Chapter 10 Rae
RAE
Iwas about to snap the clipboard in my hand in half.
Perry walked with me, explaining how someone had accessed the storage unit in City Hall and moved a few of our integral pieces for the town Christmas parade. According to Perry, it was all a big misunderstanding, and likely done out of ignorance, but I was fuming.
How could someone steal a ten-foot tall Frosty the Snowman, and a lifelike Santa that belonged in a set? There was a float that had an entire Santa motif with elves, the North Pole and a realistic workshop. But Santa was missing.
I had a sneaking suspicion I knew exactly who was to blame for both infractions.
“Can you ask around and see if anyone has a Santa they’d be willing to donate for the parade? Offer them the chance to ride on the float if they do, because we only have three days, Perry. Three. If anything else goes missing, we’re going to be in trouble.”
Stroking his graying beard, Perry nodded with a slight wince.
It wasn’t as if I was blaming him, but my frustration couldn’t be ebbed.
It wasn’t just this. It was the fact that this entire competition was starting to fracture my friendships.
What started off as a friendly competition, quickly turned into a nasty, conniving battle of wills.
I missed Nora and Haley, and while we saw one another in passing for our usual traditions, or things like babysitting, we hadn’t talked on the phone or texted in our group chat in weeks.
I missed my friends.
With a heavy sigh, I pulled on my coat and began walking toward Main Street.
Perhaps a warm piece of pie from my parents’ diner would help with some of my irritation over losing the Santa and Frosty…
and maybe if I asked Haley and Nora to join me, they’d come.
The thought left as soon as it arrived. I had been pushing so hard to win this competition, I had effectively pushed them both away.
I wasn’t sure why it even mattered to me that I won.
It wasn’t like I wanted to host Christmas every year anyway, but what I didn’t want to happen was for us to grow distant from one another.
Haley and Colson would always be close because they were family, which guaranteed their future holidays together.
But me? I had no siblings, and neither did Davis anymore, after his brother passed.
I had parents that lived in Macon, and Davis still had a very estranged relationship with his parents in Florida but that was the extent of our family.
If Haley and Nora decided to go do Christmas in California and not invite us, then where would that leave our little friend group?
It would leave us out of all the memories and considering Haley’s son and Nora’s boys were literal cousins, my son was already at a disadvantage as far as friendships went.
Just the mere notion that they’d all grow up and live life together without us made my heart ache with dread.
So, out of desperation, I threw together this stupid competition, and while we were all drunk, I was still very much aware of what I was suggesting.
Whoever had the best space would get to host Christmas every year. A really stupid prize; yet, the way I yearned to win it, made me insatiable and willing to do just about anything to get it.
I was power walking down the sidewalk, nearly to my parents’ diner, when a sign in one of the shops made me stop. Turning toward the vacant space, I peered through the window, seeing a business referenced that gave me pause.
Croft Gym is Expanding!
Coming Soon
Come on Down on December 24th to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus in our first ever
Santa’s Village
The way my jaw dropped.
Haley leased a second location…she…
Oh my gosh.
I quickly turned on my heel and crossed the street, heading over to my husband’s shop.
My mind was a whirring mess of assumptions and anger. This was against the rules…I mean, regardless that I, myself, attempted to add my father’s diner to the list of places that could be judged in my favor. It wasn’t okay.
I burst through the door, startling poor Tyson.
“Sorry,” I muttered in a dry tone, bustling to the back room.
Tyson was there a few minutes later, his arms crossed and a small etching of concern lifting his dark brows.
“I take it this cheery attitude has something to do with the competition?”
I began tearing out Styrofoam packing peanuts, ripping them in half.
“Haley leased a storefront property. Leased, Tyson.” My voice was shrill and loud, but I couldn’t seem to help it.
I continued my tirade. “Now my Santa is missing for the parade, and my Frosty…I can’t throw this parade without a proper Santa.
I’m pretty sure Nora stole them, and Haley’s not satisfied with the gym.
I’m going to lose, and they’re going to leave me behind and not invite me to any more holiday functions at all. ”
“Uh…I’m going to call Davis. This seems like something he should be here for.” Tyson began slowly slipping back as if he was trying to evade a dangerous animal.
Holding my hand out, I yelled, “And where has he been? He keeps disappearing when I need him the most. It’s like he doesn’t care at all if I win this thing.”
Tyson winced, then quickly vacated.
I slumped down into a chair, pouting, and then my phone chimed with a text.
Pulling it free, I glared down the screen.
Nora: so how is the parade stuff going? I know I said I’d help, but the boys have me so busy. I haven’t been sleeping because their schedules are all over the place. But we will be there for our annual tree hunting trip.
“Oh no you don’t,” I warned aloud while standing from my seat.
Our annual tree hunting trip would take place tomorrow.
Nora was bailing on helping me with parade stuff, and I knew it was all because of this stupid competition.
I wanted to win so that I could secure all future Christmases with her and this was how she was repaying me?
By trying to back out and win the whole thing herself.
Well, I wasn’t having it.
It was nearly dark when I left Davis with our son to head to the garage.
He had looked at me like I had grown two heads when I explained that I just needed to check on something in there, as I was pulling on my snow boots.
There was six inches of snow on the ground, and since we’d gotten together, I avoided the garage at all costs.
When I moved in with Davis, I loved that he had a separate garage detached from the house, but now that I lived here, I would give anything to be able to go through one simple door, while wearing my socks to enter the garage.
Maybe I could talk my husband into building me a little attached hallway or something.
For now, I had to trek across the yard, over fifty feet to get to the garage door.
When I pulled it open and flicked on the light, I began searching for the chain saw.
Davis didn’t use it that often, but lately with the baby, he was spending less time using his axe to chop our firewood, just to save time.
My eyes bounced around his well-organized tools, until I saw it hanging on the wall.
With all my might, I lifted it and pulled it down, practically tripping over my feet in the process.
Once I had a good hold on the handle, I began my exit, heading toward the truck.
I’d have to sneak up to the mountain without Davis knowing.
He’d never approve of my plan, so I’d have to devise something to throw him off my trail.
Pushing against the door with force, I stumbled into the cold, running into a wall of muscle.
“Hey, what the—”
I stepped back, glaring when my husband’s azure stare caught me off guard. Wearing red and black flannel, a clean-shaven jaw and a baby video monitor tucked into his front pocket, Davis smirked down at me.
“Whatcha doin’?”
The chainsaw fell limp in my hands. “Oh, this. Uh, nothing…”
His gaze flicked down, inspecting my awkward hold on the power tool.
“Nothing looks sort of suspicious, babe.”
He blocked my path to the truck, and at this rate, I wasn’t sure I was even strong enough to lift the thing to properly store it in the truck. The back of the bed was stuck and hadn’t worked for us in several weeks.
The cold was seeping in through my clothes, and exhaustion from the day was beginning to weigh heavy on me, so I let out a resigned sigh.
“I was going to go up to where we hunt for Christmas trees and cut down the best one before anyone else gets there. Then I was going to find a few more for good measure and use them in the parade, and the shop.”
Davis watched me without shifting his expression the slightest bit. We waited there in the silence, the frigid wind dusting us with tufts of snow, while the sun continued to set.
Finally, my husband took a gentle step forward, taking the chainsaw from me.
“I’ll put this back. Why don’t you head inside.
You’re shivering.” Pulling the video monitor out of his pocket, he handed it to me and brushed past me.
He wouldn’t make eye contact with me, and something settled in my chest, thick and ugly at the way it made me feel.
I did as he said, my head hung low as shame began to surface.
The house was warm, the fire crackling and popping.
Our two huskies lounged lazily in front of the massive, stone-packed hearth.
The white from the snow let in more natural light than usual for this time of day, but it did nothing to improve my mood.
Not even when Dove and Duke eventually moved their noses under my hands for attention, did my demeanor shift.
What was I doing? This was madness, and yet there was still something so potent inside me that made me want to grab hold of this competition and seize the shit out of it.
I wanted to win, regardless of what it cost me. But by the way my husband had just reacted, cutting down the best tree before anyone else got there wasn’t the way to do it. So, I’d let that plan go. We usually found the best tree anyhow because our ceiling had more clearance than Nora’s or Haley’s.
Finally, Davis entered the house, sliding out of his boots. His gaze was downcast, but I didn’t miss how his phone kept buzzing in his hand.
“What’s going on?”
My husband stared down at his cell phone for a few silent minutes.
“I have something I need to go take care of. I’ll be back late.” His face dipped, and a warm kiss was placed on my head. Then he was turning and leaving the house with some curious errand.
I was about to rush after him to force him to explain himself when Ben began crying on the monitor. Letting out a heavy sigh, I stood and headed toward my son’s bedroom.