Chapter 16

SIXTEEN

ANDY

“I thought you and Willow would be arriving together.” Molly leaned against the doorframe and had this confused look on her face.

“Well, hello to you, too.” I took a step forward and kissed her cheek. “We only talked about meeting here. I could’ve picked her up.” She swatted her hand against my arm. “Ow, what was that for?”

“She mentioned something about you being a perfect gentleman.” She rolled her eyes and turned to head into the kitchen.

“What does that mean?” I followed behind her.

“A perfect gentleman picks the lady up so she doesn’t have to drive.”

“No, no, wait a minute.” Jackson, Anika’s boyfriend, interjected. “Are you officially dating?”

“I mean, not officially, but maybe, I don’t know.” We had been talking more, but I didn’t know if it was fair to say we were in the dating category.

“They’re dating.” Anika covered Jackson’s mouth.

“Um, define dating?” Jackson grabbed Anika’s hand and tugged her closer to his body.

“Willow told us you talk every day.” She glanced my way for confirmation.

“That’s true. I’ve been checking in to see if the tree was destroyed.” I shrugged. “She didn’t know how the new kitten and puppy would react.”

Jackson scowled. “And?”

“And what?” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Have you been on an actual date?” Jackson grabbed a chip and dipped it into some dip.

“Yeah, I took her to Razem.” I leaned my hand on the counter. “Once for August’s special hot chocolate and then for dinner.”

“And you both looked very cozy together.” August stepped into the room and shoved his hands in his pants pockets.

The room erupted in laughter.

“You’re dating.” Jackson held his hand up. “Like it or not, it’s happening.”

“You like it, right?” Molly wrapped her arm around my bicep.

“Um, yeah.” I glanced down at her. “I’m enjoying my time with her.” The doorbell rang. Hopefully, it was Willow. I needed a distraction. “It might be Willow; I’ll grab it.”

In unison, everyone said, “Ohhhhhh.” I held my middle finger up as I left the room.

There was a little window on the right side of the door. It was Willow. I swung the door open and burst out laughing. “How?”

She glanced at her sweater and then at me. “Wait, how is that possible?”

“I bought my sweater a few hours before we ran into each other.”

“This is insane.” She stepped inside.

Molly ran down the hall to greet Willow. “Hey–” she looked over at me and back at Willow– “Um…”

“I didn’t consult with him. You were there when I bought my sweater.” She held her hands up. “This is crazy.”

“What’s wrong?” Anika stepped into the small space and burst out laughing. “We took a trip to Traverse City to avoid this. How the hell did you buy the same ugly sweater?”

“Does that mean they are disqualified from the competition?” Jackson was standing at the end of the hallway next to the kitchen.

“Oh, hush.” Molly and Anika grabbed a stuffed Santa and Mrs. Claus to throw at him.

I stepped closer to Willow. “Well, this is a fun twist on the day.”

“Ya think.” She laughed and grabbed my hand to head into the kitchen.

The kitchen was big but felt small, with a room full of people.

Anika, Jackson, Molly, Jasper, Mack, August, Julian, Eddie, Sarah, Holland, Jen, Chef Nolan, Jake, Milo, and Angie were all invited. It took everyone a few minutes to greet Willow.

“Okay, now that everyone is here.” Molly rubbed her hands together. “It’s time to make gingerbread houses. We have enough supplies to make four houses, so break up into teams of four or five people.”

Willow and I were on Mack, August, and Julian’s team, which was awkward. I still had no idea if August and Mack were dating. Did Julian know about the kiss?

“She’s timing us?” Willow had her hand on a cookie for the side of the house.

“Molly is serious about competitions.” My hand was on the container of frosting. “That’s why she won the Crystal Shores pie contest six years in a row. Have you seen the Welcome to Crystal Shores sign when you drive into town?”

“Home of the chocolate lemon chess pie. It’s my favorite pie at the bakery.”

“Yup, it’s also her most famous recipe.”

Once Molly blew the whistle, everyone was frantically trying to assemble the gingerbread houses. Cookies fell on the floor, candy scattered in all directions, and frosting ended up on our faces, hands, and sweaters.

August had accidentally dropped the cookies for the roof, so we were immediately disqualified. I pulled out a chair for Willow to sit and watch the rest of the teams work against the clock to make the most unique house.

“Time,” Molly yelled sixty minutes later.

“Hey,” I bent down and whispered in Willow’s ear. “Can we talk?”

She glanced up at me and smiled. “Of course.” We walked hand in hand into the living room. “Everything okay?”

It was still loud in the living room from laughter. It would take a village to clean up the mess we had just created.

“More than okay.” I took a step closer and grabbed her other hand. “I wanted to say thank you.”

“For what?” She smiled.

“Well, I know you had a list to complete.”

“And it is officially all checked off.” She jumped up and down with excitement.

“I didn’t have a list, but if I did, it would have one item on the list.”

“Oh, yeah.” She squeezed my hands. “What would that item be?”

“To let go of the past.”

She dropped her head and nodded. “Yeah, I feel that.” She lifted her head. “So.”

“What?”

“Did you let it go?”

“It took some extra work, but I believe I did.” I winked. “Eating too many pastries in Traverse City sealed the deal.”

She groaned. “I’m still full. Why didn’t you stop me from overeating?”

“Would you have stopped if I said something?”

“No.” She burst out laughing. “That browned butter cherry blondie still brings a tear to my eye.”

“We’ll have to go on a road trip and get more.” I moved a strand of hair behind her ear.

“That would be wonderful.” She rested her hands on my chest. “I should probably say thank you, too.”

“Oh, what for?”

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could fall in love with Christmas.” She slid her hand up and looped it around my neck. “I thought it was impossible to find the Christmas spirit again. I’m glad you all proved me wrong.”

“Me, too.” I bent and captured her lips.

“Wait.” She leaned back a few inches and placed her index finger over my lips. “I need to share one more secret with you.”

“Okay.” I turned my head to the side, curious about what it could be.

“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious: your sweater is uglier than mine.”

“We’re wearing the same sweater.”

“I see a few differences. Plus–” she stepped out of my embrace– “you must admit, it looks way better on me.”

I tried to reach forward and tickle her side, but she ran to the other side of the room. We chased each other for a few minutes until she stumbled and fell onto the couch. I was right on her heels, so I slipped and fell on top of her. “I give up; you look better in the sweater.” I brushed my nose back and forth over hers.

She placed her hands on either side of my face. “There is something we can agree on.”

“Tell me.” I kissed her.

“We look better happy.” She kissed me.

“Yeah, you do.” Molly and Anika cheered.