Mistletoe Magic Read Free

would tell her and
apologize.
    But first the
kitten needed his full attention.
     

     
    Mistletoe.
    Caitlin leaned
back against the padded chair in the waiting room. She pulled off
her gloves and beanie.
    Not exactly
her finest name-the-cat moment.
    But she had a
good excuse—a six-foot-tall, dressed in surgical scrubs,
sandy-blond hair, high forehead and cheekbones, blue-eyed
honest-to-goodness excuse. Standing next to him under mistletoe
hadn’t helped.
    No. Do. Not.
Think. About. Kisses.
    Not with
Noah.
    Seeing him had
awakened places inside her she’d forgotten existed. Wrong on so
many levels she didn’t know where to begin.
    “ Would you like a cup of coffee?” the white-haired woman
wearing antlers asked from behind the front desk.
    “ No thanks.”
    “ We have tea.” The woman looked vaguely familiar, like someone
Caitlin had met before. A friend of her mom or a preschooler’s
grandmother? “Or cocoa and cider mix if that’s more to your
liking.”
    “ I’m not thirsty, but appreciate the offer.”
    “ Worried about the kitten?”
    Caitlin
nodded. “She was so wet and cold.”
    “ Doc Sullivan is one of the best.”
    She wasn’t
surprised. He’d talked so much about going to vet school. “Good to
know.”
    Mistletoe is a
cute name.”
    “ Thanks.” Caitlin picked up a magazine then opened the cover.
She didn’t want to be rude, but she wasn’t up for making
conversation right now.
    She had the
kitten on her mind.
    And Noah
Sullivan.
    Recognizing
him had rendered her stupid. That was the real explanation behind
naming the kitten Mistletoe. She couldn’t think of anything but the
bunch of greenery hanging above them, wondering if there was some
ethics code that kept a vet from kissing a patient. Rather, the
patient’s human. Not that the cat belonged to her. See…
    Being near him
short-circuited her brain. Fried logic. Turned off common
sense.
    The same thing
had happened her freshman year of college when he’d gone from crush
to date to boyfriend. She’d been living a freshman fantasy until he
broke up with her in April two weeks before his commencement
ceremony.
    Vet school
means everything to me. I like you a lot, more than I’ve liked
anyone, but I can’t afford the distraction of a long distance
relationship. Pullman, Washington is too far away. You still have
three more years here in Bozeman. Trust me, breaking up is the best
thing for you.
    Funny how
years later, seven if she wanted to be exact, she wished she’d
gotten a chance to tell him how she knew what was best for her, not
him. But she’d been too upset, a combination of shock and surprise,
to string two words together let alone a snappy comeback.
    But Noah was
here now.
    Her first love
just down the hallway.
    Maybe she
would finally get her chance.
    Who was she
kidding? She was usually at the top of the nice list. Saying
something would be out of character though she was a little peeved
he would have to look more handsome than before. She rubbed the
back of her neck. Not that she’d hoped he’d lost his hair and
gained a hundred pounds. Well, maybe once.
    In her
defense, Noah had broken her heart and crushed her dreams.
    She’d cried
for weeks, lost ten pounds, sworn off men for the entire summer and
part of fall. Eventually she’d realized breaking up had been the
right thing to do.
    Noah had
shared his plans with her. Plans to be a vet in a big city where
the larger population could support specialties.
    She’d tried to
be supportive, but she hadn’t been, not really. A big town was the
last place this small town Montana girl wanted to be. Marietta was
the only place she wanted to live. She assumed Noah had figured
that out.
    Yet here he
was in the same place she’d been born, grew up, and still lived.
She could hardly believe it.
    A romantic
Christmassy ballad played. The melody washed over her, but didn’t
ease the tension knotting her neck.
    Christmas Eve.
The kitten. Noah Sullivan.
    Jen would say
none of this