A Perfect Holiday Fling Read Online Free PDF Page A

important and pushed away from her computer. Before she did anything else, she needed to put some food in her belly.
    One problem…she needed food in the house in order to have any to put in her belly.
    “Great.” Callie sighed as she stared at the refrigerator’s woefully empty shelves.
    She grabbed one of the protein milk shakes that she kept in case she needed a quick breakfast on the go, and then she unhooked her favorite slim, fleece, zip-up hoodie from the coat hook in the kitchen, and grabbed her purse.
    Callie stopped to straighten the framed photograph of she and her parents at her high school graduation that hung in the hallway. The two of them stood behind her, each with a hand on her shoulder and huge smiles on their faces.
    They had been gone fifteen years, but she could still remember the last day she’d seen them both together as if it were yesterday. She’d made a surprise trip home from LSU to celebrate her mother’s birthday. A tractor trailer hit them head-on as they were driving home from church the very next day.
    Callie willed her heart not to constrict with grief. She’d moved past the pain. Finally.
    But could she really leave this place? Leave them?
    No, she wouldn’t be leaving her parents. Their memories, their spirit, would be with her wherever she went. The biggest question was, why did she really want to leave? What was she hoping to find somewhere else?
    “Not thinking about this right now,” she said to the empty house.
    She locked up the house and headed for her Ruby Red Lincoln MKX.
    The leaves on the numerous maple trees that lined the street were bursting with the colors of autumn: deep red, brilliant orange and bright yellow. The swamp red maple was the only one native to the area. The other varieties had been brought in over the years to diversify the town’s landscape.
    Callie pulled into the parking lot of the sleek, modern, redbrick grocery store, feeling the twinge of guilt that pinged her chest whenever she shopped here. Robichaux’s Super Market had been an institution in Maplesville for over seventy years before this national chain had forced the family-owned grocer out of business. Callie loved the bigger selection, but she missed the warm, friendly service the Robichaux family had prided themselves on.
    She walked through the automatic sliding doors and grabbed a handheld basket. As she strolled up and down the aisles, cursing herself for not making a shopping list, Callie was stopped every other minute by someone wanting to say hello, or ask her about an ailment their pet was having. Of course, she also suffered through the obligatory matchmaking attempts. God, when would it stop?
    She was squeezing an avocado when she heard a shy voice say, “It’s the animal doctor.”
    Callie looked up to find Stefan Sutherland and his nephew stopping just in front of her. Stefan was pushing a grocery basket, with Jacob close at his side.
    “Hello there,” she greeted.
    “Guess what?” The little boy’s eyes were wide with excitement, yet his voice was still soft and timid. “Uncle Stefan let me sleep with Sandy last night.”
    “He did?” Callie’s mouth twitched with amusement. “And it sounds as if he let you name her, too.”
    The boy nodded. “I named her Sandy, like the squirrel on SpongeBob. Because she’s a girl.”
    “I like that name,” Callie said, fighting back a smile at the sardonic look on Stefan’s face. Apparently, he wasn’t a huge fan of the name, or was that just the cat in general? “So, how is Sandy doing?”
    “Making herself right at home,” Stefan answered. “And hello to you, Dr. Webber.” His deep, warm voice shot a ripple of awareness through her.
    “Hello,” she returned. “And when I’m not in my white coat the name is Callie.” She gestured to their basket, which contained wieners, marshmallows, corn on the cob and trail mix. “If I’m not mistaken, it looks as if someone is getting ready for a camping trip.”
    Jacob