Christmas in Eternity Springs (10 page)

“However, I'll give her a quick call just to make sure.”

Second thoughts began to plague Claire as they made the ride into town. Not about moving to Three Bears Valley. That, she knew was right for her. Her hesitation had to do with a dog.

She barely could manage her own life. How could she possibly give a dog all the love and attention that it would need? Yes, she would plan to take her puppy to Forever Christmas with her, but there were times when she'd be busy. Times when the dog would have to be crated. Especially a puppy! And frankly, was Baby Bear any better than an apartment for a dog? Long runs through a mountain meadow were six or maybe even eight months away. Winter was right around the corner.

Buttercup had loved the snow.

But think about all that fur.
You've been furless for a while. Do you really want to go back to dog-hair hell?

So get her groomed. Daily. You can afford it.

At that thought, she snickered a little darkly.

She spent the rest of the ride testing the feel of possible puppy names on her tongue.

They arrived at the Mellingers' house at the same time that Lori Murphy pulled up in her fiancé's Jeep. The town's veterinarian, Lori was the descendant of two of Eternity Spring's founding fathers. Since her fiancé, Chase Timberlake, was a descendant of the third, their marriage would be a uniting of the royal houses, so to speak.

As Lori bounded out of the Jeep, happiness enveloped her like Pigpen's cloud. Her smile beamed, her eyes sparkled. A unflattering wave of jealousy rolled through Claire. She liked Lori very much. They were close in age and well on their way to becoming friends. But oh, how she envied Lori her relationship home run.

Not that Lori and Chase hadn't faced their share of serious obstacles. They'd overcome great odds—and a former fiancée—on the way to their happy ending, set to occur on the fifteenth of October.

Today the bride-to-be sauntered toward Celeste and Claire wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and a smirk. “Okay, Branham. What's the deal here? When I tried to talk you into adopting a puppy from our shelter you weren't hearing anything about it. What does Celeste have that I don't?”

“Bears.”

At Lori's blank look, Celeste laughed and explained about the new living arrangement. Unbelievably, Lori's eyes brightened even more. “You get to live in Baby Bear? Color me green. Baby Bear even beats Heartsong Cottage for cuteness. I guess the trade-off is we get double the Christmas cheer. This is going to make my mother very happy. She's a decorating fool. And then there's…” Lori tilted her head in Celeste's direction. “Is there an angel made that she doesn't own?”

“I'll have you know that just this morning I saw one that I simply must have in a new catalogue,” Celeste said. “But enough chitchat. Let's get down to business before Barbara begins to wonder if we got lost. Claire, do you have questions for Lori before we go inside?”

She did. She asked Lori what she knew about the pup's sire and dam, their health history, and any behavior issues they might have.

“They are both good dogs, both AKC registered,” Lori told her. “This is Primrose's first litter and it will be her last. The Mellinger children wanted to raise one of Primrose's babies so they waited to have her spayed. And they put a lot of thought and research into their choice of sire. I honestly think that if you want purebred collie, you won't do better than this little girl.”

“Why is she still available?”

“I know this answer,” Celeste said. “Barbara promised her to the Coleman family, but then Crystal learned she was expecting. Surprise, surprise. You'd think after four she'd know the signs, but this time, she thought it was menopause. Anyway, they decided they don't need a puppy and a baby.”

“Isn't her oldest daughter pregnant, too?”

“Yes. It's their own real-life movie—
Father of the Bride II.
”

“Loved that movie,” Lori observed. She flashed a wicked grin and added, “I wonder if Mom knows about Crystal? Chase and I want to start a family right away, and I know Dad thinks Michael needs a sibling close to his own age.”

“Nic would love that. I know she's been bugging her friends to give little John Gabriel a playmate or two.”

Puppies and babies, Claire thought. This conversation was so Eternity Springs—and she loved it.

She opened her mouth to ask how the new mother was doing when the squeak of door hinges distracted her. She glanced around toward the Mellingers' front porch—and fell in love.

Barbara Mellinger walked out of her front door carrying the cutest little bundle of fur Claire had ever seen. “I'm toast.”

“I expected you would be,” Celeste said.

Barbara approached and said, “Hello, dears. Claire, I was so excited when Celeste told me you are a collie person, too. We are picky about who we'll let have our dogs. I know you'll give this precious little girl a wonderful home.”

Claire started to open her mouth to say she hadn't committed to taking the pup yet, but she knew that would be a lie. She'd committed her heart the moment she saw those big brown eyes.

“She's meant to be yours,” Celeste told her, the look in her sky-blue eyes warm, her tone filled with certainty.

“I think you may be right.” When she took the little bundle of cuteness in her arms and stared down into big, soulful eyes, certainty filled her.

This was right. The whole thing. She finally felt as if she were ready to put Landon and his lies behind her and move forward. It was time to kick her Grinch to the curb for good and dive headlong into a fresh start—a new dog, a new place to live, a new … everything. Who knows, maybe someday she might be ready for a new man, too? The real, flesh-and-blood kind.

It could happen. Wasn't Eternity Springs the place where broken hearts came to heal? Maybe it was working its mojo on her! “I'd love to have her.”

“Then she's yours.” Barbara gave the pup a scratch behind the ears. “Would you ladies like to come inside? I have a fresh pot of coffee brewing and a coffee cake still warm from the oven. Not as good as your mom's, Lori, but not half bad, either.”

“I'll have coffee, but don't tempt me with cake, Barbara. I'm on a diet until W-day.”

“I can be tempted,” Celeste said.

“Claire?” Barbara asked.

“Why not? It seems to be my day for indulgences.”

Lori's wedding was the thoroughly enjoyable main topic of discussion during the twenty-minute coffee break.

Claire couldn't stop smiling as she departed the Mellinger house with a puppy in her arms. What a day this had been! When she climbed out of bed this morning, little did she think that she'd end the day with both a new place to live and a bundle of four-legged love to mother. Shoot. Today she was the poster child for the power of positive thinking!

“And…” she said dramatically to the precious bundle in her arms, “the day's not over yet. Who knows? Maybe I'll run into Mr. Flesh-and-Blood before dinner.”

The puppy—who needed a name—stared up at her with chastising eyes. At least, Claire decided to interpret them as chastising. “I get to do that because I'm your mommy now.”

Her focus on the puppy, she turned a corner without looking where she was going and barreled right into another pedestrian.

Muscular, flesh-and-blood arms came around her and her gaze flickered up to meet hauntingly familiar eyes.

Her fantasy just got real.

 

Chapter Seven

I am my own boss.

—JAX

As Jax approached the intersection of Third and Pinion, he had his hands full. He had a stack full of files in his arms, a ringing cell phone—Brian, oh shock of shocks—and Nicholas was dragging his feet. They had an appointment at the medical clinic in twenty minutes to get Nicholas set up with a new GP, and after the events of last week, his son had decided he'd had enough of doctors. Jax couldn't blame the boy, but he wanted to get all these arrangements made before Nicholas started his new school tomorrow.

After all, it wouldn't do for anyone to be able to say he wasn't properly caring for his son.

Along those lines, his next priority needed to be finding a job that would give him enough jingle in his pocket to provide an upgrade in lodging from the Elkhorn Lodge.

“Dad, I don't wanna go to the doctor. I don't need to go to the doctor.”

“Buddy, I told you Dr. Cicero won't do an exam today. This is just a get-to-know-you meeting and to get you signed up as a patient in case you stick a marble up your nose.”

“Why would I stick a marble up my nose?”

“Why do kids do anything?”

He looked down at his son just as they reached the intersection, so he didn't notice the woman rounding the corner until she slammed right into him. Reacting instinctively, he dropped the files and caught her in his arms.

“Oh. I'm so sorry,” she said.

He held her just a little longer than he absolutely needed to, and only released her when the puppy in her arms began to squirm. Her name rolled off his tongue like a song. “Claire Branham.”

“Jax,” she said, her luminous, cinnamon-colored eyes becoming round. “Jax Lancaster? You're here? Seriously? Today of all days I run into you on a street corner in Eternity Springs?”

Today of all days? What did that mean? Did she want to run into him? More importantly, did he care if she had? “Why ‘today of all days'?” he asked.

“Oh. Never mind.” Color stained her cheeks. “I'm babbling. Why do I always babble around you? Honestly, I'm not a babbling sort of woman! I haven't babbled since the last time you visited Eternity Springs.”

She made him smile. Something about this woman simply lifted his spirits. “Well, that could be a problem for you,” he teased. “Nicholas and I have moved to town.”

A look he couldn't quite define entered her lovely eyes before she took another step away.

“Wow. That is big news.” She shifted her gaze toward his son. “Hello, Nicholas. People around here are going to be so excited to hear you're back. You made a lot of friends around town when you were here at camp.”

“Grown-up friends,” he said with a shrug. “I wish Trevor lived here instead of in Florida. Is that your dog?”

“Yes. She is.”

“What's her name?”

“Well, she doesn't have one yet. I didn't know I was going to adopt her until just a little while ago. I haven't had time to come up with the perfect name for her yet.” She paused, tilted her head, and studied the boy for a moment before she asked, “Names are very important. Want to help me decide on one for her?”

Nicholas pushed his glasses up on his nose and stared up at Claire, his expression deadly serious as he asked, “How?”

“Well, I think a name should appropriately reflect a dog's personality. For example, I know you met Mortimer last summer. It wouldn't fit him at all to be named ‘Serenity.'”

Jax remembered Mortimer very well. What had to be the ugliest Boston terrier on the planet held a special place in his heart because he'd been the star of a presentation Nicholas had made to demonstrate to Jax that for the most part, he'd overcome his cynophobia.

“Dr. Lori said he'd eat anything. She said that one time he ate a whole plastic picture frame.”

“Mortimer does have a reputation around town,” Claire agreed.

“He shouldn't be Beauty, either. More like Beast … You know, from the movie?”

Her laugh rose on the crisp autumn air, and when Nicholas joined in, Jax thought it the sweetest sound he'd heard in months. “So true.”

“What kind of personality does your puppy have?”

“Well, I don't know yet. We'll have to spend some time with her.”

“Me, too?” The boy's eyes bugged out a little like Mortimer's.

Claire studied him closely to judge whether it was fear or excitement that she saw in his expression. Excitement, she decided. “If you want to help pick her name, then yes, you, too.”

Nicholas shot a hopeful glance toward his father. “Can I, Dad?”

“Sure.” Jax took it as a good sign. During the past week they'd discovered that Nicholas's progress had done some backsliding since the hypnosis debacle. Not so much that he feared dogs like he had before Chase Timberlake and Lori Murphy worked with him at the Rocking L summer camp, but he was cautious now.

“When?” Nicholas asked. “When can I play with her? Can I play with her today? She needs a name. A dog shouldn't go without a name.”

Claire glanced up at Jax, the question in her eyes. As happy as he was to see a spark in Nicholas's eyes because of a puppy, he still had to be a parent. “We have a doctor's appointment we need to be getting to.”

“And I have a full afternoon myself.”

“How about dinner?” Jax suggested. “Nicholas and I have had our hearts set on one of the burgers they sell at Murphy's. I recall that their patio is dog friendly. Would you and the little one like to join us?”

“That's a great idea. Thank you, I'd love that.”

“What time works for you?”

Following a moment's consideration, she said, “Sevenish is probably best for me, but I'm flexible.”

“Seven it is.” Jax smiled at her, then checked his watch. “Whoa. We'd better get moving or we'll be late for our appointment. Ready, buddy?”

“Just a second.” Tentatively, Nicholas lifted his hand, reaching for the dog. He scratched the puppy behind her little ears and actually giggled when she licked him and nipped at his fingers.

The last doubt that Jax had harbored since making the decision to move to Eternity Springs disappeared.

“I'm glad you ran into us, Miss Claire,” Nicholas said.

“Me, too!” she declared.

“We really need to go,” Jax reluctantly said to both woman and boy.