Highlander for the Holidays by Janet Chapman Read Free Book Online

disguised as Merissa Blake.”
    Merissa pulled the blanket up over her face and made a snoring sound. “Go take Toby out to pee before anyone wakes up so they won’t see him wearing that prissy sweater,” she muttered. “I need my beauty sleep, because I’m afraid I agreed to see Duncan again tonight.”
    Jessie stood staring down at her friend, remembering how Merissa had dragged her kicking and screaming—and more often than not, crying uncontrollably—out of her hospital bed, refusing to let her hide in that dark place in her mind. It had taken Jessie several months to realize their relationship had gone from nurse-patient to friends, and every day she thanked God for sending her such an angel.
    Well, an angel who appreciated men far more than they appreciated her.
    “Come on, Toby,” Jessie said, taking her room card out of her purse and slipping it in her robe pocket. She patted her leg when the dog just blinked at her from the bed. “Come on, Tobes. Don’t you want to see your very first snow?”
    “Not if he has to wear that prissy sweater, he doesn’t,” Merissa said from under the blanket. “It’s bad enough some sadistic lout turned him into an it ; you don’t have to finish emasculating the poor thing by dressing him in pink.”
    “Go to sleep, Mer. I don’t think Duncan’s going to appreciate having you nod off in your beer this evening.”
    “I’m not drinking around that man anymore,” Merissa grumbled from under the covers. “Because I’m afraid I also agreed to go for a moonlight horseback ride with him when I come back to visit you next spring.” She shot up with a gasp. “Ohmigod, can two people actually do it on a horse?”
    “Probably not and live to tell about it,” Jessie said with a laugh, opening the door and stepping into the hallway. “Come on, Tobes, or I’m gonna go play in the snow without you,” she threatened.
    “Tobias Pringle,” Merissa snapped in her nurse’s voice, pointing her finger at him. “Don’t make me come over there and drag you out of bed. Jessie, will you hide that damn sweater? He remembers it from when you made him try it on in the store.”
    Jessie slipped the sweater inside her bathrobe and patted her leg again. “Come on, Toby,” she said excitedly, showing him her empty hands. “Let’s go for a walk.”
    Merissa flopped back when Toby finally jumped down and trotted into the hall. “Don’t forget your cane.”
    “I don’t need it. I’m just going to stand by the door and send him into the woods,” Jessie said softly in deference to the other hotel guests as she closed the door.
    She took the elevator down to the floor below the lobby, assuming it was the service area, and then peeked in both directions when the doors opened. She stepped out, waving Toby to follow, and headed toward the door at the end of the hallway.
    “I know it felt funny when you tried it on,” she said, pulling the doggy sweater out of her bathrobe. “But if you’ll just give yourself a chance to get used to wearing it, I promise you’re going to thank me this winter. And nobody’s going to laugh at—” Jessie stopped when she realized she was talking to herself, and turned to see Toby sitting halfway down the dimly lit hall. She pointed at the floor at her feet. “Stop acting like a petulant child and get over here, you big lug. It’s snowing out, and you haven’t grown a winter coat of your own yet.”
    Hanging his head until his nose was nearly touching the floor, Toby slowly walked to her. Jessie immediately straddled his body and slipped the sweater over his head. “You don’t listen to Merissa; this is not pink, it’s salmon ,” she explained, pushing first one paw and then the other through the leg holes. “And salmon is this year’s fashion statement for handsome, debonair men.” She kissed the top of his head and opened the door, then stepped out into the dusting of snow and glanced around to make sure the coast was clear. “Okay,