Chapter Twenty
Tris
“What’s got you happier than a pig in mud?” Ainsley asks, wiping her hands on her apron, looking me over as I make a fresh pot of coffee.
“I got Levi an early Christmas present,” I beam, pressing the brew button and watching the water trickle excitedly.
Her brows turn down. “You do realize that it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, right?”
“Yes, I know.” I roll my eyes and wave her observation off. “As if that little detail matters. This couldn’t wait. I’ve been waiting weeks for this.”
I’m so giddy. One night while Levi and I were relaxing on the porch, having our usual late-night chats, he let it slip how much he misses the coffee back in Oregon.
The man is a grump without his coffee in the morning, I mean, he’s also a grump with it, but especially when he goes without, and other than the pumpkin-spiced lattes I’ve been bringing him, he seems to barely tolerate the coffee from around here.
Other than my cup of Folgers, that is, which he denies ever enjoying and swears he was just trying to be nice.
Right.
As if Levi cares about being nice just for the sake of it.
I almost laugh out loud at the thought. The other night, I asked him if he wanted to go out or stay in and watch a movie, and his response was a growl.
Like a literal growl. He then claimed he’d had enough socializing with people for one day and told me that all he wanted for Christmas was for common sense to be more common.
Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about the collapse of society’s overall intellectual capacity, but I did manage to track down a Stumptown, specifically the Hair Bender blend that he says is his favorite.
The door chimes, and as usual, he walks in wearing his typical scowl.
Shaking my head, I can’t help how my lips twitch up as I watch him before he spots me.
A smile only meant for me crosses his face quickly before returning to neutral when he holds the door open for a customer to leave.
For someone whose whole job is about helping people, he sure dislikes having to interact with them.
“It’s exhausting.” He claimed the other night when I asked him how come he doesn’t ever seem to talk to anyone outside of the people he already knows.
He’s something else.
“Hey there.” He leans over the counter and kisses me.
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” I say, barely containing my excitement.
He looks at Ainsley for a clue, but she puts her hands up, refusing to give him any.
“Here, have your coffee first, and I’ll tell you what the surprise is after,” I say cleverly, handing him his actual surprise without his knowledge.
He takes a sip. “So what is the surprise? Wait a minute...” He stops, taking another sip, eyes widening as my smile spreads across my face and I bite my lip. “There’s no way.”
I clap my hands together and hold them in front of my face as Levi finishes another sip. Certainty fills his expression before he huffs out a disbelieving laugh. “There’s no way. Is this the Hair Bender Blend?”
I wiggle my brows. “Yup!” I say, popping the “p” like Rory usually does. “Consider it an early Christmas present.”
I sneak a peek at Ainsley when I say the word early, and she snorts.
“How?!” He stares at me, stunned and in awe.
“I’m amazing, obviously. I thought everyone was aware of this,” I tease.
“Get over here,” he says in a low husky voice, sending goosebumps over me.
I grin and walk around the counter until I’m standing exactly where he wants me.
“You are the most amazing woman,” he says with a grin before wrapping me in his arms in a bear hug and spinning me around. He swallows my laughter with a kiss, only putting me down when the bell chimes.
He’s still laughing when Tom walks in.
“Oh, look who it is, the Turtle Bay Raccoon Enforcement Unit,” Levi taunts, taking a sip of his coffee, visibly savoring every drop like I hoped he would.
“Levi, would you care to explain to me why there are over what looks like one hundred raccoon figurines set up around my office? Or how you managed to place a child-sized raccoon plushie into my squad truck?” Tom’s voice gets higher-pitched and more exasperated as he asks.
“Not sure what you’re talking about.” Levi grins from behind his coffee.
“Levi, it’s going to take me forever to find and pick up every figurine in my office,” Tom huffs, dragging his hand through his hair.
“What makes you think they’re only in your office?” Levi asks, and I laugh when Tom’s eyes bulge.
“What did you do?” I ask.
“That’s nothing. Just wait until he notices the bumper sticker.” Levi smirks.
Tom turns to me with an exasperated smile and points. “This is your fault.”
A loud laugh barrels out of me. “My fault?”
Levi and Tom exchange a look of their own, half amusement, half exasperation, before Tom sighs and finally shakes his head.
“It’s nice to see you acting like yourself again...” Tom’s brow raises. “Even if it is at my expense.”
“Is there any more of this coffee, love? I think Tom is going to need it today.”
I chuckle, beaming at the nickname he attaches so easily. I’ve never been so happy.
“I’ll get him a cup. I made a whole pot for you.”
“Most amazing,” he repeats, groaning while he takes another sip.
Later, after Tom and Levi head back to work, it’s only Ainsley and me at the cafe. It’s a slow day with the seasonal tourists slowing down as we head toward Thanksgiving in three weeks.
“What do you usually do for the holidays?” I ask Ainsley, realizing she’s been quieter than usual.
She looks away, trying to hide, masking her emotions and steeling her features before turning back to me. “I’m not that big on holidays.” She shrugs, but the smile she attempts comes out forced. Her chin dips, and a wildflower falls from her long, dirty blonde hair.
“Right,” I quip, picking up the flower and placing it back in her hair. “And I believe that about as much as I believe that Rory doesn’t have a thing for the chief and you don’t have a thing for Billy.”
“Please,” she huffs. “Billy has a different girl in his bed every week. Sometimes more.”
“Yet your name is the only one that he ever mentions, according to everyone who knows him,” I point out. “He’s not even trying to hide how into you he is.”
“I’m the shiny toy that once he plays with, he’ll get bored of. I’d rather stay shiny,” she argues.
I consider her words, but still think there’s something more there that she’s afraid of, but I decide to leave it alone and circle back to my original point.
“We should hold a friendsgiving,” I decide, thinking it over in my mind and liking it more and more the longer I consider it.
“A friendsgiving?” Ainsley repeats, her pitch rising toward the end, sounding both apprehensive and interested in the idea.
Can I cook? Absolutely not. I still consider calling my old chef on a daily basis and begging her to take pity on me, but I know that will never happen. Regardless, it still hits like a slap from reality wearing diamond rings.
Do I still think that this idea holds promise and could be fun? Yeah, I do.
“I’m going to text Rory and see what she thinks, too,” I announce, pulling out my phone and shooting her a message.
I reflect on how different this Thanksgiving will be.
Every year before, I’ve had Thanksgiving at different locations all around the world.
Some years, simply as an accessory at my father’s side meant to make him look like the successful business and family man he worked so hard pretending to be, and others with people I barely knew, let alone was thankful for.
This will be Rory’s first Thanksgiving with her brother Blake, Tom and Callie’s first with Aeiliana, and Levi’s first without Krystal. I hit send to Rory. Yeah, this could be exactly what we all need.
“That sounds really nice, actually.” Ainsley smiles, something in her expression telling me she could use this as much as the rest of us.
“Where in the world did you find all that?” Levi asks me, leaning against the rail of our porch, eyes widening as his chin drops to his chest.
“Don’t just stand there, make yourself useful,” I tell him, carrying a big box labeled Christmas. “There are two more of these in that shed over there.”
Levi groans in protest but does what I ask.
“Thank you,” I say sweetly over my shoulder before heading into his place.
He drops the boxes down on the floor in front of me, where I sit, removing things and sorting them into piles of things we can use and things we can’t.
“What are you doing?” he grumbles.
I click my teeth and look up at him. “What’s it look like I’m doing?”
“Making a mess,” he replies.
I glare up at him. “Sit down.”
Ellie comes to lie beside me, and I smile when he reluctantly takes a seat as well.
“That’s better. Now, we are going to go through these old boxes of yours, and we’re going to make this place ready for Christmas.”
“But it’s not even Thanksgiving yet.”
“I know that, but Thanksgiving will be here in like two and a half weeks, and with all the planning and organizing I have to do with the girls for this Friendsgiving at the cafe that’s turned into a full-blown event, I want this to be something just for us.
I want to come home and have it feel warm and cozy. ”
“You want warm and cozy?” he asks, skeptically.
“Is that so hard to imagine?” I snip, pulling out string lights and untangling them.
“A little,” he chuckles.
“Listen.” I sigh. “I’ve never done this before.
I never bothered with any of my apartments because I was always hopping around from place to place.
Growing up, my family hired people to decorate, and it was always so commercial and cold.
My house looked more like a Macy’s than a home,” I explain, staring down at the string of colorful lights, longing for something I’ve never had so deep that it physically aches.
“This will be a first for me. I want it to be different.”
His lips curve with quiet affection, and he opens the box in front of him. “Warm and cozy it is.”