By the time they got the desserts laid out on the table—with some on the counter because they’d seriously overdone it—everybody seemed to have calmed down. Josh wished he felt the same. Now that he’d kissed Katie, he wasn’t sure things would calm down in his mind anytime soon.
While everybody grabbed plates and gathered around the table for the good stuff, Josh stayed at the counter and grabbed a brownie. Drew, who also seemed to be avoiding the crowd, took a beer out of the fridge and joined him.
“Hell of a party,” he said, popping the can open.
“It came together pretty well. Rosie hasn’t found anything to complain about yet.”
“Kinda surprised Sean and his wife aren’t here.”
“Emma’s pregnant and Sean got all superstitious about making the drive during a holiday.”
Drew nodded. “I can understand that. Nothing sucks more than responding to an accident scene during Christmas.”
“I’m sure Aunt Mary’s making sure he gets his fair share of figgy pudding.”
Drew took a swig off his beer, then scowled. “What the hell is figgy pudding, anyway?”
“Damned if I know.”
“Chocolate pudding I might stand on a doorstep and sing for. Maybe even tapioca, if it’s homemade. But figgy?”
“I’d ask Rose, but I’m afraid she’d make it and then we’d have to eat it.”
“I’m all set with that.” Drew set his beer down on the counter and picked up a sugar cookie. “Have you heard from Liz lately?”
“I talked to her for a few minutes earlier today, but she was in the middle of something. Rose talked to her a few days ago, though. She’s doing good.”
“She get back together with that artist guy?”
Josh shook his head. “No, that’s over for good. Rose said she hasn’t really figured out what she’s doing next yet, but that she sounds happier.”
“That’s good. She deserves it.”
Something about the way Drew said it sounded like more than polite conversation, but before he could dig any deeper, he heard Katie’s laugher and he couldn’t stop himself from turning to see her.
Her smile. Her hair. The eyes. That dress. It almost hurt to breathe when he looked at her, and he imagined he could still taste her on his lips. He wanted to kiss her again, preferably when the family wasn’t gathered around, chanting like spectators at a blood sport.
She was standing at the table and he wanted to step up behind her. Run his hands over that shiny fabric, then under it. Bend her over the…
Damn it! He took a deep breath, forcing himself to look back at Drew. “I’ve gotta check something. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He escaped out the back door without bothering to grab his coat. It was cold as hell on the porch. Not as effective as a cold shower, but at least the air chilled his skin a little.
He was so screwed.
How was he supposed to keep on going as though nothing had changed between them? Maybe she hadn’t noticed, but he was having a serious problem staying in bounds as far as their relationship went. And the last thing he wanted to do was screw things up with her.
He had his brothers. And there were a lot of guys he counted as friends, with a few he’d call good ones. But Katie was his pal. His buddy. His best damn friend. He needed her to keep being that in his life.
There wasn’t an official rule book that he knew of, but he was pretty sure a guy didn’t bend his best damn friend over the kitchen table. And who would he ask about it? His best friend? Hey, Katie, is it bad form for me to want to make you my own personal brunch buffet?
Maybe it was just some weird phase brought on by watching his brothers fall in love. First Mitch and Paige, then Ryan and Lauren. Maybe it was catching, like the flu, and all he had to do was ride it out and the symptoms would pass.
He hoped it was a fast-moving bug, though, because he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out without doing something really stupid he could never take back.
*
Nothing made Rose happier than the sound of family laughter ringing through the lodge. There had been too long a dry spell before Josh broke his leg and the other boys came home. The resentment he’d felt toward the lodge and his family had made him bitter, and he’d started going through more beer than she liked.
She’d just resigned herself to the fact she was going to have to interfere and call Mitch, which would have made Josh so angry he might never forgive her, when fate intervened in the form of a tree that needed limbing. To save money on a tree service, Josh had footed a ladder against the toolbox in the bed of his pickup and it had all come to a head with an ambulance ride and a cast.
Now their home was filled with love and laughter and, even if all the kids hadn’t made it for Christmas Eve, this was the best night Rose had had in a very long time.
“Are those tears sparkling in your eyes, Rose?” Andy had slipped up beside her without her even noticing.
“Happy tears. Definitely happy.”