Chapter Fifteen

Justin had never been shopping on Black Friday. In previous years, he had done all his Christmas shopping online or in quick trips during his lunch hour. This kind of buying frenzy was completely new to him, and it left him with one conclusion: people were freaking nuts.

He and Marley had spent the morning at the local box store picking out a new stove. While there, Justin noticed shelves quickly become bare, ravished by bargain-hunting locusts. He was standing too close to a discounted smoothie maker at one point and was given the stink eye by an old lady until he moved out of the way. She kept her eyes on him as she slowly reached for the appliance and placed it in her overflowing cart, as if she were hypnotizing him out of the desire to grab the thing himself. If Marley had not been with him, he might have done just that, just to see what the woman’s reaction would be.

Now he and Marley were at the coffee shop on Main Street, taking a break from the madness and enjoying the smell of pine and peppermint as they sipped their drinks at a small bistro table in the corner. Justin was amazed at the transformation downtown had undergone seemingly overnight. All the decorative turkeys, leaves, and pumpkins had been replaced by garlands and ornaments in the stores and on the street. He had not noticed any Christmas decorations the evening before when he was admiring the view of the town from Tara’s deck. A team of elves must have come through spraying Christmas spirit through the streets.

“This is still too hot.” Marley sat across from him, blowing on her large mug of hot chocolate. “I’m going to look at their beans. Ann and Garret still grind their own, don’t they?”

Justin looked at the long line at the counter. “We can come back when it’s not so crowded.”

She looked at him as if he were the dumbest thing on the planet. “Whole beans are twenty percent off—today only.”

Justin chuckled and reached in his pocket, pulling out his wallet. “Here, take my card. Get a few different bags since they’re on sale.”

So this was yet another side to his sister—Bargain shopper. No wonder she looked a little too happy in the box store. Justin suddenly felt exhausted knowing he would end up taking her to every shop in town. Hopefully, that would include It’s by Nature, if only for a minute or two. He did not want to bother Tara while she was likely swamped with customers, but he did want to see her. The growing warmth in his chest wasn’t going to allow too much time to go by without seeing her, touching her, or just being in the room with her.

Justin’s mind wandered to the evening before, when her soft body was pressed against his, and he smiled at the memory. It should have been a disastrous day, but being with Tara and her family had made it one of his better holidays. He could tell Marley felt the same way. His smile broadened as he thought about the ways both Tara and Marley had handled Fran Jackson.

Tara was fierce as she stood between them and her mother. Whether it was an act of possession or protection, he wasn’t sure, but he’d be happy with either one. When he picked Marley up from helping Shelby, he asked her how she had sized Fran up so well. Marley said she hadn’t, she just knew that she had hurt Tara and so must not be a very nice person. Just when he thought neither of those women could knock him further off-balance, they both managed to completely level him.

Stretching his long legs as far as they would go beneath the table, Justin placed his hands behind his head and listened to the soft music playing—someone singing about going home for Christmas. He had no desire to return to New York for the holiday, even if it meant not seeing Ann or Josh on Christmas Eve. It had only been a few months since the move, but Justin felt like he had always lived in Sylvan Hills.

As if the thought of Josh had somehow found its way to his cousin, Justin’s phone rang with a familiar ringtone. He didn’t even have to look at the screen before answering.

“Josh!”

“Happy Thanksgiving, bro.”

“You missed it by a day.”

Josh laughed, and Justin could hear various voices in the background.

“You’ll have to forgive my tardiness. I was in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, while giving a lovely local plenty to be thankful for.”

Justin groaned. “How old are you? Didn’t we outgrow bragging about conquests about a decade ago?”

“Someone would have to have a conquest before bragging about one, right? Ann tells me you’re pining over a woman who doesn’t want that heart you keep pinned on your sleeve.”

“I live in a town where you get more news from the old men sitting in the barber shop than from the paper, yet you and Ann manage to out gossip them.”

Josh laughed loud and long, and Justin smiled. They were as different as two men roughly the same age could be, but they had become good friends in their adulthood. Josh’s late mother was Justin’s aunt—his mother’s older sister. The two women were not close, and Justin and his cousin did not spend much time together until college, when they both worked summers for their grandfather. Eventually, after multiple tragedies hit both sides of his family, Justin, Josh, and Ann had become inseparable. At least until Justin had decided to move away.

“Tell me about this girl and why you haven’t been able to seal the deal.”

“That conversation with Ann was weeks ago.”

“Oh-ho. So you have been tangled up in the tinsel.”

“I’m not talking about this with you.”

“Lighten up, will you. I’m not asking for details. I’m just concerned. You’re a decent guy with a few bucks in the bank. You could be an easy target for the wrong sort of girl.”

“Sounds like you’ve been spending too much time with the ‘wrong sort of girl.’ Tara’s not like that.”

“Tara, huh? What does she look like? Send me a picture.”

Justin pulled the phone from his ear and scrolled through the photos. He had taken one the night before, after their kisses had left her hair messy and lips swollen. No way was Josh getting that one. He swiped a few more times before finding one of Tara and Marley that he had taken at lunch one day. They had both been surprised when he snapped the picture, but it didn’t show. Tara just looked beautiful. He tapped on the picture and sent it to Josh.

“Damn. She got any sisters?”

Justin laughed. “Two and you couldn’t handle either of them.” Or the giant mountain man who had obviously claimed one as his.

“Such little faith. How serious are you with this girl?”

Justin sighed. He was plenty serious and was just waiting for Tara to catch up. “We’re taking things slow.”

“And your balls are bluer than the ocean, right?”

“Pretty much.”

Josh laughed softly. “Listen, man, I didn’t just call to chat. There’s been an offer on the company.”

“What? I didn’t know you were thinking about selling.” Their grandfather had left his construction business to Josh and Justin, with Josh, who had always been far more hands on with the company, as the controlling partner.

“I wasn’t. But we’ve never fully recovered since the downturn, and it’s just getting to be too much work to turn a profit. For years, I’ve thought about selling if the right offer came along.”

“I had no idea.”

“You’ve had enough on your plate without worrying about this, too. We’re not losing money, but it’s just too damn much work keeping it afloat. I’d like to start something smaller, something that’s my own. Maybe build outside of New York.”

Justin was surprised. Josh spent so much time chasing and talking about women that it was sometimes easy to forget that he was actually a good businessman.

“Justin, I know the company is the last remaining link to your mom and her family. Things weren’t always good there, but blood is blood.”

He almost snorted. No, things were not always good. Most of the time his mother’s relationship with her family was strained at best, an absolute nightmare at worst. No one ever seemed to understand or have enough patience with his mother. Not even those who loved her.

“Josh, it’s fine. If this is what you want, then I’m on board. I was always the silent partner, anyway.”

“Okay. Good. I’ll email you the proposal, and we can go from there. So, uh, you coming home for Christmas? I think Garret could use some backup. Your aunt managed to slip her mattress into the guest room when they weren’t watching.”

Justin laughed just as Marley sat back down, triumphantly carrying a large shopping bag filled with beans. For a moment, his eyes wandered over the faces in the café. Most had become familiar to him in the last months, and it seemed every one of them was smiling happily through the haze of bargain-hunting madness. Marley waved to someone coming trough the door, and Justin noticed the beaded bracelet Tara had made on her wrist. He smiled and allowed the peppermint-scented air to fill his chest. It was Christmastime, and the flavor was finally acceptable. Right on schedule. He rose to order a cup to go.

“No, Josh. I already am home.”