Page 72 of Holiday Home 3
Liam and Anna both walked by their cars as they escorted Evelyn to hers. Once she wrapped around to her door, she called Anna in for a warm hug—and a whisper that Liam couldn’t overhear. Yet, he certainly noticed her renewed blush when mother and daughter parted.
“I’ll try not to be too nosy about your affairs,” she declared, “but well, I only have one daughter, and she only has a ‘first’ boyfriend once. A nosy mother is part and parcel of the experience, no?”
“We can have more lunches like this,” Liam suggested.
“A wonderful idea,” Evelyn said, smiling at them both. “Enjoy Perrymont’s campus, Anna. There are a lot of nice places to visit.”
As Anna glanced confusedly between them, her mother wished them both well and escaped from the cold into her car. Once she’d departed, Liam clued Anna in on what he and her mother had discussed about his visits.
“I’d like that a lot,” Anna admitted, blushing slightly.
“Great,” he agreed. He glanced at the taillights of Evelyn’s car as she exited the parking lot. “So, do you want to do anything now?”
Anna’s blush reignited, and they both glanced toward the bookstore they’d visited a couple of days ago. However, a second visit was not to be. Anna’s phone started ringing.
Immediately, they shared a look of concern, and Liam checked in the direction her mother had gone. Three potential callers, one of whom would make things very unpleasant for Anna, entered his thoughts.
“It’s Avril,” Anna said upon retrieving her phone. “One second.”
Hands in his pockets for warmth, Liam loitered as the roommates shared a brief conversation. It was over in about a minute, and Anna’s enticingly bright green eyes fell on him before she said goodbye to her best friend.
“Everything all good?” he asked once she’d hung up.
“I… think so,” Anna admitted, though she appeared curiously perplexed. “Avril said she wants us to all go sledding.”
That would do it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Winter Games
He might not have known her for all that long yet, but even he knew that Avril didnothandle the cold very well. Or at all. So, for her to suggest an outdoor event—oh. That was what it was. He followed in Anna’s wake as they left Zeke’s parking lot, realizing then and there that this was because of the green fortune cookie he’d opened the other night and its promise of an outdoor event.
He was somewhat surprised that it would involve Anna, though he supposed the fortune cookie had never promised itwould just be the two of them. As far as ways to spend an afternoon went, sledding with Anna and Avril didn’t seem so bad. There was certainly plenty of snow around to use for it.
Oh, and this hill,he realized as they made it to Ashgrove Apartments. Sitting in a small valley, Ashgrove innately offered plenty of opportunity for sledding. Practically every backyard facing the road he and Anna had just turned off provided a drastic hillside for such activities. Glancing out his window while descending toward the apartments at its base, he saw proof that other tenants had already used the hilly terrain for sledding. Now, by knightly decree, it was their turn.
He also noted the clubhouse nearer to the base of the slender road they descended, which sat among a drained swimming pool and some tennis courts, both of which were swamped in snow. He’d be here again tomorrow, visiting the clubhouse that Avril had rented to use as a casino for a single night. With four of the most beautiful women on the planet, three of whom he’d be competing against. And now he’d broken the curse. So, hecouldtry and have three wonderful days in a row. And this one wasn’t even over yet.
Unsurprisingly, they found Avril loitering about indoors, not getting a head start on some sledding. Already mostly dressed for a foray into her arch-nemesis’s grip, she was waiting for them in their living room.
“I’ve got your clothes right here,” she said, glancing away from the TV after hearing them come in. “So, hurry and get changed.”
She wasn’t just speaking to Anna.
While waiting for them, she’d leaned two wooden sleds against the back of the couch. In between them sat a pair of snow boots. And resting on the back of the couch, Liam saw a puffy winter coat, some black insulated pants, a pair of fuzzy gloves, and a matching beanie.
Not one of them, save maybe the beanie, would have fit Anna.
“You… keep around men’s winterwear?” he asked, puzzled.
“No,” the redhead scoffed, already decked out in her own winter outfit. “I bought them.”
“How long have you had this planned?” Anna asked, brow furrowed.
“Not long,” Avril said, shrugging. Surging to her feet, she gesticulated toward the winterwear. “Now, come on. Get dressed. Let’s go, go, go. It gets colder out there once the sun goes down.”
He and Anna shared a look but ultimately went along with Avril’s command. As Anna headed to her bedroom, he started gathering the outfit—his planned apparel for their outing—lying on the back of the couch.