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“I should go with you. Just in case. These are all gifts, so I need to make sure they don’t get set aside or anything. Sheesh, the post office near Christmas is crazy.” She hurries to the door of my truck.
I barely beat her to the handle and open it for her. “Hop on up.” Taking her hand, I help her into the seat, then reach across and fasten her seatbelt.
She smiles, and I steal a kiss from her sweet lips.
Once I’m in the driver’s seat and backing out, she gives my mailbox stump a frown. “I’m fixing that today. I promise.”
“No rush.” I shrug.
“What about your mail?”
“Like I said, Carl can bring it up the steps.”
She settles in beside me as we head into Frozen Falls. “I just don’t want you missing your Christmas cards.”
I snort and give her a look.
She blinks.
“Oh, you’re serious?” I clear my throat. “Sorry. It’s just I don’t get a lot of Christmas cards.”
“No? That’s too bad.” She smiles. “I’ll have to send you one then.”
“That’d be nice, though I’d prefer you deliver it yourself.” I reach over and take her hand in mine. It’s such a small thing, holding her hand, but it’s also enormous. This one easy movement and the touch of her skin—it’s the world and everything in it.
“I’ll be sure to do that.” Her smile is radiant. “Do you not have a lot of family?”
“Not really. I left home sort of young and don’t have much contact with my brother or cousins. My dad split when I was young, and my mom passed a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” She squeezes my hand. “I had no idea.”
“Thanks.” I slow for a red light, the roads quiet as usual on this side of town. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that.” I take a deep breath. “It hit me harder than I thought it would, to be honest. We hadn’t talked in a long time because of my work.”
“I’ve always wondered that about you. You must have some sort of computer job you can do from home, huh? I’m not great at computers. I mean, I can get around and everything, but I don’t understand programming or any of that.”
“Actually, I’m retired.” I shoot her a glance.
Her eyebrows lift. “Retired? But you’re so young!”
I laugh. “Thanks, I think. What about your family?” I turn the questions around, mainly because I don’t want to explain what I used to do for a living. After all, breaking kneecaps and disposing of enemies isn’t going to keep the conversation afloat.
“Oh, I have two younger brothers. One’s in New York doing some sort of hedges? Hedging? Not landscaping, but something with money? I have no idea. I just know he’s loaded. And my youngest brother, Ryan, is still in college. He’s into art. He actually took some pictures of my woodworking for one of his classes. Like did an exhibition and everything of me making things.”
“I’d love to see those photos.”
Her cheeks turn pink as she looks down, humble. “Oh, the art was in the way he took them.”
“I’d have to disagree.” I pull her hand to my lips and kiss the back of her hand. “Seriously, I want to see them. I’d love to have some copies.”
Her cheeks turn an even deeper pink, and she has a smile on her face that melts my heart and soothes my soul. “Okay. I’ll, um, I’ll see if he can do that.”
“Thank you.” Just the thought of her beautiful face gracing my walls has me feeling warm all over.
“Any more worries about the guy from last night?” I turn onto the main street of Frozen Falls. Shoppers are busy going from store to store on the decked-out lane.
“I, um…” She frowns.
“If you’re scared, you’re free to stay at my place. Sylvester and I would love to have you over.” Just the thought of her staying in my house, or my bed, has my heart racing.
“I’m not scared. I guess I’m just confused. I thought there was a man, but there’s no evidence of him, you know? Except the …”
“The what?” I ask.
Her brows draw together. “Well, I keep finding that h—Oh, there’s Ted.” She waves as we pull up to the post office.
My warmth fades into a steely cold. Ted stands and waves. He was emptying the dropoff box outside, but the minute he saw Jocelyn, he stopped what he was doing. And now? Now he’s giving her a goofy grin.
Murder is no longer on my to-do list or part of my career. All the same, I’m already mentally cataloging all the locations where I could dump a body outside Frozen Falls. And I can guarantee no one would ever find Ted, not so much as a hair from his overly-styled hair.
10
JOCELYN
I try to remind myself to stop staring at Mac, but I can’t help myself. It’s extra hard as I watch him pick up the giant boxes with all my orders in them. His arms don’t even flex as he does it, which is both amazing and sucky at the same time.
