into town?”
She wiggled from my grasp. “You go with Ethan. After all, you need the full Christmas experience.” She gave me one last smile as she hurried after Carol, who had crossed the foyer and was heading toward Porter.
Now alone, I sighed. I’d been ditched by my best friend. Great.
I reached out and grabbed a cookie. I was only halfway through it when I heard Ethan coming down the stairs. He was back to wearing his tan jacket and looked perturbed. His gaze landed on me, and his scowl deepened.
Man, he had the Scrooge bit down to an art.
“Ready?” he asked as he crossed the foyer and slipped on his boots. This time, he laced them up.
I wanted to skip out. With Em distracted, I just might be able to slip upstairs for some much needed silence, but there was no way I wanted to tell the grinch in front of me that I didn’t need him to take me anywhere.
“Yep,” I said as I moved to grab my jacket.
“Ethan.” Carol’s voice startled me. I turned to see that she was standing the foyer, Em-less. I could only imagine what was going on in the other room. I was certain that I was a distant memory to my friend.
“Help her with her jacket,” Carol said as she waved in my direction.
“I’m good,” I said, but Carol didn’t seem to notice me. She and Ethan were engaging in an epic stare-down.
It ended with Ethan sighing, reaching over to grab a light-pink jacket, and shaking it out. Carol looked satisfied with his reaction as she disappeared into the dining room. I turned to see Ethan standing there with the jacket open and ready for me to slip my arms into it.
Ethan look so agitated that I almost didn’t want to tell him that it wasn’t my jacket, but I also didn’t want to go gallivanting around town in a coat that wasn’t mine.
“That one is mine,” I said as I motioned to the dark-grey jacket on the hook.
Ethan looked down at the jacket and then up to mine. He sighed as he returned the pink coat to the hook and grabbed my grey one. He shook it out and held it up.
I slipped my arms into it as he pulled the jacket up onto my shoulders. It was strange, standing this close to a man. It had been a while. I felt tiny in comparison to Ethan’s six-foot frame. He towered over me, and when he was standing this close, it was as if I could feel his warmth even though he wasn’t touching me.
It was a strange sensation, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. My first reaction was to step away, but there was a part of me—a small part—that didn’t want to move. And that scared me.
“Ready?” Ethan asked. His tone had softened, and it sent shivers down my spine. It was almost as if he realized that he had been short with me and felt bad about it.
“Yes,” I said as I nodded and turned toward the door.
He turned the handle and pulled it open. I walked out onto the deck, with Ethan closely following behind me. He stayed close as we descended the porch steps and headed over to his car. He’d parked toward the back of the house, and our feet crunched on the snow as we walked toward it.
When we got there, he opened the passenger door and waited for me to get in. After I slipped onto the seat, he shut the door and hurried to the other side.
The sun was setting behind the trees, and the lights around the inn were starting to flicker on. The windows were illuminated, and it gave me a strangely warm feeling as I studied the house.
Ethan pulled out of the driveway and I couldn’t keep myself from staring at the scene in front of me. It really was beautiful.
I sighed. I hated to say it, but Em had been right. Coming here had soothed my soul. In a way that I hadn’t realized I needed.
“Everything okay?” Ethan asked once we were on the road and headed into town.
I glanced over at him. He was staring at the road as he drove. I wasn’t sure if he was just being nice or if he was actually interested in what I had to say. Hoping it was the latter, I shrugged.
“I guess I didn’t realize how calming it would be to stay in a house decked out