A Perfect Holiday Fling (6 page)

But Stefan’s career choice had soon become about more than getting under his dad’s skin. He’d found his true calling in the cockpit. He’d never imagined himself doing anything else.

But what if he didn’t have a choice?

Dustin’s proposal echoed in his head. If he could no longer command an aircraft, maybe the next best thing would be teaching others how to fly.

The disruption a negative result from his upcoming doctor’s appointment would cause to his well-ordered life was enough to spawn an instant headache. Stefan massaged his temple with his free hand as the numerous adjustments he would be forced to make bandied about in his head.

If he were to accept the flight instructor position Dustin had offered, he would probably have to give up his apartment in Virginia and relocate to this area permanently. Although, now that he thought about it, that prospect was looking more and more appealing. Not only would he be closer to his sister and nephew, but there was a certain sexy veterinarian who was making his time in Maplesville a hell of a lot more enjoyable.

He would never base such a monumental decision on a couple of flirtatious encounters with a woman he’d just met, but Stefan had to admit that Callie Webber made the idea of relocating to this town a very attractive option.

***

“And just how is my favorite dog in the whole wide world doing?” Callie sang as Grant Lewis, who had been her dad’s best friend, walked up to her table with Bo, his beagle.

“Don’t say that too loud,” Grant said, kissing her cheek. “You’ll make the other dogs here jealous.” He hitched his head back toward the people lined up behind him, all awaiting a turn for a free checkup and vaccination for their pets.

“Everyone in this town already knows that Bo is my favorite,” Callie teased.

And everyone in town knew why.

Bo was the only dog remaining of the litter that her childhood dog, Huck, had been born to. Huck had been her only source of comfort during those dark days following her parents’ accident. After crippling arthritis had forced her to have Huck euthanized, Callie had latched onto Bo as a surrogate, regarding him as the last link to her family.

“He’s been doing okay?” Callie asked as she gave Bo several injections.

“Been moving a bit slower, but old age will do that to you,” Grant said.

“As if you would know. You move around like a twenty-year old.” She rubbed Bo’s underbelly and kissed him on the crown of his head. “This one here is all done. Take care of him, Grant, and tell Janice I said hello.”

Grant nodded, gathering Bo from the table.

Callie watched the two walk away, then turned to the line of people still waiting for vaccinations. She blew out a tired sigh. No matter how many times she and her former vet school classmate, Lacey Douglass, did this, Callie was always astounded at the amount of people they drew in.

It had been Callie’s idea to set up the monthly events to provide free veterinary care to animals in the more rural areas, where the pets outnumbered the people two to one. Today they were providing free vaccinations.

Callie noticed Preston Dickerson and his two Shelties about halfway down the line. Preston had been asking her out since their days together at Maplesville High.

Callie leaned over and whispered to Lacey, “I’m going to take a bathroom break in about twenty-five minutes, or whenever the guy in the bright green sweatshirt is almost to the front of my line.”

Lacey looked up from the cat she was vaccinating and smiled. “You have an admirer,” she said. “How sweet.”

Callie rolled her eyes. She still had an afternoon of surgeries at her own vet clinic, so she got down to business, chatting while she looked over various pets. She was so busy that she didn’t even notice when Preston arrived at her table.

“Callie Webber,” he greeted.

Oh, great
. She tried not to grimace.

“Hi Preston,” Callie said. She was going to nip whatever advances he tried to make in the bud. But he spoke before she could get in another word.

“Callie, I want you to meet my fiancé, Charla,” Preston continued.

Callie’s eyes widened. “Fiancé? Wow, Preston. Congratulations.”

She should be happy. Ecstatic, really. Callie had made dodging Preston’s advances an art form over the years. But something niggled in the back of her mind. One of her main reasons for wanting to leave Maplesville was to get away from the townsfolk throwing eligible men at her and hoping one would stick so that she would no longer be poor, divorced, single Callie Webber. But what if there were no longer any available men?

What would be worse: having the entire community trying to fix her up, or not having anyone to be fixed up with?

An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Callie’s stomach.

She and Lacey finished up their patient load and promised to see the people next month when they did dental screenings.

As they were packing up their supplies, Lacey asked, “Do you know that old antique store on Main Street in Gauthier?”

“Sure,” Callie said.

“I contacted a realtor about it. I’m thinking of opening up my own practice there. I hope you don’t think I’m trying to encroach on your space,” she quickly added.

“Are you kidding?” Callie exclaimed. “That’s wonderful. I’ve been telling you how swamped I am.”

“I know, but you’ve been the only clinic around here for years. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to steal business from you.”

“You’re not stealing anything. I’d be happy to refer patients to you. People in Gauthier will be thrilled that they no longer have to drive all the way out here.”

“I’m so happy you’re okay with this, Callie. I’m just ready to work for myself. I’ve always envied you that, you know?”

“Not having to answer to anyone but my patients is one of the things I love most about my job,” Callie said.

But, if she accepted John’s offer to join Capital City, she would be giving that up. She would no longer have the freedom to do what she wanted to do, to call the shots. She hadn’t worked for anyone else since her days as an intern. How would she fair answering to a boss? And why would she want to?

As she got into her car and headed back to her house to change, Callie knew that she would have to take a good, hard look at herself, and at what she wanted to do.

Why was she considering this offer from John? Was she looking to leave Maplesville only because she wanted to get away from people pitying her over Adrian’s departure? Would she really leave everything she knew and love for that? What was she hoping to gain?

Most importantly, what did she stand to lose?

***

Stefan pulled his knitted cap more securely over his ears and rubbed his hands together, blowing into them to warm them up. Another cold front had blown in overnight, reinforcing the frigid temperatures from the previous one that had come from the north a few days ago.

He stretched his upper body, and then began jogging in place. After his body was properly warmed, Stefan took his sweatshirt off and tossed it onto his sister’s front porch. He had on a long-sleeved t-shirt with NAVY written across the chest in gold block letters, one of about three dozen that he owned, along with a pair of navy sweatpants and his beat-up, but comfortable, Nikes.

Stefan turned up the volume on his iPod and bobbed his head to the Run DMC album that was his running music of choice. It took less than five minutes to feel the sweat dripping down his face, despite the brisk wind and skin-numbing temperatures. But he’d faced the cold of the Afghan mountains; he sure as hell could withstand autumn in south Louisiana.

His sister lived in an older neighborhood, filled with a mixture of cottage-style wood frame houses and classic one-level brick homes. Just about all of them had strings of Christmas lights strung along their rooflines, and huge, decorated wreaths adorning their front doors and windows.

He hadn’t even thought about decorations. How was he going to give Jacob the best Christmas ever if he didn’t even have the house decked out with boughs of holly?

Damn, he really was blowing this.

Hopefully Stef had a box of decorations in her attic, but if he couldn’t find any, they would go out and buy some. No matter what, by the time the sun went down, their house would look just as festive as the rest of them on the street.

Stefan waited at the curb for a car to pass and then continued up the street. He took a right at the next intersection, deciding to go another route from the one he’d taken yesterday. He was learning his way around Maplesville with his daily jogs.

As he ran past a short, white picket fence, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. A very nice backside poking out of the back of a ruby red SUV.

A smile drew across his face as he took the ear buds out of his ears and stuffed them in his pocket. He walked through the open gate, stopping just behind Callie.

He leaned forward and asked, “Need help with that?”

“Oh, my God!” She jumped so high, Stefan was sure both of her feet left the ground. “God!” Callie breathed, clutching her chest as she slumped onto the exposed tailgate of the SUV.

“Sorry.” Stefan tried for contrite, but wasn’t sure if he pulled it off. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Her sarcastic eye roll made holding in his chuckle even more difficult. “Yeah, you look really sorry,” she said as she stood.

“I was just trying to offer up my services as a gentleman.” He leaned into the back of the SUV and pulled out the cardboard box she had been reaching for when he’d come upon her. He waited while she grabbed the two shopping bags before starting for the brown and white-trimmed wood-framed house that was similar in style to his sister’s.

Stefan climbed the four steps and set the box on the front porch, then took the bags from her hands and set them next to the box. He tipped his head toward the front door, “I thought you lived in the huge condo out by the highway?”

Callie stopped on the second to last step. “What?”

Oh, shit
.

He wasn’t supposed to know that.

Shit!

How could he explain his remark without looking like the creepy stalker he’d tried to avoid becoming by not stopping when he’d seen her the other night?

Deciding that straightforwardness was the best course of action, Stefan held his hands up.

“I promise I’m not stalking you or anything,” he said.

She continued up the last step, crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the porch railing. She lifted her eyebrows as if to say
continue
.

“I noticed you going into that high-rise out there on Highway 421 when I passed there the other night,” he explained.

The frown that had furrowed her brow relaxed a bit. “I was visiting my friend,”—
Please let it be a woman
, Stefan silently pleaded—“Kiera.”

Thank God
.

The relief that washed over him was so all-consuming, he would be kidding himself if he tried to deny the reason behind it. He’d been hoping that Callie Webber was available from the moment he saw her. Now that he knew she was, he was going for it.

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest and matched her pose, leaning against the side railing. “So, no patients this morning?”

“Actually, I’ve seen nearly three dozen patients this morning. I’m just getting back from vaccinating some of the animals out in the more rural areas. I’ll be on my way to the clinic in just a bit. It’s Monday,” she said with much more excitement than most people contributed to the start of the week. He rolled a kink out of his shoulder as he waited for her to expound. “Neutering day,” she said with way more glee than was necessary.

“Ouch.” Stefan winced. “You don’t have to look so happy about that, Dr. Webber.”

“Just doing my part to control the pet population.” That smirk on her face had to be the sexiest thing he’d seen since he’d come to Maplesville. His body responded with an arrow of arousal that shot straight to his groin.

Stefan gestured to packages at her feet. “Do you need help bringing those into the house?”

Yes, he was fishing for an invitation to follow her inside.

She didn’t bite.

“Thanks, but I can manage,” she said.

He shrugged. “Just being neighborly.”

Her head tilted, her eyes questioning. “Are we neighbors? I’d never seen you before the day you came to the clinic.”

“I’ve only been here a few weeks. I’m living at my sister’s place on Magnolia Drive, looking after her son while she’s deployed in Afghanistan.”

Empathy blanketed her face. “Oh, that must be so hard for her to be away from her baby, especially at this time of the year.”

“It is.” Stefan nodded. “But thanks to modern technology, she’ll be able to see Jacob open his presents on Christmas morning. Skype is a wonderful thing.”