Chapter 2
Simon
Instead of the chill of winter, the bite of frost, and the snow-covered New York streets, I step out of Sterling’s into sunshine, blue sky, and the constant rush of waves hitting the shore.
The people of Stillwater Bay, Florida have done everything they can to bring the Christmas vibes.
Twinkling lights on palms, a giant pine tree erected in Town Square, all awaiting tonight’s tree-lighting ceremony.
Garlands spiral around streetlamps with big red bows on top.
The chalk signs outside every business have mistletoe or reindeer drawn in the corner.
But, after seven years living up north, I’m not feeling it. Wearing a T-shirt and shorts just gets in the way of the holiday spirit. I mean, I’ve really come to enjoy snow.
Shocker, right?
Who woulda thought?
Certainly not the Simon Holiday who left Florida for college.
And honestly, not the Simon Holiday who called Violet to tell her he wasn’t coming home when his internship ended, either.
It was only after my career took off that I found the beauty of frost-covered streets, snow gently slipping down, me ducking my chin into the collar of my black peacoat, red scarf wrapped around my neck.
Glancing through the big front window of Sterling’s, I see Vi talking to her sister. Her russet hair is longer than I remember, her skin more pale. There are dark circles under gray eyes that used to sparkle with mirth and merriment. She’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but sad.
So, so sad.
Although right now, her wide eyes and frantic gestures suggest she’s mad, verging on furious.
I expected that. Having an ex show up out of the blue on a day like this would be a shock to anyone. Especially considering it’s been three years since we’ve said one word to each other.
And that was intentional. Something about breaking up with a girl over the phone on Christmas Eve kind of makes you want to avoid her.
I know, I know.
Total dick move. But it was the only way I could do it. I knew that if I saw Violet again, I’d never leave.
So, I took the coward’s way out and broke her heart. I’m old enough now to recognize I was particularly cruel.
If it helps—and I know it won’t—I was brokenhearted, too. Breaking up with Violet was the single hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but, despite our plans to rebrand Sterling’s after her parents retired, I knew my future was in New York.
I couldn’t expect her to give up her life for my dreams.
Violet’s future was here, in Florida, taking over the bakery. She was happy staying small. I thought I would be too, but through all my years of college, one question stayed on repeat in my mind: Why settle?
I want to make a name for myself. New York is where that happens. No one makes it big in Stillwater Bay.
It took me forever to get over Violet Sterling. Honestly? Part of me never will.
Actually, based on the way it felt to see her again, most of me never will.
First loves, man. Powerful stuff.
Rolling back the edges of the paper bag, I sink my teeth into the cinnamon roll I had no plans to purchase. But, since I chickened out on saying what I came to say, I needed something to do to justify showing up at the bakery.
My God. It’s even better than I remember.
Mouth full, I meet Violet’s eyes through the window. She frowns. I smile sadly around a monster bite of cinnamony goodness, then head down the sidewalk.
My phone buzzes wildly, the angry hornet of business reminding me that while I might be on vacation, enterprise waits for no man. I wrangle my phone out of my pocket and groan when I see the name of my friend and mentor, Gavin Reid.
Not that I don’t like talking to him.
Gavin’s great. The best. Smart. Driven. He took me under his wing when I was young and green, guided me through the first steps to make my fortune.
But I know what he’s gonna ask. And I know how I’m gonna answer. I’m really not in the mood for the conversation.
Regardless, I flip open my dumbphone and press it to my ear.
“What’s up, Gav-man?”
“Just checking in on my prodigy.” He laughs but sounds distracted. “Did you get that email I forwarded you?”
“I’m nowhere near my laptop.”
“You and that flip phone. How are you ever going to make timely decisions if you have to go home and find your laptop to learn there’s a problem?”
“And how are you going to enjoy life if you’re so distracted by constant interruptions that you can’t exist in the present moment?”
With one last glance toward Violet, I head down Main Street to where I parked my rental car on Baybreeze.
In the spirit of not being a hypocrite, I study my surroundings—the quaint shops and storefronts, their store windows decorated with spray-on snow and handwritten holiday wishes, string lights twinkling and swooping between awnings.
Despite my earlier grumbling, I have to hand it to the people of Stillwater Bay.
They’re doing a damn fine job with what they have.
“Whatever,” Gavin says, voice drenched in the utter dismissal I’ve come to expect from the smartphone indoctrinated of the world.
A.k.a. everyone I meet.
“What are you up to?” he continues. “Talk to your ex yet?”
“I just left her shop.”
The clack of Gavin’s fingers on a keyboard slows, then quiets altogether. “Oh wow. I bet that was tough. How’d she take it?”
Let’s unpack that question a bit, shall we?
Gavin wants to know how Violet took one last douchebag move from the man who broke his promise to marry her over the phone on Christmas Eve.
A man who drops back into her life, on the grand reopening of the bakery they were supposed to run together, simply because he wanted something from her.
A man who, after realizing the sheer skeeziness of what he was about to do, bought a cinnamon roll and left without explaining why he was there.
“I mean—”
“I can’t begin to imagine how difficult that conversation was,” Gavin cuts in before I have a chance to come clean.
“But nothing good in this life is easy. You’re sitting on a goldmine here.
A goldmine you’ve been nurturing and refining for years.
A goldmine you can’t bring to life until Violet signs over her intellectual property rights on the original idea. ”
Something in that last sentence has my jaw clenching.
It’s not what was said—because it’s true. I can’t move forward without Violet’s signature.
It’s not even how he said it. Gavin has a level of tact and decency that can be rare in our circle.
It’s just…
I don’t know. After seeing how sad Violet looked, something about this whole thing doesn’t sit right with me. I mean, she didn’t even have Christmas music playing and that used to be her favorite part of the holidays. What was I gonna do? Slap that contract on the counter like it was no big deal?
“What’d she say?” Gavin asks. There’s still nothing wrong with the question or the way he asked it, but my jaw tightens even further.
“I didn’t exactly bring it up.”
Gavin pauses. “You didn’t exactly bring it up to her because you don’t intend to? Or because something got in the way? Because you know as well as I do that you can’t move forward without her signature on that contract.”
“I’m very aware.” I switch my phone to my other ear. “The timing seemed wrong. That’s all.”
Walking into that bakery, seeing Violet standing there, it was like walking into the best memory.
The smell of cookies and pastry mingling with coffee.
The same bakery cases filled with yummy goodness.
The handful of tables and chairs perched near the window.
Violet, with her golden red hair and gray eyes, that heart shaped face and a smile that could stop traffic.
Except the tables and chairs were new.
And the walls were painted a different color.
And Violet’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“I will tell her,” I say to Gavin. “I’m here a couple more days before the family ski trip. She and I are sure to run into each other. Stillwater Bay’s not that big.”
Gavin and I end our call, and I stop in front of my rental car.
For half a second, I consider turning around, blasting through the doors of Sterling’s, plopping the contract on the counter, and informing Violet that our idea for Holiday Coffee & Cake is being rebranded into Holiday Jitters—the newest coffee sensation to hit consumers since caffeine addiction came into existence.
That’d be easier, right?
The deed would be done. I could move on. I could go on this family ski trip without one last onerous task hanging over my head.
But I don’t.
I can’t.
The last decision I made regarding Violet was purely selfish.
This time, she deserves more care.
If I know Violet, she’s anxious over her first day as owner and operator of her parents’ legacy.
And while I don’t expect my news to go over terribly, it probably won’t go over all that well, either.
The timing’s wrong. She should celebrate her grand reopening, not deal with her ex-boyfriend popping in out of nowhere to announce he’s repurposing the idea for our dream business.
Just thinking about it makes my stomach twist, which is silly. Violet’s good people.
She’s not gonna care.
She has her bakery, and I can have my coffee shop.
We both get to live the dream… separately.
“Simon?”
I look up to find Robert Kincaid, my best friend for most of my life, staring at me in surprise.
His dark hair is cropped short, a military grade high and tight.
His eyes glimmer with that trademarked hint of mischief that promises a good time will be had by all.
He’s bigger than I remember. More imposing, maybe, if you didn’t remember him as the goofy kid whose teeth grew faster than the rest of him in second grade.
“Robbie?” I shove my phone into my pocket and give him a back-slapping hug. “How are you?”
“Fantastic, obviously.” Robbie returns the hug, then steps back, studying the changes in my face as surely as I am his. “Man, it’s been years. How ya been?”
“Life’s good. No complaints.”
“Last I heard, you’re making a fortune out there.”
I shrug in a way that neither confirms nor denies. “Last I heard, you made it through BUDS and were an honest-to-goodness SEAL.”
“Sounds like we’re both livin’ the dream.” Robbie runs a hand over his buzz cut. “You gonna see Vi?”
“Just came from Sterling’s.” I jerk my chin over my shoulder and Robbie grimaces.
“And you’re still able to walk?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Violet’s had a long-standing bounty on your balls.”
I bob my head. “Can’t say I blame her.”
“How long you in town?”
“Just a couple days, then I’m leaving again. Mom has this whole holiday vacation thing planned. Ski resort in Colorado.”
“That sounds…”
“Loud? Chaotic? Like someone should call ahead and warn the staff?”
“Something like that.” Robbie crosses his arms and chuckles. “Nora and I are only in town tonight to support Vi with the whole bakery thing. But we’ll be back for Christmas, so she doesn’t have to celebrate alone. Any chance we can hang out then? Catch up?”
“I’ll be in Colorado for Christmas,” I say with a sad shake of my head.
“That means if it’s gonna happen, it’s happening tonight. We’re all going to the tree-lighting ceremony in Town Square. Come.”
While a night out with Robbie sounds great, there’s one snag to his plan.
“Will Violet be there?”
“You know, we decided that after losing her parents and spending the last couple months alone, we’d exclude her from one of her favorite Christmas activities.” Robbie shakes his head, grinning like I’m an idiot. “Come on, man. Of course Vi will be there.”
“Then I probably shouldn’t. I’m rather attached to my balls.”
Robbie shakes his head. “If you survived showing up at the bakery out of the blue, you’ll survive hanging out tonight. It’d be great to get the four of us together again.”
And it’ll offer another opportunity for me to bring up the contract… or at least lay the groundwork for the conversation.
“Yeah, okay,” I say. “That actually sounds like a lot of fun. Just do me a favor, clear it with Violet first. I have no intention of going home a eunuch.”