as many as she could carry, and did exactly what he accused her of doing. She walked away.
Rodrigo was waiting for them in the foyer, a worried look on his face. “I heard yelling. Are you guys mad at each other?”
“Yes,” she answered at the same time José said the opposite.
“Which is it?”
“We’re just having a disagreement. It’s no big deal,” she lied.
José said nothing, only gave her a hard look as he walked past her to set the chairs in the great room.
“We better go,” he said to his brother. “Those bowling pins won’t knock themselves down.”
Rodrigo apparently found that hilarious. He guffawed, knocking his shoulder against José’s.
She watched the two of them together, touched by the generous affection between them. One of the things she admired most about José was his commitment to his family. He was a wonderful, loving brother and son.
Why did he have to ruin everything?
“I’m just going to say goodbye to Winnie and Christopher, then we can go.”
“Okay,” Rodrigo said happily.
José walked into the kitchen, and she heard the murmur of voices underneath Rodrigo’s recitation of how bad he was going to beat his brother at bowling.
A few moments later, José returned. “Let’s go,” he said to his brother.
“Bye, Lucy. I’ll see you later.”
“Have fun bowling,” she said. “And José. Have fun on your date tonight.”
A muscle flexed in his jaw but he said nothing, only ushered his brother out the door, leaving Lucy feeling this odd, empty ache inside.
It wasn’t love, Lucy told herself sternly. What she felt for José was simply...admiration. Respect. Attraction. But not love.
She refused to let it be love.
Twelve
“I had such a wonderful time last night. It was just the best. Are you sure there aren’t any more tickets available? I’d love to take my sister, who lives over in Hope’s Crossing.”
Abby, her arms full of grocery bags, shook her head at the woman in the expensive-looking down coat who had waylaid her as she walked out of the store.
“Winnie says all the tickets sold out the day they went on sale. I’m sorry.”
“If you find out differently, please let me know. Maybe there’s a waiting list or something I could put my name on. My schedule is pretty flexible.”
A waiting list. That was a good idea, one she wasn’t sure Winnie had thought about.
“I’ll mention starting a waiting list to the Silver Belles.”
“I would like my name at the top. Louise Arnold. My husband owns the real estate agency over on Pine Street. I would be a Silver Belle myself but I can’t sing worth a darn. Last night sure made me wish I’d taken voice lessons or something.”
“Thanks, Louise. I’ll make sure to pass along to Winnie and the others how much you enjoyed your evening.”
“So much. I’ve already told all my friends from out of town how wonderful it was. If Winnie opens up any other dates between now and Christmas, I’m sure she could fill them in a heartbeat, especially as it’s for such a good cause.”
“I’ll tell them. Thank you.”
Louise waved at her, climbing into a luxury SUV while Abby loaded her bags.
She would say the first ever Christmas at Holiday House had definitely been a success. Louise was the third person who had stopped Abby during her short shopping excursion to tell her how much they had enjoyed it.
Everyone had been so kind, treating her as if she alone had been responsible for the evening’s success, merely because she had been the one who answered the door and took tickets.
Was everyone always this genuinely nice, or was her reception here because of her close connection to someone so obviously beloved as Winnie?
Leaving this place would be hard. In only a few weeks, she had come to love so many things about Silver Bells, from the gorgeous setting to the kind people to the historic architecture.
She could stay.
This wasn’t the first time the idea had popped into her head. Christopher was already lobbying hard for that option. As before, she quickly pushed the possibility away. She was struggling enough not to make a fool of herself over Ethan. The smartest thing for her right now would be to go back to Phoenix, finish packing up their apartment and head straight to Austin to start her new life there.
The idea appealed to her about as much as trying to do a 360 off the ski jump in town.
Austin had history, too, and she was quite certain she would find the people there every bit as