Page 16 of The Replacement Fiance

Christmas Eve dinner for the Peters residence is a smorgasbord of dishes from roast turkey with cornbread and walnut stuffing, Christmas ham with pineapples, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on one side and plain on the other (apparently to appease the siblings, the girls who like having the marshmallow on top and Forrest who prefers it without), cranberry sauce, and persimmon pudding. There are other dishes, too, like green bean casserole, pecan pie that's warming in the oven and a gingerbread house Jonathan and Brad assembled earlier. It's enough food to feed over twenty people but Mariah tells me that it's also meant for tomorrow as leftovers because no one will be slaving away in the kitchen then. Except to make the coffee.

"Either that or we do the cooking and it's something us sisters haven't mastered yet," she adds. "That's why Mom and Dad kick us out of the kitchen every Christmas."

"Forrest is actually a better cook than all his sisters combined," Brad says as Emily glares at him. "Go figure."

"So how long have you known my daughter, Logan? Oh, and call me Harmony," Mariah's mom says after everyone's loaded their plates with food. I never even realized I'm hungry but even if I wasn't, I am now. In fact, I'm starving.

"I've known Mariah three years, Mrs... Harmony."

"Where'd you guys meet?" Emily asks.

"At a cocktail networking event sponsored by some local business," Mariah replies. "I was there to promote the shop."

"And my brother and I were representing our repair shop, Garrison Motors."

"Repair shop, eh?" Mr Peters' eyes narrow. "You, by any chance know anything about classic cars. Trucks, maybe?"

"I may be handy with a hammer but not when it comes to engines," Forrest says before turning to Summer to see if she needs anything.

"They all need engines to run, sir."

He smiles. "Hope you don't mind me picking your brain tomorrow, Logan."

"Definitely not."

"It's about time we have a blue collar son-in-law around here," Mr. Peters says, grinning. "Can't wait till you see my baby out there."

"There goes Dad," Mariah says, laughing. "Prepare to get dirty then."

"No problem."

"Was it love at first sight?" Harper asks. "I love those kinds of stories. It just makes the romantic in me swoon. I can't wait to fall in love."

"You're too busy looking at your phone to fall in love, honey," Mom says as Harper rolls her eyes. "Who knows? The man for you just might be standing in front of you and you'd never know it unless you looked up from your phone."

"Right now, everyone at the table is taken, Mom," she says, "so there's no problem about me missing my one true love. He's just not here yet. But when he does show up, I'll know because it'll be a knock-your-socks-off type of falling in love."

"Those are pretty high expectations, Harper," Brad says.

"A girl can dream, can't she?" Harper says before turning to me. "Was it like that for you, Logan? Did my sister knock your socks off?"

I can see Mariah's eyes widen as she stares at me but I keep cool and nod. "Yes, she did."

Harper giggles. "Ooh, tell us more."

"What made it love at first sight for you, Logan?" Emily asks as Mariah's face turns crimson. "I've always been intrigued over how men fall in love."

"Why don't you just ask me?" Brad asks, looking offended.

"Because you go all biology major on me, Professor Talbot," she replies. "I don't want to know about endorphins or serotonin levels. I want to know about the butterflies and the googly eyes."

"You could have just said so," Brad says, looking more offended than he did earlier although from the way he's grinning at his wife, he's clearly not. "Although I don't do the googly eyes. They're creepy." He bats his eyes at her until she blushes.

"Stop it, Brad," she says, laughing.

"Guys, that's a bit personal, isn't it?" Mariah says. "I'm sure Logan doesn't want to go into details–"

"It was her smile," I begin as everyone at the table become silent, "and that dimple on her right cheek. And of course, her eyes and then there's her laugh. It makes the world just feel brighter and lighter whenever I hear it."

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