Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“But you can always come home if you need to,” Jillian assures her. “Believe me, I know.”
Jillian was gone for about a decade, living in California. She moved back to Cunningham Falls a few years ago and married her husband, Zack King.
“I know,” Penny says with a nod. “I’m excited, you guys. But I need to sell all of this stuff.”
“Well, we will help with that.”
“Is anyone home?”
I turn to the doorway to find Willa smiling at me.
“Hey, girl! Come on in.”
Willa Monroe is the owner of Dress It Up, a fabulous clothing boutique downtown. She’s also someone I’ve known most of my life.
Max should have married her. My brother is an idiot.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I say and loop my arm through hers. “There’s food, booze, and clothes.”
“All of my favorite things,” she says with a laugh. “Alex is with my mom until tomorrow morning, so hook a tired mama up.”
“You got it.”
***
“Just so you know, I’m putting a Christmas tree in the Tamarack,” I inform Christian the following day as he helps me unload Christmas decorations from my SUV.
“I don’t need one,” he says.
“I need one,” I reply with a laugh. “I’m making the units beautiful for the holidays, so I’ll be in there later, decorating.”
“You can come in whenever you want.”
I smile at him and pass him the last box. “Thanks. But I’ll always give you a heads-up.”
“So, what’s in all of these boxes?”
“Lights. Ornaments. Garland.” I set the box in front of the door of the middle unit, the Spruce. “I’m starting here because I have guests coming tomorrow, so I want to get it done first.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Oh, you don’t have to help me.”
A slow smile slides over Christian’s impossibly handsome face. “Jenna, I’m trying to find excuses to hang out with you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
I swallow hard. “Why?”
“Because you’re fun. Beautiful. You make me laugh.” He tilts his head to the side and narrows his blue eyes. “Would you rather I didn’t?”
“Nope, I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”
“There isn’t much in this life that I feel obligated to do. Trust me when I say, I offer because I want to be with you.”
And doesn’t that just make a girl’s stomach erupt with butterflies?
I move the boxes to where I want the coordinating décor in the rooms, and then fetch a ladder and get to work.
“What are you doing?” Christian asks.
“Hanging stuff.” I frown down at him as I climb. “Can you please pass me the end of the garland?”
“Please come off the ladder.”
His face is pale as he watches me.
“If I come down, who’s going to hang this?”
“I don’t give a fuck, I just don’t want you up that high.”
I slowly make my way back down and cup his face. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“But I’m not, and I’m the one on the ladder.”
“It freaks me out,” he says and tips his forehead against mine. “And that’s not easy for me to admit.”
“What about the ski lifts? Those are high.”
“They’re not ladders,” he insists.
“I have to decorate. But I could probably hire someone to come and hang the high stuff.”
“I’ll hire someone if it keeps you off that ladder.”
I want to delve into this particular conversation further, but there’s a knock on the door.
“Jenna? Are you here?”
“That’s Brad. In here!” I smile at Christian. “Come meet my brother.”
“Lead the way.”
We walk to the doorway, and I smile when I see that Brad brought Hannah with him. “Brad and Hannah, I’d like you to meet Christian Wolfe.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hannah says, shaking Christian’s hand and then she winks at me.
“Are you staying here?” Brad asks, and I roll my eyes. Here we go with the big-brother thing.
“I am,” Christian replies with a nod. “I was just giving Jenna a hand with the Christmas stuff.”
“We brought the trees,” Hannah says helpfully. “But I still say you should buy the trees I was telling you about on QVC. They’re already decorated and everything. You just take them out of the box, plug them in, and voilà! Christmas tree.”
“I need them to be fancier than that.”
“Hey, I have one,” Hannah says and then busts out laughing.
“I had ornaments handmade for these trees,” I say and then glance up at Christian, who’s smiling down at me with sparkling, blue eyes.
What’s he thinking?
“I don’t need anything fancy,” he says.
“Well, you’re getting fancy because the other two are as well, and I need them all to match. Skiers see this, plus, I’m going to be featured in some travel magazines, and they have to look a certain way.”
“She’s very particular,” Brad says with a wink. “But they’re awesome, and she knows what she’s talking about, so fancy they’ll be.”
“That’s right.” I nod once and then smile at the trees lying in the back of his big truck. “There’s no way you’re going to be able to haul those into these tree houses by yourself.”