Oh, Ryan Caldwell was gorgeous. Why hadn’t Kim warned her? It would have been the decent thing to do.
My brother is coming to stay with Audrey and in case I forgot to tell you, he’s hot. Be prepared.
“Hi. We’re here to grab Audrey’s things,” he said after an awkward moment when she stood on the threshold, ridiculously tongue-tied suddenly.
Good grief. She couldn’t stand here gawking at the man. She cleared her throat. “Of course. Come in.”
He and Audrey walked into her house, with Lydia talking eagerly with her friend.
“It smells like Christmas in here,” Ryan said, looking around at her festive living room.
She couldn’t tell if he meant the words as a compliment but she decided to take them as such.
“Thanks. We have a particularly fragrant Christmas tree this year. It’s a Scotch pine. My brothers went up into the mountains before Thanksgiving and brought enough trees back for everyone in the family, plus two for the store.”
“It’s very... bushy.”
She couldn’t argue with that. “This one was a little bigger than I was expecting. It was originally intended for Evergreen & Ivy but I decided it would take up too much room so we swapped trees with a smaller one for the store and brought this one here instead.”
“I helped decorate the whole house a few days ago,” Audrey said with an unmistakable note of pride in her voice. “Holly did the lights then Lydia and I put on all the ornaments.”
“Impressive.”
Holly had loved putting her own personal touch on Rose Cottage. Her decorating style tended toward lush, dramatic, feminine, with bold colors and plenty of flowers.
Somehow, as she had thought earlier in the day at the store, the surroundings only served to emphasize Ryan Caldwell’s inescapable... maleness. She told herself it was only her constant fatigue that left her feeling slightly breathless.
“It smells delicious in here,” Audrey said.
She forced her attention away from the man to his niece. “That’s the chili you helped me put together last night, remember? It’s been in the slow cooker all day.”
“Oh man. I bet it’s delicious.”
“I can put some in a container for you two to take home.”
“That’s not necessary,” Ryan said stiffly. “We’re planning to go to the grocery store after this.”
“But I’m hungry now,” Audrey said.
“Okay. In that case, we can pick up takeout before we head home and then go shopping later tonight or tomorrow.”
“I’d rather have chili than takeout.” Audrey had that stubborn look Holly had come to recognize, mostly because Lydia so often wore the same expression. A certain set to the jaw, a firmness of lips, a determined look in her eyes.
“Why don’t you stay and eat with us? It’s ready now, which means it’s even quicker than running somewhere for fast food.”
As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. Why had she issued the invitation? She wasn’t at all sure she liked Ryan Caldwell. She did know she wasn’t eager to spend more time with him than she had to, especially given this sudden and unexpected attraction.
On the other hand, her heart squeezed with compassion for Audrey. Despite her brave face, the girl was struggling with the sudden tumult in her life, with her mother gone for the weeks leading up to the holidays and her grandfather and his wife preoccupied and unable to care for her.
Audrey was doing her best in the middle of a tough situation and Holly could not help but admire her for it. And Audreyhadhelped her prep everything the night before. It seemed only fair that she have the chance to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
“I have fresh corn bread with honey butter, if that makes a difference in your decision.”
Ryan arched an eyebrow. “Well, why didn’t you say so. How can I say no to fresh corn bread?”
His dry tone almost made her smile, the first sign of levity from a man who seemed as tough as a granite cliff.
“Excellent. Lydia, can you set a few more places at the table for our guests?”
