Maid Under The Mistletoe. Maureen Child

one would give a damn about him. And after five years here, he found out the town was paying close enough attention to him to actually lay money on his comings and goings. Shaking his head, he asked only, “Who’s Jim Bowers?”

      “He and his wife own the bakery.”

      “There’s a bakery in Franklin?”

      She sighed, shaking her head slowly. “It’s so sad that you didn’t know that.”

      A short laugh shot from his throat, surprising them both.

      “You should do that more often,” she said quietly.

      “What?”

      “Smile. Laugh. Lose the etched-in-stone-grumble expression.”

      “Do you have an opinion on everything?” he asked.

      “Don’t you?” she countered.

      Yeah, he did. And his considered opinion on this particular situation was that he might have made a mistake in letting Joy and her daughter stay here for the next month.

      But damned if he could regret it at the moment.