“She found me before the ceremony and confessed she was in love with my best friend—who happened to be my best man and standing in the room.”
“No!” she gasped, her hands covering her mouth.
“Yes!” He copied her gasp, throwing his hand over his heart.
She grunted a laugh and swatted at him. At least he could joke about it.
“I walked out while they hurriedly adjusted the ceremony so they could be married right away. My brother met me in the hallway.” His face grew thoughtful.
She hurried to bring him back to the conversation, not wanting him to drop into a stupor of thought. His openness was … delightful and made her feel like she was something special. Especially since he was telling her something so personal. “When was this?”
“Three months before you moved in.”
That explained so much! She pressed her palm to her forehead. “What did you do? I think I would have knocked over the chocolate fountain or something.”
His lips twitched. “I left the buffet tables standing.”
She frowned, disappointed in his levelheadedness.
“I took the limo.”
A sly smile crept across her face.
He gave her a matching one, and her heart flipped. “I figured she at least owed me a ride home.”
“Yeah, she did.” Diana offered him a fist bump. A part of her wanted to find this woman and shake her; she’d had an amazing man and broken his heart. She thought back to when she’d first moved in and the way Cliff hunched over himself as he walked, his head hanging low. He never smiled—ever. And he was always grumpy. No wonder! She should have made him a thousand unicorn cupcakes.
Uncle Tom poked his head in the door. “Christmas Eve ice fishing trip at 4:30 a.m. Lights out.”
Cliff perked up, cocking his head to the side.
She moaned. “Please tell me you don’t like to fish.” She’d gone on the annual fishing trip once, when she was twelve, and she hated every minute of it. The ice was hard. The temps were cold. It was dark. And she didn’t catch a thing. Most boring Christmas Eve morning ever. Sleeping in with loads of homemade quilts and flannel pajamas was so much better.
“I won’t tell you I like it, because I love it.” Cliff smiled.
She reveled in his contentedness. He even leaned against her wall, no longer wanting to bolt from the room. Sheesh—she’d felt like a seductress earlier when he’d accused her of trying to shove him onto the bed. What felt worse was that she hadn’t been good at it. Her flirting skills obviously needed work. But that was a project for another day. Tomorrow would be all about keeping herself between Cliff and her cray-cray family. Which sadly meant she was going to have to get up before the world began turning tomorrow. “Fine. We’ll go.”
The corners of his eyes wrinkled as his smile went all the way to the roots of his hair.
Her heart paused in wonder and delight. Heaven help me!
She pointed a finger at him. “But don’t expect a happy camper. I’m not a morning person.”
He ruffled her hair. “Don’t care.”
She swatted his hand away but smiled. Her chest was all warm again, knowing they were back to being friends. She’d gotten used to having him in her life and couldn’t imagine going through a day without Cliff.
Chapter 10
Cliff
When Diana’s family decided to do something, they did it in style. Cliff had been fishing many times with his dad and brother over the years. They took an old, beat-up canoe out on the lake, dropped their lines, and munched on vanilla Oreo cookies. Looking back on those lazy days, he realized what a gift it was to spend time with his dad outside of cell service.
Ice fishing was nothing like canoe fishing.
They’d met in the kitchen, where warm cinnamon rolls filled the air with the scent of the holidays. The group was about a fourth of the size of the Hot Chocolate Social. Not many young families decided to get up before dawn. The kids that tagged along yawned and leaned heavily on their parents.
Diana was adorable in her 23 layers of clothing and beanie. She’d grabbed them a thermos of hot chocolate to take on the lake and held it close to her chest, as if it was warming her.
