Sawdust and Mistletoe by Michelle Pennington

Author:Michelle Pennington [Pennington, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-11-14T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Hunter usually found sanding to be relaxing. Tonight, as he worked on the dollhouse in Ava’s garage, however, he couldn’t focus on it. After their night at the city square, he’d felt as if an awkward gap was growing between them. He ran the sandpaper over the thin edges of each cubed section of the dollhouse, carefully rounding the edges, and thought that maybe it was for the best.

But try as he might, he couldn’t resist the pull to be with her when she was so close. So, he finished the sanding, cleaned off the sawdust, and decided that he needed to ask Ava what color to stain the dollhouse. He went around to the front of the house and stood under the icicle lights he’d hung only a few nights ago. It took a moment after he knocked before someone opened the door, and to his disappointment, it was Olivia.

“Come in,” she said, waving at him.

“I don’t want to bother you. I know you’re working.”

“Trust me, even if Ava doesn’t want to take a break, she needs to.”

Olivia stepped to the side, holding the door open, and he turned sideways to step around her. Ava sat on a cushion on the floor, staring at her laptop on the coffee table in front of her. A bag of red and green M&M’s was open next to her with candy spilled around. She picked one up and popped it into her mouth without ever taking her eyes off the screen. He didn’t know if she was that consumed with her work or if she was ignoring him on purpose.

“Hey Scrooge,” he said, “You might want to be careful eating such festive candy. It might turn you to the jolly side.”

Ava looked up and rolled her eyes at him. “Trust me—I wish I could get in the mood for Christmas. It would be a lot easier to plan the Candy Cane ball if I was.”

“Well, why don’t you take a break and come help me make a design decision on the dollhouse?”

Her eyes brightened and she closed her laptop. “I’d love to.”

Both she and Olivia followed him outside to the garage. Neither of them had seen it fully assembled, so he was excited to see their reaction.

“It’s so perfect,” Olivia said, with excitement ringing in her voice. She ran her hand over the roof, which stood level with her shoulders, and walked around looking at it from every angle.

Hunter glanced at Ava since she hadn’t said anything. It was her opinion he cared about most. This dollhouse was for Molly, but he admitted that he was just as invested in impressing Ava as he was his niece. Fortunately, a soft smile turned up the corners of her lips.

“Well?” he asked, stepping close enough that their arms brushed.

She elbowed him lightly. “Stop fishing for compliments. You know it’s amazing.” Her warm breath formed a white cloud as she spoke. “I was just thinking that I would have killed for this when I was younger.

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