Graham set Annie’s luggage down, leaned in, and squeezed me with one arm, his hand caressing the small of my back. “That open dress is going to make itincredibly hardto behave tonight, princess.” He smirked and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Beautiful, as always.”
Heat flared up my spine from where his hand rested, skin on skin, and traveled straight to my cheeks.
“Thanks,” I breathed.
“Linda sends her love. Grandkids got sick and their parents had to work, so they won’t be coming.”
“Oh no—they could have holed up in the sunroom if they wanted,” I said, genuinely sad that I didn’t have her for added support.
“Where should I put Annie’s things?” he asked.
“The room across from mine is fine.”
“Hold yer horses there, big boy. I’ll be needin’ this one.” Annie snatched a large purple suitcase from his hands and released the handle so she could roll it behind her. “This has yer presents, and some of the fixin’s we’ll be needing for dinner.”
That was one thing I was really grateful to Hunter for. I told myself it was sweet, what Hunter had done. Before last night, he’d helped me unpack the rest of my things and ordered new beds and an expandable dining room table that seated sixteen when he found out my whole familywas coming. It was starting to look like a place I’d happily callhome.I just wished my stomach would unknot every time I thought about it.
I hung Annie’s coat in the closet next to my mom’s and Noel’s while she made herself at home and pulled out her festive holiday apron from her suitcase.
“Mom, you know Annie,” I said, directing Annie into the kitchen.
“I do.” She barely looked up from the potatoes she now had a personal vendetta against.
“Oh, don’t get yer biscuits in a bunch, Ophelia. Maggie invited me, I’m not here to rub elbows with ya. Don’t even glance my way if ya don’t want to.”
Mom dragged the peeler down another potato without looking up. “You just saw her at Thanksgiving. Isn’t that enough?”
Annie made a sound in the back of her throat. “Ophelia, knock it off. You’re just sour ‘cause she didn’t come visit.”
“You know what, Annabelle, Iamsour. I didn’t think my daughter’s boss should be the first one to meet her future fiancé, let alone the first and only stop when she came back home.”
“Mom?” I grabbed Hunter’s glass and downed the whiskey before I even had a second to process what fell from her lips. My throat went tight. Not from the whiskey.
“Oh, Hunter’s just being shy. He’s dying to ask you, just look at him.” She pointed the peeler at him.
Hunter stood staring like a deer caught in the headlights. “Mrs?—”
I topped off his glass and handed it to him. He downed it just as fast as I did.
“Miss Burnette, dear. I took back my maiden name after the divorce.”
“Oh, yer hardly a miss,” Annie mumbled under her breath, securing her apron behind her back.
“Miss Burnette, I do have plans… ‘tis just?—”
“—it’s what?” Mom interjected. “You’re living here, aren’t you?”
“Aye…”
“Sleeping with her? She’s never been any good at keeping her legs together.”
“Mom!” I sat on the edge of the table in the dining room clutching thebottle of whiskey like it was my only hope for survival. I took one long drink before turning around to face her again.
“Well, Maggie, it’s the truth. I won’t be having any grandchildren out of wedlock in this family. It’s against the Lord’s wishes.”
All I could do was blink. Too baffled to form a sentence.
“And what is it you do for work, Hunter?” She set her last peeled potato into the bowl and leaned in really close to him—probably so close she could see him sweat.
