Chapter Thirty #2
“You know, I’m seeing this woman,” he said, his expression a little dreamy. “Her son was just diagnosed with some food allergies. Could I put her in touch with you? She’s having a hard time figuring out how to handle holidays with her family. I don’t think they get it.”
“Of course,” I said with a smile. I grabbed one of my business cards from a drawer and handed it to him, along with a small box of cookies for the little boy. “Tell her to email me and we’ll chat.”
Alex offered a broad grin and a quick salute as he took the cookies.
I was starting to think his charm was just a mask to cover up the softness underneath.
Even if they didn’t talk about it or have all the details, practically everyone in Spruce Hill must have known about the accident; it couldn’t have been easy for him to stay in town after that.
But, a little voice in my head whispered, he’s not the one who ran away.
“Do not get in the middle of whatever happens between brothers,” I said aloud as I got dressed in layers for the evening. “It’s none of your business.”
It was bitterly cold, but the snow had started to taper off.
I threw on a long-sleeved pink thermal under my purple Nutless Wonder shirt, then a cardigan, then my heavy coat.
The temperature inside the truck tended to fluctuate and rushing around to serve a line of customers always caused me to overheat.
Layers to shed or add as needed were vital for winter events.
Despite my reassurances to the contrary, having Theo to help in the truck had made a huge difference in my stress levels, but I’d managed to survive without him every other time.
I could do it again. I’d have to get used to doing everything without him again.
It was only when I was easing the truck along the narrow plowed pathway in the park that I realized I’d left my phone at home.
For a panicked moment, I tried to remember if I had my purse—and in it, my EpiPen—but once I parked the truck in my assigned spot, I found those on the floor behind my seat and sagged with relief.
Everyone else on the planet had a cell phone handy in case I actually needed one, after all.
Okay. Game on.
In that strange stillness after a snowstorm, I set up everything for the evening, double-checked the menu board, and slipped over to the hot cider booth to grab myself a cup before the crowds started to fill in.
The tree lighting was my favorite holiday event, mostly because I was a sucker for pretty Christmas lights. I had a whole box of strings at home to put up along the mantle and around the doorways, but with Theo’s presence to distract me this year, I hadn’t done it yet.
Still, the Carolcade was fun. It was like a mix between a concert and a sing-along, and the benefit to being there with the food truck was that the groups traipsed up and down the rows of vendors as they sang. I didn’t even have to brave the crowd in order to enjoy the music.
The truck had a steady stream of customers, most of whom I was able to greet by name.
Drew came by during a slow moment, bought a cupcake, made a little small talk, and wandered off as soon as other customers showed up.
I’d been worried that in Theo’s absence, he might decide to ask me out again, but he offered nothing more than his usual overly friendly smile.
The rest of the night passed in something of a blur, which was good for business but less awesome for my energy levels. By the time Sofia and Chase appeared at my window, I was dragging.
“Hey, honey! Do you need a hand?” she asked, looking concerned.
I forced a bright smile and shook my head. “No, I’ll be closing up soon. What can I get for you guys?”
Chase, a quiet lumberjack type who looked at his gorgeous wife with hearts in his eyes, smiled shyly up at me. “I heard those Christmas cookies were to die for. Got any left?”
“You’re lucky I set aside a friends and family stash,” I whispered as I reached under the counter for the box I had packed up earlier. “You have to share with Ollie and Julian though, if they’re here.”
Sofia groaned in mock disappointment, but a grin lit her rosy cheeks. “Yes, ma’am!”
Despite my insistence that I didn’t need help—and that I was not lonely or pining for Theo, which Sofia asked about in a low voice when Chase turned to greet a coworker—the two of them hung around the truck until it was time to close up.
Oliver and Julian had dropped by at least three times, as well, and I started to wonder if Theo had asked them to check in on me.
I was just packing up at the end of the night when I heard a chorus of exclamations. When I peered around the corner of the truck, I found Theo being passed around for hugs like he’d been gone for a century instead of days.
After his years away, I couldn’t really blame them for celebrating his return.
His gaze landed on me and his eyes went soft. The rest of his friends—our friends—stepped away and left him to stride toward me as though pulled by an invisible thread.
“Hey,” he murmured, cupping my face between his hands. That warmth he always radiated seeped into my cold cheeks. “I’m so sorry I missed it. Did everything go okay?”
Unable to speak around the strange surge of emotion clogging my throat, I nodded.
Theo bent down slowly, like he was savoring the sight of me, until his lips met mine.
I shivered at the butterfly-light caress, drawing closer when his hands settled on my hips.
By the time he drew back to smile at me, I’d forgotten he even asked a question.
“I missed you,” he said, apparently forgetting as well.
“You’re right on time for cleanup,” I replied. The words came out as wispy as the puff of my breath in the cold night air.
Theo’s smile only widened. “Good. Get into the truck, your hands are frozen. I’ll take care of everything that’s left.”
Though I considered protesting, I was freezing and the prospect of a few quiet minutes in front of the heating vents sounded too good to pass up. There wasn’t much left to do, anyway, and Theo finished it in record time before launching himself into the passenger seat with an exaggerated shiver.
“Where’s your truck?” I asked.
“I walked over from the house so I could ride home with you. Didn’t you get my texts?”
I grimaced. “I forgot my phone at home.”
Theo groaned as he slapped a hand to his forehead. “Fuck, now I’ll have to watch you reading all the sappy shit I texted you all evening.”
“Sappy, huh?” I asked, grinning over at him.
At that moment, he looked beyond happy to be there, beaming across the space between us. His cheeks were as pink as Sofia’s had been, his dark eyes gleaming with pleasure. I let it flow over me like warm honey until his comment sunk in.
“You walked two miles in a foot of snow?”
His grin turned boyish. “Uphill. Both ways.”
I snorted a laugh. When we pulled into the plowed driveway at home, his continuous smile from the drive finally slipped a little, but I refused to bring Alex into this moment with us. Fortunately, Theo didn’t voice the question in his eyes.
Before we unloaded what was left in the back, Theo pulled me into his arms and kissed me, bracing his arm behind me against the side of the truck to keep my body away from the cold metal.
I knew how badly I’d missed him, but I hadn’t realized just how intensely my body had, as well.
It felt like I was blooming against him, like the warmth flooding my veins was filled with heat-seeking missiles tugging me straight into him.
Laughing, I pressed my hands against his chest. “It’s too cold out here for this, Long John. Let’s get the leftovers put away and then you have me all to yourself.”
“Fine, fine. But I intend to take full advantage of that,” he warned, his voice low against my ear.
Envisioning all that was likely to be involved in that particular promise, I didn’t even notice the car that pulled into the driveway until my parents stepped out of it.