Page 40 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
Lizzy wrinkled her nose. “It’s not exactly… romantic.”
He laughed. “What would you do?”
Lizzy’s expression turned dreamy. “Candlelit dinner, classy food, maybe a little dancing?”
“Do you honestly think Dahlia would be into that?” His frown was skeptical. “She doesn’t want some textbook date. That’s boring. She needs excitement, adventure. If I do agree to this, I am most definitely not doing some carbon-copy date from a romance movie.”
Both sisters stared at him in surprise. He supposed he had gotten a little passionate on the topic.
He shrugged, flashing them a mischievous wink. “Emma paid for this service fair and square, and I’m gonna deliver.”
“But… ice fishing?” Lizzy bulged her eyes at Rose. “I know Dahlia’s annoying, but do we really want to put her through that?”
Rose giggled. JJ feigned insult, but then his food arrived, and he was so hungry, he started devouring his burger.
He was just wiping his mouth with a napkin when Emma bustled into Mama’s Kitchen with a scowl.
“Emma! I thought you were going straight home after work.” Lizzy blinked in surprise as her sister took off her scarf and slid into the booth beside Corbin.
“I was, but I just got off the phone with Dahlia, and she’s in a foul mood and I need to delay.” She gave Rose an apologetic wince. “Sorry. I don’t mean to talk badly about your sister, but I’m just a little tired after a big week.”
Rose smiled. “That’s okay. I get it.”
JJ frowned, hating the way they were all talking about Dahlia like she was some beast.
“I’ll do it.” He finished off his shared milkshake with a loud slurp. “I’ll take Dahlia out tomorrow.”
“Seriously?” Lizzy gasped, then started clapping with glee.
Emma looked a little confused, but she was laughing as she clapped along with the twins, who’d cheered at his announcement.
The crowded tables around them turned to stare at the kids’ loud celebration.
JJ could already imagine how quickly word would spread that he was dating one of the O’Sullivan sisters. He pointed at the twins with a stern expression. “This is top secret information, and you are not to breathe a word to anyone. Got that?”
“Sir, yes, sir!” They both saluted him, and he saluted back, energy coursing through him as he went to pay for his meal… and start planning for a date that Dahlia would never forget.
13
Dahlia dallied in her bedroom the next morning. She’d been up and dressed for ages, but she couldn’t stop this nagging sense of dread every time she thought of going downstairs to join the others.
It was ridiculous, obviously. It wasn’t like she was afraid of these people. Besides, this was her house too… technically. But it was a Saturday, which meant no one had anywhere to be.
She’d smelled bacon cooking earlier and had heard the lively chatter and laughter as she sat up here alone in her room.
She met her gaze in the bedroom mirror and gave herself a hard glare.
It was just plain cowardly to hide away up here, and she was no coward. She held her phone up, the screen still on the airline’s flights for later today.
It wouldn’t cost much to change her departure flight. A pang of guilt made her frown. She’d planned to stay through the weekend for Rose’s sake, since her week had been eaten up by work. But would Rose even care if she left early?
She might even be relieved.
With a deep breath, she reached for the doorknob. There was only one way to find out what Rose was thinking, so she couldn’t put this off any longer.
There were few sounds coming from the kitchen, and Dahlia let out a sigh of relief. If she could avoid a run-in with Lizzy or Emma this morning, all the better. That wasn’t cowardice, just self-preservation.
She wasn’t sure how much more awkward politeness she could stand from Emma. And if Lizzy called her a dragon one more time… Dahlia huffed as she hit the bottom floor… well, she wouldn’t be held responsible for her actions.
