Cathy Yardley - Baby, It's Cold Outside

“But I can’t help but think you’re not giving it a chance. Just like you’re not giving marriage a chance.” She crossed her arms.

This was more than her usual pestering, he noted. She was genuinely upset.

He sighed again. “Mom, we’ve had this conversation before,” he said quietly. “I love you, and I’m glad you and the rest of the family want me to be settled and happy. But I need to travel. I need adventure. I can’t explain it,” he finished miserably. “It’s not that I don’t want to be happy. I seem to need…I don’t know…something I can’t find.”

“Well, maybe you haven’t been looking in the right places,” she pointed out.

He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. On top of very little sleep, this conversation was more than he could handle. “Let’s watch the kids play with their toys, okay? I’m only in town till tomorrow morning—I’d like to enjoy it.”

“Maybe,” his mother continued with her trademark determination, “you could even look right here. Locally, I mean.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” he snapped. “I’ll just go and marry Emily Stanfield tomorrow and give you a dozen more grandbabies, how about that?”

“Colin, don’t be ridiculous,” she chided. “There’s no need to be snide.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m a little tired.”

“Besides, Emily’s not right for you,” she said in a tactful tone.

Colin blinked. That wasn’t the response he was expecting.

“She means Emily wouldn’t have you in a million years.” His brother Ted entered the conversation. “Mom, where are the batteries? Kasey’s remote-control pony needs them.”

“Well, that’s insulting,” Colin said. “What’s wrong with me?”

“She’s small-town right down to her marrow,” his father pointed out. “And as is painfully evident to everyone including yourself, you’re nothing of the sort. Beyond that, she’s known for being somewhat discriminating when it comes to beaus.”

Even his father thought Emily would have nothing to do with him?

Well, if their kiss was any indication, she might not want to marry him, but she certainly approved of some aspects of him.

Of course, she did turn you down.

He grimaced.

“She wouldn’t be your type, anyway,” his mother continued, her tone obviously meant to soothe the affront. “And like I said, she’s dating the mayor.”

“She isn’t dating him,” Colin growled.

His mother’s eyebrow went up quizzically. He could just imagine her maternal-matrimonial radar beeping to life.

Damn it. “Listen, all this talk about marriage and stuff is giving me the heebie-jeebies,” he said. “I don’t mean to be cranky. I’ll be on my best behavior. I just want to play with the kids and enjoy my family on the holiday, before I have to go. Okay?”

She sighed, finally relenting. “All right,” she agreed, hugging his shoulders. “But I wouldn’t pester you so much if you didn’t worry me, kiddo.”

“I know,” he told her, hugging her back as they went over to the living room.

They watched the kids enjoy their presents all morning, and by lunch Colin was feeling more like himself. However, he had a new problem to deal with.

“It’s been ages since I’ve been over to the hotel,” his mother said. “You never mentioned—how’s your room?”

“Great.” Which was true. “Very comfortable.”

“Queen-size bed or king?”

He had no idea. “Er…queen.”

“She’s a good manager, from what I’ve heard. A very hard worker. She’s been obsessed with the place ever since…” His mother paused, frowning. “I’m sorry. You’re probably bored with Tall Pines gossip.”

But when it came to Emily, Colin was hanging on every word. “Ever since what?” he asked.

She smiled the satisfied smile of a storyteller who knows she’s got her audience hooked. “Ever since her father died and her mother remarried shortly afterward,” she said dramatically. “Her mother told her that she’d sell the place because she was tired of upholding the Stanfield family traditions. There was no way Emily could manage a building that size by herself, but she knew her father would have hated to lose it. So she came up with a plan to use her trust fund and turn it into a hotel.”

Colin was riveted. “That’s a lot of work.”

“I didn’t agree with it,” his mother said. “It’s not the same, having the Stanfield house open to strangers. Paying customers.”

“What was she supposed to do?” Colin defended. “Give up and get rid of it?”

His mother wrinkled her nose. “Well, if she’d gotten married to someone rich, she could’ve kept the house.”

Of course marriage would be the solution his mother came up with.

“She was engaged, you know,” she added. “Years ago. To Richard Gaines.”

“That jackass?”

She glared at him. “Language, please.”

Colin fell silent, but he was still shocked. Ricky Gaines was a jerk. A rich jerk, granted, but still a complete waste of space.

“They were engaged as soon as she graduated from Amherst,” she said. “But they never did get married. The town was pretty divided on who was at fault.”

“So what was your vote?” It was unheard of for Ava Reese not to have an opinion.

“I say he was.” She sniffed. “Since he got married and had his first baby a few short months after. Some rich blond girl from Boston. Of course, if Emily had been a bit more attentive when they were dating, he might not have strayed, but that’s neither here nor there. Richard and his new family lived here for a year, and it was very awkward for Emily.”

Poor Emily, Colin thought. No wonder she didn’t want to get involved with anybody from town.

His mother put her hand over his. “She’s a lovely girl, and I’ve always felt like the right person might help make her happier. She always seems sad to me, for some reason.”

He’d noticed that, as well. “Poor kid.”

His mother sighed. “She could use a good husband.”

Colin had to change the topic away from marriage—and Emily—in a hurry. “You know,” he finally said, “I thought maybe I’d stay here. One last night with you guys.” Even though the cot was even less comfortable than the couch, it would probably do wonders for his peace of mind. He’d been fixated on Emily for long enough.

“Oh, we’ll miss you, but I think you had the best idea,” his mother said breezily. “It’s far too crowded here with your brother and your sister and the grandkids. As long as you have the room at the inn, you might as well stay, right?”

“I suppose.”

“You know,” she added speculatively, “you’re right.”

Colin’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. He knew that look on his mother’s face. “I’m right how?”

“Emily isn’t dating the mayor yet,” she said, smiling mischievously.

He saw the light of hope in her eyes…and calculation.

Oh crap.

Good thing he was leaving in the morning, because one more day in Tall Pines could mean real trouble if his mother decided she’d found him a wife.

“EMILY, YOU LOOK great this evening,” Mayor Tim Ryfield said, sitting at the head of the dinner table at his house. “I’m so glad you could make it…especially since we’ve never had dinner together before.”

Emily forced a smile of her own. “A Stanfield has been a guest at the mayor’s Christmas party for the past fifty years, Tim,” she said. “I’m glad to attend.”

There. That showed that she still wasn’t really having dinner with him. The last thing she wanted was to date the mayor of Tall Pines, even though she was continually tossed together with him. She wouldn’t be surprised if there was some Getting Emily and Mayor Tim Married committee meeting on a monthly basis.