Chapter 16 Justin
JUSTIN
Present Day
Spending any amount of time away from Caroline was unbearable. Operation Christmas Romance was in full swing. He smiled, knowing his old teammates would think him ridiculous and obsessive. But he wanted to soak up every second of her now that she was back in his life.
That was how Justin ended up walking toward The Cakery at seven in the morning on his day off. Nothing else mattered now that Caroline had given him a second chance. He was determined to be available and helpful in any way he could to convince her to trust him.
The downtown streets and sidewalks were bare in the cold Colorado morning. A thick fog settled just above the brick buildings, making the dawn sunlight a hazy orange.
Justin tucked his hands in his coat pockets as he turned onto the street The Cakery was on and came to a stop. A small crowd was slowly filing into the bakery.
Picking up the pace, he slid into the store behind two women holding hands with young, excited boys. In fact, the whole place was full of parents with children huddled around them.
Caroline was in the thick of the mass, waving her hands in the air as she spoke to the adults. She was smiling, but he’d never seen such a strain through her professional mask.
Kathy Dennison, a local photographer, stood to the side taking photos of kids with their arms wrapped around each other’s necks and eating what looked to be cinnamon rolls.
Skye darted from behind the counter and grabbed Justin’s arm. “Thank the good Lord. I was about to ask Caroline to call you.”
“What’s wrong?” Justin allowed Skye to lead him to the back room.
Once the door closed behind him, Skye rounded on him, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “Santa is missing.”
Justin blinked a few times. “That sounds like a serious problem. I’m not sure I can help. My reindeer are on vacation.”
“Mr. Burrows was supposed to be here dressed as Santa Claus, but he’s sick! Now, we have a bakery filled with hopeful kids and disgruntled parents.”
“Ah. I’m caught up now.” Justin puffed out his stomach, smiling. “Where can I get a costume?”
Skye plopped onto a nearby chair like a limp noodle. “Thank you. This is huge.”
“Skye!” Caroline called.
Skye shot to her feet. “Stay here. I don’t want the kids to recognize you when you show up as Santa.” She darted to the door and waved Caroline in.
Caroline slipped into the room, panting. “Mrs. Burrows says she has a costume, but we still need a—”
Skye waved her hands toward Justin as if introducing him at a talent show. “Santa Claus!”
Caroline’s eyes widened, and she gasped when she noticed him. “Justin! What are you doing here?”
“I came to help out, and it sounds like I already have a job.”
A second later, Caroline launched herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on for dear life. “Thank you!” she wailed against his ear.
This was it. He could die a happy man. Having Caroline running to him was better than he’d imagined. He tightened his hold on her instinctually and breathed in the warm, sweet smell of her hair.
“I’m going to offer more goodies while they wait,” Skye said as she disappeared into the bakery.
Caroline released him and brushed her hair from her face. “I owe you big time for this.”
Justin reached for her hand, clasping it tightly in his. “You never owe me. I’m glad I got here when I did.”
“I was going to call and ask you to help, but I haven’t even had a chance to turn around without a parent asking me questions.”
Justin tilted his chin toward the door. “Go take care of your bakery. Just tell Mrs. Burrows to knock on the back door, and I’ll let her in.”
Caroline’s eyes grew hazy with tears. “Thank you.”
He nudged her toward the door. “Go. I’ll get dressed and text you when I’m ready. Do I come in the front entrance?”
She backed toward the door. “That would be great.”
Justin flashed her a wink. “Consider it done. Santa Claus is coming to town.”
The smile on her face was brighter than the new day sun as she headed back to work. God must have known she needed help today when He put the nudge in Justin’s heart. This was all he wanted—to stand by Caroline through the highs and lows of life.
A few boxes were stacked by the back door.
Might as well dig in and help. He opened the boxes, counted whatever was inside, marked the outside with the contents, and stacked them on the shelves he’d organized only a few days ago.
He’d just laid a list of the stock on Caroline’s desk when there was a knock at the back door.
He opened it, allowing Mrs. Burrows to slip inside. She shivered and tossed back the hood of her coat. “Good morning. Nice to see you here.”
“It’s nice to see you too.” He’d only met Mrs. Burrows recently, but Caroline had been talking about her for years. “Thanks for bringing the costume.”
She jerked her head toward the bathroom. “Go get this on because you’re going to need help with the beard.” She handed over the coat, pants, and pillow that would serve as his bowl full of jelly.
She was right. He wouldn’t have ever gotten the beard on without help. It wasn’t a cheap thing with a string around the back of his head. The white bundle of hair was more like a wig and needed to be glued on.
Mrs. Burrows adjusted the hat so that his dark hair was well hidden. “There,” she said, swiping a smudge of pink makeup on the tip of his nose and cheeks. “And you’ll need the glasses too.” She handed them over, and he rested them on the end of his nose.
Mrs. Burrows was already kneeling in front of him, holding out a black boot for him to slip his foot into.
“I appreciate the help.” Justin tightened the belt around the pillow.
“I bet Caroline appreciates your help even more. Bless her heart, she’s had such a rough year.”
Sure, Caroline had seemed a little sadder than he remembered, but he assumed it was the stress of him being in town. “What do you mean?”
Mrs. Burrows shrugged as she slid his second boot on. “Just terrible accusations. People can be so cruel.”
The girls who shoved the cupcakes into the front window. The anonymous posts online. How long had the attacks been happening?
Worse, why hadn’t he been told?
Skye stuck her head in the room, looking a little frazzled. “Santa is about to make kids cry if he doesn’t get out here fast.”
“Coming,” Justin said, gently scratching at the beard.
“Go make dreams come true, Heartbreaker,” Mrs. Burrows said playfully.
Make dreams come true. Now there was a job for a makeshift Santa Claus.
Sneaking out the back of the building, Justin made his way around to the front, trying his best not to be spotted before the kids inside could see him.
As soon as the bell above the door chimed at his entrance, every head in The Cakery turned. Eyes lit up and smiles stretched wide as the commotion began.
“It’s Santa!”
“Santa came!”
“I told you he’d be here.”
Justin threw his arms out to his sides. “Merry Christmas!”
Little arms wrapped around Justin’s fleece-clad legs, and he halted his progress to let the kids get their share of hugs. “Thank you for your patience. Mrs. Claus needed some help this morning. She has some special surprises planned for you kids.”
Skye held up a plate of cookies. “If you’ll all line up here, you can each have your time with Santa Claus. He told me he’s excited to see all of you.”
Justin took the seat on the far side of the bakery while the parents corralled their kids into what could only be called a cluster of madness. Kathy stood a few feet in front of Justin’s chair with her camera at the ready and the plate of cookies beside her.
One by one, the kids sat on Justin’s knee and told him about the things they wanted for Christmas. Surprisingly, most of the wishes were for simple things. Some of them were specific, and some he couldn’t guarantee—like happiness for their parents or a new best friend.
Eventually, the crowd dwindled, and Caroline announced that Santa Claus would be leaving soon. The atmosphere in the bakery was full of joy as the kids squealed and smiled on their way out with their equally happy parents.
Justin let out a deep breath, and his pillow belly sank. Pretending to be Santa and not breaking character for hours was tougher than practice in the major league.
Caroline met him by the chair he’d been sitting on all day. She was beaming as much as the kids. “Thank you so much for doing this. You really saved the day.”
“No problem.” He scratched at the beard that had been pulling at his cheeks all morning. “Let me get out of this and find us some lunch. You and Skye decide what you’d like.”
She clasped her hands to her chest. “That would be amazing.”
Justin practically jogged to the bathroom, pulling his arms out of the coat before he closed the door.
How exactly did he get to this point in his life when he wished Mrs. Burrows was in the bathroom with him?
He had to take the pillow belly off before he could bend over to get the boots off.
The beard was a nightmare to remove, but fifteen minutes later, he’d completed his transformation from Santa to regular man.
Albeit, a man with a shirt soaked through with sweat and patchy red glue marks on his cheeks.
After hanging the costume in the stock room, Justin headed back into the bakery. Caroline stood behind the checkout counter looking down at her phone. Her usual smile was replaced with straight lips and two shallow creases between her brows. Was she concentrating or was she frowning?
Justin flattened his hands on the counter as he stopped in front of her. “What’s wrong?”
Her head shot up like a whack-a-mole, wide-eyed and startled. She stuffed her phone into her apron pocket. “Sorry. I didn’t see you walk up. What do you mean?”
“You look like your bakery at Christmastime isn’t the best place in the world.”
That brought her smile back, and he couldn’t do anything but stare. Caroline was happiness in motion, and she had a way of passing it on to anyone around her. “It is. I’m fine. What a morning, right?”
“I think it went well.”
“It was amazing. You’re so great with kids. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”
The time they’d spent together when they were younger was mostly spent in private, sneaking around whenever they got the chance.
“I hosted a few baseball training camps for kids. They’re a whole lot easier to work with than adults.”
Caroline chuckled. “Not everyone thinks so, but I agree with you.”
With the bakery experiencing a short break from bustling customers, Justin leaned his elbows on the counter between them, pulled toward Caroline like a moth to a flame. “What do you want for Christmas?” he asked.
She mirrored his stance and leaned over the counter until their noses were a mere breath apart. “I don’t know. What about you?”
The pull was too strong to ignore, but he’d waited ten years, he could wait a few more days or weeks or months until Caroline was sure she was ready for more.
“I have everything I could possibly want.” He grinned when he saw her gaze dip to his lips. “This is the best Christmas ever.”