Page 72 of Mechanic’s Christmas Match

“Sloane Greenfield?” Ana asked, now completely confused.

“Yes,” he said. “The real estate lady. I had talked with her before about two-bedroom apartments, just to see what the market was like. But with Theo, I knew if things got serious, we’d need at least three bedrooms and a yard…”

“Rory,” Ana murmured.

“And it sounds like that kind of thing is harder to find as a rental and more expensive when you do find it,” he said. “Sloane said she would keep an eye out for that needle in a haystack for me. But meanwhile, I’ve been saving for a down payment to buy a place instead.”

He pulled out the notebook and started pointing at laboriously penciled-in numbers.

“This is the average price for a little place in town with a yard, according to Sloane,” he said, tapping on one of the numbers, and then circling another. “And that’s a good down payment.”

“Oh, wow,” Ana said.

“Now, here’s what I’ve got so far,” he said, pointing to another number that was about halfway to the down payment amount.

“How have you been living this year?” Ana asked in horror.

“There was a bit left over from selling our grandparents’ house, and I’m doing all I can to save,” he said, shrugging. “Beau pays me okay, and I do side work too, with his blessing. My current place is pretty modest, and I got it for a good price. I just live very simply. Even so, I’ll probably need at least another year for a down payment, not to mention closing costs. So you can see how it’s tough to imagine taking you out on dates, when every night out would set me back from being able to provide for you the right way.”

“You think that in order to date someone you have to be able to afford to house them and take care of their whole family?” Ana asked.

“To date someone, absolutely not,” he told her. “But it’s how I feel about dating you.”

Ana looked across the table at the big, funny man with the irresistible laugh and wondered if he was pulling her leg one more time.

But his blue eyes were dead serious and he clutched the little notebook in his big hand like it held his future.

“Rory, I—” she began.

But his phone let out a sound like a fire alarm before she had a chance to say anything more.

“That’s the town council’s emergency alert,” he said, his eyes widening as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket.

Ana looked to her mother again, desperately wanting to know what she thought of the conversation that had just taken place.

But she was busy with Theo, carefully stirring the chocolate.

“I’m so sorry, Ana,” Rory said, drawing her attention back to him. “I guess it’s really coming down out there. They’re calling in everyone who volunteered to do backup plowing. Can I leave you to think about all this, and maybe we can revisit it when the storm is done?”

“Yes,” Ana said. “Yes, of course.”

“Take some chocolate with you,” her mom called out from the kitchen.

Rory’s serious face broke into one of his gorgeous sunny smiles.

Ana’s heart skipped a beat, and she wondered how she could ever have tried to set him up with another girl.

A few minutes later, he was heading out the door with a big thermos of hot cocoa.

“Mami,” Ana said helplessly as she closed the door behind him. “Did you hear all that? Can you believe it?”

“I heard,” her mother said with a knowing smile.

“I guess you’d be right to say I told you so,” Ana said, smiling herself.

“Oh, that’s no fun,” her mother said. “I’d much rather drink hot cocoa with you and hear what you have to say about it.”

“The day he came in and I thought he wanted me to set him up with Maggie,” Ana breathed. “The things he said. He was saying them about me.”