Jake was originally Graham’s dog, but all three of them worked equally hard at securing the blind border collie’s affection. So far, Zoey was winning.
“We asked him if he wanted to come, but he preferred to sleep by the fireplace.” Adjusting her glasses, Zoey said, “I think he was done being dressed for the day. Graham changed his outfit four times.”
“Jake’s wearing pajamas right now, isn’t he?”
“His Christmas Ninja Turtle pj’s.” Zoey rolled her eyes. “They’re his favorite.”
They both knew whose favorite those pj’s actually were.
“How did the meeting go?”
“Festively phallic,” Lana decided. “Almost as festive as this place. How did it go meeting Graham’s parents?”
“They’re just like him. Loving, wonderful, excessively loquacious. Their place in Anchorage is right off the inlet, and it’s very cute.”
“But?”
“But that’s a lot of Barnett humor in one room.” Zoey shuddered. “I might need to crash with you tonight, so I don’t murder him.”
“My couch is always yours.” Lana squeezed Zoey’s hand, briefly leaning in her friend’s shoulder companionably. “I don’t think the heater is doing much to help.”
“Graham is bringing another one and some more chairs. I guess people always show up when his cousin’s wife, Leah, makes her holiday mix.”
As Zoey expounded on the deliciousness of holiday mixes, Lana made a mental note. Leah, Graham’s cousin’s wife, owner of a local car rental business and one of Lana’s recent acquisitions. These days, it seemed like everyone was either directly or indirectly affected by the mass purchase.
“You have your work face on.” Zoey nudged Lana with her elbow. “You’ve been running a hundred miles an hour since this summer. You need a day off.”
“If I took a day off, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself,” Lana joked. Zoey wasn’t wrong, though. Lana was dying for a day of no phone calls, no emails, and no penises.
“Have you ever been to one of these things?” Zoey asked.
Lana started to answer, but Zoey was immediately distracted as her boyfriend arrived. Graham’s best friends—the very tall, very man-bunned Easton, and Easton’s heavily-tattooed twin sister Ashtyn—were in tow. All of their arms were full of space heaters and extra folding chairs. Where one found a Graham Barnett, one usually would find the Lockett twins, although it was impossible to identify the leader in their little trio. Easton’s expression was hidden behind his reddish-brown beard, but Ashtyn’s super short, multi-colored spiky hair was both visible and fabulous.
“I wish I could pull off that style,” Lana murmured as she watched Ash, fingers absently touching her shoulder-length auburn locks. The closest she’d come to exciting was freshly redone lowlights for the winter.
“I wish I was brave enough to,” Zoey sighed. Then she quirked a grin at Lana. “Brace yourself. A Moose Springs town hall is nothing like what you’d expect. They get a little weird.”
“Quirky weird or get-out-of-the-room weird?”
“It’s more like…do you remember that guy who always came in at the end of my shifts on Friday nights?”
“The one with the underwear or the one without?”
“The one without.” Zoey rubbed her hands together to warm them. “This will be worse.”
Not for the first time, Lana’s overwhelming affection for her friend rushed over her.
Lana wasn’t the only one overwhelmed with affection for Zoey Caldwell. After setting the heater down, Graham Barnett turned, his eyes searching for Zoey in the crowd. Beside her, Lana could hear Zoey’s breath catch. Graham’s face split into a broad, almost silly grin as he strode across the room, ignoring the leg lamp and heading straight for them. Dropping down into the seat Zoey had saved on her other side, Graham kissed her.
“Hey there, Zoey Bear.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, giving her the perfect place to snuggle for warmth into his side. Over Zoey’s head, Graham offered Lana an amused look. “Greetings, supreme overtaker.”
“Graham, stop.” Zoey frowned at him, poking his stomach with a finger. “You’re going to make her feel bad.”
“He’s just teasing me,” Lana promised. “Graham only teases people he likes. I’m going to get myself a treat. Would you like anything?”
“Usually I’m the one tossing food your way.” Graham flashed her that charming look of his, the one that always got him out of trouble. “I’m happy to sit back and let you be the bearer of delicious things.”
“Just a coffee, please,” Zoey decided.
“A complicated, no-one-can-get-it-right, super-coffee with the exact right amount of everything or she’ll give you hell for it.”
“Lana will get it right.”
“Einstein couldn’t get it right.” Graham winked at Zoey, knowing he was ruffling her feathers but doing so anyway. “I don’t know, darlin’. You’re super particular. You should probably remind her.”
“Lana’s much smarter than you, and even if she did get it wrong, I wouldn’t say anything. Unlike you, who has deliberately screwed up my coffee every day this week because you think it’s funny.”
“You get the cutest little scrunchy face when it’s too sweet—”
“Graham.”
“Or not sweet enough.”
“Graham.”
“Or forbid there’s regular dairy instead of non-dairy creamer—”
Lana left them to their conversation, having been exposed to their antics enough to know how this would progress. Graham’s particular brand of affection was exactly what Zoey needed in her life. And if Graham following her around like a love-smitten puppy was any indicator, she was exactly what he needed too.
Lana didn’t know what she needed, but some eggnog would be a pleasant start.
A table had been set up along the wall, complete with coffee urns and cookies, the little hard ones from a Christmas-themed tin. So far no one was eating the cookies, preferring a large Tupperware container full of homemade party mix. Sadly, there was no eggnog and not enough hands, so Lana fixed coffees for three instead. Taking a small portion of party mix and two cookies out of politeness instead of any real desire to consume either, Lana turned and bumped cookie plate to cookie plate into the man behind her.
“Oops, sorry. Oh. Hello, Rick.” Lana glanced up at the only person in this town who made her heart skip an extra beat.