Chapter 8
EIGHT
“Hailey. Earth to Hailey.”
Hailey jumped at the sound of a spoon being tapped against ceramic and looked up guiltily at her cousin Claire. She’d been thinking of Pete again, just as she had all night, all morning, and nearly every hour since their date.
Or non-date. It hadn’t ended with a kiss, but instead with a long, meaningful look before they’d each gotten into separate cabs.
Snatching her fingers from her lips, she grabbed the handle of her mug and took a heavy swig of hot chocolate—not how she typically started her day, but this morning she’d been inspired.
Maybe it was the city, all lit up and twinkling in the snow last night, or maybe it had been Pete’s company.
Or maybe it was just what he said. That all they had was this Christmas.
For them .
Maybe for this café.
And she was determined to make the most of it.
“Sorry,” she said, as Claire slid into the seat across from her. “I was distracted.”
“I’ll say.” Claire shrugged out of her coat. “You haven’t looked up from that notebook since I walked in. I ordered a latte and a slice of coffee cake from Mandy. Do you want to share?”
She slid the plate to the middle of the table, bumping the notebook that Hailey had been using to brainstorm new ideas for the café. At first, she’d sat staring at the blank page, feeling as empty as it was, but then slowly the ideas came to her, and now nearly every line of the first sheet was filled.
“What’s this?” Claire asked, craning her neck for a better view.
“Some ideas for the café.” Hailey still didn’t want to worry her cousin. She was just grateful that Claire now had a business of her own and that it was doing better than hers at the moment. When Claire was in between jobs earlier in the year, she’d taken some shifts here at the Beanery, but Hailey was not in a position to take on any more staff at the moment—even family.
She glanced guiltily toward the counter where Mandy was rearranging some of the muffins in a basket. She couldn’t talk about her concerns when her only employee was within earshot.
“I was thinking about ways to expand my customer base,” she explained. “I want to spread the word about the café and bring in new people. Christmas is as good a time as any.”
“Christmas?” Claire gave her a look that didn’t hide her surprise. “You hate Christmas.”
“I didn’t always,” Hailey reminded her. “And besides, I have good reason.”
“You had good reason,” Claire said. “But now Pete’s here, you’ve seen him, and like you said…it’s Christmas.”
Yes, it was. And the twinkling tree in the corner was a constant reminder of this fact.
Following her gaze, Claire gave the tree a long look and then turned to her with narrowed eyes. “Did you get that tree from Pete’s lot?”
Technically, Hailey did get that tree from Pete’s lot, but it felt wrong to lie to her cousin. They were nearly as close as sisters growing up and still were in many ways.
“He gave it to me,” she said, trying to ignore the way Claire’s eyes lit up with interest. “He was just being nice.”
“Pete’s a nice guy,” Claire said with a nod. “Always was.”
Hailey nodded. She couldn’t argue with that.
“That’s why it was so disappointing when things ended,” she said, giving Claire a pointed look.
“I know.” Claire’s voice was soft with understanding. “But that was years ago. Maybe things will be different now.”
Different, maybe, but not in the way that Claire was thinking.
“He owns the tree farm,” Hailey said, shaking her head. “Nothing has changed at all.”
Only this wasn’t entirely true. The anger had faded, and in its place had come understanding. Pete would be going back to Wisconsin soon, and this time, it wouldn’t come as a shock to her.
“How’s the business arrangement going?” Claire asked, curling her fingers into quotations to show that she didn’t believe it was a professional relationship in the slightest.
Hailey thought back to her talk with Pete last night. “Good. Great, actually. For business,” she emphasized.
“Of course,” Claire said with a teasing smile. But then she tipped her head, giving Hailey a more serious look. “But really, Hailey. How are you with all of this?”
Hailey pulled in a breath. She had so many emotions brewing inside her that she couldn’t pinpoint just one.
She just knew that talking about Pete—even thinking about Pete—wouldn’t change the outcome of their situation. But there was one thing in her control, maybe.
“I just have a lot on my mind with the business,” Hailey replied.
“I’ve got time.” Claire waited, and Hailey froze for a beat, wondering if she should confide in her closest friend and family member, or if she should keep things to herself. It wasn’t like her to hold anything back from her cousin, but then, she rarely had much to share.
Claire would listen. She’d give sound advice. She’d talk Hailey through these muddled thoughts that had kept her awake long into the night, long after Pete had walked her to the cab and lingered on the sidewalk, his hands thrust in his pockets, his eyes unreadable as she finally closed the door and gave the driver her address.
She lowered her tone so Mandy wouldn’t hear her but kept it light. “I have to step up my game now that a big chain has moved onto the street.”
Claire frowned. “Is it going to be a problem?”
“No.” Hailey blinked quickly. “No, it just takes some…adjusting. That’s why I’m thinking of trying some new things here that will appeal to the community.”
Christmas was a week and a half away. There was time to up her game—bring more holiday cheer to the customers, and not just with baked goods and specialty drinks. She’d come up with an idea during her sleepless night, one that had been sparked by Mary’s visit with Violet.
Kids. She didn’t have any of her own, and they weren’t her primary customers, but their parents certainly were. And kids loved all the activities surrounding Christmas. She’d start with a cookie decorating event, held tomorrow if she acted fast. If that worked out, then maybe one afternoon this week she could host gingerbread building, maybe even turn it into a contest where the winner would get a gift certificate to her café.
She’d have to make flyers and pass them out around the neighborhood—several of the shops down Armitage and around the corner on Halsted supported each other this way. Maybe she’d even stick one on the bulletin board of the coffee chain across the street, she thought with a grin.
Or maybe…she’d do all that and no one would come.
She felt her smile dip a bit. “Do you ever second-guess yourself?”
“All the time,” Claire said matter-of-factly. “Just last night I wondered why I ever let Ethan talk me into going with those gray walls in the bedroom. I wanted taupe, but I tried to convince myself that gray would work. That I would grow to love it. Well, I haven’t.”
Hailey gave her cousin a long look. “I mean second-guess important things. Not that wall color isn’t important.” She was quite partial to the soft green she’d chosen for her living room walls, after all.
“Well, sure I’ve been there. Like the time I quit my oh-so-fabulous job to move across the country with a man who dumped me the day the moving truck arrived?” Claire sighed and reached for her mug. They both knew that this particular situation had landed her behind the counter of the café, and on Hailey’s couch.
And later, in Ethan’s arms.
“It all worked out in the end,” Hailey pointed out.
Claire shrugged. “Thanks to you. The guy strung me along for years! Talk about regrets. So tell me, what’s yours?” But before Hailey could even reply, Claire set the mug back down, her eyes turning knowing. “Of course. This is about Pete, isn’t it?”
It all came back to Pete. To that turning point. To her decision.
“We, um, sort of went out last night.” Hailey waited for her cousin’s reaction, not even sure if she was seeking approval or judgment.
“Wow.” Claire was quiet for a moment, her look pensive. “And do you regret that?”
Yes, no, Hailey didn’t know. All she knew was that she’d enjoyed herself, more than she probably should have, because no matter what she felt or wanted, Pete was still going back to his farm soon, and she’d still be here.
With any luck.
“How did this come about?” Claire pressed.
“He said he wanted a tour of the city,” Hailey said, knowing that it sounded like a lame excuse to Claire just as it had to her.
Pete had wanted to spend time with her. And she’d let him.
“Maybe he’ll like the city enough to want to stay.” Bless her, Claire sounded very hopeful.
Hailey shook her head. Nope. He wouldn’t. And why would he have a change of heart now? Because she’d taken him to see the lights at the zoo, given him a carriage-guided tour of the Gold Coast? Because he’d missed her?
She took another sip of her hot chocolate. It usually lifted her spirits, but this morning, it wasn’t doing its job.
“What’s going to happen between the two of you?” Claire asked, and Hailey just shrugged. Exhaustion was starting to creep in from lack of sleep, and she could feel a headache looming. She needed coffee, good and strong, and she needed to start taking action to save this café, not spend her time thinking about a man who was a part of her past, not her future.
She needed to focus on her routine, on her present-day life, not on things that couldn’t be changed.
“Nothing,” Hailey said, pushing all thoughts of last night from her mind. “We just caught up. Like old times.”
Yep. Just like old times. And it would be best for her to remember how that had ended…
At five minutes to noon, Hailey untied her apron strings and collected her hot chocolate ingredients from the kitchen workspace—she hadn’t retrieved her thermoses from yesterday’s delivery, but with her assistant minding the café, she’d have time to whip up a batch on site. Mandy was making a quiche, and Hailey didn’t have the heart to point out that the only people who would probably end up eating it were them.
“Off to the tree lot?” Mandy asked as she poured the filling into a pre-baked crust. “I love the tree, by the way. I was beginning to think you weren’t ever going to put one up.”
Hailey gave a self-conscious laugh. “Well, who has the time?”
Mandy set the timer and gave her a knowing look. “Every other shop on the street. And the coffee shop across the road, too.”
“Well.” Hailey bristled. “I have one up this year. ”
“And that’s good!” Mandy pushed through the kitchen door, holding it for Hailey to pass. “Just…surprising!”
“And why is it so surprising?” Hailey eyed the tree as she walked the length of the display case. It did add a festive touch to the room, even she could see that. More and more customers seemed to prefer to take a chair facing it rather than the window.
Mandy started making a fresh pot of coffee. “Oh, you know…Christmas not being your thing and all that.”
“I make hot chocolate every year for the holidays, complete with a candy cane garnish! And didn’t we just finish talking about the Christmas cookie decorating event?”
Her assistant nodded. The ideas Hailey had passed by her had been met with support and approval, not speculation, which had come as a relief.
“Tell me, do you have a tree at home?”
The bag was getting heavy in Hailey’s arms, and she shifted the weight uncomfortably. “There’s no point. It’s only me.”
Mandy smiled. “I see.”
“You’re telling me you put up a tree in your apartment?” Hailey put the bag on the counter. She knew that Mandy’s apartment wasn’t much bigger than hers.
“Every year,” Mandy surprised her by saying.
“Well…you have a roommate,” Hailey said impatiently. “There’s no point in decorating a tree all on your own.” When you had someone to share it with, sure, but alone? She shuddered .
“My roommate is Jewish,” Mandy replied. “I put the tree up in my bedroom. All on my own.”
Hailey stared blankly at her assistant. There was nothing to argue with there. She didn’t put up a tree. Was it such a big deal?
But it was, she knew. It proved she still hadn’t banished all those memories of decorating a tree with Pete.
Of sitting there that awful year, surrounded by lights and cheer and knowing that she didn’t have the most important person in her life to share it with.
To share anything with.
Christmas had changed for good that year, no longer being something that she looked forward to but instead something she got through. But more than that, it was a reminder.
The more magical something was, the more it hurt when it was taken away.
All the more reason to keep her feelings in check, she told herself firmly.
“I shouldn’t be gone long.” Hailey double-checked her canvas bag, making sure that she had everything she needed, including the secret ingredient that was held in a dark, unmarked container. It might be silly, but her grandmother had sworn her to secrecy with the old family recipe, and Hailey wanted to honor the request. Besides, maybe Pete was right. Maybe there was something special about her hot chocolate. And maybe, if enough people tasted it, they’d come back for more.
“This arrangement with the tree lot is certainly…fe stive of you,” Mandy commented unable to fight her grin.
Rather than feed into it, Hailey hoisted the bag back onto her shoulder and said, “What can I say? I’m being festive this year!”
And that extended to all of her special events. She’d printed out a few flyers after Claire had left and tucked them into the bag she now carried. After she finished making the hot chocolate, she’d take a quick lap around the block and talk to the local shop owners.
“No need to rush back,” Mandy assured her. “I’ve got things covered out front and in the kitchen. If someone comes in, I’ll hear the jingle of the door.” When Hailey raised an eyebrow, Mandy gave her a reassuring smile. “So things are a little slow. It won’t be like this forever.”
It was the first time they’d ever directly discussed the downturn in their foot traffic, but Hailey didn’t want to give her assistant cause for alarm, not before final exams, or Christmas.
“It’s Saturday. There’s bound to be a lot of people shopping for a Christmas tree today. With any luck, a few of them will like my chocolate and stop in for something else, too.”
“Why don’t you offer a twenty-percent discount to everyone who buys a cup from the tree lot?” Mandy suggested, and Hailey perked up at the suggestion. She pulled open a drawer and found some old coupons buried beneath some stained recipe cards.
“What would I do without you?” she asked, but the smile slipped from her face when she considered just how close she was to that exact scenario. She hoisted the heavy bag higher onto her shoulder. “Well, I’m off. Just wave your arms from the front stoop if you need me.”
“Take your time. And sell that chocolate!”
Hailey grinned. She’d sell this hot chocolate all right, but as for taking her time…that part was questionable.
Pete checked his watch for the third time in five minutes, his mouth settling into a thin line again when he realized why. He was waiting for her. For a glimpse of that ash blond hair that fell in waves at her shoulders, for that smile that lit up her eyes—for a moment when that forgotten part of himself was alive again.
Slipping on his gloves, he hoisted a Douglas fir by its trunk and lifted it onto the roof of a car, careful to secure it properly so it wouldn’t slip off. He wasn’t used to the task; he was used to running the business from behind a desk, where he was comfortable. Most of their lots were run by locals, or the trees were supplied to other businesses at wholesale prices. But the good hard work was a distraction right now from the trouble going on behind the scenes. And God knew he needed one…other than Hailey, of course.
“That should do it,” he said to the family sitting patiently in the car. “Have a Merry Christmas!”
He turned with every intention of going back inside and pouring over the spreadsheets that had kept him awake last night nearly as much as thoughts of Hailey had, when he saw her.
He thrust his hands in his pockets and rolled back on his heels as he watched her approach. The spreadsheets could wait.
“Hello there,” he said.
She looked around the lot; people milled about, stopping every few feet to consider their options. “Lots of customers today.”
“It is,” he said, but he couldn’t get too excited. It was a weekend. One of only two before Christmas. He’d expected they’d be busier today, but how much they would sell was still in question.
“I won’t take up too much of your time,” she said.
“You could never take up too much of my time,” Pete replied.
Her cheeks flushed despite the chilly wind that had picked up in the last hour.
“I didn’t get my thermoses back yesterday, so I’ll have to prep everything here,” she explained, patting a bulging canvas bag.
“Let me give you a hand,” he said, reaching out for the bag, but she snatched it out of his reach.
“Oh, no.” A teasing smile curved her mouth.
The mouth he’d almost kissed last night. Or wanted to. Badly.
“Family secret, remember?” she said. “Even my assistant doesn’t know what goes into this recipe.”
“What happens if you’re out of commission one day?” he asked .
“It can never happen,” she said, deadpan, and something in her expression told him that she wasn’t joking right now. That like him, she worked hard, tirelessly even.
But was it for the same reasons? At first, running that farm had been out of obligation to his family. Later, it had been to bury himself with anything that would take his mind off of the woman standing right in front of him.
And now… Now it was because he hadn’t considered another path in years.
Even if he might have to.
“I was hoping that you might put up one of my flyers,” Hailey said, fishing around in the bag until she pulled out a sheet of paper.
Pete took it and studied the information. “A cookie decorating event. Tomorrow?” he raised his eyebrows. “When you said you wanted to try something new, you certainly didn’t waste time.”
“Well, there isn’t much time to waste,” Hailey said. Then, flushing again, she added hastily, “I mean, Christmas is eleven days away, and it’s the perfect excuse for some seasonal events.”
Only eleven days away. Like he needed the reminder.
“I’ll be happy to hang this up. How about right next to the hot chocolate stand? It might even entice people to buy a cup.”
“Thanks,” she said, looking more than a little relieved. “And I also have coupons.”
She pulled a stack of colorful printouts from the bag. “ I’m offering a twenty percent discount for anyone who buys a hot chocolate from you.”
“Not a bad idea,” he said. “Wish I’d thought of it myself.”
“Me too,” Hailey said with a laugh. “It was my assistant’s idea.”
“Well, please thank your assistant then because she’s just given me an idea. Anyone who buys a tree will get a hot chocolate for free,” Pete said, wondering why he hadn’t considered this sooner. Then, seeing the alarm on Hailey’s face, he explained, “On me, I should say. I’ll happily cover the cost if it can help secure a sale.”
“These trees aren’t cheap,” Hailey observed.
No, they weren’t, which was why so many people opted to invest in an artificial one they could use year after year.
“Look at us,” Hailey said wistfully, as she moved toward the small building where her stand was set up and waiting. “It’s just like the old days, us brainstorming ideas, thinking of ways of putting them into action.”
Yes , Pete thought, watching her go. Look at us.
Most days, it was just him—holding the business together, working through his worry, eating silently after a long, hard day.
He liked having someone to share something with—but not just anyone.
Hailey. It was always Hailey. Then and now.
And that was just the problem.