Page 42 of The Christmas Cottage
Vanessa bit her lip, mulling that over as the waitress came back to take their order. Imogen ordered the duck breast with blueberry sauce, and Vanessa decided on the maple mustard chicken sandwich, with a side of sweet potato fries. They both ordered a second round of drinks, and giggled together as Vanessa started to brainstorm what her text to Jackson should be.
She felt lighter and happier than she had in years. She hadn’t done this since college—just sat and talked and laughed with a girlfriend over drinks, giggling over boys and talking about a crush. All of the things that she’d worried over: the fact thatthere couldn’t be anything serious with Jackson, the fear that the hurt and trauma of her past would overwhelm her if she slowed down just a little, the feeling of needing to constantly keep busy every moment of every day… they all seemed unimportant in that moment.
In that moment, she wouldn’t have traded the laughter and conversation that she was having with Imogen for anything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Mabel closed up the shop, tucking her keys into her pocket as she walked out to where her sedan was parked, boots crunching on the snow. She’d spent some time going over everything for the Santa and Mrs. Claus event, checking that she had all the items they would need, and that all that was left to do was just setting up the day before. She was pleased how it was all turning out. When she’d injured her wrist, she’d been afraid that she might have to cancel the event for the first time since she’d introduced it, but Vanessa coming home for the holidays had saved the day.
She hoped that her granddaughter was having a good time getting dinner with Imogen. It was good to see how well Vanessa had acclimated to being back. It had been a rocky start, and there was no pretending that Vanessa hadn’t stuck out like a sore thumb for a good long while, but now she was making friends, going on dates, and working alongside Mabel as if she’d always been a part of the town.
Mabel would miss her, she thought, when Vanessa went back to San Francisco. She thought that Jackson and Imogen and Katie would miss her, as well. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing that there was some way that her granddaughtermight decide to stay in Fir Tree Grove, instead of going back to her old life. She knew it was a bit selfish, but she couldn’t help it. She supposed that at her age, she’d earned the right to be a little bit selfish, especially if it was only wishing for things that she couldn’t have.
She drove back to her cottage, thinking about the remainder of the time that Vanessa would be in town, and hoping that the visit might extend through Christmas itself. Vanessa had promised to stay through the Santa event, but after that, Mabel wasn’t sure how much longer she would stay before flying back home.
It was a lovely evening, clear and bright, the snow crisp and glittering. Mabel pulled into her driveway, parking and just sitting there for a moment, listening to the Christmas music filtering out through the speakers as she looked at the beautiful wintry night, the moonlight gleaming off of the snow and her small cottage framed with pine trees. It was perfect, and she let out a sigh, feeling relaxed and happy with how the holiday season was going. Soon the rush of it all would be over and things would slow down a bit, but she was enjoying every moment of it while it lasted.
She got out of the car, walking up to her front door, already anticipating a hot cup of cocoa and curling up on the couch with a good book, or maybe a Christmas movie. She was so caught up in thinking about what she might want to do for the rest of the evening that she nearly jumped out of her skin when she opened the door and heard a cacophony of…chickens squawking?
Pressing one hand to her racing heart, Mabel peered into the dim interior of her home.
Why on earth would there be chickens?I
t made no sense. She didn’t have any of the little creatures, and none of her neighbors did either, so there was no way that any of them had gotten into her cottage. She squinted again,reaching inside the door to flip on the entryway light, and burst into laughter when she saw a string of chicken-shaped noisemakers strung along her doorway, with a string attached to the doorframe that would set them off when she opened it.
She laughed so hard that she had to lean against the doorway, hand still pressed to her chest as she reached up and yanked the offending, noisy things down with her other hand. There was no question in her mind as to who was responsible for this—it was obviously George.
This was clearly his prank to get her back for stringing the elves on Cindy and Neil’s tree. It was even a garland, just like the elves she’d picked out. Really, she thought as she tried to catch her breath from laughing so hard, it was a marvelous prank. She was proud of him, even if he had almost given her a heart attack.
When she’d calmed down, she took the chickens out to the trash, a smile still on her face. She loved the relationship that she had with George. It was fun-loving and surprising and always kept her on her toes.
She knew she always had a friend in him, someone she could count on to cheer her up, who appreciated her mischievousness and countered it with his own. And there was a softer side to him too, which she loved. He’d brought her food after she’d hurt her wrist, come over to check up on her, and listened to her worries about Vanessa. He really was her rock, she thought, and she treasured his friendship deeply.
It was cute, she thought, as she went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of hot cocoa, that people thought that she and George would make a good pair. It wasn’t completely off base either, she had to admit. She found him handsome, and he made her laugh, and he understood her. They got along famously, all of the time, even when they were picking at each other with pranks. It was always all in good fun, and they both knew that.She had a feeling though, that could change if they tried to make it into a different, romantic kind of relationship.
That always changed things, for good or for bad. There was no avoiding it. Bringing romance into a relationship shifted the dynamic, and she didn’t want to shift anything about what they had. She was so happy with the way things were, just as they were, that she didn’t want to risk it.
Mabel poured some peppermint hot cocoa powder that she’d bought from Imogen into a cup with a vibrant reindeer print on it, adding boiling milk and stirring it as she reached up to fetch a bag of puffy marshmallows. With the marshmallows added on top, she took her cocoa and a frosted sugar cookie in the shape of a snowman, and retreated to her little breakfast nook by the window.
Outside, she could see a beautiful view of her backyard, snowy and gleaming under the moonlight night, the trees outlined just beyond. She chuckled again, thinking of the chickens that had nearly scared the life out of her, and pondered, tapping her fingers against the side of her mug…
There would be a way to get George back, she was sure of it. And she planned to spend a good bit of her spare time thinking of what it would be, until she landed on the perfect prank.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Leaning back against the counter, Jackson wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as the last of the dinner rush filed out of the door. It had been a particularly busy evening, but there were finally only three or four customers left in the diner, and he could catch a breath. Not that he was complaining—this winter had been better than ever for business, and he was incredibly grateful for it. He was already thinking about what he could add to the Snowdrift Diner for spring with the extra income from the Christmas rush, and what he could do to spruce up the place.
“I’m going to take five, Patty,” he called out to the waitress up front, and she waved him off.
He thought he wouldn’t mind grabbing a bite to eat too. The special for the night had been a pumpkin lasagna that had smelledamazingevery time he’d grabbed a plate of it to take out to a customer, and he figured he might be able to snag a piece from the kitchen.
There was, in fact, pumpkin lasagna left. He grabbed a piece and slid it onto a plate, carrying it back to his office for a brief dinner break before starting to work on closing duties for the night. When he walked in, flicking on the light with his elbowas he nudged the door shut behind him, he was startled to see a small box with a note on top, sitting on his desk.
A broad smile broke out across his face as soon as he saw that the note was from Vanessa. He set the lasagna down, reaching for the note, and unfolded it quickly, eager to read what it might say.
Jackson,
I had a lovely time on our date. I wanted to give you this to remember it by, so that every time you look at it, you think about us decorating my first Christmas tree as an adult together. It’s a memory I know I’ll always cherish.
