Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
AVERY
Matthew is looking at me with his panic eyes. The ones that tell me that he’s frozen and can’t remember what we agreed on for a plausible meeting story.
“Meeting at the airport is so romantic,” June says, placing her hand on his arm.
“Yes, but I’m not sure why you didn’t tell me about your trip to Kamloops. You could have stopped by and visited,” Sharon adds, making Matthew’s eye pop out even farther.
“It was just a quick trip for work, wasn’t it?” I add, nodding my head toward the women and flaring my eyes, hoping that something will jumpstart his brain into joining the conversation.
“Right. A business trip.”
Well, that’s better than nothing, I guess.
“He’s so funny. He saved me, really. With our flight being cancelled he offered to drive me home when he got the last rental car. Such a gentleman,” I add, trying to subtly increase my nodding. I’m hoping he catches on before they start to notice.
“That’s my Matty, always the gentleman. He gets that from his father, you know,” Sharon beams.
“Right, well, I couldn’t just leave her stranded,” Matthew says, seeming to finally be shaken from whatever trance he was just in. “And I was only in town for the day, Mom. No way I could have made it work getting to Woodland Springs.”
“Gingerbread Grove, dear,” she corrects sternly. Any adoration she had for her son was gone with the slip of the wrong name. “Anyways, I must be going. I only stopped in to see how things were going while picking up your father’s medication.”
“I must get going, too,” June adds, tapping her bag with the tree stand. “Thank you for your help, Matthew. It’s good to have you home.”
A look passes over his face at the kind words, but it’s gone as quickly as it came.
I don’t know him well enough to be able to decipher it, but it looked like a mix of longing and surprise.
He watches after them as the two older women leave the store, chatting about something to do with potholders and if I heard correctly, throwing yarn all over a tree.
I really do wonder if Matthew doesn’t know how much he’s genuinely appreciated in Gingerbread Grove. Just on my way from parking on the street to walking into the shop’s doors, I was stopped by three people, all speaking highly of him and thrilled that he’s back home.
I just wish he could see it that way.
“So,” I clap my hands in front of me and look around, “this is the famous family store.”
“This is it. If you need anything hardware or—Christmas,” he says with a tinge of disbelief as he looks over at a display of light up gingerbread window displays, “we’ve got it.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
A silence falls between us as we stand in the middle of the store, staring at each other.
I want to find something witty to say, but at the moment nothing comes to mind.
Standing here looking at him, seeing how handsome he is in his flannel shirt and jeans, his heartthrob hair flopped to one side, partially hiding his glasses, makes him look like some sort of lumberjack Clark Kent.
Which then makes me think of our kiss.
I love the way he pulled me into the beautiful garden and introduced me to a place that only true Gingerbreadians know about. How he tucked me under his arm and brushed my face, making me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.
But it also makes me think of the way his mom walked in on us and saw everything. Not that we were doing anything wrong, but it’s still not the impression I wanted to make.
It is also a reminder that this is all fake. Just a show for the town.
So why doesn’t it feel fake?
“So, what’s the event tonight?” I ask, trying to distract myself from falling down that heartbreaking rabbit hole.
“Oh, uh.” Matthew rubs the back of his neck, finding his shoes very interesting. “I just got the email about it.”
“And?” I ask excitedly, rocking up onto the balls of my feet.
“It’s the toboggan race.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“We don’t have to say yes; we can always skip this. Or the whole Games. Or town. We don’t even have to watch. But everyone meets at the big hill just at the edge of town and races down. One couple per toboggan.”
“But if we don’t go, won’t we get eliminated?”
“Well, yes…”
“It doesn’t sound very…Christmasy. It’s not what I was expecting for something called the ‘Yuletide Games.’”
Matthew pulls out his phone, and with a few taps, he’s reading out the contents of his email.
“Contestants will race down Gum Drop Hill in toboggans built to appear to be made from candy. With red and green runners and gingerbread-decorated footboards and handles, couples will fly down the hill and race to the bottom to avoid elimination to become the Gum Drop Champions.”
“We are so doing that. I love tobogganing. I haven’t done it since I was a kid.
We can’t miss this and get eliminated on our first event!
How would we win?” I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet now, hands clasped in front of me, a rush of excited energy rushing through my body.
I’m ready to race to the hill right now and kick some tobogganing butt.
“Are you sure? I mean, we don’t have to. If it’s not your thing. I didn’t mean for us to actually try to win the Games or anything.”
I stop my bouncing, frozen by the look on his face. “You don’t want to do this, do you?”
“No. Well… I mean, I don’t know.” He looks out the window. “I guess I’m not really much of a sports person, which shocks a lot of people around here. I don’t like skiing or skating. I’ve never been interested in playing hockey. I don’t even really like walking in the snow, to be honest.”
“I’m sorry. Do you want to just get some cider and sit on the sidelines?
Or skip it all together and go get dinner somewhere?
I ran into someone named Nancy outside and she was telling me about a new holiday menu at the diner.
” Now I feel bad. I got so caught up in the excitement of tobogganing that I forgot that I’m not here for me.
I’m here for Matthew and helping him get through his time in town.
I’m sure last night at the lantern lighting ceremony was almost too much for him; doing something even further out of his comfort zone would be nothing less than torture.
“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to stop you from doing something that you really want.”
“I’m here for you, silly. I’m not going to drag you into tobogganing if you don’t want to.
We can just make an appearance at another event for the Games or write it off all together.
” I take a step forward, placing my hand on his chest. “We can show off to what’s-her-name and her mayor husband some other way. ”
“McKenzie,” he adds, looking down at my hand.
“Right, McKenzie,” I breathe. “We’ll show them you’ve moved on and you’re having fun. You know, with your girlfriend.”
As he lifts his head and his hazel eyes meet mine, I realize that I want nothing more than to beat McKenzie and Cal at the toboggan race. I want to win the Yuletide Games, be the last standing lantern, and show the town that Matthew is the most incredible man that’s ever lived in Gingerbread Grove.
Well, he lived here when it was Woodland Springs…but the point still stands.
He lifts his hand and covers mine, pressing it further into his chest. I feel the rapid beat of his heart, and I melt a little inside knowing I’m not the only one affected by this.
Which leads me to be even more surprised by the words that come out of his mouth.
“Let’s do it.”
My heart races at a rapid pace as I look down the slope.
It’s been years since I stood on fresh powder, eagerly awaiting my turn down the side of a mountain in any form, whether it’s skis, snowboard, or, in this case—a toboggan.
In this case, it’s more of a glorified hill that has been transformed into a sort of ski slope, but it’s cute and charming. Everything Gingerbread Grove stands for.
There are even wooden cutouts of the town’s favourite treats holding flags to guide you down the different paths. They wave in the wind as the cold wind picks up. It whips across my face, leaving the hint of burn on my nose and cheeks.
I love it.
“Remind me why you think this is fun,” Matthew says beside me, rubbing his gloved hands together.
“Because of the thrill. Flying down the slope with nothing to help you but a rope in your hands and a prayer.”
“Exactly,” Matthew scoffs, narrowing his eyes behind his glasses at the people laughing and racing their way to the bottom. “There’s no control. Where are the brakes on these things?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” I laugh.
“Are you guys ready?” A man with a black toque and dark green eyes comes up, clasping Matthew on the shoulder. “I have to admit, Matthew, I couldn’t believe it when I saw your name signed up for this.”
Matthew gives the man a forced smile and mumbles, “I couldn’t believe it either.”
He looks from the man to me, and I see the tension in his face start to melt.
Taking a step toward me, he wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close, tucking me under his arm.
My mind doesn’t have a chance to respond before I’m curling myself around him, my head on his chest and arm around his waist.
This is getting entirely too real. I’m too comfortable.
But as I’m curling up into him while he smells of mint and wood, I don’t care.
“Trevor, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Avery.”
Girlfriend. There’s that word again. The one that makes me giddy and guilty at the same time. Deciding that’s not something I need to deal with at the moment, I thrust my hand out and put a smile on my face. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” he places his hand in mine, giving me as much of a handshake as he can through gloves. “I heard Matthew had a girlfriend. I’m happy to see he brought you home and didn’t hide you in the city.”