Harlequin Heartwarming June 2021 Box Set

by Patricia Johns

  She made careful notes for the WildER board. Gran was expected to be cleared to drive at her doctor’s appointment next Monday, after which Rowan would have no excuse to stay in Alaska, and she’d have to hand the project over. It had been a long time since Rowan had worked on anything that got her this excited, though. She hated to abandon it.

  Maybe she didn’t have to. Work had been slow when she left. She dialed her boss. “Hi. Do you have a minute?”

  “Rowan. How is your grandmother?”

  “She’s healing well, but she needs me to stay a little longer until she can drive. Is that a problem?”

  “No. Your grandmother’s health is most important.” He sounded, if anything, relieved. “Yui is handling the camera merger and we have just finished the frozen vegetables. Stay where you are needed.”

  Ah. What he was saying was that her unpaid leave was making his life easier. Summers tended to be slow for their company. She decided to feel him out. “I’ve been volunteering on a fundraiser for a nonprofit here in Alaska. If you don’t need me, I might extend my leave to help with that.”

  “Take a few weeks if you like. They are fortunate to have your expertise.”

  She thanked him and after inquiring about the health of his family, said her goodbyes. Feeling suddenly lighter, she realized how much she had been dreading her return to Japan. To her apartment, where she would annoy her roommate by displacing her cousin to the couch. To a job that had grown monotonous. And worst, to the endless questions her mother would throw at her once she learned the engagement was off. A week or three to fortify herself before facing her mother sounded like an excellent idea.

  Unfortunately, she hadn’t accounted for phone calls. Rowan had just returned to her car after a successful meeting with the owner of a new ice cream shop when the distinctive ring signaled a call from her mother. She cleared her throat, reminding herself to sound upbeat and normal. “Hi, Mom.”

  “Sutton called his mother, and she called me.”

  Oops. Rowan had counted on Sutton keeping the news to himself until he returned to Tokyo. “Oh?”

  “Oh? Is that all you have to say? Go to video calling. I want to see your face.”

  “That’s not neces—”

  Mom hung up and called back on the video app. Her disapproval beamed from the tiny screen. “What’s this about returning Sutton’s ring?”

  It seemed self-explanatory. “I, uh, returned his ring.”

  “But why? Even a spring wedding might be out of the question if you won’t set a date. You might have to move it to autumn.” Mom tilted her head and looked up. “Although autumn colors would be lovely.”

  “No, Mom—”

  “Honey, I know this is a big step.” Mom had lost most of her Virginia drawl over the years, but it tended to pop up in times of stress. Today it was front and center. “But you two are so well suited. Coralie told me Sutton is willing to give you time, but the man won’t wait forever. I know once you’ve thought it through, you’ll want to move forward.”

  “Mom. I don’t—”

  “Shh. Don’t say anything else right now. I won’t push you about wedding plans anymore, until you’ve had a chance to get comfortable with the idea of marriage. Come on home, so we can talk it out.”

  Bad idea. “Gran—”

  “Is doing much better, I understand. I called her earlier and she said she expects the all clear for driving on Monday. I’ll have someone book you a flight for Tuesday.”

  “No, don’t. I’m not ready to come yet. There’s a wildlife rehabilitation center here, and I’ve volunteered to help them plan a fundraiser.”

  “A fundraiser? That’s admirable, but one doesn’t need a master’s in international business in order to plan a bake sale. What about your job?”

  “As you know, I’ve taken a leave of absence. They’re fine without me for a while.”

  “Rowan, you need to come home. I insist.”

  “No.” This time Rowan said it a little louder. “Not until I’m ready. I have to go, Mom. I’m meeting someone.” Never mind that it wasn’t for two more hours. “Thanks for the call. Goodbye.” She hung up before her mother could say more.

  She felt like screaming but settled for huffing out a long breath. First Sutton and now her own mother. It was like being in a Twilight Zone episode. She kept saying no, and they kept hearing “soon.” One would think that after a lifetime of being agreeable, her no would carry a little weight, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

  At least she had made it clear that she was not going back to Japan right away, despite her mother’s insistence. Come to think of it, that may have been the first time she’d ever stood her ground when Mom insisted. A small victory, but she’d take it.

  * * *

  JESSIE’S SUV TURNED into the clinic parking lot just as Zack stepped outside. He spotted Rowan and Maggie already talking by Rowan’s jeep. The second Jessie’s car came to a stop, Becca was out and running toward Rowan. “You’re back! Can you come over to eat today? Zack will say okay.” She threw her arms around Rowan’s waist.

  Rowan laughed and hugged her back. “Zack already invited me.”

  “Can we make cookies?” Becca asked.

  Before Rowan could answer, Charlotte and Jessie joined the group. “I want to make cookies,” Charlotte said. “Can I come, too?”

  “We’re watching Daddy’s softball game,” her mother reminded her.

  “If you have just a second, I want to show you our latest auction item.” Rowan pulled a stack of papers from her bag and passed them out. It showed photos of a nicely furnished condo with a balcony overlooking someplace with beaches and palm trees.

  “Wow,” Maggie said. “A week in a luxury timeshare and you got the airline to pitch in airfare, as well?”

  “That should raise a tidy sum.” Jessie said. “Who donated the timeshare?”

  “A couple I met in California day before yesterday. They’re crazy about Alaska wildlife, and when I told them about the auction, they wanted to help. They’re even flying up to go to the event.”

  Jessie’s eyes widened. “You just met these people?”

  “I was shocked, as well.”

  “What were you doing in California?” Maggie asked.

  Zack noticed Rowan’s smile slip just a little. “Personal business. But I’m glad to be back in Alaska.”

  “We’re glad you’re back, too,” Jessie said. “We really do have to go, but I’ll pass this on to Greg. This is awesome, Rowan.”

  “Me, too. But wow.” Maggie waved the paper. “Nice work, Rowan.”

  Becca didn’t care about timeshares. “What about cookies?” she asked Rowan.

  “I have all the ingredients in the car.” Rowan took out a well-used cookbook, opened it to a bookmarked page and pointed something out to Becca.

  Knowing he was leaving Becca in good hands, Zack handed over his house key and left them to bake while he did his rounds at the wildlife center. As always, Maggie had left everything shipshape. Zack continually thanked his lucky stars that Maggie had happened to bring her cat for an office visit the same day he’d put up a sign looking for a volunteer to help feed and care for an injured wolf pup, his first on-premises wildlife patient. She’d pitched in the very first day and never looked back.

  It took less than an hour for Zack to check up on all the animals and make his way home. He followed his nose to the kitchen, where Becca, her face drawn in concentration, was rolling dough into balls. A frilly apron with printed cherries covered her clothes. An unfamiliar slow cooker sat in an out-of-the-way corner. Rowan took a sheet of cookies from the oven. When she turned, Zack realized her apron matched the one Becca wore. Both were so involved with their tasks, they didn’t notice him.

  Rowan paused to inspect the cookies. “Perfect,” she told Becca. “We’ll let them cool for just a few
minutes before we transfer them to the wire rack to finish cooling. How are you coming with the next tray?”

  “Almost done,” Becca answered as she added another round ball of dough in a neat row. “Do you think Zack will like the cookies?”

  “Zack will love them. I once saw him eat a whole plate of cookies.”

  Zack chuckled. “It was a small plate, and that was after a day of skiing at Big Lake.”

  Becca looked up, grinning. “Hi, Zack. We made chocolate chip cookies because Rowan says they’re your favorite. And look, we’re twins!”

  “Nice. Where did those aprons come from?”

  “My grandmother made them when I was Becca’s age. I’d forgotten all about them, but when I mentioned we were going to make cookies, Gran gave them to me. Aren’t they cute?”

  “Very cute.” He pulled out his phone. “I need a picture.”

  “Let’s pose, Becca.” Rowan came to stand beside Becca and flared out her hand like a model gesturing to the cookies. Becca managed a fair imitation. The photo captured them both smiling.

  Zack could almost feel the warmth of that smile, melting away the sharp corners that kept Becca on edge. Becca was such a great kid. If only her mother appreciated her even half as much as Rowan seemed to, he wouldn’t be in the dilemma he found himself. “I’ll get the grill started,” he told Rowan.

  “I’ll get the steaks out of the fridge.” Rowan waved toward the slow cooker. “I brought roasted sweet potatoes with feta to go with them.”

  “Oh, thanks.” Odd combination, but it wouldn’t kill Becca or him to try something new.

  It didn’t take long to grill the steaks and heat the rolls he’d bought at the bakery. Rowan and Becca set the table on the covered deck and they all sat down to eat.

  Becca tried a tiny bite of the sweet potato Rowan put on her plate. To his surprise, she took a bigger bite. “This is good!”

  Zack tried it. It was good. He’d never been a huge fan of sweet potatoes, but the tangy feta took the flavor to a new level.

  “This is an experimental batch of feta. From goat’s milk.”

  “Baby goats are called kids, just like people are,” Becca told Rowan, between bites. “Isn’t that funny?”

  “It is funny. We have a bunch of kids on the farm. Maybe you can come out to see them sometime.”

  “Can I, Zack?” Becca asked eagerly.

  “How about Saturday?” Rowan suggested.

  “Sure. I guess that means you’ll be in Alaska a while longer?” Zack asked Rowan.

  “For a couple of weeks, anyhow.” A cloud passed over Rowan’s face, but it was gone almost before he could be sure he’d seen it.

  During dinner, Rowan asked all about Becca’s camp and what had been going on at the wildlife sanctuary while she was out of town. Zack told them about the Labrador sock surgery. It was hard to tell who laughed harder, Rowan or Becca.

  “Seventeen socks.” Rowan shook her head and chuckled. “Just out of curiosity, were they mostly pairs of socks, or did he eat seventeen different socks and leave their mates behind?”

  “Honestly, I didn’t pay that close of attention. His owners have assured me they are going to store their clothes hamper behind closed doors from now on.”

  After dinner, Becca insisted on another evening of Go Fish. She protested when Zack announced it was time for bath and bed, agreeing only when she’d extracted a promise from Rowan not to leave until she’d joined Becca and Zack in reading time.

  Zack ran a bubble bath, added a small flotilla of rubber ducks and set a clean towel beside the tub. “Is that everything you need?”

  Becca took the toothbrush from her mouth. “Why does Rowan have to go back to Japan? I want her to stay here.”

  “Rowan has a job in Japan,” Zack said gently. And possibly a fiancé. He’d been waiting all evening to find out how that went.

  “She could get a job here. She could work at the clinic with you and Christine.”

  “That’s not the kind of work Rowan does. She’s not a vet.”

  “Maybe she could help Maggie at the wildlife center.”

  “I’m sorry, Becks, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “But I like cooking with her, and telling stories while we eat, and playing games.”

  “We can still do those things even after Rowan goes home.” He didn’t know how he was going to fit it all in, but now that he knew how important it was to Becca, he would find a way. “Right now, you need to take your bath.”

  She rinsed her toothbrush as Zack opened the bathroom door. Just before he shut it behind him, Becca said, almost in a whisper, “Zack?”

  He stopped. “Yes?”

  “Is Mommy ever coming back to Alaska?”

  Was being with Rowan causing Becca to miss her mother? “I’m sure she will, eventually.”

  She paused. “I like living with you better.”

  He turned around, removed the toothbrush from her hand and wrapped her in a hug. “I like having you live with me better, too.” He wanted to tell her he was trying to make it permanent, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up. “Take your bath before the water gets cold. I love you, Becks.”

  When he returned downstairs, Rowan had put away the cards and swept the kitchen. A red-checkered cookie tin set on the countertop. Her expression changed to one of concern when she spotted his face. “Everything okay with Becca?”

  “For now.” He sank into a kitchen chair and rested his forehead on his hands. “This situation with her mother has me worried.”

  “How, exactly?” Rowan took the chair next to him and touched his arm.

  “It’s the same old thing. I—” He shook his head and sat up straight. “Never mind about that right now. I want to know what happened in California. Did you break off your engagement?”

  “I returned the ring and I told Sutton I couldn’t marry him.”

  “How did he take it?”

  Rowan gave a wry smile. “He didn’t, exactly. He said he understood that I needed more time.”

  “Did you ask for more time?”

  “No!” Rowan huffed out her frustration. “That’s what’s so bizarre. He just wouldn’t hear me. Before I could say more, he left. And then, today, he tells his mother he’s giving me time to get comfortable with the idea of marriage. His mother calls my mother, and she calls me to say I need to hurry up or it will be too late to plan a wedding for next spring. I tell her no. She translates that as soon. It’s like words are coming out of my mouth, but nobody is hearing them.”

  He considered offering advice on speaking forcefully, but wasn’t that exactly what Rowan was complaining about? That no one listened? Instead, he asked, “What are you going to do?”

  “Once we’re both back in Japan, I’ll meet with Sutton again and make him listen. I don’t want to marry him. I don’t want to date him. We’re through.”

  Zack tried to hide the flash of joy he felt when she said that, but he couldn’t help but grin. “That seems perfectly clear to me.”

  “Thank you.” She sucked in a breath and blew it out. “Now, tell me what has you worried about Becca.”

  “I told you I want permanent custody.”

  She nodded.

  “But I met with a family lawyer today, and she tells me that unless Clarissa agrees, it’s going to be difficult. Clarissa isn’t exactly mother of the year, but a single man with what amounts to two jobs isn’t exactly the court’s picture of the ideal guardian, either.”

  Rowan tilted her head. “You know what? We should get married.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, right.”

  “No, really. A wife would help your chances for custody, and it would get my mother and Sutton off my back.”

  He examined her face, looking for the telltale dimple that appeared when she was about to laugh, but he di
dn’t see it. “You’re serious.”

  “Yes. See? You can tell when I’m being serious. Why can’t anyone else?”

  “I—we—” Zack couldn’t seem to form a sentence, but fortunately, he was saved when Becca came bounding down the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the steps.

  “I picked out a really good book. Come tuck me in!”

  “We’re coming.” Rowan met her at the bottom of the stairs and draped an arm over her shoulders in an easy hug. “I like the strawberries on your pajamas.”

  Still in a daze from Rowan’s proposal, Zack followed behind them. Outside Becca’s room, Rowan whispered, “Think about it. We’ll talk later.”

  Zack could only nod.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ROWAN LISTENED TO Zack’s voice as he read the last page. Calm, soothing, his full attention on Becca and the story. You’d never know he was tired and worried. The room he’d created for Becca was the same, serene and comfortable. With a simple green comforter on the bed, lots of shelves for books and a checked cushion on the window seat, it wasn’t a typical little girl’s room, but it was perfect for Becca.

  Was that reassuring presence something Zack had developed as a veterinarian, or was it instinctive? Either way, he was exactly the person Becca needed. Could Rowan help make that happen?

  “The end.” Zack closed the book and set it on the nightstand. “Good story, Becks.” He tugged the covers up and kissed her forehead. “Good night.”

  “Good night, Zack. Good night, Rowan.” Becca’s voice blurred with sleepiness. “I like when you’re here.”

  “Me, too.” Rowan planted another kiss on top of Zack’s. “Pleasant dreams, sweet girl.”

  She followed Zack down the stairs, waiting to see what he would say, but instead of speaking, he went to the window and stared out toward the wooded area that surrounded the wildlife rehab center. The tension showed in his shoulders. Rowan’s first urge was to wrap her arms around him and tell him everything would be okay. But would it? Did her idea help solve his problems, or had she added another worry on top of the pile he already carried?