“Aren’t you two just the cutest couple!” the woman cooed.
Ava’s eyes doubled in size. “Hi, Mrs. Franks.”
Geraldine latched on to Brayden’s arm, her grip surprisingly strong. “My poor Pete is crushed about the date, but well, when your mother asked me to set it up, we had no idea this secret romance was blossoming all along!”
Brayden bit down on his bottom lip to keep from bursting out with laughter at Ava’s obvious mortification. Harold’s eyebrow was raised, but he kept quiet. Brayden might hear his real thoughts the next time he stopped in for stain or saw blades.
“You talked to my mom,” Ava said, her words a statement and not a question.
“Saw the picture on that book face thingy. You know, that Internet site.”
Ava forced a smile. “Of course you did.”
Brayden managed to swallow the brunt of his laughter so he could swoop in before the conversation became too awkward. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” he directed at Mrs. Franks. “I’m Brayden Young.”
“Geraldine Franks.” She shook his hand, her eyes sparkling with excitement. He now understood Ava’s panic a little more. How long before the entire town decided they were an item? Sundown might not be an exaggeration, and with the darker winter days, that wasn’t but a couple of hours away. He should be irritated at the invasion of privacy, but he wasn’t.Odd.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Brayden added. “Sorry about Pete.”
“We better be going, right,honey?” Ava yanked on his arm, hard enough to rock him off his steady footing. “Tree to decorate and all before Mom gets here.”
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Franks,” Brayden added with a wave as Ava yanked him outside. Once the glass door fell closed behind them and Geraldine turned her attention to Harold, Ava’s eyes narrowed at him like daggers. He ignored the scary look as he loaded the tree into the back of his truck.
“This is a nightmare.”
“Oh, come on. It’s notthatbad,” he said, meaning it. “So the town thinks we’re dating. Won’t that be a little easier in the whole convincing-our-moms thing since they’re coming here now?”
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?” Brayden placed the sack of lights in the back seat and closed the door as another truck pulled in beside them.
“Great,” Ava muttered. “Just what I need today.”
Chase Monroe stepped out of the truck, a cheeky grin already on his face. Brayden had only started to scratch the surface of conversation where Ava’s family was concerned before that dreadful day when he missed their date. She’d closed up after that, so he had no idea what to expect of her brother. Whether or not he was the protective type. But judging by his expression, he not only had seen the photo for himself, but was quite amused.
“You two, huh?” Chase looked back and forth between them with a mischievous smirk.
“No,” Ava corrected so quickly it actually stung a bit. “I was trying to get Mom off my back. This whole thing is fake. She wasn’t supposed to post that stupid photo. She definitely wasn’t supposed to get on a plane to Alaska. This is one big mess.”
Chase let out a laugh. “Doesn’t look so fake online. It’s everywhere now.”
Ava snatched the phone from Chase. “Thirty-nine shares? What the jingle bells? She was supposed to take it down. I’m going to kill Jamie.”
“It’s Christmas,” Chase said, unable to finish without laughing.
“I don’t care. She was supposed to help Mom make it go away. I knew I should’ve kept that seventh-grade school photo. All my blackmail is gone, and she knows it.”
“Yeah, I doubt she’s going to help you out. She’s having too much fun with the comments.” Chase pried his phone from Ava’s clenched fingers and dropped it in a coat pocket. “Mom’s coming to town whether you two like it or not. Cheer up. It won’t be so bad.”
“Easy for you to say.” Ava let out a heavy sigh. “Look, I need you to pretend this is legit. Don’t go giving us away during the Christmas sweater party. I can’t go back on any of this now, or I’ll ruin Christmas.”
Brayden laughed. “Dramatic much?”
“You don’t know our mom,” Chase chimed in, his tone serious this time. “Look, I’ll keep your secret. It works in my favor as Mom’s finally off my case about grandkids. Guess you could say I got my gift early this year.”
“Ha ha.” Ava shoved her gloveless hands into her coat pockets, and Brayden fought the urge to put his arm around her to keep her warm. He took a step away to keep from acting on the impulse that would be hard to explain to the one person who knew this was a sham. “You’re picking her up from the airport, right?”
“Nope,” Chase answered. “Decided she wanted to rent a big SUV and drive herself.”
