A Christmas Delight

14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Maisie

J oel turns around as my mother comes in. She looks away from us, though, at the tree in the living room.

“Hi,” I say, trying to keep my voice light but failing at it.

Mom turns to us and sees Joel. She’s upset, for sure, but forces a fake smile on her face to keep up appearances.

“Joel, you remember my mom, Doris? Mom, this is Joel.”

“I didn’t know you two knew each other outside of the tree farm,” she says.

“We’re neighbors.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”

Joel stands up. “I won’t bother you any longer.”

Bother me? I haven’t had this much fun in I don’t know how long, more than he could ever know. “Wait, let me give you some cookies.”

“That’s a good idea,” Mom says, nudging Joel with an elbow. “Otherwise, she’ll eat them all.”

I bite my tongue, pretending I didn’t hear that. She can say whatever she wants to me, but it’s always embarrassing when she says this kind of thing in front of other people. She used to do that every time Nina and Andy came to our house when we were teenagers, which horrified me.

I gently put the fresh baked cookies inside a plastic box, making sure I don’t destroy them, then put the lid on. There are only six cookies left out of eighteen. Hopefully, Joel will like them.

“There you go,” I say, handing him the box. “For the road.”

“Thanks. It’s a long way home.” He nods at Mom. “Nice to see you.”

“Likewise,” she answers, and it may sound genuine to an untrained ear, but I know better.

I walk Joel to the porch and close the door behind me. The sun has already dipped behind the mountains, and the chill cuts through me. I cross my arms against my chest to ward off the cold. “Enjoy your cookies.”

“I will. Thanks for making these.”

“I told you I didn’t make them specifically for you.” I did.

“Right,” he chuckles, turning away. “Have a good rest of your day. I hope your mom doesn’t give you too much of a hard time.”

As he turns away, I call out to him. “Joel.”

He pauses on the second step, raising his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

I walk to the edge of the small porch. From here, I’m almost as tall as him, but not quite, despite being one step higher. “Just… Thank you. For today. I know I said it already. But that meant a lot to me. You even endured the decorating and the songs.”

He’s close. My hands are burning to reach out and touch him. Should I hug him? Would it be weird? After today, after what he did for me, maybe it won’t be.

His eyes are on me, then briefly flick to my lips. Chills run down my arms.

“It was my pleasure,” he says, his voice low, almost a whisper.

Joel leans in, just an inch. I do too, longing to feel his lips on mine.

The door opens behind me. “Maisie, you’re almost out of tea. We should get some later.”

I startle, breaking eye-contact with Joel. “Okay.”

Joel descends the last two steps, the distance between us increasing. “I’ll see you later.”

I nod, swallowing my disappointment. “Yeah. See you later.”

My mom has gone back inside the house, leaving the door wide open. She did it on purpose, I am convinced of it. Huffing in frustration, I slip back inside and shut the door behind me. Mom is in the kitchen, stirring her tea bag in a cup of steaming water. Her eyes briefly flick to my face before she casts them down again. She’s mad, and she wants to make sure I know it, only I’ve had too much of a good day to engage in that nonsense.

Instead, I grab two cookies from the rack and head to the living room, flopping down in my armchair. I cross my legs, gazing at my beautiful Christmas tree as I bite a cookie, then take my knitting needles and get to work on the scarf.

“I’ve decided not to go on a date with Finn,” I announce, focused on the wool.

Mom comes into the room, tea in hand, and sits at the dining table instead of the couch. “You do whatever you want, I can’t force you. It’s not like you care about what I think.”

“I care. I just don’t think I should go on a date with someone I don’t like.”

“You don’t know if you like him or not. Not until you get to know him.”

I don’t answer. I knit away, pretending the atmosphere isn’t as heavy as it is.

“Is it because of that guy?” she asks. “Your neighbor who works at the Christmas tree farm? You can do better.”

I drop my needles, looking at her. “He helps his dad at the tree farm. But he’s a woodworker. He’s an entrepreneur, like me. And why would that bother you? I thought you wanted me to be with someone?”

“But not anyone.”

“Well, sorry you didn’t choose him.”

Only Christmas songs fill the space for a minute, which feels agonizingly long.

“I don’t feel welcome here,” Mom says, tightening her lips.

“Mom…”

“You left me and disappeared today. You went behind my back.”

“If I hadn’t gotten a tree, I would have gone to work anyways. And I didn’t tell you about the tree because I knew you’d try to convince me not to get it.”

“How much did that even cost? You already have a tree, it’s stupid to spend more money for a real one.”

I pause the knitting again. “I didn’t pay for it. Joel chopped it down for me. We went to the mountain to find it.”

She pauses, a flash of hurt fleeting over her face. “I would have liked to do that. But apparently, I’m bothering you, so…”

Guilt fills me again, as it always does. “I didn’t think you’d want to go chop a tree in the woods.”

“You could have asked.”

I hate to feel like I’ve hurt her, but I have no regrets. It was too good of a day with Joel.

“I did what you’ve asked of me,” she says. “I’m trying to work on forgiving Frank.”

Wow, she still thinks he’s in the wrong. Okay.

“But you? You didn’t hold up your end of the bargain,” she continues, raising a finger at me, like she used to do when she scolded me as a kid.

That may not be entirely false. The deal was for me to go on a date with Finn if she called Frank. To be fair, though, she didn’t call Frank. I tricked her into talking to him, which was a dick move. Am I a dick? I don’t want to be.

“Okay, I’ll go out with Finn,” I hear myself say, which I hate. “But if it doesn’t go well, I’m done.”

She shrugs, biting back on a satisfied smile. “Okay.”

I should feel better. She’s content for now. But I’m not. A knot twists my guts, a knot that has nothing to do with the excitement I felt this morning before meeting Joel. This knot is vicious and painful. Maybe it’s my imagination, but if I’m right, and Joel was about to kiss me before, he cannot know I’m going out with Finn.

But if you lie to him, then you’re the bad person you don’t want to be.

He needs to know. Doesn’t he? I look down at my scarf. I messed up the pattern completely. Everything I’ve knitted since I sat down needs to be undone, that’s how bad my focus is.

“What do you think of my tree?” I ask, changing the subject.

She purses her lips, looking at it. “There’s a lot of things on it. I like it when it’s simpler, more elegant.”

Maisie, you noodle head. Why did you even ask?

“I wasn’t aiming for elegance. I was aiming for cute and cheery.”

“Then I guess it’s fine.”

I admire my tree, a pleasant little chill running over my arms at the memory of Joel lifting me off the floor to help me put the bow at the top. This tree isn’t for my mom to like. It’s only for me. “I like it. I love it, even.”

I suddenly shove the half-finished scarf inside my basket and grab a new ball of yarn. There’s nothing I can do for Joel that will compete with what he did for me today, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least do something.

And he doesn’t need to know about Finn. I’ll go out with the guy once and that’s it. It’s not like anything will happen, I’m not attracted to him.

It’ll be just fine.