Under the Mistletoe, page 12
part #1 of Home to Heritage || Book Five Series
She brought her hands to her face. “What?”
“I was waiting to see if you were done. My parents got back since I left”—he pointed to a white sedan a few feet away—“and I didn’t want you to feel awkward—”
“I’m good.” She climbed out and waited while he grabbed the box of stockings. “I’m really sorry for dumping all that on you. I don’t know what came over—”
“Don’t do that.” His brow wrinkled.
“What?”
“We’re friends. At least we were, and it seems like both of us are making an effort to get back there again. Aren’t we?”
Her mouth went a little dry at the intensity in his deep-blue eyes, and she offered a nod. “We’re friends.”
His shoulders seemed to lose some of the tension at that, and the grin returned to his face as he started walking up the porch. “Friends listen…even if one friend gets snot all over the other friend’s scarf.”
“I didn’t wipe my nose on it.” She swatted his arm.
“Sure, you didn’t.” He shifted the box to one hand and opened the door, Cal immediately nosing into his side. “Hey, Mom, I’m back.”
“Too late. I already moved your computer and all those sticky notes about—”
“Devin is with me.”
Cal shoved his nose into her hand. She bent over and ruffled the mass of curls. “There’s that beautiful boy.”
“Rugged.” Logan’s tone was rough, but a smile still peeked out.
His mom appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron. “Devin, it’s good to see you.” Then his mom tapped at the side of the box. “More mess, I assume.”
“Sorry, that’s my fault.” Devin waved. “Logan is going to help me put names on stockings. But if we’ll be in the way, then we can go somewhere else. I mean—”
“Absolutely not. We bought a house bigger than we needed because we want to share it. Speaking of which, we just found out that we are officially approved to be foster parents, so if we get called on, I’ll be attending your events, anyway.” Ann pulled Devin in for a quick hug.
“I love that.” Devin couldn’t resist sinking into the hug.
Ann let go and wrapped an arm around her son. “I’m just giving this guy a hard time for leaving his work all over my kitchen table. I had to move it before I could get started on my cookies.”
“Sorry.” Logan offered a sheepish look. “I got stuck and then distracted.”
“I see that.” His mother sent him a look Devin couldn’t quite decipher, but Logan rolled his eyes.
“Can we use the great room?”
“Absolutely. Go pull a couple folding tables out of the garage.” She turned to Devin. “One thing that sold me on this house was how easily I can convert the room for my crafting. The long tables fit perfectly along the window between my two Christmas trees.” Then she sent another meaningful look to Logan. “And your work is in the downstairs guest room on the bed. I didn’t feel like carrying it up to your room.”
“You’re the best.” He dropped a kiss on his mom’s cheek, then headed to the great room.
Thirty minutes later, with two tables set up, his mom’s Christmas music floating from the kitchen, and Cal sacked out in the corner, Logan opened the lid of the box and pulled out a red stocking with white fur at the top. “So how do we get names on these?”
“With glitter glue.” Devin pulled out several bottles from the box. “How is your printing?”
“I’m a master at capital letters.” Logan settled into a folding chair.
“That will work.” Devin pulled out a clipboard and handed him a sheet of paper. “You work on that list, and I’ll work on this one.”
Logan grabbed a bottle of red glitter glue and worked at breaking the seal. “Does the color matter?”
“No.” Devin claimed the green.
“And this is for the event tomorrow. Which is…?”
“They’ll be able to decorate them and meet Santa. We’re having it at the James Tree Farm. Cole is going to play Santa.”
“Better him than me.” Logan started shaping out perfectly blocked letters. “Then what do you have planned next?”
“A gingerbread house building event next Saturday. Then I’m still trying to figure out the live Nativity for the twenty-first. I met with the Millers, and they agreed to have it there. But I’m not sure if it’s too far for people to drive. Not to mention my boss is worried it’s a liability. But I met all the animals, and they seemed adorably sweet. I wanted to have a snowman-building contest. But I’m not sure I have enough time.”
“Aren’t you a go-getter.” A smile tugged at his lips, but his eyes never left the letter A he was shaping out.
“Or a fire starter.” She bit the side of her lip. “We can only hope there’ll be no actual flames at any of the events.”
“That’s it! You’re a fire starter.”
She huffed a laugh. “Thanks a lot.”
“No, seriously. Great ideas and getting them going are your superpower. You just need to be sure to surround yourself with fire tenders. Let people help.” He offered her a small wave. “My name is Logan, and I am a fire tender. I’ll be happy to help with anything you need. Even a last-minute snowman-building contest.”
“I only put it in there because I’ve never built a snowman, and it would give me an excuse to act like a kid.”
“You are never too old to build a snowman.” His piercing blue eyes looked right at her.
“Someday.” She picked up a stocking and started adding the next name. Could it really be that simple? Her parents had taught her to be self-sufficient, and she was, but maybe surrounding herself with people who could help wasn’t the same as being dependent. She had started to put some trust in Hannah and Libby helping, but they’d backed out of that fast enough today.
“How could Hannah and Libby not wanting to help me be about you?”
“What?”
“When we saw Hannah and Libby earlier, you said, ‘That was about me, not you.’”
“They’d be happy to help you. I’m sure if they knew they made you feel that way, they would feel terrible. What I meant was that they wanted me to help you.”
“Why?”
Logan ducked his head and seemed to be putting a lot of focus into the name John.
“Logan?”
“Remember”—he pointed his thumb toward himself—“not the best with words.”
“Then maybe you need to practice.” She angled her head, trying to catch his eye.
He finally released a deep sigh. “My family knows…well, they guessed…you see…”
Devin’s hands stilled. “Yes?”
“I used to have a crush on you back in college.” The words came out rushed.
Devin’s hands froze as energy ran along her skin. Had he said…? Her gaze lifted to his.
“I know, crazy, right?” His head ducked again, and he hunched over the stocking, forming the letter B. “Anyway, my family has decided to take that bit of information and play matchmaker. Like I said. Sorry.”
Why was he sorry? Somehow her mind had stalled on the words I used to have a crush on you. He liked her. But he said used to. As in past tense. “You had a crush on me in college?”
“A pretty big one.” He finished up the name, marked it off, and moved to the next stocking. “But don’t worry, that was a while ago. I got over it.”
Worry, why would she worry?
“Why didn’t you ever ask me out?” She looked at the list, but the words were a blur before her.
“No big surprise, Liam had a crush on you as well. So we agreed that neither of us would ask you out.”
“Did no one care to ask what I wanted?” Why did her voice sound so squeaky?
“Honestly? No. Neither of us were willing to let a girl come between us.”
“I guess that makes sense.” But still.
“The second year, I think Liam would have been okay with me asking you out. After all, my brother’s attention didn’t stay one place very long, but by then it was clear to me that you were pretty into Liam, so what was the point of bringing it up?” There was a tightness to his voice that hadn’t been there before.
How did one silly crush in college seem to be coming back to haunt her? Maybe Liam had made quite an impression when they’d first met. But she had been interested in Logan on that drive first. “You still should have asked.”
“I almost did after college but…” He crossed off the next name and set the one with Tyce written on top aside. “I guess it was a good thing I didn’t.”
Her eyes darted back to the first name on her list. Amy. She positioned her glue bottle, but her mind was still tumbling his words over. “Wait, why is you not giving me a chance a good thing?”
“You did end up dating Liam for a while. My brother and I share a lot of things, but girls are not one of them.” He picked up a blank stocking. “Well, there was the Jacquelyn fiasco, but that hadn’t been on purpose.”
What? Her head jerked toward him. “I never dated Liam.”
His hand froze over the stocking a moment. “Last Christmas. You showed up at the party as Liam’s date.”
Her brain searched for the same memory but came up empty. What was he talking about? “I never showed up anywhere as Liam’s date. I think I’d remember that.”
“I saw you at the party.” His blue eyes locked on hers. His gaze had shifted to irritation, but she wasn’t lying to him. “I saw you arrive with him.”
Wait. The party where Logan had insulted her. He’d thought she’d come as Liam’s date? “I arrived with him because my car broke down, and he came and rescued me.”
He frowned as if rolling the same memory over in his head. Then he finally sighed and focused back on his stocking. “Well, you stuck close to him most of the night. I think most people assumed you were dating.”
“Most people? I only really knew you and Liam at the party, and when I tried to talk to you, you were rude.” Her voice rose this time.
“I’m sorry—”
“‘I don’t think this is where either of us wants to be.’” Her voice dropped into a mocking tone. “I was humiliated.”
He cringed at that. “I wasn’t trying to be rude. There was just no way I was going to kiss my brother’s date, even for tradition.”
She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he held up his hand. “I thought you had arrived with him. So I stated the obvious. ‘I don’t think this is where either of us wants to be.’ Only it came out a little…”
“Harsh. Angry. Mean.”
He swallowed. “I’m sorry. I guess…I was just not handling it well.”
“Handling what?”
Logan set the glue down a little harder than necessary, causing it to drip over the side. He closed his eyes a moment before standing and hurrying to the kitchen and returning with a paper towel in hand.
“Our agreement to not ask you out had only gone through college, and I honestly thought that when you moved to Detroit that my feelings would fade.”
“But they didn’t?”
“No, so when I found out you were coming to the party, I decided to ask you out.” He wiped up the mess and set it aside, then met her eyes with a sigh. “I spent all day gearing up to talk to you. I mean, I knew it was a possibility that you might say no or that you were dating someone already. It’s just…when you walked in as Liam’s date—”
Devin clenched her hands into fists. “I. Wasn’t. His. Date.” She gripped the edge of the table and drew a slow breath. “Don’t you think Liam would have told you if we were dating? Aren’t you guys super close?”
“Yes. We talked about everything—”
“Then don’t—”
“Except one subject.”
“Girls?”
“No.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “We don’t talk about you. At least, not after we discovered we were both planning to ask you out after that first Thanksgiving. That was the last conversation we had about you.”
“Even after Liam had no interest in me? Why?” She collapsed into her chair and dropped her elbows on the table. “Why was I a taboo subject?”
His jaw ticced. “Because Liam knew how I felt about you, and we could both see how you felt about Liam.”
“I didn’t—”
“Yes, you very much did.” He picked up the glue but just shuffled the bottle between his hands. “Don’t even try and deny that you liked him. Even if you didn’t date him, you wanted to date him. Just admit it.”
Devin blinked at him. She had never seen him this worked up about anything in all their years of friendship. But she hadn’t really liked Liam. “Maybe, but it was the crush of a young girl who didn’t even know what she wanted back then.”
The timer in the kitchen went off, and when it stopped, the room seemed twice as silent. Maybe it was time to finally have all this out in the open. She lowered her voice and swallowed hard. “All the girls wanted to date him, and looking back, I think we were all caught up with the idea of him. He was the life of the party, the big man on campus, mysteriously intriguing.”
He sighed and went back to writing out the next name. “I get it. Trust me.”
“Get what?”
“He’s been more intriguing my whole life.”
“That’s not…” She groaned in frustration. “I’m saying that the more I got to know him, the more I knew he was a great guy, just…not my type.”
Logan pushed the stocking in front of him to the side. “The best-looking guy in the room who was also the most popular guy on campus isn’t your type? I don’t buy it. I’m pretty sure Liam’s everyone’s type.”
“To young, immature Devin, maybe. To grown-up Devin, nope.” When he gave a dismissive laugh, she was so tempted to throw something at that thick skull. If Logan was really like Luke, then she’d guess whatever spoon Hannah threw was deserved.
“It’s true.” Her voice was a bit firm. “I prefer the quieter type.”
He didn’t lift his head. His dark hair was falling in his eyes and highlighted his strong jawline, and the way he hunched over the stocking drew attention to his wide shoulders.
What would she have done had he asked her out a year ago? She would have said yes. A hundred percent yes.
She cleared her throat. “And I never thought Liam was the best-looking guy in the room.”
He seemed to swallow extra hard, but didn’t comment.
“Why didn’t you ask anyone else out?” Her question came out breathy, and she cleared her throat again. “Surely your brother didn’t show up at a party with every girl you liked.”
“He did, actually.”
“I doubt that’s even mathematically possible.” She laughed.
But instead of laughing, Logan’s amazing blue eyes found her. Heat, regret, and longing were all rolled into one expression, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe.
Devin’s heart pulsed through her ears.
He held up his stocking. “Do you think this A looks all right, or do I need to make a new one?”
“It looks fine.” He was obviously ready to change topics, but she wasn’t done. “I wish I’d known.”
His whole body went rigid. “Would it have made a difference?” The blue in his eyes was darker now.
What she would give to be able to tell him yes right now, but there was no doubt he wanted—needed—complete honesty.
“In college? I don’t know. As I said, I was young, and I didn’t really know who I was or what I wanted.” She swallowed, her mouth dry. “Would it have made a difference if I’d known last Christmas?”
He seemed to be hanging onto her words, waiting for an answer, but she just shrugged.
Would it have? Absolutely. But saying so right now felt like throwing herself at him since he’d started this conversation saying his feelings were in the past.
“Who needs cookies?” His mom came in with a plate of chocolate chip cookies on a tray with two glasses of milk. “Can’t have the elves go hungry.”
Logan’s eyes stayed fixed on Devin for a moment as if begging her to answer the question. She looked away first as his mom set the plate on the table.
Cal perked his head up from the corner, but Logan shook his head. “Not for you.”
The dog lay back down with a groan as Logan popped a cookie in his mouth. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Yes, thank you.” Devin set the stocking in front of her aside. Was it too much to hope his mom stayed so they didn’t have to return to the awkward silence?
“Your dad and I are taking some to Luke and Hannah’s, then to Libby and Austin’s. We won’t be too long.” She pulled off her apron as she disappeared back into the kitchen.
So, not staying.
Devin picked up one of the cookies and dunked it in her glass of milk before taking a bite of the milky goodness.
Logan’s face twisted. “You’re a dunker?”
“What’s wrong with a dunker?”
“It’s disgusting.”
“It’s amazing.”
He released a deep sigh as he grabbed another and then sank back into the chair. “Good thing I didn’t ask you out. It would have never worked.” A smile tugged at his lips. “I could never date a dunker.”
She narrowed her eyes back on him but couldn’t completely keep a straight face. “Well, I only date dunkers.”
And just like that, they were back to their easy friendship. They had the stockings done in less than an hour, and all the conversation stayed in safe waters.
Logan dropped the glue into the box. “These will take a while to dry. I picked up a few frozen pizzas from JJ’s the other day. Want me to throw one in the oven? Maybe we could watch a movie.”
Yes! Yes! But Devin only nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Good.” A full smile stretched across his face. They might never solve what could have been, but she’d take friends for now.
She followed him to the kitchen, where he pulled out a frozen pizza and preheated the oven. “So what was the Jacquelyn fiasco?”
He smirked as he tore open the box. “Jacquelyn Mayor, eleventh grade. I had a big crush on her, and she was my biology lab partner, so she’d come over to study a lot. I guess you could say she was my first girlfriend, but I was pretty shy, so most people didn’t realize we were dating. Including Liam. At least, that’s what he said when I found him kissing her in our kitchen.”
