Marry Me At Christmas. Susan Mallery

      “Nice,” he said. “How many in the family?”

      “I have one brother and a niece. Robbie lost his wife to cancer several years ago.” The whole family had been devastated, Madeline thought, remembering the sadness of it all. “We’ve always been close, which I’m hoping helped them.” She shook off the memories.

      “My parents are older. My mom had Robbie ten months after she got married, but she couldn’t get pregnant a second time. They’d pretty much given up when I came along.” She thought about all the stories she’d been told. “Robbie was seventeen when Mom announced she was pregnant and eighteen when I was born. He admits he was pretty horrified to realize his parents were still having sex.”

      “So you were a surprise.”

      “Yes, but they swear I was a good one.”

      “You had to be.”

      She laughed. “I’m sure I was a challenge, but my parents were always there for me. We have great traditions and I’m really close with my niece. Jasmine is only eight years younger than me. We text all the time. She’s going to die when she finds out you’re in town.”

      “You haven’t told her?” He held up a hand. “Don’t answer that. Madeline, I appreciate you’re respecting my privacy, but you can tell your family. Only if you want. I don’t expect to be a topic of conversation.”

      She laughed. “That would be kind of weird. Although we’re always looking for new traditions. You could be one.”

      “Thanks, but no.”

      She wondered what he did for his traditions. She would guess there had been years when he’d been away on movie shoots, or whatever they called it, over the holidays. Times when he couldn’t get home.

      He’d mentioned that he was seeing Ginger that night, but what about tomorrow? Would he be alone for Thanksgiving? And if he was...

      She dismissed the thought before it could fully form. On what planet would she be inviting Jonny Blaze to her house for anything? She couldn’t begin to imagine him sitting next to her mother or father. They would have nothing to talk about. It was too strange and he might think she was interested in him. So no. He was a rich, famous guy. He had a thousand places he could go. She was crazy to think about him being lonely on Thanksgiving.

      He glanced at his watch. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to get on the road.”

      “Drive safely,” she told him.

      “I will.” He collected the three sample invitations, then stood. “We’ll talk after the holiday?”

      “Absolutely. Happy Thanksgiving.”

      “Same to you.”

       THREE

      MADELINE WAITED UNTIL Jonny left to go find Isabel. Her business partner was sorting through inventory. They’d been discussing putting a few items online to see if they could start selling across the country. Several tourists had expressed interest in having access to the clothes without having to fly back to town.

      “So, that was interesting,” she said as she walked into the storeroom.

      Isabel looked up and smiled. “If you’re trying to illustrate that keeping the information about the triplets to myself wasn’t my best idea, point taken.”

      Madeline walked to her and touched her arm. “That wasn’t it at all. Mayor Marsha came to see me and asked me to help Jonny plan his sister’s wedding. Dellina’s busy, and as it’s only going to be a small event at his house, it seemed as if I couldn’t mess it up.”

      Isabel winced. “Mayor Marsha asked you personally?”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “Then you didn’t have a choice.” Her friend’s smile turned impish. “So, you’re working in close proximity to the gorgeous, muscled Jonny Blaze. Does he know about your mad crush on him?”

      “No, and he doesn’t need to.”

      “I’m not so sure about that. Is it fun? Are you having trouble breathing?”

      “A little,” Madeline admitted. “It’s getting easier. I can go a whole three minutes without hyperventilating. Give me another two weeks and I’ll last for an hour without remembering who he is.”

      “Is he nice?”

      Madeline thought about their brief meetings and how he obviously loved his sister. “He is, and way more normal than I would have thought. He’s just a regular guy.”

      “Seriously?”

      Madeline grinned. “Okay, maybe that’s too strong, but he’s not that different. He doesn’t act like a movie star.”

      “Any tingles?”

      “Plenty and I’m not the least bit concerned. Look at who he is. Tingles come with the territory. They’re about star power, not the man.”

      “You’re sure? Because you’re great and he’d be lucky to have you, but I’m not sure he’d be happy with a small-town girl.”

      “Me, either.” As if, Madeline thought humorously. “Although if he wanted to tie himself in red ribbon and be waiting under my Christmas tree, I wouldn’t say no.”

      “I doubt there are many women who would. ‘Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is Jonny Blaze.’”

      Madeline laughed. “You’ve been reading my email.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nearly noon, which meant she needed to be going.

      “Are they here?” Isabel asked, following her gaze.

      “I’m guessing my mom already has the oven going,” Madeline said happily.

      “Tell everyone hi from me and we’ll see you tomorrow. About seven?”

      “Whatever works for you.”

      Madeline gave her business partner a hug, then returned to the wedding gown side of the store. Rosalind would work until three, then close things down for the holiday. Madeline was leaving early to go meet her family.

      As they did each Thanksgiving, her mother and father, brother and niece returned to Fool’s Gold. Like migrating birds, she thought with a grin as she grabbed her handbag and called out that she was leaving.

      Once she was outside, she breathed in the chilly air. It even smelled like a holiday. The streets were more crowded than usual, with people running last-minute errands. There were plenty of tourists, as well, in town for the festivities.

      The holiday season bonanza of activities started with the Thanksgiving parade tomorrow afternoon. That was followed by the official tree lighting on Saturday and so on, right up through New Year’s. Madeline enjoyed all of it. She was on the committee for the Live Nativity, which was exactly how it sounded, live animals and all.

      For the most part the committee work was easy enough. There were some unusual choices such as Priscilla the elephant and her pony, Reno. The only disagreement had been when someone had suggested a toy poodle stand in for the Baby Jesus. But what was life without controversy?

      Not that she had to worry about her committee today. Instead, she would be spending time with her family.

      She walked the ten blocks to her small house, then smiled when she saw the rental car in her driveway. Her parents had flown in from their place in Florida while her brother and niece would be arriving from O’Hare. Jasmine was a sophomore at Northwestern, while Robbie, Madeline’s brother, was a pediatrician in Saint Paul.

      She ran up the three steps to her porch, then opened the front door and stepped inside.

      “I’m home,” she called.