Page 33 of The Snuggle is Real
“No problem. Let me know if I can do anything else. Maybe a basket of baked goods for Christmas morning?”
I held out my card to pay for the brownie. “You read my mind, Joel. That would be absolutely perfect.”
He slid my cookie kit across the counter toward me. “We aim to please. Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t,” I said with a smile.
“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be single?”
I froze, shocked. Word around town was that Joel wasvery happilyin a relationship with Hayden Bradley.
“Oh, not for me!” he said quickly with a laugh. “It’s just, uh, Hayden’s got a friend who moved to town, and he’s been working with the matchmaker without much luck.”
“There’s amatchmaker?”
Joel grinned. “Wild, right?”
“Like an honest-to-god helps you find love matchmaker?”
Joel’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, apparently he’s quite good at it. Although the jury’s out on how effective he’ll be this time.”
“Wow.” I shook my head. “Christmas Falls really does have everything.”
Joel looked at me expectantly, until I remembered his original question.
“Oh! Oh, I’m single, yeah, but?—”
He winced. “Are you straight? I’m so sorry.”
“No, no. Gay as my purple coat indicates.” I chuckled nervously. “Just married to the job right now. But…thanks. I’m flattered that you think I’d be of any interest to this mystery friend.”
“Leo,” he supplied. “He’s really quite sweet, and so are you. But I’ll leave the matchmaking to the experts.”
I shoved a bite of brownie into my mouth before I agreed to a date with some guy I didn’t even know just because Joel was so dang charming.
With an awkward wave, I hustled over to the coffee station and finally got the hot drink I’d been craving.
But I still had no idea who this mystery Santa was—or why they’d chosen me of all people to comfort on Thanksgiving Day.
I was used to being the giver, not the recipient. But I was damn grateful they’d given me a taste of home just when I needed it most.
CHAPTER 10
Ford
“I needto pick up some work, so I was wondering, uh…”
I struggled to get the words out, and Logan filled in my pause. “I wish I could bring you on, but we’re barely scraping enough for the crew we’ve got.”
Logan co-owned a landscaping business that did Christmas light installations and plowing in the winter, but I didn’t expect them to need any help.
“No, I wasn’t asking for that. It’s the slow season for you too.”
“Yeah. It’s why I used to move place to place. Maybe you could commute over to Peoria for work?”
“I can’t. I, uh, I got a little girl now.”
“Oh.” His voice warmed. “Right, Griff mentioned something about a stepdaughter?”
