A Mistletoe Vow. Kate Hardy
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Sure, I remember you. You’re married now. Congratulations.”
She gave a pleased-as-punch smile and gestured through the doorway to what looked like an office where a big, tough-looking dude with a couple of tats was speaking on a cell phone.
“That’s my husband, Rafe. He and I run The Christmas Ranch together.”
“The two of you must just be overflowing with Christmas spirit.”
She chuckled. “We do our best. Thanks for letting your daughter participate in the show. It means a lot to Celeste.”
He wasn’t sure he had exactly “let” Olivia do anything. He’d been steamrollered into it, when all was said and done, but so far things seemed to be working out.
He shrugged. “It’s for a good cause, right? Making some older people happy. That can only be a good thing, right?”
“Exactly.” She beamed at him.
“You’re the artist,” he realized suddenly. “The one who took Celeste’s Sparkle story and turned it into a book.”
She nodded. “That’s me,” she answered.
“They’re charming illustrations that go perfectly with the story,” he told her. “I read the second book again to my daughter last night, for about the twentieth time in just a few days. It’s every bit as sweet as the first one. The two of you make a great team.”
She looked pleased at his words. “Thanks, but Celeste is the creative genius. I just took her fabulous story and drew little pictures to go with it. Any success the Sparkle book has seen is because of her story.”
“That’s funny. She said almost exactly the same thing about you and your illustrations.”
“She would,” she said with a laugh. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re always adoring sisters, so sweet to each other we’ll make your teeth hurt. We’re not afraid to have it out. I think I’ve still got a little bald spot in the back of my head where she yanked out some hair during a fight when we were kids. She might look sweet and all, with that quiet librarian thing she has going, but she can fight dirty, even when you’re bigger than she is.”
He had to laugh. He glanced over at Celeste, who was holding an upset preschooler on her lap and trying to calm him, her face close to his. Flynn did his best to imagine her in a physical fight with one of her sisters. He couldn’t quite make the image fit, but had to admit he enjoyed trying.
She must have felt his gaze. She looked up from the little boy and whatever she was saying to him. He saw her swallow and watched her features turn rosy, much to his secret enjoyment. After a moment, she turned back to the child and he shifted his gaze back to Hope, who was watching him with interest.
“Looks as if we’re just about wrapping up here,” she said casually. “If you haven’t had dinner, why don’t you and your daughter come up to the ranch house after practice? Aunt Mary is making lasagna and her famous crusty bread sticks. You can celebrate with us.”
“What are you celebrating?”
“We just agreed to let a film studio begin work on an animated Sparkle movie. It’s going into production immediately, with hopes that it will be out by next Christmas. And with the money we’re getting for the film rights, we’re paying off the second mortgage our uncle took on the Star N. We’d love to have you celebrate with us.”
His stomach rumbled on cue while he was still trying to take in the surprising invitation. “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t want to intrude.”
“Intrude on what?” Another woman who looked enough like Celeste and Hope to make him certain this was their other sister joined them by the fireplace.
“I invited Flynn and his daughter over for lasagna. Aunt Mary won’t mind, will she?”
“Are you kidding? She’ll be over the moon to have a few more people to fuss over, and you know she always makes enough to feed half the town.”
His first inclination was to say no. He even opened his mouth to refuse the invitation, but then he caught sight of Olivia looking more relaxed and animated than he had seen her in a long time. Right next to her was Celeste, apparently done calming the upset little boy and now smiling at something Olivia had said.
He couldn’t seem to look away.
“Sure,” he answered before he had a chance to think it through. He had no plans for dinner beyond warming up the pizza they’d had the night before, and he had a feeling Olivia was getting a little tired of his meager culinary abilities. “Thank you for inviting us. Lasagna sounds delicious, and we would be honored to celebrate with you, especially since Olivia is your biggest fan.”
“Excellent,” Hope said, looking delighted.
“I’d better call Aunt Mary and let her know to set two more places at dinner,” Faith said.
The two of them walked away, leaving him wondering what he had just done.
This was a mistake.
Flynn sat at the big scarred kitchen table at the Star N wondering what on earth he had been thinking to agree to this.
Since the moment he sat down he had been aware of an itch between his shoulders, a feeling that he didn’t belong here.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on why.
The food was delicious, he had to admit. The lasagna was perfectly cooked, cheesy and flavorful with a red sauce his late mother’s Italian chef would definitely have endorsed. The bread sticks were crispy and flavorful, and even the tossed salad seemed fresh and festive.
He couldn’t fault the company. It was more than pleasant. He enjoyed listening to Celeste’s family—her aunt Mary, who turned out to be a jolly woman with warm eyes and an ample girth, her two sisters as well as Hope’s husband, Rafe Santiago, and Chase Brannon, a neighboring rancher who seemed more like part of the family.
More important, Olivia seemed to be more relaxed and comfortable than he had seen her in a long time. She sat at one end of the table with Celeste’s niece, Louisa, her nephew, Barrett, and the other boy he had seen them with at the rehearsal. It turned out the boy was Rafe’s nephew. From what Flynn could tell, the boy lived with Rafe and Hope, though Flynn didn’t completely understand why.
The children were deep in conversation, and every once in a while he heard laughter coming from that end of the table. Olivia even joined in a few times—a total shocker.
So why did he feel so uneasy? He didn’t want to admit that it might have been because he was enjoying himself too much. He didn’t need to find more things that drew him to Celeste, when he already couldn’t seem to get the woman out of his head.
“So what do you do in California?” Chase asked.
The man treated all the Nichols sisters as if he were an older brother. He seemed especially protective of Faith, though she hardly seemed to notice.
“Construction. I’ve got a fairly good-size operation, with offices in San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento.”
“Delaney Construction. Is that you?” Rafe piped up.
He nodded, intensely proud of what he had built out of nothing. The company had become a powerhouse over the past decade, even in the midst of a rough economy.
“You do good work,” Rafe said. “A buddy of mine is one of your carpentry subs. Kevin O’Brian. I flew out for a few weeks last spring to help him on a job, a new hospital in Fullerton.”
“Right. He’s a good man.”
“That’s what he said about you.”
“Wow.