Page 58 of Trouble Walked In

“Sure,” Carter said with a grin. “And my friends said no problem for tomorrow night. Got two guys for the door, and three of our regular girls lined up to help out with the rehearsal dinner.”

“Perfect, Carter.” She wrote a note on tomorrow’s list to follow up and make sure the girls arrived on time.

“How’re the lights?” Renic asked.

She took time to really look. The porch blazed like a grocery store parking lot. “How many did you use?”

“Don’t worry, we have plenty left. I’m just sad how many other people will have bare trees now that we’ve emptied all the stores.” His gaze locked on hers. “Was the trip worth it?” There was a reminder and a promise in his eyes that shecouldn’t look away from. Was it the blankets she held that made her feel overheated, or was it him?

Renic winked and finally broke the staring contest by returning his attention to the next heater.

Carter glanced back and forth between them, and his expression darkened. “Why doesn’t our guest go back to his room. I’ll finish up out here.”

Lizzie stared at him in surprise. The way he’d said the word “guest” was less than friendly. “He’s not just a guest, Carter. He’s a friend, and he’s helping out to be nice, which is greatly appreciated. We wouldn’t have finished everything today without him.”

Carter’s shoulders stiffened. “That’s what you want? Mr. Temporary?” He lifted his chin as if to indicate Renic.

“That’s enough, Carter,” she said, using her no-nonsense event organizer tone of voice. “You can call it a day. Go time’s tomorrow at noon.”

Carter glared at Renic, but finally nodded and shuffled off across the lawn toward the winery building where he, Mark, and Carrie shared a three-bedroom apartment above the tasting room.

Renic stepped up behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat of him radiating along her back. “I think I better sleep with one eye open tonight.”

She snorted a laugh. “Why? Because a teenager got cranky?”

“He has a serious crush on you. I think you just broke his heart.”

“I did not.” She spun around so that her armful of blankets created a barrier between them.

“You really did. From what I hear, you’ve broken a lot of hearts in this town.”

“Who’d you hear that from? Never mind, I know theanswer. Carrie has a big mouth.” She couldn’t look at him without remembering what they’d done the night before. It made her blush like a teenager and left her feeling disjointed and flustered. She turned away from his sparkling gaze and started toward the path that lead to Lookout Point. “Can you bring the rest of the twinkle lights?”

Renic followed after her. “They’re stacked up at the top of the steps.”

“Oh. Good.” She kept walking. “Della seemed distant today.”

“Did she?” Renic sounded a little too innocent.

She glanced up at him. “Did you have something to do with that?”

They reached the top of the steps, where a short stack of boxes waited. Renic picked one up and opened it. “I had a little talk with her this morning about the consequences of her current actions. She actually listened, which I took as a win.”

She gripped the blankets in her hand tighter. “I thought we would talk to her together.”

Renic opened the box and pulled out the lights. “She would have felt attacked if we did that. Besides, she’s already heard from big sis. It was time for her to get an outside perspective.”

“You upset her.”

Renic wrapped the strand of lights around the railing, taking slow steps down the walk as he went. “Good. She should be. This decision she’s rushing into is a gut kick to the rest of us. It’s about time she felt it too.”

She huffed out an irritated sigh. “What exactly did you say?”

“I told her the stakes. All of them.” Renic glanced at her. “I pointed out that her decisions are affecting other people’s lives and jobs.”

Lizzie winced. He wasn’t wrong, but she could imagine how he’d delivered the message. He was straightforward and honest. He wouldn’t have sugarcoated it. No wonder Della had been so absent.

“How’d she take it?”

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