Page 13 of Maybe This Christmas
Not her, though.Although, to be fair to her, a lack of mutual attraction hadn’t been the cause of their divorce.It was that old cliché—they’d grown apart.
He gestured to the nearby buffet.“You’re going to wear this hash-brown casserole as a hat if you start poking at my middle.”
Inez chuckled.“I wasn’t going to.I do have some tact, you know.”She nimbly threaded the needle.“I don’t know, maybe it’s time to get a new costume this year.The old one is ratty, anyway.Maybe we’ll have your mama make you one.”
He turned to take a chafing dish from one of the hustling waiters and placed it on the buffet.“Don’t encourage her.”
The last thing he wanted was to be his mom’s next model.Especially since she was still bitter that Sabrina hadn’t let her make her wedding dress.
“Hmm, I can see the campaign now.You do have a beard, and it’s getting some speckled gray in there.”
“May I remind you you’ve known me since I was born, Inez?Please stop making it weird.”
“All right, all right.Here, the button’s back on.It should stay put until your bigger uniform gets here.”
He wasted no time pulling his shirt back on.
Inez stood.“I’ll head into the kitchen to see if they need my help.I might as well get on the payroll anyhow.”
She pushed open the kitchen doors.He exhaled when they swung shut after her.He’d worry about his turn at Sexy Santa after he got through the day.
* * * *
Davis was less than thrilled when presented with a list of activities planned for the lodge during their stay.
“Gingerbread house decorating?Are they serious?I thought people bought them ready-made?”
Emma snatched the activity list from his hand.“Come on, let’s get breakfast.Surely, you can’t find much fault with that?”
Davis’ long sigh as he reached for his jacket indicated otherwise.She ignored his sullen presence beside her and tugged her hat over her head as they stepped out of their cabin.While Davis struggled to pull on his leather gloves, she looked around at the other guests approaching the lodge.She stepped off the decking in front of their cabin and onto the bridge leading to the lodge.It swayed ever so slightly in the morning breeze.
Davis’ hand on her back nudged her forward.“You know, I keep forgetting to tell you that Evan found this perfect empty storefront in Soho.”
With those words, a long-kept dream rekindled from within her.He knew her dream had always been to own and operate a stationery store.The kind where you could purchase a three-dollar pen or luxury letter-pressed invitation suites for the fanciest wedding or gala.
“Oh yeah?I bet the rent is four grand a millisecond in that neighborhood.”Besides, it wasn’t as if she had officially ‘onboarded’—as Davis put it—to their New York move yet, no matter what he might think.
“Yeah, I was thinking it could be a good investment.And if it makes you happy, that’s even better.”
He pulled her in for a kiss on the forehead.He was trying, but somehow, she knew it was only for his benefit.She exhaled.
“That sounds like an interesting opportunity,” she said carefully.
The grand double doors leading into the lodge’s main restaurant were in sight.Davis reached for the door.“Sure does.Let’s discuss it over breakfast.Do you think they have any vegan options here?Or—”
Davis didn’t get a chance to finish as the doors burst open.A German Shepherd puppy scuttled past them, followed by the hunky lumberjack from yesterday.
Chapter Five
Leave it to his mother to neglect to mention that Inez had brought along her new puppy for the trip.The German Shepherd named Daisy—he gathered by the biddies’ shouts as she tore toward the back doors—was roughly three months old and fast as a whip.As much as he didn’t want to spend the day as the lodge’s activities director, hunting for a scared puppy in acres of mountain forest didn’t sound much better.
As he barreled past them, Emma Dale’s fiancé yanked her to his side.
“Daisy!”he called for her just as she took off down one of the wooden bridges that split off to one of the many treehouse cabins.
“Daisy!Heel!”Caleb’s breathless cries fell on deaf ears as the puppy took off toward a cabin.Bent over and gasping for breath, he noticed a pair of feet entering his sight line.
Figuring it was Inez, he ground out an insult under his breath before speaking.“About time you deigned to join me.Where was the puppy all this time?”
