I reached over and grabbed her hand. “That is not true. Look at how well you decorated the house. Those cookies were delicious. And what about getting the virus off your parents’ computer a couple of weeks ago? Or how you always plant petunias for Mrs. Potts?”
“You know about that?”
“We all know about that.” Her hand felt so warm in mine. “You’ll finish your degree if and when you want to. And there’s no plate of spaghetti here for you to drop. Your knee looks better already.”
She squeezed my hand, and my heart squeezed in return. “Do you really mean all that?”
“Of course!”
“But you’ve been on my case since I moved in!”
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry about that. I had some plans that fell through, and you know how I get when plans fall through.”
“Kinda uptight?”
Ouch. “Yeah. Uptight.”
“But what about all the complaining about the noise and wet clothes in the dryer and milk on the counter and, oh I don’t know, remembering to pay the water bill.”
“Hey, now. You’ve paid the water bill on time four months in a row.”
“How do you know?”
My turn to grin. “Because we’ve still got water.”
“I think I could get used to this kinder and gentler Cole Frost who doesn’t yell across the mall at me.”
I could definitely get used to this playful and poised Aubrey Longfellow, but I didn’t dare say that out loud. I held out my hand. “Say, would you like to dance?”
“Heck, yeah, I would! But first I need to powder my nose.”
The ancient euphemism was weird coming out of her young lips, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I flexed my now empty hand while enjoying the view as she walked away.
9
Aubrey
Iran my fingers across the palm of my hand as I headed to the restroom. Cole Frost had held my hand. Even stranger, I had liked it. Maybe Christmas really was a time for miracles.
Get real. What you really liked was how he had your back. He assured you that you weren’t a screw up.
Once I’d handled my business, I stopped in the lounge area just inside the restroom and reapplied my lipstick. I turned in front of the mirror to make sure I didn’t have part of my skirt in my underwear. After flat tires and a jury summons, I didn’t want to addmooning all of Cole’s fancy coworkersto my list of mishaps.
“Say, you’re Cole Frost’s date, aren’t you?”
I looked over to see a stunning brunette. She was taller than me and almost willowy.
“I am.”
She leaned forward to apply more lipstick. “I’m so glad he’s found someone.”
I put two and two together and came up with six. “You must be Deidre.”
“The one and only.”
The diamond of her engagement ring winked, and I did some more addition. It hadn’t beenthatlong ago since she dumped Cole. She was moving fast.
“You know, he really is a great guy, but he’s just so…boring.”
