“So tell me about you.” Lana turned in her seat toward him, making herself comfortable. “None of this usual date stuff. Tell me something good.”
“I finally remembered to bring home Diego’s milk for once.”
“Is forgetting the milk a thing?”
“Yep. And it pisses the kid off like nothing else.” Rick grinned at the thought. “I might be doing it subconsciously. You should see the face he makes when he has to eat his Raisin Bran dry.”
Her laugh was a much-needed balm to his nerves. “I like Diego. He always seems very serious though. It’s good he has you to tease him.”
“He’s good for me too. Diego’s been living with me for a while now.”
“How long is a while?”
Rick hesitated, because no one liked to talk about the accident. Glancing at her, Rick’s mouth opened of its own accord. “Since he was a teenager. His family passed away. Drunk driving accident.”
Lana’s voice softened with sympathy. “That’s terrible.”
“Yeah.” Even now, memories of getting that call still gave Rick a cold shiver. Having to tell Jen her nephew was being airlifted to the hospital and the rest of the family was gone was one of the worst things he’d ever had to do.
“None of us are fond of tourists driving drunk in town. Diego’s got the scars to back up his feelings on the matter. He lost his parents and his little sister that day. Jen…my ex. Her sister was his mom.”
“Does Diego have any other family besides you two?”
Rick shook his head. “Not locally.”
“It’s really good of you to have taken him in.”
“If you’d seen him sitting there in the hospital, stitches in his forehead, totally lost, you wouldn’t have been able to leave him there either.” Rick couldn’t help the pride in his voice as he added, “The kid’s rough around the edges, but he’s a good one. First person I’d want in my corner.”
“He had your back with Jonah. I was impressed.”
Not many people were impressed with Diego, which only made him like her more. Which was why it was unfortunate that at any moment, Lana was going to decide he’d lured her into the middle of nowhere to ax murder her.
“Oh,” Lana said, looking up with excitement. “Are we here?”
They’d reached the end of the road. As sheer freaking luck would have it, the end of the road coincided with a particularly nice view of the surrounding mountains. Without that view, the modest, two-story log cabin bed-and-breakfast in front of them wouldn’t be there. Or at least it wouldn’t have had an “Open” sign in the window.
Somehow, Rick had found a B and B with an actual restaurant attached.
This was it. Literally. If he turned left, they would end up on a gravel drive leading into a national forest, and if he turned right, they would end up headed for Canada. It was the end of the road, so whatever Molly’s Bed-and-Breakfast was, this was it.
Molly sounded like a normal name. This could work. He was saved. It was a Christmas freaking miracle.
“A B and B, huh?” Lana aimed a flirtatious look at him. “Are we at the overnight stage already?”
Rick winced. “I didn’t even think of that. We can go back if you aren’t comfortable.” Back because forward wasn’t much of an option. Forward would take them so far into the bush, he’d need four-wheel drive.
“I’m sure this place is absolutely lovely.” She squeezed his hand once more before releasing it to unbuckle her seat belt.
Lana’s heels were not meant for this kind of drive, but she never wobbled as she joined him at the front of the vehicle. Crap, he hadn’t opened the door for her. Apparently, he was determined to blow all his chances to use card number fourteen. He’d jumped out and stared at the restaurant as if he could warp it into a four-star steakhouse out of sheer willpower.
“Are you all right?” A sculpted eyebrow rose, those gorgeous eyes sweeping over him in concern.
“Yep. All good.”
Nope. Nope nope nope.
Lana threaded her arm through Rick’s. “I’m starving. It’s always exciting to try someplace new.”
Yes. Exciting. This was exciting, and he could really luck out here. Some places were hidden gems, and just because he’d never known about this place didn’t mean it wasn’t one of those unexpectedly amazing restaurants that would make tonight worth the drive.
Letting himself hope for a kinder, gentler universe, Rick opened the door at the top of the stairs, offering a shy smile to the woman with him. She was so beautiful, he couldn’t get over it. And when she returned that smile, his heart paused in his chest, took its own breath, and finally started to beat again.
This time, Rick moved fast enough to hold the door open for her before following her into the restaurant. She stopped so quickly, he bumped into Lana’s back, quickly placing a hand on her hip to steady them both.
“Sorry—” he started to say, then Rick trailed off, finally seeing what had caused his date to hit the brakes.
Rick had lived in Alaska his entire life. Many people he knew were avid hunters, and some relied on hunting and fishing to feed their families throughout the winter. Even though it had always struck him as macabre to mount a trophy animal on a wall, he was used to it. Growing up in Alaska meant one wasn’t a stranger to that sort of thing.
But even he had never seen this much taxidermy in a single room.
“Are they—?” Lana started, sounding startled more than horrified.
“Squirrels.” Rick kept his hand on her hip out of sheer protective instinct. One did not expect to step into a room with taxidermy squirrels everywhere.
“And are they—?”
Rick shuddered. “They’re dressed for the holiday season.”
Looking around, Rick had no idea what to do. Everywhere he looked was another squirrel. One dressed as an early 1900s St. Nick. Others working as elves in Santa’s workshop or loading his sleigh. A Rudolph squirrel stood impatiently with the other reindeer squirrels while excited squirrel children waited by fireplaces in little squirrel pajamas. There were squirrels reenacting the ending of It’s a Wonderful Life and others ice skating beneath a Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.
Someone had put a Ghost of Christmas Future outfit on a particularly grim squirrel, complete with chains and a sickle.
A tall, thin woman in thick-rimmed glasses appeared from the back, blinking in surprise when she saw them. “Oh, I didn’t hear you come in. Two for dinner?”
If Lana had run screaming, Rick would have understood. But instead of cringing, his date turned sweetly to the hostess.