Season Of Wonder. RaeAnne Thayne

nothing to ease her nerves.

      “My dad taught me well. I spent most of my youth helping out here at the clinic—cleaning cages, brushing coats, walking the occasional overnight boarder. Whatever grunt work he needed. He made all of us help.”

      “I can think of worse ways to earn a dime,” she said.

      The chance to work with animals would have been a dream opportunity for her, back when she had few bright spots in her world. Besides that, she considered his father one of the sweetest people she had ever met.

      “So can I. I always loved animals.”

      She had to wonder why he didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps and become a vet. None of his three siblings had made that choice, either. If any of them had, she probably wouldn’t be here right now, as Frank Morales probably would have handed down his thriving practice to his own progeny.

      Not that it was any of her business. Ruben certainly could follow any career path he wanted—as long as that path took him far away from her.

      “Give me a moment to grab those medications and I’ll be right back.”

      “No rush.”

      Out in the hall, she closed the door behind her and drew in a deep breath.

      Get a grip, she chided herself. He’s just a hot-looking dude. Heaven knows, you’ve had more than enough experience with those to last a lifetime.

      She went to the well-stocked medication dispensary, found what she needed and returned to the exam room.

      Outside the door, she paused for only a moment to gather her composure before pushing it open. “Here are the pills for Ollie’s nerves and a refill for Yukon’s eye drops,” she said briskly. “Let me know if you have any questions—though if you do, you can certainly ask your father.”

      “Thanks.” As he took the medication from her, his hands brushed hers again and sent a little spark of awareness shivering through her.

      Oh, come on. This was ridiculous.

      She was probably imagining the way his gaze sharpened, as if he had felt something odd, too.

      “I can show you out. We’re shorthanded today since the veterinary tech and the receptionist both needed to leave early.”

      “No problem. That’s what I get for scheduling the last appointment of the day—though, again, I spent most of my youth here. I think we can find our way.”

      “It’s fine. I’ll show you out.” She stood outside the door while he gathered the dogs’ leashes, then led the way toward the front office.

      After three months, Ruben still couldn’t get a bead on Dr. Daniela Capelli.

      His next-door neighbor still seemed a complete enigma to him. By all reports from his father, she was a dedicated, earnest new veterinarian with a knack for solving difficult medical mysteries and a willingness to work hard. She seemed like a warm and loving mother, at least from the few times he had seen her interactions with her two girls, the uniquely named teenager Silver—who had, paradoxically, purple hair—and the sweet-as-Christmas-toffee Mia, who was probably about six.

      He also couldn’t deny she was beautiful, with slender features, striking green eyes, dark, glossy hair and a dusky skin tone that proclaimed her Italian heritage—as if her name didn’t do the trick first.

      He actually liked the trace of New York accent that slipped into her speech at times. It fit her somehow, in a way he couldn’t explain. Despite that, he couldn’t deny that the few times he had interacted with more than a wave in passing, she was brusque, prickly and sometimes downright distant.

      He had certainly had easier neighbors.

      His father adored her and wouldn’t listen to a negative thing about her.

      She hasn’t had an easy time of things but she’s a fighter. Hardworking and eager to learn, Frank had said the other night when Ruben asked how things were working out, now that Dani and her girls had been in town a few months. You just have to get to know her.

      Frank apparently didn’t see how diligently Dani Capelli worked to keep anyone else from doing just that.

      She wasn’t unfriendly, only distant. She kept herself to herself. It was a phrase his mother might use, though Myra Morales seemed instantly fond of Dani and her girls.

      Did Dani have any idea how fascinated the people of Haven Point were with these new arrivals in their midst?

      Or maybe that was just him.

      As he followed her down the hall in her white lab coat, his dogs behaving themselves for once, Ruben told himself to forget about his stupid attraction to her.

      Sure, he might be ready to settle down and would like to have someone in his life, but he wasn’t at all sure if he had the time or energy for that someone to be a woman with so many secrets in her eyes, one who seemed to face the world with her chin up and her fists out, ready to take on any threats.

      When they walked into the clinic waiting room, they found her two girls there. The older one was texting on her phone while her sister did somersaults around the room.

      Dani stopped in the doorway and seemed to swallow an exasperated sound. “Mia, honey, you’re going to have dog hair all over you.”

      “I’m a snowball rolling down the hill,” the girl said. “Can’t you see me getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

      “You’re such a dorkupine,” her sister said, barely looking up from her phone.

      “I’m a dorkupine snowball,” Mia retorted.

      “You’re a snowball who is going to be covered in dog hair,” Dani said. “Come on, honey. Get up.”

      He could tell the moment the little girl spotted him and his dogs coming into the area behind her mother. She went still and then slowly rose to her feet, features shifting from gleeful to nervous.

      Why was she so afraid of him?

      “You make a very good snowball,” he said, pitching his voice low and calm as his father had taught him to do with all skittish creatures. “I haven’t seen anybody somersault that well in a long time.”

      She moved to her mother’s side and buried her face in Dani’s white coat—though he didn’t miss the way she reached down to pet Ollie on her way.

      “Hey again, Silver.”

      He knew the older girl from the middle school, where he served as the resource officer a few hours a week. He made it a point to learn all the students’ names and tried to talk to them individually when he had the chance, in hopes that if they had a problem at home or knew of something potentially troublesome for the school, they would feel comfortable coming to him.

      He had the impression that Silver was like her mother in many ways. Reserved, wary, slow to trust. It made him wonder just who had hurt them.

      “How are things?” he asked her now.

      For just an instant, he thought he saw sadness flicker in her gaze before she turned back to her phone with a shrug. “Fine, I guess.”

      “Are you guys ready for Christmas? It’s your first one here in Idaho. A little different from New York, isn’t it?”

      “How should we know? We haven’t lived in the city for, like, four years.”

      Dani sent her daughter a look at her tone, which seemed to border on disrespectful. “I’ve been in vet school in Boston the last four years,” she explained.

      “Boston. Then you’re used to snow and cold. We’re known for our beautiful winters around here. The lake is simply stunning in wintertime.”

      Mia tugged on her mother’s coat and when Dani bent down, she whispered something to her.

      “You