Marry Me at Christmas (Fool's Gold #19)(64)

Right on time, cars started pulling up in his driveway. Eddie and Gladys were the first to arrive. Both old ladies hugged him close. Eddie was near tears again as she asked about his hand.

“I’m doing great,” he assured her. “Good as new.”

She didn’t look convinced and he hated to see her spunkiness brought low by a freak accident. Not knowing how else to restore her spirit, he decided to take one for the team and turned his back.

“Go ahead,” he told them. “Pat my butt. You know you want to.”

He thought they might hesitate, but he was wrong. Both old ladies immediately patted his butt. One of them lingered just a little too long and he was forced to step away.

As he turned back to them, they were shaking their heads.

“We should have gotten our cameras out,” Gladys said.

“And filmed it.” Eddie’s expression turned sly. “Can we do that again, Jonny?”

“Not a chance. It was a one-time thing.”

“Then we’ll have to sneak up on you,” Eddie said.

Jonny held in a grin. Order had been restored to the universe.

By ten-thirty, a dozen or so volunteers were hard at work. He watched his plain carved toys come to life with color. The cars and trucks were more interesting, the animals more real.

Madeline showed up with drinks and snacks, including three gallons of tea. Someone brought a docking station in the shape of a porcupine and hooked up their smartphone. Christmas carols filled the space, competing with conversation and laughter. He told Madeline what had happened with Eddie and Gladys. She laughed.

“I wish I’d been here to see it,” she admitted. “They have style and you’re a very good sport.”

Faster than he would have thought possible, his toys were painted and laid out to dry.

“You doing okay?” Madeline asked as she came up to him and offered him a glass of tea. “Any regret over letting your work go?”

“None,” he admitted. “The toys weren’t doing any good sitting on a shelf. Better for them to be played with. Plus, this inspires me to keep carving when I’m on set.” He bent down and scratched Raven. “I can’t spend all day petting you.”

“Raven wants to know why not,” Madeline teased.

She wore jeans and a red holiday sweatshirt with a big wreath on the front. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wasn’t wearing makeup. She looked good. Happy. Pretty. Sexy.

He was lucky to have found her. Something else he had to thank Ginger for. Because if his sister hadn’t been getting married, he wouldn’t have had the chance to get to know Madeline.

He didn’t know where things were going between them. He wanted...

He pushed the thought away. No way he was going to jinx what they had by talking about it.

“Have you heard from Ginger?” he asked.

“Uh-huh. She’s going to be here day after tomorrow. I can’t wait to show her the dresses that have come in. I think she’s going to be thrilled with a couple of them. She’ll be a beautiful bride. I’m very excited.”

Jonny glanced away. “I am, too.”

“What?” she demanded. “What aren’t you telling me? What have you ordered?”

He shifted. “Nothing.”

She put her hands on her hips. “It’s something. What? You didn’t actually arrange to fly in the Vienna Boys’ Choir, did you?”

“No. They wouldn’t come.” He shrugged, not wanting to tell her about the special order that would arrive Thursday afternoon. “I upped the flower order. Just by a little.”

“I’m not even surprised. Just don’t do anything else, okay? We’re down to the wire. We have the food and flowers done. The venue.” She motioned to the barn. “It will be decorated later this week, so no late-night parties for you. I want the twinkle lights to stay firmly in place.”

“Are you actually worried about me messing with the twinkle lights?”

“Not really.” She glanced around. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s going to look when it’s done.”

“Me, too. The guys doing the ice sculptures will be here tomorrow. The weather is going to cooperate and stay cold enough.”

“You really are doing ice sculptures?”

“Do you have doubts?”

“I remember the giant wedding cake, so no. Okay, I have to go write up the toy inventory. You can stay here and supervise. Oh, and don’t get too close to Eddie and Gladys. Now that they’ve actually touched the promised land, they’re going to be looking to do more.”

“No good deed?” he asked.

“Not when it comes to them. They will haunt you.”

“With you helping by pointing out where I am at any given moment.”

“Pretty much,” she said with a laugh.

* * *

Madeline hung up the last of the dresses. She’d had two appointments that afternoon, along with a few walk-ins. The latter had been more about dreaming than buying, but she didn’t mind that. Many a later purchase had begun with a fun afternoon of playing dress-up.

Two of the samples arrived in sad condition. Flat and wrinkled. She would leave them hanging overnight, then steam them in the morning. Or maybe ask Rosalind to do it. Business was brisk and she had to learn to delegate.