Page 80 of The Snuggle is Real
“I mean, I’m— You know I’m straight, Nick. I was married to LuAnne.”
“And I was married to your sister, but you’ve always known I was bi. Youcanbe attracted to men and women. I’m living proof.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I’ve heard the rumors about you and that new guy. The whole town has been talking about how you’re moving on.”
A little bitterness crept into my tone, but I couldn’t help it. Nicole was my sister, and I’d never replace her. She’d always be a gaping void in my life. But if the gossip was true, then Nick was falling in love again. That was hard to take.
There was a long beat of silence. “I’ll always love Nicole. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And I think she’d want me to move on. She’d want you to be happy too, and if Mason makes you happy…”
“I kind of screwed up,” I said. “I don’t know if he’d want to date me now.”
“Well, I don’t normally do this, but…”
I held my breath, waiting for him to finish. Maybe he’d cough up the time and place of this date, so I could at least be there to check out this guy and make sure he was good enough for Mason.
But what he said next blew my mind.
“If you want to know how he feels about you, I think I can help. Here’s what you’d need to do…”
CHAPTER 21
Mason
I checkedmy appearance in the mirror, smoothing down the front of my sweater with a flicker of sadness. When Nick had called to tell me that my date would be at the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, I’d nearly called off the whole thing.
I’d teased Ford so many times about getting him into an ugly Christmas sweater that meeting someone else there didn’t seem right. But wasn’t that why I’d gone down this matchmaking road to begin with? To get over Ford?
Watching him transform my house from DIY nightmare to gorgeous fixer-upper wasn’t doing a lot to achieve that. Nor was coming home to a glowing house full of life instead of a dark, empty shell.
All week, Peppermint Bark had greeted me at the door, all excited yaps, and right behind him was a beaming Charlie, ready to tell me about every cute thing my pup did for the day. She’d tell me all the town gossip that Grandma Dottie shared with her too. Ford watched with an indulgent smile, eventuallyintervening to set me free and give me an update on the progress at the house.
He’d loosened up a lot, so the matchmaking had served its purpose there.
Midway through the week, the awkward tension dissipated. He started smiling at me again. Teasing me about my upcoming mystery date. He’d even stayed for dinner the last couple of nights when he worked late to get the floors fully refinished.
My family would descend in two days, and Ford went the extra mile to make sure I was ready. I never would have gotten there without his help.
But tonight was about moving on from Ford.
I grabbed my wallet and keys and headed outside. This time of year, the air was sharp enough to bite. I ducked my chin down, snuggling into my scarf, and dashed to my car, cranking the engine and begging the heater to warm up.
Of course, I was already parking in front of The White Elephant by the time the heat kicked in. Ah well.
I parked and went inside, scanning the pub for a glimpse of my date. I’d been given his name and a rough description: six feet tall, sandy hair, clean-shaven. But it was difficult to focus on faces with so manyhideoussweaters on display.
There were deformed-looking reindeer with bulging eyes, naughty-looking elves, and snowballs inveryinappropriate places. I caught sight of Martha, a volunteer from the museum, in a very naughty sweater with Mrs. Claus whipping a ‘bad’ Santa.Wow.Wouldn’t have seen that one coming.
Hank Beaufort was also in the crowd—wearing a jersey-style sweater that featured a Santa with a hockey stick on the front and a number on the back. He was with a guy, so it looked like my Thanksgiving Single Mingle buddy was no longer flying solo. Good for him.
The manager, Elaine, was working the hostess stand. She offered to sit me at a table for two with the promise she’d send Todd along when he showed up.Ifhe showed up. My stomach flip-flopped, and I wasn’t sure if I’d prefer he arrive late or not at all.
I followed Elaine past booths lining the walls to a table near the back. Sliding doors led to a private nook called The Snug, and those doors were open tonight. I could see a few people holding up gaudy decorations, as well as a couple posing for photos with Christmasy props.
Elaine noticed where I was looking.
