6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

Jenn playfully slapped me on the arm and squealed. “I said don't look!”

“Hard not to,” I said and laughed. “Especially, when you tell me not to!”

“Yeah, I can't blame ya,” she said. “If they were checking me out, I'd be all over that too.”

“You're married,” I said.

“Doesn't mean I don't have needs and wants,” she said. “Regrets over those things I missed out on.”

“You had your chance, Jenn,” I laughed. “You went out with Bennett, remember? And you still chose Martin.”

“Because Martin is good for me,” she said, staring wistfully at the baby in her lap. “He's practical; a hard worker and great provider. We have the same philosophies and values in life. But if I were looking for a one-night stand or a fling, you bet your britches I'd be after one of those McCormick brothers. I can't imagine they're anything but amazing in the sack. It's certainly not like they haven't had more than their fair share of practice.”

“Yeah, well, new girl in town or not, it's not like I really stand a chance with any of them,” I mumbled.

Then Rebekah came to mind once more, and I knew if anyone had the answer to the questions rattling around in my head, it would be Jenn.

“Speaking of which, I ran into Rebekah Henderson,” I said. “That's not Bennett's kid, is it? She seemed really squirrely and didn't want to talk about it. Ran off when I brought it up, actually.”

Jenn burst out laughing, snorting as she tried to get herself under control. “Oh goodness no,” she said. “You have no baby mamas to worry about if you go after the eldest McCormick. She went out of town awhile back and came back pregnant. Some rando she met at the bar, didn't even get his name.”

“But she said she found God?”

Jenn raised her eyebrow and shook her head. “Yeah, in the backseat of some guy's car, maybe,” she said, sarcasm coloring her every word. “Nah, her daddy just makes her go to church every weekend and act like a pious little witch. She's trying to redeem herself in his eyes or some shit like that – though, God only knows what good that would do. That girl is a lost cause, if I do say so myself.”

I looked back out at the people milling about in the park. Black Oak carried so many secrets. There was always so much going on – especially in the shadows and behind the scenes. And I hadn't the faintest idea about any of it. I had no knowledge of anything in Blackoak anymore.

Not that I needed to know the town gossip – it just felt weird being back and completely clueless because it had been such a staple of my world for so long.

As if she could read my mind, Jenn smiled and said, “Welcome back to Black Oak, Hailey.”

CHAPTER SIX - CASON

“Shutting down to go hang out at the bonfire,” I called out to the crowd, who groaned at my announcement as we closed up shop. “But feel free to come by the restaurant tomorrow. Twenty percent off if you mention you stopped by.”

Bennett punched my arm – hard. It wasn't the usual playful punch we'd give each other now and then – it felt like a serious hit. I looked at him, irritation running through me.

“What in the hell are you doing?” he whispered, facing away from the crowd.

“Shutting down to –” I started to repeat myself, but he cut me off.

“No, the discount,” he said. “We didn't agree to that.”

“Executive decision, man,” I said, shrugging. “These fine people want food, and since we're closing down, thought it would be the right thing to do. Plus, it might bring in a little more business than we might have had.”

Bennett shook his head, his face creased with irritation. “Why not just give food away for free then?”

Sarcasm dripped from his tongue, but he'd already pissed me off, so I figured I'd do something to spite him.

“Fine,” I said, leaning around him and shouting out, “Free hot dogs for all kids tomorrow!”

“No,” Bennett called. “He's just kidding. No free hot dogs.”

Quinn piped up. “It's already out there, Ben, and it would be false advertising if we didn't honor it now. And that's bad for business. It's a damn hot dog. Stop being such a tight ass.”

Ben muttered something under his breath and walked away, busying himself by finishing loading the truck. At least he was doing the manual labor this time. It was a nice change of pace since Quinn and I had done it all earlier.

I looked across the walkway at Jenn Drake's cake shop. Like us, she was packing all of her things up for the night and caught me staring, a knowing smile on her lips. Not wanting to give her the wrong idea – she was a married woman after all and I wasn't like that – I gave her a friendly wave and started to look away.