“She’s calledthreetimes just this morning,” Ava explained before finally taking a sip of coffee, savoring the hint of peppermint.
“Mine’s called four.”
Ava nearly choked on her second sip. “You’re making that up.”
Brayden pushed a couple of buttons then slid his phone across the counter. The call log displayed on the screen.
Ava pulled it a little closer, counting with a quick finger scroll. “Tentimes yesterday?”
“That doesn’t include the text messages.”
The tension between them eased the slightest. “Didn’t realize we had that in common. Is your mom also trying to subtly control your life from thousands of miles away?”
“Thousands of miles,” Brayden agreed. “But she’s not subtle at all.”
“Oh, yeah? What is your mom trying to decide for you?”
“You know, the usual. What I do for a living, where I live, who I marry.”
Ava raised an eyebrow at that. “Whoyou marry?”
“Oh, yeah.” Almost on cue, Brayden’s phone lit up, buzzing across the counter. “Five. I’m winning.”
Ava realized that despite months of being neighbors, she still didn’t know much about him. He had perfected vague answers. She knew he was from Texas, but notwhyhe moved to Alaska. He spoke of his mom, sister, and grandma, but never anything personal. She didn’t even know their names. Brayden was a mystery to most of Sunset Ridge and seemed to prefer it that way. “Who does she want you to marry?”
“Today?”
“Wow, that bad?”
“She’s a determined woman. Luckily, I’m extra stubborn.” Brayden turned to refill his coffee. “Why areyouavoiding your mom?”
With Elsie still firmly planted at the window mildly whining, Ava gave up the idea of leaving soon. She settled on a barstool. “She retired from the family store almost four years ago, but you wouldn’t know it by how involved she still wants to be. She stalks my website, tells me I’m pricing everything wrong, and doesn’t approve of most of the changes I’ve made.” Ava’s phone lit with another string of texts about a date with some guy named Pete. She dropped it back in her purse, hoping it’d get lost until New Year’s. “If that’s not enough, she constantly badgers me about grandkids and sets me up on dates.”
Brayden’s eyebrow rose at that.
“My parents moved to Minnesota to be near the only sibling who’s married with a kid—mybabysister, Jamie. But she’s constantly on Chase and me to create more. Never mind that Jamie’s nearly ready to pop with baby number two.”
“Chase, your brother?”
“Yeah.” Ava sipped her coffee, but it was now cold. “But since Chase was actually married once before, she’s on me a lot more.” She sucked in a deep breath, willing the memories of her former best friend Laurel, eloping with her brother behind her back and disappearing six months later, to go away. She had enough on her mind without old wounds festering too. “I wish I could get her to back off. It’s embarrassing having your mom set you up in your hometown, you know? This place isn’tthatbig. So if I say no, then I’m the bad guy. Even when they standmeup.” She cleared her throat, but didn’t apologize for the jab that Brayden also deserved. “I’m half tempted to invent a fake boyfriend just to make it stop.”
Ava moved to the coffee pot to freshen her cup, an ominous feeling washing over her as Brayden remained silent behind her.
“That’s not a half-bad idea.”
“What?”
“Making up a significant other for some reprieve.”
Ava took a cautious sip. “I wish it’d work, but my mom would want proof.” She let out a laugh. “Knowing her, she’d demand photographic evidence and probably badger my brother and friends for details about how serious it really is.”
“Pictures . . .” Brayden drew out the word as if pondering something deeply. “Maybe it could work for me, too.” He spun toward her. “What if you and I pretended to—”
“What?” Ava shook her head, suddenly suffocated by their close proximity. She scurried out of the kitchen and back to her barstool. “No, that’s not what I meant.”
“It’s just pictures,” Brayden continued. “We dress up in Christmas sweaters, take a few selfies, and send them to our mothers. At the very least, it should stop the ten-plus phone calls a day for a while. Maybe let us enjoy the holidays in peace.”
“No.”
