Page 35 of So in Love
“Jamie?”Mom’s voice broke into his musings.
“Yeah?”
“I said, can’t a mother just want to see her son happy?”
“Of course she can.And Iamhappy.”He turned to his dad.“So what’s the plan for tomorrow if it snows overnight?You ready to call a snow day?”
Dad shook his head.“Not me.I leave that to the district.But they’ll ask me to drive around the neighborhood if it snows—to test the roads out so they can make a decision about whether to have school.I promise you every kid in Ribbon Ridge is doing their snow ritual tonight.”
Jamie laughed.“Ice cubes in the toilet or something, right?”
“Yes, and pajamas inside out,” Mom said, having gone back to slicing tomatoes.“Though your brothers could never get you to do that.”
Jamie twitched.“God, no, that sounds really uncomfortable.I’m surprised Cam did it—he’s so picky about his clothes.”
Mom paused in her chopping again, her head tilting to the side.“You know, I think he stopped around third grade.Which was when he started to insist upon choosing his own clothes.”She shook her head.“Each of you boys have your quirks, I’ll give you that.Luke was always so quiet.And you’re a walking mess.Did you get the name of the housekeeper I texted you?”
“Uh, yeah.”Jamie walked away from the counter as a means of trying to politely show he wasn’t interested in this line of conversation.
Luck was on his side, because the doorbell rang at that moment.“I’ll get it.”He went to the door and opened it.Crystal stood on the doorstep, her coat hugging her athletic frame and a cute red hat pulled over her golden locks.“Come in.”She stepped inside, and he noted she was wearing the sexy boots again.She’d let him put them on her the other night—with nothing else.
Shit, he was getting a stiffy already.
She undid her coat and he helped her out of it, leaning close to her ear to whisper, “You look amazing.”Her subtle, spicy perfume assailed him.“And you smell fantastic.”
Before she could say anything, Dad joined them, taking her coat.“Hi, I know we’ve met at some Archer shindig, but it’s nice to see you again.”He draped her coat over his left arm and shook her hand with his right.
“Hi, yes, it’s good to see you.Thank you for having me over tonight.”
“I’ll just hang this up.”He went to the closet and hung her coat inside.
She stepped close to Jamie as she pulled her hat from her head and tucked it into her purse.“You didn’t call me back.”
“Crap, I forgot.”He’d gotten a voicemail from her that afternoon, but work had been busy.“Sorry.”
Mom came out of the kitchen drying her hands on a towel and then laying said towel over her shoulder so she could shake Crystal’s hand.“Welcome!Would you like a glass of wine?”
Crystal smiled.“Sure, thank you.”
As she went back around the island, Mom said, “Jamie, would you open the wine?”
Dad brought glasses from the table and set them on the counter while Jamie went to retrieve the opener.He paused.They’d remodeled the kitchen since he’d lived there, and he hadn’t memorized where everything was located.“Where’s the opener?”
“Here.”Dad pulled the tool from a drawer and handed it to Jamie.Then Dad moved to join Crystal on the other side of the island.“So you’re helping Kelsey and Brooke with the Ribbon Ridge history exhibit?That’s taken a lot of your time the past several months.”
She nodded.“Yep.We really enjoy it, though.”
Mom scraped the tomatoes into the salad bowl and then tossed everything together.“What sparks your interest in history?”
Jamie poured the wine.
Crystal tucked her hair behind her ear.“Our town was kind of historic, I guess.”
“Where’s that?”Dad asked.
“Blueville, North Carolina.It’s near the southern border.My grandfather was really into history—there’s a church outside of town that was built in 1762.”
“Wow, that’s much older than anything we have around here,” Dad said, chuckling.He picked up his wineglass and offered a toast.“To history.”
