“I’ll just bet you are.” I snicker and she groans as I plate our breakfast and round the island to sit next to her. “How are things with the shop?”
“It’s fine but everything is moving slowly with the holiday, and it feels like one thing after another.”
“And Wells?” I ask, making a note to get out to Love Beach to help her set up and do whatever else she needs becauseI’m so damn proud of her. The Greene House will be the first florist shop in her town, and I can’t wait to send everyone from Magnolia Point her way.
She sighs. “It was a lot easier when we were just hooking up.” Noting my silence, her eyes narrow at me. “What’s going on with Phoenix?”
“Nothing. But he’s helping me work an event while Cora and Talon are on vacation.”
Vienna’s eyebrows are in her hairline, and a breakfast potato hangs off the end of her fork. “When were you gonna tell me that?”
“It’s not a big deal,” I grumble as her fork clatters to the plate and she gasps.
“Not a big deal is me giving Wells a blow job in the laundry room because he wore the shirt I love after I explicitly told him not to?—”
“We’re gonna come back to that,” I say pointedly as I slide off my chair and grab the pitcher from the fridge, filling the two glasses on the counter. She pauses her interrogation long enough to choose her garnishes before turning back to me.
“You’re going to be trapped in the food truck withPhoenix,the man you’ve been obsessing over since you moved here, and you think it’s not a big deal?”
“I havenotbeen obsessing over him!” I hiss, because I’m not—not anymore. “He agreed to do it because Cora and Talon asked him, so now he’s being nice.”
“He’s bein’nice!?”Vienna’s Tennessee twang is out in full force as she bounces in her seat, her enthusiasm making my lips twitch up into a smile. We might have moved away from home, but we couldn’t move away from each other.
Not really.
“Can we talk about you givin’ Wells a blow job because you liked his shirt?” I ask, not hiding the fact I’m absolutely judging her.
She’s my sister—it’s practically my job.
“It makes his eyes pop,” she says innocently like that explains everything.
“Hussy.” She snorts and throws a piece of her toast at me. “When do you have to go back?”
“Not until tonight.”
“Wanna watch Christmas movies with me?”
“Obviously.”
After cleaning up from breakfast, we refill our glasses and grab some snacks before heading for my room and climbing into bed. It’s just like when we were growing up, and right now, it’s exactly what I need.
9
PHOENIX
“Noooo, not like that!” Navy pouts as I use the butter knife to frost my tree cookie with blue icing.
“Why not?”
My sister covers a laugh as she turns back to pull another tray of cookies from the oven.
“Trees aregreennot bwue,” she says with her sticky hands on her hips and more sass than her little body should possess. Huffing, she places a snowman cookie in front of me along with the white frosting.
“Should I try again?”
She nods, her blonde curls flying everywhere. “Like fwosty.”
“Like Frosty,” I repeat, my shoulders shaking with silent laughter as I press my lips together. Satisfied when I smear the white frosting on my new cookie, Navy returns to the ornament one she’s used every single color on.
