Iris leaned against the kitchen sink, using it to stabilize herself, as she scrubbed the red potatoes piled up in its ceramic depths. They’d hired the local catering company – Belly Bliss Catering – to provide most of the food, tables, and chairs for the party, but her mom requested the McLain Red Potato Salad, which could only be made if the person knew the secret recipe for it. Being a McLain daughter, Iris had of course been taught the recipe many years ago, and she figured it was only fair to make it in honor of her parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. 

Caterers and staff members bustled in and out of the house, the door slamming closed behind them every time they went, but Iris ignored it all. It was about two weeks until Christmas, and the scene outside her parent’s kitchen window was simply gorgeous, if a little disconcerting. Her own MIL apartment was attached to the backside of her parent’s house, so the views outside were to the same general scenery, although shifted just slightly to the left. It was like looking out her kitchen window, but seeing everything a bit out of place.

The house wasn’t big enough to hold everyone and the Sawyer Community Center was booked up, so Iris and Ivy had arranged for two large white tents with propane burners to be set up in the yard instead. They also had a large bonfire set up and ready to go in the middle. Iris figured between it all, people would probably be able to stay warm, if they were smart and were bundled up too.

Ivy came into the house, muttering darkly. “Iris!” she yelped as soon as she saw her. She tossed her curly red hair back over her shoulder. Iris had to admit, even if only to herself, that she was jealous of the curls. Her own hair was straight as an arrow. “You would not believe who is here!” Ivy continued, stalking over to the counter and grabbing an apple slice from the caterer’s tray. She began munching on it noisily.

Iris grabbed another potato and gave it a light scrub. “Yeah?” she prompted. Ivy tended to be a bit dramatic, so she wasn’t surprised that she’d gotten so angry over a guest already. Hell, the party was just getting started, but that was Ivy for you.

“Tiffany and Ezzy! You didn’t invite them, did you?”

Iris stopped scrubbing the potatoes for a moment and turned to glare at her sister. Ivy shrunk back. “I didn’t think so, I just thought I’d ask,” she mumbled sheepishly. 

Iris rolled her eyes, and didn’t even bother answering. If Ivy sincerely thought that her one and only sister, one of her closest friends in all the world, could intentionally invite two girls to a party who’d made her life miserable all the way through high school…well, Iris had no words to say to her.

None that she should be uttering at her parent’s house in the middle of a party, anyway.

When the silence extended out into painful territory, finally Ivy mumbled, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” 

Iris jerked her head once in response, and with that, the little tiff was over. She began gathering the cleaned potatoes to move them over to the kitchen table so she could sit while chopping them. Her legs were already getting tired, and her eyes were aching from trying to keep everything lined up the way they should be. It was never good when the world tilted suddenly without warning.

Well, she shouldn’t say never. There was that time she’d fallen face first into Declan’s lap…

She cleared her throat, forcing her mind to focus on the present, and began juggling the cutting board and her cane, trying to get everything she needed to the kitchen table. She really should’ve had this salad done hours ago, but when the caterers had shown up, Iris had quickly realized that someone had to take charge or nothing would ever get done. All plans of getting the salad finished before guests showed up flew out the window.

“My best guess,” Iris mused aloud as she slowly moved items over to the table, “is that they heard about the free food and music, and decided to come on down and mooch off us. They’re the kinds of people who would think that'd be okay.”

Ivy considered that for a moment and then sighed. “You’re right.” She grabbed the last item – a bowl of washed potatoes – and carried them over to the table for her. Iris smiled up in gratitude at her younger sister. She may be impulsive and say stupid things sometimes, but she could also be sweet and thoughtful. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t killed her yet.

“Thanks, sis,” she said, drawing the bowl towards her and pulling out potatoes.

“Well, they’ve ruined everything,” Ivy announced dramatically, crunching her way through another apple slice. Iris was pretty sure the caterers would kill her when they saw what Ivy was doing to their beautifully constructed fruit platter, but Iris also figured she’d let the caterers do the killing. Sometimes, it was just easier.

“Everything?” Iris echoed. That seemed a bit…over the top.

“Yeah! There was this guy, and—”

“Hey, you guys, I need to know where you want this table,” one of the caterers said, popping his head around the kitchen door.

Iris started to struggle to her feet, but Ivy waved her off. “You sit and take a break and get the damn salad done already. There are rumblings in the ranks that no one has brought the famous McLain salad out yet. I’ll go.” She snagged another apple slice and headed out the door, their voices cut off as the kitchen door thunked closed behind them.

A guy…Iris wondered what that was all about. She’d seen Ivy talking to Austin earlier, although she’d only been watching them through the kitchen window, and thus couldn’t hear what was being said. Ivy had almost looked like she was…flirting with Austin, which just couldn’t be right. Ivy didn’t do cowboys or extension agents, which just happened to be what Austin was.

Well, that and one of Declan’s closest friends.

Austin wasn’t from around there – he grew up in the panhandle – but apparently him and Dec had met when Declan had broken up with her and moved up north to the U of I to get his bachelor’s degree.

Although Iris tried her hardest not to think about that time in their lives – it was damn depressing, if she let herself think about it too much – she did have to admit that Austin was one good result out of the whole thing. The three of them had hung out a few times, and Iris had found the soft-spoken cowboy to be a real gentleman. Declan had invited him to move to Long Valley, apparently, when the previous extension agent had retired, and Austin had been in town ever since.

Well, whether that was the guy in question or not, Ivy wasn’t going to be happy once she figured out who he was. She lived in California and was comfortable there. Honestly, she was a snot when it came to small towns located in Idaho, and even worse when it came to cowboys who lived in small towns located in Idaho.

Iris was surprised Austin had managed to get Ivy to even talk to him.

“Hey, Cookie,” Declan’s deep voice rumbled behind her, just as he dropped a kiss on the crown of her head. 

“Oh hi!” she said, jumping about five feet in the air. Okay, not really that far – she couldn’t jump that high even before her accident – but plenty high enough in her estimation. He laughed down at her as she panted, her hand over her heart. 

“I really shouldn’t sneak up on you when you have a knife in your hand,” he said dryly. “I’m thinking major damage could happen that way.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, not willing to admit he was right. “Humph,” she grumbled, which was as good of a come back as she could come up with.

And even she admitted that it wasn’t very good.

“You almost done? There are a lot of guests out there.” He stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders as she continued to chop her way through the potatoes.

“I wish,” she groused. “It’ll be a while. You should go out there and mingle, though. I’ll be along as soon as I’m done.” Although, his hands on her shoulders did feel heavenly…

He moved away, and she sighed.

“All right, if you insist,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel abandoned, all alone in the kitchen.”

“Oh, I’m not alone,” she said, waving her knife around in the air breezily. “The caterers come in quite regularly.”

Declan laughed. “All right,” he said, dropping a kiss on top of her head again. “I’ll see you outside when you’re done?”

“Sounds good.” 

She watched him walk out the door, the easy sway of his hips almost hypnotic. Damn, he was a good-looking guy. And for some reason unbeknownst to her, he didn’t seem to mind that she was a cripple.

She figured life just didn’t get any better than that.