It struck her suddenly as odd that she had no idea where Angus Carmichael was born and raised, for he’d never mentioned it in all the years they’d known each other. All he’d ever told her was that he had been born in Scotland. He’d never revealed where, or when he’d left, or ever spoken of his family.
In truth, it seemed now that he’d been quite secretive about himself.
How could she allow herself to fall in love with a man she knew nothing about?
The two men were still staring each other down, much like two rams about to butt heads over a ewe in heat.
Is this what these men thought of her? A love-starved spinster?
How dare they!
It was utterly humiliating.
She marched to the vicar’s side and removed the holly boughs he was holding in his grasp. “I am not one of your sheep, and I do not need tending.”
She set aside the decorations and marched to the doctor who had remained standing by the door. “Nor am I a sick, old goat.”
She placed her hands on his solid arms, ignoring the tingles that immediately shot through her fingers at the mere touch and turned him toward the door. “Both of you…out! I do not need anyone’s assistance to decorate my shop.”
“What did I do?” the vicar retorted, looking wounded. Of course, he still looked handsome as sin, and he knew it. But she was not going to be the ewe these two rams fought over because they were bored and needed a little sport.
She’d known both of these men ever since they’d arrived in Wellesford. The doctor had lived here for years. The vicar was relatively new to town, but had been here long enough to know better.
Neither one had ever singled her out as someone special. Why the sudden interest now?
Oh, heavens!
Had they placed a friendly wager between themselves, betting on who would succeed in kissing her first? Because everyone in town knew she had never been kissed. Did they believe she was desperate for it to happen before she turned thirty?
She placed her hands on her hips and frowned at the vicar. “You only came by because you noticed Dr. Carmichael stop by the other day.”
She turned to the doctor. “And why are you here today? Is it because you noticed the vicar was here and had the urge to snoop? Out! The both of you.”
She handed the vicar his cloak, scarf, and gloves, pushing him out the door as he scrambled to put them on. The doctor had never taken off his cloak so she merely tipped her chin up and pointed to the door. “Felicity,” he said softly, “I–”
“Not now, Angus. Leave me alone. I’m in no humor for the pair of you and your little-boy antics.” She was not a little ball the pair of them could kick back and forth for their amusement.
She wanted to shut the door before he saw the tears forming in her eyes but couldn’t quite manage it.
He might have looked remorseful as he watched the tears sting her eyes.
So what if he did?
She slammed the door in his face.
Let him think of her as a deranged watering pot. In truth, she must have lost her wits to kick out two of the town’s most eligible bachelors. But that was just it, they had no sincere, romantic interest in her. They’d come here out of pity for the lonely spinster and she felt humiliated. “I’ll show you,” she muttered, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and then grabbing the ladder.
She was going to hang the mistletoe herself and kiss the very next gentleman who walked into the shop…well, no… She sighed. She didn’t know what she was going to do other than put up the mistletoe and figure it all out later.
Her eyes were still watering, so she wiped them again, then propped the ladder against one of the bookshelves closest to the center of the shop. She climbed up with the mistletoe in hand. All she had to do was reach up a little, and over…and a little more…
She screamed as the ladder began to wobble and flailed helplessly to regain her balance as it began to topple.
She felt herself floating through the air for one horrid moment. Weightless, boneless. Then her arm struck the wood floor with a painful thwack, and though she’d stuck out her hand to break her fall, her head also hit the floor with a duller thwack that was infinitely more painful.
Stars burst in