The next day, Jocelyn was glad that she was off from work as she folded her mother's afghan and placed it across the back of the couch. She hadn't had much time off lately and was secretly glad to have some time to herself to think. She didn't want to be at work and have Caden walk in the door again, clouding her mind."You've got to be kidding me, Frank! We can't do it another day? I have plans." Mallory asked into her phone and waited, listening. "I screwed up? I don't think so!" She listened again, her ear to the phone as she shook her head. "Okay, okay! I'll be down there in a minute." She clicked off her phone, ending the call. "Jocelyn? Would you do me a favor?"Jocelyn looked up. Uh oh. When Mallory asked for a favor, Jocelyn usually got the raw end of the deal. "What?" she asked flatly."Frank screwed up the shoot and I had plans to go skiing with Caden today." She pooched out her lip into a pout. "Would you mind going with Caden for me?""What?" Jocelyn asked, her heart po

He leaned in, placing a hand on the small of her back, and whispered over her head, "If Kyle's here, you want to have a little fun?"Jocelyn laughed. "It depends.""Upon?""Upon what it is.""Trust me.""Famous last words."He laughed and held the door for her as they walked in. Sure enough, Kyle was standing behind the front desk.Kyle looked at Caden, noticing his hand on Jocelyn's back, and frowned. "Caden. When did you get home?""Yesterday. It's good to see you, Kyle." A devilish smile appeared on Caden's lips.Kyle looked over at Jocelyn and nodded. "How've you been?""Good." Now that Caden was back.Kyle looked over at Caden and narrowed his eyes. "So, I thought you were dating Mallory, Jocelyn's sister?"Caden shrugged. "That was a long time ago." Then he looked down at Jocelyn. "I've moved on to better things."Jocelyn's heart pounded against her rib cage. Although she knew Caden was doing this for Kyle's benefit, her heart didn't seem to know it.Kyle's face con

"What's wrong?" Caden asked, obviously noticing that she was too quiet.But Jocelyn just shook her head, unwilling to tell him. Yes; Caden Scott was definitely detrimental to her heart.Luckily, Caden let it go. "Well, let's head on over to the lake. Is it frozen?""Solid as a rock."Caden chuckled. "Good. That way I won't have to save you again.""Yeah, well, I'm not a kid anymore." She took her eyes from the scenery and looked over at him. A much better view. "I know how far to go now."Caden laughed. "Yes, I'd bet you do."She slapped him playfully on the arm. "Caden!""Well, you walked right into it." He shrugged. "I just jumped right in."Jocelyn laughed. "You're unbelievable.""So, tell me. When is this Christmas pageant?"Thoughts of Mallory rushed immediately into her mind. "A few days before Christmas. Are you going to go? Mallory's going to be on a float in the parade."Caden sighed. "I'm not sure. Are you going?"She shrugged. "Probably."Within minutes, they p

The next morning, thoughts of Jocelyn filled his mind. When Caden walked out into the living room, his parents had already left for the tree lot. He hurried to eat, telling himself that he was eager to see Mallory. But in reality, he couldn't wait to see Jocelyn again. What are you doing? You're an idiot. He enjoyed spending time with Jocelyn, but he had given Mallory his heart long ago. Over the years, Mallory had occupied his mind and had helped him get through some sticky situations. When the going got tough and he didn't know if he was going to make it through the mission, he had thought of Mallory and promised himself that he'd see her again. Then he'd live.But now that he was here, everything had turned upside down. Mallory wasn't the person he had remembered her to be, and neither was Jocelyn. When he had left, Jocelyn was just a little girl that he thought of as his little sister. Now, she was anything but. Jocelyn had become quite a beautiful woman. But what he liked about h

"So, what's the verdict? Please tell me, not chicken again," Noah replied as Caden laughed. "Well," Emma replied, "it's either a bucket of chicken or hamburgers. You decide.""Hamburgers," Noah replied without hesitation.Jocelyn laughed. "You like fried chicken?" she asked Emma as both Noah and Caden rolled their eyes."Love it!" Emma replied. Caden chuckled. "Yes, she eats it nearly every day. We'd be rich if we had bought stock years ago.""Yeah, no wonder I'm getting sick of it," Noah added.Caden laughed. "Jocelyn, would you like to go with me?"She stood. "Sure. I could use a little break." Then she turned to Caden's mother. "Would you like anything else?""Um- fries and a Coke." She dug into her pocket and handed her a few bills. "And get yourselves whatever you want. Noah? What would you like?""Get me a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke." Noah pulled out another bill and handed it to her. Caden knew this was a rarity for his parents to hand anyone money other than hi