“She’s planning to announce it to the company at the Christmas party next week. And if she hasn’t toldyouyet—”
“She’s coming up here because she plans to bring me back with her.” Brayden dug his fingers into the back of his neck. If Mom was retiring ahead of schedule, she’d expect him to take over right away. As Elsie trotted back up the stairs, he looked through the window and watched Ava dancing to Christmas music as she spread strands of lights on the couch. “That’s not enough time.”
“Mom and I still aren’t on the best of speaking terms.” She didn’t have to say it, they both knew.Because of Hunter. Mom didn’t think he was marriage material. Too many tattoos for her liking. “I’m not even supposed to know. She’d probably write me out of the will if she found out I told you, but I didn’t want her to ambush you. Is there anything I can do?”
“No.” Brayden leaned against the snow-covered railing, not caring that his forearms would be damp. He hadn’t seen his sister since Grandpa’s funeral. He missed her. At one time, they had flirted with the idea of Sarra and Hunter coming to Sunset Ridge to spend Christmas with him. “I have to figure this out for myself.”
“I’m sorry, Brayden. But I thought it was only fair you knew before she blindsided you.”
“Thank you.” Elsie let out a series of barks as a bird fluttered away. “I better go.”
“Brayden?”
“Yeah?”
“Good luck.”
Brayden tried and failed to hide his heavy sigh, and simply said, “Thanks.” He whistled for Elsie and ushered her inside his place to let his fingers thaw, call Warren’s, and ward off a panic attack before he returned to Ava’s. He wasn’t ready to make the biggest decision of his life on such short notice, but what choice did he have?
ChapterFive
Ava
“If we’re going to be a couple, you’ll have to be a little more open about who you are,” Ava said to Brayden as she shaped branches. The tree was beautiful—on the display rack. But the boxed version required a lot of work before a single decoration could be hung. At this rate, she’d be lucky to get lights on before midnight.
“What do you want to know?”
Ava peeked around from the back side of the tree. “That’s too easy. You’re going to tell me anything, just like that?”
“As you pointed out, we’re a couple. Ask away.”
Reaching for her fountain drink with a Warren’s Sea Shack logo on the cup, Ava took a long sip of Dr. Pepper. He didn’t promise to answer, but this was progress. She stole a second sip before setting the cup down. She rarely drank soda, but tonight she was making an exception. She needed all the caffeine she could get, and she was coffeed out. After the tree was decorated, she still had baskets to assemble for her store display.So many baskets. “You mentioned a sister once before. Do you have any other siblings?”
“Just the sister.”
Ava purposely raised an eyebrow for Brayden to see. “It might help if I knew her name.”
“Sarra.”
“Older or younger?”
“Younger.”
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Ava flexed her aching fingers, studying the remaining branches on her side that needed fluffing.Too many. One of the questions she most wanted to ask was whether he had read her final notice letter. But the atmosphere was much too light with the cheerful Christmas music, a goofy snoozing golden pawing at the air, and a stomach full of Warren’s famous halibut tacos. Ava swallowed the question and chose another. “You two close? You and Sarra?”
“Depends what you mean by close.”
It was impossible not to laugh, meeting the same roadblocks as every other conversation. “Were you in politics or something in your former life? You’re great at evading questions, yet still making it sound like you’re answering them.”
“Not a chance.” Brayden flashed her a smirk that made her stomach unexpectedly flutter. She ducked behind the safety of the tree. No, she would not get carried away when it came to Brayden Young. It was a fake relationship that they’d bust right open when their moms left or maybe once they stopped harassing them about grandkids. It was entirely possible the whole charade wouldn’t last the weekend, much less through Christmas.
Those dangerous smirks were to be avoided at all costs. Nothing real would come from something so made up, and it was better that way.
Besides, Ava told herself, she still had a sour taste in her mouth over the date Brayden never made. One in which he claimed to have fallen asleep in his woodworking shedandmisplaced his phone for several hours. He may as well have told hersomething came up. The excuses were equally lame and unbelievable. Ava recognized the tactic. A line like that had been used on her before.
As she sat alone at a corner table at Warren’s that night, waiting for Brayden to show, she remembered why she avoided dating in the first place. She didn’t have the time. The Forget Me Not Boutique required every spare minute. She decided on that disappointing drive home to focus on her business and save dating for a day when she didn’t have to worry about how she was going to pay her employees. She needed to stick by that resolve now more than ever.
It worked well, aside from Mom’s unwanted matchmaking.
