Page 20 of My eX-MAS Emergency

I got in some trouble for that one. A lot of detention.

Noah took Jesse out of Cami’s arms and lovingly held him against his chest, patting his back to soothe him. “Very cool.”

A sudden ache hit me, watching the sweet family. I longed for one of my own. “Well, I’m past my melon days.” I nervously laughed, half-flattered to be remembered, half-worried it would only bring unwanted attention my way. “It was really nice to meet the three of you. I’m sorry your little guy isn’t feeling well. I’ll put in for a prescription of amoxicillin. That should do the trick. If he’s not feeling better in the next few days, or if his fever gets above 102, call your regular pediatrician or bring him back here.”

“Thank you,” Cami said, gratefully. “Hopefully we can enjoy some turkey now. Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.” I left the cute family to see who was up next. When I walked out, Pam, one of the nurses, stopped me. “You have a visitor in the break room.”

“I do?”

“Yes, a darling girl bearing heavenly-smelling food.”

That had to be Quinn. It shocked me Stella would be so considerate and drive Quinn over here. “Thank you. I’ll just be a minute.” I knew there were a few more patients in the queue.

“We’ll cover for you.” She winked.

It was a good thing Evie wasn’t around to hear that.

“Thank you.” I hustled over to the break room. I could smell the Thanksgiving goodness before I even walked in the door—roasted turkey, thyme, and sage. It shocked me. I’d heard the Grangers were having lasagna or some other monstrosity for Thanksgiving. I loved a good lasagna but not on Turkey Day.

I opened the door to find my Quinny smiling brightly, holding up a large basket full of all the best Thanksgiving foods, including an entire pumpkin pie.

“What’s all this?”

“Uncle Tristan and I thought you might be hungry.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “Your uncle brought you here?”

“Yeah.” She grinned evilly. “He knows how much you love Thanksgiving, and he knew you would be home late, so we brought dinner for you. He’s waiting in the car because he knows how much you hate him,” she added.

I eyed the food warily, wondering what the catch was. It wasn’t just me that hated him. He hated me too. It was mutual hate. “Is it poisoned?” I had to ask.

“No, silly,” she laughed and set the basket on a table. “He thinks you’re a baddie.” She wagged her brows.

“A baddie? He thinks I’m a bad girl?” I wasn’t surprised. Yet, it irked me. Um … he used to applaud my “bad girl” ways.

“No,” she giggled. “A baddie is a hot girl boss who’s always slaying it.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, not buying it. “Okay, sure.”

“It’s true,” she sang.

We needed a change of subject, like stat. No way did Tristan think of me like that. The invisible knife he’d left in my heart was proof he believed quite the contrary. “Why aren’t you at your grandparents’ in your prom dress?” I teased.

“Because”—she smiled—“Uncle Tristan said he was tired of pretending we are all perfect, so we left and went to his friend’s house for Thanksgiving. There were so many people. It was so fun. We played games and made silly hand turkeys. I even met a cute boy there.”

I was so happy for Quinn. And even glad her uncle had made sure she had a stellar day. But … this was not in my best interest. I couldn’t afford to see Tristan in a good light. Been there, done that. It hadn’t worked well for me. Besides, I’d made a solemn vow to never look at him again. How did the world not understand this?

“What about Kody?” Who I had learned was in her biology class. She was still working up the courage to talk to him. I’d given her some pointers.

She bit her lip and blushed. “I don’t know. Beckett is super cute, and he asked me for my number.”

“Oh, really?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll show you some pictures I took of him when you get home tonight.”

“I look forward to it.” Sadly, I needed to rush off. “Honey, I better go. I have patients waiting. Thank you for thinking of me.” I walked over and kissed her head. “You’re a good kid.”

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