Charming Co-Worker - Jeannine Colette Page 0,36
gone by New Year’s.”
Talk about being put on the spot. Hunter and I have exchanged a few kisses and a very affectionate request to spend Christmas together. We haven’t exactly declared titles.
Hunter turns to me and raises his brows.
He runs his hand over her head, messing up her hair. “Oh, did she now? Well, Ella, when you’re old enough to have this talk, we will. Why don’t you run along and tell your mom that we’re coming in and to watch her words before she says something else she’ll regret?” He puts her down placing his hand on her back, urging her to run inside, out of the cold.
As he picks up our bags, he looks my way to assess my reaction.
“Gone by New Year’s, huh?” I try to make light of the situation.
“Ready or not, here we go.”
We walk up the stairs to meet his mom standing at the entrance.
“Katie,” she sings out, holding her arms open wide to give me a hug. “I’m Nancy. We’re so excited you’re joining us.”
I lean into her embrace and am surprised by how tight she wraps her arms around me. She’s one of those long huggers. Holds on to you for a beat after most would let go.
“I knew he’d find you. I just knew it,” she whispers in my ear.
I’m shocked, not sure what to say, so I just lean back and smile a little too brightly. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“You’re welcome in our home anytime. Please come in.”
She shows me the way in and then reaches out to Hunter. When I turn around, I see her holding his face within her hands. Hunter’s face lights up in return.
“Don’t smother the boy. Let him enter the house first,” a deep male voice says from behind me.
I turn and see a man with the same wavy hair as Hunter stand up from his chair in the living room and head toward us. His square jawline and light-caramel eyes are definitely Hunter’s, but the gray hair that lines his face sets him apart.
He holds his hand out to me. “I’m Randy. Nice to meet you.”
I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you too.”
Then, Hunter steps to his father, and they embrace in a hug with large pats on each of their backs. “Good to see you, Dad.”
“Have you eaten yet?” he asks.
“Even if they did, it doesn’t matter. It’s Christmas Eve, and we have a seafood tradition.” His mom claps her hands in front of her. “We kept some things in the warmer. Here, I’ll make you each a plate before we cut the pies.”
“Finally!” Ella says in the most overdramatic way. “I feel like we’ve been waiting forever to have dessert!”
“Oh, really now?” Hunter chases her in a fit of giggles.
Nancy wraps her arm around mine and leads me down the hall in the opposite direction of where Hunter disappeared. “I can’t tell you how thrilled we are to have you here. You can imagine my surprise when Hunter said he had a girlfriend and that he was going to volunteer like that.”
Real girlfriend, pretend girlfriend. The line is a bit blurry.
We enter a kitchen that’s almost as big as my first studio apartment. A stove sits as the centerpiece in the massive room with a stainless steel hood towering over it. Cream-colored cabinets with dark accents line the walls, and a granite-covered island is in the middle with barstools all around it.
The instant aroma of a home-cooked meal meets my senses as Nancy takes two plates and starts filling them with food.
“Does your family make a fish dinner on Christmas Eve?” Nancy asks as she lifts the top from a pot, steam rolling out.
I shake my head. “Beef tenderloin and lasagna.”
“That’s how my husband grew up. He had prime rib and lasagna. My mother’s family was Italian, so we always did the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Randy doesn’t like fish, so we’ve improvised over the years.” She pulls items out of the pot and puts them on the plate. “Lobster tails, coconut shrimp, and fried calamari.”
Her whimsical way of delivering her words has me laughing.
“That’s a pretty good compromise.”
“Hunter will eat anything I put on his plate. His sister is the picky one. Do you cook?”
“Unfortunately not much, but yes, I can cook,” I say, watching Nancy lift the Saran Wrap off a platter on the counter.
“Potatoes and asparagus?” she asks with her spoon in the air.
“Yes, please.”
She finishes making the two plates and then tops them with a