Page 42 of Puppy Christmas

On that subject, at least.

“Balderdash.” She snapped the diary shut and handed it back to Lila. “Since the moment Dawn was born, you’ve been their champion and savior. We were a little worried, your father and I, that you were going to teach them to cycle through the air and eat smoke bombs, but you settled down the moment we brought Dawn home. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Like what?”

Her mother blinked and took another sip of her wine. “Your transformation. I’m not sure how or why it happened, but you took one look at Dawn’s scrunched pink face and became everything a big sister should be. Responsible, wise, caring… It was as though you knew, instinctively, that she was yours to protect.”

“I was wise? When I was two?”

“The perfect little mother,” her mom agreed, blandly disregarding her sarcasm. “And a good thing, too. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if we’d left you an only child. You probably would’ve become a stuntwoman.”

“Me?”

Her mother nodded.

“A stuntwoman?”

She nodded again.

“On purpose?”

This time, her nod was accompanied by a laugh. “Either that, or you’d have broken your neck before you came of age. The only thing this diary is missing is ‘Ten Times Lila Gave Her Poor Mother a Heart Attack.’”

Lila stared for a long moment, unsure what she was supposed to do with this picture her mother was painting. Of all the Vasquez sisters, she was the last one anyone would accuse of flying in the face of convention, of taking risks and accepting the outcome. No step in her life had been taken without careful deliberation—and, yes, list making—ahead of time. Going to college to get her animal behavior degree, opening a puppy-training business with her sisters, even buying the house they lived in together—all of it had been weighed and reweighed, the cons stacked up against the pros until a decision could be safely and responsibly made.

“Patrick, too,” she said aloud.

“What’s that, love?” her mother asked.

She didn’t dare repeat herself, and not just because her dating life was at the top of the list of Ten Things You Should Never Discuss with Your Mother. Until that exact moment, she’d never realized just how much of her head—and how little of her heart—had been invested in her relationship with Patrick.

Although she hadn’t gone so far as to make an actual list before agreeing to go out with him, she could recall doing a little light stalking before their first date. She’d known where he went to school (University of Washington), where he’d done his residency (Seattle Children’s Hospital), the Zillow value of his condo (upward of three hundred grand), and the date he’d earned his scuba license (July 2015). Even if shehadbeen on the fence about him, that shining list of accolades would have tipped her firmly over onto his side.

And why wouldn’t it? On paper, Patrick Yarmouth was everything she wanted out of a partner. In the flesh, however…

“Mom, can I keep this?” She curled her arm protectively around the photo album. “I’d like to take a better look at it.”

“Of course. You can even show it to that nice young man and his daughter.”

“Mom…”

“I saidthatnice young man, notyournice young man. See? I’m learning.” Her mom paused, a wistful expression curling her lips. “Dawn did show me a picture of him, though, and it seems an awful waste for you not to make at least a little push in that direction.”

“Mom!”

“What? I’m middle-aged, not dead. And one of you had better start having children soon, or there’s no telling what kind of trouble I’ll get up to. You’re not the only one with a streak of daredevilry, you know.”

Even though the cover was closed, Lila glanced down at the photo album, those images of her much-younger self burned into her memory. No one had ever accused her of daredevilry. No one had accused her of much of anything, unless you counted Patrick and Anya fearing she’d lure children into her gingerbread house and eat them.

Except, of course, for Ford. For reasons she couldn’t work out just yet, he’d taken one look at her and decided that she—she—was the fun Vasquez. It was almost enough to inspire the creation of a whole new list. In fact, as soon as her mom left, that was exactly what she planned to do.

Ten Signs Lila Vasquez Might Not Be a Lizard Person After All.

Number one: His name is Ford Ford.