LITMIR.BIZ

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anything from Amory, but I kept the farce up, not willing to give in so easily. “Can we get back to decorating?” I motioned to a box from which shiny baubles and sparkly tinsel spilled out, dusting the floorboards with glitter. “All we’ve done so far is make a mess.”

      “Fine,” she grinned. “Let’s throw some tinsel around while we talk.”

      She was incorrigible, and wouldn’t give up until I’d read the damn card and deliberated over every single syllable with her.

      Her innocent act didn’t fool me, though – I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. She’d been at Cedarwood for a couple of weeks now, and her lips remained firmly clamped about why she’d hastily left Manhattan.

      I hadn’t pushed for details, hoping Amory would share when she was ready. I had a feeling it was something to do with Cruz, and not a problem at the agency, from the amount of work calls she was fielding, telling them with good grace that she was on a sabbatical.

      I waggled my eyebrows, sensing an opportunity. “Fine, I’ll tell if you will.”

      “Oh, you cunning little minx.” She puckered her lips.

      “Learned from the best,” I winked.

      “Fine.”

      “Fine.”

      “You first.”

      I flipped the postcard over and read Kai’s loping scrawls:

       When the noise of the city gets too much, I think of Cedarwood. The silence, the stars, and being surrounded by the beauty of nature. What happened the night of the party?

       Kai

      Heat rose in my cheeks. What happened? A kiss happened, and not your run-of-the-mill kiss either: a knee-trembler, a time-stopper, a gasp-inducer, the type I’d only ever read about before, but was I alone in that thought? He hadn’t called since, had he?

      “Come on, the suspense is killing me!”

      I handed the card to Amory and she pretended to read it for the first time. “I knew it! God, you must’ve been so annoyed when I stumbled in at that exact moment!”

      I let out a nervous laugh. “The timing wasn’t ideal, but I was happy to see you. Besides, as you can clearly see, it didn’t mean anything to him. The poor guy got out of here as quick as he could so he wouldn’t have to face me again.”

      A scoff escaped her pinked lips. “Where does it say that?” She made a show of rereading it, squinting at it up close.

      Giving her a long look I quoted from memory: “What happened the night of the party? Not exactly a declaration of love, is it?” In my heart of hearts I hadn’t expected anything more. So far my love life had been underwhelming. It wasn’t that I didn’t want romance, it was more that I hadn’t found anyone who flipped my world upside down. And I was just too busy to waste time with Mr Right Nows.

      Amory stared me down like I was an unruly child.

      “What’s that face supposed to mean?” I asked, folding my arms.

      With a huff she said, “You’re looking for a reason to cast him off before it’s even started! If you read between the lines of what he wrote, he’s saying he misses Cedarwood, which really means he’s missing you, and he’s asking if the kiss meant something to you, because it clearly did to him! Men don’t send correspondence if they don’t care, for God’s sake.”

      It was my turn to scoff. “It doesn’t mean that at all! If he was interested he wouldn’t have left before the sun rose the next day, would he? It was like he couldn’t get out of here fast enough. The postcard is a reminder: hey, pay your bills, lady. Which I intend to do once we get all of this work done.” I sighed. There was never enough time, and my nerves became more frayed the closer the bridal expo crept. Love would complicate things. Better instead if I focused on my friends, my brides, and my business. Just like usual: work, work, work.

      I bent to the box of decorations, and busied myself rummaging.

      In a softer tone Amory said, “Darling, he stayed on longer than he was contracted. That is saying in invisible letters – he’s keen.”

      Who knew what anything meant when it came to men? Kai was more sensitive and quiet than I was used to and I didn’t know how to read him, or his postcard. He was gone, and that was that.

      Just then Micah wandered in, lugging another big box of Christmas decorations, and I was glad for the interruption. Having my easy-going best friend from Evergreen and my fashion-conscious best friend from Manhattan in one place might have proved tricky for some, but not for these two. They had gelled from the get-go and delighted in ganging up and teasing me good-naturedly, just as I would expect from both of them. Proof I had good taste in friends.

      “Three more boxes to go. Jesus, Clio, when you decorate you don’t go lightly, do you?” He wiped a layer of sheen from his brow.

      I stared him down. “It’s Christmas, Micah. And you of all people should know what that means.” When I had lived in Evergreen as a teenager, Christmas had been left to me, and that meant Micah had been roped in to help, no matter how much he’d complained. From decorating the fir trees in the front yard, to hanging fairy lights in the window, he’d been part of every step, willing or not. Secretly, he adored Christmas but thought it unmanly to admit it. I’d been able to read that guy like a book back then, and nothing had changed.

      “It means carols on a loop, eggnog for weeks, and lots of sparkly things, right?” he said, hands on jean clad hips.

      “Right! And that’s just the beginning,” I added, grinning. Christmas was my favorite time of year. And that meant any Grinches had to suffer in silence or face my steely-eyed glare. I had plans for an intimate Christmas Eve party, with all the trimmings. It didn’t matter if I was hosting a party for four or four hundred – it had to be right. The lodge would shine so brightly you’d see it all the way from Australia if you squinted hard enough. So what if I liked Christmas? It was the one time of year when you could be sentimental and surround yourself with friends who were more like family. I loved every single part of it, including decorating like my life depended on it.

      Amory held up two baubles to her ears like earrings. “We should get some tacky Christmas jewelry. You know, the type that flashes?” She swapped the baubles for a trio of star statues that she centered on the coffee table.

      “We definitely should.”

      “Are you going to reply? I notice he’s scrawled a return address on the card…” She took an ornate angel from the box and set it on the mantelpiece, casually bumping me out of the way with her hip as if I wouldn’t notice she’d switched the conversation back to Kai.

      I bent to the box and grabbed a length of golden glittery beads out, intending to wind them around the stairwell bannisters in the lobby. “I don’t know. Anyway, what about you? Why’d you leave Manhattan?”

      I propped the postcard on the mantel, near the rosy-red stockings hanging at an angle, waiting to be stuffed by Santa (a girl could still believe).

      A gold Christmas candle threw light around the space, flickering festively. Amory nodded to Micah’s bent head, as if to say not in front of him.

      “Oh, don’t mind Micah. He’s used to doling out advice to women.” Better if there were no secrets between us, then less chance I would talk out of turn. Besides, Micah was a good sounding board. He wasn’t dismissive like some men could be. Still, Amory shrunk back as if she didn’t want to share with him just yet.

      Micah got the hint and said, “How about I make us some eggnog from my secret recipe?” He waggled his brows and I knew that meant he’d probably do his usual heavy-handed trick and add too much bourbon. He said it had to buzz on your tongue or it wasn’t Christmas. Yeah, right. Micah just really liked bourbon.

      “Bring

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