Yours for Christmas (Fool's Gold #15.5)(14)

“You don’t mind?”

“I’d like to go with you,” he told her. “We’re friends, Bailey. I don’t want that to change.”

Friends was better than nothing, she told herself. Friends was the mature response to their situation. Friends was enough. Although that last one might be stretching the truth a tiny bit.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’d love the input. Chloe’s going out to Castle Ranch for riding lessons with several of her friends, so the timing is perfect.”

“I’ll pick you up at noon.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“See you then. ’Bye.”

He hung up and she did the same.

This was good, she told herself. She and Chloe would go to church and be back in time for an early lunch before her daughter headed out on her own adventure. Bailey and Kenny would go to Sacramento and buy furniture. It would be nice. Pleasant. Friends hanging out together. Nothing more. No matter how much she wanted a little “more” in her life.

* * *

DIAMONDS AND PURLS, a yarn and bead shop close to Brew-haha, had been open all of two hours and was already packed. Bailey sipped her cup of complimentary hot cocoa as she studied the bins filled with what seemed like hundreds of types of yarn. There were different weights and textures, dozens of colors. Yarn that was impossibly soft and yarn that glittered.

On the other side of the store were the beads. Millions of beads, she thought with a grin. Inventory in this place would be complicated.

“I love it,” Isabel said, coming up next to her and linking arms. “Doesn’t this place make you want to be creative?”

Bailey smiled at her friend. “Are you saying you’re going to take a class?”

The tall blonde shook her head. “No. I’m going to think about taking a class. There’s a difference.”

“A big one,” Bailey told her. “Chloe and I already talked about taking a beginner’s knitting class together.”

Isabel tried not to look horrified. “I’m sure it will be fun.”

Noelle Boylan, owner of The Christmas Attic, joined them. She, too, was a pretty blonde. Her usually slim physique had a little more curve to it these days, along with a definite baby bump.

“Great store,” she said, then sipped her hot chocolate. “I miss coffee. And wine.”

“How are you feeling?” Bailey asked.

“Better. Almost four months to the day, like you said.”

Noelle had spent the first three months of her pregnancy feeling nauseous. Bailey had gone through the same thing. By the fourth month, everything calmed down.

Noelle grinned. “Gabriel is going crazy, though. I think it’s harder for him because he’s a doctor. He has just enough training to make him totally freak out every single day.”

“But it’s nice, right?” Isabel said, eyeing Noelle’s stomach. “Having him hover.”

“Most of the time. Except when I want to smother him with a pillow.”

They laughed. Bailey joined in, even though her feelings were bittersweet. She’d spent much of her pregnancy alone. Will had been deployed. He’d arrived back in time for the birth, but hadn’t been with her through her pregnancy. He hadn’t seen her as she’d gotten bigger or felt the baby move for the first time.

Thinking about the past made her wonder if things would have been different if he’d been home more. Or would they still have grown apart?

It was a question she could never answer, she reminded herself. Will was gone and she and Chloe were making a life without him.

“The decorating is starting,” Noelle said. “For the town’s window display contest.”

“You’ve had your plan figured out for weeks,” Isabel teased. “What’s the big deal about winning this year?”

Noelle’s gaze intensified. “Seriously? You have to ask? If I’m entering, I’m entering to win.”

“There’s the spirit of Christmas,” Isabel teased.

Noelle ignored her and turned to Bailey. “One of the windows is going to be a fantasy winter wonderland, but with a twist. All the decorations are funny and quirky. Like a pickle dressed up as Santa.”

“Chloe and I can’t wait to see it.”

“Good.” She glanced around the store. “I want to go introduce myself to the owner. Her name is Lora, right?”

Bailey nodded. “Yes. I’ve met her a couple of times and she’s really nice. I’m so glad she and her family moved to Fool’s Gold.”

Isabel sighed. “You’re an annoyingly pleasant person, Bailey Voss.”

Bailey grinned. “Why, thank you.”

* * *

KENNY DROPPED OFF the toys and carefully secured the lock on the trailer. Each of the collection bins he’d visited had been overflowing. He had a feeling the trailer would be full long before their deadline. From what he could see, the people in Fool’s Gold had a way of coming through for a cause.

He drove to Bailey’s apartment and walked upstairs to her unit. Anticipation burned hot inside, but he ignored the sensation. He’d deliberately made his position clear with her. As much out of self-defense as because it was the right thing to do. Even though he found Bailey funny, sweet and sexy, he couldn’t take the chance. Not now, not ever.