Anyway, I knew what she was referring to. We’d been having the conversation more and more frequently lately, multiple times a day even. It had been weighing so heavily on me that I’d even started talking about it in my sleep. Ava insisted that I take this step, claiming that it was one of the last ones I needed to take in order to truly heal. She was right, but I still dreaded it.

  “I’m going to go visit the baby. I’ll take Barley with me,” she said before grabbing Barley’s leash, and he sprinted to her side. “You can do this.”

  “I can do this,” I breathed out, and she leaned down, pressing those fantastic lips to mine before walking out my front door.

  I dialed the number, knowing that he would know it was me calling as soon as it started to ring. Unless he’d deleted my contact information or blocked me completely. I hadn’t considered that scenario whenever I played this moment out in my head. It never ended well.

  “Hello, sir,” I said as soon as Lydia’s dad answered.

  There was a long pause, and I checked my cell phone twice to make sure the call hadn’t ended or dropped. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d hung up on me, but he hadn’t. He was just … waiting quietly on the other end of the line.

  “I know it’s been a long time, but I wanted to call you and tell you how sorry I am.” I said the words, but I broke down as they came out. “I should have said it sooner.”

  I didn’t know if I’d ever told him that I was sorry before this moment. I thought I had, but I couldn’t be certain. At least, not a hundred percent. I’d been so caught up in my own grief that I couldn’t remember what I’d done or said to anyone for months after the accident. My mind was a blank slate, where only fragments of information revealed themselves to me. None of them making any sense really. Half the time, I wasn’t sure if something had really happened or if I’d made it up in my head.

  My body tensed as I braced myself for the hatred, which I was convinced he still harbored toward me, to spill out across the line, but to my utter surprise, it wasn’t there. I guessed we’d both moved into the acceptance phase of grief during our time apart.

  “Oh, Tony,” he breathed into the line, his voice shaking with emotion, which almost broke me apart completely. The only thing that he was mad about was the disappearing act I’d pulled without warning. He said that he’d lost a daughter and a son, all at once. But he also understood why I’d done it.

  Then, Lydia’s dad gave me the greatest gift of all—he forgave me.

  Told me that the accident wasn’t my fault and apologized for ever telling me otherwise. He said that grief turned some people into monsters and that he’d been no exception.

  I cried.

  He cried.

  We ended the call, saying that we’d stay in touch. I wasn’t sure I would even though I’d agreed to it. It seemed unfair of me to put him through more pain. His forgiving me was one thing, but him learning that I had moved on and was in love with someone new, getting to have a life while his daughter’s had been cut short, was something else entirely.

  It seemed like way too much to ask of a person … especially a father.

  I held on to my cell phone, the tears still falling down my face as I replayed the conversation for a second time. The relief that coursed through me was unlike any other I’d ever felt. For the first time in a long time, I could truly breathe again. Deeply.

  The weight I’d previously held firmly on my shoulders lifted. Not entirely, but a damn good chunk of it was gone, just like that. I’d gotten so used to carrying it that I’d forgotten what it felt like to live without it. I thought I might float away if I stepped outside. Surely, I had to be light as air now.

  Sucking in a few measured breaths, I inhaled deep and slow, reveling in the way the air felt inside my lungs. I had to tell Ava. Jumping up from the couch, I shoved my phone in my pocket and headed off to find my woman and tell her the news.

  And, oh yeah, that I loved her. Even though I suspected she already knew that part. Magic, remember?

  NO MORE MR. GRUMPY

  AVA

  SIX MONTHS LATER

  Tony was like a whole new person. Okay, that wasn’t necessarily fair because who he was at the core hadn’t changed one iota. And I loved that about him. His tough exterior remained, but I knew the soft heart that beat inside.

  The call with Lydia’s father had been the biggest blessing, and I was so grateful that he’d found the strength to make it. It helped relieve Tony of any lingering guilt, self-hatred, and it opened his heart even wider.

  Mr. Grumpy was officially a thing of the past.

  Well, on most days anyway. He still brought him out sometimes when he wasn’t getting his way or he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. It would have been irritating if I didn’t find it so endearing. Yeah, I had it bad for the guy, and I wasn’t even sorry about it.

  “Are you ready?” Tony walked up behind me and wrapped me in his arms.

  “I can’t believe we’re going outside in this weather.” I looked out of one of the windows and shook my head.

  It was snowing. Half the businesses were closed today, including ours.

  Tony worked with me at the restaurant now. He still fished sometimes and brought me everything he caught, but it was mostly for fun, and I couldn’t count on him to do it daily. We came up with new recipes together, and he helped a little in the kitchen but mostly hung out at the bar. He was an incredible mixologist, and now, we not only had the best seafood in Port Rufton, but also the best fancy cocktails to go along with it.

  “We’re barely going outside. We’re just going to the restaurant to grab the muffins and chowder to bring to the inn.”

  “The last time I did that, some guy fell in love with me from another room,” I teased as I wrapped a scarf around my neck and pulled a beanie over my head.

  We were bringing food to Elise and Greg, who refused to take the baby out in this kind of cold. They were still navigating the new-parent thing and were apparently terrified of everything.

  “Some guy, huh?”

  “I didn’t even know he was there. What if it happens again?”

  Tony cocked his head. “What if some guy falls in love with you from the fireplace while you talk to Elise at the check-in counter?” he asked, giving me more details from the first time he saw me.

  “Uh-huh. Yeah, it could happen.”

  He shook his head and gave me a half-smile. “Not likely.”

  “And why’s that?” I stuck out my hip and waited for him to give me a good enough answer.

  “Because you’ll be there with me this time.”

  “So,” I argued, clearly baiting him.

  Before he could respond, the sound of Snickers’s hissing made both of us split up and start looking for Barley. I’d spent the night at Tony’s house, and I brought Snickers whenever I did. Sometimes, I caught the dog and cat sleeping together, but there were other times when I’d watch Snickers staring at Barley like he was a pest she needed to dispose of.

  “They’re in the bedroom. Snickers is under the bed, and Barley’s trying to get to her.” Tony’s voice was muffled, and I knew he was on the floor as well.

  When I walked in the room, I started laughing. Tony’s legs were the only things showing, Barley’s tail was wagging, and Snickers was on top of the bed, licking her paws.

  “She’s up here,” I said, and Tony wiggled his way out from underneath.

  “Seriously?” he asked before looking up and seeing Snickers watching him, her tail swishing back and forth. “Let’s leave before they do something else.”

  Barley started hopping around the way he did when he knew we were leaving the house. He usually came with us, but it was way too cold outside. Not to mention the fact that he’d get wet and dirty and create more work for Elise at the inn, and then, basically, she’d kill me.

  “Not this time, buddy. We’ll be back soon.”

  He looked crestfallen as he sat, his puppy-dog eyes staring up at me.

  “Be good,” Tony instructed, and Barley whined before giving Snickers a look.

  “Oh, buddy, we know it wasn’t your fault,” I said, giving him a reassuring pat behind the ears.

  My cat lived to torment the dog, and we all knew it.

  We walked outside, all bundled in our winter gear, before Tony turned around to make sure the door closed all the way. The last thing we needed was the pets getting outside and causing chaos.

  “When are you going to move in with me?” Tony asked, and I shouldn’t have been surprised.

  He’d been asking me that for months. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to live with him or that I thought we were moving too fast. I just knew that I never wanted to give up my apartment above the restaurant. It had been mine when I had nothing else. I loved that place.

  “We could rent it out during the busy months. Who wouldn’t love to sleep above the best restaurant in town? And with that view …” Tony kept talking until I finally caught on to what he was suggesting.

  “Like Airbnb it?” I asked, and he made a noise that sounded like a yes.

  “I already looked into it,” he said before putting both his hands in the air. “Not to pressure you. Just for information’s sake.”

  “But you don’t even own your place. You’re renting. Why would we move in there?” I complained as we walked down the hill carefully, making sure not to slip on the ice.

  “I bought it,” he said.

  I stopped walking, his hand jerking my body before he realized that I wasn’t moving anymore.

  “You what?”

  “The sale just went through yesterday. I bought the house, the little piece of land in the back, and the boat slip at the marina.”

  I started shaking my head in disbelief. This man—who, only a handful of months ago, couldn’t even bear to have a personal conversation with other people—was now trying to convince me to move in with him and the house he’d just purchased.

  It was crazy. This was crazy. He was crazy.

  In the best way, of course.

  “What would Lydia do?” I asked out loud, the question lingering between us.

  It had become one of our things. Whenever I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about a subject, I’d ask him what Lydia would do if she were in my shoes. It was my way of keeping her memory alive in a fun and lighthearted manner. At least, that was always my intention.

  I’d promised Tony that him moving forward did not mean he had to forget. And I was doing my best to keep that promise.

  “She’d have already packed her things and moved in without even telling me,” he answered with a joyful laugh. “I would have been the last to know.”

  That made me laugh as well. “I really think I would have liked her.”

  “You would have loved her.”

  “We’ve both loved the same man,” I said with a smile.

  Talking about her was so rarely sad anymore. It had turned into something beautiful, and I was so appreciative of that.

  “And he loves you.” He lifted the bundle I was in as he searched for my mouth and kissed it hard. “I love you, Ava.”

  “I love you too.”

  “If you did, you’d move in with me.”

  “Fine!” I shouted into the snow-filled void.

  We were alone on the street, steps from the restaurant, and my voice echoed in the air.

  “You mean it?” He took me in his arms and started spinning us around.

  “I mean, I should probably ask Snickers first.”

  “Don’t you dare,” he said before pressing another kiss to my freezing cold lips.

  “We’re going to get stuck like this,” I mumbled against his mouth.

  “We’re not made of metal.”

  “But we are magic,” I added, and a mischievous smirk covered his face.

  “That we are, babe. That we are.”

  The End

  Thank you so much for reading this grumpy-sunshine romance! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I have loved writing these Fun for the Holidays books! They’ve brought me so much joy and made writing fun again!

  There are twelve books now! One for each month of the year. I hope you’ll read them all and then tell your friends to read them too.

  Next on the list is one fake dating, enemies to lovers, story you’re going to kick yourself for not reading sooner! FALLING FOR THE BOSS is here and this is your look into it…

  JOSEPH

  “I’m tired, Joseph.”

  Worry instantly filled me. My dad had said those exact three words the night before he was killed, and I never realized how much of a trigger they were until this moment. I pushed back from my desk and walked across the room.

  “Are you sick? Are you feeling okay?” I asked before sitting down on the couch next to her and taking her hand in mine.

  “I’m fine.” She pulled her hand away and patted my shoulder. “I only meant that I’m tired of being here and not doing anything else with my life.”

  I knew exactly what she meant. After my dad had died, it was like a part of her world had stopped turning, and all of the dreams they had shared seemed to evaporate, the way his presence did. At first, I knew it was because she was concerned about the company and all of our employees. She felt an obligation to make sure that no one lost their job and that all of our clients continued singing our praises and recommending us while remaining completely satisfied with our services. With ease, my mother oversaw every detail, caught each oversight, and handled the curveballs that clients threw at us. That became her full-time job until it was clear that she no longer needed to hold on with both hands; Martin Staffing and Management was going to be more than just fine with me at the helm. But by that point, I think my mom had forgotten that she once had dreams of her own. She’d lost her way during the detour my dad’s death had caused, and she had yet to get back on her own road.

  It was always part of the plan that I would take over and run the company, but we never intended on it being so soon. Life had taught me that it didn’t follow a script, especially not the ones we tried to write for it. To be honest, I loved what I did, but I would like my mom to have more of a life.

  “What are you saying exactly?” I needed to push her or else she’d never get to the point—at least not directly.

  My mother would hem and haw, hinting at what she wanted to do but never fully giving in to it. She had mastered the ability to talk herself out of anything before it was even a true option.

  “I want to travel. I want to see the world. Your father and I had so many plans for after—” Her voice broke, and she paused. “After he retired.”

  “I know. You guys used to talk about it all the time,” I said almost wistfully even though I wanted to keep my emotions out of it. It was hard whenever he got brought up.

  “We had a lot of plans.”

  “You can still do them, you know? And you should. You had a list once, remember?” I asked, talking about the bucket list of travel places that used to hang on our fridge underneath a Take Risks magnet. It’d disappeared one afternoon, and even though I’d noticed its absence immediately, I never asked about it. Until now.

  “I still have it.”

  I straightened in my chair. “You do?”

  “Of course. I just couldn’t bear to look at it every day. It’s in my dresser drawer in the bedroom.”

  For whatever reason, that little nugget of information filled me with relief. It made me happy to know that my mom hadn’t thrown everything in the trash, the way she had donated all of my dad’s things to charity before the dust settled. I had known it was hard for her to be surrounded by his memory, but it was hard for me to watch them all get handed out to strangers.

  “I came here to tell you that I have plans to go away. I’m going to travel for the next year”—she smiled wistfully—“if not longer.”

  “A year?” I said through my disbelief.

  “Or more,” she added again for clarification.

  My body tensed. I loved my mother, and while I enjoyed having my own space, the idea of not seeing her for a year or longer had me spiraling a bit. I had never, in my entire life, gone more than three days without seeing her.

  “Yes. But I can’t in good conscience leave if—” she started, but I cut her off.

  I knew exactly what she was going to say. “I’ve been running the company for five years, Mom. I’ve got this. Nothing will happen to our legacy or our employees or our clients. I promise you that.”

  “Joseph, you think I’m actually worried about you running the company?” She sounded almost offended.

  My breath caught in my throat. “If it’s not that, then what are you worried about?” I stood up from the couch and made my way back over to my desk. I was more comfortable there, felt more in command.

  “You. You’re an amazing CEO. You’ve far exceeded my hopes for the company.”

  “But?”

  “But …” Her eyes narrowed—she was clearly irritated because I’d interrupted her twice already. “Life isn’t just about work.”

  I stopped myself from growling out loud in frustration and annoyance. We’d had this conversation one too many times in the past, and I’d thought I’d stopped them from happening again. I was too busy for love and all the things that falling for a woman required.

  Women needed the kind of time and attention I wasn’t ready or willing to give. Take into account how hard it was for me to actually meet someone wife-worthy in the first place. Considering I was always here or at corporate functions, and you had the second problem. Plus, to be honest, I had no interest in relationships at this point in my life. That didn’t mean that I didn’t fuck. I did. But it was with women who knew we had no future and who had zero expectations from me. Kind of women versions of myself.

  Dating, marriage, kids were all something I wanted and saw for myself but further down the road.

  My mother knew that, but it still didn’t stop her from lecturing me. “You need a partner. You need a teammate. I don’t want you to be alone forever. This company won’t keep you warm at night. It won’t listen to your fears, or grow old with you, or share meals, take care of you, or love you back.”

 

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