Chapter Eight
REX
I immediately feel the loss of Holly’s hand on my arm, questioning her change in mood. Her body had tensed up as we walked up to Cassie’s tent. I couldn’t help that my eyes were immediately drawn to the baked goods and drink offerings the closer we got. It’s as if Cassie knew my weaknesses and had all my favourite treats today. Gingerbread cookies and cupcakes. Sugar cookies decorated as snowmen and Santas. I even spied a cranberry white chocolate bar that I had discovered was just about the closest thing to sugary heaven you could get.
And that was before I noticed the Holly Jolly Latte and peppermint hot chocolates.
Just as I was about to decide what I was going to order, that’s when Holly started to pull away from me. Her abrupt change in mood is baffling, but so have most of our encounters in the last two days.
I walk up beside her, giving Cassie a friendly smile as she glances over at me, tilting her head.
“What questions would you have for me?” Cassie asks, her gaze flicking between Holly’s and mine.
I face Holly, crossing my arms over my chest as Tag takes a seat next to me. His head tilts with the pompom of the Santa hat falling in front of his face. He doesn’t seem to mind; his attention is fixated on the women in front of him. I shake my head, drawing my attention to the same.
“Do you mind if I voice record this? Just for notes later when I write my blog?” Holly asks, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
“Your blog?” Cassie’s eyes widen, becoming more frantic.
“Cassie, this is Holly,” I interject, seeing that the word of who Holly is hasn’t spread as quickly as I thought. “She’s visiting Candy Cane Creek to write a blog on small towns that celebrate Christmas.”
“Sorry, I should have introduced myself better,” Holly adds, not looking in my direction.
Interesting.
“Uh, okay. Well, welcome to Candy Cane Creek. How do you know Rex?”
“Oh, I don’t. I’m just staying with him.”
Cassie’s smile slips for a moment before she recovers. “Staying with Rex?”
“Her car broke down and the inn is full. She’s staying in the guest house on my property.”
“I see.” Cassie hits me with a fierce look before turning back to Holly. I’m not sure what I said that upset her, but I clearly did.
My mind races back to the night I met Holly. Had I been right in that Cassie was flirting with me? Was she now upset I’m here with Holly? This whole situation is so confusing to me.
Holly tapped her phone a few times and held it up between her and Cassie. “I hear you’re the owner of the cafe that makes the famous Holly Jolly Latte. I won’t ask you for the recipe; I know you hold that close to your heart, but can you tell how it came about?”
“I made it by accident, actually.”
I stand up straighter.
I didn’t know that about my favourite drink. Come to think of it, there’s not a whole lot that I know about Cassie, or her shop, at all other than what I order there. Why have I never thought to ask? Now that I think about it, is there anyone in town I’ve ever really tried to get to know?
“I was making myself a latte a couple of years ago and I accidentally put the wrong syrup in. I continued making it without thinking until I started to drink it. Once I got over the shock and figured out what I’d done, I put it on the menu. It’s been a holiday staple ever since.”
“That’s very interesting.” Holly continues asking her questions; some about the cafe, some about the town. I only half listen, but I can’t seem to take my attention away from Holly.
The way she cradles the phone in her hand, like she’s a journalist seeking the next big story. How she asks insightful and inquisitive questions. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have known that she had such a strong dislike for the holiday. Before long, she’s laughing alongside Cassie as if they had been friends for their whole lives. Even if we didn’t get off on the right foot, Holly is easy to get to know. I’ve opened up to her more in the last couple of days than I have to anyone here in over a year. At least, not since losing Lauren.
I look down at Tag, wondering if he’s watching this interaction just as closely as I am, but he’s flopped onto his belly, trying to catch his long tail in his mouth. He lazily snaps at it a few times, biting nothing but air, or the pompom of his hat. At the fourth try, he successfully catches it and starts in on what I assume is quite the itch. He lets out a low, satisfied growl that I’ve come to associate with contentment in him.
If he could roll his eyes to the back of his head as he bit at his tail, I’m sure he would.
I shake my head, looking back at the women in front of me, who both stare expectantly. “Sorry, what was that?”
“I was telling Holly here about the dance that happens on Christmas Eve. How the barn is turned into a wintery Christmas wonderland. Also, how there’s a good track record of the couples that go to that dance together,” Cassie says, the corner of her mouth lifting as she bats her eyes at me.
I bite at my bottom lip, trying to hold back the cringe as Cassie mentions the dance again. And the eye batting. I’ve never seen her bat her eyes like that before. I can’t tell if she’s trying to tell me something, or she has some ash from the nearby fire pit in her eye.
“Uh, yeah, I’ve heard the dance is something.”
“You haven’t been?” Shock is written all over Holly’s face. Of course, it would be. Everyone in Candy Cane Creek has been to the dance. Well, everyone but me.
“No. We moved here in the summer and then, well…” I trail off, turning my head to the side and avoiding their gazes as unshed tears fill my eyes. I can’t finish the sentence. I can’t say and then Lauren fell sick, and she was taken from me before Christmas.
“I’m sorry, of course.” A hand grasps my arm and squeezes, drawing my attention back to the two women. It’s Holly that has her hand on my arm. Holly that reaches out and offers me comfort, knowing exactly what it was that I can’t say. This stranger that has only known me for less than a day can already read me so well.
“Oh! Yes, of course,” Cassie adds a moment later. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Of course you haven’t been yet.”
Holly searches my eyes for another moment before offering me a quiet smile while squeezing my arm. She turns to face Cassie, dropping her hand in the process, and begins asking her for details about the dance, but I can’t concentrate on that. All I can focus on is the lack of warmth where her hand was.
“So what can you tell me about the Cocoa Walk tonight?” Holly asks, holding her phone up between her and Cassie.
“It’s been a tradition for as long as I can remember,” Cassie chuckles. “There are people in town that take the light competition very seriously, even if it’s only for fun and bragging rights.”
“And the tents and things here in the square? How did this come about?”
“Oh, it just sort of happened, I guess. Candy Creekers are always looking for reasons to gather. Isn’t that right, Rex?”
Both women turn to face me. Cassie with the same smile on her face she had in the cafe and Holly with an expectant, but hesitant, look.
“Uh, yeah?” I answer, not quite sure what they’re expecting me to add to the conversation.
Tag yips beside me, bringing my attention down to him. His tail thumps on the ground as he looks up at me, giving me a look like I answered in the dumbest way possible, which I’m sure I did.
“Right,” Holly says, raising her eyebrow at me before turning back to Cassie. “And the festival this weekend? What can you tell me about that?”
“A lot of the businesses in town have tents to sell their items, including home crafters and bakers that only sell at this time of year. There are events for kids, and it wraps up with town-wide carolling around the gazebo.”
“That’s sounds pretty amazing, especially for a town the size of Candy Cane Creek.”
“Like I said, any reason to get together.” Cassie looks over at me. “You really didn’t tell her about any of this? Not even about your tent?”
“You have a tent, too?” Holly asks, her eyes wide.
And their attention is on me again. Is it getting hot all of a sudden? I feel a rising heat under my layers as they both look my way. “I, uh, I told her there was a festival.”
Cassie rolls her eyes as she chuckles. “He’s so modest. He has a tent to raise money for the shelter. He wants to start training the dogs as service animals.”
“No, he definitely didn’t tell me that.” Holly’s tone softens as the hand holding her phone drops a little.
“It’s just a pipe dream right now. But the dogs I have already are so sweet; they deserve a good home, and if they can help someone at the same time, it’s a win/win.”
“I see.” Her gaze lingers on mine for another minute before turning to Cassie. “Is the cafe connected in any way? You seem to know a lot about the shelter.”
“Oh, no. Rex and I are just good friends; isn’t that right, Rex?”
Both women are looking at me again.
I feel the flush in my cheeks under their attention. Cassie has a large smile on her face while Holly has a look I can’t quite place. Whatever it is, it’s not a happy one.
“Candy Cane Creek is a really small town, Holly. Everyone helps each other out. I’m sure I must have mentioned my goals to Cassie while picking up a coffee a time or two.” I don’t know why I feel the need to let Holly know that there isn’t anything going on with Cassie and me. I’m not even sure where the ‘good friends’ comment came from. All I know is I need to get out of this situation—now. “Cassie, can we please have a Holly Jolly Latte and a black tea, please? And two of the white chocolate cranberry bars?”
“White chocolate what?” Holly asks.
“Just trust me. They are amazing.”
She narrows her eyes at me like she doesn’t believe me but doesn’t say anything else.
Cassie looks between us before tapping the order into her system and getting to work on the drinks.
“Is everything okay between you two?” Holly whispers as she slides her phone back into her purse.
“I think so?” I answer with a question, not entirely sure about what she means or if Cassie and I are okay. Is there any reason for us not to be okay?
“If there’s something going on between you two…”
I look up at Cassie to see her back turned to the espresso machine, thankful for the loud noise it makes as she makes my drink. “No, there’s nothing going on,” I whisper.
“Hmmm,” she hums, leaning away as her gaze surveys the town square.
I’m not sure what’s going on right now, but I know I don’t like it.