Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 145731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Wonderful. Thank you,” she says, then flips her tablet case closed. Good. This meeting’s almost over. “One more thing.”
One more thing is hardly ever good, so I brace myself for further pain. “As part of this effort we’d like to move the Christmas Eve gala to Evergreen Falls. You’re all going to be there on the twenty-third anyway for the game that day, so we hope you’ll stay in town another night. We will of course cover the costs for you and your families—for those of you traveling with family—to stay on Christmas Eve, too, should you wish. What better place to spend the holiday! And for those who need or want to return to San Francisco for Santa’s early morning arrival, we’ll have the team jet to take you back to San Francisco less than an hour after the gala ends.”
Kill me now.
That means more time in Christmas Town. I swear, the universe is out to get me at this time of year. But, on the flip side, Mia loves it there and I never want her to have a bad day, let alone a bad Christmas.
I grab my gag gifts, and my phone, then exit, ready to collect my favorite person. But before I can track her down, I bump into Jason waiting in the hallway, his eyes focused on his phone. He looks up right as I tilt my head his way.
“They let riffraff like you in here?” I ask.
“Shocking, I know,” he says, then knocks fists with me. “Good game. And I hear that the team is doing a PR push in Evergreen Falls.”
Talk about a super-agent. “Is there anything you don’t know?”
“It’s my job to know things,” he says, “and on that note, I think I’ll come over to your place and have a drink to chat about how the hell you’re going to pull this off.”
“One minute you think you’re gonna have a nice night alone, and the next minute your agent shows up.”
He rubs his ear. “I’m sorry, did you say how nice it is that your best friend is coming over?”
I stare at him, unblinking. “No, I don’t believe that’s what I said.” But he knows he’s always welcome, so I turn the other way and beam when I spot my mom, dad, and Mia walking down the corridor. Mia runs the final feet toward me, and I scoop my kid up in a hug.
“Dad, what does a cat like to eat on a hot day?”
“Tell me.”
She grins impishly. “A mice cream cone!”
My mom laughs, her green eyes crinkling at the corners. She tugs on one of Mia’s braids. “We looked them up during the game. Cat and mouse jokes.”
“You didn’t watch every play?” I ask, with faux shock.
My dad wraps an inked arm around her, the snakes on his forearm curving down his skin. “We watched the good ones,” he says.
“Every play I’m in is a good one,” I say.
“Most are,” my mom teases, as she smooths a hand down her Def Leppard concert tee. I’ve given up trying to get them to wear team gear. It’s just not their style.
“Thanks again for coming tonight, and for taking care of Mia,” I say to them.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Mom says.
Dad nods toward her. “What she said,” he seconds, then smacks a kiss to her cheek.
I might have been served a shit sandwich in romance, but in the family department I have everything.
19
FROZEN FRUITCAKE
ROWAN
“Penelope dashed around the corner, peered past the snow-covered bridge, and spotted the thief,” Mia says dramatically, and before she can do it, I flip the page at the speed of light. I’ve got to know how Penelope catches the stinker who had the audacity to steal the gifts from under the Christmas tree in the mayor’s office.
“Who did it?” I ask urgently, sitting straight up in Mia’s bed, while blue lights from Matilda cast a soft glow from the corner.
Mia shoots me a look that translates to settle down. “Dad, we’ll get there.” As Wanda curls herself tighter into a dog ball at the foot of the mattress, Mia pauses, takes a breath, then smiles serenely, too damn pleased with herself for her performance reading the newest The Peppermint Patrol mystery from the book Advent calendar.
I make a rolling gesture. “It’s late, cupcake.” The game started at five-thirty, so it’s past ten and, besides—my uninvited guest will be coming any minute.
“I’m wide awake. Maybe I can even say hi to Agent Jason,” Mia says. She’s always called him that.
I tap the page. “Only if you read me another chapter.”
“I will.” She spreads open the pages and clears her throat. “But Penelope didn’t have to do this alone. Her besties, Xenia and Juan, hunkered down next to her, binoculars scanning for signs of the thief. Penelope brought a finger to her lips when—”