Page 7 of Finding Wonderland

“I got to pet a puppy!”

“That’s so cool, Mace. What do you say to Dr. Forsyth for letting you pet the puppy?”

“Thank you.” Mason grinned up at her, and Vera felt her heart melting. She knelt down to Mason’s level and smiled at her.

“You’re welcome, Mason. Thank you for being so good while I helped your mommy today.”

“Well, she needs all the help she can get.”

Vera was so caught off guard by Mason’s blunt comment she burst out laughing. Isla’s face was bright red as she covered Mason’s mouth with her hand.

“And on that note, I will talk to you later.”

She watched as Isla and Mason walked into the open elevator. Vera stayed there until the door closed, watching how Isla picked up Mason and how Mason wrapped her arms and legs around her. They rubbed their noses against each other as they giggled and Vera could have watched the sight forever.

Leanne coughed, startling Vera. She glared over at her and shrugged her shoulders. “What?”

“Nothing,” Leanne giggled as she walked back to the round desk in the middle of the waiting room Vera followed closely behind. “Just that I hope you got her number.”

“Excuse me, that is my patient. We don’t flirt with our patients or get their numbers.”

“All I’m saying is if you let her go without making a move,” Leanne pointed to the now closed elevator doors, “then I sure as hell will.”

A surge of something coursed through Vera’s body. It felt like jealousy but that was ridiculous, right? Isla was a patient. She was doing what she would have done with every other patient. Her compassion was one of the main reasons she was the most requested OBGYN at the office. Much to everyone else’s annoyance.

Vera would have done the same thing for any patient. Not just the ones with dark, mysterious eyes and long curly hair that smelled like salty air. Especially not just the ones with cute kids and a past that held more hurt than Vera could imagine. No. There was nothing different about Isla Mackenzie from any other patient.

Right?

“I hate you,” Vera rolled her eyes at Leanne as she grabbed her empty coffee cup off the desk. She could hear Leanne laughing all the way to the breakroom.

Dammit.

No matter how much she denied it, there was something different about Isla. Vera just had to figure out exactly what that was.

Chapter 3

Isla

Day four of work at Straight to Ale was going much better than the first. Isla had yet to drop an entire tray of drinks all over the floor and had actually remembered to clock in and out for her shifts. Despite the learning curve, Isla thought she was doing a decent job at serving the customers at the pub. Even if she had no prior experience to working in a restaurant.

Prior to moving to Moonflower Cove, Isla had been a stay-at-home mom. She loved every single minute of it, and loved that it allowed her to still follow her true passion. Isla had always had lofty dreams of being on Broadway one day. In fact, if she hadn’t had Blake when she did, Isla had no doubt she’d be performing on Broadway. But when she got pregnant with Blake, everything changed. Not in a bad way; on the contrary, it put life into perspective for her. Blake showed her there was more to life than seeing your name in the Broadway lights. Her family was what was most important.

A pang of regret hit Isla as she remembered that Mason was currently with a babysitter and not with her. Maggie had offered to watch her while Isla figured out childcare, and Isla trusted her. But that didn’t negate the fact that she would much rather be the one watching Mason. She hated the idea of missing even a moment in Mason’s life, especially since she was missing so much of Blake’s life. Her regret turned to sadness at the thought of Blake, but Isla forced it away. Not because she wanted to, but out of necessity to keep her head above the water she was treading. No matter how tired she got, Isla had to stay afloat for Mason.

“Isla,” Maureen O’Riley called out as she entered the kitchen with a tray full of dirty dishes, “table thirteen needs refills. Can you take care of that?”

“Absolutely.”

Darting out of the kitchen, Isla grabbed the pitcher of water and Diet Coke and carried it over to the table. She greeted the customers sweetly, trying to be as polite and sweet as she could to hopefully garner a tip. Although she was able to log a lot of hours at the restaurant, the pay wasn’t enough to keep her and Mason afloat. Eventually, Isla knew she’d either have to get a second job, or find a better paying job.

Isla bumped her hip against the swinging kitchen door as she sat the empty pitchers into the sink. All her tables were empty, which was usual for the mid-afternoon lull she’d noticed the last few days. Lunch was usually steady, but nothing overwhelming, while dinner usually had a slight wait for tables. But for a town as small as Moonflower Cove, Isla knew the restaurant had tons of potential to become the number one hangout spot in town. If only Cliff and Maureen saw that vision, too.

Having only been at the restaurant a few days, Isla knew she couldn’t—and shouldn’t—overstep her place. So instead, she kept a list of things she’d change if she were in charge. Adding a pool table, covering the outdoor patio for longer use, maybe even some karaoke—Isla had plans. It was too bad she wasn’t in charge. Not that she’d have any idea how to run a restaurant if she were in charge. Daydreaming about pie-in-the-sky changes was vastly different than actually enacting them. Especially since she had only been working at Straight to Ale for a few days.

“Maureen?” Isla knocked on the slightly closed door to the small office off the kitchen. “I was wondering if you needed me to stay longer today? I can help with…”

“That’s okay, Isla.” Maureen smiled up from the pile of paperwork on her desk. “It’s a slow day. You can go home.”

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