Page 11 of A Whisker in the Night

“It truly is the most wonderful time of the year,” I tell her. “Or at least it’s a tie for the second.”

“That’s not the point, Bizzy.” Macy doesn’t miss a beat. “My point is, you’re stepping on my ruby red toenails.” She leans in and that perfectly manicured finger is wagging dangerously close to my nose. “And if you think for one second that I’m going to let some bargain-bin gift shop encroach on my Lather and Light empire, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Empire? I raise a brow her way.

Someone thinks highly of herself.

Oh, who am I kidding? Macy entered this world thinking highly of herself.

Macy is not only my older, far saucier sister who happens to own Lather and Light, a soap and candle shop on Main Street, just a skip and a hop from the inn, she also happens to be dating my ex-husband.

Jordy Crosby is Emmie’s older brother, and well, we may have accidentally gotten hitched on a trip to Vegas once. Bad whiskey and an Elvis impersonator were involved.

Suffice it to say, our union was never consummated, and we quickly sought the assistance of Huxley’s shiny new law degree to help dismantle it.

Ironically, Macy and Jordy are basically the same person. She’s spent her thirty-plus years on the planet as a maneater, and he’s logged equal time as a rather prolific womanizer. It’s a match made in hot-and-heavy heaven—or more accurately, that other, far morehotterplace. Jordy and Macy are still pretty new, but they’re not shy about it. At all.

The front doors swing open, and in walks Mom in all her glory—sporting a turquoise windbreaker that screams 1985 and her signature red curls bouncing with each step. Behind her comes Georgie, floating along in a pastel kaftan that looks like a pastel Easter egg rolled right over it (her signature look for anyseason—yes, even our brutal winters). And in Georgie’s arms is the most enormous spring bouquet I’ve ever seen.

“Wow, are those the flowers from your secret admirer?” I ask as Emmie gives an appreciative whistle at the sight.

“You bet your knocked-up britches they are,” Georgie beams. “But here’s the oddball kicker?—”

Mom lifts a finger. “There’s a QR code we’re supposed to scan to find out who sent them,” she says, practically vibrating with curiosity. “But nothing happens when we try.”

Georgie nods. “I’ve scanned all night until my phone battery died, and I still don’t have answers.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “But from the sound of it, you have one very tech-savvy admirer.”

“Let me see if I can help,” Emmie offers, and both Mom and Georgie follow her to the bay window where sunshine pours through the stained glass.

“Georgie has a stalker?” Macy asks as if her curiosity were piqued.

“I said secret admirer,” I correct.

She shrugs. “I find there’s very little difference. Why does Georgie get to have all the fun?”

I’m about to say something to Macy when that aforementioned tall, dark, and handsome ex of mine strides through the door in a white T-shirt and well-worn jeans.

Jordy is the handyman here at the inn, and judging by Macy’s sudden intake of breath, the way she’s just pulled back her shoulders and hoisted her boobs out for the world to see, she thoroughly approves of how those jeans fit.

“Ladies.” Jordy tips his ballcap our way. “Bizzy, just so you know, it’s raining eucalyptus branches all over the main walkway in the back.”

He grabs Macy and they dive into a rather sloppy smooching spree right here at the reception counter.

“Are you kidding me?” I gasp and it has nothing to do with the aforementioned sloppy kisses I’m currently subject to. “Jordy, those branches could kill someone!” While eucalyptus trees aren’t all that common in Maine, the last owner took a liking to them and dotted them all over the property. He thought it was a nice break from all the evergreens surrounding the place.

Falling tree limbs?

All sorts of dark thoughts run through my mind. The last thing I need is a trail of bodies lining the walkway. Heaven knows it’s happened before.

“Those kinds of trees are self-pruning,” he says with a sigh. “And that’s exactly why I’m going to spend the day hacking them back.”

“Ooh.” Macy wraps her arms around him with far more vigor and more steamy kisses ensue. It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes.

She comes back up for air while looking right at him. “I guess that means you’re going to get all hot and sweaty today?”

“And I guess that means you’ll be coming over tonight,” he counters.

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