Page 9 of Second Chance Christmas

Sweet buttery heaven hit her senses as she unrolled the paper bag.

“I’m surprised you remembered,” she said to Aspen over her shoulder as he walked back in with an armload of wood. She pushed away from the counter and held the door for him before quickly shutting it.

“I figured you ladies needed a little something special today. Especially after your long drive up.”

“I flew in instead of driving. Caught the last flight out of Anchorage and then took a cab here.” As she talked, Ivy watched Aspen load one of several fireplaces in the large open-styled layout with a massive amount of firewood.

“And you got in last night?”

“Mmm. Hmm.” She pushed aside her coffee and grabbed three clean mugs from the cabinet as Gran took out three plates.

A few minutes later warmth filled the large kitchen and conjoined dining area.

Aspen retrieved a few more logs from outside and refilled the wood box. Now if she could only convince him to do that in all five fireplaces throughout the eight-bedroom home.

“I missed the last bus here by a few minutes trying to find my luggage at the airport.”

“You could have called. I would have picked you up.”

Her grandma elbowed her and gave her an I-told-ya-so look. “If you weren’t so stubborn like your father, you could have enjoyed a nice ride home with a handsome man instead of a total stranger.”

Aspen’s shoulder rose. “I’m with your gran on that. Why didn’t you call?”

She gave Aspen a pointed stare where he stood by the end of the counter, jaw set in a firm line, biceps straining against his plaid shirt and thicker thighs wrapped in worn jeans. Lord save her, why did her eyes keep going back to the way the rough material outlined every aspect of the man? Pure lust pooled low in her core and she quickly reminded herself to get a grip. Her erratic heart rate didn’t agree and tapped out Morse code to the rest of her body to get ready.

Ha!

She pulled her eyes away from his all-too-fuckable body and turned her gaze back to the doughnuts on the countertop.

If she wasn’t embarrassed enough just standing here now with the man she could just picture how the phone conversation between them would have gone. Calling up the man she left at the altar eight years ago to ask for a ride was a hard pass, thank you very much. But the longer he looked at her the more she found herself drawn to the flame of the past.

Gran must have sensed her unease because she changed the subject quickly. “What do you think of this guy?”

Ivy eyed the pictures on her gran’s phone with curiosity. Anything to get her heart rate back on track.

A man stood next to her gran with his arm wound tight around her shoulders. He was in his mid-to-late sixties. A full head of Steve Martin-styled hair flattered and matched his gray-blue eyes. A handsome smile lit up his face and reminded her of the older films of Clark Gable her mom swooned over. A nicely tailored tuxedo and on-point bow tie topped off the distinguished gentleman’s look. Between them, on the table, was a single elegant plate with white cake and tiny pink roses along the border. From what she could tell, they were at what looked like his granddaughter’s wedding.

Gran swiped left and there was another picture, a selfie this time of her gran and the gentleman drinking some fruity drink, each wearing lei necklaces in a very sunny setting. “Oops. Not that one.” She swiped again. This time it was a pic of them smiling out on the dance floor with a group of other friends.

“Wow! Gran, look at that dip! Since when did you hit the party scene?”

“I’m old but not dead, hon.”

Ivy met her gaze. “That’s not what I meant.”

“We’ve been going steady for a few months now. This will be our first Christmas together and I have some plans in the works that will either scare him or make him fall madder in love with me.”

“Is that a thing?Madderin love?”

Aspen shrugged a heavy shoulder while her gran nodded. “If not, it is now.”

Her gran had a better sex life than she did. She really needed to get a life.

This was the first she’d heard about it and she took a mental note to call her mom on the topic later. Ivy’s eyebrows rose as she turned to Aspen, shaking his head that he knew nothing about it either.

Her grandma leaned close and whispered, “Hey. Maybe we can go on a double date?”

Ivy tore her gaze off Aspen’s broad shoulders and flexed arms as he strode back to the fireplace to toss on another log and stared at her grandmother. Wait. Whoa. “You didn’t mention anything on the phone about a boyfriend before I got here.”

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