Page 10 of Mad About Yule

While I throw together the basic frame, Hope inspects plastic bins full of light strings, untangling someone else’s shoddy work. At least, I assume perfect Hope Parrish isn’t the one who threw dozens of strings of lights into a pile. She plugs each one in to test before neatly winding them into a loop and noting something on a sheet of paper. Probably how long they are and what they’re destined to festoon.

She looks slightly ridiculous in her knee-length wool skirt and heels in the middle of a warehouse, but she has plans, I have to give her that. I like these hints of her Type A traits, since they match mine. Just one flaw in her plan.

“You should sort them by light type,” I tell her. “If you string incandescents with LEDs, you’ll ruin the LEDs.”

She looks down at the open bin in front of her and then at me. “I didn’t know you majored in Christmas Lights in college.”

The hint of challenge in her voice warms me up. So does the curl along those berry-colored lips.

Remember why you’re here, McBride.

“I majored in Efficiency,” I return. “With a minor in Doing Things Right the First Time.”

She exhales a soft groan at me. I like that, too, but everything will be easier if I pretend I didn’t hear it.

“Am I doing anything else that needs improvement?”

“I’ll let you know what else I find.”

“I was being sarcastic. You joinedmyproject, you know.” She waves a finger between the two of us. “We’re supposed to be a team here.”

“We are. I just don’t want my teammate to blow out light strings because she mixed the two types.”

Frowning hard at me, she sits delicately on one of the bins and starts examining the bulbs. “It’s high school all over again,” she mutters under her breath.

I laugh softly—I don’t need tocompletelytick her off. I’ll do the work for her, but I’m sure not about to be her underling taking orders in silence, especially not when I see ways to improve business.

Hmm. Maybe I’m thinking of the wrong teammate.

I remind myself Hope isn’t my brother and go back to work. It isn’t Caleb’s fault I quit my carpentry job in Portland and came here to work with him and Mom. That was my choice.

The fact that we butt heads about as often as two rams eager to prove themselves the strongest of the herd? Might have a little more to do with him. Fifty-fifty.

Doing my best to focus on the simple tasks of drilling boards and tightening screws, I try to empty my head. Not think about family obligations or regrets and definitely not my prettyteammatewandering around fifteen feet away.

I zone out for a good while before Hope interrupts again.

“Look at how much you’ve done already!”

She’s at the edge of my work, snuggled up in her bright red parka again, her dark hair spilling out beneath a red knit cap pulled low over her ears. The red makes her brown eyes even richer—another fact I need to throw onto the pile of Things I Don’t Notice.

She acts out my own personal standing ovation for being less than five percent through a project. Gotta say, her applause gives me a nice flush of pride, but her excitement seems premature. Maybe this is how she normally cheers on her teammates, but I don’t need empty praise.

I stand and dust off my jeans. “It’s just a wall.”

Not even that, just the frame for one. I haven’t attached the plywood yet.

“I’m relieved, though. After Silas got injured, I was afraid all of this was dead in the water.”

“I never heard what happened to him.”

“He hurt his back helping me unload the lumber. I guess the project was a little too much for him. But look at all this!”

She grins, waving her hand over the not-quite-wall, and I have to wonder how badly she gets walked on if she treats everyone this way. Keeping her expectations low won’t help her make those thousands of tourists roll in.

“I’ve got to go open my store.” She twists her fingers, and a glint of something silver shines as she fidgets. “I have a part-time employee, but I usually come in even when she’s there. I’d probably sleep in there if I could.”

She gets this dreamy look on her face but shakes it off again. “Anyway, I’ve got a lot to do, and I won’t be able to be in the warehouse with you all the time.”

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