Her Christmas Wish (The Cottages on Ocean Breeze #1)

Chapter Seventeen

T he meeting with veterinarians interested in contracting with Buzzing Bee Clinics turned into a lovely lunch, Friday afternoon of the next week, hosted by a local country club. Tables were set in a private room in front of a glass wall overlooking the golf course, and beyond that, over a cliff, the ocean.

Fixtures were gold, silver felt real and napkins were linen.

Sage arrived just after everyone had finished eating, for the business portion of the gathering. She spent a couple of minutes with Gray, to go over their program details, and then stepped back as the man—looking way too gorgeous in his dress pants and lab coat, with his longish dark hair framing his face—was called over to a table by a woman Sage recognized as one of his former veterinarians.

She didn’t watch their exchange. Didn’t want to know how he interacted with beautiful professionals in his field. Straightening the short jacket over her slim-fitting navy pants, she helped herself to a glass of water instead.

Gray spoke first to the sixty-two veterinarians who’d attended. Marissa had put word out beyond the local area, and outside Rockcliff and San Diego, people didn’t care as much about the local scandal. They did seem to care about affordable pet health care for middle-class families.

Sage knew that Gray could sell his concept. And as he spread his passion around the room, she couldn’t help but gravitate to him. Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t the veterinary aspect of him that she absorbed. The man had always been able to touch parts of her no one else ever had. Even in the decade they’d been apart. She’d dated plenty. Most particularly before she’d decided to go the adoption route. On the lookout for a father for her family, she’d tried again and again to find a man who raised even half the ardor in her that Gray had. Or a hint of the physical ecstasy he’d brought her.

Just listening to him talk—even about science and medical practices—instilled a warmth in her that she couldn’t ignore.

But she could focus on other things.

And she did, following him up with the less passionate part of the meeting—the contractual legalities involved in being a part of Buzzing Bee Clinics. The practical aspects that would be required for next steps. Finishing with a potential income report recommending that each applicant have it vetted by individual financial advisers.

She gave all attendees her contact information, not Gray’s.

Then she left to go back to work, hearing later that they’d garnered forty-five applications for the eighteen positions Gray was currently offering. Three veterinarians a piece at a total of six clinics. He’d be a floater. Choosing to work at all six locations. He’d said he wanted to be inside, part of the workings of each one. At least to start.

While Friday afternoon’s event was a win, Gray needed the black-tie fundraising event scheduled to take place the following night to be an equal success if he was going to get six clinics up and running at the same time. He’d found potential sites to rent in four strip malls, and two other free-standing buildings.

But with investors, the brunt of the sell landed on Sage. With the day’s win, she was experiencing a decidedly uncomfortable bit of tension as she considered the following evening.

She’d already been a bit jittery at the thought of attending the dinner/entertainment event with Gray. The two of them, decked out. Maybe having a cocktail. At a venue they’d been to multiple times as guests of her father back in the day.

Adding in the new pressure of Gray’s leap into his new life resting completely on the money they might raise, and she wanted to grab up Leigh and run to Disneyland for the weekend.

Sort of. As wonderful as fantasy time with her little girl sounded, most particularly considering how much Leigh loved the resort, a part of Sage needed to be right where she was. Helping Gray.

Logically, she couldn’t explain the internal pressure to herself. She owed Grayson Bartholomew nothing. But logic and heart didn’t always coexist in complete harmony. Sometimes one had to rule the other long enough for the lagging member to catch up.

Trouble was, she didn’t know which part of her was behind. Her heart or her head. And couldn’t seem to get either to pony up.

Sitting on her porch Friday afternoon, she had a legal pad on her lap, a glass of tea on the little table beside her and a bit of a headache.

An impromptu volleyball game was taking place on the beach, with the four players in sweatpants and T-shirts in the cooling late October air. Neither Scott nor Iris were there, but Harper was. And Morgan—the only dog—with Gray. Leigh was the runner after the ball when anyone missed.

Which was why she’d been watching the game, paying no attention whatsoever to the work she’d brought home to do. Harper had called Leigh over to help with the game. But Gray had been the one to look toward Sage’s porch for a nod of permission. And then he met the little girl in the sand and walked her down to the game.

Such a small thing.

No different than taking a young patient to a room to greet a pet that had had its teeth cleaned. She couldn’t let the sight of Gray with her daughter touch her heart.

“Hey!”

Sage jumped, turned her head as the sound reached her from the beach to the left of her. “Iris!” And Angel. As soon as Morgan or Leigh saw the visitor who’d just arrived, they’d both be barreling their way over.

It was a testament to Sage’s upset state of mind that she hadn’t even been aware of the photographer’s approach. Something that Sage noted with serious exclamation points. She had a child to consider.

Could not sink into an emotional quagmire.

Mostly, she was glad to know that Leigh would be heading back her way momentarily.

Right until she remembered that Morgan was with Gray, not Scott. Which meant that he’d be the one to collect the dog.

And she’d be fine. They’d seen each other several times on various porches and the beach since they’d decided to hold water rescue classes. The first one was due to start the following week.

“Really quick, while Leigh’s occupied,” Iris said, glancing down the right side of the beach as she took the empty chair beside Sage. “You have that fancy thing tomorrow night, right?”

“With investors, yes,” she replied, highlighting, for herself as well as Iris, that while the decor and trappings, the entertainment Marissa had arranged, were fancy, Sage’s part in the event was strictly business.

“Adults only.”

“Right. I’ve got Harper staying with Leigh.” And hadn’t told Gray. His first night on the beach, the sight of him and Harper on Scott’s porch had stung. Still did.

It shouldn’t. She was super fond of Harper. And wouldn’t accept Gray as more than a friend even if he asked, which he would not. Still...

“So, I’ve got this thing...” Glancing over toward the game and back again, Iris met Sage’s gaze. “I was going to ask you, but since you were busy, I asked Scott, since we’ll need a second chaperone for part of the time, but I really want to bring Leigh. I’m photographing behind the scenes at the San Diego Zoo. She’ll be able to be right close with dolphins, even pet them if she wants to, with a trainer right there, of course. And Scott. He said he’d ask you, but I need to know that you’re really okay with it...”

Leigh was addicted to dolphins the way a lot of little girls adored unicorns.

“I’m doing all the aquatics and monkeys tomorrow afternoon, and evening. And then some of the larger animals early Sunday morning before the zoo opens, so I’ve got a suite down by the beach. It would mean her spending the night. The suite has two rooms, of course, both with two queens, so Leigh could stay with me or Scott...”

Iris adored Leigh. Had had the little girl over to spend the night a couple of other times Sage had to be out late.

And once when she’d been on a date.

But, as uncomfortable as she was about Gray’s event, the thought of coming home afterward to a house without Leigh didn’t sit well.

What in the hell was she thinking? “Of course she can go,” she said, with force.

The day she started putting her own needs above her daughter’s opportunities was not going to arrive. Ever.

Scott was just getting home from work when Gray returned with Morgan to the cottage. The two men had managed to coexist, with their separate bathrooms, without running into each other all that much. A lot of the ease came from Scott’s schedule being pretty much set in stone, and Gray’s largely being fluid. He worked around the man who’d taken pity on him.

“Harper says to tell you hi,” he said, coming in to see Scott grabbing a beer out of the refrigerator. Sage’s brother handed one to Gray as well, without asking, as Scott passed Gray on his way into his room to change.

Scott had assumed correctly. Gray wanted the beer. Uncapping it as Scott’s door closed behind the prosecutor, Gray leaned against the kitchen counter and took a long sip.

Leigh had told him, when he’d walked her back up the beach, that Mommy had told her not to bother Mr. Buzzing Bee, but she didn’t think she was. “Am I?” the little girl had asked.

He’d quickly assured her that she was doing nothing of the sort. And went on to tell her that she could never be a bother to him, but he wasn’t sure she fully grasped what any of it had meant.

He’d grasped it, though. With a pin in his heart.

He didn’t want to be that guy...the one mothers thought didn’t like kids...or that kids bothered him.

Yet, what could he expect? It was the message he’d inadvertently sent Sage. With what he’d said. And what he’d left unsaid, too.

He thought about changing out of his sweats. Sniffed his underarm.

It didn’t stink.

And sauntered out to the porch. Harper would be taking Aggie out. She might stop by. Giving Scott and the woman a chance to chat. He had a feeling the woman might be interested in the owner of the cottage.

It might be amusing to watch the interchange.

Lord knew he could use the distraction.

Scott, dressed in cotton pants, a short-sleeved pullover and flip-flops, made it out to the porch before Harper was out walking Aggie. Gray had heard his friend calling Morgan and knew that as soon as he left the porch, he’d be heading down Sage’s way.

Because he always did. Pretty much every night. The man took his uncle duties as seriously as anyone Gray had ever seen. A quality he admired immensely.

“So tomorrow’s the big night,” Scott said, leaning on the porch rail by the stairs.

Gray shrugged, tapped his beer bottle on his sweatpants. “Could be.”

“With Sage and Marissa putting on the show, you can pretty much count on it,” Scott chuckled. Gray would have liked to feel even half as confident.

The way his life was skyrocketing, so much potentially great stuff in such little time, had him a bit uneasy.

He’d learned the hard way that what went up, could come back down again.

And investors? That was a whole new thing to him.

“You driving, or is Sage?” Scott asked, one thigh up on the porch rail at that point. Looking as though he’d be content to hang out and dissect Gray’s life for some time, while Morgan sat contentedly waiting to go for another walk. The longer one she’d get with Scott.

“I’d figured us both for driving,” Gray told him. It wasn’t like they were attending together.

“Why waste the gas?”

By Gray’s calculations, they could probably both afford the gas. He knew he could, and Sage was in a better position than he was at the moment.

Besides, unless things had changed, Sage drove like the road law patrol. One mile under the speed limit so she didn’t risk going above, and always turning exactly when GPS told her to—even back when that help had been a device plugged into the cigarette lighter and attached to the dash. Brows risen, he glanced up at his friend. “What’s going on?”

Scott shrugged. Had the grace to look away, and then, bringing his gaze back to Gray said, “I worry about her, being out late without anyone with her, driving in the city alone on a Saturday night...”

Gray nodded. Should have had the thought himself. “I’ll drive,” he said with a grin. “No way I’m riding with your sister.”

“I got you there, bud.” Scott’s parting chuckle could still be heard as he walked with Morgan down the sand.