The Asheville Christmas Tradition (Carolina Christmas #4)

12. Hannah

Driving up the winding mountain road to the Christmas tree farm for the big family outing, a cocktail of mixed emotions had Hannah’s stomach in knots. Dread. Sadness. Uncertainty. And just a splash of…excitement.

All the feelings that had been rocking her since she’d broken up with Keith five days ago were rising to the surface, and her always astute and loving family would surely notice that he wasn’t there…and that she was emotional. Even if they didn’t, it was time to tell them the news, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

There hadn’t been any way to get out of the Chambers-MacPherson family trip to pick out the tree for the cabin, nor did she want to. The three sisters had organized the event and pronounced it a restart of an old family tradition, following the tree cutting with a party at Angie’s to decorate, bake, sing, and laugh.

Hannah didn’t feel like doing any of those things, but she also didn’t want to wallow in the post-breakup blues and ruin the holidays. Plus, she knew her family would be understanding and encouraging—maybe too encouraging. She didn’t want to hear a single person she loved confess that they had never really liked Keith.

So all that was where the dread came in.

And the sadness? Well, it hurt so much to think she’d wasted eleven years, which was really the only thing that made her shed a tear. Why did she stay so long? Why hadn’t he come after her? Why didn’t she miss him more? Everything about Keith made her sad.

The uncertainty was because Hannah had to face facts: she was well into her thirties and basically starting over as far as her future husband was concerned. The very idea kicked her in the gut and made her wonder if maybe her path was one of a lifetime of being single. Which wouldn’t be so bad, except, deep inside—she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone.

Which led to the splash of excitement and a slightly giddy feeling she tried to ignore. That could be explained in two words: Brandon Fletcher.

Chances were good that he’d be here tonight. She wasn’t sure what she’d say—if anything—but the spark of anticipation couldn’t be denied.

But first, family.

They were easy to spot as she drove up to a caravan of familiar cars, trucks, and a van waiting in the lot. The crew of Eve and her four kids, Noelle with Jace and Cassie, and Angie and Brooke, plus Dad and Bitsy. Caro pulled up next to her, waving wildly from the front seat, with Joshua barely waiting for Nate to park before he tried to climb out and join his cousins.

Hannah shook off all the swirling emotions and got out of the car, giving her sister a hug and a helping hand with baby Tyler in his car seat.

“Haven’t seen hide nor hair of you lately, Hannah,” Caro said as she eased Tyler into her arms. “What’s new?”

“Oh, you know, end of semester craziness. Holiday madness. Shopping insanity.”

“So basically, you’ve lost your mind.” She hoisted the baby on her hip.

“No I haven’t,” she said. “I’ve lost?—”

“Where’s Keith?”

“Him.”

Caro angled her head and frowned. “’Scuze me?”

“I’ve, um?—”

“There are our MacPherson girls!” Noelle came right up between them and put her arms around Caro and Hannah. “I feel like I haven’t seen you guys in ages.” She squeezed Hannah’s shoulder. “Check your texts once in a while, will ya?”

Hannah shot her a guilty look. She’d seen Noelle’s breezy messages and cute memes, but she knew if she replied, the truth would come out.

It had to sooner or later.

Caro brushed back some hair as she looked at Hannah. “So I shouldn’t take your ignoring me as a personal affront? Everyone’s being ghosted?”

“I broke up with Keith,” she said on just enough of a whisper that both women had to lean in as if they didn’t quite hear her.

But their dropped jaws said they had.

She braced for a barrage of questions or, worse, congratulations, but both of them simply wrapped her in a hug without saying a word.

“Can I get in on this?” Angie called.

“Me three,” Eve added.

They expanded the circle and soon it was a five-way hug, and Hannah murmured the news again. Eve and Angie looked as shocked as Caro and Noelle.

Hannah inched back and held up her hands. “Can I share all the deets later? I’m sure the kids are chomping at the bit to cut down a tree, and everyone is here. After we decorate the tree?”

“Of course!” Noelle gushed. “Just tell us how you’re doing.”

“Yes, please,” Caro said. “That’s all we care about. Not how it happened, or why.”

“How is uneventful, why is…” She gave a dry laugh. “You know why. And I’m fine, really. A little shellshocked, but I’m good. And I just want to have fun tonight and talk later.”

Everyone agreed and hugged her again, moving in a pack toward Bitsy and Sonny, who were surrounded by the younger boy cousins, all bouncing with excitement.

With the babies in strollers and all the jackets and gloves on tightly against a chilly mountaintop wind, they headed down a snow-crusted path toward the entrance. Just making the walk had Hannah thinking about the last time she was here, on a field trip, flirting with?—

“Welcome, everyone!”

Him .

Hannah hung back as Brandon greeted the gang with high-fives for the kids, handshakes for the adults, and a smile that…that she hadn’t forgotten. She listened as he explained where to go for the larger trees to cut—that got a big cheer from the boys—and that he and his dad were here to help if they needed it.

Still lingering behind Noelle and Caro, Hannah tucked her hands into her parka and looked around the rolling hills of the farm. The sun hadn’t quite set, giving a golden glow to everything as she turned, taking in a deep breath of the crisp air.

“Hey, I know you.”

Despite the coolness, a low-grade heat bubbled as she met the blue eyes she’d thought about more than a few times since she’d been here.

“Hello, Brandon,” she said with a smile, tipping her head toward the gang. “My second field trip in a week.”

He laughed and followed her gaze to Eve’s boys, who’d already taken off. “I have a feeling you’re not in charge of this bunch.”

“Not a chance. This is my family, as you might have guessed. Oh, Caro.” She eased her sister closer. “Have you ever met Brandon Fletcher?”

“You’re April’s little brother,” she said brightly. “How is your sister? We had some classes together in high school and I liked her so much.”

“She’s good. Lives in Tampa and is four months from Baby Number Three,” he told her. “Don’t make me whip out pictures of the other two. I’ll go all Uncle Brandon on you.”

She laughed and gave Hannah a playful elbow jab. “Just like our Aunt Hannah, here. Tell April I said hi.”

“I will.” He turned as Noelle and Eve stepped closer and, once again, Hannah did the introductions. Then one of Eve’s boys called, and they all said a quick goodbye and started off. Hannah hadn’t made it five steps when a light hand landed on her parka sleeve.

“Making another quick getaway?” Brandon asked with a tease in his voice.

She dug around for a quip that would be the perfect response—funny, light, flirtatious but not too much so. Instead, she stared at him like a fool.

“I guess you’re terrified I’ll make you face your fears again.”

“Face…my fears?” She had a feeling she was facing them.

“Snow tubing.”

“Oh, yeah.” Geez, Hannah. Get with it. “But that was fun.”

“The tubes are out if you want a nighttime run. No screaming kids. Well, none that you have to keep track of.”

“Oh, I…well, I’m with my family.”

“Another time, then?” he asked, looking hopeful and sweet and…way too real. Yes, he was attractive, but Hannah was barely out of a long relationship. She… couldn’t .

“Maybe,” she said quickly, glancing at the group and noticing Noelle had hung back to wait for her. “I better go.”

He gave a smile and a nod and she walked across the frozen grass, squeezing her eyes shut and wishing she could have done that whole exchange over again.

“Did you want to stay and talk to him?” Noelle asked.

Not yet. It was too soon. Much, much too soon. “Oh, no. I met him when I had my class up here for a field trip last week. He was just…asking about one of the kids who was scared to go tubing.”

“Oh, gotcha. He’s a cutie. Love the long hair, huh?”

“It’s too soon, Noelle,” she said quickly. “I know he’s great-looking—hard to ignore that—and he’s really nice, and I would like to talk to him but I honestly don’t even know how and I’m scared and it’s just so soon.”

Noelle stopped and gave an amused look. “I only said he was cute.”

Hannah laughed. “And I spewed all my churned-up emotions and complicated feelings and…stuff.”

“Relax and breathe, hon,” Noelle said, sliding an arm around her. “No pressure on you or anyone else.”

Hannah sighed, nodding. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Come on. Let’s cheer on the tree cutting.”

They let the subject drop as they made their way to an orchard where most of the family—the boys, especially—had surrounded a beauty waiting to be cut.

“I think we’ll need a good electric saw,” David said as they gathered around the biggest one.

“I’ve got that right here.” Brandon joined them, carrying a chainsaw as if it were as light as a pair of scissors.

“Oh, he reminds me of Jace,” Noelle whispered to Hannah.

“He doesn’t look like Jace,” Hannah replied.

“No, but I remember when we were here last year and Jace showed up with his saw looking like a hunk of a mountain man.” Noelle’s gaze shifted to her husband, who had just hoisted Cassie onto his shoulders so she could have a great view. “And now he’s mine.”

“It happened fast,” Hannah reflected. “I guess when you know, you know.”

“Oh, we knew when we were fifteen,” Noelle replied. “But, yeah, when you know, you know.” She turned and looked at Hannah. “You also know when it’s not right.”

She gave a sad smile. “Uh, it took eleven years to face that particular music. But I finally listened to the tune.”

Noelle leaned into her. “You okay, really?” she whispered, her voice nearly lost as the saw started screaming.

“I am, I promise. Tough time of year but it had to happen.” She let out a sigh. “You’re right, Noelle. When you know, you know. I’m just scared that…I’ll never know.”

“Stop it. I was older than you when I stumbled into Jace on Creekside Road, still certain I would spend my life alone in a Manhattan high-rise. Now?” She stuck out her boot. “I’m a ranch girl in love with a man I never saw coming.”

“Oh.” Hannah squeezed her eyes. “You’ve been an inspiration, maybe more than you know. I want that same happy ending, but I don’t even know where to look.”

“Well, I don’t know where you should look…” She said with a tease in her voice and the most imperceptible elbow jab. “Because we’re up to eight, no, make that nine times that cute guy has looked over here hoping to get your attention.”

“Really?” She felt her eyes widen but purposely didn’t look at where she knew he was standing. “He’s just being…”

“Interested,” Noelle said. “I know, I know, too soon. Oh, here comes the tree.”

Hannah looked up at the pine but met those piercing blue eyes pinned directly on her instead.

“Timber!” Sawyer screamed as his father stretched out his hands to keep everyone clear. “Somethin’s gonna fall!”

The pine landed with a noisy thud, a puff of powder, and a loud cheer from the family. But through it all, Hannah and Brandon held that gaze, only breaking when someone walked between them.

They cheered and gathered round while Brandon and two of his employees helped lift and carry the felled pine. As he passed, his arms around the trunk, he glanced at Hannah.

“Meet me at the sales shack in the front,” he said. “I want to show you something.”

He was gone before she could answer, moving rapidly in time with the three other men, leaving her standing to watch him disappear into the orchard.

When they left, she turned to Noelle, who wore a slightly smug “I told you so” smile.

“Tim ber ,” Noelle whispered. “Somethin’s definitely gonna fall.”

Hannah laughed as a shudder of that giddy excitement rolled through her.

She tried to wait. Tried to play a teeny bit hard to get. Tried to give the unexpected invitation a few minutes, so Hannah lingered with the family, enjoying the company and the air.

The kids wanted to go snow tubing, so taking a deep breath, she headed to the sales area of the farm. There, a wooden structure where precut trees were lined up for purchase—a temporary outdoor “shack” that went up every November and, she assumed, disappeared in January—was lit with vineyard lights and heat lamps.

Harry, his wife, and a few employees chatted with customers near a table with free steaming cups of coffee and hot chocolate.

She spotted Brandon, who was finishing tying a small tree to a minivan parked about twenty feet away. With her heart pounding more than it should, Hannah waited, leaning against a wooden railing, inhaling the scent of fresh-cut pine and winter air.

He jogged back as the van disappeared down the hill, giving her a wide smile of greeting.

“I need a break,” he said as he reached her, the tiniest bit breathless from carrying trees. “Take a walk with me?”

“Sure.”

He gestured for her to follow him through the parking area to a hilly area covered in snow.

“I know you don’t want to snow tube,” he said. “How do you feel about ice skating?”

“Now?”

“Well, it’s a busy night, so later, if you like. Or another time. I wasn’t sure you knew we have a skateable pond.”

“I know there’s a small lake here,” she said, remembering Eve had talked about skating there when the triplets were little.

“Different pond. Smaller, and secret.” He led her down a slope and around a curve to a path that seemed to hug the side of the hill. “You might want to plan your third field trip out here.”

Was that why he was bringing her out here? To plan another field trip?

No. He would have let go of her hand if that were the case.

As if he read her thoughts, he took a few steps ahead, holding back a tree branch that hung over the path.

“Okay, this part is steep, which is why not a lot of people know about it. Be careful, but it’s worth the risk.”

He put his arm around her and slowly led her down an embankment. With the waning light, she had to squint to see where they were going, but at the bottom, he guided her around a large grouping of thick pines.

“Look,” he said in a voice rich with reverence.

She exhaled at the sight. “Oh, wow.” Rolling hills, covered in trees and dusted in snow, surrounding a frozen pond that glistened in the fading light. The moon rose over a cabin tucked into the woods near the pond, offering up a scene that looked like someone had painted it.

“This is gorgeous,” she exclaimed.

“I live here now.” He gazed at the vista, pride in his eyes. “My parents’ house is up closer to the orchard, and I might move there after the holidays when they go to Tampa. For now, I’m here and I love it.”

“It’s spectacular,” she said, drinking it all in. “Is this…what you wanted to show me?”

“Yeah, this is my pond. Well, I guess it’s technically my dad’s, but I learned to skate here when I was really little, like two or three. Pushed my first puck over this pond, and got hockey fever.”

She split her attention from his delighted and proud expression to the icy pond, imagining him as a child learning to skate, then a young man gliding down the ice with a stick and a puck …then playing professionally.

“I know it’s not a great time to skate,” he said. “But I thought I’d have a better chance of getting you to say yes if I showed it to you before I asked you to come back sometime and ice skate with me.”

Her eyes widened as she realized he was definitely asking her on a date.

“It’s shallow and completely safe,” he said quickly, misreading her reaction. “I know you’re…scared.” At her look, he added, “I mean, you were a little cautious on the snow tubing.”

“I am scared,” she admitted on a whisper. “But not…of ice skating.”

“Oh, good, then maybe…” His voice faded as he studied her face and no doubt was smart enough to read her expression. “Of me?” he guessed.

She laughed softly. “Of…” How did she describe it? “I, uh, just broke up with someone.”

He lifted his brows hopefully. “I love it when I have good timing.”

“But I’m not sure it is,” she said. “I mean, it just happened, like five days ago, after…a long time together.” She grimaced. “Eleven years.”

“Whoa.” He drew back. “I guess I should have done some homework, but when I saw you tonight, I kind of…decided to try. You’re not ready to dip your toes in the water yet?”

“Or on the ice,” she said on a laugh. “But…wow. Thank you.”

He searched her face for a long moment, his own thoughts impossible to read. “Was it bad? Like cheating bad or…God, never mind. None of my business.”

“No, nothing like that,” she said. “I just wanted more than he was willing to give. You know, the whole thing…till death do us part and all that nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense,” he said, shockingly serious. “And I’m sorry for the breakup. Rough time of year, too.” He kind of shuffled a little, with a glimmer of shyness that just made him that much more attractive. “Guess we better get back. Our field trip’s done.”

Oh. Was it? She didn’t want it to be over. She didn’t want to leave him or turn him down or end this moment in the snowy valley.

She stayed stone still as he started to walk. After a few steps, he turned back and looked at her.

“I understand if it’s too soon, Hannah. But when you’re ready, I’ll be here. Skates are hanging beside the cabin door and if I’m not cutting down trees, I’m inside with a fire and a good book.”

She still didn’t move, frozen by fear and uncertainty going to war with how much she wanted to say yes.

Fear won, sadly.

A few hours later, with carols echoing through the cabin and the laughter of her family adding to the music, Hannah was still thinking about Brandon Fletcher and his invitation.

She’d filled in Caro, the triplets, and Aunt Bitsy on her breakup and not one of them said they were relieved or happy. No surprise, all they cared about was Hannah and if she was all right with things.

As the evening ended, Noelle got her alone in the kitchen, giving her a very expectant look.

“What?” Hannah asked on a laugh.

“You know what. You disappeared with cute tree farmer guy.”

“Brandon,” she said. “And we just took a walk.”

“And…”

“And he asked me to go skating with him and I…”

“Told him it was too soon,” Noelle guessed with a sad and frustrated sigh.

“Because it is.”

Noelle looked like she didn’t agree but understood. “Just be careful, Hannah.”

“I am,” she insisted. “Why do you think I said no?”

“I mean be careful you don’t protect your heart so completely that no one can get to it.”

The words hit that protected heart, and she knew she’d be thinking about that wise warning for a long time to come.