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I peek around the corner of Mom's open door and see her sitting behind her computer.
“Hey, Mom! We made it!”
She looks up from her papers and smiles when she sees it’s me.
“I’m so glad you’re here! Francis will be beside himself. Oh! Hi, Tucker!”
“Hey, Mrs. Carlisle,” Tucker says with a small smile. “It’s good to see you.”
“You stop with that nonsense. Call me Kathrine, please.” She grins and walks over to give Tucker a hug. I watch his eyes grow wide as he looks to me for help. I’ve got nothing for him. There’s no stopping Katherine Carlisle no matter who you are.
“It looks busy out there. Do we need to help?” I ask.
“Oh no, they should be finished decorating by now. Everyone should be showing up soon.”
“Okay, we’ll head on out there and see who’s here then.”
“I’ll come with you,” Mom says, grabbing my arm and leading us back out to the gym.
“He grew up well.” Mom tries to whisper to me but fails epically. I glance over my shoulder at Tucker, a cocky smirk lining his face. He catches my eye and winks.
“Yes, he sure did,” I say, knowing full well he can hear me.
We walk into the gym and see decorations everywhere. There are tables off to the side with bowls of punch and a slew of treats on trays. Each table has a paper tablecloth covering it, and silver and red decorations are scattered throughout the room.
“Well, this looks great.” There are about twenty or so people here so far, but I know the number will grow closer to forty.
“Oh look, there’s Francis. Go say hi, I’m going to mingle,” Mom says and takes off towards a table of people.
I grab Tucker’s hand and walk him over to where Francis is sitting by himself. His silver hair is thin and wispy and adorably tufted on top of his head.
“Is that my beautiful Natalie?” he asks as we get closer.
“How are you, Francis?” I ask, leaning over to give him a little hug. He’s rail-thin and surprisingly tall.
He pats the chair next to him, so I sit down, and Tucker sits next to me.
“I’m mighty fine this evening. Especially since my girl’s here. But who is this fine gentleman next to you?”
“I’m Tucker, sir. I’ve heard a lot about you. Natalie told me you’re my competition.”
Francis hoots with laughter at Tucker’s statement. “You’re dang right, I am, although I don’t think I can compete with a strapping young man like you.”
“I don’t know, Nat’s talked an awful lot about you, I gotta work pretty hard for her to talk about me the same way.” Tucker winks at me.
Francis just glows from Tucker’s words and pats my hand. “He’s a smooth talker, this one. You better watch out.”
“Don’t I know it.” I grin.
“What have you been up to, sweetheart? We've missed you around here.”
“I’m sorry I haven't been around much lately. I’ve been working on the Christmas gala for the library.”
“Oh, right! I forgot about the gala coming up. We’re very proud of you.” He pats my hand and gives it a squeeze. He turns toward Tucker, giving him a good once over as if he’s taking his measure. “Tell me about you, Tucker.”
“Well, I’m a firefighter for the Sonoma Fire Department.”
“You are? I was a firefighter back in the day when we didn’t have nearly as much equipment and double the number of calls.”
