Page 10 of The Holiday Fail

The town was surrounded by vast fields, perfect for picnics in the spring, and gorgeous mountains, where I did all my snowboarding. The tiny slopes behind our B&B was also perfect for offering snow tubing to our guests in the winter.

Sure, the nearest city was over an hour away, but I wouldn’t trade our quaint little town for any modern convenience.

The dining room was empty save for the four besties sitting at a table by the window. They were almost done with their meal and had consumed more than a couple glasses of wine if their flushed cheeks and loud laughter were anything to go by.

Berta, one of the more outgoing ladies in the group, waved at me when she saw me. I ignored my growling stomach and walked to their table with a smile.

Customers were king.

“Dear, we were just talking about you,” Berta said. “We were just saying how Etta’s grandson would be a fine match with you.”

“Yeah! Etta, show him a picture,” Anita added, handing Etta her phone.

“You know she can barely use that thing when she’s sober. It’ll be faster if I do it,” Marta said, snatching the phone fromher friend. Etta was all smiles, looking a little out of it as she watched this all happen.

Yes, all four ladies’ names ended with -ta. I was shocked when they first introduced themselves, and apparently, that was a normal reaction since it had the four besties giggling. I joked if their criteria for joining their group was to have a -ta name, but they claimed their similar names were just a coincidence.

“I…” I started, but before I could get another word in, Marta was shoving the phone into my face with a huge grin.

The guy staring back at me on the screen was handsome, sure, but he couldn’t have been a few years older than me. Besides, I wasn’t interested in doing long distance or moving away from town.

“Isn’t he just a handsome boy? You two would make a fine couple,” Berta stated and took another sip of her wine. “Etta, go ahead and give him your grandson’s number.”

Etta nodded but didn’t make a move.

“Here, I’ll do it,” Marta said and fiddled on the phone before pointing the screen to me again.

I was having whiplash with how fast the conversation was going. Sure, I’d told them about my recent breakup—or it was more like they practically forced out my entire life’s story—but I hadn’t expected them to try to set me up with someone.

“While he is handsome, I’ll have to decline,” I said with both hands up, palms facing them like that would make them calm down a bit.

“Don’t think too much about it, sonny! Just take the number and do a little flirting. It doesn’t hurt!” Berta wiggled her eyebrows, then added, “Back in my day?—”

“Oh, don’t even start, or else we’ll be here all night,” Anita interrupted, then turned to me with a hand up as if she wastelling me a secret. “Marta here isverywell known in our town, if you get what I mean.”

“Hear, hear!” Marta seemed proud of the fact and lifted her glass for another drink.

Just as I hoped would happen, they’d moved on with the conversation, and Marta turned back to me. She placed her wineglass on the table and fixed her determined eyes on me.

“Take this from someone who’s been around the block a time or two. Don’teverget hung up over a man. They’re like shoes. Use them until they get worn out, then in the trash they go,” she said with a wink, which had the other ladies cackling.

I smiled too. I loved how confident these women were. Did that confidence grow with age? I sure hoped so.

“Sounds like we’re having a party over here. Good thing I brought the desserts,” a voice sounded from behind me. The group of women cheered as a man served the dessert to them.

It was some type of ice cream with berries and sauce on top and looked absolutely mouthwatering. I wasn’t surprised when the four women immediately picked up their spoons and started digging in, completely forgetting about me.

I breathed a sigh of relief now that I could make my escape from their matchmaking. I turned around to thank my savior but froze when I saw who it was.

The world was playing around with coincidences today.

Chapter Six

LEVI

“What are you doing here?” the guy from this morning asked. He looked just as shocked as I was. His longish bangs were tied back out of his face into a topknot, which shouldn’t look as manly as it did on him.

“I should be askingyouthat, since my family runs this B&B,” I shot back with a curious look.

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