Chapter Twelve
LANDON HAD BEEN LOOKING everywhere for Bailey.
When he finally found her and Hattie alone in the living room, Bailey had the strangest expression on her face.
They had both looked as if they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Hattie had been in rare form today, so she could have said just about anything to Bailey.
Was he asking too much of her to be a part of all this?
The Stone family could be a lot, as Hattie had demonstrated with her over-the-top behavior.
Everyone had moved to the dining room once the pizza arrived. They had ordered six large pies that were being devoured by all of them, even Hattie. Her appetite had diminished lately, so it was nice to see her digging in with gusto.
“Caleb, put on that blue hound thing that plays music!” Hattie commanded. “Let’s liven things up. We’re celebrating, after all.”
“I think you mean Bluetooth,” Red corrected her. He stood up and went over to the speakers and connected his phone to them.
“Blue hound. Blue tooth. I just want to hear some Christmas music. And not that Pentatonix either. Play something classic like Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald.”
Suddenly the strains of Ella’s “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” began to play, with Hattie singing along.
Moments later it turned into a sing-along, with everyone belting out the words.
Landon watched from across the table as Bailey made herself at home with his family.
Bailey adored his grandmother, and like the rest of them, she made allowances for her. She didn’t seem uncomfortable or upset in any way, which was a good thing. Perhaps Hattie had just wanted to check in on Bailey since they really hadn’t spent much time together lately.
Landon loved the fact that Bailey seamlessly fit in among his family members.
She wasn’t shy or standoffish. She tended to jump right in and add to conversations, letting her opinions be known.
This was exactly the way he’d always imagined it being when he found a special person.
She was a strong woman, goofy at times and sarcastic, but they totally gelled.
Like himself, she had a voracious love for pizza.
They made a good pair, he realized, even if it wasn’t real.
But he wanted it to be real. He thought about Bailey all the time.
Even his dreams were filled with her—kissing her, dancing with her, holding her.
So much that when he woke from the dream, he was filled with disappointment that it wasn’t real.
Hattie was seated next to him. She turned in his direction. “Bailey. Landon. Since I won’t be going out of town, I’d like to schedule the presentation for the holiday line,” Hattie announced. “I’m very excited to get a look at what you’ve come up with.”
“Sure,” Landon said, glancing over at Bailey, who nodded in agreement.
“When were you thinking?” Bailey asked, munching on her pizza.
“This week, the sooner, the better,” Hattie announced.
“This week?” Bailey asked, her voice coming out of her mouth like a croak.
Neither one of them had anticipated this request so soon. He could tell by the expression on Bailey’s face that she was just as taken aback as he was.
“Yes, if at all possible,” Hattie said. “As you know, this holiday line is being expedited so we can make sure it hits shelves by this time next year.”
“Okay, we’re on track to make that happen,” Bailey said, sounding professional. “Whatever it takes. We’ve got this.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Hattie gushed. “Team cider lab all the way.”
There were several conversations happening at the table at the same time. Hattie began talking to Sophia, who was seated on her other side. Landon took the opportunity to lean across to Bailey and ask her about Hattie’s request.
“What are you thinking? Are you ready for the presentation?” he asked. “I wish we’d had a little bit of a heads-up.” She was the expert, so Landon would take his lead from her.
“Not really,” Bailey said. “With Fritz being out of commission again with another bout of the flu, we’re a little understaffed. We might need to put in a little extra time at work. Starting now.”
“I’m all in,” Landon said. This was his first big project in the cider lab, and he wanted to hit it out of the park. It also meant a lot to Hattie, which meant it was important to him.
Bailey looked at her watch. “We can get into the lab with our key cards. Are you going to head over there in a little bit? We can work for a few hours and get some stuff done, then go to work early tomorrow.”
“Fine by me,” Landon said. He relished the opportunity to spend some time with Bailey, even if it was working on a project. He couldn’t believe that he was having so much fun while creating hard cider flavors. And earning a paycheck in the process.
“Okay, I need to run home first, but I’m ready to go when you are. I can drive so we don’t have to take two cars,” she offered.
“That works,” Landon said. He knew from her tone Hattie wasn’t playing around. He’d seen her no-nonsense side when he had worked in the executive offices. She didn’t play favorites, even with her grandsons.
A half hour later, and after saying their goodbyes, they were on the road to Bailey’s place.
Landon never got sick of the winter wonderland that greeted him each and every day in Moose Falls during the winter months.
The vista was gorgeous, with beautiful Alaskan trees dotting the landscape.
From a scientific point of view, it fascinated him how Alaska had such a variety of trees despite the harsh climate.
“I find the birch trees so interesting,” he told Bailey. “The way they tap those trees in order to make syrup is fascinating.”
“It really is,” Bailey said, sounding excited. “When we were small my dad used to take us to a birch tree farm, and we were able to watch the tapping process.”
“Now that’s a fun field trip,” Landon said as an image of a pint-size Bailey popped into his mind. No doubt she had been rambunctious and fun.
“My favorite part was at the end when they gave us little jars of birch syrup to take home,” she said, smiling at the memory.
“I have a Jack Russell terrier, Foxy Brown. I just need to take her out and get her fed. We might be at the lab for the better part of the afternoon and evening.”
It wasn’t as if he had anything else going on today, and like the science nerd he was, being at the lab energized him.
“If it’ll get the job done, I’m fine with that,” he said, glancing over at her.
“I really like working in the cider lab. It’s pretty cool imagining that this time next year there will be a holiday line out that I helped create. ”
But, he asked himself, would he still be in Moose Falls a year from now?
His number one goal was still to head back to California and finish what Abbott Laboratories started with him.
According to Sonali and Griff, things were spiraling at the laboratory.
They’d had another three-way call earlier to fill him in on breaking news.
Sometimes he felt so torn. Although a part of him wanted to be on the ground in California, examining evidence with his friends, he knew that he was right where he needed to be at the moment. With his family… and Bailey.
Bailey looked over at him and smiled, then focused her eyes back on the road. “It’s pretty exciting, to be honest. And it’s even better when customers start raving about the product. Then you really feel as if you’ve done something valuable.”
He remembered feeling that way as a scientist, knowing that he was making advances that would benefit humanity.
He’d always felt that he was on the right side of history.
Although the stakes weren’t as high here, it was still important work.
Hattie had shed blood, sweat, and tears to raise her company from the ground floor up to its current status.
Every step they took while representing Yukon Cider mattered.
“I haven’t felt that way for a long time, so it’s been rewarding working on this end of the business.”
“Just for the record, what happened to you in California is disgusting. It makes me angry on your behalf.” Bailey’s lips were puckered as if she’d tasted something bitter.
“It makes me angry on my behalf,” Landon said in a teasing tone. He couldn’t believe that he’d reached a point where he could actually have a sense of humor about it. Landon truly felt that it was something about Bailey that brought it out in him.
“Hey, wait. Slow down,” he told her as a large pine tree came into view in the front yard of someone’s property. The owners had trimmed the tree with dozens and dozens of ornaments and tinsel. A big angel sat at the very top. “Look at that tree. It’s incredible, isn’t it?”
“It’s… something,” she said, shaking her head.
“Too much?” he asked, noticing her lack of enthusiasm.
“Not my style,” she said curtly. She then increased her speed, leaving the festive tree in her rearview mirror.
Bailey’s reaction spoke volumes about her feelings about Christmas.
She really was indifferent about the most joyful time of the year.
He needed to find out why. As a huge fan of the holiday season, it truly perplexed him. What had Christmas ever done to her?
Light music played on the radio—slow ballads about love changing the world. Ever since coming to Moose Falls, he’d started believing it was possible.