“It’s okay. We need some time to get used to it ourselves before the whole world finds out anyway.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, kissing her when he dropped her off at her apartment before heading to work.

“See you tonight?”

“I can’t wait.”

Reid was in his office poring over plans for an office building in Knoxville when his secretary let him know Ashton was there to see him. Reid asked her to send him in.

“Hey. What brings you to my part of town?”

“I wanted to see my old man.” Ashton bent to give his father a quick hug. “Is that okay?”

Reid smiled, delighted that his son had never outgrown the easy affection between them. “It’s more than okay. What’ve you been up to?”

“Just working a lot, same old thing. How about you? You look beat. Are you sick?”

Since he could hardly admit to what he’d been doing the last two nights when he should’ve been sleeping, Reid shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Ashton paced in front of his father’s desk. Clearly, something else was on his mind. “I was wondering if you’ve talked to Kate.”

Reid’s gaze whipped up to meet his son’s. “Why?”

“Well, I was over there Sunday night, and she was a mess. She said she’d had a falling out with some guy she met at Mabel’s. But when I asked Butch if he knows the guy, he couldn’t remember her dating anyone while she worked there. Then I couldn’t reach her the last couple of days. She wasn’t answering her cell phone, and I’m just worried that something’s up with her. Do you think we should call her dad?”

“No,” Reid said emphatically—too emphatically, in fact. “No,” he said again in a more normal tone. “I’m sure she’d just had a bad day when you saw her.”

Ashton looked so dismayed that Reid realized his son might have feelings for Kate, too. Christ.

“Do you know anything about this guy she’s seeing?” Ashton asked, running a hand through his blond hair in frustration.

His heart raced as Reid looked his son in the eye. “I don’t know anything about it.”

Chapter 18

Clare worked late at the bookstore on Christmas Eve. When Bea finally turned over the Open sign and locked the door, the two women flopped into easy chairs in front of the fire.

“Thank God it’s over for another year,” Bea groaned.

“My feet are killing me.”

“I hope you didn’t overdo it.”

“No worries. I’ll take a hot bath when I get home. I’ll be good as new tomorrow.”

“Speaking of tomorrow, the invite still stands. Why don’t you come with me?” Bea had invited Clare to Christmas dinner at her brother’s house in Burlington.