Chapter Thirteen

Maple had now been in Bluebonnet long enough to expect that word about Ginger and her puppies would spread through town like wildfire. She'd actually been looking forward to it since, according to Adaline's small-town-gossip theory, the next newsworthy event would make everyone forget about the kiss in the town square. If that was the case, bring on the collective amnesia!

What she hadn't expected was the cake. Or the casseroles. Or the pair of giant wooden storks that appeared in her front yard—one pink and the other blue, holding tiny bundles in their beaks labelled Peaches and Fuzz.

Maple peered out her kitchen window at the wooden birds as she handed Adaline a bottle filled with puppy formula. "I don't get it. Can you shed any light on this?"

"You're way overthinking it. They're just yard signs, like the ones people put on their lawns when a new baby is born." Adaline nudged the tip of the bottle into Fuzz's tiny mouth, like Maple had shown her on the first day she'd brought the dogs home to Percy's charming house next door to the clinic.

The puppies had just turned five days old. Ginger was recuperating nicely from her surgery and nursing the babies every day, but because she'd been neglected during her pregnancy, Maple was concerned about her nutrition. She didn't want to exhaust the little mama, so she'd kept the puppies on a supplemental feeding schedule.

Luckily, there was no shortage of volunteers to help out. Like today, when Maple had found Adaline, Belle and Jenna waiting on her front step after work, ready for dog duty. The book-club girls had been taking shifts since she'd brought the dogs home and were still eager to help.

"We don't have yard signs in Manhattan." Maple laughed. "We don't even have yards. I have no idea who put those out there. They just appeared out of nowhere the other day."

Belle held Peaches close while she offered her a bottle. "You did an amazing thing. The town just wants to celebrate you."

And they certainly were. The cake had been from Adaline, naturally—a triple-layer, funfetti-flavored wonder, dotted generously throughout with rainbow sprinkles and Bluebonnet Thinks You're Pawesome piped in decadent frosting. Then the casseroles had started appearing, wrapped snugly in tin foil. Thankfully, most of them came with heating instructions since Maple had never cooked a casserole in her life. Yesterday, a teacher from Bluebonnet Elementary School had even stopped by the clinic with a stack of drawings of the puppies her first graders had made for Maple.

It was all so...kind.

And nothing at all like her job would've been like at the cardiology practice in New York. Maple knew it wasn't fair to compare, but she couldn't help it. She'd always done her best to keep to herself and fly under the radar. That was impossible in a place like Bluebonnet, and to her surprise, she didn't mind so much anymore. It felt nice.

"Maple, are you doing therapy-dog visits with Lady Bird, or are you too busy with Ginger and the puppies?" Jenna asked.

Ginger sat in her lap while Jenna ran her hand in long, gentle strokes over the dog's back. Maple had noticed a pattern: while everyone else fawned over the puppies, Jenna seemed more drawn to the mama dog. She was glad. That poor dog needed as much love and affection as she could get.

"Are you kidding? The phone is still ringing off the hook, and it's never for me." Maple glanced at Lady Bird, glued to her legs as usual. "Is it, girl?"

Lady Bird woofed right on cue.

"I'm this dog's glorified assistant. The town might riot if I stopped taking her on visits. Why?" Maple asked.

"I have ballet camp starting at the dance studio in a few days, and I was hoping you could bring Lady Bird in for our first morning? Just to put the littlest ones at ease?" Jenna grinned. "I have a tutu Lady Bird can borrow."

"Then how could I possibly say no? Sure, we'll be there."

The answer flew out of Maple's mouth before she had a chance to feel a twinge of anxiety. Oddly, even after she'd spontaneously agreed, the twinge never came.

She buried her fingertips in the soft fur on Lady Bird's broad chest and gave the golden a good scratch. You did this, sweet girl. Social anxiety didn't go away overnight. Maple knew she'd probably have a lifelong struggle feeling confident in social settings. But she had the dog to thank for getting her acclimated to the pet-therapy visits and interacting with strangers—strangers who were becoming friends.

Day by day. Visit by visit.

Maple wasn't the same person she'd been two weeks ago. She'd breezed into town intent on changing things, and instead, the town had changed her.

But it wasn't all Lady Bird's doing. Someone else had been there alongside her every step of the way. And much to Maple's confusion, she hadn't set eyes on him for five straight days.

Ford had returned to the pet clinic and delivered her latte, as promised, on the morning after the pups were born. Since then...nothing.

At first, Maple had chalked up his absence to the fact that they'd both been exhausted. He had a medical practice to run, just like she did it. She figured he was simply getting caught up on things. But then one day had turned into two, two turned into three, and so on. With each passing day, Maple had started to feel more and more like a lost puppy herself.

It's for the best. You were scared to death of your feelings for him, and now you don't have to worry about that anymore.

Maple clung to that thought, just like she'd been clinging to it for the past five days. But the more she repeated the mantra, the less she believed it. Because now that he was gone, she was more terrified than ever.

She'd texted a few times and gotten nothing but short, generic responses. Even when she'd sent photos or videos of the puppies, she'd gotten nothing but a heart emoji in return. If it hadn't been for those brief missives, she would've been worried that he'd had an accident or something. But no. He was simply pulling away, just like Justin had done in college, only this was a gradual withdrawal instead of a clean break. She was beginning to realize that the latter would've been far less agonizing. This felt like death by a thousand paper cuts.

"Adaline, can I talk to you for a second?" Maple tipped her head toward the hallway.

She'd sworn to herself she wouldn't do this. Adaline had never been thrilled about Maple and Ford spending time together. She was probably the last person who'd want to shed light on why he was semi-ghosting her.

But she also knew Ford better than anyone else in Bluebonnet. They were close. So Maple had finally decided to swallow her pride and ask.

"This is about Ford, isn't it?" Adaline said as soon as they were out of earshot of the rest of the group. She didn't even give Maple time to answer before her shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank goodness. I was beginning to worry that you weren't ever going to say anything."

The ache that had taken up residence where Maple's heart used to be burrowed deeper, and deeper still. So she hadn't been imagining things. Ford wasn't just busy. Something had happened to make him stay away.

She wrapped her arms around her middle, bracing herself for whatever was to come. "I know you don't think I'm good for him, and I understand why. I happen to agree with you, but—"

"What? No, Maple." Adaline grabbed onto Maple's arm and gave it a tender squeeze. "I don't think that at all."

"But that night at book club, you told me you didn't think we should be together."

"That's not what I said. I remember distinctly telling you that I didn't think it was a good idea for you to kiss him anymore until you knew for certain you were going to stay in Bluebonnet." Adaline's eyes welled up. "I never thought you weren't good for him. You two are so alike. I think you'd make a great couple."

Maple shook her head. "No, we're really not—"

"Stop. You may seem like total opposites on the surface, but you're alike in the ways that matter most. That's why I was worried. My brother is head over heels for you, whether he realizes it or not. I knew if you left, he'd be heartbroken. Because you belong together, not the opposite."

Sorrow closed up Maple's throat. She'd spent the past five days trying to convince herself that she and Ford had never stood a chance, and now his sister was trying to tell her they were soul mates or something.

She wished it was true. She'd never wished for anything so hard in all her life.

"That's not what it's like between us," Maple protested.

But Adaline wasn't listening. "I promised to stay out of his business. I swore. So when I realized he'd been spending all his time at the hospital, I didn't say anything. I thought for sure you knew, and then when I realized you didn't, I knew it wasn't my place to bring it up. I figured he'd come to his senses sooner or later, but clearly he's not."

She was talking in circles, and the more she said, the more Maple realized she should've pushed harder. She should've trusted that Ford wasn't the sort of person who'd vanish from her life without good reason. He'd never given her any reason to believe that.

Maple's past had, though. All her life, she'd been taught that feelings couldn't be trusted and love never stood the test of time. Her own limited experiences with dating had confirmed everything her parents had impressed upon her, either by their words or actions. So she'd kept her heart under lock and key. The less she shared herself with other people—people who would only end up hurting her in the long run—the better. Then Ford had come along and stolen her heart when she wasn't looking. And instead of telling him how she felt, she'd held her breath and waited for the other shoe to drop.

Was it any wonder it had?

"Adaline," Maple snapped. "You're scaring me. What's going on? Why is Ford spending all his time at the hospital?"

She didn't need to ask, though. She knew, even before Adaline said it.

Oliver.

The child had been on Maple's mind ever since the teacher from the elementary school had given her the colored drawings of Peaches, Fuzz, and Ginger. She'd brought the pictures home and tacked her favorites to Percy's refrigerator with magnets, and every time her gaze landed on the strokes of bold crayon, she thought about Lady Bird's visit with Oliver.

My mom says when I'm better, I can get a dog of my own. When I do, I want one just like Lady Bird.

She could still hear the little boy's voice, so upbeat and happy, despite his circumstances, just like she could still see his tiny form, dwarfed by the hospital bed...the tired shadows beneath his eyes.

He wasn't getting better, was he? And Maple had been so wrapped up in her own messed-up life that she hadn't for a moment considered that Ford might've been experiencing a crisis of his own.

"He's got this patient." Tears shone in Adaline's eyes, and she let out a ragged breath. "Ford is very attached, and let's just say things aren't looking good. He can't tell me much, but I'm worried. My brother is a mess, and I'm not sure there's anything any of us can do to make things better."

Maple just stood there, shell-shocked, until Lady Bird pawed at her foot, pulling her out of her trance. She dragged her gaze toward the dog, eyes blurry with tears. She blinked hard, and her vision cleared a bit...

Just enough for hope to stir as she realized that maybe there was one small thing she could do to help.

It took longer than Maple would've liked to get ready to go to the hospital. She made an excuse for the book-club girls to leave and then packed things up as quickly as she could, heart pounding all the while.

Lady Bird followed her around the house with her tail hanging low between her legs. Empathy was the dog's strong suit, after all, and she could tell Maple was a jittery jumble of nerves—as evidenced by the way she nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a knock on the front door just as she was almost ready to leave.

Lady Bird, mirroring Maple's disquiet, released a sharp bark. In turn, Ginger let out a low growl in the kitchen. The sweet dog probably thought whoever was at the door must be a threat to her puppies.

"Everyone, let's just calm down," Maple said, as much to herself as to the dogs. "I'm sure that's just Adaline, Jenna, or Belle. One of them probably forgot something."

She swung the front door open without even checking the peephole. Big mistake...

Huge.

"Mom." She gaped at Meredith Leighton, unable to process what she was seeing. Then her gaze shifted to the man standing beside her mother. "And Dad?"

They'd flown clear across the country to Texas and taken a car to Bluebonnet, all the way from Austin? Together?

Maybe she was hallucinating. That seemed far more likely.

"Well?" Maple's mother peered past her toward Lady Bird, who'd chosen this most awkward of moments to lose her sense of decorum and bark like she'd never set eyes on a stranger before. Perhaps she'd picked up on the fact that her parents weren't dog people. Either way, it was mortifying. "Can we come in, or will that dog attack us?"

"Lady Bird wouldn't hurt a fly. She just knows I..." Maple shook her head. She couldn't tell her parents she was about to run after a man. They'd probably kidnap her and forcibly drag her out of Texas like she'd joined a cult and needed to be deprogrammed. "Never mind. We were on our way out, that's all."

"Come on in." She waved them inside, then cut her gaze toward Lady Bird. "You're fine. It's all good."

Her mother tiptoed over the threshold, sidestepping Lady Bird as if she was the star of that Stephen King story, Cujo.

Dad rolled his eyes at his ex-wife, but once he was inside, he scrunched his nose. "It smells like dog in here."

They still had so much in common, even after decades of trying to tear each other apart. How they couldn't see it was a mystery.

"That's because I rescued a lovely Cavalier King Charles spaniel a few days ago. She was in the late stages of labor when I found her, and I had to perform an emergency C-section. We ended up saving her and her two darling puppies." Maple gestured toward the kitchen. "Would you like to see them?"

Meredith Leighton looked at her like she'd just sprung an extra head and it was wearing a ten-gallon cowboy hat. "No, Maple. We're not here to look at puppies. We're here to take you home."

"What?" Maple shook her head, but somewhere deep inside, she felt like a naughty child who'd done something terribly, terribly wrong. The urge to smooth things over and obey was almost crushing. "If all you wanted was to try and talk me into leaving, you could've just called."

"We've been calling. You never pick up," her father said.

Yes, she'd dodged a few calls. And maybe she'd also deleted a couple voice mails without listening to them. But she knew they'd never understand why she liked it here.

For a second, when she'd first seen them standing there on Percy's doorstep, a sense of profound relief had coursed through her. She'd actually thought that now that they were here, she could show them what made Bluebonnet so special.

The Leightons weren't interested in that, though. Just like they'd never been interested in why she wanted to be a veterinarian instead of going to law school. She knew they loved her, but that love came with strings attached. Too bad they had such an aversion to dogs. Her mom and dad could've learned a thing or two about unconditional love from Lady Bird.

"I'm not going back." Maple took a deep breath and finally let herself say the words out loud that had been on her heart for days. "Ever. I'm staying here in Bluebonnet."

Her father's face turned an alarming shade of red.

"You've got to be kidding." Meredith threw her hands up in the air. Lady Bird's head swiveled to and fro, as if she'd just tossed an invisible ball. "You're just going to throw your entire life away for a birth father you never even met? He gave you away, Maple. Maybe let that sink in before you dig in your heels."

Maple reared back as if she'd been slapped.

No wonder she had such a hard time trusting people. She'd been told over and over again she couldn't count on anyone. She might still believe it, if not for Ford.

Ford!

Maple turned away to grab her purse, Lady Bird's leash, and the other items she'd set aside for her trip to County General.

"What are you doing? Where are you going?" Her mother's voice was growing shriller by the second. "We just got here."

"I know you did, and I'm sorry. But like I told you, we were just on our way out," Maple said. She'd never spoken to her parents like this before, and she marveled at how calm she sounded.

"Let's all just settle down." Charles Leighton huffed out a sigh. "Maple, sit."

He pointed at the sofa, and even Lady Bird refused to obey.

"No," Maple said as evenly as possible. "I'm leaving now. The two of you can either stay here and wait until I get back, or you can go back to New York. Either way, I won't be going with you. I want to stay here and learn more about my birth father, but that's not the only reason. This town is special. So are its people. They've inspired me in ways that would amaze you."

Her parents exchanged a glance, and Maple could see the fight draining out of them. They were scared, that's all. They were afraid of losing their only daughter.

"I love you both. That hasn't changed, and it never will." Maple beckoned to Lady Bird and the dog sprang to her feet. "Now, like I said, we have to go. We have someplace very important to be, and it really can't wait another second."