Page 19 of Mistletoe & Mischief
“It was slightly frustrating,” Brad said with a laugh. “The bank made a papier-mâché snowman, but they accidentally left it outside last night.”
“Oh no! It must have fallen apart in the snow?”
Brad nodded, still smiling, as though nothing could get him down. “We had to scrape something else together. It won’t be the best float in the parade, but we did all we could.”
“It’s the thought that counts,” Maya said.
“Brad!” A voice rang out from behind Maya, and a chill wrapped around her neck. When she turned, she found Rainey straining through the crowd to get to them. “I thought that was you!”
“Oh, Ms. Michaels,” Brad said, his face falling. “How are you?”
“I’m wonderful. You know how much I love this festival.”
Rainey was dressed beautifully in a coat with a fur lining, a fur hat, and bright red lipstick. Maya wondered why Brad didn’t fall head over heels for her. She demonstrated her love in everything she did— including her sharp jealousy toward Maya.
“We found where the kids’ cookies were being sold,” Rainey went on, lifting a plastic baggie from her purse to show it off. Maya remembered how, when the kids had been baking up a storm, Rainey had kept to the side, refusing to help. She was pretty sure she’d even been on her phone.
“We’ll have to buy some for ourselves,” Maya said brightly.
Rainey hardly blinked at her.
“I want you to meet my dear friend, Olivia,” Rainey said, tugging another woman through the crowd to form a circle with them.
“Pleasure to meet you, Olivia,” Brad said.
Olivia was slightly taller than Maya, with brown eyes that made her look like a Disney princess, soft features, and hair that curled immaculately down her shoulders. Olivia stared brazenly at Maya. Maya wondered if Rainey had painted a horrific picture of Maya, explaining that Maya was the only thing between Rainey and Brad and their lifetime of happiness.
But Maya had no plans to give up on Brad. His kindness was a balm on what she’d previously believed to be endless pain in her life. The fact that he seemed to like her, too, seemed impossible— but she planned to cling to it for as long as she could.
“Are you from Hollygrove?” Maya asked Olivia.
Olivia tilted her head. “I was born here,” she said. “But not raised.”
“She has a complicated family story,” Rainey said. “Kind of like you, Maya.”
Maya bristled. She supposed it was obvious she was the current fodder for town gossip, but she didn’t like Rainey referring to it so brazenly.
“That’s right,” Olivia said. “Rainey said something about an inheritance?”
“Planning the Christmas Festival is supposedly step one,” Maya said, her voice wavering. “After that, the lawyer will hopefully pass on the keys to my aunt’s home and reveal the next task.”
“It’s not just a home, though, is it?” Rainey pressed. “It’s a mansion. A ballroom? A library? An endless number of bedrooms? It’s spectacular.”
“What a complicated situation,” Olivia said icily. “Must be terrible to be on the brink of inheriting a mansion.”
“You’ve driven past your aunt’s mansion?” Rainey asked. “Haven’t you?”
Maya was now terribly uncomfortable. It felt as though Rainey and Olivia were interrogating her.
“It’s gorgeous,” Maya admitted, her voice wavering. “I can hardly imagine walking through the front door, let alone owning it myself.”
“It’s one of the most historic properties in upstate New York,” Brad interjected. “I hope you’ll let me see the place as soon as Thaddeus hands over the keys.”
Suddenly, Maya was struck with the image of herself and Brad wrapped up together in the fabulous living room of the mansion as a fire blazed before them. Rainey’s face soured. Maybe she could read Maya’s mind.
She seemed the sort of woman who would stop at nothing to ensure Maya didn’t win.
“We’d better run,” Brad said, searching Maya’s face. “You were saying we need to help the theater troupe?”
