Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jackson shifted his weight from foot to foot, standing outside The Toy Chest as he waited for Vanessa.
He knew he was a little bit early, but he’d been too excited to wait any longer to leave the house.
He leaned up against the side of the truck, watching for any sign of her as a light snow fell, fluffy snowflakes drifting lazily down.
A few minutes later, he saw her walking toward him, sipping something from a to-go cup.
She looked beautiful, he thought, illuminated in the brilliant lights from the Christmas displays, and he thought he’d never get tired of seeing her walk toward him…
at Christmastime, or any other time of the year.
It was a little too serious of a thought for a first date, he knew, especially when Vanessa wasn’t staying. But he couldn’t help it. There was something special about her, and he’d felt it from the first moment they’d met.
“Hey, there,” Vanessa said as she walked up, a smile on her face. She took a final sip from the cup in her hand and tossed it into the trash can just outside of the toy shop. “Hot chocolate from Imogen’s,” she explained. “I stopped by for a second on the way over.”
“It’s impossible not to,” he said with a grin.
“Every time I smell the hot cocoa when I walk by, I want to stop in for a cup. Speaking of warm drinks—” He cleared his throat, holding out a to-go cup of his own.
“I grabbed a little something for you too. Hot apple cider with honey and cinnamon. Thought it would keep you warm.”
“Thank you.” Vanessa took the cup, smiling widely. “I’m going to be more than cozy now. Holiday drinks are definitely one of my weaknesses.”
“Oh, I know.” Jackson chuckled, walking around to open the door of the truck for her. “I make you those eggnog lattes, remember?”
Vanessa laughed. “I couldn’t possibly forget. I think about them every morning.” She blushed slightly, hopping up into the truck, and Jackson shut the door.
He got in on the other side, starting the engine, and he flashed her a smile. “I’m glad you could make it,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to this ever since we made the plans.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it,” Vanessa assured him, taking a sip of her apple cider, and she let out small, happy hum at the flavor. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” Jackson grinned. “It’s a surprise. How do you feel about surprises?”
Vanessa let out another hum, tilting her head to one side as she took another sip.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I haven’t really had a lot of surprises.
My grandmother springing it on me that she needed me to stay was one, and I thought it was a bad surprise at the time, but it’s actually turned out that it’s made me happy.
I’ve been happier here lately than I have been in a while.
So that turned out to be a good surprise.
And the eggnog lattes were a surprise too,” she added.
“That was a good surprise right from the start.”
“Well, after tonight I hope that I’m still at two out of two for good surprises,” Jackson said, chuckling.
They chatted a little as they drove, with Vanessa filling Jackson in on how things had been at the toy shop, and Jackson telling her stories of interesting customers that had come by the diner.
The conversation relaxed him a little, distracting him from the nerves that had made him jittery all day, since long before he’d left the house to come and meet her.
In fact, he thought he’d been nervous and jittery since he’d first started to think of asking her out at all.
But the conversation flowed so easily that it was hard to stay nervous. They made each other laugh, and got each other’s jokes, both of them finding humor in similar things. It had been a while since he’d felt so at ease with someone on a date, and he knew he’d been right to ask her out.
Regardless of how things went, he was glad that he’d have this memory.
When he pulled up into the parking lot of the Christmas tree farm, Vanessa shot him a confused look.
He grinned. “I promise I’ll tell you what we’re doing in just a minute.
But first—” He reached behind the passenger’s seat of the truck and pulled out a large bag.
“I got you a surprise. I didn’t want to say too much about what you should wear, to avoid spoiling the surprise.
So just in case, I got you some things to keep you cozy. ”
“That’s so sweet.” Vanessa reached for the bag, eyes wide. “And so thoughtful.”
“I’m glad I did, since you didn’t bring a scarf.” He chuckles. “Look inside.”
Vanessa nodded, opening the bag and peeking inside. The first thing she pulled out was the scarf that Jackson had bought her—long and cozy, made out of soft wool in a blue and green tartan pattern.
“Oh my gosh,” she breathed as she unwrapped it, tugging her gloves off and tossing them on the dashboard before running her hands over the soft wool. “This is lovely. I have a couple of light scarves for the chilly rainy days in San Francisco, but nothing like this. This is absolutely beautiful.”
Jackson grinned. “It’s local wool,” he explained. “Handmade. Even if you don’t have a bunch of opportunities to wear it away from Fir Tree Grove—” he felt his throat inexplicably tighten at saying it out loud, “it’s still a lovely piece to just have.”
“It is,” Vanessa agreed. She peeked back into the bag, and gasped.
“And gloves!” She took the gloves out, turning them this way and that.
She had been wearing a pair when he’d picked her up, made out of thin, sleek leather, but the ones Jackson had gotten her were deerskin, with a rabbit fur lining.
“They’re probably more rustic than what you’d normally wear. As is the other gift,” he said, clearing his throat. “But you’ll see why.”
“They are… but they’re still beautiful. And so soft.” She ran her fingertips over them. “What else—oh! Boots?”
She took the box out of the large bag, setting it on her lap.
When she opened it, she found a pair of heavy brown leather boots, with sturdy laces and a sheepskin lining.
“You were right, these are rustic. But Mabel has been on me about my footwear,” she admitted with a laugh.
“Even these new ones that I got didn’t quite pass muster, according to her. ”
Jackson chuckled, looking down at the suede and fur boots she was wearing. “Well, those are nice. And just fine for walking around town. But out where we’re going, they’d probably get ruined, and I wouldn’t want that.”
“Where are we going?” Vanessa looked at him curiously—and a bit nervously, he thought—as she tugged off her current boots and slipped her new ones on. “And how did you know what size shoe I wear?”
Jackson cleared his throat. “Well, I might have asked your grandmother.”
“And of course she told you.” Vanessa rolled her eyes, but it was playful, and she laughed.
Jackson felt relieved. He’d been a little worried that she might be shocked by the gifts, or upset at Mabel for helping him to get something that would fit her, but it was clear that she was amused and pleased by all of it.
“She did.” He grinned. “And as for the date, we’re going to go hunt down a Christmas tree.”
“We are?” Vanessa blinked. “Did George keep the place open just for you?” She looked around the empty parking lot.
“No, but he did give me permission to bring you back here after it was closed. We have the place all to ourselves. And it isn’t every day that someone gets a private, after-dark tour of George’s Christmas tree farm,” Jackson added with a grin.
“Are we getting a tree for your place?” Vanessa asked curiously. “There are two at the diner already. I know, I’ve seen them.”
“You’ll see.” Jackson flashed her another grin, before turning off the truck and hopping out to come around and open her door. He helped her down, before taking her hand in his and leading her toward the entryway to the Christmas tree farm.
It was a perfect night. The snow was still lightly falling, just enough to add ambience but not enough to make the walk uncomfortable or make him worried about the drive back to Hearthside B&B.
George had left the string lights on around the shop and along the rows of trees, so they twinkled brightly in the darkness, lighting up the snow and leaving the trees in shadow.
It was magical, and from the soft sigh that Vanessa let out next to him as they started to walk, he thought she felt the same.
“Picking just the right tree is important.” His voice was conspiratorial as he leaned in, his fingers intertwining with hers.
“It’s a feeling. You’ll know when you see the right one.
But everyone has their preferences. I like the shorter, fluffy ones.
Some people like tall, majestic trees. Or ones with lots of space between the branches for big ornaments. ”
Vanessa laughed, her fingers tightening a little around his. “You make it sound almost mystical.”
“Maybe it is.” The snow crunched under their boots as they walked between the twinkling rows, the sky clear and bright above them, with the three-quarters moon adding a little more light and the stars as bright and twinkling as the Christmas lights around them.
“There’s always something magical about this time of year,” Jackson added.
“I never felt that way until I came back here,” Vanessa confessed. “But this Christmas has felt different. Like the way I think Christmas is supposed to feel. It’s been special.”
He felt his heart warm at that, happiness flooding him until he didn’t feel the cold at all, just her hand wrapped around his and the sound of her voice, lighter and more full of joy than he’d ever heard it before.
It was a perfect night, he thought, and it was made even more perfect when Vanessa came to a halt, tugging on his hand as she pointed toward a small, fluffy round tree.
“What about that one? I know it’s small, but…”