The Homespun Holiday (9 page)

“Now, Miss P, what did we talk
about?  You aren’t allowed to make anyone feel guilty just to get your way. 
You know you’ll have me and Granny and Papaw there.”

Mack shot Millie a frown.  “Well,
that’s fine and good, but what if
I
want to come, too?  I’m sure my
sister and mom will
love
watching you in your role as a sheep.  I’ll
tell you what, Princess.  As long as I don’t have to deliver any unexpected
babies that night, I’ll be there.  So will my whole family.  I have it on very
good authority that they
love
watching the Nativity story.”

“Really?  You’ll come?” Paisley
asked hopefully, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“I’ll come, sweetheart,” he agreed
gently, grunting as forty pounds of little girl socked him in the dead center
of his chest and short little arms suddenly tried to strangle him.

“Yay!  I told you he’d come,
Momma!” Paisley decreed happily, lifting her head from Mack’s shoulder to beam
at her mom.

Mack patted Paisley on the back,
squeezing her to him before letting her go.  “Alright, kiddo.  You ready to get
this tree so that we can get it back to my house and decorate?  We’ve still got
a lot of work to do and it doesn’t look like any of Santa’s elves are gonna
show up to help us.”

Paisley giggled again.  “Silly,
that’s ‘cause the elves are still makin’ toys.  Ev’rybody knows this is the
elveseses busiest time of year.  Were you
ever
a kid, Dr. Mack?  Didn’t
anybody ever ‘splain the rules to you?”

Rising back to his feet, Mack
exchanged an amused smile with Millie as she handed his axe back to him.  “Alright,
ladies!  Let’s cut us down a Christmas tree!”

~~**~~

“Is she out?” Millie asked as Mack
tiptoed down her small cottage’s hallway several hours later.  They’d spent the
entire day together, shopping, decorating his home for the holidays, and then
coming back to her place for a simple meal of soup and sandwiches.  Now, at
almost nine at night, they’d just finished watching some Disney movie that had
been on television during which Paisley had fallen fast asleep.  Her daughter
had enjoyed a long day and passed out almost immediately after getting still on
the sofa. Sprawled between her and Mack, they’d let her slumber for nearly an
hour before they’d risked moving her to her own bed.  Like a true gentleman,
Mack had carried the tired girl into her bedroom and tucked her into her bed.

“Like a light.  She didn’t so much
as open her eyes when I put her in her bed.  I think we might have worn her
out,” Mack chuckled as he joined her at the sink, picking up a drying towel to
help finish cleaning their dishes from supper. 

“She had a blast today, Doc,”
Millie said quietly.  “Thank you for that.”

“Thank me?  Thank
you
, babe”
Mack retorted, picking up a plate and drying it with an efficient swipe of the
towel.  “Without you guys, I’d have had some Christmas tree reject erected in
my living room and draped it with a few strands of that silver tinsel and
called it a day.  Thanks to you and little Miss P, my house could be featured
in one of those holiday editions of those glossy house magazines.  I owe you
both.”

Passing him another plate, Millie
smiled.  “We had fun.  And honestly, I feel like we should have paid admission
to see you stringing those holiday lights on the roof.  I thought you were a
goner when you slipped on the shingles and went rolling down the side.  Who
knew gutters could hold 200 pounds of pissed off man?  I certainly didn’t,” she
shared with a giggle.

“Ha ha.  Laugh it up, Chuckles”
Mack snickered, tossing the drying towel on the counter when he’d dried the
last dish and circling his arms around her waist as he tugged her against his
chest.  “I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my Christmas cool in the
face of nearly breaking my neck.  In fact, I worked so hard that I think I
deserve a reward.”

Millie couldn’t help her grin as
she lifted her arms to loop around his neck.  She was still a little unable to
believe that this warm, funny man was the same guy that had made her angry
enough to spit nails just days ago.  “A reward, hmmm?”

“Oh, yeah,” he murmured, tightening
his arms around her as he leaned them against the kitchen counter.

“What did you have in mind?” Millie
asked a little suspiciously.  She’d enjoyed the hell out of last night and
today, but she wasn’t quite sure where Mack saw this thing between them going,
and she wasn’t willing to open her legs to someone that was only looking to
scratch an itch.  He must have been able to read the shadows in her eyes
because she felt him withdraw slightly, leaning back to stare down at her.

“Hey,” he murmured softly, meeting
her eyes with his.  “You drifted away from me for a few seconds there.  What’s
going on in that complicated mind of yours, Millie?”

“Complicated,” she echoed with an
empty chuckle.  “Me?”

“Yeah, you,” he confirmed, his
happy face becoming serious as it stared down into hers.

“That’s a little like the pot
calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” she asked as she nervously lifted a hand
to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“Maybe,” he conceded.  “Still, one
second you were relaxed and smiling, and the next….” He trailed off.

“The next I was thinking that I’m
not sure we’re on the same page here.  I’m not even sure we’re reading the same
book, Mack.”

Mack began to frown.  “Pardon?”

“It’s just, I have a kid, Mack.”

Mack snorted.  “I noticed, Millie. 
I just carried her to bed, remember?”

“Okay, smartass,” she retorted
dryly, gently pushing him back a step so that she could wrap her arms around
herself protectively.  “What I mean is, I can’t afford to play fast and loose
with you if all you’re looking for here is a quick screw, Mack.  I have a
child.  A child that is already plenty attached to you.  If we started screwing
around and only one of us was emotionally invested in the idea of an us, it
wouldn’t just hurt me.  It would hurt my daughter, too.  And, I don’t allow
anything to hurt Paisley if I can help it.  Not ever.  She does okay without
having a daddy because she’s never really had one that she can remember.  But
if you started to fill that role for her and then suddenly decided that you
were through playing house….I wouldn’t be the only one to suffer.  Paisley
would, too.”  Millie paused to take a breath before forging ahead.  “So, if
this…
thing
between us is just you needing to scratch an itch,
please
,
Mack, tell me now.”

“Millie…”

Millie heard Mack growled, his face
reddening, whether in anger or embarrassment, Millie couldn’t tell.  “No, just
hear me out,” Millie demanded softly, holding one hand up between them.  “I’m
not trying to start an argument, but you’ve got to see it from my end.  A few
days ago, you were just the incredibly sexy, grumpy as hell doctor for whom I
worked.  Then yesterday, BOOM!  You suddenly want to be involved with me and
Paisley.  And I guess… I guess I don’t understand what happened and I’ve got to
know.  What changed for you?” she asked, holding herself stiffly as she looked
up at him and bit her lip.

“Can I talk now?” he asked her
softly, taking a half step closer as he met her confused and anxious gaze. 
Seeing her nod, he sighed.  “I understand where you’re coming from, Millie.  I
do,” he began.

“Okay,” she whispered, relieved
that he wasn’t angry.  Relaxing slightly, she whispered, “I’m glad.”

“I guess the short and simple
answer to your question about what changed for me is that I got tired of
fighting myself.   From the day I hired you, I put you in the ‘Do Not Touch’
category for a whole lot of reasons.  The first was that you were my employee
and I never wanted you to think your job was dependent on dating me.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that,” she
replied, her eyebrows furrowing as she shook her head.  “You’re not a creep! 
Even when I first started working for you, I never thought that.  Sure, you
could be a jerk with all your terse orders and complaints, but you were never a
skeevy pervert.”

Mack’s lips tilted upward.  “Good
to know, babe, but are you gonna let me finish?”  Chuckling when she nodded and
waved an impatient hand for him to continue, he said, “The second reason I
didn’t approach you was I wasn’t in much of a great headspace where it came to
women.  My ex-wife…well, I don’t wanna go into details, but to make a long
story short… she cheated.  She cheated
a lot
.”

“John cheated, too,” she shared
hesitantly.  “I didn’t find out until we were over, but he did.”

“Then you can understand why I’d
have some trust issues,” he remarked evenly.

“Oh, yeah,” she agreed with a short
nod.  “I’ve got a few of my own that I’m trying to work though.”

“Well, at least we’re in good
company,” he said with a wink at her.  “The last reason I tried to stay away
from you was for the reason you’re most concerned about.”

“Paisley,” Millie supplied for both
of them.

Mack nodded.  “That kid of yours….
When I first hired you and found out she was part of the package, I was nervous
as hell.  I’ve never been particularly good with kids, Mills.  I’m a
grouch…ergo, I’m the grumpy guy all kids avoid.  My contact with them generally
ends when I hand the infant to its mom in the delivery room.  That’s pretty
much as much contact as I’ve wanted.  Then, you came to work for me, and
Paisley showed up in my life.”

“Yeah, I kind of dropped her on
you,” Millie admitted apologetically as tears filled her eyes and guilt swamped
her.  “I honestly had no other choice, Mack.  Between the debt John had left me
in, my student loans coming due, and the lack of a vacancy at the only
reputable daycare center in town….”

“Millie, hey… stop, baby.  Take a
breath for me,” Mack soothed, gathering the agitated woman against his chest
and rubbing her back.  “You didn’t drop her on me, Honey.  You asked for my
help, and I said yes.  It might have been the smartest thing I ever did because
it got
both
you girls
into my life.  And before I knew what was
happening, that kid of yours had coiled herself around my heart like a boa
constrictor.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of partial to her. 
I can barely tolerate half the population of Paradise County without wantin’ to
hang myself from the nearest noose, but your kid…. Your kid is the exception to
all my rules.   That was finally driven home for me yesterday when I was
sitting in the Principal’s office with you.  I finally found people in this
godforsaken country outback that I am willing to fight for.  Well, two people. 
You and Paisley.”

Millie lifted her head, blinking
back tears.  “Really?” she asked, grimacing when she realized that she sounded
remarkably like her daughter. 

Mack smiled, using his thumbs to
wipe away the teardrops clinging to her cheeks.  “Yeah, really.  If you wanna
know where this is going, I can’t answer that.  Only time will tell us that
answer.  But if you want to know if I’m serious about you and your kid, then
the answer is an unequivocal
fuck yes
,” he informed her solemnly as he
rested his forehead against hers.

“So, you like me and my kid, huh,”
Millie tried to joke through her sniffles.

Mack barked with laughter.  “Well,
I love your kid,” he replied matter-of-factly.  “And you… let’s just say you
make my heart soft and my dick hard.   You have for months, babe.   I’m not
sure what that is or means, exactly, but I’m pretty sure it’s a fuck of a lot
deeper than mere ‘like’.  Let’s just figure it out together as we go along,
okay?”

Nodding against his throat, Millie
whispered, “Okay, Doc.  We’ll take it day by day.”

“Great,” he returned with a
devilish grin.  “Now, I’m not asking for my fucking reward again because that
didn’t work out so well for me last time.  This time, I’m just gonna take it,”
Mack warned a second before he covered her mouth with his, kissing her with all
the pent up passion he’d been holding inside him. 

Groaning into his kiss, Millie
melted against Mack’s hard body.  It wasn’t a perfect declaration of intent,
but it sounded perfectly wonderful to her.

Sunday, December 15

Sidestepping a mother and son
arguing over terminal numbers, Millicent Robbins grimaced as another passenger
stepped on her foot while she squinted to get a look at the arrival screen
mounted above the luggage carrousel.  “
Yes
, Doc.  I’m here,” she
declared impatiently through clenched teeth as she pressed her cell phone to
her ear
and
struggled to find his family’s flight number on the screen
and
wondered how the hell she got herself into these situations.  It wasn’t as if
she didn’t have a million things on her own “to do” list just a mere ten days
before Christmas.  As it was, for today alone, she still needed to sew the head
onto Paisley’s sheep costume, pick her up from her grandparents’ house, find
something to cook them for dinner, and get both her
and
Paisley to the
church by five for the Nativity’s  dress rehearsal.

And yet, here she stood with a
phone pressed to her ear, waiting for her employer and new boyfriend’s family
to de-plane.  Which was soooo not how she imagined meeting Mack’s family for
the first time.  They didn’t even know her!  Hell, they might not even know she
existed for all she knew.  Frowning, she asked, “Do they even know that I’m the
one picking them up, Doc?”

“I sent Bree a text, but she
probably won’t get it until she gets off the plane and turns her phone back
on,” Mack said through the connection, then added, his tone thankful, “I can’t
tell you how grateful I am for you doing this, Mills.  I know this isn’t how I
envisioned introducing you, but you and I both know that Laurie Garcia is gonna
have a difficult delivery.  I just couldn’t ask this patient to suffer through
whichever doctor was on call at the hospital.”

Millie nodded.  Laurie Garcia had lost
her husband to an overseas roadside bomb in Afghanistan when she’d been just a
little over two months’ pregnant.  They’d only been married a scant month when
the poor guy had been deployed to the war zone and she’d been made a widow a
month later.  The stress of his death had taken a huge toll on her pregnancy,
and they’d been seeing her at the office at least twice a month.  She’d gone
into labor last night just as things had been getting good between Millie and
Mack.  He’d quickly given Millie a goodbye kiss and taken off for the hospital
– where he’d been ever since.  Laurie, bless her heart, had stalled out at six
centimeters dilated, and her baby was refusing to move.  Millie knew Mack
feared they’d be forced to do a C-section on the young mother (an operation the
tiny woman had been steadfastly refusing since she had no family and no one to
help her with the baby once he arrived).  “I know you couldn’t, Doc,” she
acknowledged softly.  “Is Laurie still refusing a C-section?”

“Actually before I stepped out to
call you, one of her husband’s former commanders showed up…. a Sergeant
Hastings.  When I explained the situation to him, he talked Laurie into the
operation.  The guy said he’d stick around and help out with her and the
newborn, can you believe that?  They’re prepping an OR for us now.”

Millie breathed a sigh of relief as
she stepped out of the way when another couple moved forward to collect their
luggage from the mechanical belt in front of them.  “That’s great, Mack.  A
real Christmas miracle.”

“I don’t know about that,” Mack
snorted.  “A miracle would have been if he’d shown up last night.  Then, the
baby would already be here and I’d be standing where you are now, babe.  I
don’t think Santa can take any credit for this.”

Millie laughed.  “Okay, Dr. Doom. 
Do us all a favor.  Go focus on the positive and deliver a healthy baby for
Laurie.  She deserves something good today after the way she’s been suffering
since her husband died.”

“You’re right.  I’ll call when
things settle down here.  Be careful driving home, and don’t let my family
scare you off.”

“Scare me off?” Millie echoed with
a frown.  “What do you mean by that?”

“Just…. they can be a bit…. much. 
By the way they act, let’s just say they could be natives of your crazy town of
Paradise,” he shared a touch grouchily.

“Listen, Mr. Superior, it’s
your
town, too,” Millie objected.  “The good citizens of Paradise have claimed
you as one of their own.  There’s a plaque in your office that says so and everything. 
I was there when the mayor and the sheriff presented it to you in the town
hall,” she reminded him with a grin that she was thankful he couldn’t see. 
Mack had been madder than hell that day, too.  She’d tricked him into going to
the town hall, claiming that her car had broken down while she’d been picking
up her car tags.  In truth, the Mayor had wanted to formally welcome him and
his medical practice to town, and the good Dr. Daniels had been fooled into
attending his own welcome ceremony.  Millie suspected he was still holding a grudge.

“I know you’re smiling,” he growled
grumpily as though he read her mind.  “Stop it.  And just because the Mayor
handed me a plaque that basically adopted me into his crazy kingdom of
misguided misfits while his Sheriff basically held me hostage, it doesn’t mean
I claim
them
in return.  And don’t think for one second I’ve forgotten
just
whose
fault it was that I was even in the building that day.”

“Even if Paisley and I are a couple
of those misfits?” Millie asked with a giggle, not feeling one second of
remorse for her role in that day.  She knew she had Mack over a barrel with her
question and was enjoying her moment of superiority immensely.

Millie’s stomach quivered as Mack
replied deeply, “I think I told you last night that you and your girl are pretty
much the exception to all my rules, didn’t I?”

“You did,” Millie returned softly
as her heart skipped a beat.  With every word Mack spoke to her, with every
touch he offered, with every smile he gave her… Millie knew she was falling
just a little more under his spell.  He should have scared her to death.  At
the warp speed that things seemed to be moving between them, she would have
thought she’d be looking for the nearest door marked exit.  And if he’d been
any other man, she would have.

But this was Mack.

And if her heart and mind were
honest, she’d been falling in love with him since the day she’d stumbled into
his office, desperate for a job.

“Millie?  Babe, did you hear me?”
she heard his distracted voice say.  “I gotta go.  The OR is ready.”

Blinking rapidly, Millie nodded. 
“Go! Go!  We’ll see you soon,” she said just as the line went dead.  Shoving
her phone in the back pocket of her jeans, she knew this wasn’t the last
conversation she’d have where she ended it by talking to dead air.  Mack was a
very successful and in-demand physician.  This would be a way of life for them,
she reminded herself as she again began to search for Flight 9174 on the screen
above the belt of rotating luggage.

Finally seeing that the flight had
finally landed on the runway, she turned toward the escalator where she knew
passengers of the flight would be descending to the lower level.  A few people
were trickling down, but none of them had what Millicent liked to call ‘flight
face’ or, in other words, the tired face that  exhausted passengers wore after
a long flight where they’d been packed into a tin box like sardines for over
two hours.    

Millie lifted the Starbucks latte that
she had splurged on to her lips and took a small sip as she tapped her foot
impatiently against the tiled floor as she tried to remember the picture Mack
had shown her of his sister the previous night.  The woman had been a dirty
blonde, like Mack, but that’s where the similarities had ended.  Unlike her
brother, Aubrey had greenish blue eyes the color of seawater and a pert nose. 
From what little of her body Millie had been able to see in the beaten up
picture from Mack’s wallet, the younger sibling was also petite. 

Mack had assured her she shouldn’t
be nervous meeting his family, but what guy wouldn’t say that?  Every man she’d
ever met, including her ex-husband, had thought his family was bound for
sainthood.  (And Millie was fairly certain that her ex-in-laws, much like her
ex-husband, were far more likely to be traveling on the highway to hell instead
of the stairway to heaven, thank you very much.)  She knew Mack had promised
her over and over again that both his mom and sister were warm, friendly,
outgoing people or, in his words, the complete opposite of him.  Millie, of
course, remained anxious.  But who wouldn’t be?  What if they didn’t like her? 
Would her relationship with Mack fizzle if she didn’t make a decent impression
on these women?  From what little she and Mack had discussed last night, she’d
still been able to gather that these women were important to him.  She’d been
able to tell that he was close with them both and each meant a lot to him. 

What if she screwed this up?

Taking a deep breath, she reminded
herself for the eightieth time that she’d spoken to each woman on the phone on
more than one occasion and found both to be perfectly lovely people.  She’d
even joked with his sister about Mack’s surly attitude on more than one
occasion.  They’d bonded.  She had nothing to worry about.  Nothing at all, she
repeated to herself over and over again as a steady stream of travelers began
to descend on the escalator, each wearing a beleaguered flight face as they
waited to reach the lower level.

Scanning each person as they
finally reached the lower level, Millie’s lips twitched when she heard a
familiar voice.

“Mom, I can
NOT
believe you
just went wading through a fountain!  This is an airport, not the pool!” an
aggrieved female berated her mother.

“That was my lucky penny, Aubrey Moonglow
Daniels.  I couldn’t waste it on a fountain that wasn’t actually designed to be
a wishing well.  When that sweet stewardess told us that it was just a pretty
decoration for the airport, I knew I needed to get my coin back.  You heard
her, Aubrey.  No one had even blessed that water!  Honestly, dear, I only got
the hem of my skirt wet.  It’s not like I’m soaked to the bone.”

“Mother, for the last time, my
middle name is Nicole.  Aubrey Nicole Daniels.  You and Dad named me after the
freaking woman that introduced you to each other.  I only agreed to respect
your New Age beliefs if
you’d
stop trying to change my name.”

“I can’t help it.  The serenity of
the name Moonglow suits you, Breebee,” Millie heard the mother argue. 

Choking back her laughter, Millie
lifted a hand to wave at a younger woman dressed in jeans and an oversized
Harvard sweatshirt and an older woman wearing a flowing lavender and magenta
skirt with an ivory tunic as she carried what appeared to be a pair of wicker
sandals in her hand.

“Daniels family?” Millicent called
hopefully, hoping she could distract them before Bree decided to take her mom
back upstairs and drown her in the fountain.

Bree jerked her head in Millie’s
direction.  “Who said that?”

“That would be me,” Millie
answered, stepping around a tall man and his rolling suitcase.  “Hello,” she
greeted Mack’s sister and mom with what she prayed looked like a welcoming
smile.  “I’m…”

“Oh, we know who you are!  You are
Millicent, the Angel of Light that’s managed to wake my son’s heart up after a
long, long slumber,” Mack’s mom returned dramatically, her lined face beaming
as she held out her arms toward Millie.  “You, dear, are the cream to my son’s
coffee.  The light to his dark.  The soft to his….”

“Mom!” Bree groaned, shooting her
mother a hard look and shaking her head at the older woman.  “You’re going to
scare her off, and Mack is going to spend your entire Christmas visit plotting
which retirement home would be the best to lock you inside for the rest of your
natural life… and this time, I’ll help him!” 

Millie couldn’t help her giggle as
Mack’s mother made a face at her daughter. 

Aubrey rolled her eyes at her
mother’s antics before turning toward Millie.  “Please excuse my mother. 
She’s…. well, I’d love to tell you that she’s just a little eccentric, but as a
psychiatrist, I can’t tell that lie.  In my professional opinion, the woman is just
crazier than a loon.  ” 

Millie’s eyes widened.  “Oh,
uhmmmm,” she hedged, not quite sure what to say.

“Oh, she’s quite harmless, but completely,
one hundred percent certifiable,” Aubrey continued, shooting her mom a pained
look.

Mack’s mom pinched her daughter’s
arm and twisted the skin sharply.  “I’ll give you harmless, young lady!  You
take that back,” she demanded on a hiss.

“Ouch!  Stop that you crazy old
bat,” Aubrey growled, squirming as her mother’s fingers pinched harder.  “I
swear, I’m gonna yell for security this time, Mom!” she warned.  

Stepping quickly toward them before
their altercation could catch the attention of a passing security guard, Millie
pasted a bright smile on her face.  “Ladies, as you already seem to know, I’m
Millie.  Mack’s stuck at the hospital delivering a baby, but his patient should
have delivered by the time I get you ladies back to Paradise, and I know he’s
excited to see you both.  I think they’re starting to move your flight’s
luggage through on the belt.  Why don’t we see if we can grab it and get y’all
out of here?”