Trapped Under the Christmas Tree (Christmas Tree, PA Sweet Romcom #1)

Chapter 11

Jake

I know I should be extremely happy that I’ve been rescued and I’m no longer trapped underneath the Christmas tree. And honestly, I am. Being trapped really stinks, although I’m grateful I wasn’t hurt. But Tessa made it so much nicer. And talking to her was...a breath of fresh air. I realize I should have noticed her a long time ago and regret the wasted time.

But there’s no better time than the present, and I’m eager for the medics to declare me totally fine. I see her over in the pavilion. She was chatting with some ladies for a while, then she sat wrapped in one of the blankets, almost as though she wanted to make sure that I was okay before she went home.

I want a chance to talk to her. I’m not sure which apartment she lives in, and I want to talk to her tonight. I don’t want too much time to go by before we follow up on the conversation we had. It seems to me that she might have been interested in what I was proposing. It’s the first time I’ve said that without people pretty much running away in horror and telling me I was an idiot. And I admit, the conversation we had might not be for everyone. But after my terrible experiences, maybe I just want to try something different. Something where I know that the commitment is real before I put my soul into it.

Not that I’m afraid of work, because I’m not. And Tessa is the kind of girl that is totally worth it. At the very least, I want to thank her again. I would not be walking around, completely warm and happy, if it hadn’t been for her.

The freezing rain is still coming down, but they put enough ash and salt down that no one is slipping around as they stand the Christmas tree back up, and while there was one branch that broke off, you can’t tell, and it looks amazing, just like it did before.

I shake hands with the mayor and first responders, and then I look back at the pavilion where Tessa had been sitting.

She’s gone.

I check my watch. It’s almost midnight. But I don’t want to let this opportunity go. I know I should wait until tomorrow, but...she said she lived above the Christmas shop. Surely I can find her apartment.

My leg does hurt. I’m not going to deny that, but it’s not broken, and it’s going to be fine. I’ve been hurt worse on the farm.

That brings me up short. She hadn’t said anything about not wanting to marry a farmer. I’ve heard that some women have certain occupations they don’t want to marry into, policeman being one, and I did have a girlfriend who broke up with me because she didn’t want to be a farmer’s wife. It just wasn’t prestigious enough.

Tessa doesn’t seem like that kind of girl, but...the only time I really talked to her was tonight when I was trapped under the Christmas tree.

Well, I’m going to ask her.

I look across the town square. Her apartment is right over there. I can see the Christmas shop, and there are four windows above it. I assume the owner of the Christmas shop lives in one apartment, and Tessa lives in the other. Two of the windows have a light on, two are dark.

Would Tessa’s be the ones that are lit?

She had said that she was ready for bed. Even admitted to having her jammies on.

I’m torn. Should I? Should I not?

“That was a close call, Jake,” my friend Daniel says. He’s the younger brother of the local billionaire.

I know, not all small towns have local billionaires, but Christmas Tree does. He owns the mansion on top of the hill, and I’ve always thought that Daniel had a hard job—being the brother of someone who was so super successful. Daniel is just a run-of-the-mill, ordinary guy like me. He is employed by his brother, but his issue with the ladies is the fact that anyone he brings home sees his older brother and immediately wants to ditch Daniel for the rich brother.

“It’s probably not as close as what you think. It’s not like the tree was going to fall on top of me.”

“From what I understand, it did. Wasn’t it sitting on your leg?”

“All right. Technically it did fall on top of me, but I wasn’t really in any danger.” Maybe I was, but I don’t want to think about it.

“So you are with Tessa?” Daniel says, and there’s a note in his voice that makes me look at him.

We’ve often bemoaned the pathetic nature of our love lives. Although, I probably spend more time complaining to him that his brother isn’t around more. If his brother was, I wouldn’t have been crowned the most eligible bachelor in town. That “honor” would go to him. Although, Daniel is probably my stiffest competition. Not that I wouldn’t give him the crown in a heartbeat. I would rather not have it at all.

“Yeah. She was pretty awesome.”

“Did you tell her that?” Daniel asks, and there’s something in his eyes that makes me narrow my eyes at him.

“I thanked her.”

“And?”

I don’t have to talk to my friend. We’re happy working side by side for hours at a time and never exchanging a word. But something, maybe the romantic in me who wants to see if the feeling that I got from Tessa was serious, makes me say, “And I’d like to say more. I got the feeling that she would too, but it’s late.”

“The light’s on in her apartment, Romeo,” Daniel says, looking at the windows over the Christmas shop. Am I the only one in town who doesn’t know where Tessa lives?

“She’s a keeper,” Daniel says, and I know exactly what he means. He doesn’t have to tell me to go. He doesn’t even have to say anything more. I just look at him, jerk my head, and walk across the street.