“Oh yeah?” He didn’t mean to sound gruff but he’d actually gone a whole half hour without thinking of Maisie. Just her name brought her front and center in his head again. He thought he’d seen Maisie’s eyes shine with happiness the night they were together but it was nothing compared to the glow in her entire being when she saw him in the reindeer onesie. The stupid thing was tight as hell and really awkward. She’d laughed so hard, she almost wasn’t able to take photographic evidence. Almost.
If she were someone else, he’d worry about the pictures ending up online. Even at her maddest, Maisie wouldn’t do something like that. For all her feistiness, she had a soft heart. He’d noticed it atthe wedding, more than once. He’d watched her eyeing their newly married friends and he couldfeelher emotion. She wore her heart in her eyes.
Watching her had distracted him for the first part of the reception. He’d seen her help a couple of older women to their chairs, pretend to flirt with a man old enough to be her great-grandfather, play I spy with a couple of kids, and get all dreamy eyed over the toasts. Yeah, Maisie wasn’t a taker. She couldn’t care less what he did for a living. In fact, his sports star status didn’t seem to impress her at all. Which was maybe why he didn’t tell her that night. She wouldn’t have cared. In the end, it only mattered that, to her, it seemed like he’d purposely omitted the information for some other reason.
Ellie pulled one of the barn doors open to let Asher into the gift shop. He ran ahead of them. There were only a few people inside browsing.
“Do you think it’s a bad idea?” she asked.
The place was small. It was the kind of weathered that was now considered chic, with its original shiplap walls and hand-painted wooden signs. One wall had a ballpark-type concession stand with hot chocolate, cider, water, and coffee, along with easy snacks like popcorn and chips. The rest of the space was filled with tables, display racks, and wall shelves that had Tickle Tree merchandise and keepsakes. It smelled like cinnamon, pine, and cookies, which was a nice touch and likely another diffuser or candle since his sister couldn’t cook.
She stopped in front of him as Asher struck up a conversation with the teenage employee behind the concession stand.
Ellie turned and faced Nick. “Earth to Nicky. Do you hate the idea?”
Tipping his chin down, he looked at his sister. “What? No. I was just thinking about it. Maybe we should get some advice on that. Get some projections so you know whether or not it’s worth the work.”
“I don’t need you to do that. I can do the research and legwork myself. You don’t have to fix everything for me, Nick. And in case you haven’t noticed,” she said, spreading her arms out. “This place isn’t broken. I love it here and you did enough co-signing the mortgage. I’m honestly amazed at how easy the transition has been, from the staff to the house. It’s been seamless.”
Nick wasn’t sure how but both of them had grown up with solid work ethic, determination, and drive. They wanted something, they went after it hard. It might have looked seamless on the outside but that was because his sister was no stranger to hard work.
“You worked your butt off to make everything go smoothly, El.”
“Mommy, can I get this for Maisie?” Asher held up a little reindeer magnet that saidTickle Tree.
“That’s a sweet idea, honey. Sure.”
Unsurprisingly, even his nephew was charmed by Maisie. Not that Nick could blame him. Though,charmedwasn’t quite the right word for what Nick felt. The night they spent together was rooted in attraction, lust, and chemistry. It had shocked the hell out of him when he’d craved learning everything about her that he could. They’d laughed and shared stories. She told him that she’d grown up in a house where learning and education were as vital as breathing. And she’d felt… like she couldn’t breathe. Nick had kissed the hell out of her in that moment and told her she could have his breath. Fuck. She was right about his cheesy lines.
While they went to pay and get the gift wrapped, Nick poked around the store. He’d bought gifts for his family and Colton. But he didn’t have anything for the Smart family. Or Maisie. What would she want? Something that wasn’t about a dollar value. A gift for Maisie had to be something that said he saw her, understood her. It should be something that put that dreamy look in her eyes like when her gaze caught on a beautiful sight right before she took a picture.
When his sister and Asher rejoined him, he held the door forthem, smiled at the couple coming in. They did a double take in his direction, but he let the door go and kept walking.
“I need to go into town and grab a couple of things. Thought I’d take Asher with me,” he told Ellie.
“Can we go to Bits and Bites?” Asher asked.
“Kid, I don’t know if you need any more sugar,” Nick said with a laugh. He glanced at his sister. “How do you keep up?”
She smiled affectionately. “When you love someone or something fiercely, with every piece of yourself, you find a way.”
Asher didn’t seem to care that he didn’t get an answer because he raced off toward the house.
“You’ve always felt that way about hockey. But you seem different somehow. Is your knee really okay?”
He sighed, knowing she knew him too well to skirt around it. “It’s not healing as fast as I’d like. Normally, I’d be out a couple games, but I’m going on two weeks. The doc back home is worried about lateral movement and it still twinges uncomfortably.”
“What does that mean for your future?”
That was the question rolling around in his brain at warp speed.
“I don’t know.”
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Ellie nudged his hip with her own. “Okay, let’s switch topics to something else. Like, say, the melt-your-face-off chemistry between you and Maisie.”
Nick stopped and turned to stare at his sister. “First of all, that expression is a little dark and twisted. Second, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He knew, even before he looked over her head to avoid her eyes, that she wouldn’t buy it.
