Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The breakfast rush was just dying down and starting to turn into the first trickle of lunchtime customers when Mabel and Vanessa walked into the Snowdrift Diner.
“Back already?” Jackson teased her lightly from where he was standing behind the counter, as Patty started to lead the two women toward an empty booth. “I can get you more coffee, if you like.”
“Maybe after lunch,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “We’re actually here to eat.”
“Well, we have the venison chili special again today. It’s fantastic. I’ll be over to check on you in a few minutes, once Patty gets you settled.”
He didn’t need to do that—Patty was more than capable of handling it, especially since it would be slow for another half an hour or so before the lunchtime crowd really picked up. But he wanted an excuse to talk to Vanessa a little more.
He also knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop. But as the two women settled into their booth and ordered waters with lemon to drink, he couldn’t help listening in a bit to the conversation.
He was curious about Vanessa. He wanted to know more about her, but every time she came in for coffee, she evaded more attempts to get to know her better than she encouraged.
“This was the busiest I’ve seen the shop since I got here,” Vanessa said, sipping at her water. “Even busier than this past weekend.”
“It’ll just keep getting busier until Christmas,” Mabel said with a small laugh.
“Both tourists and locals finishing up their shopping.” She tilted her head a little as she looked at her granddaughter, and Jackson could tell she was deciding how much to pry about something.
Mabel had a certain look when she wanted to get something out of a person, and he’d been on the receiving end of that look more than once.
“You got to the shop a little earlier than usual today. That boss of yours finally letting up on you while you’re out of town? ”
Vanessa snorted. “Hardly,” she said. “But… I don’t know. I worked on some emails while I had breakfast in my room at Hearthside, and I just wanted to get to the shop. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I usually do.”
It was Mabel’s turn to let out a snort. “You enjoy sending emails and spending hours looking at spreadsheets? I have an accountant just because I can’t stand dealing with those things every year at tax time.”
A small smile quirked the edges of Vanessa’s mouth up, and Jackson found himself staring for a moment. Her smile, even as small as it was, felt like it drew him in. Like she didn’t smile often, and he wanted to make her smile more.
“Maybe enjoy isn’t the right word,” Vanessa conceded. “But I’ve always liked losing myself in my work. I know it’s mind-numbing, but… that’s what I’ve wanted. Something to occupy my mind and keep me in a routine. All that rote work—invoices and emails and spreadsheets—it does exactly that.”
Jackson frowned, grabbing a glass to wipe down and busy himself with, just in case Vanessa looked his way.
Now he was even more curious. What bothered Vanessa so much that she kept a dull, busy-work job just to stay occupied enough not to think?
Whatever it was, he found himself wishing that he could ease it for her in some way.
It was a ridiculous thing to think, because she wouldn’t be in Fir Tree Grove for long, and there was no point in getting closer to her.
But something about the look on her face in that moment made his chest ache a little.
“Well, how has it been since you’ve been back, and not glued to that laptop constantly?
” Mabel asked, that prying look still on her face.
She was intent on digging now, Jackson could see, and he couldn’t make himself stop listening, even though he knew he might hear something that he shouldn’t unless Vanessa told him herself.
“It’s brought back a lot of memories,” Vanessa admitted.
“But not the way I worried it would. It’s actually been nice to remember some of the good times from my childhood.
I haven’t thought about them in years, especially not the Christmas traditions and the things we used to do.
And I’m a little ashamed to say, that I never realized working at a toy shop could keep me as occupied as it has,” she added with a small laugh.
“Helping customers, manning the wrapping station for you, looking up orders or checking in the back for things… I feel like it never stops. It keeps me busy, that’s for sure. ”
“I see you smiling more at the shop.” Mabel reached out, patting her granddaughter’s hand, and Jackson was intensely curious as to what Vanessa might say next. But Patty came back to their booth just then to get their orders, and the conversation was cut short.
When their orders came up in the kitchen—the venison chili for Mabel and a grilled chicken sandwich with local goat cheese and pepper jam, along with a side salad, for Vanessa—he grabbed the plates himself and took them out to the booth.
“Venison chili with a side of crackers and shredded local cheddar on top…” he set the bowl down in front of Mabel. “And the sandwich with a side salad and balsamic fig dressing for you.” He set Vanessa’s food down. “Anything else I can get you ladies?”
Mabel looked up at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Well, now I feel special. Service from the owner himself. What a day.”
Jackson rolled his eyes, chuckling. “Oh, don’t act like I haven’t served you lunch a hundred times before.
” He looked over at Vanessa, who had that same small smile playing on her lips that she had before.
“Let me know if you want that coffee,” he added.
“I’ll come back to check on you ladies in a bit. ”
“Well, he certainly seems to have taken a liking to you,” Mabel said, just as Jackson walked away.
He was still able to hear everything she was saying, and even though once again he knew it was foolish to feel his heart perk up a little in his chest, anxiously awaiting Vanessa’s response, he couldn’t help it.
“He’s just being polite,” Vanessa said, and Mabel chuckled.
“It’s not busy enough in here for him to be waiting tables. He wanted an excuse to talk to you.”
Jackson winced. Was he really that obvious? He hoped not. Mabel was nothing if not perceptive, and she’d known him his whole life. He doubted Vanessa would have picked up on it otherwise, which was, again, for the best. She wasn’t staying in town, and he wasn’t the type to have meaningless flings.
“I think it’s nice,” Mabel continued. “The two of you would get along famously, I think. You already do, apparently, as much as you’re in here.”
“The coffee is good,” Vanessa said noncommittally. “He has eggnog creamer, and it’s even better than what I can get in San Francisco, so of course I keep coming back.”
Jackson couldn’t help the warmth that spread through him at that. He’d gotten the creamer especially because he’d thought she would like it, so hearing that she’d appreciated it made his entire day seem brighter.
“Also,” Vanessa continued, before Mabel could say anything else about how good she and Jackson would be together.
“We were so busy this morning that I forgot to mention it. But Imogen asked me if you could look for a toy for Katie. There’s this figurine—Unicorn Princess Paint it’s called, I think.
She’s having a really hard time finding it, and she thought you might have better luck. ”
“Oh, I know that one,” Mabel said with a laugh. “All the kids are crazy about it this Christmas. It’s backordered right now, unfortunately. But I’ll do my best to see if I can get one in, especially if it’s for little Katie.”
“Thank you.” Vanessa smiled. “I know Imogen will appreciate it.”
Jackson found ways to keep busy, cleaning up after the last of the breakfast rush and making sure there were plenty of clean dishes and glasses for lunch, while he waited for the two women to finish their meal.
When he saw their plates were close to cleared, he went and poured a mug of coffee for Vanessa, adding a liberal dose of the eggnog creamer to it before carrying it over.
“I overheard how much you still like that creamer,” he said with a grin as he set it down in front of her, taking her empty plate. “So I went ahead and made you an eggnog latte. On the house, as always.”
Vanessa’s cheeks turned a dusty pink, and he realized too late that by admitting he’d overheard the comment about the creamer, he was also admitting he might have heard other parts of the conversation. But he kept quiet, and Vanessa smiled a moment later.
“That was very kind of you,” she said, ignoring her grandmother’s chuckle across from her. “You know how much I love my coffee.”
“I do.” Jackson took Mabel’s bowl as well, as she nudged it to the side. “Can I get you ladies anything else? Pecan pie, maybe? We have it fresh today…”
“I think we’re both stuffed,” Mabel said. “But now that I’m looking at you two—” That mischievous gleam sparked in her eyes again. “I can’t help thinking that you two would be the perfect Santa and Mrs. Claus this year.”
Jackson frowned. “I thought you and George would play the parts. You always do. Are you having a second event, or you need another pair of Santa and Mrs. Claus?” He trailed off, confused, and Mabel chuckled wryly.
“No. Just the same event as usual. But I just don’t think I’m going to be up to playing the part this year with my wrist the way it is. And you know George does it as a favor to me. I don’t think he’ll be nearly as interested in playing the part if it’s someone else.”
Jackson wasn’t sure if that was true or not—he thought the older man got a real kick out of being Santa every year. But Vanessa was already speaking before he could say anything, shaking her head.
“I’m sure there’s someone better for it,” she said quickly. “You can’t corner poor Jackson into being Santa, Nana. And anyway, I’m sure he’s far too busy, and I don’t even really live here any longer. The town doesn’t want me to be Mrs. Claus.”
“You’re from here, and you’re my granddaughter, so that’s all that really matters. It’s perfect,” Mabel insisted. “Every year I’m Mrs. Claus, and you’re my granddaughter, so it works out exactly the way it should. Maybe Jackson can grow out his beard…”
“I don’t know about that,” Jackson said with a chuckle.
“See? There’s got to be someone else,” Vanessa insisted, but Mabel shook her head.
“Just looking at the two of you, I can see it. Besides,” she added, that glint still in her eyes. “You came here to help me, right? This is definitely something I need help with. And I just don’t know if I can trust it to anyone else.”
Jackson could see the moment that Vanessa gave in, her shoulders dropping slightly as she let out a sigh. It was sweet, really, how he could see that she had a soft spot for her grandmother. She was stoic and a little icy the rest of the time, but with Mabel, he could see that softness.
“All right,” Vanessa conceded. “If it means that much to you and it really would help, then I’ll do it.”
“It absolutely will,” Mabel said firmly. “Jackson?” She turned those mischievous eyes on him, and he heard himself saying yes before he’d even fully formed the word in his head.
He’d never thought that he’d jump at the chance to play Santa for the toy shop’s event. But he was going to eagerly take any chance he could get to spend more time with Vanessa.