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“Que?”
“Never date a firefighter. My mother always told me to date an accountant. Much safer and more predictable. Stable. Secure.” I checked off each solid reason on my fingers.
Mars yawned, a huge, theatrical, gaping yawn.
I elbowed him. “What? Cut it out, it’s true.”
“Lanie,” Mars grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. “You are none of those things. You’re not safe, stable, predictable.”
“Gee, thanks, Mars,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.
“Honey, if you were, you’d be a real sleeper! No. You are wild, fun, exciting. So why would you ever settle for a safe, predictable, BORING guy? Newsflash: you wouldn’t. That’s why nothing’s ever worked out for you before. So stop overthinking this. Go with it and see where it takes you. At the very least, it’ll be fun.” He met my eyes, a serious look on his face.
I sighed again. “You’re probably right. I mean, you were one thousand percent right about Holden. I should have listened to you.”
“Always. And I’m definitely right about this. Now let’s table major life decisions, cut the maudlin shit, and get to the good stuff. How fantastic was he on a scale of one to ten?” He rubbed his hands together with glee. The sheer excitement in his voice had me chuckling.
“A solid eleven,” I said, grinning.
“Better than macarons? Eating them, not making them.”
I nodded. “Way better.”
“Girl, like I said, spill the tea. I want to hear every sexy detail.”
7
Quinn
Leaving half-naked, all-beautiful Delaney sleeping peacefully in her bed this morning wasn’t how I wanted to start my day. I would have loved nothing more than a repeat performance of last night, but that would have to wait until later. I needed to make good on my promise to help my dad out at the store, even though I was cursing myself for it.
Twenty boxes into the unload, I was regretting my good deed even more. I’d already managed to get a deep papercut that hurt more than it should and my neck ached from looking down.
“Pops, how are you managing this by yourself?” I grunted as I moved another box onto the floor.
“I get some help in after school, but it’s not easy, especially with the extra shipments for the holidays.”
I paused, took a deep breath, debated saying something. Hell, someone had to bring it up, so I supposed it might as well be me.
“Have you thought about asking any of your brothers or our cousins—Liam, maybe—if they want to step in, learn the ropes? Last I heard, Liam was finishing his MBA up north. He could be real good at this. Because you’re not getting any younger, you know.” I tried to be nice about it, but Pops still bristled as he unpacked tinsel, avoiding eye contact.
“Yeah, none of them seem all that interested. So I’m just holding on here for now.”
A heavy silence hung in the air, making me regret bringing it up at all. I didn’t have a solution—there was no way in hell I was taking over the store—and Ryder didn’t want it, either.
“Well, that’s the last of the holiday stuff,” I said, changing the topic as I shelved my final set of Christmas ornaments. “You should ask Bree to come in and set up the window display. Seems like something she’d like to do.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea. Maybe Ryder could bring Charlie, get his input on the display.”
“You know he’ll just eat all the candy. Not sure how helpful he’ll be.”
Pops chuckled. “You’re probably right about that. Thanks for coming in this morning and helping your old dad out. Your mom told me you had other plans.”
I shrugged. “Not really, it’s no big deal.”
He squinted at me over his readers, but didn’t push.
“Well, go ahead and scoot. I don’t want to keep you any longer than need be.”
