patient.

“Oh, she’ll be there if I have to
put her in handcuffs and deliver her myself,” Zeke ground out through barely
moving lips.

Honor whirled to glare at the
lawman.  “I swear, I’m gonna report you to the mayor!  You are forever abusin’
your authority AND your handcuffs!”

Millie bit back a grin as Mack
quickly jumped to Zeke’s defense.  “Somebody has to take you in hand, Honor. 
Otherwise, you’d never show up for an appointment.”

Bree’s mouth dropped open.  She’d
never seen her brother get so personally involved with his patients.  “This
place just keeps getting better and better.  I may have to move here.  This
action is just too good to miss,” she murmured to Millie.

“You know, I was gonna offer you
one of the only chess cakes I’ve got left as a Christmas present for all you’ve
done for me and my family this year, Dr. Daniels, but upon further reflection,
I’ll just eat the blasted thing myself,” Honor huffed before stomping back
toward the kitchen with the Sheriff following right on her heels.

Millie met Mack’s amused eyes and
narrowed her eyes at him. “You could have handled that better, Doc,” she
admonished sourly.

“What?” he asked, blinking
innocently back at her.

“Unlike you, I
love
chess
cake, you Christmas Cake dream killer,” Millie complained huffily.

Looking from a dour-faced Millie to
an unrepentant Mack, Bree nodded firmly.  “Well, that just cinched it.”

“What?” Mack asked gruffly.

“I’m definitely moving here.”

“What sealed the deal for you?”
Millie questioned, her face radiating happiness as she turned toward the other
woman.

“Mills, any town that’s managed to
get my surly-ass brother smiling, superhot lawman fuming over tiny little
fireballs, enough crazy customers to keep a psychiatrist such as myself in
manicures for years, AND the world’s cutest little girl eating snickerdoodles
with me at night is DEFINITELY a place where I’ve GOT to move.”

“Well,” Mack said with a sigh as he
draped his arm around his girlfriend’s chair, “Looks like one more nut just
fell out of Paradise’s crazy tree.”

And he’d be damned if he wasn’t
somewhat pleased with the turn of events.

Saturday, December 21

“You realize that if we could
harness the energy of every Kindergartener in the world, we could defeat both ISIS
and the Taliban
and
solve world hunger by the end of the week.”  Leaning
his chin heavily against his hand as his tired eyes stared across the aisle at
the booth where Paisley Robbins sat, eating her fourth chocolate-covered donut
as she spoke animatedly to her best friend Heaven McKinnon Stone, Mack had to
wonder where the pint size wonder was putting all those donuts.  “Seriously,
Jake, how do you keep up with Heaven?” he asked Heaven’s adopted father, Jake
Stone.

Jake released a low chuckle as he
looked across the table at the exhausted doctor.  “Sooner or later, these girls
give out.  The key is hanging on long enough to outlast them.  You gotta build
up your stamina.  Seriously, remember to take your vitamins in the morning,
man.  You’ll need ‘em when dealing with these tiny terrors,” he advised,
jerking his head toward the pair of giggling girls.

“I’m learning that,” Mack agreed
with a grin.  “She’s worth it though,” he added softly, his eyes on a smiling
Paisley as she licked the icing off her fingers.

Jack grinned.  “That little girl
over there has got you wrapped.” 

Mack glared at Paisley’s best
friend’s father.  “I’m not wrapped.”

Jake shook his head at the other
man’s clipped claim.  “Hey, man, there’s no shame in it.  It happens to the
best of us.  Look at me,” he said, holding his arms aloft.  “God knows, Heaven
suckered me in from the first time those big blue eyes of hers met mine.  Same
story with her momma.  Unlike you, I just didn’t fight my fate for months.  I
knew from almost the moment I met Harmony and Heaven McKinnon that they were
meant to be mine.”

Mack’s mouth tightened for a moment
before he slowly relaxed and allowed the truth of Jake’s statement to soak into
his bones.  He
was
wrapped around Paisley’s little finger.  Hell, being
here in the I Don’t Care Café at seven PM on a Saturday night was proof of that. 
Spending the
entire
afternoon going from shop to shop, helping a kid
look for the perfect gift for her mother was further evidence that supported
Jake’s claim.  “Fuck,” he muttered on a sigh.  “You’re right, Stone.  She and
her momma both have me tied up in knots,” he acknowledged softly. 

“Why’d you fight it for so long,
Doc?” Jake asked curiously.  “You caused me to lose twenty bucks.  Harmony bet
Patience that you were never gonna pull your head outta your ass and see what
was standing right in front of you and I got stuck payin’ her tab.”

“I always saw Millie, Jake,” Mack
replied quietly.  “I wanted her from the second her little ass walked into my
office.  But wanting her didn’t mean that I was what was best for her.  In case
you missed it, I’m not exactly a family-friendly type of guy.”

“With everybody else in town, I’d
agree with ya.  You’re sorta grouchy bastard unless you’re dealing with a
patient.  But, the good news is that you seem to be doing alright with Paisley
and Millie,” Jake remarked easily.  “Maybe the key was finding a woman and a
kid that made it easy to conform to family life.  Hell, Mack, I know how you
feel.  I was an undercover DEA agent before I found Harmony and Heaven.  I
rubbed elbows with some of the nastiest, vilest criminals in America.  One look
at my girls, though, and I knew they were exactly what I needed.”

“I know what you mean.   Well, not
about the criminals,” he amended with a shake of his head.  “About the girls.  It
was slower for me, though.  It took my brain a while to catch up to what my
heart already knew.   A few weeks ago, things just finally clicked into place
for me.  I realized that when I had Millie and Paisley near me, I felt
complete.  They make me whole.  When I’m not with ‘em…it feels like I’m missing
something vital.  If she or Paisley isn’t with me, it’s like I’m walking around
with a beating heart, but I feel dead inside.  For years, it felt like I could
barely catch a breath, and now I can finally breathe.  And I breathe easy with
them, Jake.”

“Yup.  That’s love for you.  So…
when you plannin’ on makin’ it official with those girls of yours?”

Mack’s eyes jerked from Paisley to
Jake.   “Is it that obvious that I’m ready to take things up a notch?”

“Only to a guy that’s been there
before you.  The giveaway for me was when you snarled at Paisley’s art teacher
last night at the elementary school’s Christmas program for rubbing Millie’s
arm while he was talking to her.  Harmony and I thought you were gonna deck
him.”

“I don’t care what Millie says,
that little hipster wannabe was tryin’ to cop a feel of my woman, and it’ll be
a cold day in hell before I let that happen,” Mack growled, his voice low and
sinister.  “No artsy fuck is gonna take away the woman that allows me to
finally take a deep breath.”

Jake lifted his coffee in a silent
toast.  “You’re a man after my own heart, Dr. Daniels.  That weasel lookin’
fucker kept eyeing Harmony, too.  I thought I was gonna have to rearrange his
pretty little face for him at one point.”

“Little Picasso-loving Lothario
needs to stay the hell away from mothers that are obviously taken.  I mean,
hell, Jake…I was standing
right fucking there
,” Mack hissed, tapping his
index finger against the table as Jake nodded along with him.

“Oh, yes,” a sweet feminine voice clucked
from her position, standing behind Jake’s left shoulder.  “You officially sound
like this caveman now, Dr. Daniels,” Harmony McKinnon proclaimed as she nodded
toward her husband in the booth.  “Millie will be sooooo impressed that you’re
finally fittin’ in with the other town alpha male Neanderthals,” she added
dryly.

Jake snorted as he looked up at his
wife.  “There’s nothing wrong with a man claiming what’s his, darlin’.  It’s
good to keep things as clear as possible when it comes to guys like that French
fucker,” he remarked unapologetically.

“Are you two fools blind?” Harmony
asked with an impatient look at the two men sitting before her.  “Mr. Moreau is
gay,” she hissed, bending at the waist so that both men could hear her lowered
voice.  “Pierre and his partner, Jean Claude, just built a house outside of
town.  They moved here from Paris over five years ago because they fell in love
with the mountains while they were here on their
honeymoon
.” 

“Seriously?” Mack yelped, feeling
like a fool as he stared at Harmony.

“For real?” Jake asked, frowning
hard at his wife.

“Yes!” Harmony snapped.  “I wonder
what you two apes will find to grunt over now?” she asked sarcastically,
looking from one man to the other.

“He sure didn’t
seem
gay,”
Mack muttered, recalling the way the man’s hand had slid up and down Millie’s
arm before he’d jerked her away from the teacher.

“Well, he is,” Harmony insisted. 
“Though, I
do
think it’s cute how jealous you were over Millie.  She
deserves to have a man that sees how wonderful she is and wants to keep her for
himself.  Call me after you propose.  I’m so happy that she found a man that
was finally worthy of her that I’ll do the event planning on y’alls wedding for
free if you want,” she offered generously as she slid her arm around Jake’s
shoulder and leaned against him.

“Is it that obvious to everybody
that I’m ready to ask her to marry me?  Am I wearing a sign or something?” Mack
growled, glaring at the grinning couple.  “At this rate, I’m not even gonna
need to ask Millie… somebody in town is gonna do it for me.”

Harmony laughed.  “Weddings are my
business, Doctor.  Or, at least, they are when I’m not working here in the
café.  I can recognize a man who’s deeply in love when I see one… even when he
doesn’t want anybody to see it.  You’ve got the glow.”

“Well, I haven’t decided when I’m
going to pop the question yet.  I’m worried that she’ll think it’s too soon,”
Mack reported, keeping his voice quiet so the children in the booth across from
him didn’t hear what he was saying.  “I haven’t even talked to Paisley about marrying
her mom yet, and I’m not making a single move if I’m not convinced that little
girl would be okay with it.  The poor kid hasn’t had a father to speak of her
whole life and I don’t want to spook her with a proposal that comes out of left
field.” 

“Yeah, Millie’s ex wasn’t quite as
awful as mine, but he wasn’t exactly a prize either,” Harmony admitted,
scrunching her nose with distaste.

“If I ever meet him, somebody is
gonna have to bail me outta jail.  Might be worth doing time though.  I’d love
the chance to inflict some pain on the son of a bitch,” Mack returned, sharing
a look of complete understanding with Jake.

“I hear that,” Jake murmured.

“I don’t think you have anything to
worry about,” Harmony continued in a hushed voice.  “Far as I know, nobody’s
heard a peep out of John Shea since he left town.”

“For his sake, I hope it stays that
way,” Mack returned, his voice hard and unforgiving as the muscle in his jaw
tightened and flexed.  “I’ve got Millicent and Paisley now.  The kid doesn’t
even share that dick’s last name.  He doesn’t have a place in their lives any
longer.”

“I swear, it’s an epidemic.  Another
possessive caveman is in our midst,” Harmony murmured as she tried not to
smile.  “It’s like a disease that’s spreading, infecting every man in town,”
she declared with a slightly disbelieving look on her face.  “I never thought
you’d fall, Dr. Daniels, but I’m happy to know that I was wrong.”

Mack shifted uncomfortably in his
seat.  He wasn’t used to talking about his personal business.  He barely shared
anything intimate with his family – and those people were conditioned to love
him.  He virtually never shared anything of consequence with anyone else.  Yet,
here he was, sitting in a busy restaurant, basically baring his soul to two
people he barely knew.  He wasn’t sure if he should blame Millicent or this
wacky town where he now resided for the fact that he was now opening up with
others, but oddly enough, it wasn’t nearly as painful as he’d thought it would
be.

Fucking love was turning him into a
pussy.

Because he could admit it now – if
only to himself.

He, Mackenzie Jonathan Daniels, MD,
was in love for the second (and what he desperately hoped was the
last!)
time
in his life.  Because the truth was that this falling in love business was not
only terrifying, but hard on a man’s nerves, too.  Usually, he was ice cold
when it came to making decisions about his life.  Even his family knew he could
be a ruthlessly icy son of a bitch when his temper was pricked.  With
Millicent, however, no matter what mood he was in, that woman made him run
hot.  He could merely look at the woman and he could feel his blood heat.  It
was disconcerting to experience since not even his ex-wife had managed to make
him do that. 

“Mack?  Did you hear Harmony, man? 
We need to get going,” Jake said for what Mack assumed was the second time as
he jerked his eyes back to the married couple in front of him.

“Of course,” Mack said with a nod,
holding his hand out to shake Jake’s hand.  “If I don’t see you before, y’all
have a merry Christmas,” he wished the couple as Harmony motioned for her
daughter to join them.

“Time to go, Heaven,” Harmony
called, crooking her finger.  “Tell Paisley to have a happy Christmas.”

“Awwwww, Momma, can’t we stay for a
little while longer?  I’ll miss her,” Heaven begged, reaching across the table
to clutch Paisley’s hand like she was never going see her again.  “Paisley is
my best friend!”

 “I know she is.  I’ll call Miss
P’s mom and we’ll make you two a playdate together after we get done with the
holidays.  For now, though, we need to go.  Remember, Santa doesn’t like little
girls to have temper tantrums right before Christmas.  It irritates him when he
has to take presents
off
his sleigh.  So, if you wanna have a big
Christmas with Daddy and me at Aunt Honor’s house and Paisley wants to get all
her
gifts, I suggest y’all listen.”

Heaven and Paisley exchanged a
wide-eyed look of dismay.  “I want all my presents, Heaven, so you gots to go,”
Paisley exclaimed, jerking her hand from her pal’s sticky grip.  “I see you
later.”

Nodding avidly, Heaven trotted the
three steps it took to get to her parents.  “I’m ready, Momma and Daddy!”

“I need to remember that trick,
Harmony.” Mack chuckled along with Heaven’s parents as Paisley crossed the
floor to him and climbed on his lap. 

“I’m having Christmas with Dr. Mack
this year.  Me and Momma both is, right, Dr. Mack?” Paisley asked Mack over her
shoulder.

“You sure are, Squirt,” Mack
agreed, dropping a kiss against the little girl’s silky hair.  “I can’t wait.”

Harmony smiled as Jake slid out of
the booth and stood.  “Y’all have a great holiday, and remember what I said,
Doc.  My offer stands.  Just let me know the day and I’ll make sure it happens
perfectly.”

“Thanks,” Mack said with a small
smile and a nod as he and Paisley watched the small family head toward the
door.  Glancing down as Paisley sighed heavily, and his gaze followed to where
she stared, her eyes glued to where Heaven walked beside her father, her hand
firmly clasped in his.  “Something wrong, Princess?” he asked, jostling her
small body as he bounced his knee.