Page 77 of Just Add Mistletoe

Austin had given him a hard time about it the other day. But then again, he had rescheduled one of their appointments because of Everly.

Malcom supposed they were equally whipped over their women.

Which was why he hoped that this weekend would be smooth sailing with his parents in town. He pulled to a stop in front of the airport pickup lane. Up ahead, he could see a fifty-something blonde woman, wearing a bright yellow utility vest, waving people away from the curb. “No waiting. Drive around again,” he heard her say.

He could drive around again, but he was pretty sure his parents would be appearing at any moment.

And he didn’t want to make his dad stand too long or wait in the cold. It had just started to rain—lightly, but it was an icy rain with the temperature to nearly freezing.

The yellow vest drew closer. Three cars away. Now two cars.

His phone rang. “Hi, Mom.”

“We’re out of the airport,” she said breathlessly. “Where are you parked? Oh, there you are.”

Just as she said it, he saw his parents. Together. It was a strange sight to see.

A knock on his window made him jump.

“I’ll pull closer,” he told his mom, then hung up. He opened his window. “My parents are right there.”

The woman peered to where he pointed. “All right, have a good evening, sir.”

He planned on it. Opening his door, he climbed out to greet his parents, then loaded their luggage into one side of the rear seat. His dad looked so much healthier than he had in the hospital, but it was also clear that he’d lost weight. His mom was her usually bustling self, with a fresh short haircut, heeled boots, and silver hoop earrings. She insisted that his dad sit up front, and she fussed over him until his seat belt was secure and he’d located his cell phone.

“Dad’s calling Bronson on our way into your little town,” Mom said. “He said he wanted to know our schedule.”

Malcom tried not to let his irritation show. Tonight and the next couple of days would be about his parents getting to know Lori. He didn’t want Bronson in the mix, or even to be a concern for his parents. At the end of the weekend, he’d be taking them to his brother’s house, where they planned to stay for a few more days. Bronson would have plenty of time with them.

But Malcom didn’t protest. He turned on his blinker and pulled out of the pickup lane, then merged into traffic.

“It’s colder than I thought it would be here,” Mom said.

Colder than Montana?

“It rains a lot in December,” Malcom said. “Better than snow, maybe?”

“It’s not Christmas without snow,” she said, her voice taking on a whiny edge. “You should reconsider your holiday plans. We should all be together as a family. Bronson is coming with Kari up to Montana, you know.”

He knew. And it could very well be Christmas without snow. The original Christmas didn’t have snow, so why was that so important? Plus, there was no way Lori could get more than Christmas Day off from her shop. Holidays were busy for retail owners, and he wasn’t about to ditch her.

His dad began to speak into his phone to Bronson. “It’s a chili cook-off,” Dad said. “Nothing I can eat, so I don’t know what I’m having for dinner.”

“It’s ahot chocolatecontest,” Malcom said, loud enough that surely Bronson could hear. “And Lori already has dinner for us at the place I’m staying. It won’t be chili, Dad.”

“He says it’s not chili. But I can’t have hot chocolate either.”

“You don’t have to have the hot chocolate, dear,” Mom said from the back seat, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Ice skating,” Dad said. “I can’t do that either. I guess I’ll sit and watch while I freeze.”

“We’ll have coats, and we’re watching aperformance indoors, Dad. We’re not ice skating ourselves,” Malcom corrected.

“Here, let me talk to him,” his mom said, holding out her hand for the phone.

He handed it over. While his mom began to speak to Bronson, who apparently was getting filled in on every minute of their schedule in detail, Dad said, “Mom told me we were ice skating.”

“No,” Malcom said. He turned on the headlights as the sun sank behind the horizon, turning the sky violet. “We’re only doing things that you can do with us. We’re not leaving you behind. Maybe next year we can ice skate if you want.”

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