“He would,” Jack snorted in amusement.
Penny’s eyes lit up when she spotted someone across the square. “Oh, look! Frank and Beverly are here. I’ve been dying to introduce you. You two get in line for hot chocolate, and I’ll bring them over.”
As her sister skipped across the lawn, Kat couldn’t help noticing how the entire town buzzed with merriment.
“This is quite the tradition,” she said as they walked toward the quaint hot chocolate stand nestled between two booths, one serving roasted chestnuts and the other a variety of candied caramel corn.
“It’s my favorite holiday event. When Mayor Burns lights the tree, we all sing Christmas carols. You’re going to love it.”
“Oh, I don’t sing.”
“You don’t sing?” As he cocked his head, the ear flaps of his hat flopped to one side. “I’m sure you don’t soundthatbad.”
“I didn’t say Ican’tsing. I said I don’t sing.”
“Why not?”
Kat hesitated. She’d never told anyone, not even Fern, but for some reason, she wanted to share with Jack—an impulse she had given up questioning.
“Well—” she began, pausing when a flicker of shock darted across his face.
Following his gaze, she saw a stunning raven-haired woman sashayed toward them. The exotic beauty would have stood out in any situation, but in her sleek, black leather pants, high-heeled boots and trendy, camel-colored car coat, she was impossible to miss.
“Ashley?”
Even though the woman’s name escaped Jack’s lips in a strangled whisper, they bulldozed Kat like a runaway sleigh.
* * *
“Jack Gardener, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
A chill ran down Jack’s spine as Ashley looked him over with a provocative glint in her dark obsidian eyes. They looked the same, yet different—every bit as mesmerizing but more worldly and less warm.
“Ashley.” He nearly choked on her name and hastily cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”
“Jack.” She sighed like a patient schoolteacher. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
His glaze flew to Kat. Her features had gone pale. “Ashley, this is Kat. Kat, this is Ashley.”
“Nice to meet you.” Ashley extended her hand, and Kat shook it, dazed and speechless. “You don’t mind if I borrow him for a moment, do you?”
Kat shook her head, still not speaking.
“Actually, we’re in the middle of a conversation,” Jack told her, not wanting to leave Kat’s side for even a second. Especially not with her.
“Surely you can spare two minutes for an old friend.”
He didn’t like the way she saidfriendwith so much emphasis. “Maybe later.”
“Don’t be silly. Kat doesn’t mind.” She coiled her fingers around his arm. “I promise to bring him back in one piece.”
What was that supposed to mean? Jack stiffened as she hooked her hand in the crook of his elbow and steered him away from Kat. “I see you’re just as stubborn as ever.” Her voice carried the same playful lilt that he remembered, but it didn’t melt his heart the way it used to.
“What are you doing here?” he repeated, shrugging his arm from her grasp.
“Can’t a girl come home for Christmas?”
“This isn’t your home. You made that clear when you left. And you can’t be visiting your parents since they retired in Florida. So, what really brings you back to Poppy Creek?”
