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not letting him run me away.”
    Callie had been lucky in that regard; her philandering husband had moved back to his hometown of Atlanta with his new bride. Jada’s husband still lived in Maplesville, and used every chance he could get to flaunt his girlfriend in his ex-wife’s face.
    Kiera, the one who was most open to finding new love, told them about her disastrous date with an insurance salesman who sold burial plots on the side. He’d spent the entire date trying to sell her a spot in the new mausoleum to be built in Tranquility Gardens cemetery. Callie had tears streaming down her face by the time Kiera finished.
    “What about you?” Jada asked. “Did you ever call that hot vet from Chicago?”
    Callie shook her head. “I figured there was no point. I doubt he’d fly all the way from the Windy City for a date.”
    Callie bit her bottom lip, contemplating whether or not she should mention Stefan. But if she was going to talk to anyone about her flirtatious encounters with Maplesville’s newest resident, it would be with these two.
    Picking up the wine bottle, she topped off all three glasses and said, “There is this one guy.”
    She told them about Stefan’s visit to her clinic Saturday morning, and about their run-in and his blatant flirting at the grocery store on Sunday.
    “Is he hot?” This from Jada.
    “God, yes,” Callie answered.
    “Then why are you even asking if you should hook up with him? Go for it, girl.”
    Callie twisted to face Kiera, who was swirling her finger in the ganache topping on her slice of torte.
    “Go for it?” Callie asked her. “I don’t even know him.”
    “And?” Jada hunched her shoulders. “It’s the holidays. He can be your little Christmas fling.”
    Callie rolled her eyes, but her stomach fluttered with the thrill that thought created. It had been a downright hellish year, but she had a feeling Stefan Sutherland could put a much more interesting ending to it.
    Tossing the idea aside with a wave of her hand, Callie said, “I’ve got too much going on to think about a Christmas fling.”
    “Like what?” her friends both asked at the same time.
    Callie considered mentioning the offer she’d received to join Capital City Veterinary Partnership, but she was still trying to figure it all out in her own mind. She wasn’t sure she wanted Jada and Kiera weighing in just yet. Besides, she already knew what they would say. Callie just had to put herself in their shoes. If either of her friends were to consider moving, she would raise hell. The hypocrisy wasn’t lost on her.
    “The holidays are always hectic at the clinic,” Callie said instead. “Pets love to eat Christmas decorations. You don’t want to hear about some of the places I’ve found tinsel.”
    Kiera’s palms flew up. “Oh. My. God. That reminds me. You two have got to hear this story.”
    Callie’s mention of tinsel had apparently triggered a juicy bit of gossip about two of Kiera’s co-workers who had been caught in a compromising position in the storage closet. But after the first few minutes, Callie tuned out her friend’s story. Kiera’s earlier assertion was still ringing in her ears.
    Would it be so wrong to engage in a little Christmas fling with Stefan?
    Callie would be the first to admit that she wasn’t the most observant when it came to picking up on flirtatious hints, but she would have to be blind not to see that Stefan was interested in…well…something. Whether he was just a shameless flirt, or had been sending signals that he wanted more, she didn’t know.
    But maybe it was worth finding out.

Chapter Four
     
     
    Stefan rested his head against the recliner’s leather headrest in his sister’s downstairs office, smiling at Jacob who insisted on reciting his lines as Old Man Winter, even though Stefan had already told him that he’d recorded the entire Christmas play and was going to upload it to YouTube for Stef to see.
    Sandy, also known as the most pretentious cat