Merriment and Mayhem (Under The Mistletoe Collection #4) by Alexandria Bellefleur

Author:Alexandria Bellefleur [Bellefleur, Alexandria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781662529344
Amazon: B0DH8KCRSL
Goodreads: 220389457
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Published: 2024-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

Miller was first to spot her, greeting her from inside the open doorway of the firehouse with a lopsided smile.

“Dangerfield!” He tossed the towel he was using to dry the bumper of the shiny red fire truck over his shoulder. “What brings you by on this fine afternoon?”

Eyes scanning the firehouse, hoping to spot a particular firefighter, Everleigh lifted the wicker basket off her arm. “I come bearing cookies, actually. And this batch isn’t burned. Promise.”

Miller took the basket from her and peeked inside, pulling out an oatmeal raisin cookie that he promptly shoved in his mouth. “A little char never hurt anybody.” Crumbs fell onto his shirt and the floor. “They don’t call us smoke eaters for nothing.” With his mouth full, it sounded like nuffin, and she had to stifle a laugh.

“Cookies?” A stocky man with curly blond hair poked his head around the side of the fire truck. “Someone mentioned cookies, right?”

Miller jerked a thumb at her. “Dangerfield brought us sustenance.”

She waved. “Hi. I’m Everleigh.”

A wide smile crossed the man’s face. “So this is the famous Trouble we’ve all heard so much about.”

Famous? Sure. “More like infamous, I’m guessing.”

“Nah.” He chuckled, eyes flitting over her shoulder. “Brantley won’t shut up about you. This whole week, it’s been nothing but Trouble this and Trouble that—”

“Hey! Aren’t you on dish duty tonight, Boyd?”

Everleigh’s pulse quickened and her breath made an audible catch in the back of her throat that she prayed Miller couldn’t hear over the sound of his chewing. She bit down on a smile and turned, watching as Griffin jogged down the stairs, eating up the firehouse floor with his long stride. His eyes crinkled and the corners of his mouth curled. “Don’t tell me you’re bringing the emergencies straight to us now, Trouble.”

“Ha ha.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Not quite.” She gestured to the basket of cookies Miller was doing a number on. “I brought cookies, if Miller decides to share.”

“Come on, man.” Boyd reached for a cookie, and Miller smacked the back of his hand before taking off, Boyd hot on his heels. The sound of their laughter echoed through the firehouse.

“Were those oatmeal?” At her nod, Griffin hummed. “Well, would you look at that. Oatmeal happens to be my favorite. Seems a lot like—”

“If the next word out of your mouth is fate, so help me God . . .” Everleigh laughed. “That’s what most people would call a coincidence.”

He shrugged. “Coincidence, fate. I don’t really care what you call it.” One corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk. “I think it’s awfully interesting that I was just thinking about you, and lo and behold, you appear.”

Thinking about her, huh? “Not to poke holes in your theory, but I’d have been here sooner had it not been until this morning that the new oven was delivered. The cookies are a thank-you.”

“You realize responding to emergencies is our job, right? You don’t have to thank us for it. Though”—he grinned—“you’d be hard pressed to hear any of us say no to baked goods.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.