Page 29 of A Very Titan Christmas
Thank God for Bryce. He was far better at covering for them than she was. He moved closer to her side, and her stomach twirled in a giddy little dance reminiscent of the way he used to make her swoon. She tipped her head back and met his warm hazel gaze and let herself fall—pretendto fall—for the strong man helping her navigate her gigantic lie.
In high school, he’d been a heartthrob. In the here and now, he was far more than that. The rugged good looks were still there, but Bryce carried himself with the confidence of a soldier who had experienced life.
Bryce pulled back and focused on the agenda in hand. “Which means I have to stick close.” He perused the schedule. “You run a tight ship, ma’am—Eloise.” He checked the time. “We have a meeting shortly with the MSDD clinic. What’s that?”
“MS and Demyelinating Disease Clinic,” Rachel explained. “It’s a local group of providers that helps in rural areas where scheduling specialist appointments means complicated travel arrangements.”
“Let’s order our coffees.” Eloise pivoted her wheelchair toward the coffee bar. They followed behind her. “Instead of meeting with the fundraisers today, why don’t you promise to work out the kinks with the cookie-decorating contest?”
“What’s that?” he asked.
Eloise glanced over her shoulder as though he’d committed a holiday sin. “Every Christmas has a cookie-decorating contest.”
“That hasn’t always been my experience,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever decorated a cookie in my life.”
Rachel noted the somber tone that he might have meant to hide.
Eloise stopped abruptly and turned to face him. “Well, that’s terrible, Bryce.”
“Give him a break, Mom. Not everyone does what you do.”
“That’s the problem with the world. It would run much smoother if royal icing and fondant were penciled into family calendars.”
Rachel nudged Bryce and offered a stage whisper. “Ignore her.”
“Since you haven’t participated in a holiday cookie contest,” Eloise said in her best disappointed-teacher voice, “I’ll task you with finalizing the theme.”
“You don’t have a theme yet?” Rachel asked. “I don’t believe that.”
“Even if we did, Bryce needs a lesson in holiday activities.”
“I don’t think he does, Mom.”
“Have you ever noticed the way she saysMomwhen she’s unhappy with me?” Eloise shrugged and smiled. “I hear it often.”
Eloise wasn’t wrong, but Rachel scoffed. “He’s dating me,Mom. Bryce isn’t here for Silverberry Ridge Christmas 101.”
Eloise placed a hand over her heart. “Oh, Rachel, that would be a fantastic name for your article.”
Once again, Mom wasn’t wrong. “That’s not the point.”
Bryce laughed. “It’s fine. We can come up with a theme.”
“You have no idea how seriously some people take their cookie themes.” Rachel pitied him because of how little he knew about the world that was sucking him into its Christmas vortex. “They’ve had themes like starry, starry night and poinsettias on a mantel.”
His brow furrowed. “Do kids make these cookies?”
“Everyone in town decorates.” Mom grinned, then held out her hands and gestured to her body. “It’s hard to say no to me. Especially when I roll up and smile.”
“It’s a small-town fundraiser. Everyone decorates the cookies,” Rachel explained. “It’s fun. Mostly. Some adults take it too seriously. But that’s life.” She’d have to make sure to get pictures of the kids decorating. They tended to breeze into the contest with bright eyes and smiles and leave with bellies full of sugar cookies and hair spackled with royal icing.
“Maybe it’s the themes,” Bryce held up a hand and wriggled it from side to side. “Flowers in front of a fireplace?”
“Poinsettias on a mantel,” Mom corrected. “The detail work on the flowers.” She held her hand to her heart again as though the cookies had moved her as much as the potential title of Rachel’s article. “Some had roaring fires. Others had stockings hung with care.”
“Kids did that?”
“Well, no.”
