Page 15

Today, I’m even more grateful for the long list of repairs Parker, the owner of Holley Ridge, left me before the Christmas festival opens for the night, if for no other reason than to get my mind off Wynter Hayes.

You’d think after more than a decade, I’d be over my boyhood infatuation with my best friend’s older sister.

But seeing her last night sparked something inside me.

And when I noticed her checking me out this morning, I couldn’t resist putting on a little show.

There was a time I would have given almost anything for Wynter to look at me the way she looked at Wyatt. Back then, I was just the awkward kid next door with a mouth full of braces. She was the girl who belonged in a completely different universe.

Beautiful.

Confident.

Mature.

But this morning, she stared at me like I wasn’t just the boy next door. She looked at me as if she never wanted to stop looking.

I’m not proud of how much I enjoyed it.

Actually, that’s a lie.

I fucking loved every second of having her eyes on me.

By the time I get to the last thing on my to-do list — a handful of wobbly stools in the bar — the sun has disappeared behind the trees, and night has fallen over Holley Ridge.

Thousands of lights are wrapped around trees and strung along fences and buildings. The gingerbread-shaped festival booths glow in the distance, and music drifts through the inn as guests filter onto the property for another evening of Christmas magic.

“How’d it go the other night?”

I look up as Bennett ducks under the bar, dressed in his usual black button-down and black pants, plus the festive tie he wears this time of year.

“The other night?” I frown.

“Meeting your dad.”

“Oh. Right.”

I’d pushed that to the back of my mind until now. Surprising, considering until Wynter showed up, meeting my father was the only thing I could think about.

After losing my mother earlier in the year, I wanted to know more about where I came from. But because I was the result of a one-night stand and my mother didn’t know my father’s full name, it wasn’t all that easy, so I bought one of those genealogy kits and took a DNA test.

I didn’t expect much to come of it. Maybe a few distant cousins. I never could have imagined the kit would return a close familial match suggesting a parent.

I reached out, not expecting a response.

But he replied, and I finally got to meet the man who’s been a mystery to me all my life.

“It actually went really well,” I tell Bennett, flipping another stool over and tightening the screws on the legs. “We don’t have a lot in common. He’s some big-shot attorney in D.C., but he’s making an effort to get to know me. He even extended his trip, so I won’t have to spend Christmas alone. He seems like a pretty decent guy.”

“That’s great.” He pulls the cutting board over and starts slicing fruit, the sharp scent of citrus filling the air. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, man.”

A comfortable silence falls over us as we both focus on our work.

At least, I try to focus on my work. But my thoughts keep drifting to Wynter, and being around her brother doesn’t help. Did he know she was planning to come home? If so, why didn’t he say anything?

“What’s going on with Wynter?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.