Page 12 of Rainbow Kisses

“Brian! It’s really good to see you again. How’ve you been?”

For the first time, Brian smiled, a real smile that reached all the way to his eyes and lit them up, making my mouth dry.

“Good to see you too, Mitz. It’s been a while.”

Mitzi wrapped her thin arms around his broad shoulders, having to reach up onto her tiptoes to do it. My eyes widened in shock, because Mitzi didn’t give out hugs to just anyone. She was a tough old lady, though I would never say that to her face because… Well, she might spank me like I was six. Or make me wash dishes in the kitchen, like she’d made most of the teenagers who’d lived in this town when they’d screwed up.

You really didn’t want to get on Mitzi’s bad side. She was sixty-something, as far as anyone could tell, and showed no sign of slowing down any time soon. And no one would dare suggest it.

Stepping back, she gave me a nod then turned her attention to Maddy, who looked like she was trying to hide behind her uncle.

“And who’s this?”

The other thing about Mitzi was that she could charm birds out of the sky when she wanted. She had a way with kids that was uncanny. They trusted her implicitly.

Except Maddy seemed to be the exception to the rule. She shrunk even closer to her uncle, one thin hand reaching around his arm. To Brian’s credit, he didn’t force her to be sociable, and Mitzi didn’t push herself on the girl.

“My niece, Maddy.” He put his arm around the girl’s shoulders. “We’re moving to town for… well, a while.”

Mitzi’s smile never wavered. “Well, welcome to St. David, Maddy.” Then she transferred her attention back to Brian. “Gladto have you back. The team could use a little age and wisdom this year.”

“Well, I don’t know about wisdom, but the age thing might come back to bite me.”

Mitzi’s laughter filled the room, where only about half of the tables were full. It was a Monday and Christmas was a week and a half away. The drinking crowd would show up around eight or so. Until then, it’d be quiet.

“Son, when you’re my age, we’ll talk. Until then, suck it up.” Mitzi jerked her head to the left, glancing at me. “The table you asked for is set up. You know where it is.”

“Thank you, Mitzi.”

“No problem. I’ll send Chrissy back to take your order in five.”

Mitzi moved back to the bar, and I started walking, nodding and smiling at the couple in the corner, who were season ticket holders, and waving to the family celebrating a birthday on the other side of the room. I’d seen the family at games occasionally, though not often.

“Just give me a sec,” I said to Brian, “I’ll be right back.”

I made a quick detour, digging into my purse for the ticket vouchers I always kept there.

“Hey, happy birthday, Colin. I just wanted to stop and give you a little present.” I smiled at the little boy wearing the party hat then glanced at his parents and held up the vouchers. “Tickets for a Devils’ game. Good for whenever you can use them.”

The tickets also came with free snacks and drinks, but I didn’t mention that. People sometimes took it as an insult.

While the parents thanked me, Colin asked if I wanted cake, which, at any other time, I would’ve gladly accepted. “I didn’t eat yet, but thank you, Colin. Have a good night.”

With a little wave, I headed toward the back room. Brian and Maddy were already seated at the table I’d asked for. I saw Maddy say something to Brian, saw him nod in response, but as soon as I got close, she went silent, her gaze flashing up at me for a second before looking back down at the table.

I slid into my chair, trying not to show the nerves that started to bang around my stomach.

“Did you guys get a chance to look at the menu?” Which was stupid, because Brian had been here before. Countless times. “Well, not you, of course.” I waved a hand at Brian, probably looking like an idiot, and addressed my next comment to Maddy. “The burgers are great, and the chicken pot pie is the best in the state. Although it’s not really a pie. It’s the Pennsylvania Dutch pot pie so it has noodles and not pie crust.”

And now I was rambling. This was off to a great start. Maybe I should just get down to business. At least I had a list I could follow.

I reached behind me for my purse before I realized I’d put my coat over top of it and had to rearrange things before I could dig notebook out of it.

“So, I made a list because?—”

“Of course, you did.” Brian full-out smiled at me for the first time and the bottom dropped out of my stomach. “You’ve got a list for everything, don’t you?”

I attempted not to wrinkle my nose at him, though if he were one of my brothers, I would have kicked him under the table.

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