Page 91 of The Mistletoe Mix-up

“Shit, one of them told you?”

“Told me what?” she asked innocently.

“Who told you about Wren?”

“Oh ‘Wren,’ not Officer Little, huh?” Her full lips curved into a smirk. “Actually, everyone told me. Ricki. Merry.” Holly tsked. “You should know you can’t keep a secret in this town.”

“You would think if two people were still trying to figure out how to define their relationship, the people in their lives wouldn’t draw attention to it until they decided how to label it.”

“How can we do that when we’re so excited for you?” Holly said, nudging him with her shoulder.

“You are?” he asked.

“Of course we are. I mean, she’s a little straightlaced for who I figured you’d end up with, but she’s pretty and she’s funny and she seems nice.” Holly made a face. “Her obsession with eradicating jaywalking is a bit unsettling.”

Sam groaned. “Not you, too! It’s called a crosswalk!”

“No matter, all that is important is that my friend Sam has found love.”

“Except there is one small issue,” Sam said, grimacing.

“What’s that?” Holly asked. The floats started to move, but as they were closer to the back, they didn’t budge.

“She’s not interested in having a relationship with me,” Sam admitted.

“Really?” Holly asked, her forehead knitting in obvious confusion. “Then why did I see your car at her house on my way home yesterday?”

“We had dinner.”

“Oh, so you’re gonna tell me that you did not stay the night?” Holly asked, her tone taunting as if she already knew the answer.

“I don’t feel that I need to tell you.”

“Busted,” she said.

Sam shook his head. “Look, I’ve gotten all the advice I can take on my love life, so please, can we just leave this alone for now? Concentrate on smiling and waving to the kids and when we’re finished, go about our busy lives?”

“No, because you know when Declan and I were doing our thing, you were right smack in the middle of it. Yet you have kept me in the dark about this whole shindig, so I’m going to spend the next hour pumping out all the information you have held back from me.”

“If you’ve talked to everyone, then you know what’s going on,” he said.

“I want to hear from you that Officer Wren Little is the one for you. Only then can I be at peace.”

Sam snorted. “Fine, but not because of the cockamamie crap that just exploded from your mouth. Wren was the one for me nineteen years ago, and that hasn’t changed.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Holly’s voice squeaked, hurting Sam’s ears.

“Okay, that’s enough of that.”

“No, seriously, I never thought I’d see the day when you would fall in love. I thought that you were going to end up being a lifelong bachelor even into your senior citizen years, hanging around with all the girls, being like, ‘Hey, you know I used to drive a motorcycle and have a six-pack?’”

Sam glared at her. “Have you always been such a brat, or am I just now noticing?”

“I just rarely ever use my brat on you,” she said.

“Oh, I see.”

Their float finally took off at a snail’s pace, and as they passed by the crowds, Sam waved to the kids calling out to Santa. He recognized a familiar face in the crowd and beamed as he watched Wren in full uniform say hi to people.