I chuckle. “Makes for some long days, but at least we’re far enough south that the ground isn’t frozen.”
A timer from the kitchen helps wrap up the small talk.Yes.Warm as Mrs. Wilkes is, I’m ready to have Everly to myself.
I help her into the coat she lifts off the back of a chair and wait while she wraps a colorful scarf around her neck.
Once we’re in the car, all by our lonesome, I smile at my date in the passenger seat.
My date.
Oh, yeah.
“Did you sleep this afternoon?” Everly’s eyes, china doll blue, rest on me.
“Sure did.” Dreamt a lot, too—a matter that will stay my little secret. “Popped earplugs in and slept like a baby.”
“Good, because this morning, you looked like a cranky baby an hour past nap time.”
I chuckle. “Cranky?”
She shrugs. “Or like you tied one on last night. I wasn’t sure there for a minute.”
I’m learning in real time to never assume what Everly will say next, and in this case, I believe she’s lobbed a question disguised as a jest. “Nope. I limited myself to two energy drinks and a bottle of water.” Checking for traffic, I turn right onto the next street. “I don’t drink alcohol, by the way, in case that’s what you’re asking.”
“I wasn’t asking…” Arms wrapping her purse on her lap, Everly rolls her lips between her teeth. “But, um, ever?”
“Let me think. I had a glass of champagne at my grandparents’ fiftieth anniversary party.” I sneak a peek. “Is that a dealbreaker?” The early get-to-know-you phase can be awkward, but if there are dealbreakers between us, the sooner I know, the better.
A slow smile breaks across her pink cheeks. “No. I don’t really drink either. My friends talk me into a margarita once or twice a year.”
I swing my head side to side. “Everly, Everly, Everly. If your friends wanted you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?”
She elbows my arm where it rests on the console delineating our spaces. “Shut it, Knox.”
Everly is fun, keeping me on my toes and making me laugh. I don’t want dealbreakers with Everly.None, please. Okay, God?
Near the square, streets are blocked off. Everly directs me to the north side where she thinks she knows of a good place to park. The lot is already full, however, and I end up parking along a curb in front of a charming old Victorian home multiple blocks away from the center of the action.
She allows me to practice my gentleman skills and waits for me to open her door. It’s old school, but Everly deserves respect. She waits while I retrieve my coat from the backseat, put it on, and lock up.
Spreading my fingers in blatant invitation, I hold out my hand. She takes it, and we begin a leisurely stroll, fingers twined, toward the bright lights and piped in Christmas tunes.
“I’m glad the wind died down this evening.”
I nod. “Me too. I can’t believe the snow didn’t get here. Oklahoma was a mess this morning. I figured it was heading this way.”
“That’s how winter weather works around here. Be careful about falling for snow forecasts. Snow hits the Red River and then says ‘just joking’ and heads in another direction. We get stuck with boring, icky cold.”
“Too bad. Snow would have been the perfect accent for tonight’s event.”
She shakes her head. “Not really. Around here, a single flurry shuts everything down. I guarantee you the Christmas tree lighting would have been canceled and we’d have spent the entire evening running to the windows watching for snow that never came.”
“Now that’s just sad.”
“Tragic when you’re a kid wanting a day off school.”
“I can imagine. But as an adult, it works for me. Our deadline is coming up fast.”
“Will you get to go home for Christmas?”
