“Agree. Especially after a day like today.” After crossing the street, they headed through the square. “I really appreciate you helping out.”
“Happy to. Thank you for letting me.”
“You just survived one of the busiest shopping days of the year —and you didn’t seem fazed by any of it.”
“Well,” he said with a smile, “there was that girl with the Santa questions.”
“Oh, gosh, yes,” Penny said with a laugh. “She pretty much boxed you in, didn’t she?”
“She got me good.”
“She and her mom come to the store often.”
“Are most of your customers regulars?”
“About half are and half aren’t,” she said, considering. “During the holidays we get a lot of folks from Eagle Cove.”
As they headed down a quiet residential street, Daniel gestured to a Victorian-era house with a brightly lit Christmas tree in the front window. “Beautiful neighborhood.”
“Most of the homes in this part of town date from the late 1800s to early 1900s, including the house I grew up in, which is just ahead.”
A moment later, they reached their destination. Daniel stood there for a moment, taking in the three-story Victorian.
“So this is it,” he said.
“This is it. I live in the in-law apartment downstairs. Mom and Dad live upstairs.”
They made their way up the porch steps. Penny pushed open the front door and stepped inside, Daniel following. “Hey,” she called out. “We’re here.”
From the kitchen, Dad poked his head into the hallway. “In here, honey.”
“Hang your coat on the rack,” Penny said as she shrugged out of her coat.
“I smell something great,” Daniel said as he hung his up.
“Mom made a casserole —not sure what kind.”
She led him down the hallway into the kitchen, where her dad was busy setting the kitchen’s small dining table and her mom was washing her hands in the sink.
“Welcome!” Mom said, looking over with a big smile.
“Introduction time,” Penny said. “Daniel, I’d like to introduce you to my mom and dad, Carmen and Bob Quinn. Mom and Dad, this is Daniel Bedford.”
“Pleased to meet you, young man,” Dad said, shaking Daniel’s hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Thanks for inviting me tonight, Mr. Quinn.”
“Please, call me Bob.”
Penny’s mom bustled forward and took Daniel’s hand in both of hers. “Ay,qué guapo,” she said, throwing Penny a mischievous glance.
Before Penny could object to this blatant act of maternal meddling, Mom turned her full attention back to Daniel and said, “Very pleased to meet you, Mr. Bedford.”
“Please, call me Daniel.”
Penny watched Daniel’s reaction carefully. Did he understand that her mom had just said he was handsome?
“And you,” Mom said, “can call us Carmen and Bob.”
