9. Mallory
MALLORY
The next afternoon, Mal pulled on her coat with one hand, holding a big bakery box in the other while her best friend questioned her life choices.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Valerie asked in her trademark straightforward way.
“It will be fun,” Mal said, trying not to think about how nervous she’d been feeling all day.
“That’s not an answer,” Valerie pointed out.
“It might not be the best idea,” Mal admitted. “But you only live once.”
She remembered that Annie Williams was right behind the counter, and glanced up to see the college senior observing her with wide eyes.
Annie scrambled under the counter for a rag and began wiping the already clean surface, clearly embarrassed for being caught listening in.
Mal could hardly blame her. The bakery wasn’t exactly a hotbed of juicy gossip. Annie had to take what she could get.
Mal turned back to Valerie, who wore a pinched expression.
There was a time when Mal would have felt judged by the look of disapproval on her friend’s face. But she had known Valerie long enough now to know that the look wasn’t about Mal herself. Her friend simply disapproved of a world where Mal might get hurt.
She tried not to feel too insulted by Valerie’s protective instincts. Normally, the two of them worried about Ana, who would probably give a stranger the clothes right off her back without a second thought.
Am I really so vulnerable? Mal asked herself.
But she knew the answer. This had been a hard year. Her friend was only looking out for her.
“What about you?” Mal asked Valerie. “What are you up to tonight?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Valerie grumbled, a funny look on her face.
“Okayyyy,” Mal murmured a bit suspiciously.
“Have fun,” Valerie said. “But don’t fall for that guy. He’s too handsome.”
“That’s not his fault,” Mal said automatically. Maybe she should have argued the point, but trying to argue that Harrison Law wasn’t handsome would be like trying to tell Valerie that sugar wasn’t sweet. “Besides, we aren’t supposed to talk about guys until next year.”
“And I thought you said he wasn’t a guy,” Valerie said knowingly. “Just a friend.”
“You know what I mean,” Mal said.
But she was in denial if she thought Harrison Law was just a friend. The way she felt when his blue eyes fell on her, and the way his hand on hers made her whole body feel like it was filled with electricity…
Well, it didn’t exactly take a detective to deduce that she was attracted to him. And maybe he liked her too. She was almost sure that she’d seen it in the way he looked at her a few times.
They weren’t going to act on it though. Mal was sure of that. She’d seen him shut down once or twice just when she thought maybe he would ask her out.
She knew him too well. Hard as it was to believe that the warm and easy man she had gotten to know online was also the grumpy cowboy she was spending time with in real life, she did know what was most important to him from all the hours they’d spent messaging.
Harrison had his daughter and the new farm to focus on, in that order. And either one was enough to fill his hours.
Besides, Mal needed to get the bakery ready for the holidays, and find a way to cheer up her dad.
The truth was that neither of them needed romance. They were already stretched thin as it was.
“Have fun then,” Valerie said as they headed out. “Hey, have Sloane and Kai Blackstone been to the bakery yet?”
“Not yet,” Mal said, shaking her head.
“Too bad,” Valerie said. “I hope he’s finding some things he likes in this town.”
“Maybe I’ll come up with my signature treat before they visit me,” Mal suggested.
“Good thinking,” Val agreed, giving Mal a quick squeeze before hurrying back down the street to Promises, Promises.
Mal was planning to just walk up and down the block until she got a text from Harrison letting her know that he was here. The holiday decorations were so gorgeous, and every day it seemed like something new was up in one of the windows.
But by the time she got outside, his truck was already parked out front. Katie had rolled down the back window and was eyeing Mal with interest, but not waving or greeting her.
It was funny how the girl went quiet with Mal every time, and they had to slowly melt down her barriers again.
“Hi, Katie,” Mal said calmly. “I’m so excited to go with you today. I brought lots of scones.”
Katie smiled with her lips pressed together, but it was a great start.
Harrison had hopped out of the truck while Mal was talking to her. Now he opened the passenger side door for her and offered her his hand.
“Oh, thank you,” Mal said, feeling pleased and a little awkward.
She couldn’t help taking a quick glance around. Reggie Webb smiled at her from his post outside the bakery and it was all she could do not to roll her eyes.
Her dad was definitely going to hear about this.
“You okay?” Harrison asked gruffly.
“Yes,” she said, scrambling in without taking his hand. “Thanks. Sorry, long day.”
“Hey,” Mal said, turning to Katie. “How was your day?”
“Fine,” Katie said, shrugging.
“Okay,” Harrison said as he got back in his side. “Let’s go.”
He turned the key and the engine roared to life. Thankfully, the radio came on with it.
“—so just call in when you hear the sound of sleigh bells,” the deejay was saying. “You could win a Ho-Ho-Hope Holiday hoodie. And one special winner gets the grand prize, a basket of local holiday joy.”
“What’s in the basket?” Katie demanded suddenly.
“I’m not sure,” Mal told her. “But I know a lot of locals put in prizes. There will definitely be a pick a dozen cookies certificate in there from the bakery.”
“That’s nice,” Harrison said.
“So you’re famous,” Katie added. “Because the radio station knows about you.”
It was a small local station, but Mal had felt the same little thrill when Hope Cassidy approached her about donating something and getting a little shoutout for the bakery in exchange.
“This is ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’ and I’m Ho-Ho-Hope Holiday,” the deejay said happily as the next song began.
“It’s such a cute deejay name,” Mal said, smiling.
“I think she’s married to my cousin,” Harrison said.
“She sure is,” Mal told him. “They got married last year and her little boy, Nick, adores Jacob.”
“Wait, will she be there?” Katie asked suddenly.
“Maybe,” Harrison answered.
“Nick would be about your age,” Mal realized. “He’s a really nice kid.”
“How do you know him?” Harrison asked.
“He’s a fan of my giant chocolate chip cookies,” Mal said with a smile. “He and his dad stop in after soccer on Saturdays.”
No one had any other questions, so they drove on, past the community college fields and the big stone Victorians and colonials on the north side of town.
There was already snow on the ground, and decorations were up on many of the homes.
It really seemed to Mal that she lived in a Christmas card of a town.
Trinity Falls was beautiful in spring and summer, too.
And she loved the fall colors. But in Mal’s opinion, the town was at its most beautiful like this, with snow frosting the bare tree branches and pretty lights adorning the homes.
Before long, Harrison was turning onto Route One, and the houses began melting into farm land. As they traveled steadily west, the landscape grew more and more rural. It was quite a change from the other direction, where the suburbs slowly drew closer and big box stores started cropping up.
Mal trained her eyes out the window, watching the dried golden cornstalks rise out of the snow under a soft gray sky as they left the village behind.
“Here we are,” Harrison said at last as he turned into the lane with the wooden sign for Cassidy Farm.
“Horses?” Katie piped up from the back seat.
“Yes,” Mal told her. “The farm is almost like a big park. Anyone can visit. And you can have a pony ride, or feed the animals if you want. They have pick-your-own fruits when the different things are ripe. And there’s a big nursery and a Christmas All Year-Round shop. It’s such a fun place.”
“But that’s not what we’re doing tonight,” Harrison said warningly. “Tonight, we’re going all the way back to the farmhouse to see your Great-aunt Alice and have dinner with the family.”
Katie didn’t respond, but she also didn’t argue, even as they passed the yard of cut Christmas trees with the big holiday character tableau set up behind it, then the nursery and shops.
Harrison drove slowly past the outdoor food carts and the animal pens, where only family was allowed to bring vehicles, and down the lane marked Private onto the gravel road that led to a beautiful Victorian farmhouse backing up to the hillside where rows of Christmas trees grew.
A painted wooden manger scene had been set up in the yard and pine boughs wound with twinkling white lights adorned the porch railings.
Mal was just starting to feel a little nervous again when she caught sight of Alice Cassidy at the porch railing with a big smile on her face. Alice waved to them in greeting, as if she had been out on the porch in the cold just waiting for them to arrive.
Mal felt herself smile in response before she was even out of the truck.
Alice was one of those people who never failed to make you feel seen and understood.
Whenever she stopped in the bakery, she always managed to put a smile on everyone’s face, even when she only stopped in to pick up a quick treat.
Not that she needed to buy treats in the bakery.
Mal was pretty sure Alice was just trying to support her shop.
Alice Cassidy was famous for her own fresh bread, brownies, and the pies now made at the Cassidy Farm bakery—pies so good they had folks signing up before Halloween if they wanted a coveted Cassidy Farm pumpkin pie on their Thanksgiving table.
“Is that her?” Katie asked, interest in her voice as she observed the small, round figure in the Christmas apron, her beautiful chestnut hair with silver streaks swooped up in a bun.
“Yes,” her dad told her.