Page 14 of Just Add Mistletoe

“Well, yeah.” Julie laughed and retrieved her phone. “Bad mom?”

“I’m not going to judge anyone’s parenting,” Everly said. “I mean, I’m still trying to figure out the ropes of being a stepmom.”

The conversation morphed into talking about seven-year-old Jessica, who was Austin’s daughter. He was widowed, so now Everly was mom and stepmom.

“Oh, there you are,” Brandy said, turning away from the guys and spotting Lori.

Lori smiled over at her friend. She really didn’t want to be singled out, and she could only pray that Brandy wouldn’t put her on the spot about something. But Brandy just sat in anearby chair and added to the conversation about how adorable and smart Jessica was. “I swear she’s going to be a lawyer or politician someday,” she said with a laugh. “That girl’s got some negotiating skills.”

Lori laughed too—she’d definitely been witness to that. Just then, Malcom separated from the group of men. Maybe she’d been watching him, but it hadn’t been intentional.

“Hey,” he said. “How are you?”

Well, that quieted all of the women, so everyone heard her answer. “Great. Glad you decided to come.”

Lori hoped her voice sounded normal . . . Did it sound normal? She didn’t feel normal. Her pulse was jumping around again. Malcom’s hazel eyes were more green than brown in the light of the setting sun. His shirt looked like it had been painted on, although it wasn’t exactly tight. It just defined every bit of his shoulders and upper arms and torso. Lori wasn’t one to ogle a man’s body, but Malcom was hard to look away from. Which was, again, ridiculous. Lori had gone on plenty of dates with athletic men. She’d even dated a body builder—well, one time—whose neck was larger than her thigh.

“I got my brother to fill in on the maintenance calls today for this community,” Malcom said. “After all, it was his sister-in-law who put together the contract without giving me a heads-up.”

So . . . he was picking up from last night’s conversation, and her friends were all here for it, soaking in every word.

“That’s only fair, right?” Lori said, feeling self-conscious and probably blushing as well. “Do you guys split the company fifty-fifty?”

“On paper, yes.” Malcom finished crossing the distance and leaned on the railing a couple feet from her. There were plenty of chairs around, but it seemed he wasn’t going to take one.

“What does that mean?” She might as well continue talking to him. First, she was interested in his answers, and second, her friends were still basically staring at him.

“Bronson’s wife helps out on a part-time basis, but her opinion carries plenty of weight,” he said, folding his arms, which of course made them more defined.

Heavens.

“We put her on payroll a few months ago, even though she kept trying to tell us not to,” Malcom said. “She’s kind of stubborn.”

Lori smiled. “Sounds like it. But you’re a standup person to do that.”

“We’ll see after today,” he said. “She might resent their weekend plans being interrupted.”

“Oh wow, yeah,” Lori said. “Did they have big plans?”

“She said no, but she always has something planned.” His gaze stayed on her—as it had been from the moment he started talking to her. Did he not know they had an audience?

“Well, hopefully this barbecue will be delicious enough to justify a family dispute.”

Malcom laughed.

Heavens again. Had she not noticed his dimples before? Okay, so she’d noticed, but she was trying not to add to his list of qualities. Physical stuff was just icing on the cake anyway. It didn’t give longevity to relationships.

“I’ll let you know,” he said, his laugh still dancing in his eyes.

“Perfect,” she said with a smile. And somehow she knew he wasn’t teasing. Hewouldlet her know. Would he get her number and text her? Would he come over to the shop? Would she randomly see him outside? They were kind of neighbors . . .

“I like the spiders,” he said.

It took her a minute before she realized what he meant. “Oh, thanks.” She touched one of her earrings, feeling the small dangling legs.

“She wears all kinds of bugs on her ears,” Julie said. “My three-year-old is fascinated by them.”

“Notall kindsof bugs,” Lori said. “These spider ones, sure. I have ants too. Otherwise I have things like dragonflies and butterflies.”

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