Harlequin Romance March 2021 Box Set Cara Colter (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

on the grass with three teenage girls around the same age as Lissy. He halted and stared.

‘Owen, if I didn’t know you better I’d say you were ogling that young woman.’

He snapped to attention, shook himself. ‘That’s her. That’s Callie Nicholls.’

‘It appears she’s made some friends.’

When? How? When did she have the time…?

Lissy ambled back, but the barely suppressed excitement in her eyes belied her affected nonchalance. She surreptitiously pointed to one of the girls in Callie’s circle. ‘That’s Angelina Michaels.’

She said it in a reverent tone that clued Owen in that Angelina was somebody. He racked his brain. ‘Who is she again?’ But then he remembered. ‘The basketball star at your school?’ From memory, she was a year ahead of Lissy.

‘She’s a goddess. You should see her play. Amazing!’

A smile built through him. Maybe this was his chance to redeem himself a little in her eyes. ‘Would you like to meet her?’

She shushed him. ‘We can’t just go over there!’

‘What if I can swing a casual introduction because I know the person she’s talking to?’

Lissy stared, a gleam starting up in the depths of her eyes. ‘Then I might, perhaps, forgive you for being such a bossy bore so far today.’

His jaw dropped. ‘Bossy bore?’

‘The moment you clapped eyes on my skirt this morning you started being as prissy and snippy as an ancient aunt in one of those Dickens or Austen books I have to read for school.’

‘If you had more sense I wouldn’t have—’

‘I’d like to meet her.’

His mother’s voice broke through their bickering, reminding Owen that he was supposed to be the older and wiser sibling. It was just that he worried so much for Lissy—was worried she’d fall in with the wrong crowd, worried that some guy would treat her the way his father had treated his mother. He’d do everything he could to protect her from that.

It was Barney who saw them first, giving a clear, resounding bark—he had a big bark for such a little dog—and straining on his lead towards Owen. Callie glanced around, her lips curving into her trademark smile when she saw him. Jumping to her feet, she shook both his mother and Lissy’s hands when he introduced them, before introducing her own trio of… Acquaintances? Friends?

He glanced at the girls and gestured to the books and laptops. ‘What are you all up to?’

‘Callie’s helping us study for our Math final,’ one of the girls said.

He couldn’t hide his surprise. ‘But Callie’s a History major, not Math.’

‘They’re not mutually exclusive,’ she teased. ‘I was probably better at Math than I was at History. I just enjoyed History more.’ Her face lit up. ‘Hey, you might be able to help. Micah is having some trouble with her computer science elective and it’s beyond my skill-set.’

Before he knew what he was about, Owen found himself sitting on the grass tutoring Micah while Callie skilfully steered the others into a discussion about basketball when Lissy mentioned her admiration for Angelina’s game. Then she smiled at his mother and led her to a nearby bench. ‘I was hoping I’d get a chance to meet you and maybe chat a bit about Frances, Mrs O’Sullivan.’

‘You must call me Margaret.’

And that was all he heard. But as he took in Lissy’s glowing face when Angelina invited her to shoot some hoops with her one afternoon the following week, and heard his mother laugh at something Callie said, he found he didn’t mind sitting in the spring sunshine explaining the vagaries of the Math that Micah was struggling with. They were a nice bunch, and he enjoyed the good-natured way they teased each other, and the way they included Lissy in both their discussions and their teasing.

He’d have been happy to sit there for another hour, except Micah gave a start as she glanced at her watch. ‘Gah! I have to go or I’ll be late for my shift at Burger Co.’

Angelina groaned. ‘I promised Mom I’d babysit tonight. If I don’t get home soon it’ll be panic stations.’

The three girls said their goodbyes and were soon gone.

‘That was awesome,’ Lissy breathed as they joined their mother and Callie. ‘Angelina is the best point guard our school has had in ten years.’

Callie smiled. ‘They’re a fun bunch.’

Owen stared at her. ‘How did you meet them?’

When the muscles in Callie’s jaw tightened, Lissy rolled her eyes and his mother shook her head.

He grimaced. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound so…’

Lissy folded her arms. ‘Bossy?’

He resisted the urge to run a finger around the collar of his sweater. ‘Like I was giving you the third degree.’

Callie glanced at Lissy. ‘You get this a lot?’

‘All. The. Time.’

Callie raised an eyebrow at him. ‘It’s a bit much, isn’t it?’

A scowl built through him, but before he could reply his mother spoke. ‘We’re having dinner with Owen this evening. We’d love it if you could join us, Callie.’

What on earth…?

Callie glanced at him, as if she sensed he might be feeling less than hospitable. He checked himself internally and discovered he wasn’t as averse to the idea as he probably should be.

He huffed out a laugh and shook his head. ‘We would,’ he confirmed.

‘Then I’d love to.’

Her smile seemed to make things inside him click into place—which made no sense. She made no sense. He frowned. Actually, now that he thought about it, could he retract the dinner invitation?

The women all seemed completely at home with each other, strolling along and chatting, and Lissy was utterly delighted to be handed Barney’s lead. He felt oddly left out. Eventually they turned back the way they’d come, and it was only as they drew abreast of the collection of chess tables that the idea hit him.

‘Do you play, Callie?’ He wanted to trounce her. At just one thing. He knew the impulse was childish, but he couldn’t contain it.

‘I do.’ Blue eyes assessed him. ‘And I’m pretty good.’

‘So am I.’

She turned to face him fully. ‘Are you challenging me to a game?’

He wanted