Page 103 of The Holiday Grump
I knocked over a heavy hat rack on my way to the door, blocking the hallway. It bought me five extra seconds, which was enough to make it to my car and lock the doorsbefore my self-appointed home health nurses caught up. Unfortunately, the windshield was frozen solid, so I couldn’t drive anywhere.
I started the engine and cracked the window, peering at Felicity’s disapproving face. “I’ll just wait for it to thaw.”
“How environmental of you.”
“What do you think you’ll find?” Jackson asked, sidling up next to her. “I showed you the store. She gave you the key. She’s not hiding anything… right?” He glanced at Felicity, who sighed.
“No! If I had any clue where she was, I’d tell you! I want you guys to work it out. I also want to kill that rich dude.”
“Say the word. I’ll make it look like an accident,” Jackson offered.
Felicity gave him a tired huff. “Let’s spare the world you as an assassin.”
“Can you guys stop the foreplay and help me with the window? Then I promise I’ll open the doors, and you can come along to babysit me as much as you like.”
Jackson coughed, and Felicity looked at her shoes. “Yeah, fine,” she muttered, buttoning her coat and taking the scraper I passed through the window gap. “But I’m driving.”
Something was definitely going on between them, but I didn’t have time to worry about it. Not now. They cleared the windshield, and I kept my promise, moving into the passenger seat.
As we entered the town center, I scanned the streets for any sign of her. The town was crowded with tourists, but there was nobody in a fluffy peach coat. Nobody who looked like her. Making Whoopie looked unusually busy, with a small crowd spilling into the street.
“Can we check that out?” I asked.
Felicity shrugged, parking illegally across the sidewalk. “Jackson would love to investigate.”
“No problem, your majesty.” My best friend climbed out of the back seat to see what was going on.
I took my opportunity. “What is going on between you two?”
Felicity looked indignant. “Nothing!”
“Well, then something’s going on with him. He told me he deleted Tinder.”
“Probably just ran out of space for all the other dating apps,” my sister grumbled, but I could tell she was listening. Processing.
“No, I think he’s serious. It’s weird.”
“Well, he won’t be getting serious with me.”
“Why do you hate him so much?”
She stared out the window, her brows drawn. “I don’t hate him. He’s just… the epitome of all the guys I’m trying to keep my daughter away from. The kind who’d just use her, you know? The kind who won’t even remember…”
I nodded. Just like Kailee’s dad, who couldn’t handle responsibility. Who ran at the sight of the first dirty diaper. “Yeah, fine. Well, can you hold off biting his head off until I find Noelle and marry her? I know he’s not perfect, but he’s my oldest friend, and I want him to be the best man at my wedding.”
“Your wedding to the runaway bride who ran away before you even proposed to her?” Felicity looked at me like she was reasoning with a toddler.
“Who said relationships are easy?”
Her face softened into a smile. She wasn’t a hugger, butshe patted my shoulder with tears in her eyes. “Honestly, I’m so happy to see you moving on.”
And that was when I realized I’d changed. I’dreallychanged. Even with my desperation to find Noelle, I felt more alive than I had in years. Life had high stakes again. It had meaning. And I was ready for it.
“It’s just a party for Audrey. Noelle’s not there,” Jackson reported, hopping back in the car. “I checked the Sip, too. Eileen said she vanished. Didn’t come to the crochet club, but some random Korean girl did.”
“Korean girl?” My pulse kicked up. “When? Last night?”
“Yeah, she just turned up at the meeting to buy yarn. Said she’d heard about them from a friend but apparently didn’t know Noelle.”
