Page 36 of My eX-MAS Emergency

“Good morning,” I greeted them.

“Good morning,” they each happily replied.

“I love the headbands.”

Each of them wore some flashing antlers on their heads. I bet Evie loved that.

“Do you want one?” Joelle asked. She was as cute as a button and barely out of school.

“Uh, yeah.”

She reached into her bag and pulled a set out for me. She handed me the antlers through an opening in the glass.

“Thank you.” I immediately put them on. The silliness of it had me feeling a little better. That was until I heard one of the ER techs say, “Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Harding.”

I froze, thinking surely it was not them. My absentee grandparents who wanted nothing to do with me because my family didn’t fit their lifestyle. It was seemingly a pattern in my life. My last memory of them was when I was eighteen. Mom and I were perusing the summer flower festival when we ran into them. For a moment, we’d all stopped and stared at one another. My mom said a tearful hello, and they turned their backs on us. I have never forgotten the tears pouring down my mother’s cheeks after that encounter. It hurt her so much, she couldn’t even speak. It was the first time in my life I’d felt true hatred.

Flexing my fingers, I turned around slowly, waiting for the next ghost to pop out at me in the haunted house that was Aspen Lake. I threw up a few silent prayers for good measure. Sadly, they went unanswered. Honestly, it was almost comical at this point. At this rate, Cordelia and Frasier would arrive at any moment.

Before me were Rosemary and Arthur Harding. They had aged quite a bit in the last sixteen years. The haughty air around them had certainly diminished. Arthur sat in a wheelchair being pushed by the tech, sporting a nasty bump and cut on his forehead. He had only a few wisps of white hair left on his wrinkled, age-spotted head. Rosemary’s white coiffure was a bit mussed, and her back was slightly bent, but in her deep-brown eyes fixed squarely on me, I saw my mother. I didn’t like it. The woman was nothing like my loving mother. Yet, I couldn’t deny the family resemblance.

I waited for Rosemary and Arthur to flee, or at the very least turn away from me. But they did neither.

“We’ll get you settled, and then the nurse will be in to see you,” the tech said.

I turned, hardly able to breathe, knowing I was going to have to treat Arthur. Maybe I could beg Dr. James to stay longer. It was wholly unfair, but I would make it up to him somehow. In my younger years, I would have totally agreed to make out with him in the supply closet or something. Dr. James was more than attractive. He reminded me of a young Denzel Washington. But I knew Deidra wouldn’t appreciate it. Even though I could totally go for a noncommittal make-out session. There was nothing like kissing to blow off a little steam.

“You okay?” Joelle asked.

“Yeah,” I murmured before numbly walking off to find Isaiah, a.k.a. Dr. James.

He was walking out of the office with his backpack slung over his shoulder, looking dog tired. “Hey, Calista.” Isaiah smiled.

“Hi,” I replied in a panicked tone. “I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor,” I whispered.

“Sure, name it.”

“Um … I don’t know how to explain this and it’s probably better if I don’t, but I need you to treat the patient in room one.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, hemming and hawing. “Normally, I would say yes, but I promised my girlfriend I would take her to breakfast this morning and that I wouldn’t be late.”

Of course he had a girlfriend. There went any chances of making out in the supply closet. It was probably a bad idea anyway, seeing as my ex was totally messing with my head. “I get it. You should keep your promise.” That’s what good boyfriends do. They don’t go running the first time they get arrested on your behalf.

He patted my shoulder. “Thanks for understanding. Have a good day.”

I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen.

With an enormous sigh, I shuffled into the office to deposit my backpack and hyperventilate for a moment. While I gripped the edge of the desk and stressed out of my mind, my phone chimed. I reached into my backpack, thinking it was Quinn or Jules. No such luck. The day was going downhill fast.

A picture of Poppy showed up on the screen. And guess where Poppy was? Cuddled up against Tristan’s bare chest. The man was insufferable. Yummy, but completely dreadful. I admit to ogling the picture for longer than I should have. I wished I could blame it on Poppy’s cuteness, but I couldn’t. Tristan’s dang pecs had me mesmerized and aching to brush my fingers across them and his rippled abs. I was completely disgusted with myself.

With the adorable picture came a message:

Tristan: Quinn gave me your number. I won’t even bother asking if you mind, because I know you do. But Poppy wanted to say hi this morning. She misses you.

I thought that was it, but then some texting bubbles appeared. Apparently, he wasn’t done torturing me for the day. I should have just turned off my phone and faced the music with my mom’s parents, but no, I foolishly kept my eyes fixed on the screen, waiting to see what else he had to say. Several times the bubbles disappeared, only to reappear seconds later. He was obviously having a hard time deciding what to say, or maybe if he should say it at all. Eventually the words came, and they caused my pulse to race.

Tristan: I miss you too. I’m sorry about last night. Even more sorry about the last thirteen years. I know you must think I’m a real jerk. And I am. If you’re wondering if I’m happy about the life I’ve chosen, the answer is no. If I could, I would go back and choose you.

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