Page 16 of Mad About Yule

I liked the glimpse of realness it showed me when she lost her cool, but my methods weren’t exactly admirable. I don’t really like the mirror they’ve held up.

“Don’t forget, you’re there to help her, not the other way around.” Mom still waggles that accusatory finger in the air. “You need to be a good little soldier and do whatever she says.”

“Ah, correction.” Caleb stands from the table and ducks out of the conference room.

I turn to Mom, waiting for the rest of whatever’s coming. The little smile that curves along her mouth makes my stomach cramp right up. Not a good sign if they’re in on this together.

Caleb returns thirty seconds later with a paper bag. He pulls something red and green out of it, and that cramp hits even harder. Dread has my stomach in its snowy, Christmas-bedazzled grip.

“Not a soldier,” he says, holding the hat in the air. “An elf.”

The green hat has a red zig-zag crown and a freakingbellat the pointy end that jingles with every move he makes. He steps closer like he intends to put that monstrosity on me.

“No way. Get that thing away from me.”

“Come on,” he croons, trying to land it on my head. “You need to get into the spirit.”

“If you put that on me, I’ll stick a candy cane right up your—”

“Boys,” Mom says into the fray.

“Nose,” I finish.

Caleb smirks and tosses the hat at me. It hits my chest andjingle-jinglesinto my lap.

I flop it onto the table. “Mom just asked me to help out with the festival last night. You went and bought that today?”

He settles back into his chair. “I saw it in the pharmacy window and couldn’t resist. It won’t hurt to fit the part. You need to dress for the job you want.”

“Believe me, this is not the job I want.” I draw in a slow breath and cut my eyes to Mom. That sentence hits a little too close to the truth about more than just the Christmas festival. “But I’ll see it through. I know it’s important to you.”

Her smile works between my ribs to expand inside my chest. I haven’t been here nearly often enough in the last ten years—haven’t stored up enough of her loving looks. I’d lost out on more of those moments with my dad, and I won’t risk the same thing with her.

“Thank you, honey. I think this will be fun for you.” Her smile grows wider. “With or without the elf hat.”

Caleb’s laughter roars through the conference room, but I do my best to frown at him. “Can we get on with this meeting, please? Or do you want to be late getting home to Rowan?”

I’ve hit his Achilles heel, and he settles right down. Married two years and with a baby on the way, his happiness can be a lot to take sometimes. Sure makes it easy to pull his strings, though.

He gets the meeting going with a recap of new business and expectations for the week. We have several yard and patio renovations to plan out for the spring, and while the actual designs fall under Caleb’s expertise, I’ll have plenty to do on the business end. Or I normally would.

Mom answers as though she plans to handle all that while I’m out at the warehouse working with Hope.

“You don’t have to do that,” I tell her. “I can make the calls for the permits and everything else. I can find time between building parts of the elf village or whatever.”

Caleb snickers. “Elf village.”

“That’s all on Hope,” I say again. “I didn’t name the things.”

But Mom shakes her head, already shooting down my plan. “Until tree lighting, I want you to dedicate all of your time to Hope. Whatever she needs, you take care of it.”

I refuse to let myself take that the way I might like to. Hope is engaged to some mystery guy in Bend. Also, after this morning, she probably thinks I’m a jerk. Zero for two.

Actually, considering everything from high school, it might be closer to zero for two million. I’ve gone up against poor odds with a woman, but I don’t like my chances here.

“Her project is your only job for the time being.” Mom’s scolding look softens into a smile. “This will be good for you. I know it.”

They carry on talking about projects, plans, and preparations, but they don’t need my input. Honestly, they haven’t needed my input much in the last several months. That never stops me from offering my opinions, but the business operated just fine without me until last year. I’m not all that convinced they need me now.

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