Cabin Fever With My First Flame (Sweet Christmas Kisses)

17. Bailey

Chapter seventeen

Bailey

Is it wrong that I’m a bit excited that I have another few hours to spend with Finn? It should be since I told him that friendship is the only thing on the menu. Then again, he’s been as sweet as the homemade hot chocolate I’m whisking, and he is a rather tempting treat.

Micah comes into the kitchen after a fresh shower and peaks over my shoulder. “Whatcha’ makin’?” he asks.

“Sea salt hot chocolate. I thought you might want something to warm your insides after spending all day shoveling snow. Dinner will be ready soon.” I ladle some of the creamy liquid into a mug for him, which is the equivalent of Pavlov ringing his bell. All the other kids come over once they hear the first drop hit the bottom of the cup.

Micah goes to the pantry, grabs a bag of miniature marshmallows, putting a small handful into his cup. He pours some into each of their mugs so that there is a layer of ooey gooey goodness on top.

I turn the heat down to low and continue whisking so that the milk doesn’t burn. “If you ever want a job, Micah, I’m hiring help once I get my bakery up and running.”

“I might take you up on that offer, and I’m sure Finn will approve as long as I get to bring home the day-old pastries,” he teases. “And don’t forget, as a junior firefighter, I can help you put out the flames when you inevitably burn the muffins because you’re staring at a hot firefighter.”

A blush creeps across my cheeks. Finn was always pretty to look at, but he’s like a fine wine that has gotten better with age. Instead of being simply fit and lean as he was in his youth, now his body is sculpted and muscular. Gone are the boyish features, replaced with a chiseled jawline and rugged look. “I wasn’t staring. I was distracted by the mess on the floor.”

Ella snorts. “You were distracted by the shirtless man cleaning up the mess. Don’t pretend that you weren’t.”

I ignore Ella and focus on Micah. “If everything goes according to plan, my shop should be open by mid to late spring. Ella will be working there on the weekends.”

“Can I work at your shop, too?” Ava asks. “I can be your taste tester!”

I tickle my daughter. “Of course you can. I can pay you in cupcakes!”

Finn finally returns and looks fantastic in a pair of dark-washed jeans and a cream-colored, cable-knit sweater over a burgundy T-shirt. “Sorry that it took me so long. I spoke with Chief Zimmerman, and he says the next storm isn’t supposed to hit us until Christmas Day. That should give us plenty of time to get you to your parents’ house.”

I fix him a mug of cocoa and one for myself before shutting off the burner. “What about the four of you? Are you spending Christmas with your parents, or are you spending it up here?” I ask as I inhale the chocolatey aroma before taking a sip.

He leans against the counter and glances over at the kids. “That was the plan, but with the roads being blocked and the state in lockdown, I doubt they’ll make it home in time.”

Isaac walks in and rinses out his cup before placing it in the dishwasher. “Grandma and Grandpa went on a cruise to Aruba.”

Finn smiles and hands Isaac a paper towel to wipe off his chocolate mustache. “Yes, they did. My dad retired last year from the investment firm, and they have been doing some traveling; mostly to California to help me with the boys. Their flight was supposed to get in tonight, but with the flights being canceled, they’re probably enjoying the extra time in Miami.”

“Have you tried to call them?” I ask, walking over to the landline and picking up the phone. There still isn’t a dial tone. “Never mind.”

Finn smirks. “Most people don’t have landlines anymore, so fixing it isn’t high on the priority list when other things need to be taken care of. Once we get into town, I’ll give my parents a call using my cell phone.”

I feel bad that Finn and the boys will be spending their first Christmas at Lake George all alone and say as much. “You shouldn’t be alone on Christmas.”

Finn sips his cocoa. “I have the boys with me, Bailey. I’m not alone. We’re together, and that’s what matters. As far as my parents are concerned, we’ll celebrate together when they get back. I’ve had to work on Christmas before, and so did Josiah. The boys understand that it’s important to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but the day itself doesn’t matter.”

“Does that mean you’ll be coming to the Christmas Eve service if it hasn’t been canceled? Pops and Nana do a full spread before we go, and there’s plenty of food. You can always join us. Isn’t that what friends do?”

One side of Finn’s mouth lifts, and the corners of his eyes crinkle. “You know the town is going to gossip if we have dinner with your family. ‘Friends’ is not what they are going to assume when they see us together.”

I take another sip and eye Finn. “They can talk all they want, but it doesn’t make it true. It’s just two families sharing a meal together. Besides, rumors only seem to travel within a select few. I never heard a peep about what was going on with your sister, and I talk to my mom every week. Even if she knew not to talk about you while I was married to Daniel, she didn’t tell me anything at all.”

Finn shrugs. “My parents mostly came out to visit us in California, and the few times we came home for the holidays, Jenny was doing okay. She specifically asked my parents not to say anything to the town folk because she didn’t want the looks of pity that would be thrown her way.”

“I miss her,” I say. “Because she was away at school, I wasn’t as close to her as I was to you. But we had some great talks when she would come home from college.”

“She adored you.” Finn glances down at his feet. “She never believed what Daniel said. She had more faith in you than I did. I’m so sorry.”

I set my mug in the sink now that the drink has gotten cold. I walk over toward the oven and check on the casserole. “What’s done is done, Finn, and I need you to stop apologizing. We were both young, and we both made mistakes. I could have fought harder for you or flown to California to confront you, yet I didn’t. But we have a clean slate now, right?”

Finn bobs his head. “Right. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“I know you were mad at me and hurt by what I had done, but why did you cut ties with Jenny? She wrote you a letter once, and you wrote back asking her never to write to you again. She loved you like a sister.”

I scrunch my nose, confused by what Finn is saying. “What are you talking about? Jenny never wrote to me, and I most certainly didn’t write to her telling her to stop all communication. Do you know what her letter said?”

Finn shakes his head. “No. I didn’t even know she had sent a letter until she received yours and was really upset. She threw it in the fire and said, ‘At least I tried.’”

I purse my lips in dismay. “I promise you, Finn. I never received a letter from your sister. If I had, I would have responded in kind—not coldly or harshly. I’ve always had too much respect for Jenny to do that.”

Ella walks into the room with Micah right behind her. They’re carrying the five remaining mugs, which are all empty. Micah rinses the cups and says with a great deal of hesitation, “Maybe it was your hubby?”

Ella begins to snap at Micah for insinuating her father could do such a thing and then thinks better of it. Her shoulders slump. “Micah might be right. Do you remember me saying that I learned of Finn’s existence because I overheard Dad talking to his friend Bryce? Dad wanted Bryce to keep you away from Finn. Maybe he intercepted Jenny’s letter and wrote back so that Finn wouldn’t learn the truth and come back for you.”

My heart breaks at the thought. After Daniel and I moved away from Lake George shortly after we were married, the phone calls from the few friends I had stopped abruptly. Until this very moment, I thought it was an “out of sight, out of mind” situation and that we all were busy moving on with our lives. When they didn’t answer or return my calls, I eventually gave up and shrugged it off. Now, I have to wonder if it wasn’t for entirely different reasons.

“I don’t know how your father expected Bryce to keep Finn and me separated. The town only has 3,500 people living in it year-round,” I tell her.

Micah bursts out in laughter, then points at Finn. “Bryce has been trying to set up Finn with the single ladies in town. He even convinced Finn to participate in the New Year’s Eve Bachelor auction! Bryce’s sister, Amanda, is salivating over the chance to ring in the New Year with a kiss from Finn.”

Finn scowls at Micah. “You’re not helping. Don’t you have a video game to play or a brother to taunt?”

Micah smirks. “Not at the moment.”

“It’s all right, Finn. We’re friends, and you can date whomever you please,” I say, trying my best not to choke on my words. The timer on the oven starts beeping, giving me the perfect excuse to turn my back toward Finn.

I don’t look at him as I pull the bubbling casserole from the oven, but I can feel his eyes boring into me. “Bailey, the auction is for a good cause, and if I had known you were going to be here, I wouldn’t have committed to it.”

I face the two teens. “Please go and fetch your siblings. Make sure they wash their hands thoroughly. We don’t need sticky fingers on the table.” They take the hint and give Finn and me a moment of privacy even though we can see the kids sitting in the living room, situated around the coffee table.

Finn steps close so that his body is mere inches from mine. He lowers his voice so that only I can hear. “All you have to do is say the word, and I won’t do the auction.”

I place my hand over his heart and look up at him with resignation. “Finn, you made a promise. Don’t let me stop you from keeping it.”