Page 48 of Merry Little Sugar Rush
Burk returns the gesture and nods. “He did. Said I’m welcome anytime.”
My heart starts to beat harder in my chest and the thought of not seeing Burk again for almost a year causes pain to erupt. In just a short amount of time, we’ve fallen back into old ways, and frankly, the thought of him returning to the other side of the country gives me palpitations.
I guess I’m just going to have to enjoy what I can while he’s here.
“Hey, Joy!”
I look up and offer a warm greeting to Jennie Lancaster, the oldest of the three Lancaster daughters, all of whom help their parents at catering events and festivals. “Hi, Jennie. Looks to be another busy night,” I tell her as she prepares to take our orders.
“It is. We’re almost out of brisket,” she informs us.
“Good to know,” Burk replies, looking down at me. “Go ahead.”
“I’ll have the pulled pork nachos with sour cream and sweet pickles,” I state, my stomach growling in anticipation.
“I’ll have the brisket sandwich and fries, please,” Burk orders.
“Drinks?” Jennie asks as she moves to their small cash register.
Burk lifts an eyebrow in question, and I reply, “I’m good. I think I’ll have a cocoa from the church stand.”
“They’re so good,” Jennie announces as she presses the buttons to total our bill. “They have that marshmallow syrup you can add. Almost tastes like a s’more.”
“Oh, I’m definitely getting that,” I say as Burk pulls out his wallet and hands over the money for our dinner. He even slips some in the tip jar on the counter.
To me, he hands me another twenty. “How about you go grab us a couple of cocoas, and we can meet at the pavilion. Looks like there’s some tables left.”
I nod but refuse to take the money. “Sounds good.”
“Easy-Bake?” he hollers before I am able to take two steps away from him.
I glance over my shoulder and smirk when he holds up the twenty. “I got it, Burkey Turkey.”
Making my way to where the cocoa stand is, I jump in line with the rest of the patrons ready for their cocoa fix. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my best friend.”
I spin around and smile at Krista. “I thought you said you weren’t coming,” I remind her. At least that’s what she said when she helped me at the bakery last night selling Christmas tree cakes and snowflake cookies.
She shrugs and glances around. “Well, who am I to miss an opportunity to find Mr. Right while eating a corn dog and riding the Tilt-A-Whirl.”
I snort and take in the beautiful soft glow of the twinkle lights adorning every tree in the park. It hasn’t snowed in a few days, but there’s still a blanket of the white stuff covering the ground. It looks magical and pure. “I’ll be rooting for you,” I tell her.
Krista sighs. “How’s the date going?”
“Good,” I state, already grinning.
“You’re so smitten,” she mutters.
“Smitten?” I ask with a chuckle.
“Totally,” she insists with a shrug. “You two are the cutest.”
I take a step forward in the line and turn back to my friend. “It can’t last though.” Vocalizing what’s been on my mind is hard, but it needs said.
Krista lifts her shoulders. “At least you know going into it though, right? I mean, he’s only here until the end of the month. So…have fun. Havefun, if you know what I mean.”
I feel heat burn my cheeks, because, yes, I know exactly what kind of fun she’s referring to. “Won’t that make it worse?”
“I suppose it could, but if your eyes are wide open going into it, you can protect your heart.”
