Page 9 of Merriment and Mayhem
“Jesus, woman!” He panted, knuckles white around the steering wheel. “You can’t just—Oh.Oh, my.”
Everleigh’s breath caught in her throat.
At the end of the cul-de-sac, Grandma Dangerfield’s house was lit up with enough Christmas lights to rival an airstrip. Someone had picked up where Everleigh had left off. The big, colorful bulbs Everleigh had found in the attic had been strung all around the steeply pitched gable roof, and icicle lights she didn’t recognize hung from the gingerbread trim over the porch.
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Gloria murmured, and Everleigh had to laugh, because it was either that or cry. And, well, she might do that, too.
This was no Christmas miracle. Everleigh didn’t believe in those any more than she believed in fate or serendipity or whatever the hell Griffin Brantley wanted to call it. But she did believe people could be good and kind, and that? That was better than any miracle in her book.
“Thank you so much for driving me.” She threw open the door and hopped out before Frank had even put the car in park. “You two have a good night!”
Everleigh sprinted up the front walk and took the porch steps two at a time, heart racing by the time she made it to the front door. The front door that had a note taped to it, right above the knob, unmissable.
Everleigh—
It read in a slanted script.
Stay out of trouble
xx.
Chapter Three
Miller was first to spot her, greeting her from inside the open doorway of the firehouse with a lopsided smile.
“Dangerfield!” He tossed the towel he was using to dry the bumper of the shiny red fire truck over his shoulder. “What brings you by on this fine afternoon?”
Eyes scanning the firehouse, hoping to spot a particular firefighter, Everleigh lifted the wicker basket off her arm. “I come bearing cookies, actually. And this batch isn’t burned. Promise.”
Miller took the basket from her and peeked inside, pulling out an oatmeal raisin cookie that he promptly shoved in his mouth. “A little char never hurt anybody.” Crumbs fell onto his shirt and the floor. “They don’t call us smoke eaters for nothing.” With his mouth full, it sounded likenuffin, and she had to stifle a laugh.
“Cookies?” A stocky man with curly blond hair poked his head around the side of the fire truck. “Someone mentioned cookies, right?”
Miller jerked a thumb at her. “Dangerfield brought us sustenance.”
She waved. “Hi. I’m Everleigh.”
A wide smile crossed the man’s face. “So this is the famous Trouble we’ve all heard so much about.”
Famous?Sure.“More likeinfamous, I’m guessing.”
“Nah.” He chuckled, eyes flitting over her shoulder. “Brantley won’t shut up about you. This whole week, it’s been nothing butTrouble thisandTrouble that—”
“Hey! Aren’t you on dish duty tonight, Boyd?”
Everleigh’s pulse quickened and her breath made an audible catch in the back of her throat that she prayed Miller couldn’t hear over the sound of his chewing. She bit down on a smile and turned, watching as Griffin jogged down the stairs, eating up the firehouse floor with his long stride. His eyes crinkled and the corners of his mouth curled. “Don’t tell me you’re bringing the emergencies straight to us now, Trouble.”
“Ha ha.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Not quite.” She gestured to the basket of cookies Miller was doing a number on. “I brought cookies, if Miller decides to share.”
“Come on, man.” Boyd reached for a cookie, and Miller smacked the back of his hand before taking off, Boyd hot on his heels. The sound of their laughter echoed through the firehouse.
“Were those oatmeal?” At her nod, Griffin hummed. “Well, would you look at that. Oatmeal happens to be my favorite. Seems a lot like—”
“If the next word out of your mouth isfate, so help me God ...” Everleigh laughed. “That’s what most people would call a coincidence.”
He shrugged. “Coincidence, fate. I don’t really care what you call it.” One corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk. “I think it’s awfully interesting that I was just thinking about you, and lo and behold, you appear.”
Thinking about her, huh? “Not to poke holes in your theory, but I’d have been here sooner had it not been until this morning that the new oven was delivered. The cookies are a thank-you.”
