A Christmas Bride: Only Us: A Fool's Gold Holiday / The Sheik and the Christmas Bride. Susan Mallery
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her feel small. He’d tossed aside what she had offered and then made things worse by trying to keep her around as some kind of on-call child-care staff.
She was the woman he loved, he woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. He needed to prove himself to her, to win her. Which meant he needed a plan. A way to apologize and prove to her that she was all he’d ever dreamed about. A tough road, considering how he’d acted.
He started toward the door. He was lucky, he reminded himself. With the pet adoption, Rina wouldn’t have had time to go looking for someone else or even to start falling out of love with him. What he had to do was convince her he was worthy. Someone she could trust to be there, no matter what. And he knew exactly how to do it.
The noise in the Fool’s Gold Convention Center was nearly deafening. The cement-and-block-wall construction had originally been meant for a big-box store that had never come to town. About eleven years ago, the city had taken over the property and turned it into a convention center, which meant the acoustics weren’t perfect. Especially when nearly thirty dogs were barking, kids were running around yelling and a spate of angry hisses came from the kitty corner.
Through it all, Rina smiled, answered questions and confirmed that the paperwork for the adoptions had been filled out correctly.
Holiday decorations brightened their small section of the huge structure, the paper and plastic carefully hung out of dog-reach. She and her volunteers wore cheerful, red, long-sleeved T-shirts with bright letters proclaiming Adopt a Pet, with a cartoon cat and dog under the words. The real dogs wore painted nails and bandanas, the cats, festive collars. She’d left the iguana unadorned.
A crowd had been waiting when the event had begun and adoptions were steady. What confused her were the snippets of conversation she overheard.
“Dr. McKenzie came by yesterday afternoon,” Edie Carberry was telling a friend, while holding a carrier containing her new cat. “He made sure I understood the best way to take care of Marilyn.” The seventy-something grinned. “I named her after Marilyn Monroe. They have the same eyes.”
A family with a beagle mix on a leash stopped by to thank Rina. “We love him,” the oldest boy, who was all of ten or eleven, said earnestly. “Dr. McKenzie talked to us about responsibility. We’ll take good care of him. We promise.”
Their mother sighed. “He was impressive. Oh, and that certificate for a free exam in six months was great.”
“I don’t understand,” Rina said. “He came to see you?”
The woman nodded. “From what I understand, he went to see everyone who had already expressed interest in a specific pet. He wanted us to be prepared for the first few days of settling in and talked about food and exercise. That was more than enough, but then he offered a free exam. What a great guy.”
“I heard that,” her husband told her.
The woman laughed.
Rina chatted with the family a few more minutes, then went to find Jesse.
“What do you know about Cameron visiting prospective adoptive families?”
Jesse handed Rina a cloth bag that she started filling with cat food. Each pet was being sent home with a month’s worth of food.
“You didn’t know?” she asked, sounding surprised. “He spent part of Thursday afternoon and most of yesterday out talking to people who’d said they were interested in adopting. He didn’t tell you?”
Rina shook her head. “No. He’s offering a certificate for a free exam, too.”
Jesse smiled. “He wants your holiday pet adoption to be a success. You should be happy.”
“I am, of course. It’s just strange.”
He hadn’t said a word. Not that she’d seen him in the past few days. She’d had the excuse of being busy. Now she just had to get through the holidays, and then she could start forgetting she’d ever fallen in love with him.
Jesse took the full bag of food. “It’s a good thing. Maybe you should just accept that.”
Rina nodded and got back to work.
By three in the afternoon, all the pets had been adopted, the pet food was distributed and more than a couple of the decorations had started to droop. Rina had accepted help for cleanup and then had sent everyone home. There were only a few chairs left to stack and she could handle that on her own.
She’d just collected her backpack to head to her car when the side door opened.
She opened her mouth to tell the people that the event was over, only to realize they weren’t prospective pet owners. Instead, Cameron and Kaitlyn walked toward her.
She hadn’t seen either of them in three days and it felt like years. She wanted to rush forward and hug Kaitlyn, be hugged by Cameron and taken home. She wanted to revel in the affection and laughter she always found in their house. But that wasn’t to be.
“I heard all the pets got adopted,” Cameron said as he approached. “Congratulations.”
“You had a big part in that,” she said, hoping she was looking friendly rather than desperately in love. “Thank you for your help.”
“It’s the least I could do.” He raised his chin slightly. “I like your shirt.”
She glanced down at the Adopt a Pet graphic. “I thought they were festive. It made the volunteers feel special and—”
As she’d been speaking, Cameron and Kaitlyn had started removing their coats. Now she saw they wore similar shirts, only the phrase was a little different. Cameron’s T-shirt said Adopt a Vet and Kaitlyn’s read Adopt a Vet’s Daughter. Instead of a drawing of a cat and dog, there was a picture of the three of them, taken at the end of the summer festival earlier that year.
Hope blossomed. Fragile, brave hope that grew inside her. “I don’t understand,” she whispered.
Cameron stepped toward her. “Rina, I’m sorry. I was blind and stupid and afraid. I wasn’t looking to fall in love, so I didn’t recognize it when it happened. I couldn’t see the beautiful, special, wonderful woman standing right in front of me.”
She drew in a breath. “It happens,” she
managed.
He took another step and reached for her hands, taking them in his. His steady gaze was full of promise.
“When I kissed you that night, I felt all the possibilities and they terrified me. I was afraid loving meant losing and I couldn’t bear to lose you. You are strong and kind and the most giving person I know. I trust you with my heart. More important, I trust you with my daughter.”
Rina glanced at the girl, who was practically dancing in place. She’d obviously promised to be quiet, but was having trouble keeping her promise. As Rina smiled at her, Kaitlyn slapped a hand over her mouth and spun in a circle.
“I’m sorry I didn’t accept what you offered,” he continued, drawing her attention back to him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t see what you did for us. But I do know, and I hope you’ll give me a chance to prove myself. Kaitlyn and I love you.” He smiled at his daughter. “We want to marry you and be a family together.”
“Like we are now!” The words burst from Kaitlyn, who rushed toward them.
Then the three of them were holding on as if they would never let go. Rina felt the pain draining away, replaced by the knowledge that dreams really do come true. Loving Cameron and his daughter had been the best part of her. It would continue to be so...forever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHRISTMAS MORNING CAME early. Rina found herself being gently shaken a little before six. She opened her eyes and saw Kaitlyn staring down at her.
“You were awake, right?” the girl asked