A bark from the floor pulled her out of her bill paying. Dr. Sofia Ramirez Walton glared down at the interruption. “We agreed you would stay out of my room. You have a full run of the house except for in here. This is my office. It’s a dog-free zone.”

Princess Fussy, or just Princess to Victoria’s mother, barked sharply at the reprimand. Her front legs left the floor every time she barked. The dog was a nuisance and her mother adored it for that very reason. The animal was beyond spoiled.

Sofie glared harder at the second bark. “Your bows are crooked and one is about to fall off. Go get Mama to fix them for you.” When that didn’t work to get Princess Fussy to leave her alone, Sofie gasped in shock and clutched her heart. “Where’s Mama? Is she getting you a treat? Um… bacon flavor.”

Defying her extreme roundness and the tiny legs that barely seemed able to hold her up, Princess pivoted and took off. Seconds later, she heard her mother cooing to the dog as she gave it a treat.

Sofie rolled her eyes. Each day she grew increasingly desperate to get her mother to move out. Perhaps some would have considered that ironic since she’d been desperate to get her mother to move in two years ago. And somehow, despite having two medical degrees, she’d allowed herself to be blackmailed into nonaction now.

“Don’t forget your meeting with Dr. Bates is this afternoon.”

“It’s more your meeting than mine,” Sofie said as she eyed her mother, the very matriarchal Olivia Ramirez, who’d crossed her arms as she leaned in her office doorway.

“Why are you dreading the thought of dating again? Really, Sofie. It’s beyond time.”

Sofie waved at the desk. “I wasn’t in here pondering my lack of a future, Mother. I was paying bills and wondering if I have enough saved to take a vacation this year. A month of pampering on some tropical beach sounds amazing.”

“Good. You haven’t taken a vacation in two years,” Olivia said. “You’re going to have to buy a new wardrobe, though. Middle-age spread is starting to show on you. Most men love curves, but no man wants a wife who is wider than them. I’m not trying to shame you but I am wondering why you’re not going to the gym anymore.”

“I don’t go to the gym because I work long hours and can’t get there at a reasonable time. If what you say is true about my body, then I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t care what any man thinks of me. Papa certainly didn’t care when you gained a little weight.”

“Because he was the one who kept me too busy birthing his brood to be skinny. Even now I fight to stay trim and fit. Sixty is not as old as it once was.”

“Why did you adopt me?”

Olivia shrugged at the question. “Like I explained before, I adopted you because I wanted a girl. After five boys it was far easier to simply buy a girl rather than keep having boys. And I thought adopting a child from your father’s home country seemed a very American thing to do.”

Sofie laughed. “Thanks for buying me. Despite your opinion of my womanly curves, I can’t imagine you not being my mother.”

“Me either, which is I want you to be happy,” Olivia said firmly. As tough as many males can be to deal with, life is very lonely without one to hold you now and again. Your Poppa made me promise not to shut down that part of myself when he was gone. He said I was not allowed to wear widow clothes for more than six months. I’m sure he would have wished the same for you if he’d had lived to see what you have endured.”

Sofie shrugged. “But he didn’t. However, I did, and I’m learning to live with the lingering hurt that hasn’t yet healed.” She stopped working to look fully at her mother. “You don’t have to stay with me any longer, Momma. I’m fine now. The only reason I agreed to go to The Perfect Date was so you would know I was healing. Brandon and April want you to come live with them for a while after the baby comes, which is only three months away. Taking care of three little ones is going to be hard for them. I’m including a Planned Parenthood brochure with the baby’s gift.”

“Sofie...” her mother said sadly, before shaking her head and leaving.

***

Harry Carmichael tugged the fuzzy Santa pants on over his jeans. “Don’t you think you’re pushing this twin thing too far? People are going to spend the whole evening laughing at us.”

“You said you wanted to get her attention,” Cherry said, grinning at her brother. “Being my twin Santa is for a good cause. I’m wearing a beard just like you are, so suck it up. Since I’m flat enough to pull off being a guy, this should work out perfectly.”

“Are you sure Sofie is participating?” He’d been trying to figure out how to meet Dr. Sofia Walton for a long time.

After his fiancée refused to sign a prenuptial agreement and broke things off two years ago, he’d joined The Perfect Date to look for a less money-grubbing romantic partner. Being single at forty was much harder because he often found himself barely tolerating the women he dated. Love might be a stretch but he wanted to at least like one sincerely.

The problem was that what he wanted these days was nothing like what he used to want. Looks mattered less than the woman having a sense of humor. He wanted someone independent who didn’t want to party every night. He wanted someone who wanted him more than his money. He was having no luck finding that sort of woman at the dating service where his sister met the love of her life but Cherry insisted he not give up.

Instead of keeping his unhappiness to himself, which in hindsight would have spared him his current humiliation, Harry had confessed to his twin sister that he was lonely. His manipulative twin decided to help him solve his problem by putting both of them in matching Santa suits for a hospital fundraiser to raise money to renovate the children’s ward.

Harry sighed at the loss of his dignity and wondered how much it would cost him to buy his way out of it. “If I donated enough to cover the cost of the work, would I still have to wear this suit?”

Cherry snorted at her brother’s cowardice. “The suit is your armor. Santa can do many things Harry Carmichael can’t.”

His sister was one of the many doctors who worked for the pediatric ward and the one who’d come up with the idea of the staff entertaining the board and their generous patrons dressed up like Christmas characters. His job—as Cherry’s Santa—would be to smile, talk, and make sure the money people had a good time. Unfortunately, the only person he wanted to entertain was an emotionally wounded doctor who didn’t know he was alive.

Two years ago, he’d heard Dr. Sofia Walton talk at a grief conference his sister had dragged him to because her boyfriend at the time had been too busy to attend with her. Cherry was one of the featured speakers as well, but he didn’t remember Cherry’s speech. All he remembered was the beautiful Sofia talking about losing her entire family and how hard it had been for her to go on living while burdened by grief.

He’d been thinking about the woman ever since.

Harry couldn’t imagine what she had suffered losing her husband and children to an exhausted truck driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel. It was a horrific accident with no one coming out of it okay. Her family had all died and the truck driver would be spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Hearing about her past had broken his heart, but his empathy hadn’t stopped him from imagining her naked. He’d imagined it so often that he’d gone nearly a year without even trying to date. He’d never felt anything like that for any female he’d previously met… or since. As unbelievable as it might be to people, all he wanted was the chance to hold the woman close and convince her life was still worth living.

How did an outgoing investor ask out a reclusive doctor, though?

He was obsessed and would be the first to admit it. Now his sister was involved, which Harry knew deep down was a bigger mistake than confessing his loneliness. Cherry, his younger sister by three minutes, had been the one who always got the two of them into trouble. He could not see this Santa thing turning out any differently.

“All the doctors and nurses are participating, but don’t get your hopes up. Sofie’s probably going to come as an elf, not Mrs. Santa.”

“This is a ridiculous way to meet someone, Cherry. You could have invited her over to your house for dinner and I could have just randomly been there. You keep saying you’re friends.”

“I’m as much a friend to her as she lets me be, which isn’t much. The woman comes to work and goes home to her mother. She takes every extra shift she can so nearly no one else ever has to. I can make sure you two get introduced, but I can’t heal her heart, Harry. She’s not over her losses. She may never get over them. Maybe witnessing that for yourself will cure you of your crush.”

“Her losses happened over two years ago. I’m not being insensitive. I’m being a realist,” he argued.

“Wear tighter pants, bro. You never use your brain after her name gets mentioned. The woman is hot—I admit that. But she’s nothing like that model you nearly married. She doesn’t get facials or paint her nails.”

“I’m not obsessed because she’s hot,” Harry said firmly, doing his best to deny it.

Cherry gave him a knowing look. “The accident happened during her first year here. A sleepy driver hit her family’s car after they dropped her off for her shift. How could a person ever get over that?”

Harry sighed. “Okay, so maybe I’m not being realistic about her. I mean, the woman can’t be as nice as she sounded at the conference. Maybe I’ve created a fantasy person who only exists in my head.”

Cherry smiled and shrugged. “No, you got her right. She’s even nicer than she sounded at the grief conference, but I don’t think she’s dating material for you. She’s emotionally shut down and you’re a needy male. I only see disaster between the two of you.”

Keeping his optimism about being able to change that to himself, Harry put on the beard with the attached hat. “I don’t understand the red-plaid berets. I’m pretty sure Santa doesn’t wear a beret.”

“They match the bow ties and make us stand out.” They stood next to each other looking into the standing mirror in her master suite. “See? We look perfect. Just like twin Santas.”

“We look perfectly ridiculous,” Harry said empathically. He towered over her by six inches. “No one’s going to know we’re twins outside the outfit.”

“I’m going to make it known and I’m going to get you an introduction.”

“I’m not going to thank you for this, but I will do my best to schmooze your patrons.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Cherry said, patting his chest. “Now take off the suit and I’ll hang it back up for you. No well-dressed Santa would show up with wrinkles.”

***

“We are here to see the choices you have made, Dr. Bates. My daughter needs to start dating again before she loses what’s left of her child-bearing years.”

“Momma, stop badgering Dr. Bates.”

Olivia Ramirez shook her finger as she pointed it at her daughter. “You are a skilled doctor but one who has failed to heal herself.”

Mariah watched as she swung the same finger to point at her and had to fight not to laugh at the action. Should she nod or throw up a hand to stop Mrs. Ramirez’s rant? She settled for smiling.

“Dr. Bates is a skilled doctor as well, Sofie. You stopped going to therapy last year, so coming here is the next best option. Your cooperation is all I asked for this Christmas. You gave me your word to do this.”

“Because you guilted me. Then I told you that all I wanted for Christmas was to get out of this. Where is the compromise, Momma? I see none.”

Olivia sighed at her stubborn daughter. “At least look at the men Dr. Bates has selected for you. Maybe your eyes will open your heart.”

Sighing, Sofie picked up the tablet. She flicked through the screens but found none of the males appealing. Why would she spend so much money to go to dinner with one of them? No male face would ever be as handsome to her as Randy’s had been. Nearly three years had gone by since the accident. She still woke in the night and reached out for him before remembering he was no longer there. But how could that be when it felt like it happened yesterday?

Her mother’s presence was the only reason she hadn’t gone crazy in a house that no longer held her noisy children and loving husband. They had been her whole world outside of work. Now that world was empty. And her mother’s presence hadn’t replaced those she missed.

All Sofie had left was her work, which the gods of her mother’s people had let her heart heal enough to continue doing. She worked hard to make sure no other parents ever lost a child. She didn’t always win the fight with fate, but her losses were fewer than most.

“They are all nice-looking, but none interest me, Dr. Bates. If you choose one, I will pay to go out with him to fulfill my mother’s Christmas wish.”

Mariah narrowed her gaze when Olivia made a disbelieving noise in her throat. She put her gaze on the heartbroken Sofia Walton. “I’ve learned that the heart takes its own time to heal from a loss. If the interest is not there for you, it would be a waste of your money and time to go out with any man. I recommend waiting until you at least feel a mild interest in someone. How about I pull a second group in a few weeks? In the meantime, I’ll send you any requests I might receive from eligible matches.”

Sofie shrugged. “Thank you. I appreciate your thoughtful honesty.”

Mariah nodded. “And I appreciate yours, Dr. Walton. My business isn’t built on randomness. Anyone can find that for themselves. The Perfect Date is built on specificity and finding you the most suitable match we can. There is no time limit on that so long as you remain a member. We have clients who haven’t dated anyone in the database in five years. That is always by choice.”

Olivia turned to her daughter. “We agreed you’d go on a date before Christmas. That was the whole point. It will be the official end of your non-stop grieving.”

“Christmas is still several weeks away,” Mariah said butting in to stop Victoria Walton’s mother from emotionally blackmailing her daughter any further.

Sofie smirked. “It’s okay, Dr. Bates. Momma is correct. I did promise. If you have an opening, I will return to see you in two weeks and choose someone. Rest assured that next year I will be more careful about what I promise my mother.”

Mariah chuckled and nodded. She didn’t doubt that for a moment. “See Iris out front and tell her to schedule you for two weeks from now.”

“Thank you, Dr. Bates.”

Mariah spread her hands. “This is my job, Dr. Walton. The time we’ve spent together will help me make better choices. Before you go, though, I have something for you.”

Sofie stopped and tilted her head. “Do I get a consolation prize for not finding my perfect man this week?”

Mariah laughed. “No. It’s a donation for the new pediatrics wing. I got an invitation to your fundraiser but won’t be able to attend. The Perfect Date has an event at the same time.”

Sofie took the check from her dating counselor’s fingers. “Thank you. I appreciate your generosity.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Mariah said. “I raised two rambunctious children and am no stranger to the children’s ward of the hospital. It’s why I became a regular donor. I hope you raise the money you need.”

“Thank you. I hope so as well.”

Mariah grinned. “I will be disappointed not to get to see you in a Christmas costume.”

Victoria winced. “I don’t even know what I’m wearing. A friend is picking a costume for me.”

“Was that her Christmas wish?”

Sofie laughed with real mirth. “No. I think she just feels sorry for me.”

“The story of your loss is certainly a heart-wrenching one. Perhaps The Perfect Date can help you find your way out of the darkness of your grief in at least some small way. I hope that for all of my clients who have suffered losses like yours.”

Sofie bowed her head. “Perhaps I should have healed more by now. I know I’m not the only one to ever lose their family.”Mariah frowned slightly and shook her head. “Grief is personal. I heard you telling a whole group of people that a couple of years ago. And I agree with you.”There was no need to reply. That speech was something Cherry Carmichael had talked her into doing. Talking about what had happened had been backed by her therapist. But all it had done was make her relive the worst day of her life. She had kept it positive for the audience but had cried for days afterward.If there was a true secret to moving on, Sofie had never found it.