Chapter 30
Monday, December 24
Anita should’ve been on the road by 6 a.m. on Monday if she wanted to arrive in Pineville before the party started, which she’d assured me last night she would. When I called her closer to nine though, it sounded as if she’d been fast asleep.
“Where are you?” I said. “Are you driving?”
She stifled a yawn. “I was having a snooze.”
“You are coming? You’re going to be late, but you’re bringing Dazey, right?”
“Course I am. Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. “You’re sure we’re okay, you and me?”
“Completely,” Anita said. “I’ve also been thinking, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re right. I meddle too much, and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to stop…okay, maybe not stop entirely but cut it by fifty percent. Anyway, have you heard from Marco?”
I sighed. “No, and I’m going to leave it for another few days.” I waited for my sister to say I should act now, insist I call him immediately, but she stayed silent. “Thanks again for my last calendar treat. The photo album’s incredibly special.”
“I’m glad you love it. It was fun taking a trip down memory lane with Mom when she emailed me the photos.”
“I knew it,” I shrieked. “You were in cahoots.”
Anita laughed. “Of course we were. You know what they say about apples and trees.”
“And peas in a pod,” I added with a giggle. “You do realize I have no clue how I’ll make this Christmas countdown up to you. Not a single one. It’s been amazing, and before you ask, yes, I mean it. Will you bring the last box with you? I shouldn’t have left without it.”
“I don’t need to,” Anita said. “The final task was telling you to get your butt to Pineville for the holidays, but you beat me to it. Things didn’t happen quite in the way I’d planned, but congratulations. Your Advent calendar challenge is complete.”
“You’re way too sly for your own good.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Anita said before hanging up to get back to her long trip.
The rest of the day passed in a total blur. Mom ran around with her face and apron covered in chocolate smears and flour smudges while she made last-minute checks and bellowed instructions at Dad and me to sort out tables, chairs, drinks, food, and anything else she could think of.
Shortly after three, Mom glided down the stairs, a picture of absolute calm. She wore a red pantsuit that flattered her neat curves and had pinned her hair into an elaborate bun with soft curls framing her face. When Dad caught sight of her, he let out a wolf whistle.
“David,” Mom said, her face turning redder than the suit. “Stop it.”
“No can do,” Dad replied solemnly. “Callie, isn’t your mother a knockout?”
“Totally. Nobody will ever know what a frazzled mess she was thirty minutes ago.”
“I was not a frazzled mess,” Mom said indignantly, but when she saw our faces, she grinned. “Fair enough. We don’t have long until our first guests arrive. It’s your turn to get ready, Callie.”
I looked down at my jeans and the Jon Snow ugly Christmas sweater I was wearing. “Mom, I am ready.”
“What if Oliver—”
“Mom,” I said, sternly. “I already told you. It’s over between us.”
“Despite you finding out he’s single again…?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “Despite that.”
She made a sad face as she sighed. “I guess it was always a sweet story to share, how you met when you were little and were high school sweethearts.”
I reached for her hand. “You can still tell the story. Just because there’s no happily ever after at the end, it doesn’t mean we never dated. Our relationship was formative, and I, for one, am grateful for that.”
“Very wise,” Dad said. “Maybe your new nickname should be Clever Callie.”
“How about you call me Callie and we lose the rest?”
“You got it, kid,” Dad replied as the doorbell rang.
“Ooh, I wonder who’s first.” Mom’s voice was a little shriller than usual, and I caught her giving Dad a funny look before she turned to me. “Could you kick off the Christmas music, please, Callie? Why don’t you start the playlist we…I mean Anita put together for you?”
“On it.”
I headed for the living room, and as I was about to connect my phone to the wireless speaker and open Spotify, I heard whispers before someone barreled toward me, almost sending me flying.
“Anita?” I said when I turned around, hugging my sister tight. “How did you get here so fast?”
“Close your eyes, and come with me,” she ordered, ignoring my question and grabbing my hand as she pulled me to the hall. It was déjà vu, exactly the same as when she’d ushered me into our apartment’s living room on the evening she’d presented me with the calendar.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “What have you done?”
“ Nothing ,” she said, insisting again that I close my eyes as she guided me along what I knew was the way to the kitchen. “I want you to have the last Advent calendar surprise.”
“Aha, so you were fibbing about the final task being me coming to Pineville. What is it? You want to rope me into some kind of impossible outdoor obstacle-course extravaganza, don’t you?”
“Come and find out, you chicken.” She helped me through the open back door and onto the wraparound deck before adding an emphatic and drawn-out, “Ta-da.”
When Anita moved out of the way, I opened my eyes and saw Marco in front of me, standing a few yards away, his hands stuffed into his pockets. The branches of the trees behind him waved softly in the breeze, and although scattered snowflakes drifted down from the sky, a sudden break in the clouds let a ray of sunshine spill out from between them.
I blinked three times in case he was a figment of my imagination, but Marco didn’t evaporate or disappear. He was real, and he was in Pineville. At my parents’ house. With me.
So much for Anita not mixing in anymore—although I guess she had said it was a New Year’s resolution, and it was still only Christmas Eve. My sister draped her jacket over my shoulders and pointed at my boots, which she must’ve strategically placed by the door.
“I’ll leave you kids to it,” she said before darting inside and closing the door.
Marco swallowed hard. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“What?…Why?…How?…” My brain seemed incapable of forming a coherent sentence until I finally blurted, “How did you end up here?”
“Anita didn’t lie when you called this morning,” he said quickly. “She was asleep because I was driving.”
“Okay…” I was unable to think of anything else as I waited for him to continue.
Marco took a breath. “I needed to talk to you, so I went to your apartment last night, but Anita told me you’d left to come here. I wanted to call, but she insisted my message was best delivered face-to-face. She can be very convincing.”
“Yes, she can,” I said, my voice croaky. “And, uh, what message?”
“That I’m sorry.” He took a step. “Sorry for the way I acted at Dessert Dudes. Sorry for doubting you. I should’ve listened. Properly listened. I shouldn’t have let you leave, and when you did, I should’ve come after you right away. I have no excuse other than I think I was in shock.”
I shook my head. “It was wrong to dump everything I’d discovered on you that way. My initial plan was to wait until last night because you were so busy, but when I went to Floral Reef and saw the message for Ruby on the receipt…”
“You did the right thing,” Marco said. “I can’t imagine keeping those secrets for days, and I appreciate you being honest. You could’ve pretended not to have seen anything at all.”
“Was it true? Did Vince send Ruby flowers?”
Marco nodded. “He tried denying it, but I called his bluff and contacted Floral Reef to ask if there’d been an error. They weren’t aware of one, and it didn’t help Vince’s case when I texted Ruby.”
“What did she say?”
“That she’d been seeing him for over a month while she and I were together. She felt so guilty, she immediately confessed. After that, Vince had no choice but to come clean. He thought the store had forgotten to charge him. He had no idea he’d used the company card by mistake.”
“I’m sorry. What about the money? Did he invest it?”
“Kind of.” Marco pulled a face. “He got behind on his student loans and credit card bills, so he took our cash and poured it into a scheme that sounded a bit too good to be true. Turned out, it was.”
“Oh no. How much has he lost?”
“Half.” Marco winced. “He was scrambling to get it back when you found out.”
“Why didn’t he tell you any of this?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said. “Or at least the thirty-thousand one. He was embarrassed, hoped he’d regain control and I wouldn’t notice, especially considering he was supposed to be handling the accounts. I was far too trusting about it all, obviously.”
I sank onto one of the Adirondack chairs next to the empty firepit. “Where do things stand with you two now?”
“Vince promised to organize debt consolidation for himself immediately,” Marco said. “We’re finishing the outstanding Dessert Dudes contracts until early next year, and I’ll buy out his share of the company. I can’t work with him any longer than that, so I’ll find an employee or another business partner.”
“I feel terrible. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“This wasn’t your fault.” Marco lowered himself into the chair next to mine and took my hands in his. “None of it is your fault, and I’m an asshat for doubting you.”
I searched his face. “What about the kiss with Joe?”
He shrugged. “You were right, we weren’t together when you saw him that night. Would I have preferred you hadn’t kissed him or that you’d told me? Sure, but that’s my bruised ego talking, and it can take a seat.”
“That really means a lot.”
“You mean a lot to me.” Marco’s gaze swept my face, his voice low. “These past weeks have been amazing, and I’ve enjoyed every second. You make me laugh. You’ve helped me break through some of my trust issues, and you made me the happiest I’ve been in a long time. Since I met you, I’ve been myself again. Puns and all.” He paused for a moment. “I’ll do anything to have you in my life, and I hope you want to be in mine.”
“Want us to write a new chapter?” I whispered, and when he shook his head, I added, “How about a new book?”
Marco smiled. “Neither of those are enough. If you’ll share it with me, Callie, I’d like us to have the whole damn library.”
My heart glowed as I watched him remove a rectangular box from beneath my chair. It was wrapped in the gingerbread man paper Anita had used for my Advent calendar, the silver number twenty-four written on the side.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“I believe you’re owed one last calendar surprise.”
Although my fingers itched to do so, I didn’t tear into the paper but instead took my time peeling away the layers, revealing a Dunkin’ Munchkins box. “You guys brought me donuts?” I put a hand to my heart, grinning widely. “Best gift ever .”
“Open it, silly,” Marco said.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered when I saw a clear Plexiglas ball nestled on top of peacock blue tissue paper. I picked the ornament up by the red ribbon threaded through the handle and lifted it into the air, letting it spin as I marveled at what was inside—four miniature laminated photos of Marco and me.
The first was of us caroling and proudly wearing our antlers and red noses. In the second, we were at the community center board game night, dressed in our ugly Christmas sweaters. The next picture showed us huddled under the fuzzy blanket after the Holiday Dip, and the final one was the two of us at the toy drive, Marco kissing my cheek, my face in a full-on and radiant grin.
Four memories taken during the past few weeks that told me there was a lifetime of happiness ahead. All I needed was the courage to be exactly who I was—quirks and flaws and, just like Marco had said, puns and all.
“It’s magical,” I whispered. “Completely magical.”
I wanted to kiss him right then and there, but when I leaned in, Marco held up a hand before reaching for the zipper on his jacket. “Wait. There’s one more thing I need to do first.”
“Here?” I said with a cheeky grin. “The guests might have a bit of a shock.”
Marco laughed and opened his coat, revealing a red T-shirt with the words Callie & Marco are eggcellent together written in thick black Sharpie across the chest. I was about to speak when he pulled out another smaller shirt hidden beneath his jacket that said, But she always beats him at egg puns.
“What do you think, Swiss Miss?” Marco asked.
“Oh, Eggnog Man,” I replied with another grin. “We’re so eggcellent , others will be eggstremely jealous.”
“I hope so,” Marco said. “Because there’s no way I can hide the fact that I’m falling in love with you.”
I couldn’t wait another second and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m falling in love with you, too,” I whispered. “How could I not? Being with you has opened up my heart again and reminded me of how much fun love and life can be.”
Marco gave me the softest, sweetest kiss on the lips. “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”
Hugging him tight, I said, “I can’t wait to see what our future holds. I already know it’s going to be better than I could’ve ever imagined.” I pulled back, pausing for a beat as I tapped a finger to my lips. “Although…you know you broke a rule today, don’t you?”
“Did I?” he whispered. “Which one?”
“It’s supposed to be an Advent calendar task day. It’s my turn to do something.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Marco laughed. “I’m hoping you and Anita might make an exception.”
“No need.” I stared into his deep green eyes, my heart thud-thudding as it filled with more happiness than I’d ever thought possible. When Marco’s lips slowly neared mine, I tilted my head and added, “Because today, I choose to give you my heart.”