Page 55 of Never Sleigh Never
The thought of her leaving twists something in my gut. “Let me buy you another one. It’s the least I can do for being an asshole.”
She side-eyes me. “Are you trying to get me drunk so I’ll spill all my Christmas festival secrets?”
I laugh. “No. But if you want to share your secret of how you keep your hot chocolate piping hot, I’m all ears.”
Her lips curve into a small, genuine smile. “I knew it. You’re here for recon.”
“Josie scolded me for my lukewarm hot chocolate. Plus,” I point between her and me, “this is kind of nice.”
“Conversation?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “No sabotages. Plans of infiltration. Decapitating reindeer.”
She bursts into laughter. “I barely touched it, and its head fell off. You need to secure your reindeer heads better.”
“Fair.” I wave Sydney over for another round, and I glance at Brie for confirmation.
She sighs, but her smile lingers. “Fine. One more.”
While Sydney gets our drinks, I turn to Brie and ask, “What have you been up to? Did you stay in Mount Holly after graduation?”
She twists a napkin between her fingers, a wry chuckle escaping. “No. I went to college. In my senior year, I started an internship which later led to landing my dream job. I was the marketing director for the nation’s most sought-after Christmas treat.”
“Wow, sounds impressive. Congratulations.” I lean toward her and whisper, “So what is the nation’s most sought-after Christmas treat? The Yule log?”
“Nope. A fruitcake. It gets a bad rap, but come December, everyone is lining up for blocks to get their hands on one. They’re closet fruitcake enthusiasts. They go feral for the moist, dark cake that’s loaded with yummy, dried fruits. We could hardly keep up with the demand.”
I take a swig of beer.
“Huh. Who would have thought? Clearly, this job isn’t in Mount Holly, so what happened between the fruitcake and now?”
Her smile dims. “After three years with the company, I lost my job. To meet the demand, they moved production out of the country.”
“Damn. So they fired their marketing director?”
She huffs out a humorless laugh. “Technically, assistant marketing director. But it was my campaigns that went viral. The real kicker? I went home to tell my fiancé I’d been laid off?—”
My gaze drifts to her left hand, which is thankfully empty.
“—only for him to tell me he’s calling off the wedding and dumping me. Apparently, Tiffany across the hallway was much better at keeping him satisfied.”
“Shit,” I mutter. “I’m sorry.”
She lifts her chin. “It stung. But honestly? It was for the best. I wasn’t about to fight for a man who didn’t put me first. Since the apartment was his, I tucked my tail between my legs and came back to Mount Holly. I did what all the cool kids do and moved in with my parents and worked at my dad’s hardware shop for four years until I got the job as Mount Holly’s assistant event coordinator.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s a tough world out there.”
She smirks and elbows me. “Says the guy who played in the NHL and got a bajillion sponsorship deals with five houses scattered across the US.”
I laugh. “I only had two. One in Boston and one in Chicago. But now it’s just the one in Mount Holly. Either way, it’s still tough.” My voice drops as I pick at the label on the bottle, little flakes of paper falling to the bar top. “I never imagined I’d be a widower at thirty-three.”
Brie’s hand lands on my forearm, warm and grounding. Her voice softens. “I’m sorry about your wife. I can’t imagine what that’s been like. Especially with Josie.”
Slowly, I lift my gaze. Her eyes hold mine, steady and kind, and for one dizzying second, I want to lean into her. “Thanks. Every time I think I’m over it, I question whether I really am.”
“Is it something you can ever get over?” She yanks her hand away when she realizes her hand is still on my arm. I immediately miss her touch, but sitting here with her, it hurts a little less. “Now, I should probably get going.”
“Can I walk you to your car?” Asking her to stay for another might be a bit much. It makes me feel desperate for attention. Maybe I am. Hers, anyway.
