Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
For the first time that she could remember, Vanessa had a slow, lazy Sunday morning.
It was startling, really. Her Sunday mornings back home in San Francisco usually consisted of getting breakfast out, then going to the coffee shop she’d mentioned to Jackson for coffee and to work.
She’d always work through as much as she could, hit the gym, and then head back home…
sometimes just to eat and get back on her laptop to work through more tasks before bed.
It had been that way since she’d started her job, and she’d gotten into such a routine with it, so comfortable in the way it kept her busy and focused, out of her own head, that it had stayed that way.
Even in college, before the accident, she’d rarely slowed down.
Weekends were for studying, homework, applying for internships.
She couldn’t recall ever having done what she did that morning—which was sleep in until the shocking hour of nine in the morning there in Fir Tree Grove, which was six back home.
A full hour’s extra sleep, and then she’d gone downstairs, telling Christopher that she was going to head to the diner for breakfast instead.
He’d told her to enjoy, with an odd twinkle in his eye and a grin, which had confused Vanessa.
But everyone in the town seemed to have a sort of secret mischief about them, a constant cheer that she was unused to, so she chalked it up to that.
She’d almost talked herself into the pumpkin French toast at the diner, but had opted for a vegetarian omelet instead, with local Cheddar cheese and a side of salsa.
Jackson had made her the coffee with eggnog creamer again, before having to dash off to help customers during the breakfast rush, and she’d found herself wishing that he’d been able to hang around and chat for longer.
Which was ridiculous. She liked peace and quiet in the mornings.
The chatter and noise and constant Christmas music in the diner alone should have been grating to her, like that kind of thing always was.
She relied on her noise-canceling earbuds and a stream of white noise from her music app wherever she went, and whenever she worked away from her office or home.
But the sounds of the diner didn’t grate on her at all, and neither did the music.
It felt cheerful. Homey.
And although it was ridiculous too, she couldn’t help but watch Jackson as she sipped her coffee and nibbled at the incredibly delicious omelet, enjoying the sight of the rugged diner owner taking down breakfast orders and making kitchen runs.
It didn’t hurt to look, she told herself, and he was definitely easy on the eyes.
When her leisurely breakfast was over, she got another cup of coffee to-go and decided to go for a walk through town.
She needed to pick up a few more things, now that she had decided to stay in town longer, and despite the cold it was a beautiful, sunny day outside.
The toy shop was closed for the day—the only day of the week it closed—and Vanessa had nothing waiting for her other than the things she needed to look over for Russell.
Normally, she would have gone straight back to clear it all out.
Normally, she wouldn’t even have done anything else with her day until those tasks were finished, eating at her desk and burning through them all as efficiently as possible.
But for the first time, she found that she was hesitant to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon chained to her laptop.
Instead, she shrugged her coat back on at the door of the diner, tugged on her gloves, and headed back out into the cold to take the long way to the Holly and Ivy Market.
Her boots clicked against the snowy cobblestones as she walked past the stores, every one of them festive and full of holiday cheer.
Imogen’s shop had the door propped open despite the cold, and Vanessa caught a glimpse of Katie sitting on a stool near the sample table, a mug of what was probably hot cocoa clasped between two small hands.
The general store was hung with wreaths on every window, a large chalkboard sign hanging next to the door that had the day’s sales written on it in red and green curling script, Christmas-y designs of gingerbread men and holiday pies and Christmas trees drawn alongside.
Instead of walking as quickly as possible to her destination, like she usually would, Vanessa found herself slowing down, taking in the displays.
It was all still an overwhelming amount of Christmas spirit, she told herself, but taken individually, the decorations were really quite beautiful.
Jackson’s decorations at the diner were the most over-the-top, of course, but the more she talked to him, the more that didn’t surprise her at all.
She paused at Cheerful Chapters, looking at the holiday-themed book displays in the windows, nestled in tufts of ‘snow’ made out of white fluff with red velvet backdrops.
One of the books’ covers caught her eye, and she decided to go in and browse for a moment.
Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d really read and enjoyed a book.
She had a novel sitting next to her bedside at home, but she barely remembered what it was about.
She usually read a page or two when she slipped into bed, and then almost immediately fell asleep.
Since she was trying new things, she thought, a book to enjoy by the fireplace in her bedroom at the bed and breakfast might be nice. She went over to the display, picking it up and scanning the blurb on the back cover.
It was a thriller set during the holidays, at a remote Scottish resort.
It sounded intriguing, the kind of fast-paced book that wouldn’t let her mind wander while she read it, and she took it up to the counter to purchase.
Ten minutes later, she was headed back out into the sunny, cold, snowy morning, the Holly and Ivy Market the next stop.
It was a large log-sided building with a green tin roof, with double doors at the front that had wreaths hung on each of them and garlands strung along the edge of the roof.
A stream of customers headed in and out, and the moment Vanessa walked in she breathed in the scent of fir and spices, especially cinnamon.
The general store would have had most of what she needed, but Mabel had told her to stop by the Market instead.
She needed a few necessary clothing items, and also to replace a few of her toiletries.
Mabel had told her that there was local-milled soap sold at the Market, and despite Vanessa’s hesitance, she’d been convinced to check it out.
The soap was on a table at the front of the beauty and health section, creamy white bars stacked on top of each other in three pyramids, with small leaflets next to them explaining the scents and the benefits of using goat’s milk soap.
Vanessa wrinkled her nose, a little unsure if she wanted to be quite this rustic, but when she picked up a bar infused with peppermint essential oil, she found herself wavering.
It did smell good, and the bar felt soft and even a little luxurious.
She decided to try it, and put one of the bars in her basket, before heading off down the aisles to collect the rest of what she needed.
The Market was full of seasonal items—locally made candles, peppermint chocolate cookies that looked deliciously chewy, a candy cane dip with soft sugared pretzels.
There were displays everywhere with stations for tasting some of the seasonal food items, and Vanessa found herself ignoring the little voice that warned her that she never ate this much high-calorie food.
Instead, she took samples as she walked through, tasting a little of each of the treats, and by the time she’d walked through the Market, she’d ended up with a box of the sugared pretzels and a jar of the candy cane dip in her basket, as well as a tin of fresh peppermint tea and a jar of local honey.
She could get treats and tea at the bed and breakfast, of course, but there was something luxurious and cozy about having something already up in her room waiting for her.
She liked being able to do things for herself as well, and not depend on someone else to bring them to her.
The idea of having those things waiting for her while she read her new book by the fire gave her a warm, cozy feeling that she couldn’t recall having in a long time… if ever.
With her purchases made, Vanessa checked her watch for the time.
Her phone was in her back pocket, and she’d promised herself she wouldn’t take it out unless it buzzed, and if it did buzz, she would only answer it if it was Mabel.
Not Russell. He could be okay with her taking a Sunday off for once…
probably the first day she’d fully taken off since she’d started working for him.
She headed back outside, the reusable shopping bag with a Christmas tree printed on it that she’d bought at the Market as well slung over one shoulder, and decided to stop in and see Imogen.
She’d enjoyed talking to the other woman when she’d gone into the chocolate shop before, and a cup of hot cocoa sounded good, even though she knew she’d probably had enough sugar for the day already.
The store was bustling when Vanessa walked in, but Imogen saw her immediately, raising a hand and waving cheerfully as she finished ringing up a couple that had a stack of chocolate boxes in front of them.
As soon as the line cleared, Imogen went straight to one of the glass cases, sliding out a slice of white chocolate peppermint fudge and handing it to Vanessa on a napkin.
“On the house,” Imogen said with a grin. “It’s incredible. One of my favorites, honestly.”
“Miss Vanessa!” Katie called out as she ran over to the counter, nearly bouncing as she held up a stuffed toy for Vanessa to admire, just as Vanessa accepted the slice of fudge. “Look what Santa brought early!”
“I’m bad at surprises,” Imogen said with a smile. “So I give her something small on the twelve days leading up to Christmas.”
“It’s the beginning of December,” Vanessa pointed out, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as well. “Not even the twelfth, yet.”
“Well, like I said.” Imogen laughed. “I couldn’t resist giving it to her early. I told her Santa came by for her list and left it because she’d been so good this year.”
“It’s perfect,” Katie said enthusiastically, holding up the toy higher so Vanessa could see. “It’s a unicorn!”
It was a stuffed blue unicorn, with a rainbow iridescent horn. “It looks very soft,” Vanessa said, taking a small bite of her fudge. She looked back at Imogen. “This fudge is incredible. I’m going to gain ten pounds while I’m here. I came in for hot cocoa and you give me fudge.”
“I can make you hot cocoa too,” Imogen said with a grin. “Just say the word.”
“How do you like my unicorn, Miss Vanessa?” Katie pressed, and Vanessa took another long, serious look at the toy.
“I think it’s the best unicorn I’ve ever seen,” she said firmly, and Katie beamed.
“She’s all ready for Christmas. And now she wants to go build a snowman!” Katie bounded toward the back door, singing the song from Frozen off-key, clearly pretending to be Anna while the unicorn ‘sang’ the part of Elsa.
“Katie is clearly excited for Christmas,” Vanessa said with a laugh as she took another small bite of her fudge.
She’d never spent time around children, really, but Katie was adorable.
So full of energy that it made Vanessa’s head spin, but adorable all the same.
Much like a lot of things in Fir Tree Grove this time of year, she thought.
Overwhelming, but wholesome and full of joy.
She still wasn’t sure how she felt about all of it.
She didn’t mean to be a Scrooge, but it all felt so… different from what she was used to.
“She is,” Imogen said fondly, watching her daughter run out into the snow. “Actually, that makes me think. I was wondering if you could ask your grandmother about a toy for me.”
“Of course,” Vanessa said, and Imogen gave a happy laugh.
“It’s just… there’s this thing called a Unicorn Princess Paint figurine that Katie can’t stop talking about.
It comes with washable paints, and you can basically paint and start over, again and again.
It was in her letter to Santa three times,” Imogen added with another laugh.
“Katie loves doing her own art projects, and as you can see, she’s obsessed with unicorns right now. But I can’t find it anywhere.”
“If anyone can find it, it’ll be Mabel,” Vanessa promised. “I’ll make sure to ask her to look.”
“Thank you so much!” Imogen said enthusiastically. “I keep meaning to go by the shop and ask, but it’s so hard to get away from here with how busy it is.”
“It’s no problem at all, really,” Vanessa assured her. “I’m there every day as it is. I’ll tell her tomorrow.”
“I heard you were staying longer too?” Imogen smiled. “I’m so happy to hear that. It’s nice having someone else my age around.”
“For a little while—at least another week or two, I think,” Vanessa said. “Mabel really needs my help. When things slow down and her wrist seems better, I’ll head back to San Francisco.”
“Well, Katie and I were going to go to the outdoor holiday market on Tuesday,” Imogen said.
“Would you like to come too? It’s really fun.
There’s hot cocoa and cider and mulled wine, and lots of vendors, and all the lights are so beautiful.
It’s really a once-a-year kind of thing, even for Fir Tree Grove. ”
Vanessa hesitated. She didn’t really have friends back in San Francisco, and she didn’t go out.
She never made time for socializing, and her time was pretty much entirely spent in her office, her apartment, or a quiet coffee shop.
She worried that the bustling market, and trying to spend an afternoon hanging out with Imogen and Katie, might be overwhelming.
That Imogen might realize she wasn’t good at relaxing, or having fun.
Something about the idea of that bothered her, when it wouldn’t have before.
But Imogen was smiling warmly at her, and she could tell the invitation was genuine. It had been a day to try new things so far, so Vanessa smiled back, nodding as she took another nibble of the fudge.
“That sounds wonderful. I’d love to.”