If you haven't visited my Facebook page or other social pages this week, Happy New Year! Happy new month, happy fresh start...I've got plenty of happy right now.
I'm happy to be starting my new day-job this coming week. I'm happy we might see a few inches of snow tomorrow (of course, on the day I start the new job, haha). I'm happy we're having our family New Year's dinner today, and the house smells freaking amazing--I have garlic butter shrimp keeping warm in the slow cooker, potatoes baking in the oven, and a pork tenderloin also in the oven for hubby. I'm happy to be ticking things off of this week's to-do list already.
I do love the start of a new year. Yes, of course we carry things over from the old year, it's impossible not to. But we get to start fresh--the shiny new calendar is just waiting to be marked up...mine has four booksignings on it this year, starting with the annual Love Is In the Air event in February, then A Day or Two of Wine, Romance & More in May, followed by Aces Wild Author & Reader Event in June, and wrapping up with Books, Books, Books in September! I just realized I start and end this year's events close to home and have two New Jersey events in the middle. Interesting. I even have a 2026 event on the calendar already for March in Washington, D.C!
I'm going to be talking a lot about these, probably starting in the next week with a newsletter going out all about Love Is In the Air, so if you're not already signed up for my newsletters, scroll on down the page to the sign-up box. I promise I don't spam your inbox every day or even every week; I try not to send out newsletters unless I have a signing coming up or another event, like a new book release (I've been known to unsubscribe from newsletters that land in my own inbox too frequently, so I get it), in an event week, you will probably see at least one, and then you might go months between if nothing is coming up.
Before I go have dinner with my guys, I have a snippet for you this week from Light the Way Home.
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Nate pulled the truck into his driveway in the last dusky light and shut off the engine. Light shone around the edges of the living room curtains, and further, from the mud room at the back of the house. When he’d called earlier, Lucie assured him they were fine and he should take his time, while Hayden giggled in the background. He sighed and pushed the door open. Stars sparkled already in the sky, and chilly air washed up over the bluff.
He strode to the back door, and, along with warmth, some delicious aromas rushed out when he opened it. He shrugged off his jacket, listening, but he didn’t hear anything. After abandoning his sneakers, he stepped into the kitchen. The oven was on warm, so supper was in progress, and a cake covered in chocolate icing sat on a blue plate in the middle of the table. He raised an eyebrow, then heard light running footsteps upstairs, and he smiled.
“Daddy!”
By the time he reached the foot of the stairs, Hayden leaped from several steps up.
Nate caught him, enjoying the tight hug his son bestowed on him. “Hey, buddy.”
“Supper’s ready, Daddy! I helped.”
“Did you?” He looked up and saw Lucie descending the stairs, a smile tugging at her mouth. “Lucie.”
“You’re just in time to eat.” She stopped a few steps away.
“It smells amazing. You didn’t have to go to so much trouble.” He hefted his son to one arm as he moved backward to let her come down the last couple of steps.
“It wasn’t any trouble. I like to cook, and this boy worked up quite an appetite.” She winked at Hayden. “Let me get the pan out of the oven.”
“We’ll set the table.” He followed her into the kitchen, bemused.
She moved the cake to the counter beside the sink, then took a roasting pan from the top oven. When she uncovered it, his mouth actually watered. Chicken and vegetables, roasted golden. The scent that had greeted him earlier magnified.
“I washed the veggies, Daddy.”
He noted Lucie’s quick grin at that. “I bet you did a good job. Can you get silverware while I get the plates?” He set Hayden down, with a pat on the behind to put him in motion.
Lucie carved up the chicken. “I bet you want a leg, don’t you, Hayden?”
“I do!” His son managed to collect enough forks for the three of them, then hurried back to the table to put them down. “How’d you know?”
“Just a hunch,” she said, taking a big serving spoon from the spoon rest beside the range. “How about you, Nate?”
“I guess I’d better have some white meat, so the other leg is left for the noisy one.” He held out a plate. “Probably should feed him first.” He tamped down the rush of warmth in his chest when she smiled at him.
“I think so, too.” She dished up some vegetables and one of the drumsticks. “I’ll take the other plates.”
Nate didn’t argue, just took his son’s meal to the table and settled him on his booster seat. “You wait for us, buddy.”
Hayden frowned, but didn’t argue.
By the time Nate turned around, Lucie had two filled plates in her hands. “Thank you.” He pulled out a chair for her, then took the plate she held out.
Hayden chatted around bites from his chicken leg, and Nate let him. Now that he’d sat down, exhaustion tugged at him. He ate and listened to his son, answered when he needed to. Lucie made easy conversation with Hayden, so he felt better about being gone all day.
“This is really good, Lucie,” he said when Hayden had a mouthful of potato. “I appreciate this so much. You’re a great cook.”
She smiled, looking at her plate for a second. “I like to cook. For five minutes in high school, I thought I’d have a restaurant when I grew up.” She met his gaze. “But I was a good daughter and headed off to college instead of the culinary institute.”
He heard the note of regret in her tone. “Did you add that to your list of potential jobs for your search?”
Her eyes widened, and her smile faded. “I...no, I didn’t.”
“Why not?”
She looked at him blankly for a moment. “It didn’t occur to me,” she said finally.
“You should do it.” He stabbed a carrot with his fork. “You’re a great cook.”
She frowned as she picked up her water glass. “Maybe.” Her doubtful tone made him smile.
“You should do it, Lucie,” Hayden chimed in. “The restaurant closed an’ now we don’t have anywhere to go out to eat.”
She shifted her gaze from his son to him. “What?”
Nate rested his fork on the edge of his plate. “There was a family restaurant here on the island until about two months ago. The owner had a heart attack, so he can’t manage it anymore, and his wife didn’t want to do it alone, so they closed it. That’s a really good idea, Hayden.”
Lucie looked perplexed, a faint frown line between her eyebrows, her fork held loosely.
When Hayden scrunched up his face, Nate winked at him, prompting a grin. “Can I have more ’tatoes, Daddy?”
“Sure. Let me have your plate, buddy.” He noted Lucie’s little head-shake as he rose from his seat. She smiled at his son again, and he noted the affection in her eyes.
Lucie laughed in all the right places as Hayden chattered around bites of his meal, and Nate realized he was staring.
She was pretty. Her green eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled across the table, briefly. His gaze slid to her mouth for a moment. Tempting.
He jerked his attention back to his meal. He had no time for tempting. Or for anything, really. There was enough on his plate–his son, his cabinet-making business. And now he’d spend more time running back and forth to his parents’ once his dad got sprung from the hospital, until Max was mobile.
His gaze landed on her again, in spite of his best intentions, and she met it, her smile softening.
Fuck him.
Her eyes widened, darkening, and her smile faded. Awareness shifted her expression, and she dropped her gaze to her plate.
At least one of them had enough sense to know that would be stupid.
He took a quick drink from his glass and stuffed a piece of chicken into his mouth.
“Daddy, is Grandpa comin’ home soon?”
Saved by his son. “Maybe in a couple days,” he said after he swallowed his food. “But he broke his leg when he fell off the ladder, remember? So he’s going to be in a wheelchair for a few weeks.”
His son bit off a big chunk of meat from his chicken leg. “Does it hurt?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Maybe he wants my bunny.”
Nate smiled at that. “Maybe. I can ask him tomorrow.”
“Does that mean I get to play with Lucie again?”
He winced at his son’s excited tone.
“It sounds like it,” she said, not sounding unhappy.
He glanced over at her, noting her genuine smile at Hayden. “Lucie,” he started.
She looked over at him and raised one eyebrow, eloquently daring him to offer another option.
He didn’t have one, so he cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
Her smile reappeared, and Hayden cheered.
He should be grateful he had someone to help instead of trying to find ways to discourage her from assisting. Just because he was attracted to her didn’t mean he had no self-control.
Of course he did. And he would damn well exercise it.
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How has your new year been so far? Are you getting in some reading time? Working on your goals for the month? I'd love to hear about it!
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