Page 24 of A Christmas Spark
Mabel sighed. “I am too busy, but…” She bit her lip. “The holiday season has been crazy this year. Even more so than normal. But she’s such a sweet little thing?—”
She looked up again suddenly, that same bright light in her eyes. George shook his head.
“Oh, no. I can see when you’re cooking something up, Mabel Stewart, and I am not?—”
“I’ve had a brilliant idea,” Mabel gushed, cutting him off. “We can share joint custody of Rascal! She really seems to have taken to you too, or she wouldn’t have gone all the way over to the farm! That way I’m not overloaded with caring for her, and you can get some time with her too. It’d do you good.”
“That’s a perfect idea!” Vanessa piped up, clearly listening in as there was a lull in customers needing to be rung up and their gifts wrapped. “Rascal can spend the day at the farm, and then be at Mabel’s house at night.”
“She did look pretty at home on top of that Christmas tree,” Jackson added. “Sounds like a good solution all the way around to me.” He glanced at Vanessa, and George didn’t fail to see the knowing look that passed between them. He had a feeling he and Mabel were being set up.
“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” George protested. “A cat is the last thing I need around the place. We’ve already established what a little rascal she is. That’s all I need—her underfoot, running in and out, worrying about if she’s going to get out of the office…”
“I think she’d be perfectly happy curled up by the fire with a toy or two,” Mabel said. “And she seems to have taken a liking to your tree, like Jackson said.”
“She’s not going to just lay in front of the fire.” George rolled his eyes. “What if something happens?”
“Honestly, it’s better than her being here in the shop, where she could run out right onto Main Street. I’ll pick her up after work every day,” Mabel promised.
George ran a hand over his beard, eyeing her. “I think this sounds like a heap of trouble.”
“Think of it as making amends,” Mabel suggested, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “After all, your pranks over the years have been quite an inconvenience. This could be your way of making things right.”
“My pranks?” George scoffed. “What about yours? The time you filled my truck bed with ping pong balls? Or when you filled my work boots with shaved ice? There was that one time when you frosted the entire office desk with Silly String, and Istilldon’t know how you got in?—”
Mabel had the grace to look slightly abashed, although her smile didn’t dim. “Fair point,” she conceded. “But may I remind you that I broke my wrist last time I pulled off a prank? Stringing those elves on your Christmas tree that you’d set aside for Cindy and Neil? I had to have my granddaughtermovehere just to help me recover…”
Jackson snorted, and Vanessa covered her hand with her mouth, clearly barely holding back her laughter. Jackson was red-faced, his lips pressed together as he struggled too.
“She’s right,” Vanessa finally managed, shrugging at George. “Ididmove here just to help her recuperate from a prank she pulled on you.”
“You do owe her. All that recovery time…” Jackson mused, and George shot him a dagger-sharp glare.
“It’s only fair,’ Vanessa added.
“Fine!” George threw up his hands, shaking his head. The look on Mabel’s face was teasing, but underneath it, he thought he could see something slightly optimistic, and… hopeful? He had a feeling she wanted to keep the kitten more than she’d let on. And as annoying as the elf prank had been, hedidfeel bad that she’d hurt herself on account of it. “I’ll help with Rascal. You supply all the things she needs,” he added, narrowing his eyes at Mabel. “I’m not going cat-shopping.”
“I have everything she could possibly need,” Mabel agreed. “Just come by and pick her up in the mornings. The store’s usually at peak around eleven and then again in the afternoon after lunch. I’ll come get her after I close up, like I said.”
“Fine,” George repeated. “But not today. I’ve got pickups here soon that I need to get back to. It’s busy at the farm too, you know.”
“I’m sure it is,” Mabel said brightly. “Tomorrow morning, then? About ten or ten-thirty?”
“Sure.” George looked at the kitten, who had settled right down in Mabel’s arms. He had to admit, it was a cute little thing.But an annoyance,he reminded himself. One that he’d agreed to… babysit? Kitten-sit?
As he said his goodbyes and headed back out to the truck, leaving Jackson there to make lunch plans with Vanessa, he couldn’t believe what he’d just agreed to. The cold air hit his face as he stepped outside, jolting him back to reality, and he shook his head.
He’d just agreed to co-parent a kitten with Mabel Stewart. His friend—and prank nemesis—for the last… he couldn’t even count how many years now.
“I’m getting soft,” he muttered, climbing into his truck. The kitten was nothing but an inconvenience, and now he’d agreed to make it partially his problem. Something he’d have to watch out for and manage in the middle of the busy season.
He glanced back at the store, window, seeing Mabel showing the kitten to a delighted little girl, who reached up to pet the tiny thing. He watched the child’s face light up, and his heart softened, just a little.
Rascal clearly made Mabel happy. This could be his Christmas gift to her, he decided, helping her make it so that she could keep the little beast. And, he thought to himself as he pulled back out onto the snowy road—he couldn’t pretend that he didn’t like the idea of being able to see Mabel more often, without the bother of having to prank her.
Actually, he didn’t mind it one bit.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
