The Homespun Holiday Read Online Free PDF Page A

table.  Unless you can top that, move along, please.”
    Mack ignored her scowl and leaned
across Millie’s seat to hold his hand out to the other woman sitting at the
table.  “Dr. Mackenzie Daniels,” he introduced himself to the older lady with a
polite smile.
    Darby Robbins took the man’s hand
in hers.  “Darby Robbins,” the elderly woman stated with a sweet smile. 
“Please excuse my Millie’s poor manners,” she apologized, shooting her annoyed
daughter a dark look.  “I’m Millicent’s mother and Paisley’s grandmother, Dr.
Daniels.  You know, I thought you were a woman for the longest time.  When
Paisley kept talking about her friend, Mackenzie, all summer long, I just
assumed it was another girl….”
    “No, ma’am,” Mack said with a quick
shake of his head.  “I’m very definitely a man.”
    “Yes.  Yes, you are,” Darby
declared, eyeing the man’s body appreciatively.  “You know…I’ve been having a
little problem,” she began, leaning forward in her chair.  “You know,
downstairs,” she went on in a loud whisper, pointing at her lap.
    “Mom!” Millie clipped sharply,
unamused by her mother’s antics.  “I hate to cut your visit with the good
doctor who happens to be my boss short, but we’ve got a meeting to
keep.  The school, remember?” she prompted when her mother remained motionless
in her seat.
    “Oh, that,” the older woman
grumbled, her lips turned down in a frown. 
    “I’m afraid that I’ll be late
getting back to the office, Dr. Daniels.  I left a message with Doris at the
front desk earlier when I had to run and pick up Paisley, but since you’re here
now, I thought I’d let you know.  We don’t have another patient until 2:30 so I
should be back in plenty of time.”
    Confused, Mack’s gaze went from
Darby to Millicent to Paisley and back again.  “Wait.  What happened?” he
asked, momentarily forgetting his own irritation with his nurse and focusing
his attention on his nurse’s child.  “What did Paisley do at school that was so
bad that she could be expelled?”
    “She told the truth; that’s what
she did,” Darby answered bluntly, glaring at her daughter.
    “Mom,” Millie began tiredly, “Some
truths have no business being told by a five year old to a classroom full of
other five year olds.  We’ve already been over this.  Paisley is going to
apologize and that’s all there is to it.”
    “No, I’m not!” Paisley staunchly
refused.
    “No, she’s not!” Darby retorted
harshly.
    Looking from her kid to her mother,
Millie gave in to the urge to thunk her head against the table.  “Why me,
Lord?  Why me?  I already work for the world’s biggest grump.  Why must I also
be forced to have both a daughter and a mother that are determined to be activists
that would make Planned Parenthood proud?”
    “I think Momma’s lost it, Dr.
Mack,” Paisley remarked with a shrug.  “Can we go get ice cream after I get ‘spelled
from school?”
    “The word is expelled,” Mack
corrected with a wink down at the cute kid hanging off his arm, “And that’s not
going to happen.”
    “Oh, it is gonna happen.  Y’all
didn’t hear the phone call I got earlier from the school.  This is bad,” Millie
argued without lifting her head from the table.  “They warned me the last time
they had to call me into a meeting about Paisley’s conduct that she’d be
suspended from school if her behavior wasn’t modified appropriately.”
    “Oh, bullfoot!” Darby growled.  “There’s
nothing wrong with her behavior.  They can’t throw a kid out for tellin’ the
truth.  It’s in the constitution. Even five-year-old girls have certain
inalienable rights.”
    “Okay, Norma Rae, settle down,”
Millie begged, finally lifting her head from the table.  “I’ll take care of
this.  Somehow,” she muttered.
    Taking Paisley’s hand in his, Mack
asked Millie, “Did you drive here?”
    “No, I rode with Mom,” she