He regarded her with his straightforward, alert gaze. When talking with Leo, she never felt that his attention was anywhere else. Having all that IQ focused on her was so heady that it made her stomach tingle.
“Better than I’d hoped,” he answered. “Charlie gets to hang out with Olivia’s parents and her brother’s kids, and my parents and sisters. They’re all more involved in his life now.”
“Your younger sisters are both teachers, too, aren’t they?”
He nodded. “Both are pursuing their masters at the moment.”
“Degrees seem to run in your family, Leo.”
“Except for Audrey, who is totally unlike the rest of us.”
“Is she still working in the theater world in Los Angeles?”
“Still is.”
Olivia had once told Maddie that Leo had been raised in a family similar to that of Belle fromBeauty and the Beast—brainy, creative, and just a little bit scatterbrained. “There are books everywhere,” Olivia had said with fond confusion, “being read by everyone all the time.” Other than Leo, Olivia had related to Audrey best. The rest of the Donnellys, while certainly friendly, had perplexed her.
“Is Brandon still working as a bartender?” Leo asked.
Leo had only met Maddie’s family members a few times, and always at highly attended occasions like weddings. Yet he remembered everyone’s first name, plus details about them. “Yes, for a few hours a week. The rest of the time he’s a professional slacker.”
Leo gave one of his subdued smiles, and it set off fireworks within her.
Holy cow. Get a hold of thyself, Maddie.
“He graduated, didn’t he?” Leo asked.
What were they talking about? Ah. Brandon. “Yes, he pursued the six-year plan and received a degree in video game design last spring before moving in with my parents. Since then, he’s been playing video games, but he hasn’t been designing any.” Her younger brother was as content as he was shiftless. “My dad has no idea where he went wrong with Brandon and me.”
“You’re not in the same category as Brandon. You have a great job.”
“I think so, but my dad’s not as convinced.” Her father had once had aspirations of etchingDr.Maddie WinslowandDr. Brandon Winslowinto the frosted glass of his office door beneathDr. Thomas Winslow.
Instead, she ran a chocolate shop. Brandon slept late, ate everything in her parents’ pantry, and yelled instructions to professional athletes during games as if they could hear him. “My dad was hoping that, at the very least, I’d become a high-powered executive in San Francisco.”
“San Francisco?”
“I took a marketing job there right after college. I was miserable. I sat in a cubicle doing work I hated for a man who wasn’t very nice. I didn’t like the pressure or the anonymity or any of it. I was lonely.”
“So you came home.”
“I did.”
Until that time in her life, she’d thought shewantedto be a high-powered executive. Those two years had taught her differently. What she actually wanted was to live a simpler, more slow-paced life, surrounded by people she knew and cared about.
Maddie was an achiever, but she wasn’t motivated by money. What motivated her far more? The challenge of building Sweet Art into the best little chocolate shop it could be.
“You’re content with what you do, aren’t you?” Leo asked.
“Yes. I can post as many Instagram pictures as I want while on the job.” She grinned.
“Being a doctor or a high-powered executive is overrated.”
“You’re a doctor, Professor.”
“So I should know.” He looked into her eyes, and her muscles clenched with yearning.
The Saturday following her non-date with Leo, Maddie arrived at Carmichaels Christmas Tree Farm. Carmichaels, a local institution, was everything a person could want in a Christmas tree farm. Red barn in the center. Kindly farmer and his wife manning the property. Hot apple cider.
