Page 24 of A Class of Her Own

“Good call,” Aryn stated. “The carnival will suck out your life force.”

“I get a committee. So, consider yourselves members,” I pointed at each of them, skipping Lizzie. “Except you, Liz. You’ll be too busy with last minute wedding and packing. I’m not adding to your list.”

Lizzie beamed. “Only one more month until I marry Jackson and move down to Moab. My world is about to change, big time.”

They all launched into chatter about the wedding, and I only half listened. Weddings didn’t hold much interest for me, although I was trying really hard to stay present and celebrate with Lizzie because I loved her so much. I had no interest in the dresses, the food, the venue, and rarely thought about relationships myself. So, while they oohed and aahed over Lizzie’s plans, adding happy commentary, I wondered where on earth I’d find a Santa and how I’d dredge up the energy to care.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I may have issues with Santa, but that wasn’t holding me back from decorating my front yard to the hilt this year. After the success of the inflatable turkey, I couldn’t wait to get started. There had, unfortunately, been the slight speed bump of cost. After wandering several stores I’d quickly realized that holiday yard decor—particularly the hideous kind—wasn’t cheap. I should have known this, considering what I’d spent on the Thanksgiving turkey, but I’d let hope take the reins and possibly blacked it out of my memory. Regardless, I’d taken the issue to my friends, who had offered to pitch in. In the end I purchased the biggest Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the history of reindeer, and they said they’d show up on the appointed night with some things to supplement.

My friends came through big time. They’d taken my Rudolph and leveled up with a Frosty the Snowman, some spinning Christmas trees, storage bins filled with old strands of Christmas lights, and some sort of homemade, light-up candy canes to dot the lawn. Had we all gone into debt for these items? Possibly. But there are some things in life that are more important than money. Honor being one of them.

“Honor for the Thornback woman,” I joked as I watched things being unloaded out of Aryn’s and Ruby’s cars.

“Dragon warrior women!” Ruby cried into the cold air.

A beep pulled our attention to Hailey’s car as she parked against the curb. I watched as four people climbed out. Hailey and Lizzie had brought their men to help. For about two seconds I wanted to cheer as my army showed up to go to battle, but then things started to feel a bit fishy. They’d not been this excited at Halloween when I’d told them my plans for Christmas, and I had a sneaky suspicion that they’d been discussing Brooks behind my back and thought that if they went really big on breaking the HOA rules it would throw us into some sort of forced proximity love story.

I mostly blamed Ruby, who read romance novels the same way I read non-fiction books—taking all the words on the pages as facts. I wouldn’t put it past her to be imagining me tearfully receiving an HOA ticket as I was mercilessly thrown in handcuffs by a broody and terribly attractive Brooks, whose shirt was ripped open as his eyes couldn’t help watching my trembling lips. As for the others, well, Ruby can be really persuasive, even when we totally disagree with her, simply because her ideas make us laugh so much.

I’d be willing to bet money that the phrase “heaving bosom” had been thrown around.

“Rubes,” I called to where she was unrolling the inflatable Frosty on my driveway. She looked up, her long, dark hair flipping over one shoulder. “You’re not trying to play matchmaker here are you?”

She made her eyes big and round. “Me?”

“You.”

She licked her lips. “Nope. Just over here doing my civic duty against tyranny.”

I chuckled and turned back to help Aryn untangle the third strand of lights we’d come across in the big bin she’d hauled over. “Tell me the truth,” I said to her. “What’s Ruby plotting, and why are you all suddenly on board with decorating my yard?”

She kept working at the knots in the strand, not bother to look up. “She’s not plotting anything that I know about. Although it was her idea for us to all bring more decor. I thought she was being supportive.”

“She’s trying to get me and Brooks together.”

“Why would she do that? She knows you don’t like him.”

“She’s the queen of lost causes. A good enemies-to-lovers romance gets her juices flowing. Plus, Jackson and Ford got recruited.” I threw Aryn a look. “Now try to tell me nothing’s up.”

“Nothing’s up,” Aryn said, but she only made it halfway through without cracking a smile.

“Oh my gosh,” I blew out a breath.

“Relax. I really don’t think anyone is plotting. We all think it’s funny how this battle keeps getting bigger, and we want to be in the middle of it, not watching from the sidelines. It’s amusing stuff.”

“You can’t tell me that Jackson really drove up from Moab to help me tick off my HOA president.”

“No,” Lizzie cheerfully replied from over my shoulder, “he came up to see me. And when I mentioned that I had plans for vengeance tonight, he came along.”

“No man in his right mind passes up a chance to participate in vengeance,” Jackson added with a grin as he slung his arm around Lizzie’s shoulders.

I turned and offered Jackson a smile. He looked exactly the same as he did every time I saw him. Tanned and outdoorsy with confidence and good humor. He was so perfect for Lizzie, and they were adorable in their reconnected love. I was genuinely happy for them, but I still felt bad that he’d gotten roped in to decorating my yard on his vacation time.

I gestured to Ford as he and Hailey joined our circle. “And Ford too? Isn’t he too busy selling organic products to the world to be here?”

Ford chuckled as he zipped up a slim fitting coat. “I agree with Jackson. This is more important. It’s not every day we get to stick it to the man.”

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