by Anthology
“Thanks for the invitation. I’ll have to see what’s going on, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind.”
“You do that.” He patted my arm. “I’m heading home, but here’s my card. It’s got my cell number and my home address, too. Just in case you change your mind about dinner next week.”
* * *
Thanksgiving Day
The next week passed in a blur of pine needles and evergreen scent.
When Nolan had told me that we needed to be in Florida a week before Thanksgiving to sell Christmas trees, I’d had my doubts. I pictured Christmas in Florida as a weird mix of tropical shirts, palm trees with tinsel and Santas wearing sunglasses. But since we’d opened for business on Saturday, we’d been busy almost non-stop. Apparently Floridians liked to have their Christmas trees in order early.
I drove Uncle Nolan and my cousin Andy to the airport on Wednesday afternoon while Joe manned the trees. And then it was just the two of us.
We opened up at regular time on Thanksgiving morning, but as busy as we’d been all week, it was dead that day. The streets were silent, and the only sound in the tent was Joe cracking his knuckles and sighing.
By noon, I threw in the towel. We closed up, secured the lot and headed back to the small motel that was our home away from home until December 22nd. I flopped onto the bed on my back, groaning as I hit the mattress.
“So . . . what’re we going to do now?” Joe sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes fastened on the worn green carpet.
“I don’t know. Watch football, I guess? There’s a diner a few miles away, so we could go get some turkey or whatever later on.” I stared up at the ceiling.
Joe toed off his boots and stretched out. “If I were in Michigan, I’d be at my grandma’s house, getting ready to eat turkey. And everyone would be there, talking about the football games and the weather and all.” He sniffed, and I wondered if he was about to cry. The kid was just eighteen, after all, a cousin of Nolan’s wife, and clearly having a massive attack of homesickness.
“First time away from home on Thanksgiving?” I didn’t turn my head. Sometimes it was easier for guys to talk when they weren’t face-to-face. At least that’d been my experience.
“I’ve never been out of Michigan until now. Ever.” Yeah, there was a definite hitch in his voice.
“You guys always do the big family deal?”
“Yeah. My grandparents have a farm about an hour away from where we live, so everyone goes there for the holidays. All my cousins, my aunts and uncles.” He rolled onto his side. “This sucks. I feel like an orphan or something. Or like one of those people who’s been—what’s the word? Shunned? You know, like the Amish, where they kick out the kids who don’t follow the rules?”
I’d had about enough. Truth was, being stuck in the four walls of this motel room wasn’t doing anything for my holiday spirit either. Not that I was used to the kind of family deal Joe was, but at this point, anything was better than listening to his sniveling.
“Get up, kid.” I swung my legs around to the side of the bed. “I can’t take you back to Michigan, but I think I got the next best thing in mind.”
* * *
I almost turned around and headed for the diner when I saw how many cars were parked around the house at the address Logan had given me. Damn. When he’d said they had a big spread, apparently he hadn’t been kidding.
But before I could wimp out and run, Joe whistled low under his breath. “Look at this. It’s just like at Grandma’s.” He glanced at me, and I saw gratitude in his eyes. “It’s good, right? I mean, Uncle Nolan said this Logan’s a decent guy, and he’d want us to go, since they invited us.”
I choked back the smart-ass reply I wanted to give him. “Yeah, Joe. It’s good. We’ll go in, eat some turkey, make nice and then we got to get back. Tomorrow’s Black Friday, and we need to be open by seven. Got it?”
“Oh, yeah. I know. But hey, thanks for letting us do this.”
I finally found a spot to park the truck, and we headed across a green lawn to a house that looked like it had grown out of the beach. It was the same gray-blue as the waves I could hear hitting the sand just beyond. Just as Joe and I climbed the few steps to the front door, it flew open and a small boy with dark hair came racing out.
“DJ Hawthorne, get your little butt back in this—oh!” A pretty young woman with curling light brown hair stopped short at the sight of us. “I’m sorry, I’m just chasing down that little hooligan. He stole a finger-full of mashed potatoes from his grandmother’s pot, and she’s not happy.”
The little boy, who’d come to a halt just beyond Joe, giggled. “Grammy can’t catch me!”
“Grammy could catch you, easy-peasy. But it’s not really Grammy you need to worry about.” She crossed her arms over her chest and fastened the kid with a glare that left no doubt in my mind who she was. “It’s your mother who’s going to string you up by the heels if you mess around in the kitchen again.” She pointed into the house. “Get in there and apologize to your grandmother, then go find your dad. March.”
He marched, and as soon as he was beyond the doorway, his mom smiled at me. “Hey, sorry about that. I’m Lindsay Hawthorne.” She stuck out her hand. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Trent Wagoner.” I hooked a thumb at the boy behind me. “This is Joe Scarver. Uh, Logan invited us for dinner.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. You’re the Christmas tree guys, right? Come on in.” She stood back. “We’re just in the final stages of putting the food together, but there’re some nibbly things out already.”
We followed her into a large foyer, which opened to an even bigger room. People filled the sofas and chairs in the center, while a long row of tables flanked the far end, under a wall of windows that almost brought the beach into the house.
“Holy shit.” Joe muttered the words so that only I heard them. “This is amazing.”
I wasn’t sure if he meant the house or the people, so I only nodded. Lindsay had left us behind as she approached a small cluster of men, and I saw that Logan was one of them. She touched his arm, stood on tiptoe to whisper to him, and he turned, smiling.
“Hey, guys! Glad you could make it.” He shook my hand and then did the same to Joe as I introduced them. “As you can see, we have a few people here.”
“Yeah.” I shifted my weight, glancing around. “Is this . . . your family?”
Logan’s expression softened as he followed my gaze. “Yeah. Maybe not by everyone’s definition, but they’re the most important people in the world to me.”
“You mean to us.” A woman with long dark hair slid her arms around Logan’s waist. “Hi, I’m Jude.”
“And she’s the most important one of them all.” He tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Babe, this is Trent and Joe.”
“Trent, I’m so glad to meet you. Meghan’s talked about you.” The way Jude took my hand and smiled made me wonder what her daughter might’ve said about me. After all, I’d been one of the first people Meghan had met the night she came to Burton. Granted, we’d both been wasted out of our minds, but we’d still connected. Fleetingly I wondered if she’d ever told Sam about our hot and heavy make-out session that night. Most of the evening was a blur, but I remembered that much.
“Uh, yeah. She’s great.” I cleared my throat.
Jude tilted her head. “You’re a friend of Sam’s, right?”
“I went to school with his sister, Ali.” I shrugged. “And it’s Burton. Everyone knows everyone else.”
Logan laughed. “We have some experience with that here in the Cove.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you guys get something to drink and help yourself to appetizers? We’re going to bring out the main dishes shortly. Make yourselves at home.”
A makeshift bar had been set up in the corner of the room, and Joe trailed behind me as I made my way over. I dug into an ice-filled cooler and found a bottle of beer, while Joe popped open a can of soda.
“So does this make you feel better about not being in Michigan?” I lifted my beer toward the window. “You don’t get that kind of view on Grandma’s farm.”
“Yeah, I guess.” He took a sip. “It’s good to be around people. Better than just sitting at the motel all day, anyway.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Thanks. Feeling the love, Joe.”
He flushed. “I mean, it feels more like Thanksgiving with all the people here.”
“I get you.”
The French doors next to us opened, and a group of people stepped inside from the deck I’d seen through the windows. They were mostly little kids, I realized—I spotted the mischievous little guy who’d nearly bowled us over earlier—but in the middle of them was an older girl, herding the crowd. She had light brown hair and wide brown eyes, and she was laughing at something one of the rug-rats said as she stepped past us.
Beside me, I heard Joe’s quick intake of breath. And I could’ve sworn the temperature of the air went up a few degrees. As though she felt it too, the girl stopped and turned her head, looking right into Joe’s eyes.
I expected her to keep on going, but instead, she came closer to us, her focus solely on Joe.
“Hi. I’m Alexis. I don’t know you.” She stood in front of him, with her hands on her hips, lips twisting into a teasing smile.
“Joe. Is me. I’m Joe.” He pointed to himself, his lips continuing to move even after sound stopped coming out. Damn, the kid had no moves.
I took pity on him for the second time in one day. “Joe Scarver. And I’m Trent Wagoner. We’re in town selling Christmas trees, and Logan invited us to dinner.” I paused, trying to remember if anyone had mentioned an Alexis. “Are you his . . .?”
She giggled. “No blood relation. I call them Uncle Logan and Aunt Jude because they’re the closest thing I have to family, outside my dad and mom.” She gestured toward the group of men sitting on the sofa watching football on the giant television screen. “That’s my dad over there. Cooper Davis. Logan’s, like, his best friend.”
I nodded, even though I had no idea about anyone she’d mentioned, outside of Logan.
“Are those your sisters and brother?” Joe regained his power of speech and jerked his chin toward the three children lingering nearby.
“No. Not yet, anyway. They’re Emmy’s kids, and my dad and Emmy just started living together. But maybe.” She looked over my shoulder, lost in thought for a few seconds, and then grinned again. “Want to come out front with us? I promised I’d keep the ankle biters out of the way while Jude and Emmy bring out all the food.”
Joe shot me a questioning glance, and I lifted one shoulder. “Go on. I’m fine.”
I didn’t have to tell him twice. The two of them were out the door, towing children. I took another swig of my beer and tried not to look as uncomfortable as I felt. I was just beginning to mosey toward the sofas to get a better view of the game when I heard a familiar voice.
“Oh, my God, Abby, it’s gorgeous.”
I twisted my head, my heart sinking. Yep, it was her. The blonde I’d been a jerk to last week, the one I’d gone out of my way to avoid seeing in the six days since. She was standing just outside the kitchen next to a woman with long black hair. Elizabeth was holding the woman’s hand, knuckles up as they both examined a ring.
As if she felt me looking at her, she turned and spotted me. The expression on her face didn’t change, but I saw her stiffen and angle her body so that her back faced me. Her friend—she’d called her Abby—frowned and glanced my way, and I figured Elizabeth was giving her the gory details about the jerk selling Christmas trees in her building’s lot. That’d be me, of course.
Before I could execute an escape, a strong hand gripped my arm, and I looked into a pair of dark, suspicious eyes.
“Who’re you?”
The guy was frowning—glowering, more accurately—as he waited for me to answer. I wondered what I’d done to piss him off.
“Trent Wagoner.” I’d said my name more today than I could ever remember. “I’m running the Christmas tree lot in front of Logan’s building.”
“Yeah. So who’s the kid?” The guy crossed his arms over his chest. “The one who just went outside with my daughter?”
Understanding dawned. “Oh—that’s Joe. He works with me.”
“Uh huh, and just how old is this Joe?”
“Cooper, are you harassing this poor guy?” A gorgeous red-haired woman appeared, ducking under Cooper’s arm and snagging his bottle of beer. She took a pull and then gave it back to him. Smiling at me, she stuck out a hand. “Emmy Carter, and this over-protective dad is Cooper. Jude told me you might be coming.”
“Oh, is this the Christmas tree guy?” Abby with the ring had drifted over, and I didn’t have to look behind her to know that Elizabeth was there, too.
“Yeah, and Cooper’s being his normal friendly self.” Emmy laughed. “He’s lucky the rest of us are on to him.” She narrowed her eyes. “Elizabeth, you’re blonde! I love it.”
I let my gaze wander over to her. She twisted a long curl around her finger, and I thought again how pretty she was. And I knew if I gave myself permission to look down her body, I’d be reminded that it was smokin’. I’d thought that in the truck last week, and God knew I’d been tempted.
“Thanks. I used to keep it this light all the time—it’s actually my natural color—but I thought going darker would make it easier for people to take me seriously as a lawyer.” She snorted, and fuck me if I didn’t think it was the cutest thing I’d ever heard. “I was wrong. But I haven’t had time until now to take it all the way back to the blonde.”
“Well, it’s perfect. And the hell with anyone who doesn’t take you seriously.” Emmy gave her a quick hug before she turned back to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name. But have you met Elizabeth and Abby? They both have offices at the building where you’re working.”
“His name’s Trent.” Elizabeth spoke up before I could. “And yes, we’ve met.” The tone in her voice left no doubt about her opinion of that meeting. The other two women immediately clued into this fact, of course, rounding on her with interest.
“Oh, really?” Abby glanced from Elizabeth to me. “I see I’ve been missing out on the important stuff.” She glanced at Emmy. “I actually don’t have an office there anymore. We’ve moved everything over to the hotel now.”
“How did I not know that? See, this is what happens when we all get so busy. Plus, it’s these men in our lives. Back when we were both sex-starved single ladies, we had time for each other.”
Cooper slung his around her shoulders, pulling her into his body. “Yeah? And you miss that?”
Emmy gave him a half-hearted shove. “Of course I miss my friends. But no, I’m not looking to go back to the sex-starved singleness.”
“I think we’re making Trent here uncomfortable with all this sex talk.” Abby winked at me. “After all, he doesn’t know us. We should probably try to act like we know how to behave before we scare him off.”
“He does scare easily.” This came from Elizabeth as her mouth twisted into a half-smile.
“This sounds like a story I want to hear.” Emmy settled her attention on me. “Do tell all.”
“First I want to know about this Joe who took Lexi outside.” Cooper had been shut out by the ladies, but he hadn’t forgotten his main concern. “How old is he?”
I decided I was safer dealing with Cooper than with the females. “He’s eighteen, and he’s a good kid. And he didn’t take her outside. She asked him to come with her because she’s watching little ones.”
“Eighteen, huh.” His jaw clenched. “She’s sixteen.”
“Almost seventeen.” Emmy sighed. “And they’re not running off to a motel, Cooper. They’re in the front yard, with my kids and Mark’s and Eric’s, not to mention DJ, who’ll keep them running. Chill, babe.”
Cooper didn’t say anything else, but I noticed his jaw didn’t relax.
/> “So you’re from up north, Trent?” Abby’s eyes were curious. “You don’t talk like a Yankee.”
“Takes one to know one, Ab?” Emmy poked her in the ribs.
“He’s from Michigan.” Elizabeth seemed intent on filling in the group on my history.
“Doesn’t sound like Michigan.” Emmy raised her eyebrows.
“I’m from Georgia.” It wasn’t really a secret, or at least it wouldn’t stay a secret long here, where Jude and Logan both knew I’d lived in Burton. “I have family in Michigan, and I’m down here with them selling trees.” There, that should satisfy their curiosity. There wasn’t more to tell.
“And how did you meet Elizabeth, exactly?”
So I was wrong. There was more, but damned if I was going to tell it. I flickered a glance at the blonde.
“I forgot to move my car last week when they were putting up the tent. Trent had to come in to ask me to move it, and I was under deadline, working on a motion due that afternoon. So he moved it, and long story short, my keys weren’t available when I needed to get to the courthouse, so he drove me over there.”
“Ohhhhhh.” Abby’s eyes danced. “Well, if that isn’t a meet-cute, I’ve never seen one.”
“Not exactly.” Elizabeth leveled her gaze at me. “Mr. Wagoner here made it very clear that he didn’t find anything about me cute. Matter of fact, he couldn’t get me out of his truck fast enough.”
Two pairs of female eyes swung toward me. Cooper slapped me on the back. “I don’t know what you did, dude, but right now, sucks to be you. I’m going back to football. Good luck.”
Great. Abby cocked her head. “Really? How on earth can you think Elizabeth isn’t gorgeous? Any guy would be lucky to catch her eye.”
“Are you married?” Emmy made a point to look at my left hand. “Or engaged? Or dating someone?”
I considered lying just to get out of this mess. But it wasn’t smart to lie to girls about things like this, I’d learned, so I took a deep breath and shook my head. “No. I’m single.”