An Ex for Christmas (Love Unexpectedly 5)

Why didn’t you tell me about the new restaurant? And by the way, I love you. Yeah, that should go over great.

The crowd starts to thin out a bit, and I do another quick scan, wondering where Mark is—

Wait, what?

I swing my gaze backward. I could have sworn I saw…

I go perfectly still when I see the man standing off to the side near the photo table where the high school yearbook staff manages the Santa photos.

It’s not…it can’t be…

“Colin?” I say in a whisper.

He gives a smile when I meet his eyes, and my whole world seems to spin.

My ex-boyfriend—the ex-boyfriend—is here. In Haven. Just in time for Christmas.

Just like the fortune-teller promised.

December 23, Saturday Evening

Somehow I force my feet forward, moving toward my ex, who greets me with a sheepish, slightly embarrassed smile. “Hi, Kelly.”

I can only stare.

He looks the same, but different. Familiar, but…wrong?

That’s my first thought. He looks wrong. I mean, not the man—he’s fine. Good-looking as I remember.

But his presence here feels wrong, and…weird.

Colin’s from Oklahoma, and he’s got a big family there. What in the world is he doing here in my little hometown two days before Christmas?

He shoves his hands into his coat pockets, smiling a little wider as he looks me over. “You look…” His expression is warm. “You look amazing.”

“You too,” I say, although my voice sounds wooden. I don’t know that he looks amazing, but he looks pretty darn good. He’s lost the scrawniness of youth—his shoulders are broader. His belly, too, if I’m going to be picky. Which I shouldn’t be, given the fact that my own belt’s too tight.

It’s just that it’s hard not to look at him and see Mark. Or rather, see all the ways that he isn’t Mark.

Someone bumps into me from the back, and I stumble forward a bit. Colin catches my arm.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, looking up into his eyes. They’re brown. Were they always brown? I could have sworn he had hazel eyes, but all the details seem murky now.

He laughs and runs a hand through his hair. “You’re going to think I’m nuts.”

Ever in the habit of putting other people at ease, I spread my arms to the side. “I’m wearing an elf costume. Try me.”

Colin’s arm drops, and he takes a deep breath. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

I stare at him. “What?”

“I know,” he says, lifting his shoulders. “It’s been years, and I’ve always remembered you—us—fondly, but for some reason these past couple weeks or so, I just…I can’t get you out of my mind.”

I can’t help it. I close my eyes and try to hold back my disbelieving laugh, because it’s so exactly what I pictured. It’s my fantasy come true—the one guy I never got over showing up out of the blue, saying he wants me back…

Well, sort of. I mean, Colin hasn’t actually said that, but he’s here, and—

“I want another chance,” he says, reaching forward and gently setting his hands on my arms. “I know it’s been years, and this must seem crazy, but…come on, Kell, you’ve always loved this stuff.”