Page 20 of Holiday Hook Up

“Oh, wow.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “You’re right. I forgot William is his middle name. How did she take the news?”

“Not well at all. I guess she knocked back a couple glasses of Brandon’s signature cocktail when she first arrived and now regrets it. I told her that maybe I got it wrong again, but LB, you have to believe me when I think I got it right.”

“How are you sure?”

“I can’t explain what happened really. It just felt like it worked.” He raised his hand and demonstrated with his fingers. “Like the spell went from my head, jetted through my arm, hit my hand, and into the spoon. It was pretty freakin’ awesome.”

“Well, maybe it was a success.” More than anything, she wanted to believe that the spell worked this time because he obviously thought so. She added, chuckling, “Although, Zoe might think she was on top of Santa’s naughty list to have gotten Will, or Marvin, for a soul mate.”

He laughed back, agreeing. “She will need some time to adjust. The guy’s not bad, and she’d always have someone at the ready to change the oil in her car.”

Adam was right there. He’d often strut down Main Street in his work overalls when he was off to visit his mother, Marilyn Jenkins, at her bridal shop.

“This calls for a celebration.” She wanted to join in his jubilant mood and grabbed a red mug with a snowman on it off the counter. Pouring from her carafe the white hot chocolate she’d made earlier, she handed him the drink and raised her Star Lite coffee cup. “Congratulations, Adam Reed. Here’s to the first of many soul mate predictions for the bachelorettes of this town. You’re on your way to being a legend.”

“Legend. I like the sound of that.” He clinked his mug to her cup. “Thank you, LB.”

“For what?”

“For being so supportive. I can’t really talk about this kind of stuff with Tom, and well, it’s sucked constantly feeling like a failure around Emma and Abby, not to mention Josh.” He let out a deep breath. “It really feels good to know that I may have finally done it, and maybe I can stop disappointing all the single women in this town.”

Bethany eyed him. She’d known that each spell he’d gotten wrong had chipped away at his confidence, but she hadn’t realized the enormous weight he’d been carrying since he’d been given the blue spoon. “You’re welcome. I believe in you.”

“You know. If you want to be my next bachelorette, just say the word.”

“Sure. Maybe sometime after the holidays.” She blinked. That wasnevergoing to happen.

He took a sip before saying, “So, LB, there’s another reason I stopped by.”

“There is?”

“I need your help in solving a mystery. Something weird happened last night.”

“Weird?”Here we go.She was sure this had to be about his Holiday Hook Up with Rachel.

“I met a woman, and things kind of got intense between us. I think she might have been really into me.”

Oh, my God! He’s talking about me.Bethany’s head began to spin. Wait. HethinksI was into him. He can’t be serious? Did random women lead him into dark corners and kiss him silly all the time? “That’s great,” she said, and fiddled with the candy cane display near the register, avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah, but then she disappeared, and I never saw her again. Can I take a look at your camera?”

She looked up, surprised by that request. “What do you want with it?”

“I was thinking maybe you got a picture of her. I’d love to go through your shots if you don’t mind.”

“I left it at home,” she blurted out.

“Really?” His eyebrows knitted. “Because I could have sworn I saw you carrying your camera case when you walked by the Sugar Spoon earlier.”

Busted.“Um . . . yeah . . . that’s right,” she stammered, trying to recover. “Sorry. It was such a crazy morning with the random shipment, I forgot that I did bring it.”

“Mind if we take a look?” he asked, grinning down at her with his signature smile that easily made her melt.

“Oh, I doubt I got any pictures of her. I mean . . . I didn’t get as many photos as I should have.” She bit down on her lip, hoping he would drop it.

“Why’s that? Were you hooking up?”

Um . . . yeah . . . with you.“Kind of.” She paused, adding, “Well, not exactly.”

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