Chapter 12
TWELVE
The sound of a shrill whistle roused Hailey from her sleep. She frowned, wondering why a kettle would be on, and then shot up in panic.
But there was no kettle. And no bed either, for that matter. She was sitting on the big wool blanket on the floor of the holiday shop, still wearing her winter coat, staring face to face with a man who wore a red wool cap and a mischievous grin. Pete’s cousin.
“Well, well.” Mike chuckled as he rolled back on his heels, quite tickled indeed.
Hailey felt a hot flush cover her cheeks, but before she could start to explain, Pete grumbled something beside her and sat up, his hair sticking up at strange angles, making it difficult for Hailey to resist reaching out a hand to smooth it down.
“A tour of the city, was it?” Mike said, unable to suppress the amusement in his tone.
“What are you doing here?” Pete sighed .
Mike made a grand show of tapping his watch. “The gate opens in fifteen minutes. When I didn’t see a light on in the trailer, I thought maybe you had slept in.” His gaze drifted to Hailey. “And it would seem that I wasn’t wrong.”
It had been a late night, and a nice one, too. Evidence was spread out beside them: two wineglasses, an empty wine bottle beside it, and crumbs from the crackers and cheese that Pete had bought for them to share.
But it wasn’t the winter picnic that Hailey would take away, and she suspected from the gleam that remained in Mike’s gaze that he had an idea of how the night had ended.
With a kiss. And a nice one at that.
“Well, I’ll leave you two alone,” Mike said, closing the door behind him.
Pete dropped onto his back, shielding his eyes with his hands as he groaned. “He’s never going to let me forget this.”
“Why do I suddenly feel like I’m about to do the walk of shame when I leave here, even though we dated for three years?” And even when all they’d done was fall asleep in each other’s arms, fully clothed to fight off the chill.
“Those were a good three years,” Pete said, giving her a long look.
Hailey grew quiet as memories of carefree days played through her mind like a slideshow. Happy times in still life, forever in the past.
She’d boxed up and stowed away the real photographs the day after Pete had left. She couldn’t bring herself to throw them away, even though there were days when she was tempted. It was like she knew that a piece of her would always belong to him, and to turn her back completely would mean to turn away that part of herself, the person she was when she was with him.
Her best self.
She nodded quietly. “They were.”
Pete cleared his throat as he combed his hand through his hair. “What time do you need to be at the café?”
She’d done all of her prep work after closing yesterday when she knew that she would just be restlessly pacing the apartment if she went home before her date.
And it had been a date, as it turned out. This time, she hadn’t resisted it.
“My assistant covers the first shift on Sundays.” She eyed him carefully. “Why?”
Pete checked his watch and then held up a finger. “Stay right here.”
Before she could say anything more, he stood and disappeared through the holiday shop door, leaving her alone, though no doubt Mike was looming close, that smirk still plastered on his face.
Hailey smoothed her hair and looked around, feeling uneasy and confused. She should leave. She really should. Go home. Shower. Clear her head—if such a thing were possible after last night. As Mike had said, the lot opened in fifteen minutes, and it was a weekend. The last one before Christmas.
She pushed back the unease that accompanied this thought.
It would be a busy day for Pete, of that, she was sure. And maybe, it would be another busy day at her café.
And that’s all that she should be thinking about right now. They each had their own lives now and had for some time.
She was just standing to go when the door opened again and there was Pete, his hair still tousled, wearing yesterday’s clothes, a steaming mug of coffee in each hand.
As if she needed further temptation.
“I figured a few more minutes wouldn’t kill us,” he said with a grin.
Hailey struggled to match his expression. Each moment she spent with Pete was wonderful, too wonderful really, making it that much harder when the time came to say goodbye again. For good this time.
Not with hurt or resentment but just a sad understanding that this one sweet Christmas was all they would have. A proper farewell for two people who had loved each other and maybe always would.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a mug from his hand.
He walked over to the wall behind the counter and flicked on the overhead lights. Just like that, the magic of last night was gone. In its place was a harsh reality, as bright as the morning sun shining through the open doorway .
Soon she’d go back to work at the Beanery, the job she’d created and supposedly loved. And Pete would focus on selling trees. And last night didn’t fit in with her world, did it? It had been an escape from it instead.
Just a glimpse of everything that could have been.
Mike was grinning like the cat who caught the canary when Pete brushed past him toward the trailer a half hour later.
“Don’t even start,” Pete warned, but he knew there was no point. Mike wasn’t prone to let things go when it came to matters of the opposite sex.
“Start what?” Mike’s face was the picture of innocence.
“It’s not what you think.” Pete gave his cousin a hard look. “I mean it.”
“Looked pretty straightforward to me,” Mike said, shrugging. “But if you insist…”
Pete shook his head and reached for the door handle. He needed another cup of strong coffee more than he needed fresh air right now, and with any luck, a few customers would come along to pull Mike’s interest away from his love life.
Love life. Was that what it was? Pete couldn’t deny the flicker of his pulse at the thought of having Hailey back in his life. Kissing her again last night, holding her close, feeling her soft skin under his fingertips was… He cleared his throat as he yanked the door open, suddenly al l too aware of the strange look his cousin was throwing his way.
Mike followed him into the trailer and pulled a mug off the shelf over the small kitchenette. “By the way, a phone call came for you on the business line. Some guy from the Timber Valley Bank? I told him you’d call back.”
On a Sunday morning? This couldn’t be good.
Pete paused as he reached for the coffeepot still warming on the burner, all earlier amusement now gone. “Did he say what it was about?”
“Just that he needed to talk to you. The number’s on the table.” Mike frowned, abandoning his earlier teasing. “Everything okay?”
Pete nodded once. “Fine,” he said, sloshing the coffee into his mug and nearly burning his hand. “Everything is just fine.”
But he knew deep down that nothing could be further from the truth.
“Speaking of fine,” Mike said, leaning back against the small counter. “You haven’t asked me how my date went.”
“How did your date go?” Pete asked distractedly. He eyed the scribbled numbers on the small table that doubled as a desk, his mind going to dark places. Was it too late? Had the bank decided to take the house? Were they going to tell his mother before he had a chance to break the news himself?
He knew it wasn’t his fault. Or his father’s. They’d both tried their best, but it hadn’t been enough. After the stroke, things changed, and not just with his father’s ability to run the farm on his own. The market had changed. The times. There was less demand for real trees and more commercials about the benefits of artificial. Costs were up for everyone, including for the farm. But they could only raise prices so high, or people would stop buying.
For not the first time, he wondered what might have happened if his father hadn’t had that stroke. If he would have eventually decided to retire, been at peace with closing the business when times got tough. Instead, he’d held on bitterly, and so had Pete. It was all that was left of his dad.
Just as quickly, he shook those thoughts away. What was done was done and there was no changing it—or the outcome. Sometimes life had a way of taking over, making decisions for you, altering the best of intentions.
And plans.
“Let’s just say that I also had a late night.” Mike couldn’t fight his smile.
“Did you at least sell her a tree?” Pete asked, forcing his attention back to his cousin.
“Pete, I didn’t want her to think I was just wooing her to get a sale!” Mike shook his head. “Sometimes I really wonder what you know about women.”
Pete stared at his cousin, knowing that maybe Mike was right. What did he know about women in general? He’d only ever loved one, and he’d left her, breaking her heart and his own in the process.
“We’d better get out to the lot,” Pete said, putting an end to this conversation. “I’ll call the bank first. Must be a fraud alert or something.”
Something like a foreclosure.
He waited until Mike left to dial the number that was almost illegibly scrawled on a scrap of paper. His stomach clenched as the phone rang, and the banker that he’d been corresponding with over email answered.
On a Sunday.
“Ah, Pete! I’m glad you called back. I have some good news and I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to share it,” he said, catching Pete by surprise.
Good news? Pete sat a little straighter, wondering what it could be. Was the bank agreeing to the extension? Pete had stopped believing that things could turn around. His mouth felt dry as he clutched the phone to his ear.
“I can’t wait to hear it.”
“The town met with a developer on Friday afternoon. A fellow from Madison looking to build a country resort. You know, golf course, spa, that type of thing.”
Pete squinted out the window of the trailer and onto the lot, where Mike was chatting with a young couple with a baby stroller, trying to understand where this conversation was leading.
“Sounds like a nice project.” Tourism would be great for their small town’s economy, but if the banker thought it would boost sales of Christmas trees, Pete was afraid that he’d have to let him down.
And be back at square one.
“It is. And he has an eye on your farm. It’s the right amount of acreage and distance from town. He’s willing to offer top dollar for it, too.”
Pete opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. His family farm. His father’s legacy.
“The good news is this means you can keep the house,” the banker replied. “It would more than cover what you owe, and the house is a separate parcel. Of course, it would be sitting on the edge of the resort, but with the plan they have in place, I don’t think that will be a problem for you at all. They have a beautiful rendering I can send over to you.”
“Sell the farm?” Pete hadn’t considered such a thing, hadn’t wanted to. Selling the farm would be like selling a part of his heart.
The last piece of his father that remained.
But losing the house would be so much worse.
“It’s just one solution unless you have a better one,” the banker said.
They both knew full well that Pete didn’t have a better one.
“Think it over, not that I see much reason to sit on your decision for long. It’s a lucky break, Pete,” the man added gently.
Pete made an empty promise to do that and ended the call. He ran a hand over his jaw, realizing that it was locked tight.
Someone might want to buy the farm, but that sure as hell didn’t mean it was for sale.
Hailey had grown used to quiet Sunday afternoons at the café—usually using this time to think up new recipes or handle the boring part of her job: bills and paperwork—but today any hope of being by herself was gone, and with the steady flow of traffic coming through the doors as quickly as the cold winter wind, even Mandy stayed late to help.
Hailey was grateful for more than just the extra set of hands. Other than a quick stop at the tree lot with pre-filled thermoses of hot chocolate, she hadn’t had a chance all day to stop and reflect on last night, and she knew that it was better this way. No good would come from replaying the way she felt when Pete kissed her again, how a longing she had tried to deny was suddenly all too alive.
At five sharp, after prepping for the next day, Mandy hung up her apron, and Hailey did the same. They were both flush-faced and exhausted, but Hailey hadn’t felt more energized in months.
“I think I’ll go home and take a hot bath before I hit the books,” Mandy said. “What are your plans for the evening?”
“Oh…” Hailey idly wondered what Pete might be up to tonight and stopped herself right there. Expecting to see him tonight might only result in disappointment. But there certainly wasn’t any harm in hoping…
Maybe she’d stop by the lot on her way home and offer up some baked goods she hadn’t sold today rather than take them home for herself—not that there were many. As Mandy had predicted, the candy cane brownies were a big hit and they’d gone through two dozen today, even to full-paying customers.
Grinning, she popped open a white bakery box, startling at the sharp knock from the storefront as she added some leftover muffins to it.
“A late customer?” Mandy asked wearily.
Or Pete, Hailey considered, her heart speeding up. “Go on and get home. I’ll handle whoever it is.”
“But the cleanup,” Mandy protested, looking around at the dirty dishes and mixing bowls that littered the center worktop. She usually made sure the kitchen was shining before she left a shift.
Hailey shooed her off. “Go, get your coat. Boss’s orders.” She winked, and Mandy gave a grateful smile as she pulled her hat over her ears and headed to the back door.
“Have a good night.”
Oh, I intend to , Hailey thought, as she pushed through the kitchen door, holding her breath at the thought of seeing Pete again.
Only the face pressed up against the glass wasn’t Pete. It was Lila Harris—well, Lila Crawford since her marriage last summer. Hailey grinned at the sight of her friend and quickened her pace to unlock the door, knowing how cold it was outside.
“Sorry. I should have called first,” Lila gushed as she stomped the snow off her boots. “I had to pop by the office for some files to prepare for a morning meeting.”
Hailey brushed aside her concern with a wave of her hand, fighting the disappointment that her visitor wasn’t Pete. “Nonsense. I’m happy to see you. How about a hot chocolate? You look absolutely freezing.”
Hailey wouldn’t mind one herself. She had enough left for both of them and right now, something warm and sweet might be just what she needed to take her mind off the other warm and sweet thing that was outside in the cold, just a few hundred feet away.
Lila unraveled her plaid scarf “Now that I’m settled into married life and I don’t have to worry about squeezing into a wedding dress anymore, I would love a hot chocolate.”
Hailey grinned as she poured her friend a mug. She reached for the whipped cream and then stopped, lifting an eyebrow for approval.
Lila set her scarf on the back of the nearest chair and shrugged. “Why not?”
Giving them each the works—whipped cream, homemade marshmallows, and a sprinkle of crushed candy canes—Hailey came back around the counter, and they sank into chairs at a table near the window.
It had been a long day, and she still had more to do tonight before closing up. She glanced at her friend, wondering if she should run some of her latest thoughts for the café by Lila. Sam and Lila were experts in advertising; surely her friend would know which ideas had potential.
“Wow, this is delicious. I mean, don’t get me wrong, my wedding was wonderful and all that, but was it really worth giving up chocolate just to squeeze into my mother’ s dress?” Lila took another taste. “Yeah, the answer to that is a resounding no even though it should be a yes.”
They both laughed and enjoyed another sip of their drinks while they were still piping hot.
“I’ve been selling my hot chocolate over at the tree lot across the street,” Hailey mentioned, wondering if Mary had already let her sister in on all the drama that had been unfolding here these last two weeks. “It’s helped my business quite a bit in a pretty short amount of time.”
Lila scooped a half-melted marshmallow onto her spoon. “I’m not surprised at all. You can’t find hot chocolate like this anywhere but here.”
Hailey chewed her bottom lip, remembering her original plan for this business, thanks to Pete. The plan had been to make it a bakery, focused on Gran’s recipes of course, but centered more on the chocolate ones. It had been her grandmother’s favorite ingredient, and it turned out that it was her customers’ too.
But would it have been enough to bring in a steady flow of traffic each day? A bigger one than she had now, maybe even bigger than when she’d first opened? When she’d put the money down on this storefront, she had second-guessed herself, hired a market research firm, and decided that there was space in the area for a coffee shop. It made perfect sense to combine the two concepts.
Until it didn’t.
Hailey considered what she’d sold this past week. Hot chocolate. Chocolate muffins—everyone’s favorite morning treat. The brownies. She could go on and on, but she knew in her gut that it was Gran’s best recipes that people wanted.
Had she not believed in them? If she lost this business without making it everything she’d originally planned, she wouldn’t just be letting herself down, she’d be letting Gran down too.
Deciding to feel things out, she said casually, “Someone told me that I might consider tweaking my brand, gear my café toward the sweets instead of the coffee.”
Lila nodded. “That’s not a bad idea, especially considering—” She jutted her chin at the coffeehouse chain across the street and then grimaced.
Hailey couldn’t even think about the chain, not when she had to worry about her own business and focus on what she did best.
But her best was in her baking, she knew. And in this hot chocolate. It wasn’t in drip coffee or even a pumpkin latte. It was in her grandmother’s recipes. The heart of this place.
“I guess I’ve always been worried about limiting potential sales by not offering enough,” Hailey admitted.
“But if you specialize in one thing, then that’s what you’ll be known for,” Lila replied. “That’s how you’ll find your true customers.”
True customers. And it was entirely possible that she hadn’t tapped into that audience, but that they were still out there.
“You think it would be successful?” Hailey was excited for Lila’s response almost as much as she was dreading it.
Change was scary, but she also knew that it wasn’t always a bad thing, even if it always came with a loss of something else.
She glanced out the window to the tree lot, lit up and festive.
She and Pete had lost so much already. She just hoped that neither of them would lose anything more.
Lila grew pensive for a moment and then nodded. “You could offer your brownies and chocolate muffins, too. Run with the chocolate theme.”
“That’s exactly what I planned to do! But…how did you know?”
“Because it’s what you do best.” Lila smiled. “I think it would be unique and different, and it would certainly stand apart from other cafés or even bakeries. You might pull in customers from a bigger reach.”
And, Hailey considered, feeling her heart begin to ache, it would keep her here, in Lincoln Park. In the café she’d always dreamed of owning.
Away from Pete.