Chapter 32
thirty-two
“ S o he got four chocolate cakes for his birthday?” Gerty asked when Kristie had finished telling her and Mike about Mission’s birthday.
“Not just chocolate cakes,” Mission said while Kristie simply grinned and grinned.
“Jocelyn made me a Crispy cocoa opera cake with a constellation chocolate mirror glaze.”
“Are those even English words?” Mike asked, and the four of them laughed together, Mission included.
Warmth filled Kristie, as she had delivered a surprise chocolate cake to Mission every day for the four days leading up to his birthday—which was today.
They’d planned to go to a livestock auction with Mike and Gerty, and they were meeting Keith and Lindsay there too.
Right now, Kristie reached over and took Mission’s hand while Mike drove and Gerty moved the conversation to Opal’s pregnancy. She only had two months left, and while things had been going well, Gerty wanted to find someone else to watch West once the baby came.
“My friend Harper might have some ideas,” Kristie said. “She works with a lot of kids.”
Not really in the same capacity, but she had a lot of resources when it came to childcare.
“I’m thinking of asking Steele’s girlfriend,” Gerty said over her shoulder. “Have you met her? Hazel? She’s out at the farm all the time anyway, and I don’t think she works full-time.”
“They’re probably going to get married,” Mike said.
Surprise ran through Kristie, though she didn’t know Steele well. “Really?” she asked.
“Didn’t they start dating this summer?” Mission asked.
Like us? hung in the air between the two of them in the back of Mike’s truck, but Mission didn’t look at her.
“Yeah,” Gerty said. “They’re so cute together, though, and Steele doesn’t take long to make up his mind. It’s one of his best qualities.”
“Yeah, it’s sure not arguing with you,” Mike teased, and Gerty fixed him with a tight look.
“I admitted he was right about that horse.”
Mike chuckled, and Gerty turned back to Kristie and Mission. “She’s a Monson,” she said. “I’m pretty sure you know her family farm.”
“Oh, sure,” Kristie said, putting the pieces together. “They have the petting zoo. I go out there a couple of times every month while they’re operating.”
“You’ve probably met her, then,” Gerty said. “She runs their gift shop in the summer, which is why I think she’d be a good one to ask to help with West in the winter.”
“You could probably have her help on the farm too,” Mission said.
Gerty switched her gaze to him. “West loves to feed the chickens, and I’m worried Opal will slip and fall once the snow comes. Being pregnant is so awkward.”
She faced the front again, adding, “I’m going to ask her, maybe today.”
“Oh, are they going to be there?” Kristie asked.
“Yep.”
The conversation moved on as Mission asked Mike about his job in the high-rise building downtown.
Kristie looked out the window, ready to be out of the truck, where she didn’t have to think about someone who’d been dating as long as she and Mission had been getting engaged and then married, about pregnancies, about anything.
She’d turned thirty-five a few days ago, and Mission was forty-three today. She wondered if he ever felt this coiling, tight jealousy in the center of his gut, and if so, how he dealt with it.
Thankfully, they arrived at the Belfast arena only a few minutes later, and Kristie was able to let the conversation out of the truck—and her ears—when she opened the door. She took a deep breath and calmed further when Mission rounded the back of the truck and took her hand.
“You okay, kitten?”
She put on a brave smile that made him cock his head as he saw right through it. She sighed and let her lips flatten again. “Do you want children, Mission?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “Remember how one of my goals was a wife and family?”
“That was your only goal,” she reminded him.
“And I’m doing great at it,” he said, reaching to zip up his jacket. “The wind is harsh out here.”
Kristie stumbled after him. “You’re doing great at it?”
Mission kept his focus ahead, as if he needed to see where he was going in a dirt parking lot that led to an arena where the animals would be shown. “Yes, I think so,” he said. “Do you want kids, Kris?”
When he used her name and not “kitten,” Kristie knew things had turned serious. “Yes,” she said, the word made mostly of air. “I’ve never admitted it out loud, but yes. Listening to Gerty talk about West and Opal being pregnant was a little hard for me for a minute.”
He took her hand again. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“It’s fine,” she said. “It’s just life.” She pressed her teeth and then her lips together and took a breath.
She needed to shake off the damaging feelings and try to enjoy the afternoon at the auction.
She and Mission then had plans to go to dinner for his birthday, and Kristie had his presents—two, just like he’d gotten for her—at her house she hoped to give him when he dropped her off later that night.
“Kristie Higgins?”
She turned toward the harsh voice growling her name, dread settling into her stomach at the very sound of it.
She recognized the tone before she saw his face, and she swallowed quickly as she lifted her head up. “Hello, Carl,” she said. “How are?—?”
“Hello?” he barked out. “How dare you try to pretend nothing has happened between us?” He puffed up his chest and took a demanding step forward.
“Hey, now,” Mission said, moving to stand partially in front of her. “Back up.”
“Mission,” Kristie said quietly.
“She’s a fraud,” Carl said, his voice growing louder. “Came out to the ranch to work with my cattle—charged me a metric ton of money—and my cows are still sick.”
“This is not the place for this,” Mike said.
Carl took another step forward as pure humiliation streamed through Kristie.
“Back. Up.” Mission’s fingers curled into fists, and Kristie tugged on his arm.
“Let’s go,” she said.
“You said you couldn’t come until Monday,” Carl said, glaring at her past Mission’s shoulder. “And you’re here? My cattle are sick.”
“You’re here too,” Mission said. “If they were that sick, you’d be back home with them.”
“Who are you?” Carl demanded.
“And if they were that sick,” Mission said, his voice rising too. “Kris would be there too. I’ve seen her rush off to care for any number of animals, and I don’t appreciate you insinuating that she’s not a good vet.”
“I can insinuate anything I want,” Carl bellowed.
“Folks,” a security officer said, and Kristie looked around, horrified when she saw a few people recording the exchange. “You’re going to have to take this somewhere else.”
“I will!” Carl yelled as the security officer nudged him away from Mission.
He backed up then, thankfully, but he still yelled, “I’m going to file a report against Kristie Higgins—and no one should ever use her as a vet!
They have to learn they can’t get away with just writing prescriptions and abandoning their clients. ”
“Let’s go,” Mission barked, and he grabbed Kristie’s arm and hauled her away from the scene.
“I didn’t,” she stammered as her feet somehow moved with him. “I didn’t do that, Mission.”
“I know that,” he growled, and she pulled her arm away as plenty of people kept staring at her—at both of them. “I wanted to hit that guy so bad.”
Kristie shook from head to toe, and she made up an excuse and ducked into the bathroom, where she locked herself in the privacy of a stall and pressed her back to it as if she could keep the world out that way.
She couldn’t, and this time, she also couldn’t just pack up and leave town.
How humiliating , she thought as tears spilled down her face. She had no idea how to go back out there and face Mission, face her friends, face anyone at all.
Her name had been screamed through the parking lot, and that couldn’t be called back. She knew better than most that the truth didn’t matter—what people believed was what mattered, and all of those people had heard Carl Levan call her dishonest.
She stayed in the stall until she heard Gerty say, “Kristie, you have to come out.”
She did, and she kept her face averted and used a wet paper towel to wipe the evidence of her tears from her face. She slid her stone mask into place and went with a very concerned Gerty out to the auction.
She sat next to Mission, unfeeling, silent, and miserable. After a while, he tapped her leg and tilted his phone toward her.
Do you still want to go out tonight?
She did and she absolutely didn’t. Tears pricked her eyes, and she shook her head. She took his phone and typed into the notes app where he had.
Maybe we could just go back to my house, and I could give you my gifts.
He took the phone. That guy means nothing, Kris.
She knew that intellectually, but her heart squirmed and pinched and cried, and she swiped angrily at the tears that spilled out of her right eye again.
“Let’s go,” Mission said quietly, and she stood up. “Hey, sorry, guys.” He gave a tight smile to Mike and Gerty, Keith and Lindsay, and Steele and Hazel. Kristie hadn’t even looked at or spoken to any of them.
“We have to go,” Mission said. No further explanation. He looped his arm through Kristie’s and gave her a small smile.
Everyone looked at her with wide, worried eyes, and it felt like the whole world knew of her inadequacies and indiscretions.
“It’s fine,” Gerty said. She jumped to her feet and hugged Kristie, who stood there unyielding before she realized how cold she was coming across.
Gerty stepped back before Kristie could hug her back.
“Go. I’ll call you later to come look at Dusty.
” She tried to smile, but it didn’t sit right on her face.
And why should it? Now Gerty knew Kristie wasn’t a good vet. Of course she wouldn’t really call for her to come look at Dusty. She’d only said that to be nice.
Mission led her out of the stands, where everyone seemed to be staring at the two of them. A few people even whispered. In the parking lot, Kristie caught up to the situation. “Where—? How are we going to get home?”
“I called my granddad,” he said. “He’s here, and he won’t ask any questions.”
Great, because Kristie was asking plenty.
Had she done something wrong on Carl’s farm? His cattle had the same sickness that was sweeping through the area. She’d treated them, given him the medicine, and taught him how to administer it.
What else was she supposed to do?
Was her burden as a veterinarian more than that?
Should she have canceled her plans with her boyfriend, on his birthday, to go check on a non-life-threatening sickness in cattle she’d already treated?
She let Mission put her in the backseat of his grandfather’s truck, and she leaned her forehead against the window as they left the auction.
None of it matters , she told herself. She’d ruined Mission’s birthday all the same, and she just wanted to go home.
When she looked at Mission, he nodded, leaned forward and said, “We have to drop Kristie at her house, Granddad, okay? She lives just north of that park where you had the drum festival.”
“Okay, son,” his granddad said, and Kristie let herself weep silently on the rest of the ride to her house.
“Thank you,” she said to Ted, and she got out of the truck on her own. But she was delusional if she thought Mission would let her escape into the house by herself.
Oh, no. He came with her, and Kristie paused near the end table where she’d set his gifts.
“I’m so sorry, Mission,” she said.
“Don’t be.” He took her hand and led her down the hallway to her bedroom. “I can stay,” he offered.
She shook her head, because while she appreciated what Mission was trying to do, she really just wanted to be alone.
She grabbed onto him and sobbed into his chest while he held her. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “I just need….”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, and he pulled back her blanket, and Kristie simply climbed into bed, let him tuck her in, and she managed to wait until she heard her front door snap closed before she started to cry again.