He gestured back to the house. “Also, nicely done back there. I’ve had commanding officers who didn’t give orders as clearly as that.”
She winced. “Sorry. I stepped in and took over, didn’t I?”
“I meant that as a sincere compliment. I had no idea where to start, which is probably why I haven’t done anything to decorate the house since I first arrived in town. I should have. Kim loves Christmas so Audrey probably does, too.”
“She does.”
“I was thinking a moment ago how grateful I am that you agreed to help us.”
She gave a short laugh, her cheeks going slightly pink in the cold air. “I’m coming out ahead in this deal, as we both know. I only have to help you with something I love doing anyway—decorating for Christmas—while you’ll be stuck having to endure my ex-in-laws for an entire evening.”
Right now, the idea of spending more time with Holly, even at a wedding, didn’t seem unappealing at all.
“Don’t forget we also have to persuade them we’re head over heels for each other.”
“Again, I’m not sure we have to go that far. Your presence will probably be enough.”
“Maybe. But it will definitely be more fun.”
When she opened her mouth, he picked up one of the boxes of lights to distract her. “Where do we start with these?”
As he had hoped, she allowed herself to be sidetracked. “We should probably test the lights first. It’s so frustrating when you have gone to all the trouble to hang them and then find out they have a bad bulb or something.”
“Right. Nothing worse than a bad bulb.”
They spent considerable time checking each of the light strings, which were all in remarkably good condition, then they set to the work wrapping the lights around the branches of the small fir tree near the front porch of Kim’s cottage.
She held the lights, untwisting them from the holder while he worked to wrap them around the branches.
“So tell me about your ex. How did the two of you meet?”
She flashed him a look and hesitated long enough to make him realize she did not want to answer. After a long pause she sighed.
“We both went to school in Boise. I didn’t know him at all but his roommate, Josh, went to high school with me. My car broke down and was in the shop but I wanted to come home for the weekend, since it was my mom’s birthday. I asked Josh if he was coming back to Shelter Springs for the weekend so I could catch a ride. He wasn’t but said his roommate, who was from the nearby town of Haven Point, would be happy to give me a ride.”
“Don’t tell me. It was love at first sight.”
She made a face. “Not even close. I disliked him at first. Maybe I should have trusted that first impression.”
“Why didn’t you?”
She shrugged. “Because he was charming and funny and good-looking. And I was lonely. It was my first time away from home, my first time living on my own. Hannah had gone out of state for school to a college that had a better music therapy program. I almost went with her but our parents thought we might benefit by living apart for awhile.”
“Why is that? Did the two of you fight all the time?”
“Never, actually. I think that was part of the problem. Our lives were pretty entwined as we were growing up. We had the same friends, we did the same extracurricular activities, we even double-dated most of the time.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
She shook her head, unspooling more lights for him as he moved to a higher branch. “Hannah is my best friend and I adore her,” she said after a moment. “But without question, she has always had the stronger personality. I think Mom wanted us—particularlyme—to not be so codependent, you know?”
“I get it. I’ve been in squadrons with guys who couldn’t function unless they were paired up. They worked great together but struggled anytime they didn’t have their battle buddy.”
“I don’t know if we were quite that bad, but I was always more comfortable with Hannah nearby. Going away was tough, though we texted and called each constantly.”
She sighed again as she picked up another light string for him to connect to the first one. “And then I met Troy my junior year and ended up transferring all that codependence to him. We married the year after I graduated.”
“How long were you together?”
