Loving Mindy (Lone Pine Lake 2.50)

Yeah. She’d married young and popped out two babies in quick succession to a man who’d claimed to be ambitious but had turned out to be rather dull and a complete workaholic. He traveled a lot—code for he’d had affairs all over the place. She’d stayed married to him far too long, thinking she couldn’t get any better than Marty.

How pitiful did that make her?

“Chloe can relax now that winter break is upon us,” Mindy said.

“Yeah. I want her to quit early but she won’t budge. Stubborn woman,” Cam said.

Mindy stifled a laugh, glancing out the kitchen window. The sky was a dark, foreboding gray, bringing with it a monster snow storm, of which she’d heard all about this morning on the news. “She’ll be fine. And hey, you two better stay indoors and out of the storm. It’s coming. The clouds are scary dark.”

“When does Marty fly out with the kids?”

“They’re already on their way to Sacramento. They left about an hour ago. The boys stopped by to pick up a few things and say good-bye.” Marty had waited in the car with his fiancé, honking the horn when he felt Kyle and Chandler were taking too long.

Jerk.

“Unbelievable. He’s had this up his sleeve the entire time, don’t you think?”

“I think I’m done talking about Marty, Cam. I’m tired of him taking up space in my brain.” She needed to focus on the positives of her life. Her future, not her messy, screwed-up past.

“Yeah, no kidding. He’s not worth two seconds of our conversation. So…” She could tell her brother was about to change the subject in a major way. “I heard a rumor Chris and Jane are trying to set you up with J

osh.”

Mindy closed her eyes and thumped her forehead against the kitchen wall. “The last thing I want is to be set up. I don’t know how many times I’ve told Jane this.”

“They are hell-bent on you giving Josh a chance. I mean, come on, you two have known each other forever. You danced around the flirtation table with him before, right? Before you had that big blow up or whatever? I’m sure you’re over it by now.”

“The flirtation table? Cam, I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation with you.” Clearly her brother had lost it. Or Chloe had domesticated him so thoroughly he now said crazy stuff that made Mindy roll her eyes.

“You should give him a chance. He’s a nice guy. You used to be such good friends. And Chris works with him. Says he’s single and alone for the holidays. Jane was just crying to Chloe how she didn’t want Josh to be alone for Christmas.”

“No way,” Mindy said vehemently, wanting the subject to drop big-time, though she felt kind of bad for being so rude. But Cameron was right. She’d had a big blow up with Josh years ago, and their friendship had never recovered from it. She felt bad that he was spending Christmas alone but he was a big boy. He’d survive, just like she would. “I’m not interested in having a relationship. You know this.”

She was so not ready for a relationship. She liked to say she’d sworn off men completely but her sister and sisters-in-law tried their best to change her mind, so Mindy kept her mouth shut.

“Aw, come on. Aren’t you lonely?” the former king of sullen loner asked.

Yes. Terribly. I still can’t believe my ex took my boys away from me on what should be my Christmas. But I won’t dare admit it for fear I’ll look like the bitch. “My life is pretty fulfilling. I have the boys. I have my job. I have my home.”

“Cam, leave her alone,” Mindy heard Chloe say in the background just before Chloe grabbed the phone from him and was talking to her instead. “I heard what happened, Min. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Mindy blew out a harsh breath. “Really. I’ll survive.”

“Marty’s a selfish idiot,” Chloe said.

Mindy laughed. “That he is, my friend. That he is.”

“You should come over here and hang out with us. No one should be alone right before the holidays.” Chloe paused. “I’ll make up the guest room for you and everything.”

Mindy felt a pang in her heart. She loved having Chloe as her sister-in-law. She was a terrific addition to the McKenzie family. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I’m going to stay right here. The wind is blowing pretty bad, and I’m making cookies.” A particularly loud howl sounded outside, the walls of her modest home vibrating with the force of it. “In fact, I gotta go, Chloe. My cookies are probably burning, and I need to get my cat in before he gets caught in the snow.”

Mindy winced. Well. That sounded like the lamest excuse ever. But it was true. No way did she want burned cookies. And yeah, Spike the cat was outside at this very moment probably freezing his tail off.

“Call us, Min, okay? Stay safe.”

She hung up a few seconds later, her mind filled with thoughts of Josh. She didn’t understand why Jane and Chris were so insistent she go on a date with him. Been there, done that, ruined a friendship over it forever. Considering they lived in the same town and she hardly ever saw him, she figured he did his best to avoid her.

Which was fine. Really. She preferred avoiding him too. It was easier that way.