Mistletoe Matchmaker. Lissa Manley

cousin, Kim, had met five months ago when she and her seven-year-old son had come to Moonlight Cove to live with her and Grant’s aunt Rose. Seth had saved Kim from drowning in a riptide off Moonlight Cove Beach, and Kim had ended up working in his store. Soon after, they fell in love, and the rest was history.

       “Good point. I met Seth when he, Kim and Dylan came to visit me in August.”

       A thought occurred to Molly. “You weren’t at their wedding, though, were you?” The happy bride and groom had been married this past September in a lovely ceremony at Moonlight Cove Community Church, followed by a reception on the beach where they’d met.

       Grant shook his head. “No, I couldn’t make it.”

       “For your cousin’s wedding?” Kind of an important event to miss.…

       His jaw tightened, and he seemed to be squirming. “I was out of the country for work.”

       Molly nodded. Seemed as if Grant was a workaholic. Remembered pain shot through Molly. Her father had missed her high school graduation because of work, too. Never again.

       Shoving aside past hurts, she said, “Well, since you missed the nuptials, I’m happy to report that Seth and Kim are very happy, and completely devoted to each other and Dylan.” Truth be told, Molly kind of envied the love they shared and the family they’d built, though she knew that kind of love wasn’t in the cards for her. From now on, she would only let God into her heart—she could depend on Him to never let her down.

       “Good to know,” Grant said evenly.

       “My friend Phoebe told me they went to Seattle.”

       “Yeah. Seth had some kind of Mariners function for former players.”

       Seth had played for the Seattle Mariners for three years before coming back home to Moonlight Cove to take over running the Sports Shack from his father.

       “Did they kennel Cleo?” Molly asked. “I hope not. I would have been glad to keep her.”

       Jade had had a litter of pups in June, and Rose and Benny had given Cleo, one of Jade’s puppies, to Dylan soon after Kim and Seth got engaged.

       Grant shook his head. “Nah, they took her with them. Rose told me Dylan just about had a hissy fit when they talked about leaving her here.”

       “Not surprising. Dylan and Cleo come in here all the time to play with Peter and Parker and to pick out toys. He’s pretty attached to her.” She made a face. “But I’m not sure I’d want to take her on vacation.”

       “Why not?”

       “She’s even wilder than Jade,” Molly said, quirking a brow.

       He looked horrified. “Is that possible?” he asked, glancing sideways at Jade. She was still madly chasing the jingling Peter and Parker in circles around the predominantly green and red displays, their toenails clickety-clacking on the dog-practical linoleum floor. “She seems pretty wild to me.”

       “You think this is wild?” she asked, gesturing with her head toward Jade. “Wait till you meet Cleo.”

       He took a swig of water, then returned her smile, his eyes sparkling. “I’m not sure I want to,” he said, clearly joking.

       She stared at him for a moment, really liking his sense of humor. Then she caught herself and dragged her gaze away. “Listen,” she said, moving around him and out into the middle of the store, next to the leash display, where there was more space. “If you want me to pick up some tennis balls for Jade after work, I’d be happy to drop them off later.”

       He raised his blond brows. “No, that’s fine. I don’t want to put you out.”

       “Oh, you wouldn’t be putting me out. I need to pick up some fishing lures for my elderly neighbor from the Sports Shack, anyway. Floyd broke his leg and still wants to go on a fishing trip, wheelchair and all, with one of his buddies. I promised when I checked on him last night to deliver some lures later today.”

       “Well…that’d be great.” Grant glanced quickly at his sporty-looking watch, then frowned slightly. “Oh, wow. Look at the time. Tick-tock. I really should get back to work.”

       “Tight deadline?”

       “Extremely tight,” he replied, rubbing his jaw. “I have to have this job done by January 1 for initial system testing, and then the rest completed by the middle of January, which is an insane deadline for this kind of a product. So that means I have days and days of nothing but work ahead of me.”

       She had visions of him working day and night, alone and isolated, his job his only focus.

       Sounded sadly familiar. Would Grant someday be like her dad, all alone, because he chose work over everything else? She hoped not. Her dad had ended up pretty unhappy, with no one. Molly couldn’t think of anything worse.

       Thankfully, she had her large group of friends to keep her company. And God, of course.

       Molly hadn’t grown up going to church, but ever since she’d come to Moonlight Cove, she’d found great comfort and sense of family at the Moonlight Cove Community Church.

       “I’m happy to help out,” she told Grant. “Your aunt asked me to look in on you and Jade. She said you get all tied up in work and forget to take breaks to eat.” She smiled. Although, she had to admit, he didn’t look particularly underfed. A guy didn’t get enough muscles to stretch a T-shirt just right by not eating well.

       Molly blushed at her train of thought.

       He lifted his strong chin and peered at her from under incredibly long lashes. “My aunt asked you to check up on me?”

       “Kind of, but not in a bad way. Rose just thought you might need some help.” She pointedly looked at Jade, who was now flopped on her back, her paws in the air, wrestling with Peter and Parker. “You said yourself you don’t have any experience with dogs.”

       He chuckled, then held his hands up in the air like the dog, the light in his eyes dancing. My, he was handsome. “Touché. I’m clueless,” he reminded her.

       “Not exactly clueless,” she replied, heading toward the front counter. “Just inexperienced.”

       She leaned over the counter and picked up a gift-wrapped sample package of the chicken liver dog treats she had on display next to the register. “Here’s my tip. Keep some of these with you at all times. Jade will never leave your side.” She handed the treats to him. “I know for a fact she loves them.”

       He took the package, looking dubious. “You sure?”

       The sound of twelve paws skittering on the floor echoed through the store.

       “I’m sure,” she replied with a wry twist of her lips as she nodded to the three dogs who now sat obediently at his heels. “They’re giving you their best ‘we’re starving to death’ looks right now.”

       He glanced down at the supposedly starving dogs.

       “Now you know my big secret,” she said with mock-seriousness. “With those treats, you’ll be the Dog Whisperer in no time. Take those, on the house.”

       “Thanks,” Grant said, tucking the small pouch of treats in his back pants pocket. “I’ll be sure and keep these handy.”

       “Glad to help,” Molly replied truthfully.

       Grant cast his gaze around. “Um…do you by chance have a leash I could borrow? Now that I’ve got Jade under control, I don’t think I want to let her loose again.”

       “Sure thing.” Molly headed to the front of the store and grabbed one of her own leashes from a hook by the door. She held it out for Grant. “Here you go. I’ll just get it back when I deliver the tennis balls.”

       Grant walked over and took the leash, his blunt fingers brushing Molly’s again. “Thanks.”