Hotshot Doc(82)

I smirk and bend down to kiss her.

“Funny, I was just going to suggest the same thing.”

The morning after the holiday market, I force myself to spend a couple hours up at the hospital. I need to check in on a few patients and catch up on work, but it doesn’t last.

Bailey: Are you done yet?

Matt: I’ve only been up here for a couple of hours. I just finished with my patients.

Bailey: Well, our Christmas tree is officially dead. Apparently, there’s a finite number of decorations one tiny tree can withstand. I think we’ll have to go get a new one. Poor guy sort of split in two.





Then she sends a picture of Josie leaning over the tree, frowning, and doing a thumbs-down.

I wonder if Bailey ever just has a normal, boring day. Somehow, I doubt it.

That evening, we drive to a tree farm and luck out when we see that all the trees are on sale.

“Duh!” Josie says from the back seat. “It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow!”

I hadn’t even realized. Crap. I should have called my mom back days ago, but it completely slipped my mind. She’s probably given up my spot at the Christmas dinner table, or if not, she’ll have ordered a cutout version of me to place there. It’d probably be as jovial as I tend to be during the holidays.

I leave Bailey and Josie to browse through the trees and tell them to find a good one, and then I head back toward my car to dial my mom.

“Well, if it isn’t a Christmas miracle,” she teases as soon as she picks up.

I smile. “Hey. Sorry, it’s been a crazy few days.”

“Aren’t they always? Let me guess, you’re up at the office now, working even though you should be enjoying the holidays?”

I rub the scruff of my neck and turn in time to see Josie point to the back of the lot, where they keep the behemoths, and then I hear her tell the attendant, “We’re looking for something bigger!”

Oh lord.

“Actually, I’m at a tree farm with Bailey and her sister.”

“Bailey…” She says the name like she’s trying to jog her memory.

“The woman I’m seeing,” I clarify at the same moment she exclaims, “Your surgical assistant?! The woman Cooper brought as his date to Molly’s wedding?”

I watch as Josie points to what I swear is the biggest, widest tree in the whole damn lot and then asks the attendant to wrap it up. Bailey turns back to me and holds up her hands like, What are we going to do?

I laugh and shake my head. There is a 110% chance I’ll be driving home with that tree attached to the roof of my Prius.

My mom makes a funny, well-isn’t-that-interesting noise. “So she got you out of the office, huh?”

I sigh. “Seems so.”

“I’ll be damned. Are you going to spend Christmas Day with her as well?”

Bailey made it clear I was welcome to. Well, technically, Josie was the first to insist upon it. “You have to! Bailey makes the best cinnamon rolls in the world! It’s a Christmas tradition!”

“I might.”

“Well, you’re welcome to bring them over to the house. It’ll just be a few of us. Your Uncle Pat and his wife are coming, and Molly and Thomas are back from their honeymoon so they’ll be there too. Cooper’s staying up in Cincinnati.”

“Okay, let me run it by Bailey and I’ll let you know.”

I expect Bailey to flinch at the idea of spending Christmas with my family, and I don’t even work up the courage to suggest it until we’re halfway home from the tree farm. It’s taking longer than usual because with the tree on my roof, I can barely see out the windshield.

“Really?! I’d love to go to your parents’ house on Christmas!” she says, smiling. “Honestly, the holidays can get a little lonely with just Josie and me, and it’s a hassle making all that food for only two people. We usually just skip right to dessert.” She turns toward the back seat. “What do you think, Jos? Do you want to go?”

Josie leans forward and props her hand on my headrest. “What kind of food are we talking? Your standard turkey and stuffing?”

“And ham too, probably.”

Her eyes narrow in serious contemplation. “Will there be sweet potato casserole?”

“Always.”

“Green bean casserole?”

My grin widens. “Definitely.”

“How many dessert options, give or take?”

“Josie,” Bailey cuts in, eyes wide in warning.

“At least half a dozen,” I brag.

“Fresh-baked rolls?”

I smirk, knowing full well I’ve got her. “My mom uses an old family recipe. Word is she uses half a stick of butter for each one.”

She grins and taps my headrest twice. “All right then. I’ll wear my stretchiest pants.”





Chapter 29





BAILEY



I’m so jolly on Christmas morning I might as well be Mrs. Claus. I wake up before the sun and am careful not to wake Matt as I sneak out of bed. For the record, he’s a cuddler, and I have to simultaneously pull my body out from beneath his arm and slide a big fluffy pillow into its place. It works like a charm.

I’m a little elf doing Santa’s bidding as I tiptoe around the living room. I lay stockings out on the coffee table for Matt and Josie. Matt’s is homemade (Josie had some fun yesterday with felt letters and a hot glue gun), and sure, it’s a little wonky—she made M-A-T so big she had to put the last T on the back—but it’s the thought that counts. I fill both stockings with candy: cherry cordials for Josie and the darkest dark chocolate I could find for Matt. Josie and I both groaned in protest when he told us that was his favorite treat.