Page 301 of Screwged for Christmas

In went another bag of goodies followed by a stuffed snowman and something sparkly for girls’ ponytails. She didn’t get a good look because her eyes were too busy spotting a man in a red plaid shirt and black jeans walk around a corner with a short brunette.

She picked up the pace a little with Mrs. December in tow. “Oh, hon, I see the fire chief is here.” She reached out and patted her arm and leaned in a little. “Has he asked you out on a date yet? Your gran mentioned you were single again.”

“What? Is there no one that doesn’t know?” The opening notes of “Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer” carried over the shoppers, and Ivy felt a keen affection for that song at the moment. She drew a deep breath and swallowed the automatic denial that wanted to come out. “I’m only here long enough to touch up the place, Mrs. December. I have a job offer in New York and I’m taking it.” She hoped she didn’t sound rude dodging the question, but that was a question she didn’t want to touch in the middle of the bread aisle. Besides, it was neither here nor there.

“Then I better work fast.”

Ivy had a feeling the other woman didn’t mean her kitchen renovations with how she worried her lip and tapped her chin. The creases around her eyes deepened too, and that made Ivy raised a brow in question.

“Work fast?”

“Never mind, hon. You know splitting my time between the cookie baking and helping out down at the sheriff’s office makes a schedule really tight this time of year.” Mrs. December came to an abrupt stop by the eggnog and red wine with a conveniently placed strip of condoms hanging on the side. “Oh, excuse me hon.”

Mrs. December didn’t even flinch when placing two boxes of ribbed extra-large in the cart and Ivy fought to hold back a smile. She only wished her sex life was that active.

“By the way, hon, did I mention Aspen would be there?”

She drew in a deep breath. “A couple of times now, yeah.”

“It never hurts to mention the important information, you know. Is there any way I could convince you to fit in an old lady into your schedule?” Ivy did her best to hide a grimace as she fished out her planner from her shoulder bag and thumbed through the pages. “Let me see what I can do.” She didn’t have the heart to tell her no.

Mrs. December peered over her shoulder. “Oh, look tomorrow works perfectly,” she said, pointing at the only space Ivy mentally penciled in to use for the dreaded tree decorating of however many trees her gran had coming today.

“That will be okay, right dear? Say noon-ish? It will only take a couple of hours. You’ll see.”

After almost four years of working with clients, nothing ever took only a couple of hours. Mrs. December continued, unaware of Ivy’s inner cringing. “The girls are due the day after so that will give us enough time to do any changes. Of course, I’d pay you for your expertise and time, hon.”

“Is there a shortage I should know about, ladies?”

A warm, deep smokey voice spoke up beside them and Ivy’s stupid heart did a funny quiver in her chest. Right that second, Ivy wished she could follow her own advice and stay clear of man territory, but Aspen had a way of luring even the deepest of emotions to the surface.

“Hey, Ivy! It’s so good to see you!”

Ivy turned to find a skinny brunette a couple of inches taller than herself coming straight for her, arms spread.

“Julie! It’s been too long!”

Julie, the youngest of the Kennedy siblings, unwound her arms from her and pulled back, smiling. “I can’t believe you’re actually here. Aspen said as much but I wouldn’t believe him until I saw you for myself.”

“It’s true,” she laughed nervously.

“We’ll have to catch up while you’re in town. I have to go before Ryder has a heart attack,” Julie grabbed her hands. “Promise me we’ll have some girl time?”

“I would love that.”

They’d been best friends in high school but drifted apart as time went on. “I’ll call you.” Julie pulled her in for another hug. “See you later.”

“Be careful out there. Lots of ice on the road.”

Julie waved to everyone as she nodded to her brother’s warning.

Ivy shook her head with a small laugh and turned to peer up at a set of deep brown eyes and a grin that pulled on strings that had no business being connected to her heart.

“Speak of the devil, we were just talking about you, handsome,” Mrs. December spoke up. Which was a good thing because for a second she lost all ability to form syllables. That voice, the way it still held sway over her. She needed out of Dixen ASAP. Had it only been an hour since she saw him last?

“We were? I mean, we were.” She smiled. “Mrs. December needs help with her stove and countertops.”

“You can never be too careful when dealing with kitchen appliances,” Aspen offered with a slow smile. “I’m here to see Ryder about the same thing.”

---