Page 263 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

He was disappointed it wasn’t Maisie, but she was sitting on the front curb with Dottie, who looked like she was about to burst into tears. Finn was trying to keep everyone gatheredtogether in the front lawn, including Stella, who seemed far more interested in the firefighters than she was Lurch.

Maisie glanced up at him, her gaze letting him know that she wished she were tugging his arm too. She seemed to like tugging him around, not that he minded. He was tempted to go to her, to kiss her in front of everyone, but Iris was standing by herself, tears streaming down her face, and he knew what he had to do.

His ex-girlfriend was right. Until Iris left for college, anyone else would be in second place. And as much as it killed him to admit it, Maisie deserved more than he could give her.

He went to his baby sister and pulled her into his arms, comforting her. Then he felt something brush his legs, and he smiled when he realized it was Jezebel. Tyrion was trotting behind her, wagging his tail as if nothing had happened.

Adalia cried out, “Tyrion!” then dropped to her knees and buried her face in his fur. “I was so worried about you! They wouldn’t let me go upstairs to look for you.”

“That evil cat found the dog?” Iris asked in disbelief.

“Looks like it.” Jack pulled away from Iris and sat down on the lawn to thoroughly examine the cat. When he declared her healthy, she nuzzled him under his chin.

“I swear you’re a warlock,” Adalia said in wonder. Finn was sitting down at the curb with Dottie and Maisie, but he kept glancing back at her.

“Animals have always liked him,” Iris said in a snotty tone. “A real sister would know that.”

Adalia’s eyes widened slightly, but then she said in a sweet voice Jack knew it must have taken some effort to summon, “I’m Jack’s real sister too. Same as you. And while we don’t have as much history with Jack as you do, Georgie and I are trying to make up for lost time. But like I told you before,” she said, “Jack’s family is our family. We want to get to know you too.”

Iris rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Then she walked over to Jack’s car and rested her butt against the side.

“I’m sorry, Addy,” Jack said, horrified. It was like he’d left his sister in Chicago and some evil pod person had replaced her. What had happened to the sweet, funny kid he’d helped raise? But if he were honest with himself, she’d been changing over the last year as their mother had begun sinking into another depressive spiral. “I had no idea she’d be this surly when I asked if it would be okay for her to move in. We can move out if you want.”

Adalia released a snort-laugh. “Please.You should have seen me when I was her age. I had a chip on my shoulder too. She’ll come around. Give her time.”

“I only have nine months before she leaves,” he said, surprised to hear his voice hitch a little. Truth be told, part of him looked forward to his sister’s graduation in the same way a prisoner looked forward to being released. Once she was an adult, on her own, he wouldn’t have to worry about her so much. Of course, he knew it wouldn’t matter in some ways—he’d feel responsible for her no matter where she lived. It had become part of who he was.

“Trust me, Jack,” Adalia said. “Just love her and she’ll come around. In the meantime, I feel like I’m looking at my teenage self in an alternate dimension, and I’m fascinated. Besides, I spend half my time at Finn’s. Don’t you think about going anywhere.”

The firemen made quick work of putting out the fire, which had blackened the side of the house but not actually burned it. They gave Dottie a lecture about turkey fryers, but Stella kept interrupting to feel all of the firemen’s arms. Lurch actually took photos of her posing with them, which Jack couldn’t begin to understand. Then again, he’d never been the sharing type when it came to women. If he liked someone, he was all in.

The paramedics wanted to take Jack to the hospital to get checked out for smoke inhalation, but he refused since his oxygen saturation rate was fine. But they did end up taking Lurch, who had singed off his eyebrows and had burns on his arm. Thankfully, Stella went with him. One of the firefighters tried to get cozy with Georgie, asking her if she’d set the fire to summon him back, and River surprised Jack by getting between them, telling the firefighter she was very much taken. He had never seemed the jealous type.

The ambulance pulled away, followed by the fire trucks, leaving the Buchanans and their guests standing in the front yard, with a growing crowd of whispering neighbors watching them like they were a zoo exhibit.

“Show’s over, folks!” Adalia shouted while giving them a salute. “Go enjoy your turkey and tofu dinners, just like we’re about to go eat ours.” Then she walked to the front porch and turned around to face her family and friends. “I spent all morning making this dinner, so don’t you eventhinkabout leaving.”

Then she disappeared into the house.

“You heard the woman,” Finn said. “Trust me, you donotwant her to go after you.” But he grinned, like maybe he wanted her to go afterhim.

Iris rolled her eyes. “Old people aresogross.”

CHAPTER NINE

“It’s time for us to announce what we’re grateful for,” Dottie said brightly. They sat around the dinner table, an unpleasant scorched smell in the air, and Maisie couldn’t help but reflect that Dottie had recovered awfully quickly considering she’d been close to tears half an hour ago.

Dottie had leaned against Maisie’s shoulder outside, feeling frail in a way that had scared Maisie—when had she gotten so old?—and said she felt guilty about nearly burning Beau’s house down a second time. Which, to be fair, maybe she should. But then she’d gone on about it being a sign that Beau was displeased with her, that she hadn’t done enough to help his grandchildren, and Maisie had told Dottie the truth: her theory was a bunch of BS. Because if Beau was pissed off enough to celestially cause fires, he’d do it in someone else’s house. He’d been too fond of this place to watch it go up in flames, especially with his hell cat and the majority of the relatives he tolerated in the danger zone.

Dottie had found that line of argument strangely reassuring, and as soon as Adalia had announced they were having dinner, like it or not, Dottie had rebounded. She’d ushered everyone inside and helped warm the food.

Now they all sat beneath poor Diego’s portrait on the wall—Adalia had insisted on hanging it up to honor him, although Georgie had put a Post-it note over Lurch’s junk. They’d served themselves food and were eating a little half-heartedly, even though everything was good. Finn kept peddling the squash to people, grinning like he’d reinvented the wheel.

Probably Maisie should be mourning poor Diego, who hadn’t had much of a life for a bird, other than those sweet seconds he’d spent in Jack’s arms. Or yearning for her sisters, who could have saved her from all of this madness by actually coming home for a change. But instead she found herself staring at Jack’s arm, propped up next to her on the table. She’d maneuvered to sit next to him, a decision of questionable wisdom, and she kept replaying the way he’d singlehandedly broken into the detached garage to get that fire extinguisher. She’d thought him sexy before, but now he was basically a hero, wasn’t he? He’d slipped upstairs for a quick shower before dinner, and his hair was wet, something that somehow made him more appealing. Probably because of the whole sex-in-the-bathroom thing. He caught her looking, and a corner of his mouth ticked up before he got it under control. Careful not to reveal herself to Iris, who sat on his other side with a more pronounced scowl than she’d had earlier, Maisie trailed her fingers across his upper thigh.

She wasn’t sure what the hell she thought she was doing—she’d said one night, and he’d written that “just friends” note—but she had been dreaming about him, and his note had trailed off in a strange way, and…

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