Read Online Christmas on Main Street by Susan Donovan, Alexis Morgan, Joann Ross, Luann McLane - Free Book Online
Ads: Link
my chain.”
“Nope. She told Meredith. Over a bottle of wine and a quart of Ben & Jerry’s while I wisely took the kids to a Disney flick to avoid exposing them to female tears and estrogen poisoning.”
Could things get any worse? No wonder she’d been so frosty at the parade and then had gone out of her way to ignore him at the program. That was why he’d bailed right after her students’ performances. No point hanging around and watching her cozy up to a guy who wouldn’t even know what to do with a woman that vibrant and filled with life.
“I swear I never did anything to give her that idea. I always treated her like a little sister. It would’ve been weird to think of her like, well,
that.
”
Which wasn’t precisely true. Because there’d been that out-of-the-blue moment, which had freaked him out as much as it seemed to be doing to her brother.
“There’s also the fact that when she turned sixteen and you noticed, I told you that if you so much as looked at her in
that way
, I’d break every bone in your body,” Matt reminded him.
“There is that,” Cole agreed, remembering the fraternal lecture all too well. Not that he’d needed the warning. The eight-year age difference had been major back then. Now that she was a very desirable twenty-five, not so much.
“She hasn’t said anything to me, but you know how women talk to each other about everything. Meredith says the principal’s probably on the way out,” Matt divulged. “Though she may wait until after New Year’s because hey, who wants to break up at Christmas?”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Cole said. “About how you’d feel about her and me getting together.”
“That’s because I don’t know. Let me think about it.” He paused as Cole continued along the coast road. The rain was blowing in from the steely white-capped winter ocean. “Okay. I’ve thought about it.”
“And?”
“Since I don’t want her to end up an old maid—”
“I may not be married, but even I know you’d better not share that description with your wife,” Cole said.
“Yeah. PC can be a bitch, but I hear enough of that at home that I don’t need a lecture from you about it. My point is, I want Kelli to be happy. Which, for her, means marriage and kids. So, since that means her getting involved with some guy, I guess I’m okay with the idea of that guy being my best friend. With one caveat.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” Negotiating was, after all, woven into Matt Carpenter’s DNA. “What would that caveat be?”
“You may be my best friend, and I love you like a third brother. But if you make my baby sister cry again, man, I’m going to have no choice but to rip out your lung and stomp all over it.”
Mission accomplished, Cole spun the leather-covered steering wheel, making a wheel-squealing illegal U-turn to head back to the dealership. “Makes sense to me,” he agreed.
10
Kelli’s mother bustled around the homey kitchen, brewing tea and cutting a coffee cake that smelled so good Kelli could picture the calories attaching to her hips before she’d even taken a bite.
“I’m so glad you were able to stop by before you left town, darling,” Laura Carpenter said as she placed a red and green plaid linen napkin next to the Spode Christmas tree plate.
Kelli knew that people thought she wore all those flashy holiday sweaters for her students, but the truth was, when you grew up in this woman’s home, you viewed the calendar as twelve months of holiday-themed opportunities. With Christmas like a living Advent calendar, each day brought a new surprise for the Carpenters all the way into the next year’s Epiphany.
“I’d never leave without saying good-bye,” she assured her mother. “And it’s not as if I’m heading off to Timbuktu.”
“I know.” Her mother offered a bright but slightly wobbly smile. “It’s just that however grown-up you’ll become, in my heart you’ll always be my baby,
“Nope. She told Meredith. Over a bottle of wine and a quart of Ben & Jerry’s while I wisely took the kids to a Disney flick to avoid exposing them to female tears and estrogen poisoning.”
Could things get any worse? No wonder she’d been so frosty at the parade and then had gone out of her way to ignore him at the program. That was why he’d bailed right after her students’ performances. No point hanging around and watching her cozy up to a guy who wouldn’t even know what to do with a woman that vibrant and filled with life.
“I swear I never did anything to give her that idea. I always treated her like a little sister. It would’ve been weird to think of her like, well,
that.
”
Which wasn’t precisely true. Because there’d been that out-of-the-blue moment, which had freaked him out as much as it seemed to be doing to her brother.
“There’s also the fact that when she turned sixteen and you noticed, I told you that if you so much as looked at her in
that way
, I’d break every bone in your body,” Matt reminded him.
“There is that,” Cole agreed, remembering the fraternal lecture all too well. Not that he’d needed the warning. The eight-year age difference had been major back then. Now that she was a very desirable twenty-five, not so much.
“She hasn’t said anything to me, but you know how women talk to each other about everything. Meredith says the principal’s probably on the way out,” Matt divulged. “Though she may wait until after New Year’s because hey, who wants to break up at Christmas?”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Cole said. “About how you’d feel about her and me getting together.”
“That’s because I don’t know. Let me think about it.” He paused as Cole continued along the coast road. The rain was blowing in from the steely white-capped winter ocean. “Okay. I’ve thought about it.”
“And?”
“Since I don’t want her to end up an old maid—”
“I may not be married, but even I know you’d better not share that description with your wife,” Cole said.
“Yeah. PC can be a bitch, but I hear enough of that at home that I don’t need a lecture from you about it. My point is, I want Kelli to be happy. Which, for her, means marriage and kids. So, since that means her getting involved with some guy, I guess I’m okay with the idea of that guy being my best friend. With one caveat.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” Negotiating was, after all, woven into Matt Carpenter’s DNA. “What would that caveat be?”
“You may be my best friend, and I love you like a third brother. But if you make my baby sister cry again, man, I’m going to have no choice but to rip out your lung and stomp all over it.”
Mission accomplished, Cole spun the leather-covered steering wheel, making a wheel-squealing illegal U-turn to head back to the dealership. “Makes sense to me,” he agreed.
10
Kelli’s mother bustled around the homey kitchen, brewing tea and cutting a coffee cake that smelled so good Kelli could picture the calories attaching to her hips before she’d even taken a bite.
“I’m so glad you were able to stop by before you left town, darling,” Laura Carpenter said as she placed a red and green plaid linen napkin next to the Spode Christmas tree plate.
Kelli knew that people thought she wore all those flashy holiday sweaters for her students, but the truth was, when you grew up in this woman’s home, you viewed the calendar as twelve months of holiday-themed opportunities. With Christmas like a living Advent calendar, each day brought a new surprise for the Carpenters all the way into the next year’s Epiphany.
“I’d never leave without saying good-bye,” she assured her mother. “And it’s not as if I’m heading off to Timbuktu.”
“I know.” Her mother offered a bright but slightly wobbly smile. “It’s just that however grown-up you’ll become, in my heart you’ll always be my baby,
Similar Books
