“I don’t believe you.”
“I know I said that before, but George wanted to give me hell about the increase in the fuel budget for the fire department and he wasn’t really understanding that if he’s paying more at the pump, maybe we are, too.”
“And the time before that?”
“Oh, Kath wanted me to have some pie.”
I reach over and slap his arm. “You had pie while I sat in your truck?”
“No!” He makes a big show out of rubbing his arm, even though my nails barely grazed him. “She wanted me to have some cherry pie, but I declined and it can take a while to keep persistently declining until the other person gives up.”
I narrow my eyes. “Is offering you some cherry pie a euphemism? I’ve heard fire fighters get a lot of calls from lonely damsels who aren’t in the 9-1-1 kind of distress.”
“No, it was literal pie, but—between you and me—Kath might be the worst baker in the entire state. Possibly in New England.” He nudges me with his elbow, grinning. “Why? Are you jealous?”
I snort and turn my head away, looking out my window and folding my arms as if that idea is too ludicrous to consider. It’s true, actually, but I’m not about to give him the satisfaction.
A blast of cold air followed by the closing of his door tells me he’s gone, and I turn the radio up so I can sing along with the Christmas songs in peace.
He’s only gone ten minutes this time, and he emerges with a large plastic tote. More cold air swirls in from the back when he opens the lift gate and shoves it into the back of the SUV.
“Sorry,” he says once he’s back in the driver’s seat. “It wasn’t enough to give me the damn suit. I had to hear all about how it’s been taking up room in her attic but that she doesn’t really mind because her grandmother made it and somehow she saw that as a segue to talking about what a jerk her grandfather was and how nobody was sad when heaccidentallykilled himself falling off the ladder while cleaning the gutters.”
“Why do I get the impression there are implied air quotes aroundaccidentally?”
He gives me a raised eyebrow look before backing out of the driveway. “Well, it was before my time, of course, but there was some question about trajectory—like where he would have landed if he fell versus where he might have landed if somebody reached out a second-story window and gave the ladder a goodpush—but the police chief at the time didn’t want to prolong his newly widowed sister’s grief by digging too deep.”
“Oh.Wow.”
“Let’s just say the people who were in charge of determining his cause of death were also people privy to how many times his wife went to the ER due to being clumsy.”
“Well, that story was certainly worth sitting in the car for,” I say. “What’s next?”
“Next, you have to help me get the suit on so we can inspect it because everybody I talked to thinks somebody else fixed it and we can’t have it coming apart on the big day. And with a storm coming, we’ll lose some of our time to get things done.”
“There’s a storm coming?” When he glances over at me, frowning, I know he’s going to make a crack about me not being on top of the weather. “My app is set to the weather at Mr. Wilson’s location, so I’ll be notified of any potential issues with his schedule.”
“Well, there’s a bunch of snow comingourway. Penny will know it’s coming and have everything needed for food and supplies, but don’t plan on going out after noon tomorrow and probably through Sunday.”
I look out my window, already dreading not being able to get to the General Store. The inn has coffee, of course, but it’s not as good as Beth’s. Of course, nobody delivers. “And just when I was starting to like this town.”
Chapter
Fourteen
Rob
“I feel ridiculous.”
Whitney laughs at me, her hands on her hips. “You’re wearing a Santa costume that’s decades old and at least ten sizes too big. I can’t believe your expectation was anythingbutlooking ridiculous.”
“It’s notsupposedto fit because there has to be room for padding. It won’t look ridiculous on Jerry.”
“Wait. Jerry, the guy who signed the waiver form for the hardware store?”
“Yes. That Jerry.”
“Is he even capable of holding up the amount of padding he’ll need to fill this out?”
