Page 13 of Mail Order Bride for the Scrooge

“They are,” Gannon intones, and I look up at him.

“They love you very much,” I remind him softly, my gut telling me Elaine had something to do with the ad and not wanting Gannon to be mad at her. “It’s obvious. You’re family to them.”

He nods and then starts to lead me in the other direction. We lapse into a comfortable silence as we walk, and I eye the contents of the cart. We have a lot of food. Probably too much. And a lot of snacks.

I had a look through Gannon’s pantry and kitchen earlier and he is not the kind of man to do a lot of snacking. The fact that he got all this stuff for me makes me want to skip through the grocery store and shout at the top of my lungs.

When we take a turn and head into the produce section, I’m met with two people scowling at each other and whisper yelling near the squash. My eyebrows pull together as I try to figure them out, but the longer I watch them the clearer it gets.

They look similar and, with the way they are snapping at each other, they must be siblings.

“Jade,” the man is exasperated, “no one wants your whipped squash for Christmas dinner. Potatoes. There are supposed to be mashed potatoes on the table.” He grimaces and mutters to himself, “Whipped squash is an affront to everything the holiday stands for.”

Jade slams her hands down on her hips, clearly getting ready to lay into her brother and I find myself giggling softly. They both turn toward the sound, and I freeze. I didn’t mean to garner their attention and now they have curious expressions on their faces.

Gannon lets out a sigh, but it’s not filled with annoyance, at least not at me. I don’t think. He leads me closer and nods to the siblings, “Jade. Jasper.”

“Gannon,” Jasper greets back with a chin lift.

I blurt, “I’m sorry for giggling. It’s just the two of you remind me of my brother and myself.”

Jade grins at me and sticks her hand out between us. “Hi. I’m Jade. I’ve never seen you around here before.”

Jasper rolls his eyes, his voice full of sarcasm toward his sister when he informs me, “Jade thinks of herself as the one-woman welcome wagon of Jasper Ridge.”

“He’s not wrong,” she slaps her brother’s chest with her free hand as I shake the one that she’s offered me. “There’s so much to love about our town. I like people to know it and feel welcome.”

“It’s a beautiful town. I’m Lake. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jade’s smile is wide as she looks between Gannon and me. “I have a feeling I haven’t met you before because this one was keeping you up on the mountain.”

I laugh and shrug. “I just got in yesterday.”

“We came down to get some supplies before the storm hits,” Gannon grumbles.

Jade nods and then leans closer to me as if she’s going to tell me a secret. “Maybe you can convince Gannon to come down for the Christmas parade this year. We miss him around town.”

I glance up at Gannon as Jade gives me the details while making sure to add that the weather will have come and gone before the parade in a few days. I smile at her, excited at the idea of going to the parade and getting my scowling teddy bear into the holiday spirit. I wink at her and then she says a breezy goodbye as Gannon leads me away. We’ve barely taken two steps before she starts right back in on her brother about why her whipped squash is superior to mashed potatoes.

I find myself chuckling under my breath as something inside of my chest settles into place. Everyone I’ve met has been so nice. Not only that, but they care about the gentle giant who kisses the top of my head as we finish up our shopping.

I think I’m going to like it here in Jasper Ridge. It feels like home in a way nothing else has.

I hope I get to keep this feeling. I’ll fight for it if I have to.

CHAPTER 6

GANNON

The last few days while we’ve been stuck in the house together have been amazing. I’ve gotten to know Lake in a way I never knew I needed to know another person. She’s fun, smart, funny, and she has brought so much life to my world.

The loneliness I had to studiously ignore is something I hardly remember now, and it’s only been a few days. I swear the woman is magic, but when I touch her, she’s all fire.

I didn’t even have to convince her to sleep in my bed at night, even though she’s keeping her stuff in the guest room. I kind of hate that her stuff is in there. I crave to see her stuff mixed in with mine in the room I want to permanently share with her. It’s something I know I need to come out and say, but I’ve been so wrapped up in her that I forget almost the moment I think about it.

It’s been torture having her pressed up against me all night while not burying myself inside of her. I’m not sure what I’m waiting for. I can see in her brown eyes that she’s just as hungry for me as I am for her. I want her to know I wantherand that my attraction to her and need for her has nothing to do with her being here or being convenient. I want her to know I seeher.

Which is why I’ve put forth the effort to get to know her. All her likes and dislikes. The music that makes her smile or makes her all emotional. Her favorite movies and the ones she won’t watch. The food she craves late at night. The places she loved to visit and the hikes she went on when she was in Seattle. The way her brother took care of her and how her parents abandoned her long before they set out on the open road in an RV without even looking in the rearview mirror.

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