A Cuddly Christmas (Cheerful)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

TILLY

“Come on, Tilly,” Molly says and shakes her head at me. “You’re from Cheerful. Smile.”

“I am!” I swipe one of my unruly curls out of my face with frustration. I don’t wear my hair down often because it gets in my way, but Molly said I had to for this.

“Try with teeth,” she encourages, and I do what she says. When Molly’s face scrunches, I know it’s bad. “I’m not photogenic. This was a terrible idea.”

“This was your idea.”

“Hey! You don’t have to call me out,” I say as I lick my lips. “What is this lipstick? It tastes like sugar cookies.” It’s making me hungry, but then again, I’m always hungry.

“It’s just lip gloss.”

“Dang, I might start wearing it then.” Molly put a little makeup on me when she pulled down my hair to take this picture.

“What did Frosty’s girlfriend give him when she was mad at him?”

Ope, here we go. I think it over for a second. “A blowtorch?”

“No,” Molly giggles. “The cold shoulder.”

I can’t contain my laugh, not because the joke is that funny but because this is Molly.

She’s got Christmas dad jokes for days. It’s one of her many quirks.

To love her is to love them. Plus, I’m legally bound to.

It comes with being her best friend ever since we made that pinky promise in kindergarten to gang up on one of the boys who was picking on us.

“Got it!” Molly bounces on her heels excitedly. “I needed to get you into a real laugh.” She turns her phone around to show me the picture, and it’s not bad.

“Can we Photoshop my freckles out?”

“No! They’re adorable.”

“Isn’t the goal to be sexy?” I thought that’s what dating apps are for, but what do I know? I flip one of my curls out of my face.

“You’re sexy,” Molly says with so much enthusiasm that I want to believe her.

“You think? Is it the overalls?” I joke, pulling on the straps.

“Those are your work overalls,” she says, and I lift my eyebrow at her. “And sometimes when we go out for lunch or shopping. Or for when we go to the movies.”

They’re very functional for working in a hardware store, but they’re also really comfortable. When she finishes editing my dating profile, I notice she crops the picture so my overalls aren’t in it.

“Maybe I should go to the lake so you can take a picture of me catching a fish and posing with it?” I notice a lot of men doing that. I don’t get it, but if you can’t beat them, join them. Although I could probably beat them too because I always catch big fish.

“The lake is frozen solid.”

“I’ll bring a pickax.” I motion to one of the aisles in the hardware store Jingle Bells and Nails. “I can get through the ice.”

“I think you could get through anything,” she says, but I’m not sure I agree fully with that. A chainsaw can get you through most things.

Currently, I'm attempting to overcome my infatuation with the new hot-ass veterinarian in town. The one whose office is straight across from the hardware store.

Hot isn't even the right word for him. That man belongs on the cover of GQ.

He successfully combines rugged masculinity with striking handsomeness.

I can't even get started on his hair. It’s usually falling into his eyes when he's working with adorable animals.

Then he runs his hand through it, causing all the girls in town to swoon.

Like literally swoon. I thought that was only a turn of phrase until I saw it in live action.

I will not be one of them. I’ve made sure of that by annoying the shit out of him whenever we cross paths. The thing is, he was supposed to give it back to me, but he’s always so nice.

Doctor Paxton Rudolph has heartbreak written all over him. There isn't a girl in this town he couldn't have, except maybe Molly. In true best friend girl code, she obviously hates him too.

“We are all set, and you’re live!”

“Now what?” I take my phone back from her and give it a once-over.

“We wait.”

“What is this crap you put in here? I’m a food connoisseur?”

“You love to eat,” she says, and I delete it. “Hey!”

“I’m fixing it.” Thankfully Molly is extra short, and I’m pretty tall for a girl, so she can’t snatch the phone back. I replace it with I like cheese on everything. “That's better.” I keep reading further and shake my head as I delete it all. “What is this made-up shit?”

“What are you putting in? I worked hard on that.”

“Seriously? I came up with this plan twenty minutes ago.”

“Whatever,” Molly huffs.

I think for a minute on what to put.

“Got it!” I tell Molly. “Do you like bad girls?”

“What? You’re putting that?”

“I don’t need the judgment, and I’m not done.” Molly presses her lips together. “Now where was I? Right, bad girl.” She rolls her eyes. “Do you like bad girls? Then I’m your girl because I’m bad at everything.”

Molly puts her face in her hands, but I know she’s only hiding her laughter.

“All right, I have to get back to the bakery.”

"I should probably do the work thing too," I say and check the time. "Gramps is coming in so I can do a few deliveries."

We say our goodbyes before Molly bounces out the front door.

I debate deleting the whole profile, but what does it hurt to leave it?

I'm not trying to find a soul mate or anything trivial like that. It's more about putting myself out there so this silly crush on Dr. Rudolph will go away. I’m not sure why it’s so hard to shake it when I’ve never had this problem before.

"Tills," Gramps calls, coming in through the back.

"I made your favorite." He kisses me on the cheek, handing me the Tupperware container.

For a person who loves food, I'm a terrible cook, but thankfully Grampa might as well be a master chef. On top of that, my best friend runs a bakery, so I’m covered.

Gramps makes my favorite every day, which really is any kind of food.

"You're the best. I'm going to run this upstairs to my refrigerator, and then I'll do the orders."

"Sounds good. I'll print them and get them organized," he says.

I quickly put the food away before changing out of my sneakers and into boots. This time of year, the snow is constant.

“How many do we have?” I ask when I get back downstairs and grab the keys to my truck. Living right above the hardware store makes commuting extra easy. I can roll out of bed five minutes before I need to open the store.

That’s also one of the reasons I know Paxton isn’t for me. I see the girls that chat him up, and they are all beyond belief. I can maybe pull off cute on a good day, but most of the time, I’m rough and tumble.

“Only a couple, but I’m going to take these two. They’re on my way home.” I check over the ones he’s talking about to make sure. Gramps has a small country cabin and likes to stay busy.

“All right, but let me load them up.”

“I’m not that old, Tills.”

“We’re not having this fight again,” I say, already grabbing the items needed. When I get him all set, I grab the last one off the counter.

“I’ll handle the store till you get back,” he says.

“All right,” I agree, then check the name on the order and see “Dr. Paxton Rudolph.”

“That man is going to keep us in business,” Gramps chuckles.

“We don’t need his business. We do just fine without it,” I huff, tugging on my overall straps.

“I’m only teasing, but you’re awfully touchy about it.”

“The man orders every day,” I point out.

“I’m sure he’s doing a small project on the place. If you want me to take it, I can. You can stay here in the store."

"I’ve got it,” I mutter, making him laugh. “Quit trying to take my job."

"I promise you, Tills, you're irreplaceable."

"One of a kind, really," I joke back.

I should add that to my dating profile.