Page 65 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

“You want me to get her a dog?”

This is the part I don’t like so much. This is the part that’s going to get her the dog. “I can locate one, if you want. You could have one of the guys take credit. Your frontrunner.”

Her expression is contemplative, but I know I’ve got her on the hook. I can’t sound too interested or invested now; it would put her off. “Anyway, just a thought. I figured it would add something to the show.”

“So you have half a brain after all,” Nana says, patting her bun. “Up until now, your mother is the only one who’s shown any interest in the show, and her suggestion was preposterous.”

I stiffen, because I have a pretty damn good idea of what she suggested. I can’t believe she asked Nana about it even after Jay told her no. Actually, shit, Idobelieve it. It’s precisely in her nature.

“Goodnight, Nana.”

“I’ll let you know what I decide,” she says. “But in the meantime, see if you can source one.”

As if a puppy were a side of meat or a bag of grain.

I walk off without a wave or a feigned gesture of affection, and she does the same.

Once I’m outside, I dial Oliver. “Hey,” he answers, sounding like a guy who’s just been stood up.

“Hey,” I tell him as I make my way to the truck. “We need to find Harry. I was just with Kennedy, and from what she said, he was pretty excited about meeting up with you. He even left hisphone with her because he already knew where to go and when. I’m hoping he got lost, but…”

“Shit,” Oliver says, his mood transforming in an instant. “I figured he’d stood me up. That he ran away like the last time something…anyway, that doesn’t matter. Goddammit.”

“Yup, that’s what we were thinking.” He doesn’t ask why I was with Kennedy, probably because his mind is busy working on the problem of where Harry got off to. I’m good with that. I don’t have any sensible answers, and I want to find Harry too.

“Meet me at…where were you supposed to meet him? I never asked.”

“Salt and Bone.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

I drive faster than I should because I’m getting more and more agitated.

My phone rings when I’m a minute and a half away, and I pick it up in case it’s Oliver. It’s not. It’s the fucking emergency room.

I answer halfway through the first ring. “What’s going on?”

“Sir,” a woman says in a calm, measured voice. “We have a man here who says he’s your roommate.”

“Harry?” I blurt. “What’s happened to him?”

“He’ll be perfectly fine, sir. There’s really no reason for him to be here for something—”

“Let me talk to him,” I hear Harry say, his voice practically bouncing with nerves.

“No, sir. You willnotuse my phone.”

“I’ll be right there,” I say.

“He’s perfectly fine to drive ho—”

“No, I’m not, I’m amutant,” I hear Harry wail.

Well, shit, I’d better get over there. “I’ll be right there,” I repeat.

Instead of trying to find street parking, I call Oliver and tell him to meet me outside the restaurant because Harry’s in the hospital.

He’s there when I pull up, his face drawn with worry, and it’s obvious that he likes Harry. A lot. I shouldn’t take any satisfaction in that—I’ve done almost nothing to help throw them together other than suggest the Christmas tree outing—but I’m surprised to feel almost…excited by the possibility. Fuck. Kennedy is clearly messing with my head, because that’s not like me. At all. I’ve always run away as fast as I could from my family’s matchmaking legacy.

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