“She had a bad experience when she was younger.”
Brett’s mouth tilted into a smile. “You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that would you?”
“Not that time. When Claire was about nine years old, she was cleaning our pet mouse’s cage. She put him on her shoulder and he crawled into her long hair. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t leave. I was only little, but I still remember how much she screamed.”
“What happened to the mouse?”
Hannah picked up their bags, coats, and hats. “I had to find a new home for him. We’d better go. Claire’s probably waiting for us.”
Brett held open the door. “I’ll let the staff know about their resident mouse before I see Ida.”
“That would be great.” She glanced at the boxes of Christmas decorations. Someone from the village would take them to reception and use them around their walls and counters. Everything else looked exactly as it had when they arrived.
Claire jumped out of her chair when they walked into foyer. “Are you ready to leave?”
Hannah nodded and passed Claire her jacket and bag. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” A blush stained her sister’s cheeks. “I wish I could get over my mouse issue. I’m too old to be scared by a little ball of fur.”
Brett pulled up the zipper on his jacket. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Everyone has things they don’t like.”
A soft spot formed around Hannah’s heart. He was trying to make Claire feel better without embarrassing her. “Brett will let the staff know about the mouse.”
Claire sent him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“That’s okay. I’d better get going before Pat sends out a search party. Have a great week.”
And before Hannah could say goodbye, he’d left.
“He’s a keeper.” Claire sighed. “If you don’t ask him on a date, you’re crazy.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. He didn’t take his eyes off you all afternoon.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to date him. I’m too busy.”
“Men like that don’t come along every day.” Claire pulled her mittens and woolly hat out of her bag. “And on that cheerful note, we’d better leave. It looks as though it’s going to snow.”
Hannah followed her sister outside. Brett seemed like a really nice person, but even if she wanted to see him again, she couldn’t. Christmas was ten days away and she had a lot of things to do.
***
By Wednesday night, Brett still couldn’t get a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed woman out of his head. It hadn’t helped that Pat hadn’t stopped talking about Hannah.
“Are you in or out?” Trent, his friend and neighbor, asked.
Poker night was usually every second Friday. But with Christmas so close, all of Brett’s married friends had other things they needed to do—like spend more time with their kids.
As a compromise, they’d moved this week’s game forward by two nights and canceled the next game.
Brett dropped his cards into the middle of the table. “I’m out.”
Trent grinned. “That didn’t take long.”
“Must have had something to do with the cards you gave me.”
Jordan, Trent’s brother, threw four crisp dollar bills on top of Brett’s cards. “I’ll see your two bucks, Trent, and raise you another two.”
