Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Max
Narrator: Okay, I know what you’re thinking. How can Storee still put on this show for Betty, playing the trickster behind the scenes, and act like they’re friends?
Well, here’s the thing you need to know: The moment Storee noticed Max had heart eyes for Betty, she threw his stupid plan—drawn-out diagram included—right out the window. She has a plan of her own, and it’s called being the Cupid Christmas matchmaker.
Max might be busy trying to save his family farm.
Betty might be busy trying to figure out her feelings for Max and what to do with the land.
But Storee . . . she has a bigger plan, and it seems like it’s going like clockwork.
Storee: Don’t come to the clubhouse tonight. I think Cole is onto me. I can’t keep visiting Aunt Cindy at night. Want to meet up at Warm Your Spirits tomorrow morning?
Max: Of course he’s sniffing us out. Tell him to mind his own business.
Storee: I don’t think he’s completely sniffed us out yet, but he’s cluing in, so it’s best not to lead him anywhere, you know?
Max: Oh, I know. I can meet tomorrow morning.
Storee: Good, we can discuss your next move.
Max: Do you think there needs to be another move?
Storee: Uh, did you think you’d simply stop after tonight?
Max: I don’t know. What did you think about tonight? Did she say anything to you?
Storee: She did, but she said it to me in confidence, so I can’t repeat it.
Max: Are you being serious right now?
Storee: Very much so. She’s my friend, and I want her to be able to trust me.
Max: Wait, hold on. So you’re telling me you obtained information about Betty but won’t share it with me, even though you’re the one who came up with the plan tonight?
Storee: Correct.
Max: Uh, whose side are you on? You’re supposed to be helping me.
Storee: And I am, but I’ve also become friends with Betty, and I don’t want to break that trust we’ve built.
Max: You became friends with her because you were trying to help me. Don’t you remember the plan? Woo her, get her to fall for me, then devastate?
Storee: I’m quite clear on the origin of this entire situation.
I don’t need the reminders. But I’m reminding you that I met her before all this went down and told her if she needed someone to chat with, I was her girl.
Therefore, I’m playing both sides, and if you make me choose a side, I’m choosing her side purely out of spite.
Max: Wow, just wow. And we even had a secret handshake. You’re just going to throw that all away?
Storee: No, you are if you don’t understand the position I’m in.
Max: Jesus . . . I feel bad for Cole if this is what he married.
Storee: EXCUSE ME?!
Max: I mean . . . way to have morals. Proud of you, sis.
Storee: Don’t call me sis.
Max: Can you at least tell me if you got good vibes from her, like that she might like me? Because I got those vibes, but now I’m questioning everything.
Storee: I think she likes you, which is why we need to meet tomorrow, because if she likes you and you like her, you can’t blow this.
Max: How can I possibly blow this?
Storee: Many ways, Atlas. Many ways.
Betty
I stare into the mirror while applying my mascara, my mind going a mile a minute. To slow down, I take a calming breath and then talk through what I’m feeling.
“I have to run into town today and grab a few things from the store. Bread, peanut butter, salad fixings, and some more Pepsi because I have a problem. Then I want to pop into Baubles and Wrappings again, because last night, Storee’s words made sense.
I need to start tinkering around with another business idea for Uncle Dwight.
” I fit my mascara brush back in the tube and then pick up my hairbrush and start combing out my curls and turning them into soft waves.
“A fresh notebook always brings new ideas.”
I pick up my hair spray and lightly douse my hair.
“But first stop is Warm Your Spirits, because I’ve been wanting to try that coffee cake, and I believe today is the day.
I also think it would benefit me to start chatting with more townspeople.
If more people know me, the easier it might be to convince Uncle Dwight to take his idea in another direction. ”
I set down the hair spray and pick up my perfume.
“And maybe I can swing by Evergreen Farm.” I wince at myself in the mirror, already hating how desperate I seem.
“Just to apologize for interrupting his party. That would be the proper thing to do.” I spritz myself on the neck and then lightly drag the perfume over my jaw and just below my cheek.
“And if Atlas happens to invite me—AHHHHHH!”
I jolt to the side when Buzz, my tarantula, falls into the sink.
“Dear God in heaven,” I say, hand to heart. “I thought you were a rat.” I chuckle and then carefully carry him back to his terrarium.
I sometimes let him out of his cage but put him in a well-contained area. Seems like he broke out this morning. What a tricky fella.
When he’s secure, I go back to the bathroom, check myself one more time, and then grab my coat. Today is going to be a good day.
“Good morning,” Tanya says as I approach the counter.
I’ve come to know her a little since I’ve moved here, and she seems pretty nice, a little nosey, which I kind of like, and protective of her town.
Then again, that seems to be everyone who lives here.
“Nice to see you this morning, dear. What can I get you?”
“I’ve been eyeing that coffee cake for a while, Tanya, and today is the day I give in to temptation.”
“Ooo, great choice. This is fresh from the oven as well.” She takes the silver tongs positioned in front of the bakery case, pulls out a hefty piece of coffee cake, and places it on a plate. “And would you like your normal coffee as well?”
“You know my order?” I ask, surprised.
She winks at me. “That’s my job. Of course I know.”
“Oh, that’s . . . that’s kind of cool.”
She chuckles. “Does it make you feel at home?”
“Yeah, it does.”
She nods. “Then I’m doing my job. I’ll also start a tab for you if that works. That way, you don’t have to keep paying every day.”
“Oh, are you sure?”
She waves her hand at me. “Of course. That’s what we do here, help each other out.” She winks and then starts making my coffee.
I pick up my plate and turn toward the seating perimeter where I spot Storee and Atlas in the corner, both looking at me with smiles.
Oh, I didn’t know they were here.
Storee waves me over, so with my coffee cake in hand, I walk over to where they’re sitting. Atlas scoots over on his bench, making room for me, because Storee has her double stroller, both girls happily content.
Seriously, she either has the best, most chill kids ever, or she’s a miracle mom.
Probably both.
“Hey,” Atlas says as I sit down. God, he smells so good. I could just bury myself in his scent. “Storee was just telling me how much fun you guys had last night.”
I glance up at Storee, who offers me a wink, which I take as assurance that she’s kept what I said close to her. “Yes, it was so much fun.”
“Did you happen to pick up any Christmas presents?” He playfully bumps my shoulder. “Possibly for someone who you might be trying to put out of business?”
I glance in his direction, his deep brown eyes sparkling with humor. “I was unaware that you put yourself on my Christmas list.”
“Your Christmas list?” he asks with a raise of his brow. “Are you going to ask Bob Krampus for me for Christmas? Because you don’t have to ask Santa. You can just ask me.” He winks, and a thrill of lust and excitement shoots through me at the same time.
“I meant my list of people I buy Christmas gifts for. Not like . . . my present list. I wouldn’t ask for a human for Christmas. That’s . . . that’s absurd.”
He chuckles, and so does Storee. “I don’t know.
” Atlas rubs his hand over his jaw, seeming way more playful, way more flirtatious than normal, and it’s slowly breaking down my walls.
“I wouldn’t mind sitting on Old Krampus’s lap and telling him I’d like a beautiful blonde with bright blue eyes to be set under my Christmas tree. ”
“Ooo, good one,” Storee says, leaning in.
Atlas smirks. “Thanks.” And then he adds, “Do you think she got it that I was talking about her?”
Storee nods. “I think so.” Then she turns to me and whispers, “Did you understand that he was asking for you for Christmas?”
I feel my cheeks blush. “Yeah, I think so.”
Atlas then turns to Storee. “Can you make it clear to her that I was talking about her, because I don’t want her second-guessing what I said.”
Tanya quickly drops off my drink, and I thank her as Storee cheekily says, “He was talking about you, Betty. He really wants you for Christmas. I even saw drool come out of the corner of his mouth when he asked.”
Now Atlas turns to me. “Can you please let Storee know that there was no drool?”
This is so stupid and so ridiculous, but I can’t help but play along. “Storee, Atlas wants to be clear. There was no drool.”
“Can you please tell Atlas that there is drool right now?”
Laughing, I turn to Atlas. “There is drool right now.”
“Where?”
Keeping up the charade, I lightly brush the corner of his lip with my thumb. “Right there.”
His eyes are burning into mine as he lightly wets his lip. “Oh, my mistake. It’s probably because you smell like fucking heaven this morning.”
Storee leans in even closer. “If you didn’t catch that, he thinks you smell good.”
I turn to Storee and say, “I think he smells better.”
Storee rolls up her napkin and tosses it at Atlas. “Atlas, she thinks you smell better.”
Atlas smirks and turns to me, tucking some hair behind my ear. “Yeah, well—”
“What the hell are you doing?” I hear someone roar behind me.
And I don’t have to turn around to know who it is. I can hear it in the voice, and I can see it in the way Atlas reacts.
Before I can answer, I’m yanked out of the bench by my arm.
“Hey, don’t fucking touch her like that,” Atlas says.
I look over my shoulder to find my steaming uncle.