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Anna Beth smiled, already knowing what happened next.
“What’s funny is, I fell in love with him and we have two beautiful boys. Life puts you where you need to be when the time is right. You just have to watch for the signs.”
The bells above Tammy’s door jingled. Tammy glanced over Anna Beth’s shoulder; her eyes wide. Then she burst out laughing.
Anna Beth turned to see what had her in stitches and she covered her mouth in shock. Jared stood in the doorway in a dog costume, a single antler horn tied atop his head.
“I’m Max from How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Jared said. “I thought the kids would love it.”
Tammy still couldn’t catch her breath from laughing too hard.
“Well, you got Tammy rolling. I think you look great.”
His brown eyes sparkled as he looked Anna Beth up and down. “You too, Grinchy.”
She spun around. “Right. Tammy is amazing.”
Tammy finally came up for air, wheezing, “I’m sorry. That just caught me off guard. You two are going to slay them. Anna Beth, come by afterwards and I’ll get that stuff off you and you can pick up that thing.”
“What thing?” Jared asked.
“The none-of-your-business thing,” Anna Beth said.
Jared threw his hands up and backed away playfully.
Anna Beth chuckled. “I’m teasing. It’s for your party on Saturday at The Peaks.”
“It’s not green and fuzzy, is it?” he teased.
“Maybe.”
Jared wrapped her up in a tight hug. “You could show up looking like Freddy Kreuger and I’d still be smitten.” He leaned down to kiss her but stopped a few inches away. “I don’t want to mess up your make-up.”
“Just keep track of all the times you want to kiss me and we’ll take care of that before you go to work.”
“I like the way you think.”
Anna Beth laughed and caught Tammy watching them, a sly grin on her face. “You two are so cute.”
Jared grinned. “Thanks, Tammy.” He took Anna Beth’s green gloved hand. “We should probably go.”
“Yeah. Thank you, Tammy.”
“Absolutely, sweetie. Anytime!”
They left the store and Jared helped Anna Beth climb up into the truck. She looked in the backseat at the gifts Jared picked up from her aunt’s house. There were thirteen kids in the hospital right now, but she’d wrapped a few more just in case.
Jared climbed into the driver's seat and cranked up the heat. “So, how’s Mittens feeling?”
“Better. She’s a terror. I thought Sarah’s head would explode the other day when she took a skein of yarn out of Sarah’s knitting basket and dragged yarn all over the living room. It looked like a giant yellow spider web. I took a picture. I’ll show you when you aren’t driving.”
“Probably a good idea. I take it the kitten lived?”
“Yeah, I cleaned it up and helped her untangle it. Plus, Mittens has a way of buttering you up until you forget why you were irritated in the first place. How is Rip? I’ve actually missed the lug.”
“I’m sure he missed you, too, especially since he hates when I work long hours. The four-threes are great, except he hates being alone for ten hours at a time, four days in a row. ”
“I worked all day at Foam Capped Java. When I got home, Mitten’s wouldn’t leave my side. I feel bad that I’ve been glued to my computer so much, but I finished the first draft of my screenplay this morning. It’s definitely a rough draft, but I have a good feeling about it.”
