Page 88 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

My face slips into a very natural frown. I never thought I’d see the day when I wanted my grandmother to seduce someone my age, but I’ll admit that I’m very annoyed she hasn’t. I want Harry’s plan to work.

Ivy grins at me. I don’t grin back. “You’re worried Kennedy’s going to fall for one of those rich bachelors.”

I snort. She doesn’t need to sound so excited about this whole mess.

Holly shrugs. “Well, itisa valid concern.”

“Traitor,” I tell her.

Another shrug. “I’ve heard that one of guys looks like a Greek God.”

“Not helping,” I say, just as Ivy says, “Ooh, who told you that?”

“Harry.”

“Let me guess?” I say on a sigh. “Schnappsicles.”

“Obviously,” Holly says. “So this brings me back to the question I’ve already asked at least twice. What. Are.You. Going to do?”

“I’m starting to think schnappsicles are the answer no matter what the question is.”

We all laugh, but by the time we get to the end of it, both of my sisters are giving me pointed looks. I have no idea why, and I say so.

“You need a plan,” Ivy says. “A good one.”

“I got her that dog, didn’t I?” I ask. “She loves that dog.”

“Yes, the dog was good, but the dog is not a plan.”

“Let me guess. You have one for me?”

“You said she loves Christmas,” Holly says, smiling at me, then Ivy. They’re obviously in on this together, and while I’m happy they’ve been talking, I really wish they hadn’t done their bonding over me. “You need to show her a real Highland Hills Christmas.”

I expected to hate whatever plan they decided to roll out for me, but I’m surprised by how little I hate this. I think of Jay and the tree farm. Of what it felt like when he brought me there as a kid, before so much shit went down that it buried me. I think of that tiny tree, winking in Kennedy’s window.

It’s just—

“How’s this going to end?” I ask them. “She lives in Chicago, and I live here. She loves her job. She’s helping people. This non-profit she works for helps single mothers and women leaving abusive relationships. How can I ask her to leave that behind?”

Ivy lets out a humph. “Why does she have to leaveherlife?”

Because I want to get to know Ivy better. Because I want to spend time with Jay and figure out what the fuck all of this means. Because this town is a part of me in some intangible way that doesn’t necessarily feel good but is undeniable.

At the same time… “You’re right. But I’m a handyman who makes toys in his spare time. I’d probably be homeless if I lived in Chicago.”

“I think there’s someone who might take pity on you,” Holly says with a twinkle in her eye, but here’s the thing. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I need to be able to stand on my own two feet. I need to be the kind of man who can take care of the people I love. I don’t want to be a shackle on Kennedy’s leg, weighing her down, making her unhappy because I’m a hick stuck in a city that doesn’t want me.

I shake off Holly’s suggestion. “I wouldn’t be any good in Chicago. You know I hate big cities.”

She gives a half shrug, because she does know that. I visited her once when she was living in New York, and I nearly got run over by not one, not two, but three taxis. Then we went into a bar, and within five minutes someone had challenged me to a fight.

I won. We were invited to never come back.

I rub my chest, feeling an unpleasant burn there. “I can’t see any happy ending for us.” Saying it puts a deeper burn in my chest, because I’m starting to realize Iwanta happy ending. Actually, I don’t want an ending at all. I want to keep following this bit of string to find where it goes, and I hope to fuck I don’t end up with nothing but an unraveled sweater.

“Oh, Rowan,” Ivy says, giving me a sympathetic look. “Did I soak up all the imagination in our gene pool?” She pretends to sprinkle me with something. “I’ll give you a fairy dusting of it.”

“Hey,” Holly says as she points a fry at our sister this time. “I imagine plenty of things. In fact, I was telling Bryn just the other day that we need to have our Matchmake Me app play songs for the user after a relationship doesn’t work out. You know, like ‘Cry Me a River.’”

---