Page 43 of Just Add Mistletoe

Malcom lifted a hand. “Go ahead.”

“Hi, Mom,” Lori answered, moving to her feet. “What’s up?”

“Happy Halloween!”

She exhaled in relief. This was a chatty call, not a “your dad is sick” or “I’m in a crisis” call. “Happy Halloween. Did you have a lot of trick-or-treaters?”

“Not as many as last year, but still a fair number,” her mom said. “How did your night go? Did it rain like you’d worried about?”

“No rain,” Lori said. “The event went well—kids loved it.”

Tiger jumped up on the chair, then the table, meowing. He must have decided the soup smelled better than the cat food. “Tiger, get down,” she whispered.

Malcom moved to pick up the cat. Instead of setting him on the ground, he held the kitten to his chest and scratched its ears.

“You’re going to spoil him,” Lori told him.

“Lori? Who are you with?”

Oh . . . too late to take back the fact that she just revealed she wasn’t alone in her apartment.

“Well . . .” she hedged. Malcom had walked over to the couch with the cat still in his arms. Lori moved toward the hallway, not really wanting to share too much with her mom because she’d make a huge deal out of nothing. “I got another cat—a kitten.”

“A kitten? Since when?”

“Uh, yesterday. He showed up at my friend’s place, all wet and muddy and starving.”

“Oh, poor thing,” her mom said. “Where were you? Brandy’s? How did a kitten get to a place like her cabin?”

“No . . .” Lori sighed and stepped into her bedroom. Malcom could still overhear if he really wanted to. She had to find a way to get out of this conversation, and fast. “I was at my friend Malcom’s place for just a few minutes, and we heard the kitten meowing outside. So I brought it home, and he’s a busybody but adorable.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay with getting another cat now,” her mom said. “I know how much you miss Silver.”

“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t have much of a choice. Tiger sort of found me.”

“That’s a cute name. But tell me about your friend Malcom. Did he go to high school with you?”

Her mom wasn’t fooling anyone—she was totally digging for information. “No, he’s here on a construction job, working on the condominium complex going up across the street from my shop.”

“Lydia Kane told me about that. It sounds terrible.”

“It’s not terrible—it’s needed to sustain the growth in our town,” Lori countered. “You had to move away to find a great retirement community, and the kids going off to college aren’t coming back.”

Her mom went silent at that. But not for long. “So . . . this Malcom. Is he a nice man? Nice enough to date?”

“Yes, but we’re friends, that’s all. Look, Mom, I really need to go. We’ll talk later.”

Her mom’s voice came through like she was grinning. “I can’t wait, honey. Call me first thing tomorrow.”

Lori hung up, feeling like she wanted to laugh and groan at the same time. Why did she have to bring up Malcom? There was no way her mom was going to let any of this slide. In fact, her mother now knew things her best friends didn’t know. Lori wouldn’t put it past her to say something to Lydia and other friends she still had around Everly Falls.

She pulled up the chat group really quick and fired off a short text.Letting you know I have a new kitten named Tiger. I was hanging out with Malcom last night and we found him. Now you’re caught up in case my mom calls one of your moms.

Julie immediately replied with a laughing emoji. Brandy texted back,What? You’re hanging out with Malcom? Tell us more.

Lori put her phone on silent. She’d answer in more detail after Malcom left. She’d wanted to call Brandy about the stuff going on with his business, but Lori had been swamped. Besides, she’d leave it to Malcom to share any updates with Brandy.

Sure enough, a solo text arrived from Brandy:Did Malcom talk to you about our meeting?

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