Mistletoe Daddy. Deb Kastner

      “—went to a good cause. No hard feelings.”

      She didn’t want to be here at the auction anymore, hanging out on the community green with most of the rest of the population of Serendipity. She didn’t want to sit across from Nick acting like everything was okay when it wasn’t. She was tired of pretending.

      She reached for the empty sandwich wrappers, stuffed them into the picnic basket and then slammed the lid closed. As closed as her heart felt right then.

      She wasn’t lying when she said she would make it. Somehow, some way, she would. With or without Nick McKenna’s help. She shoved her hand forward, ready to shake his and be done with all of this.

      Be done with him.

      He frowned and stared at her palm as if it were an overgrown thornbush.

      “Now, wait a minute,” he said in a gentler tone of voice. Instead of shaking her hand, he laid his large palm over hers and held it. “Don’t jump to conclusions. I never said I wasn’t going to help you.”

      She sighed. “You didn’t have to say it out loud. It’s written all over your face, not to mention in your attitude. I know you think I’m a dumb blonde who couldn’t find her way out of a plastic bag, but even I can take a hint.”

      He threw back his head and laughed. “Paper sack.”

      “What?”

      He just smiled and shook his head. “I’m thick as a tree trunk sometimes. And I know exactly what my mama would say about that kind of stubbornness.”

      “Yeah? And what’s that?” She couldn’t help it. She was intrigued.

      He twisted his free arm behind his back as if someone in authority were holding it there.

      “She’d say,” he responded with a grin, “that I need an attitude adjustment.” He paused and flashed her a truly genuine smile. “And you know what, Viv?”

      “What?” Despite everything, his smile lightened her mood. Maybe because he only smiled when he meant it.

      “My mom would be right.”

      He snorted and shook his head. “And, Viv? I don’t like to hear you beat yourself up. I don’t think you’re dumb—and you shouldn’t let anyone else tell you that, either. Besides, I don’t let anyone talk about me that way, and we’re in this project together now.” This time, he held out his hand, and she couldn’t help grinning back as she gave it a shake.

      * * *

      Two weeks following the Saturday of the auction found Nick standing next to Vivian in front of her property. He had tied up all the loose ends that would keep him from his commitment and wanted to get started on this project as soon as possible. Construction was already beginning on the senior center and he planned to volunteer as many hours to that as he could, especially since his uncle James would soon be a resident.

      Just thinking of his uncle, an eighty-eight-year-old man with late-stage dementia, was an added weight on Nick’s already burdened heart.

      His plate was full to overflowing, but he wouldn’t allow himself to complain. Ranch work kept him plenty busy on its own, and he couldn’t count on his brother Jax to lend a hand as much anymore, since Jax’s miserable harpy of an ex-wife had come to town the day of the auction and abandoned month-old twin babies on his doorstep. The baby girls were adorable and an absolute blessing through and through—but that didn’t stop them from being a lot of work. With the hours they kept Jax up every night, it was a struggle for him to get through his own horse training work every day, much less help with the ranching responsibilities. Slade had his family and his work at the sheriff’s department to keep him busy. So that meant it all fell to Nick.

      With everything going on, his stress level was off the scale. The sooner he remodeled Viv’s quaint little beauty parlor, the sooner he could get out from under his obligation to her and go back to his primary concerns—his family, the ranch and the senior center.

      He and Viv were both gazing up at the weathered wooden sign hanging directly over them from the eaves over the sidewalk. It was barely dangling by a thread. The thing was downright dangerous. He was surprised a good Texas wind hadn’t blown it off by now.

      He pulled out the pencil he’d tucked behind his ear to scribble a few notes on his clipboard. The hazardous sign was the first item on what he imagined was going to be a very long list of things to do to get this place in working order. He couldn’t even imagine what the interior of the building held in store for him.

      “I didn’t bring a ladder,” he said, his free hand resting on his tool belt. He’d known he’d eventually have to bring a truck full of heavy-duty tools to remodel this joint—from a planer to a circular saw and everything in between, but he figured evaluating the work and making a plan of action came first. “We’ve got to get that sign down. Today, if possible.”

      He still had no idea what he was getting into, but he figured he ought to at least give Vivian her money’s worth in knowledge and labor. The outside of the place only needed a fresh coat of paint and it would be good to go, but he suspected that wouldn’t be true of the interior.

      “I noticed the sign the first day I was here. I know it’s a potential hazard to people walking underneath. I can’t imagine why it hasn’t been removed before now.”

      “Nor I,” Nick agreed. “You’d think the town council would be on top of something like that. They probably just overlooked it. No matter. You’ll need to hang a new sign anyway. What are you going to call the place?”

      Vivian propped her fists on her hips and screwed up her mouth, chewing on her bottom lip. She stared at the old sign as if it was going to give her guidance.

      “To be honest, I don’t know. I’m sure something will come to me once I get more of a feel for the place. It has to be exactly right.”

      “What did you call your spa in Houston?”

      “Viv’s Vitality.”

      “That’s clever. You could use that.”

      She blanched and shook her head.

      “No,” she stated emphatically. “No. I absolutely couldn’t do that. The salon in Houston is part of my old life. This has to be completely different, in every way.”

      He lifted his hand as if toasting her with a glass of bubbly. “Here’s to new beginnings, then.”

      Her breath came out in an audible sigh. “Right. To new beginnings.”

      “Let’s take a look inside and then I’ll run over to Emerson’s and see if they’ll let me borrow a ladder.”

      That was one of the many benefits of small-town living. Nick had gone to school with Eddie Emerson, who would one day inherit his father’s hardware shop. Since he’d known Eddie and his father all his life, he was sure it would be no problem to use one of their ladders to take down that sign.

      Vivian shoved her hand into an enormously oversize pink-polka-dot handbag that sported a bow nearly as large as the bag itself. At least a good minute of fruitless searching went by before she smiled and shrugged apologetically before returning to digging. He was certain she’d forgotten the keys, but she determinedly continued to fish for them. “They’re in here somewhere.”

      He smothered a grin. What could she possibly need to carry around with her that warranted such a big handbag?

      “Ah! Here we are,” she announced triumphantly, waving her keys in the air like a flag. She sorted through a large mess of keys until she came upon the one she wanted, and then approached the door.

      Nick stepped around her and reached for the key.

      “Here. Let me,” he said, sliding it into the lock and stepping back, gesturing for her to enter first. “Welcome to your new home away from home.”

      He