Like most of the other admittedly biased citizens of Cupid’s Bow, Will believed that the Smoky Pig had the best barbecue in the state of Texas. The tantalizing scent that greeted him as he walked into the restaurant nearly made him groan in pleasure.
“Will!” Leanne Lanier set a couple of iced teas down on a table in the corner and hurried toward him. “It’s a relief to finally see you, sugar. My sister almost had me convinced I was getting the patented William Trent brush-off, but she’s always had an overactive imagination.”
“William Trent brush-off?”
“Never mind that, now that you’ve come to see me.”
He experienced a small but sharp bite of guilt, like a paper cut. When he’d told her they needed to reschedule their movie date, it probably would have been more honest to say they needed to postpone indefinitely. But since he’d had no idea how long Tommy would be staying with him, he’d opted for vagueness. “It’s always nice to see you. But I’m actually here to pick up a to-go order.”
Leanne pouted. “You’d rather go home and eat dinner all by your lonesome than sit in my section? Or...will you not be alone?”
“As a matter of fact, I won’t be. There will be five of us, plus the baby.”
Her eyebrows rose. “You mean you’re still babysitting for that friend you mentioned?”
“Yeah. The woman who lives next door to me lends a hand while I’m at the station. In return, I’m taking dinner to her and her daughters and helping them with their Christmas tree.”
“That’s right neighborly of you.”
Neighborly. He tried not to grimace at the word.
“Hey, Leanne,” a customer called, “when you get a chance, we could use refills back here.”
She nodded over her shoulder, then said to Will, “Don’t be a stranger. I’d hate to tell my sister she was right about that brush-off.”
Will didn’t know what to say, but he wouldn’t make false promises. His enthusiasm for taking her out had waned inexplicably in the last week. “Leanne, I...”
“Damn. I guess even my sister’s crazy imagination gets something right once in a while.” She put a hand on her hip. “At least tell me I’m still your favorite waitress?”
“Unquestionably. Next time I come in, I’ll leave the tip to prove it.”
“You’d better,” she said as she spun away.
Relieved that there were no hard feelings between them, he resumed his path to the take-out counter. “Order for Trent,” he said to the cashier.
Will paid and was gathering the bags when the phone in his pocket rang. No doubt his mother. She’d called twice today about the tuxedo fitting with his brothers tomorrow, then texted him on top of that to remind him he needed to wear his dress shoes for the fitting. Not my first rodeo, Mom. The closer they got to the wedding, the more manic she became. Gayle Trent was usually the picture of composure. He couldn’t help wondering if she’d become a touch superstitious, after Cole’s divorce and Will’s abruptly canceled nuptials, about everything going exactly right this time.
Holding his phone between his ear and shoulder, he unlocked the car door. “Hello.”
Instead of his mother’s purposeful “William...” as she launched into her latest set of instructions, there was a long pause.
“Hello?” He stared at the screen to make sure the call was connected, noting that the unknown number was outside the Cupid’s Bow area code.
“Will? It’s Amy.”
He had a dozen things he wanted to say to her all at once, and he closed his eyes briefly, counting to five so that he didn’t demand to know what the hell she’d been thinking. If she’d told Will how desperate the situation was, he could’ve helped without the last-minute scramble for child care. She should have been honest with him.
“Is...” Her voice trembled with emotion. “Is Tommy okay?”
Her worry for her son dissolved his momentary flare of temper. “He’s fine. I’m sure he misses you, God knows I’m no substitute, but he’s healthy and well cared for. How are you?”
“Better. Shaky. Scared you hate me for what I did. I was sleep deprived and not even close to being in my right mind.”
“I don’t hate you.”
“Thank you. The counselor here is wonderful. She’s helped a lot, but I didn’t think I could make any more progress without talking to you first. I needed to check on my boy, and I needed to tell you I’m sorry for how I left him. I knew he’d be safe with you, but I was afraid that if I asked you outright, you’d say no.”
Would Will have refused? He had genuinely wanted to help, but taking care of the baby was so daunting. It took him, Megan and Kate, with occasional assistance from others, just to make sure Tommy was covered around the clock. He was starting to understand how overwhelmed Amy must have felt. “When you come home, my mom wants to talk to you about possibly finding a better job so that you can cut back on your hours. And, just so you know, my soon-to-be sister-in-law completely adores your son, so maybe she can periodically lend a hand instead of your mother.”
Amy sniffled. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you in my life. You’re like a guardian angel.”
“Let’s not go overboard, kiddo. I’m no angel.”
“Are you with Tommy? Could you hold the phone up to him so he can hear my voice?”
He hated to disappoint her. “Sorry, he’s with Megan—you remember the nice lady who gave you the chocolate? She watches him sometimes while I work.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe you could call again sometime soon?” Or, even better, come see him in person. Trying not to sound too impatient—her recovery was important—he asked, “When are you coming home?”
“I... It’s difficult to tell. The counselors say that if you leave too soon, you’ll almost certainly relapse. As much as it kills me to be away from him, I have to do what’s best for him in the long run.”
Will’s neck and shoulders stiffened, tension radiating to the base of his skull. “Okay. So, what are we talking here? Days? Weeks?” He almost choked on the word. He hadn’t even made it through one full week, and it felt as if Tommy had turned his life upside down. Plus, he had best man duties and Christmas just around the corner.
“I have to go,” Amy said in a rush. “Give him kisses for me, and don’t forget his well-baby appointment on Monday.”
“Well-baby?”
“At noon. It’s in the notebook.”
“Amy, wait! What if—”
“God bless you, Will. You truly are a hero.”
Then she hung up, and he sat alone in his car, swearing heroically.
* * *
MEGAN OPENED HER front door, feeling a moment of surreal intimacy as she situated the baby against her hip and smiled up at Will, half expecting him to say “Honey, I’m home.” It was like misplaced déjà vu, as if it should remind her of her marriage, except that her marriage had been nothing like that after the girls were born. When Spencer had returned from business trips, there were strained silences and unspoken suspicions, not smiling reunions.
Will held up two plastic bags. “I come bearing barbecue.”
“My hero.” It had been a long week and when he’d called to tell her he could take care of dinner, she’d nearly wept with relief at the idea of not cooking.
His face crinkled in an unreadable expression as he took Tommy, who’d reached for Will as soon as he walked inside.
“What is it?” Megan asked.
“You’re the second woman to call me a hero today.”
Not surprising, given his career. “Did you put out a fire? Save a cat from a tree?”
“It wasn’t work-related. I heard from Amy.”
“How is she?” Although Megan still didn’t know the exact details of where the young woman had gone or why, she’d started listening more closely to local gossip whenever Amy or Donovan was mentioned and she had some educated guesses.
“Better, I think. But she’s not sure when she’ll be back.” He sounded as if he was trying to keep irritation out of his voice.
She mentally applauded the effort even as she sympathized with how hard this must be for him. Before the girls were born, Megan had read stacks of books, taken classes and even printed out internet articles on parenting, yet once the triplets came, there had been dozens of days when she felt unprepared and overwhelmed. Will, in contrast, hadn’t been given much notice before a baby was dumped in his lap, disrupting his bachelor lifestyle.
“I like the little guy,” he was quick to add. “But not knowing how long he’ll be with me or what kind of plans I should be making...”
“I understand.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re handling it like a champ.”
He glanced down to her fingers over his, and when he raised his gaze again, his expression had changed. Heated. A twinge unlike anything Megan had experienced in years fluttered in her midsection. Oh boy. She dropped her hand, but that quivery feeling inside her didn’t go away.
Knowing her cheeks were growing red, she quickly turned toward the kitchen. “This smells so delicious I don’t even care that my daughters are going to have barbecue sauce all over them in ten minutes. Girls, dinner!” Yesterday, as soon as Will had arrived to pick up Tommy, Daisy and Iris had clustered in the doorway, both clamoring to tell him about their day. Luckily, yesterday’s recap had not included any mention of Abe Martin’s dog.
She knew that the only reason the girls hadn’t come running when Will knocked on the door this evening was that they were finishing up their pictures. When she’d reminded them earlier to be sure to thank Will for coming with them, Iris had wanted to express her gratitude with a drawing. The other two had liked this idea, especially Lily, since drawing didn’t actually involve speaking to anyone.
They all gathered at the table. For a change, Megan didn’t have to ask anyone to quit playing with their food—or, in Daisy’s case, remind her to stop talking long enough to eat something. The girls ate quickly, either in testament to how good the food from the Smoky Pig was or in excitement for their outing. Iris finished first and bolted from her chair. Moments later, she reappeared in her chunky winter coat, her gloves on the wrong hands and dragging her scarf behind her.
“Zip me, Mommy?”
Megan bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Oh, honey, it’s not cold today. Don’t you remember? You said you were hot when we went to see Miss Hadley at the library.”
Iris thrust out her bottom lip. “But Christmas trees!”
It probably didn’t help that, for the last two nights, Iris’s requested bedtime story had been a picture book about a little girl and her father tromping out in the snow to look for the perfect Christmas tree. “The irony,” Megan told Will, “is that if it were freezing outside, it would take us forty-five minutes to locate both of her gloves.” She shrugged. “Okay, Iris. You can always take off the coat if you get too warm.” Megan was bringing the megastroller anyway, since Will didn’t have one for the baby. They could throw Iris’s extra clothes in it when she began shedding them.
All three girls got ready with impressive speed, and even Tommy seemed swept up in the enthusiasm, vocalizing lots of mmm and g-g-g sounds. While Daisy tried to make a run for the door in mismatched shoes, Lily hung back, tugging on the hem of Megan’s boat-necked T-shirt.
“What is it, honey?”
“Mis-tah Will’s dwawing,” the girl whispered. She made a beeline for the living room and returned with all three slightly crumpled drawings, which she thrust at her mother.
“Wouldn’t you rather give them to him yourself?” Megan prodded. There was a fine parenting line between nudging your child out of her natural comfort zone and supporting her sense of security. When Lily shook her head, Megan sighed. “Will? The girls made these for you. To say thanks for coming with us tonight.”
“Thank you, Mr. Will,” Daisy and Iris chorused.
He looked startled by the outpouring of gratitude, maybe even a little uncomfortable. But then he knelt down so that he could study the pictures at the girls’ eye level. He gave each sheet of paper serious study, as if he were admiring museum paintings, and Megan swallowed, her chest tight. The girls had a fairly limited social circle—their mama, the people from day care, librarian Hadley Lanier, their “aunt” Dagmar. Watching this big man patiently make the effort to fit into their three-year-old world took her breath away.
“...and these are all the forest animals with their Christmas tree,” Daisy said, pointing to each one. “Bunny. Fox. T. rex.”
Will smothered a laugh, his eyes dancing. “This is, hands down, the very best Christmas drawing with a dinosaur in it I’ve ever been given. Thank you, darlin’.”
“And this is my picture,” Iris interrupted. “See all the snow? Christmas is s’posed to have snow.”
Smoothing out the final sheet, Will glanced at Lily. “And you drew this one?”
She nodded.
“It’s beautiful.” The paper was dominated by a triangle-shaped blob of dark green with different colors decorating it. “A perfect Christmas tree.”
Lily’s smile was tentative, but she stood taller.
“Well, ladies.” He held up the tree drawing. “This is our mission. Let’s go find the perfect tree!”
Daisy let out a whoop of glee as Will opened the front door for her. There was a flurry of activity as the girls climbed into their booster seats and Will strapped Tommy safely into his infant seat. He paused by the passenger door, laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m about to get in a minivan.” Will shook his head in amusement. “With four car seats. And a triple stroller. My reputation may never recover.”
The giddy glow that had enveloped her as she watched Will discuss the drawings with her daughters dimmed. She knew he was kidding around, not taking jabs at her lack of cool, but his joke highlighted the differences in their situations. What had he said earlier this week? Until Amy gets back, my time’s not free. But Amy was coming back. This wasn’t his real life. He would go back to late nights and serial dating, and Megan would still be driving a minivan with a ginormous stroller in the back.
This is my reality. He’s just visiting.
She started the van and popped in a CD of Christmas music, hoping it would cover her suddenly pensive mood.
As they rolled up to the tree farm, she asked, “Are you sure we’ll be able to strap both trees on to the van?” They were supposed to find him a tree, too.
“I’ll only get a small one for my place. I don’t go all out, because I’ve never spent a single Christmas at my house. We decorate the station, and my brothers and I help our parents put up the giant family tree. My mother considers it an annual tradition to embarrass us with all the horrible elementary school ornaments we made her and terrible pictures of us as kids. Well, terrible pictures of Jace when he had braces and a regrettable haircut. I was always incredibly photogenic.”
She laughed out loud. “I believe that.”
As they buckled Tommy into the stroller, Will asked, “What do you think I should get little man for Christmas? I’m sure Amy will send presents,” he hastily added, “but I feel like he should have plenty to open. It’s his first Christmas.”
Although she was touched by the sentiment, she couldn’t help teasing him. “You do realize he won’t be opening anything, right? It will be a steady stream of ‘oh, what’s in this bag, Tommy?’ Then you open it for him and coo things like ‘look, Tommy, it’s a stuffed giraffe, just what you always wanted!’”
“This is your response to my sincere request for help? Sarcastic stuffed giraffe references?” He gave her a stern look. “I expected more from you, Megan.”
“Okay, okay. No more terrible hypothetical examples.” She mulled it over, thinking back to the girls’ first year. Her mother had sent gorgeous but impractical dresses. What Megan had really needed was about a million diapers. “I can give you a list of great baby and toddler books. He’s probably getting tired of the two that were in his duffel bag.”
“Definitely. Just last night, he complained that the suspense of whether or not the boy finds his green balloon wasn’t gripping enough and requested that we move on to George R. R. Martin novels.”
“Balloon?” Daisy asked, looking around to see if someone was handing them out.
Will glanced down apologetically. “Sorry. I was only making a joke. But who needs balloons when we have rows and rows of Christmas trees to scope out?”
Rows and rows. Oh, goody. Megan tried not to think about how she’d been up since five thirty in the morning and still had wedding pew bows to work on once she got the girls asleep tonight. At least I’m wearing my comfortable sneakers. She dimly recalled that there had been a time in her life when she occasionally left the house in high heels. She was pretty sure none of those shoes had been out of their boxes since she’d moved to Cupid’s Bow.
“Can I have a reindeer ride?” Daisy asked.
Will looked around, then turned to Megan, his expression puzzled.
“I think she means on your shoulders,” Megan said, fondly recalling how he’d coaxed Iris from her tantrum at the festival.
Daisy nodded. “Iris got a turn. I wanna turn.”
“Seems fair,” Will agreed. “Hold on a sec.” He shrugged out of the flannel plaid shirt he’d worn unbuttoned over a dark T-shirt and tossed it into the stroller on top of the jacket Iris had already discarded. Then, in one fluid motion that made Daisy shriek with delight, he scooped her up and onto his shoulders.
Megan tried—unsuccessfully—not to notice his forearms and the ripple of muscles beneath the thin cotton T. If staying fit was part of his job, the man deserved a raise. She pushed the stroller forward and admonished herself to focus on Christmas trees. Virginia pine. Fraser fir. Bare-chested Will.
Her pulse sped up, her skin tingling at the memory of his opening his front door wearing nothing but a towel. She’d been struggling for days not to think about that. But her traitorous mind had other ideas.
After Megan had lived in Cupid’s Bow for a few months, Dagmar had tried to set her up on a date or two, insisting, “You may not have the time for a grand romance or the desire to remarry, but a woman still has needs.”
“Not currently,” Megan had protested. “I don’t have enough energy to fuel a sex drive.”
That had certainly changed. Her libido had not only reawakened, it was well rested and eager.
“What do you think, Megan?” Will’s deep voice was an inviting rumble.
She inhaled sharply, terrified that her barely repressed lust was visible on her face. “A-about?”
“About the tree.”
“Right. Of course.” She stared at the fir in question, not really seeing it, taking a moment to collect herself and hoping she looked like she was thinking deep tree thoughts. “Do you like it, Lily?”
Her quietest child was sitting in the shade beneath the tree, collecting fallen needles.
“This one!” Iris declared, darting across the aisle. “And this one!” Barreling forward, she’d identified three other contenders by the time Megan caught up to her.
“But which one’s your favorite?” Megan asked.
“All of them!”
Behind them, Will laughed. “You’re gonna need a bigger van.”
“Will Trent?” A woman with high cheekbones and sleek blond hair poked her head out from between a couple of cypress trees, then stepped into the aisle with them. “I thought I heard your...” Her breathy tone had changed to one of confusion as she stared at Daisy atop his shoulders.
Will shifted his weight, looking uncomfortable. “Stefani. Do you, um, know Megan Rivers?”
The woman raked her dark gaze over Megan. “Hi. Stefani Coyle, friend of Will’s.” She gave him a chiding glance from beneath her lashes. “At least, I thought we were friends. What gives, Trent? You don’t write, you don’t call...”
“Been busy.”
“Am I going to have to wait for you to enter another bachelor auction and bid on you just to get some of your time?”
“Sorry, no auctions in my future. It was just that once, for charity.”
“Uh-huh.” The woman stared at him in bewilderment, obviously trying to understand what he was doing here with three preschoolers, a baby and a frumpy single mom.
At least, Megan felt frumpy in comparison. The blonde had an expensive-looking sweater dress and an impeccable manicure. Last manicure I had was when the girls and I painted our nails in that bubblegum-scented glitter polish.
“Can we go?” Daisy demanded. “More trees.”
Megan knew she should scold her daughter for her rude tone, yet couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. Because she was feeling anxious to move on, too.
“More trees,” Will agreed. “Merry Christmas, Stefani. Nice seeing you.”
The woman laid a hand on his arm. “We should have drinks soon. Catch up.”
“I don’t know. Like I said, busy time.”
“Right.” She gave him a tight smile. “Merry Christmas.” The inflection she put on the words made it sound as if she’d said something else entirely. Then she shot a final glance in Megan’s direction and stalked off.
“Just a hunch,” Megan said in the awkward silence that followed, “but I don’t think she’s going to buy flowers from me anytime soon.”
“Sorry about that,” Will said. “Stefani...has her qualities.”
Megan couldn’t help wondering if one of those qualities was that Stefani also looked great wearing nothing but a towel.
“Daisy, I’m going to set you down for a minute so you can get a better look at the trees, okay?” He lowered the girl to the ground. Within moments, all three girls were giggling and playing hide-and-seek among the pines.
Will lagged behind with Megan and the stroller. “Just so you know, I never dated Stefani.”
Had her jealousy been that evident? Embarrassment made her snap, “You don’t owe me any explanations about your love life.”
He grinned. “Welcome back, Prickly.”
Eyes narrowed, she prepared to blast him. But as soon as she opened her mouth, he gave her such a pointed look she ended up laughing at herself. “Busted. The few times I saw Dagmar as a kid, she called me mouse. Still does—her idea of an endearment. Maybe she should have gone with porcupine.”
“Or hedgehog.”
“Spiny sea urchin.”
He guffawed. “Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.”
“Nicknames aside, I didn’t mean to get snippy. But your romantic choices are really none of my business.”
“I just felt compelled to let you know she was not among my romantic choices. She broke Jace’s heart a couple of years ago, and I wouldn’t do that to him. I don’t think she’s accustomed to being told no.”
“A woman that beautiful? I imagine not.” When he made a noncommittal noise—as if there could be any doubt about Stefani’s appeal—she rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, most guys would salivate at the chance to go out with a flawless blonde.”
He stopped walking. “I’m not most guys.”
Very true.
With a grin, he reached out to twine a strand of her hair around his index finger. “And as long as we’re on the subject, I’m partial to brunettes.”
Her breath caught. The most appealing man in Cupid’s Bow—possibly the most appealing man she’d ever met—was flirting with her, and she had no idea what to do. Every feminine instinct in her body told her to flirt back, but she wasn’t sure she even remembered how. Besides, her girls were only a few feet away. Granted, they weren’t paying much attention to the adults, but Megan was pretty sure they’d notice if their mother suddenly threw her arms around a sexy firefighter and started making out with him. Kids were observant like that.
“Will!” A cheerful female voice broke through Megan’s deliberations.
“Anita. Hey.” Will’s tone was warmer than it had been when he greeted Stefani, but his posture was tense, as if he resented the interruption. He put his hand on Megan’s back. “Have you two met? This is my neighbor and good friend Megan Rivers. Megan, Anita Drake.”
“Nice to meet you,” Anita said, stepping forward to shake Megan’s hand. “You’re in the flower shop on Main Street, right? I’ve been meaning to stop in. A Christmas arrangement of roses and carnations would brighten up my grandmother’s room at the nursing home.” Her gaze trailed down to the stroller, where Tommy was sleeping. “Awww. So, is this little guy the reason we canceled dinner?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Well, I can’t hold it against him. Who could be mad at that face? When your babysitting gig is over, let me know if you still want to check out the new restaurant.” She looked up from the baby, belatedly registering Will’s uncomfortable demeanor, and abruptly turned to Megan. “You should join us.”
“I should?” Megan hadn’t expected to be included on their date.
“Absolutely. Assuming you like Chinese food?”
“I like any food I don’t have to cook.”
“Great. Just let me know if the two of you find a free night.” She nodded toward the nearby triplets. “I’m guessing you have your hands full?”
“I have an entire minivan full. But I’ll try to work it in,” Megan promised, feeling as if she’d just made a new friend.
Anita spotted one of the lot attendants and waved after him to show him which tree she’d selected, calling to Megan, “I’ll be by soon for that flower arrangement!”
As the other woman disappeared over a slight hill, Megan said, “She seemed—”
“I didn’t date her, either,” he blurted.
Megan raised an eyebrow.
After a second’s reflection, he added candidly, “We’ve talked about grabbing a bite a few times, but our schedules never quite matched up. Our relationship has always been casual but friendly.”
“Yeah. You have a lot of friends.”
“People are drawn to me. It’s my strength of character, generous nature, admirable— This would be more convincing if I could keep a straight face, wouldn’t it?”
“William, I hate to break it to you, but nothing was going to make that steaming pile convincing.”
He grinned. “Will you at least concede that I’m a likable guy?”
Pretending she had to think it over first, she finally allowed, “Oh, all right.” Truthfully, Will Trent was dangerously likable. Bordering on irresistible.
And the more time she spent with him, the harder it was to remember why she should resist the draw.
* * *
MEGAN STEPPED INSIDE the renovated barn that served as a headquarters for the tree farm, ready to pay and head home. On the plus side, she wouldn’t have any trouble getting the girls to sleep tonight. Iris and Lily had already crawled into the stroller. Even Daisy’s steps were dragging. But the last hour and a half had been worth it. After intense deliberation, the girls had selected a spruce that was currently being strapped to the roof of the van. They’d had so much fun.
And so did I. She snuck a sidelong glance at Will, admiring his profile. He was so—
“Will Trent, as I live and breathe.” A petite woman with corkscrew curls stopped in front of them, her hands on her hips and a broad smile on her face. “Never thought I’d see the day you’d be pushing a stroller.” She eyed Megan with curiosity. “Hi. Tansy Carmichael.”
“Megan Rivers, Will’s neighbor.”
“Will and I used to play a lot of pool together,” Tansy said. “I lost more than a few bets to him.” The twinkle in her eyes said that she hadn’t minded. “But since it’s been months since I’ve heard from him, I found a new pool partner.” She nodded toward a good-looking man with an elaborate tattoo sleeve who was paying for a couple of cups of hot cider. Tansy flashed Will a pointed glance that seemed to say you missed out, buddy, but then she smiled at Megan. “Are these your adorable kids?”
“Only the girls. Three is a rewarding challenge, but I’m not sure I could handle four,” she admitted.
The man Tansy had indicated joined them, passing her a cinnamon-scented cider. His posture stiffened almost imperceptibly when he noticed that she was talking to Will, but he smiled politely. “Ready to go?”
She nodded. “Nice meeting you, Megan. Goodbye, Will.”
As the couple exited, Megan smirked at Will. This time, there was no way he could deny a romantic past.
He folded his arms across his chest. “When you live your whole life in the same small town, you get to know a lot of people, okay?”
Yeah. Especially the female people. She bit back a chuckle, amused that, for once, he was the one being defensive.
There was a short line to pay for trees. While Megan pulled her wallet out of her purse, Lily suddenly scrambled down from the stroller.
“Puppy!” She raced toward a golden retriever sprawled across a large plaid dog bed in the corner.
When the bearded man behind the cash register saw Megan lunge for her daughter, her eyes wide with alarm, he quickly assured her, “It’s okay, ma’am. Buster’s as friendly as they come, and he loves children.”
Sure enough, the dog’s tail started happily thumping when Lily plopped down next to him.
Will shook his head in wonderment. “She may be shy with people, but she’s sure not timid around dogs, is she?”
“Nope.” Megan watched her daughter fondly. “She adores dogs, always has. I keep trying to teach her, though, that she shouldn’t approach them without adult permission. Guess we need to keep working on that.”
“Mama? Can I pet the doggy?” Daisy asked the question with an air of self-importance, as if drawing attention to the fact that she had followed proper protocol.
Megan gave permission, and within moments, all three of her girls were crowded around the golden retriever, who looked positively thrilled with the attention. She sighed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if the girls ask Santa for a dog. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but I really do have my hands full. The girls are too young to help much with pet care, and my yard isn’t even fenced.”
A muffled noise escaped Will, as if he was smothering a laugh.
“What?”
“Nothing, I... It’s just, after our first meeting, I half expected you to build a fifteen-foot fence between your house and mine. And possibly add a moat. You really did not like me.”
“You were too charming.” At his blank look, she tried to explain. “Not quite flirtatious, but almost as if you were trying too hard?” When she’d moved in, he was working long hours at the fire station. She’d overheard plenty of local gossip about him before ever meeting him. They met later, one night when he was enthusiastically kissing a woman goodbye at her car as Megan brought out folded moving boxes to the recycling bin. Will’s date had driven away, and he’d walked over to introduce himself. She’d found his over-the-top charm off-putting.
Would her first impression have been different if she hadn’t already heard stories, if she hadn’t witnessed him getting PG-13 in their shared driveway? “My ex-husband, Spencer, is in sales. Getting people to like him is part of his job. And you...reminded me of him. You don’t look anything alike, and you don’t even have much in common. But there’s a vibe.”
“A vibe,” he repeated disbelievingly. “You didn’t like me because of ‘a vibe’?”
“Sorry,” she said in a small voice. From his point of view, she must seem very petty to have convicted him for someone else’s crimes.
He sighed. “I guess I didn’t help matters. The next few times I saw you, I was determined to get a more positive response. A smile, a laugh, something. I just compounded the problem, didn’t I?”
Yes. “That’s all behind us.” She gave him an earnest look, laying her hand on his forearm as she added in an oh-so-sincere tone, “I find you downright tolerable now!”
“Smart-ass.”
She cast a glance toward her girls, even though they were far too interested in the retriever to eavesdrop on boring grown-up conversations. “Language, William.”
“Smart-butt.”
They were next in line. After they’d each paid for their respective trees, Will pushed the stroller along a side wall, so it wasn’t in the walkway. Megan joined him next to a shelf of ornaments.
“Girls,” she called, “we need to g—”
“One more minute, Mommy!”
She sighed. “You have one minute to say goodbye.”
“If it helps,” Will said, “this farm also has berry picking in the spring and a pumpkin patch in the fall. I’m sure they can come back and visit Buster some other time.”
“Hey!” The bearded cashier beamed at them, pointing toward the ceiling. “You two are under the mistletoe.”
Megan’s pulse stuttered and she raised her gaze slowly, as if afraid of what she’d find. Yep. A sprig of mistletoe with a red velvet bow tied around it. Her eyes slid to Will’s face. He was looking straight at her, his expression hungry. A hot shiver went through her. He’s going to kiss me. There was an unnatural stillness about him as he met her gaze, a sense of expectancy as he waited for some sign for her, a silent yes or no.
Her heart was beating madly now, and her throat had gone dry. Licking her lips, she swayed ever so slightly on her feet. It wasn’t a step or even a conscious action, but it brought her closer to him. Taking that as his permission, he cupped her face in his broad, warm hands and leaned down, pausing for the barest second, gaze locked on hers, before their mouths met. It was a light, exploratory kiss, nothing that would scandalize those around them, but it was also the first kiss she’d received in two years. Even more staggering, it was Will.
Now that his lips were moving over hers, she realized she’d been waiting for him to do this since that moment among the pine trees when he’d told her he liked brunettes. Perhaps the hunger she thought she’d glimpsed in his gaze was just a reflection of what she herself had been feeling. Sensation coursed through her, almost like adrenaline, leaving her shaky in its aftermath. Part of her wanted to kiss him back from now until the new year. The other part was shocked that she’d done this with her daughters in the same room.
She pulled back, already mentally forming an explanation about mistletoe and Christmas traditions; if that didn’t work, she’d distract them with candy canes, to hell with how sticky the inside of her van got. But the triplets were oblivious, all hugging Buster and proclaiming their love for him.
She cleared her throat. “Girls? We, um, need to leave.” She was hesitant to look at Will. If he seemed disappointed or unaffected by the kiss, she’d cry. Or possibly throw Christmas ornaments at his head. But if she found desire in his expression, how would she keep herself from melting back into his arms?
“Megan.”
Moment of truth. She glanced up, suddenly commiserating with Lily’s shyness.
There was need etched in his expression—he definitely wasn’t unmoved by their kiss—but tenderness, too. He opened his mouth to say something, but it seemed his usual slick charm deserted him. Instead, he gave her a lopsided smile and squeezed her hand. Megan realized she was grinning like a teenage girl with her first crush. She wanted to skip through the parking lot or spin in circles for no reason other than the sheer, dizzy joy of it.
It was ironic—for all that three different females had approached him since he’d set foot on the farm, in that moment, grinning back at Megan, he made her feel like the only woman in the world. Or at least, the only one who mattered.