“So. I was thinking, Everly. I’ve noticed posters advertising a Christmas tree lighting, and I was wondering if—”
“Oh, my gosh, what is she doing here?” Everly bolts for the door.
She? I swivel toward the interruption, a young woman rapping her knuckles on the glass. She’s a little shorter than Everly, and her hair is bright blonde, spilling over the collar of a full-length coat. A frown splits her face into jagged parts.
As if touched by a magic wand, the near-scowl morphs to a devilish grin when she spies me, wiping away the initial impression that she was a grump. Nope, this young lady oozes spunk and mischief—and is easily pegged as a sister, despite the night-and-day difference in her and Everly’s hair color.
Everly spins the lock and lets the whirlwind in. “What are you doing here, Oak?”
Eyes the exact shade as my favorite waitress’s consume the Christmas chaos scattered about. The lit tree, the empty mugs. Her gaze lifts to the ceiling and the turned-off lights.
Her mouth curls into an excessively thoughtful twist that makes it an effort to not spurt a giant laugh. “I might ask you the same thing, sister dear.”
Everly’s cheeks are far brighter than sixty seconds ago. “Oh, I…we…Knox and I…were just decorating the tree.”
One of the sister’s eyelids dips. “I thought you weren’t buying a tree until the weekend.”
Everly barely lifts one shoulder. “Knox brought it for me.”
“Is that so?”
Seems like a good time to step up. I take the bull by the horns, stand, and smile. “Knox Herd.”
Humor-filled eyes make a through perusal. As if on the heels of a grand decision, she extends her hand. “Oakley Wilkes.” She thumbs to her side. “The blushing one’s sister.”
Wilkes.Got it, and thanks so much. I shake firmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Oakley.”
“I assure you the pleasure is all mine, Knox. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Everly hip-butts her younger—I’m absolutely certain about the birth order—sibling. “Rein it in, will you?”
The mischievousness dials back, but the lady’s blonde head tilts. “You look familiar.”
Everly cuts off the response I might have given. “I doubt it, Oak. He’s here temporarily. He’s from Kansas City.”
Oakley doesn’t immediately abandon her study of me.
Everly crosses her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
Finally, Oakley shifts her attention. “Mom was getting worried. You know, I’m all for you having a, but you’re living at home right now, and she’s reinstated old rules. You have to check in if you’re going to be late.”
The stricture obviously doesn’t sit well with of-age Everly, who huffs. “I’m twenty-seven years old. I shouldn’t have to.”
“I feel ya, sis, but at least check your texts once in a while next time you decide to have some fun.”
Everly pulls her phone from her pocket and promptly frowns at the screen. “Oops.”
“You can say that again. Why don’t you text Mom now so I don’t have to be the messenger that tells her you flouted her rules.”
Everly’s thumbs speed-text a message that’s fired off with aswoosh. My heart dips at her resigned smile as she tucks the phone away. “I’m sorry, Knox. It is late, and I’ll be back in this dump…er, restaurant…before I know it.”
Probably it’s too early yet to let my very real disappointment show. “Same here. Mornings come quickly.”
She scoots behind the checkout counter, a move communicating distance. For my sake or for her nosy sister’s? “You work on Saturdays?”
I take my jacket off the nearby chair and push my arms through the sleeves, lifting the collar that gets stuck in the neckline. “We do this weekend since there’s no rain in the forecast for a change. We’re falling behind schedule.” I grab my phone that’s next to the empty mug and the ornament my clumsy self dropped.
She nods. “Thank you for the tree, Knox.”
