Chapter Four
LUCAS
“Where are we, exactly?” Julia asks as she jumps out of the cab of the tow truck.
The sun has long since set, thanks to the many hours we waited for the tow truck to arrive. Who knew a random Friday afternoon in late June would be so busy for cars needing to be towed?
Once we were rescued, Jack, our driver, let us know he wouldn’t be able to drive us to Kelowna, but could take us to the closest town with a mechanic shop, which happens to be wherever we are now.
“Candy Cane Creek,” Jack says as he joins us. “I spoke with the owner of this shop, and he said to leave it here, and he’ll look at it in the morning.”
“Just here on the street?” I say at the same time as Julia says, “Candy Cane Creek? I’ve always wanted to come here!”
Jack laughs. “Your truck is fine here. Your biggest worry is going to be if there’s a tire your size within a hundred-kilometre radius.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You’re not quite in the middle of nowhere, but you’re not near a big city, either. Chuck will be able to get one, it just might take some time.”
“Oh no.” Julia grabs my arm, looking up at me with panic in her eyes.
“Let’s not worry about that right now. The first thing we should do is try to find a place to stay tonight. Is there a hotel or anything?”
“There’s an inn. I don’t know if there’s any room with Canada Day coming up, but Jacob will be able to help you out the best he can.”
Jack gives us directions before he starts unhooking my truck.
“The Mistletoe Inn? That’s amazing,” Julia exclaims as we start walking, the sound of our roller suitcases echoing down the empty street behind us. “I hope they have rooms. I’ve always wanted to stay there. I heard it’s like an old-fashioned Christmas inn.”
“How do you know about this place? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Candy Cane Creek before.”
She stops abruptly, but it takes my brain a few steps before I notice. Turning back, I find her with her hands on her hips. “How do you not know about Candy Cane Creek? Their Christmas festival is famous, along with their rivalry with Gingerbread Grove.”
“Rivalry? What’s a Gingerbread Grove?”
She rolls her eyes at me as she crosses her arms across her chest. “I know I’ve talked about this.
There was a huge write-up in our newspaper about it over Christmas.
How they’re both Christmas towns that constantly try to outdo each other?
” When I give her a blank look, she continues.
“They both have festivals, and I think they’ve started adding other holidays as well.
Over Christmas, there was even a seniors’ bus trip from Pinehaven to visit both in a weekend. ”
“How do you know all of this?”
Julia stares blankly at me. “How do you not?”
We enter into a mini staring contest on the sidewalk—one that means we’ve reached a stalemate in our conversation.
She’s likely wondering how on Earth I made it through life in our small town without following the daily gossip or goings-on, but I simply avoid it.
Which means I’ve somehow also avoided rival Christmas towns.
Who knew there was such a thing?
“Let’s get to the inn, and you can fill me in on what this rivalry is all about.” My stomach chooses that moment to grumble. “Maybe over dinner.”
Julia laughs, dropping her arms. “Wouldn’t want you to get hangry.”
We walk a few more minutes until we hit what looks like the main street of town.
“Candy Cane Lane? That’s so cute,” Julia exclaims. “And there’s The Mistletoe Inn!”
Across the street is a big brick building with a large Victorian-looking sign above the door.
Now that we’ve reached the main part of town, all the storefronts and buildings have an old-fashioned feel to them, but they definitely aren’t as Christmasy as I was expecting.
Where I thought there would have been signs of candy canes and holly, there are maple leaves and beaver tails.
“Does the sign say Mistletoe Inn or Maple Leaf Inn? It’s hard to see in the dark,” Julia asks, squinting to see through the fading light.
“An inn is an inn. Let’s go inside.”
Making our way across the street and through the door, we see that it’s a temporary sign over what we assume is meant to be The Mistletoe Inn. Inside the heavy wooden doors, we’re welcomed by deep red and green walls with wallpaper that gives a vintage look without making it feel dated.
“Hello, welcome to The Mistletoe Inn,” a man around our age says with a tired smile. “Sorry, I mean The Maple Leaf Inn. I’m still getting used to that. How can I help you?”
“We’re hoping you have a vacancy for tonight. My truck broke down just outside of town, and we’re going to be stuck here for the night,” I say, putting my bag down at my feet. I don’t remember what I packed in there, but it’s feeling very heavy, all of a sudden.
“You’re in luck, actually. We’re normally sold out for the Canada Day Festival, but we just had a cancellation.” He shakes the mouse of his computer and starts typing. “I can book you a room on the second floor.”
“Two,” I add. “Two rooms, please.”
He looks up from his computer screen, giving us a quizzical look. “Sorry, of course. I happen to have the adjoining room next door. Is that okay?”
“That would be great,” I add. This wouldn’t be the first time that someone has mistaken us for a couple.
“Canada Day Festival?” Julia asks, ignoring his blunder. “But Canada Day isn’t until next week.”
“It sort of runs into our Christmas in July Festival, which, I’m sure has nothing to do with the fact that Gingerbread Grove is all of a sudden hosting their own Canada Day events,” he says sarcastically with an eye roll.
“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t mention that to new guests.
I’m Jacob, by the way. I’m the owner of the inn. ”
“I’m Lucas, and this is Julia. We’re from Pinehaven.”
“Pinehaven? You didn’t make it very far, did you?” he asks.
I groan. “No. We were planning on making it to Kelowna tonight before heading to Vancouver.”
“And I want to know more about this rivalry. It was all the buzz over Christmas. There were even articles written about it,” Julia adds excitedly.
“All the buzz?” I whisper to her, earning me an elbow to the ribs.
“Is it true that they’re always trying to outdo you?” she continues.
“I wish there was another reason that people were learning about Candy Cane Creek, but it seems to be the rivalry that gets everyone’s attention.
I can’t say for sure if their motive is to try and outdo us, but there seems to be a lot of copycat holiday celebrations, that’s for sure.
One thing I won’t complain about is the people who choose to stay here over The Gingerbread House Inn. ”
“Are you complaining about them again?” a blonde woman asks as she comes from a door behind Jacob.
“You can’t blame me. It may have just opened, but you can’t tell me that we haven’t lost guests to them, especially this week.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She turns to us with a bright smile. “I’m Cassie, Jacob’s girlfriend. You’ll have to excuse grumpy-pants here. It’s been… a week.”
“You can say that again,” Jacob scoffs.
“Is everything okay?” Julia asks. “Did we come to town at a bad time?”
“No, not exactly. Since you know about the rivalry, you know that anything Gingerbread Grove does can be seen as a…”
“Threat,” Jacob adds.
“Excessive competition,” Cassie says, giving Jacob a look that tells me that they are more than just townspeople.
“Anyways, don’t let that ruin your stop here; we’re happy to have you,” Cassie says cheerfully.
“Do you both run the inn together?” Julia asks.
“No, this is Jacob’s baby. I own the Candy Cane Café—I mean, The Maple Drip.”
“We’ll definitely stop there in the morning. Hopefully, the shop will be able to fix Lucas’s truck, and we can be on our way.”
“Let’s get you checked in, then, and you can get a good night’s rest before you have to deal with that,” Jacob says.
I give him my driver’s license and credit card information, and the next thing we know, we have the keys to our rooms. I hear Julia and Cassie talking about how we’re on our way to Vancouver and the True North concert.
Cassie gets as squealy and excited as Julia, leaving Jacob and me to give each other eye rolls and smirks.
“I know it’s getting late, but is there any place we can grab some food after dropping off our bags? We were stuck at the side of the road all afternoon,” Julia asks, sneaking a look my way. Her eyebrow raises, making me laugh. She’s likely assessing how close I am to a hangry meltdown.
“The diner is closed for the night, but I can make something up for you. We run a full high tea service during the day. I hope you’re okay with leftover cucumber and egg sandwiches?”
“Are you kidding? I love high tea. That’s one thing Pinehaven is missing—a good high tea place. Do not tell Lily I said that.” She aims that last bit at me, eyes narrowing, letting me know that she means it.
“Jacob, do you still have some of the food you ordered for the wedding over the weekend?” Cassie turns to us, clasping her hands at her chest. “He did the most amazing finger sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jam. I think we might still have some of those maple macarons from Levi’s bakery, right?
We could turn today around into a romantic evening for them. ”
Jacob lets out a cough, shaking his head at her.
Just for a second, I don’t jump to correct it.
“Romantic?” Julia laughs for a second before stopping abruptly. “Oh! No, we aren’t together. We’re just friends.”
Cassie gasps quietly. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I just assumed…”
“Funny how we get together and, all of a sudden, all those years of people assuming we’re the ones who are together just fly right out of your mind…” Jacob says, rolling his eyes.
“It’s not a big deal,” I say, hoping to lighten the mood. “We would love anything you have. We can put our bags in our rooms and come back down.”
Keys in hand, we make our way up the giant staircase, promising to meet each other in five minutes for the not-romantic high tea.
Knowing Julia, “five minutes” really means fifteen, so after stowing my suitcase in the corner of the room, I sit on my bed, looking out at Candy Cane Creek through the window.
The sun had long since set, and the twinkle of the lights from homes and streets stand out against the night sky.
There aren’t so many that it clouds the stars, which is nice.
I know once we get into the city, it’ll be next to impossible to see any, and for some reason, that always makes me feel uneasy. Like I don’t know which way is up.
Not feeling like turning on the TV, I start scrolling on my phone, but thanks to all the research and bookings I’ve done for this trip, my feed is filled with images of True North and their tour.
Rich and Bennett sing as they wrap an arm around each other’s shoulders, neon pink and yellow writing yelling to “get your tickets now” for their concert.
“Twenty-five years later, and I still can’t get away from these guys,” I mutter, putting my phone back in my pocket.
At least if I’m going to get stranded in another small town, Candy Cane Creek doesn’t seem to be too bad. I’m sure all small towns have their quirks, but this one feels quaint. Similar enough to Pinehaven with its welcoming charms, just with some holiday extras.
Looking at the clock on the nightstand, I think I’ve probably given her enough time to do whatever it is that she does to “freshen up.” I can never tell the difference, but she always insists she’s like a whole new person after.
A knock at my door draws me out of my thoughts, followed by Julia’s soft voice. “Luc, are you ready?”
I cross the room in a few strides and open the door to find Julia smiling up at me.
Thinking back to what she looked like when I picked her up outside of her house this morning, I see there are some differences now.
They’re subtle, but they’re there. Her big blue eyes look a little less tired, possibly now void of makeup.
Her long brown hair is up in a ponytail.
She’s wearing the same denim shorts but now has a True North shirt on, with one corner tucked in.
“How old is that shirt?” I ask, vaguely remembering it from years ago.
“Older than I care to admit. Are you ready? I’m starving. You haven’t reached hangry level yet, have you? I rushed as much as I could.”
“No, not yet. I’m definitely in the ‘should have packed a Snickers’ zone, though. Too bad someone took it from me in the truck,” I joke.
“You said I could!” she says as she playfully hits my arm. “And I believe your exact words were ‘you need this more than I do.’”
“I guess it’s my time to shine, then. I believe Cassie mentioned maple macarons. If that’s true, I call all of them.”
She rolls her eyes. “Come on, then. But you have to let me at least try them, because a maple macaron sounds heavenly.” Linking her arm through mine, she pulls me toward the staircase, and I know that I would give her all the macarons in the world if it means she’s this happy and carefree.