A Christmas Delight

20. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Joel

I ’m done with the bookcase, and the woman who’s been hounding me about it is coming to pick it up soon. In the meantime, I’ve started a new project, something that has nothing to do with a client’s order. I like to do something just for fun after I’ve finished several orders. The coffee cups were made on my own time. Now I’m sanding a wooden box with only Maisie in mind. Trying to get her out of my head is pointless, so I might as well turn this energy into something productive. It’ll be a Christmas gift for her. I hope she’ll like it.

We’ve only been dating for a week, but I already feel so close to her. It’s scary, falling so hard for someone so fast, especially after I was sure I didn’t want to be with anyone.

Maisie showed me the Donut Delight’s kitchen. I got to see how she made the donuts, and I’m in awe of the work she does every day. In return, I showed her my garage, the kind of things I make for clients even though I didn’t think it would be of any interest to her. I was wrong. She asked me hundreds of questions, admiring my works in progress. It’s stupid, but it made me feel good. Important.

We’ve been on another picnic. I took her to a French restaurant in the neighboring town, and we had a fantastic evening. I’ll have to take her to the ice-skating rink at some point. She said she’d been wanting to go, despite not being very comfortable on skates.

My mind races as I work, thinking of all the things I want to do with her. The icy breeze from the wide-open door chills me, but I like leaving the door open and seeing the view. The sound of tires crunching in the snow grabs my attention. I stop what I’m doing and head outside. A car has pulled up behind my pickup truck, and I freeze on the spot, feeling as though I’ve been punched in the gut. That white car is familiar. Extremely familiar. It must be a coincidence. This is just a client coming to pick up her order, even though I can deliver.

An ominous voice slithers in my mind. Why did she insist on picking it up herself?

My stomach drops as the woman gets out of her car. Tall and slender, with bright auburn hair worn into an elegant bun.

“Hi, Joel,” Catherine, my ex-fiancée, says.

I stare at her, my words jumbling in my head. “You wanted my address,” I finally say. “And you didn’t want to give me yours because I would have known right away who you were.”

“Yes. And you wouldn’t have come. But I wanted to see you. And talk to you. You blocked my number, and the number of my family and friends.”

“For good reasons. How did you even contact me?”

“I bought a new phone.”

“For Christ’s sake.”

She takes a step forward. “I’m sorry about what happened after we broke up. They shouldn’t have done what they did.”

My jaw clenches. “You caused all that.”

“Can we sit down and talk?”

I swallow. All these horrible memories flood back to me. It wasn’t enough for her to cheat on me. She had to get all of her family and friends on her side, telling them I was the bad guy and allowing them to harass me and call me all sorts of names.

“Your order is ready. I’ll put it in your trunk, and then you’ll be on your way.”

I turn away and stride to my garage, though I can hear the click of her heels following me.

“Please, Joel. Let’s just talk.”

I enter the garage and grab the bookshelf, prepared to lift it, but she stops me, a hand on my arm. It almost makes me flinch, and I take a step back.

“I’m sorry for what happened, okay?”

“I’m sure you are,” I say through clenched teeth.

Catherine sighs, cocking her head. “You carry some of the blame.”

“Oh, come on—”

“You cancelled the wedding at the last minute. I had my wedding dress on!”

“What the hell was I supposed to do after what you did?”

“Did it occur to you that I wouldn’t have done that if you had been more present?”

I scoff and grab the bookshelf, lifting it off the ground. “No. No. Don’t put that crap on me.”

“You always worked so much,” Catherine says as she follows me to her car. “You never had enough time for me. I was lonely.”

“I was starting my business.”

“Still, you could have stopped all of this well before our wedding, but instead you chose to humiliate me in front of everyone I know.”

I fit the bookcase in the large trunk, my head pounding.

“Imagine how hard it was for me to stand there in my wedding dress, announcing to everyone that the wedding was off because you’d run away.”

I slam the trunk shut and turn to her, my fists clenched so tight my nails are digging in my skin. “What do you want? You start by saying you’re sorry, that you want to talk, and now you’re blaming me for the way things ended?”

“I’m just…” She sighs again, her shoulders dropping, and takes a step in my direction. “I want to put all that behind us. I would like to work things out.” She reaches for my hand, but I shake her away.

“After all this time? Why?” I study her as she tries to come up with a good excuse. “Ah, I see. Noah left you, didn’t he?”

A wince twists her lips. “It has nothing to do with him.”

“But it does. You had a good run, and now that he’s gone, and you can’t stand to find yourself alone, you’re running back to me. I’m sorry but it’s too late. I’ve moved on.”

A scoff escapes her. “Really? You mean to tell me you like being alone? Be serious, Joel.”

“Who says he’s alone?” a voice says, startling us both. Brent stands at the end of the driveway, his hands buried deep in his pockets, and his eyes glaring daggers at her. “He’s happier with Maisie than I’ve ever seen him. So, if you could hit the road now, that would be great.”

My jaw tightens. I appreciate my little brother standing up for me, but I wish he hadn’t mentioned Maisie. “I don’t even want the rest of the payment,” I say, hoping that’ll get her on the road and far, far away from me. From us. “Just take your shelf and leave.”

She bites her lips, her gaze switching from me to Brent, but after a second, she opens the car door. “Actually, I’ll be in town for a little while. I’ve never spent much time here when we were dating. I’d like to get to know more the town you grew up in.”

“In the three years we dated, you were never interested in Brindlewood.”

“Well, I’m here now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get to meet this Maisie person. I’ll see you around.”

Catherine shuts the door and starts her car. Brent stands next to me as we watch her driving away.

“What the hell is she doing here?” he asks.

“She ordered a bookcase.”

“Why would you make a bookcase for your ex?”

“I didn’t know it was her. She tricked me so she could come here and talk to me.”

“Wow. Still as manipulative as before, I see.”

I wanna tell Brent he shouldn’t have said anything about Maisie, but instead all the things Catherine said and the things that happened swirl in my head. “Do you think I should have handled things differently?”

Brent does a double take as though I’ve lost my mind. “What? When?”

“When I broke things off. I just left her to deal with everything.”

“Because she was cheating on you. She got what she deserved.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

Brent stands in front of me, scowling. “Don’t mess things up, dude.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you, Joel. A few weeks ago, you were swearing you’d never date anyone again, and now you’re with Maisie. I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time, and I’d really like it if you didn’t screw that up.”

“Why would I?”

“Because you have trust issues. Because Catherine got into your head. You’re already questioning yourself. Don’t let your guilt and self-hatred take over and mess up something good. Keep yourself in check.”

“I don’t want to mess it up.”

“I know you don’t. But I also know you will if you get into your own head. So, let go of the past, yeah?”

I try to grin. “Will you let go of the past? Dad invited Maisie for a family dinner tomorrow.”

Brent’s mischievous smile splits his face. “I know.”

I can’t believe my dad did that. We went to the Donut Delight the other day after lunch, and there he went, inviting Maisie to a family dinner. If he had asked me first, I would have told him it was way too early for that. I could tell Maisie was surprised by the invitation. Her eyebrows shot up, and her gaze flicked to me as though checking with me if it was alright to say yes. Dad could feel her hesitation, and so he invited Nina as well, trying to pretend the invitation had nothing to do with the fact that Maisie and I are dating. In the end, Nina declined, having already made plans.

“Don’t bring up the past to embarrass me,” I say.

“Eh, pretty sure Dad will do that by showing your baby pictures, talk about your ice hockey days, or the name of your first crush. But also, yes, I’ll absolutely embarrass you. That day we made a huge pile of leaves to jump on, and you jumped from your window and broke your ankle? You bet it’ll come up.”

“Jerk.”

“Idiot. But you know what? I’m only going to do it because Maisie can handle it. She chose you. You know, for some unknown reason.”

I shove him, making him laugh. “I’ll be fine. I won’t mess it up.”

“You better not, or I’ll kick your ass.”

I invite him inside to get coffee, fighting to keep a smile on my face. Brent’s right. Maisie chose me. She likes me the way I am. It’ll be fine, I have nothing to worry about.

Except that Catherine is in town, and she knows Maisie’s name. But surely, she won’t do a thing about it.

Right?