A Christmas Delight

15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

I t’s snowing today. Big, fat snowflakes are floating down, coating the cars and the sidewalk with fresh powder. The Donut Delight is as busy as usual though, tempting pedestrians with the smell of hot coffee and warm, soft donuts.

Nina has just arrived and is behind the counter while I’m in the kitchen, making a new batch. I came earlier than I should have this morning. Sleep kept eluding me, and baking is keeping me awake now. It feels good to be alone after a morning of talking to customers. It allows me to clear my head while I focus on the task, and by the time I’m done making my batches, I feel tired but a little lighter, though I suspect it won’t last long. It feels as though a brick is sitting in the pit of my stomach, and it won’t go away until I’ve gone on that date with Finn.

I’ll admit part of my stress is caused by the fact that it’s past ten, which means Joel should walk through the shop’s doors any minute to get his coffee. I put my apron away and make a quick stop to the bathroom, checking that my hair is in place and that I don’t have icing stains on my sweater. It’s green and white with snowflakes and reindeer today.

I freeze as I hear a man’s voice and listen. It’s not Joel. It’s Andy, already chatting with Nina. Bummer. I was hoping he wouldn’t come until later. I shouldn’t have brought what I made for Joel here. Now instead of one person making fun of me, there will be two. Oh well. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it won’t be the last.

“Hey, Maisie,” Andy says when he sees me, then he frowns. “Did you put on makeup?”

I shrug. “No more than usual.”

Nina gives Andy a glance. “Yes, she did. Sexy Lumberjack should come and get his coffee right about now.”

Heat rises to my cheeks, and I giggle. “Shut up.”

“How was your date yesterday?” Andy asks.

“You already know.” It’s not like I didn’t send them both a million pictures of the view and my Christmas tree yesterday evening. “And it wasn’t a date.”

Nina throws an arm around my shoulders, beaming at me. “It was too romantic not to be a date. And if it wasn’t, my guess is that he’s going to ask you out, like, soon.”

A smile is tugging at my lips. Before Joel took me to the mountains to get my tree, I would never have thought this possible. But that day changed my perception on things. It felt like we were close. We opened up to each other. And then there was that moment on my porch. “You think?”

She nods, squeezing me at the same time, and lays her head on my shoulder. “I’m happy for you.”

“Okay, calm down. There’s nothing to be happy about yet,” I say, patting her arm.

“Yes, there is. You’re letting someone in. That’s huge.”

I chuckle. “Thank you.”

“Though I’m a bit sad we might not both become cat ladies.”

“I can still be a cat lady. A man won’t change that.”

“What’s this about being cat ladies?” Andy asks.

“Men suck,” Nina answers, letting go of me. “Most of them, anyway. Cats rule.”

“Most of them,” he answers. “Some are dicks.”

“I’ll still take a dick cat over a dick man.”

Andy laughs, though a little flash of disappointment fleets through his eyes. I guess their situation hasn’t evolved.

A large figure cuts through the snow outside, making my heart thump harder. “Okay. Scram.”

They both laugh and move to a small table close to the window, Nina taking this opportunity to take a coffee break. The shop being small, they’ll still hear everything, but it’s better than having them right next to me.

Joel pushes the door open, and the bell above him jingles. Snow has piled on his large shoulders and his hair, but his jacket is open, as usual. He walks up to me, his homemade cup in hand, a smile teasing the corner of his lips. I have to bite back on my own smile, so I don’t look like an idiot.

“Good morning,” I say.

“Hi.”

“The usual?”

“Please.” His eyes wonder over our selection of donuts. “And one of those red-glazed donuts.”

“You got it.”

My hands shake slightly as I place his cup on the coffee machine. What I made for him seemed like a good idea yesterday evening, now not so much. I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t laugh in my face.

I fetch the donut with the prettiest gingerbread man and delicately put it in a paper bag, then place it next to Joel’s cup. “On the house for today.”

He scowls at me. “No, you already did that once.”

“It’s for the tree. And the picnic. And all the trouble.”

Nina giggles somewhere to my right, but I refuse to look at her.

Joel’s brown eyes sear into me. “It was no trouble. But thank you.” He takes the bag and is about to grab the cup.

“Also, um…” I clear my throat. “I have something for you.” I reach for my bag under the counter and take out the little thing I made yesterday. I assembled red and black little squares together into a pouch, then made the top white. It looks like Joel’s jacket. I fit it around the cup, satisfied to see that the size is just right. “It’s a sweater for your cup, and—oh my God, I just realized how stupid it sounds.”

He cocks an eyebrow, the hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips. “A sweater?”

“Yeah, you know, so you don’t burn your fingers anymore. A cup holder. It’s a cup holder.”

The giggling to my right has turned into chortling. There’s some wheezing too. I can’t believe I have an audience for this. I’m going to kill them if I don’t die of embarrassment first.

Joel picks up the cup and inspects the cup holder made of yarn, or what I so epically, stupidly called ‘a cup sweater.’ He briefly glances to his left, noticing the two buffoons I have for friends, while I twist my fingers together nervously.

“I love it,” he says, his eyes on me again. “That’s a great idea.”

“Really? You like it?”

“I do. I might need a second one. A spare, just in case.”

“Of course,” I say too loud, but I don’t care at that point. “I’d be happy to make you another one.”

His mouth opens a fraction, and he glances again at my friends. I don’t tear my eyes from him. He looks like he wants to say something, but we’re lacking privacy.

Ask me out. Please, ask me out. You can’t not know I’ll say yes.

“I was wondering… Do you know about the Brindlewood Christmas fair?” he asks.

“No, but that sounds fun.”

“Yeah, it’s your typical fair, games, and rides. It starts around the fifteenth and goes on until just after Christmas.”

He’s going to ask me out. I try not to stare too intensely at him. “Nice. I can’t wait to check that out.”

With you. I’d love to check it out with you.

Joel clears his throat, his gaze fleeting to Andy and Nina for half a second. These two really need to go away and leave us alone. “There’s a Ferris wheel too. You get a really nice view of the village and the mountains when you’re at the top.”

I chuckle. “Do you remember me trying to climb a stepladder?”

Joel laughs. “I’d argue a Ferris wheel is safer than a stepladder.”

“Wait,” Andy says, joining us. I glare daggers at him, but he’s oblivious to it. “I saw a flyer for this fair, they have a lot of vendors in there, right?”

“Yeah,” Joel answers, taking a step back from the counter, and I can tell that if, and only if, he really was going to ask me out, that ship has sailed. Thanks, Andy.

“Do you think the Donut Delight could be a vendor there?” Andy asks.

“That’s possible, yeah.”

“That would be great for your business, right?” Andy tells me and Nina, who has joined us too.

“Actually, yeah. It would be,” she says.

“A lot of people from neighboring towns come to the fair,” Joel says. “So yeah, I suppose you’d make your business known outside of Brindlewood.”

“That would be great.” I turn to Nina. “We have to figure out who to talk to about this. For all we know, it’s too late to get a spot.”

“I can talk to my dad about it if you want,” Joel tells us. “He knows the organizers. He knows everyone in this town, really. He could ask them on your behalf.”

“Really? That’d be amazing, thank you so much.”

He smiles, and I feel myself melting. “Of course. I’m gonna let you work now. I’ll let you know if I hear anything back.”

“Okay. Thanks again.”

“Have a good day, Maisie.” He raises the cup, the cup holder-sweater fitted around it. “Thank you for this.”

“Of course. See you around.”

He smiles at me and leaves the shop. It makes me happy to see that he isn’t struggling with his hot coffee cup anymore.

“He wants another one. He loved the gift,” I tell my friends, unable to keep my excitement to myself. “And we might have a spot at that Christmas fair, that’s awesome!”

“It is,” Nina says.

“By the way,” I add, remembering how they snickered like kids when I gave Joel my gift, “you guys need to behave. What’s wrong with you?”

“I guess she was right,” Andy says, nodding toward Nina. “He’s got it bad for you.”

My interest is piqued. “You think so?” Even I think so, but the nasty little voice in my head keeps telling me I’m wrong, and I need reassurance.

“A sweater for his cup? And he says he loves it? Yeah. Dude’s got a crush.”

“Maybe he does love it.”

“Eh.”

Nina punches his arm. “Of course he does. He loves that she took the time to make this for him. It’s a wonderful gift.”

“Weren’t you wheezing like a psycho earlier?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“Maybe. But I’m not the one who ruined the moment by literally putting myself in between the two of you.” She glares at Andy.

He looks confused for a second. “What? What did I do? I was trying to help your business.”

“I’m very grateful, thank you,” she says. “But he was trying to ask her out, and because of you he didn’t.”

“Oh, come on.”

My heart skips a beat. “You think he was going to ask me out?”

“Of course. Come on, the fair, the Ferris wheel thing? He totally wanted you to go with him.”

I scowl at Andy. “I’m both grateful to you for the fair and mad at you.”

“Sorry, I guess.”

“That said,” Nina says, “you can’t possibly go on a date with Finn. Imagine if Joel found out. He’d be hurt.”

She’s right. I know she’s right. And that heavy brick settles back in the pit of my stomach at the thought.

“It’s not an actual date,” Andy says. “She’ll have dinner and call it a day. He doesn’t even have to know.”

“Yeah.” I bite on my thumbnail, thinking. “It’s definitely not a date. I don’t want it to be. But at the same time, my mom guilt tripped me yesterday when I said I didn’t want to go out with him anymore. I just want her out of my house.”

“But is that going to be enough?” Nina asks, and I already know the answer. “Or is she going to ask for more things that you feel you can’t refuse?”

“I don’t know. But that was the deal. I’ll just get it over with, and then I’ll be free to do as I please.”

“Unless your mom has other plans. I don’t think you’ll do as you please as long as she’s here.”

It stings because it’s true. I’ll go on that stupid date with Finn, and then what? Will that make Mom talk to Frank more? Will that make her go home? I don’t think so. Maybe I need to have another chat with Frank to speed up their reconciliation.

But in the meantime, I’m going to relish the giddy joy that has been filling me since Joel came in. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be the one asking him out once my obligation has been checked off the list.