Page 68 of Mistletoe and Mischief

Jack glanced over then. “You gotta see this!” he said, waving at Olivia. He sounded like a giddy child.

As soon as Grace saw the huge carton of fireworks Cliff had dragged out, she groaned. “Cliff!”

“I was saving them for New Year’s Eve, but I can’t think of a better night for celebrating, can you?”

“What about the horses?”

“They’re all safe in their stalls. Don’t worry about them.”

“And Buttercup? She hates that kind of noise.”

“She’s locked in the house.”

“Can we, Grandpa, can we?”

The children were jumping up and down, clapping their hands with enthusiasm.

“Why right now?” Grace asked.

Cliff sent her a look of pure innocence. “I was just casting about for a way to keep the grandkids entertained.”

“Oh, all right.” She sighed loudly, holding back a grin.

“Okay if we stay and watch?” Jack said.

Grace and Olivia exchanged looks. As they’d often had occasion to observe, most men were little boys at heart.

“If you must,” Olivia murmured.

The front door opened and Kelly stepped out with Paul, who still held the baby. Grace’s daughter balanced a large tray filled with mugs and Lisa followed with a tin of Christmas cookies.

“Anyone for hot chocolate?” Kelly asked.

“I’d love a cup,” Olivia said.

“Me, too,” Grace added.

Paul glanced over at the kids. “What’s going on?”

“Fireworks in a few minutes,” Grace told him.

“Wow! Great idea.”

“Men,” Olivia whispered under her breath, and then both Olivia and Grace broke into giggles, just like they had when they were schoolgirls.

19

“How did we get so lost—twice?” Linc groaned. The only thing left to do was return to Cedar Cove and start over. Thatsoundedeasy enough, except that he no longer knew how to find the town.

“That King did us wrong,” Mel muttered.

“You think?” Linc said sarcastically. He was past frustration, past impatience and past losing his cool. All he wanted was to track down his pregnant sister and bring her home. That shouldn’t be such an impossible task, and yet...

“I’m never going back to King’s,” Ned said in disgust.

“Me, neither,” Mel spat. “If I ever go back to Cedar Cove, which is unlikely.”

Frankly, Linc was of the same mind, at least as far as King went. The man had blackmailed him into paying for directions and then completely misled him. True, the sandwiches weren’t bad, but he’d overcharged them. The old coot had an evil streak a mile wide. If he thought it was fun to misdirect them, then he had a perverse sense of humor, too. Perverse? Downright twisted!

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