LITMIR.BIZ

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scarf again, Aidan pulled out a black wool hat with red stripes and planted it on his head.

      “I like your hat,” Maddie said.

      “Thanks, bug.”

      He smiled that devastating smile of his. To Eliza, he added, “I’m not much of a hat-wearer but the neurosurgeon recommended it out in the cold as I continue to heal. My sister, Charlotte, made this one for me. I believe she is a better candy maker than she is a knitter but I still like it.”

      She shouldn’t be so charmed that a man who could probably afford to buy an entire hat factory would wear a slightly lopsided beanie because his sister made it.

      “Where can we see the boats? Is it time?” Maddie asked as Aidan pulled a couple of blankets out of the backseat. She was practically jumping up and down with excitement

      “Almost. We’ll go find a good spot.” He pointed toward the long, skinny parkway that ran through most of the town along the lakeshore. “Looks like that’s where most of the action is taking place.”

      They headed toward a much bigger crowd than she had yet seen in Haven Point. Maddie huddled a little closer to her side as they walked past the charred pile of rubble that used to be the inn.

      Eliza sighed. It was only a small sound but it must have been loud enough for Aidan to hear. He took her arm to help her over the curb and gave it a comforting little squeeze before he released it.

      “I’m sorry things didn’t work out as you planned when you came to Haven Point.”

      “Things rarely turn out the way we intend, do they?”

      “True enough.”

      “That’s not always a bad thing,” she observed. “Sometimes the unexpected is better than what we might have otherwise known. For instance, you probably never imagined when you were in high school that one day you would be running your own company, did you?”

      “No, and if someone had told me, I never would have believed it. In retrospect, I guess it wasn’t that much of a stretch. I always knew I had serious skills when it came to tech things and I fooled around on computers from the time I was little.”

      “A Geek God, even in elementary school.”

      He laughed. “Something like that. My parents always supported me—Mom, especially. Whenever Pop would grouse about me spending the money I earned working at the café on a faster processor or a beefier hard drive instead of saving for college, Mom always managed to calm him down.”

      “I would say that was a good gamble on her part, since all that computer time probably helped you get the full-ride scholarship to MIT.”

      He raised an eyebrow. “Have you been reading my press bio?”

      Oh, crap. She could feel herself blush and hoped he would attribute it to brisk color in her cheeks from the cold. “My daughter and I are living in your house. You don’t think I would do a little homework about you before I agreed to put my child and myself in a situation I might come to regret?”

      A Google search didn’t constitute cyber stalking. Exactly.

      “Find out anything else interesting?”

      Her blush intensified as she thought of the pictures she just might have looked at more than once, where he had looked gorgeous in a well-tailored tuxedo at some charity event in L.A., with a sexy, skinny model-type on his arm.

      Fortunately, she was spared from having to answer as they neared the park when she heard someone calling her name.

      She turned and spotted Barbara Serrano, one of the ladies she had met at McKenzie’s shop, bundled onto a lawn chair next to a man who wore a scarf in exactly the same garish colors as Barbara’s.

      Eliza gave a small wave. Barbara returned it with a beaming smile as she rose and headed toward them.

      “Hi! You made it! Oh, I’m so glad. You can’t miss the Lights on the Lake! I was just telling Tom—that’s my husband over there—this is my favorite night of the whole year. We’re lucky. The weather’s perfect for it this year, even above freezing. Two years ago, we had to cancel the whole thing because of a blizzard. Be glad the last storm we had hit early in the week instead of now. I was worried for a bit there. And who is this? You look just the age of my granddaughter Lacy.”

      “Hello. Pleased to meet you. I’m Madeline Elizabeth Hayward and I am five years old.”

      Barbara grinned at Maddie’s formal self-introduction. “Hello, Madeline Elizabeth Hayward. I’m Barbara Renee Serrano.”

      Apparently her daughter had better manners than she did. “I’m sorry. Barbara, this is my daughter Maddie and this is, er, my employer, Aidan Caine. Aidan, Barbara and her husband own Serrano’s, up on Main Street.”

      He smiled. “Hello. I’m happy to meet you. I’ve heard good things about your restaurant.”

      “Have you?”

      She wasn’t exactly cold to him but the friendly welcome she had given Eliza and Maddie was now nowhere in evidence.

      “Serrano’s is obviously popular with the locals. Every time I drive past, the place looks like it’s hopping. That’s always a good sign. It reminds me a lot of my father’s café in Colorado.”

      Dropping that little tidbit of information, that his father had a café, pushed just the right button. The wariness in Barbara’s gaze seemed to fade. “Next time, pull in instead of driving past. See what all the fuss is.”

      “I will do that. Thanks. Actually, I’ll bring my father over the holidays when he comes to town. He loves to see what other successful restaurants are doing right.”

      This time she even gave him a smile. “We’ve got a booth over at the fair, where we’re selling chili and fry bread. Old family recipe. All profits go to the Lake Haven Public Library.”

      “Sounds great,” Eliza said. “Thanks for the tip.”

      “Oh, and make sure you stop by the Helping Hands booth for any last-minute shopping.”

      “We will definitely check it out. Thanks.”

      Maddie tugged on Eliza’s coat. “When will the boat parade start, Mama? We haven’t missed it, have we?”

      “You haven’t missed a thing,” Barbara said cheerfully. “Now, you watch closely. My son and grandsons have their little pontoon boat all decked out with red chili pepper lights and a big snowman.”

      “We’ll watch for it.”

      “And on the very last boat,” Barbara informed her, “you just might see a special visitor.”

      “Who is it?” Maddie asked, eyes wide.

      “I’ll give you a hint. He likes to dress in red and hang around with reindeer.”

      “Santa Claus?” Maddie breathed.

      “Bingo,” Barbara beamed at her.

      “Barbie, where’s the hot chocolate?” her husband called.

      “Check my bag. I know it’s there.”

      “I did. I can’t find it. I bet you left it on the kitchen counter.”

      “I didn’t leave it on the kitchen counter.” She sighed. “I better go before he dumps my whole bag in the snow. Enjoy the parade.”

      “Thanks. You, too,” Eliza said.

      After she walked away, Aidan pointed toward the lakeshore, where waves licked at the rocks. “Looks like there’s a bench open over there.”

      With all these people around, nobody had claimed the perfect spot, with a great view of the lake and even one of those portable propane heaters nearby? Had people deliberately left it available for him?

      “What

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