Page 31 of Holiday Tides

“It’s okay.” Vivian smiles fully, her face relaxing. Little freckles dot the bridge of her nose, stretching over her cheeks toward the corners of her green eyes.

“It’s just been a confusing week.” I sigh, spine sagging. “I’m all over the place. Relieved after breaking up with my cheatingboyfriend. Flustered after almost—” My head shakes, banishing the almost kiss with Nick from this conversation and my mind.

“Anyway, I’m going to head out now.” I’m scooting down the booth bench when Vivian’s words stop me.

“You’re not alone, you know.”

My lips downturn. “You had a cheating boyfriend too?”

Vivian laughs softly, a whisper of a sound.

“No, but there’s this guy. Atticus.” Her eyes flit across the room but return to her fingers before I can see who she fixated on. “He, um… He doesn’t really know I exist, but…” Vivian sighs so wistfully that I know exactly what she’d like to have happen between her and this mystery man.

I’m brainstorming possible scenarios that’ll result in Vivian and Atticus having an adorable meet-cute when Carol Cook pops beside the booth, startling us both. “Ladies. So good to see you.”

I immediately glance at Vivian, surveying her mood, ready to go into battle for her if need be. Vivian simply grins, giving Carol a small wave. She doesn’t even seem bothered when Carol plops beside her and feels the cap-sleeve of her dress between wrinkled fingers.

“Let’s see what you’ve created this time.” Carol leans back, her shrewd eyes noting the garment’s beautiful details. “If I had more money, I’d have you sew a custom holiday dress for me.” Her words don’t betray a trace of malice. In fact, they’re surprisingly warm.

Like me, Vivian has favored green in the duality of Christmas colors. Since she has a similar pale complexion and chestnut hair with the fairest hint of red, I can’t blame her. Also, the shade of her fit-and-flare dress is a near match to her eyes, making them even more mesmerizing for the millisecond they snag on you.

“Of course, my figure isn’t what it used to be.” Carol pats her slight stomach before offering Vivian a shockingly kind smile.“And I wouldn’t worry about Atticus, dear. When the timing is right, things will unfold as they should.”

Dear?Also, wait. How much of our conversation did Carol overhear?

“As for you…” She leans her elbows on the table, focusing on me.

I straighten in preparation, the hairs on my neck rising.

“What I don’t understand…” Carol pauses, and it’s like watching a predator preparing for an attack—muscles coiled, breath even, freaky yellow eyes laser focused. “Is why you’re scurrying off with your tail between your legs, when Velva always said you were spirited like her.”

My brows scrunch.

Sophia is by far the most fiery of the Owens girls. So much so that Dad developed an ulcer from the number of times she’d been called in for truancy her senior year of high school. Even with missing school to protest for various causes, Sophia graduated and now spearheads a grassroots watershed conservation program.

“You’re just going to let Nicholas Watson rule this roost? This was your town long before it ever became his.”

I look over my shoulder, finding Nick sitting at a table with some people from Aldon’s party, laughing and joking with each other.

“The Owens family has lived in Wilks Beach for generations. That house has been in your bloodline for nearly a hundred years. This isyourtown.”

“This is my town,” I say under my breath, glaring at Nick’s back.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

I rise, feeling Carol on my heels as I stomp across the crowded restaurant. Surprising, since her cane usually slows her down. “Frosty the Snowman” finishes up, and a moment of dead airhovers as I reach Nick. Pressing my palms on the tabletop, I narrow my eyes at Nick’s stupidly handsome face.

“Okay, Watson. This rivalry ends tonight. There’s only one way to prove who’s the best in Wilks Beach.”

Nick is so unbothered by my intrusion that, even though I know it’s anatomically impossible, I swear my blood is boiling in my veins.

“What’s that, Bummer?” He leans back in his seat, stretching his arm over the armrest.

It’s my turn to look smug because there’s no way Nick will win at this.

“A Christmas Off.”

nineteen

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