Page 77 of A Cozy Holiday
I love it here.
I love Jamie, I love the girls, I love my new friends,andI even get to own my vet practice.
I’m reorganizing the supply closet when a familiar voice cuts through the quiet, startling me.
“Joy…” Jamie’s tone is amused but edged with worry. “What are you doing here?”
I freeze, then pivot, supplies clutched in my hands.
Caught.
He’s wearing a plaid jacket over a long-sleeve tee and my favorite jeans, the ones worn soft where his wallet usually sits in the back pocket. His beard has grown out enough that it now connects seamlessly with his mustache.
My sexy mountain man.
“I told you, I’m nesting!” I hold up a handful of scalpels as proof. “And you won’t let me nest at home.”
I grunt when he reaches for me and helps me straighten. My belly is heavy and round, the sweater stretched tight across its expanse. None of my clothes accommodate this new version of me, so I’m in Jamie’s sweatpants—the only clothing soft enough not to make me want to rip off my skin.
“You took the snowmobile,” he says, eyebrows raised.
“I was bored.”
“You’re forty weeks pregnant.”
“And you won’t let me do anything around the house.” So, I snuck out while he was in the shower.
“Because you’re supposed to be resting,” Jamie says, taking the scalpels from my hands and setting them on a shelf behind me. “Thank you for calling me.” He nods toward Miriam, who’s sitting at her desk by the window, steam curling from her mug as she swivels in her chair. I have to admit that seeing her settled among the bottles and charts, sipping her coffee, makes me so content.
Miriam came up in the spring to help me get the practice off the ground, right when I found out I was pregnant. Now, she’s running it while I’m on maternity leave, though I know the truth: she wants to be here when the babies arrive. There had been a line of veterinarians eager to take over the Manhattan Vet Clinic while she works part-time up here.
“You betrayed me!” I press my hands to my cheeks and glare at her with mock outrage.
Miriam laughs. “Winnie’s been giving me free coffee. I didn’t want to get on her bad side.”
Winnie.
I lasted six months living in Winnie’s spare apartment above the café before her pranks made me question my life choices. A fake snake on the doormat, eggs filled with slime, whale noises that kept me up at night…
I love her, but even I have limits.
By June, I was done. Jubilee and I packed ourselves up and moved into Jamie’s cabin, where the girls welcomed us like we’d been part of their lives forever.
I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.
I narrow my eyes at Miriam. “I got you those mooncakes! I had them imported for your birthday! I thought you were on my side!” Tears prick my eyes, and I laugh and cry all at once. “Damn pregnancy hormones.” I shake my head, smiling through it. “But when I get back from maternity leave, we are going to have a serious talk about loyalty.”
“You think I’m staying away until you get back? I’ve been practicing casseroles.”
“Or is Bennie teaching you how to make them?” I fire back. “I know you’ve been secretly dating him.”
“The elementary school principal?” Jamie asks.
“Sue me. He’s hot.” Miriam shimmies her shoulders, her chair creaking beneath her. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be the newest resident of Cranberry Hollow.” She winks at me, then spins back to her desk, picking up her half-finished crossword.
Jamie places his large hands against my belly. “How are my girls?”
“They were due three days ago, Jamie.” I sigh, resting my hands on top of his.
