“I noticed you also have a snowblower in the garage. Any reason why you aren’t using it?”
She could feel herself flush and hoped the cold air disguisedit. “I can’t figure it out,” she admitted. “Troy bought it used right after we were married, when we were living in a rental with a long driveway that he hated shoveling. He left it with me after he moved to Portland, figuring he wouldn’t need it as much as I would.”
“Makes sense. Except it’s sitting in the garage while you’re out here with a shovel.”
“I don’t know how to even start it up. And yes, I’ve tried. I even watched a couple of videos online but couldn’t make it work. I think maybe something’s broken.”
“I could maybe take a look at it for you while I’m in town,” he said, then looked as if he regretted the offer.
“You don’t have to. I’ve been meaning to have my dad or one of my brothers come take a look at it but I always forget to ask them until it snows.”
“I guess for now we’ll do this the old-fashioned way.”
They worked together in silence for a few moments while the moon popped in and out from the clouds, gleaming on the ice-covered trees.
It was a beautiful night, she had to admit. Each breath puffed out in the cold, clear air. Though she was tired from working all day at the shop, she was grateful for the chance to be outside breathing in that faint metallic tang of winter.
“I met your sister the other day at the grocery store.”
She looked up, surprised. Hannah hadn’t mentioned it to her during their frequent text exchanges or when she had stopped in at the store earlier that day on her lunch break.
“Did you?”
“Yes. She had a lot to say. She seems very protective of you.”
Oh dear. What had Hannah said to him? Maybe that’s why she hadn’t mentioned their encounter to Holly, because her sister knew she wouldn’t like it.
“She can be. Protective, I mean. It’s pretty annoying. Shethinks because she was born two minutes before me that gives her the right to boss me around for the rest of our lives.”
“It’s nice that she cares about you so much.”
He said nothing more and she fought the urge to throw a shovel full of snow at him. He couldn’t throw out a teaser like that and not follow through.
“What did she say?” she finally asked.
He seemed inordinately focused on the snow he shoveled and didn’t meet her gaze.
“She, um, suggested you might be looking for a plus-one for a family wedding later this month.”
“No, she didnot.” She stopped in mid-shovel as a hot tide of embarrassment washed over her.
“Afraid she did.”
Oh, sweet baby Jesus.
“I am so sorry. Ignore her. Please.” She wanted to bury her head in a big pile of freshly fallen snow, though she suspected even that wouldn’t be enough to cool her mortification.
“Was she wrong? Are you saying you don’t need a plus-one?”
“I’ll be fine. Ihavea date. Lydia. She’s all I need.”
He studied her for a long moment then turned back to shoveling. “Okay. Probably for the best, since I didn’t bring anything to wear to a wedding.”
She swallowed hard, trying not to imagine Ryan Caldwell dressed up in something suitable for a wedding.
What was Hannahthinking? Hadn’t Holly been clear that she wasn’t going to ask Ryan to go with her?
She had certainly thought about it since that day in her shop but had decided her life was complicated enough without adding a fictional boyfriend into the mix. Or a real man playing a fictional boyfriend.
