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“Was he a word guy?”

Jamie let go and returned to the doughnut machine which she just might call Mark, as it was the brother of Mike. Her dad would get a kick out of that. She grinned. “Obsessed. TheTimescrossword was his first love, back in the day. But he moved on to Wordle when it burst on to the scene. These days, I do it every morning and think of him, our own little time together. One of us is just a little more physically present than the other.”

Leighton leaned a hip against the counter. “Thank you for telling me. That’s the best way to honor him, you know that?” She looked around. “You could always hang a framed photo.”

“Hmm. You think?” Jamie took a moment and considered the suggestion. It felt right, like a puzzle piece in the decor. “I like that idea. My mom would, too. He’ll get to be a part of this place, even though he never got to see it in life.”

“What about over there?” Leighton motioned to the side wall overlooking the cash register.

Jamie followed her gaze to the dark paneled surface. It was perfect. “Done. Reserved.” She turned back, but Leighton had moved closer toward the wall, leaving them in each other’s space. She could have taken it somewhere tension charged but didn’t. That’s not what this was. She stepped around Leighton, happy with the new addition to the store. “Thanks.”

Leighton hadn’t moved. “Yeah. Anytime.”

Chapter Sixteen

“I want to put little Santa hats on the doughnuts.”

Leighton paused from her spot on the top rung of the ladder, a string of holiday lights in hand. Jamie had invited her to help decorate Bordeauxnuts Too and dangled free merlot like a carrot on a wine bottle. “That sentence is hard to decode. Do you mean literally? That sounds intense. You’d need small hands.”

Jamie placed one of hers on her hip, looking adorable inherSanta hat. Christmas was exactly one month away, and she’d been actively bouncing all her holiday ideas off Leighton via text. In fact, they talked most of the day lately. Every time she had a break in the course of her workday, she checked her phone for Jamie, getting a little hit of dopamine when there was a message waiting.

The week before she’d glanced at her phone to find,Marlene told me that Edward might be moving in.

Leighton typed back, smile on her face,Oh, so that means…

I need to invest in an industrial sized box of ear plugs or go to Sexyland with them on nights beyond just Thursday.

Leighton laughed loudly, and Mindy appeared in the doorway of her office. “Someone’s got your attention. It’s Jamie, isn’t it? You don’t even have to say. No one makes you laugh like that.”

“It’s a whole thing with her neighbor.”

“It’s a whole thing, all right,” Mindy had said with confidence.

She’d gone back to work that day, but lighter. Each moment of connection with Jamie seemed to do that for her, and she was wildly aware of how lucky she was to have Jamie back in her life.

“A little to the right on those lights,” Jamie said, hands on hips at the base of the ladder.

“Like this?” Leighton pulled the lights a tad tighter.

“You might have to stretch onto your tippy toes. Use that height of yours.”

“Bossy down there. Where’s that wine I was promised? I might have to strike.”

Jamie laughed quietly. “Coming right up. I actually set this bottle aside because I thought you’d like it.”

“In that case, I take back the bossy comment.”

“Wise.”

“More like opportunistic.” Leighton enjoyed the give-and-take, their lighthearted quips. They’d developed athemover the past few months. Guards were coming down, and they’d found a comfortable, safe rhythm.

Leighton finished the lights and descended the ladder to an oversized wineglass, filled with Jamie’s wine pick. “What are we toasting to?”

“The new season.” It had a double meaning, and they both knew it.

Leighton lifted her glass. “To the new season.” She swirled, inhaled, and tasted. “First of all, I love the new oversized glasses.”

“Yeah? The customers seem to, as well. Marjorie is jealous. No idea how she heard about them. I’m convinced she has underground channels.”