It wasn’t long before exhaustion overtook James and he forgot all about Addison knocking on his door. He tried to stay awake just so he could see the end of the episode, but before he knew it, his eyes were closing, and another night came and went where instead of sleeping in his bed, he would welcome the morning from the sofa.
7
Belle
Even though she was maxed out on her allergy medicine, Belle sneezed so hard, her wool hat flew off of her head and over the front counter of Meow & Then. She had tried everything in her power that morning to convince Meg to let her stay home, but once the nurse showed up, her grandmother insisted she go open the store.
“Someone might need something for their furry friend and we can’t leave them hanging, Belle!” Meg had shouted in a panic while scratching Henry between the ears.
“Gran, do you really think anyone in Wintervale is going to need an emergency mouse toy in the middle of a snow storm?”
But Annabelle’s argument had fallen on stubborn ears and if Meg had been able to get to her feet, she would have shoved her granddaughter out the door. So now, Belle was sitting behind the counter at the shop, a tissue in one hand and her phone in the other, as she played a game. As she expected, not a single customer had come into the store, since the only people walking down the sidewalk appeared to be headed straight for the Middle Road Inn. For a second, Belle considered going over and getting something to eat, but she knew if she closed the shop and word got back to her grandmother she would never hear the end of it. Instead, she decided to call over and see if someone could bring her lunch, but just as she closed out her game, the phone started to buzz frantically in her hand.
Sam was calling, and since it was the middle of the lunch rush, Belle’s stomach instinctively dropped to her feet.
“Is everything okay?” she said instead of ‘hello.” She could already hear dishes crashing in the background and the line cooks shouting at each other anxiously.
“No, everything isn’t okay, Annabelle,” Sam growled. “I need you here. Do you have any idea how chaotic things are right now?”
Annabelle rolled her eyes. “No, Sam. I have no idea. What’s it like to own a restaurant?”
She could hear him mumbling curse words under his breath. “You know what I mean. Everything is out of control! I have Nigel making the pastries, but he has no idea what he is doing. Santiago is managing the kitchen, but no one listens to him the way they listen to you. The reservation system is crashing every five minutes. What am I supposed to do?”
Belle couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe learn to appreciate how much I do when I come back?”
“ANNABELLE!” Sam screamed in her ear.
“Okay, okay. Listen, I can’t leave yet. My grandmother is going to take a little longer to get settled in and there is no one to watch her store. But here is what you need to do. Take Nigel off pastries and switch him with Santiago. He knows my recipes better and is a master with the pastry bag. Then get Caitlin off the floor and have her work at the hostess station on reservations and seating. And give her a raise, another two dollars an hour.” Belle heard Sam start to sniffle. “Sam, are you crying?”
“You are just so much better at this than I am, honey.”
“You’re being dramatic,” Annabelle chuckled. “You can do this. You’ve just gotten too used to me doing all of the heavy lifting.”
The bell over the shop door rang, startling Annabelle; she had almost forgotten she was at Meow & Then. Except after the door opened, it closed again without her ever seeing anyone walk in. “Hold on a second, Sam,” she said as she peeked over the counter. Standing on the other side, hidden behind a tall rack of cat-themed Wintervale postcards, was Daisy, covered head-to-toe in puffy snow gear. She waved at Belle with a wide smile on her face. Belle waved back and picked up her phone again.
“I’m going to call you back, okay?” Sam starting panicking again and tried to stop her from hanging up, but she didn’t give him a chance and ended the call. “Daisy, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school? Or at least… inside?”
Daisy shrugged. “School was cancelled again. I’m over at the restaurant and I got bored, so I told dad I was coming over here to look at the cat toys.”
“You have a cat?” Annabelle asked.
“No.”
Kids are weird, Belle thought as she watched Daisy wander around the store. After a few minutes of browsing, she walked up to the counter with a little change purse covered in cartoon cats and a toy bird filled with catnip.
“I’d like this please,” Daisy said with a bright smile. Annabelle raised an eyebrow.
“But you don’t have a cat?”
“Not yet,” Daisy said wistfully. “But I’m saving up toys and stuff for when dad lets me get one. I keep telling him it would be good to have one for the barn, but he thinks I’m just trying to scam him.”
Annabelle burst out laughing. “Do you even know what that means?”
“Yeah, I looked it up. He’s kind of right.”
Belle shook her head and took the toy out of Daisy’s hand but pushed her money back over the counter. “The toy is on me. Save your money for adoption fees when you finally convince him,” she said with a wink.
“Thanks, Belle!” Daisy shoved the mouse in her pocket and rocked back and forth on her heels in front of the register for a moment. “So…” Daisy said, setting her gloved hands on the counter. “Do you want to come over to the restaurant for lunch?”
Annabelle sighed and waved her hand around. “I can’t leave the shop. But maybe someone can send over something? What’s the special today, madam chef?”
Daisy stood up straight and squared her shoulders. “Broccoli quiche with Vermont cheddar cheese and my dad’s special, home-made, award-winning maple pumpkin pie.” She seemed to be seriously trying to drive home the quality of the pie and it was enough to intrigue Annabelle.
“Your dad bakes? I had no idea.”
Daisy nodded proudly. “He sure does! He’s won the annual Christmas baking contest three years running.”
Belle leaned forward on the counter. If there was one thing that always got her attention, it was the promise of a challenge. She had always been a little bit competitive, but knowing that James had been winning this contest for years? That made her even more interested.
“A baking contest, huh? Any specific kind of baking?”
Daisy shrugged. “Anything is accepted, as long as it is Christmassy and delicious. They judge the desserts on Christmas Eve in the town square under the tree. It’s kind of a big deal and there is always a band playing and stuff. It’s a lot of fun.”
That pretty much sealed the deal. Every competitive impulse Annabelle had kicked in and she knew there was no way she wasn’t going to beat James at that contest. “Maybe I’ll stick around and enter something.”
“You should! If you wanna, I mean,” Daisy said with a sly smile. “Well, hey. I should get back over to the Inn before dad thinks I’ve run off into the snow. Do you want me to have one of the servers bring you over the special? It’s really good.”
Belle nodded. “Sure. You be careful going back, Daisy. It’s slippery out there.”
Daisy gave Annabelle a quick salute and then scooted back out the door with a grin, leaving Belle to entertain herself by making the toy mice fight each other and count the hours until her allergy medicine kicked in.
It was going to be a long day.
Once 4pm rolled around and it was clear that Daisy was going to be her only customer for the day, Annabelle decided to close up the shop and take a walk around town. The snow had finally slowed down, but the streets were still empty, which was just the way she liked it. Because it was already starting to get dark, the street lamps were on, and the sidewalks were glowing a brilliant white, making downtown look like it was a glittering city inside a snow globe.
Belle wandered down Pine Street, looking in the windows of the other shops and remembering what it was like to
be a teenager in Wintervale. Some days, it felt like being a kid in a sitcom from the 50s. When she and James would get out of school, most days they would go for a coffee at Bean There, Done That, or ice cream at Sweet Nothings. On weekends they might go to the old movie theater, or if they were feeling adventurous, they would lay in the park and rename the constellations. It was idyllic, and she had nothing but wonderful memories, until one day, she’d realized that they wanted different things out of life.
As she walked past the park, buried under a blanket of snow, she could still see the bench they were sitting on when they had “the talk.” James believed that Annabelle would give up her dream of training in New York to stay in Wintervale with him, and Belle hoped that he would consider moving to New York with her. They had argued until the sun started to come up and they never came to an agreement. Until finally, the only thing they could agree on was that it was never going to work. She had never expected that a broken heart could hurt so badly, but that chilly morning in the park, it felt like she would never recover from the pain of losing her first love.
Annabelle stopped at the edge of the park and took a deep breath, letting the cold air of the early evening fill her lungs. At first, she thought the pain she was feeling was the frigid air overwhelming her. But then she realized… it was the memory of that heartbreak all those years ago. She could still feel it, deep down in her bones. Even now, with their lives so much changed, and with so much time between them, the pain felt fresh. She didn’t expect that it was possible to still feel the heartbreak so keenly but being in Wintervale brought it back with an intensity that surprised her.
After standing outside of the park for what felt like an eternity, Annabelle finally made her way back to the truck that Meg had borrowed from the nurse to get down to the store. She couldn’t be late getting back to the house, otherwise the nurse wouldn’t be able to leave on time, and she didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would take kindly to being held up. Belle jumped into the truck and blasted the heat, then started back through town. With a resigned sigh as she rounded the corner away from downtown, she thought,
Maybe being back here isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe I can bring a bit of the Arcadia to Wintervale. Plus, winning first prize in that contest wouldn’t be so bad either…
8
James
It was Friday, and Daisy was off at a friend’s house for a sleepover, so once he was sure everything was squared away at the restaurant, James decided to pack up some meals for Meg and Annabelle to reheat as long as Meg was laid up. He figured that just because he found the knowledge of Belle’s presence exhausting, that didn’t mean he shouldn’t try and take care of Meg while she was in pain.
So, as Raphael wrapped up with the dinner rush, James packed up meatloaf and mashed potatoes, vegetarian lasagna, several different kinds of soups and breads, chicken pot pie, a selection of their pastries, and one cinnamon apple pie. Then he loaded it all into the truck and started slowly up Pine Street and toward the mountain road to Meg’s house.
On his way, he passed a few of the locals who had started to come out of their houses to shovel their walks. The snow plows had done their jobs hours ago, but now the snow was hiding the Christmas directions, and no one in Wintervale would tolerate that. Most everyone in town had started decorating before the Thanksgiving leftovers were cold, so snows like this one annoyed everyone even more. Anything that obscured their twinkling lights and waving Santa’s was cause for panic.
James admired their commitment because if it weren’t for Daisy and her fanatical devotion to the holiday, he wouldn’t even have a tree.
Once upon a time, he did love Christmas in the way Daisy did. But when they lost Marisa, he couldn’t seem to be able to find the same pleasure in it that he used to. All he could think about was what they had lost, and while he did his best to put on a brave face for Daisy, he found that he would dwell on the past and become surlier than he usually was. He felt horrible about it, but he hadn’t found anything that could snap him out of his heartbreak. James figured all he had to do was fake it for another eleven years until Daisy went to college and then he would be free to wallow in private.
As he pulled on to the road that lead to Meg’s, he passed a house that was covered top-to-bottom in lights. It twinkled in red and green and gold and half a dozen wicker reindeer peppered the front lawn. All of the trees were hung with sparkling decorations and lights of their own. It was by far the most extravagantly designed display in the whole town and immediately, James knew who it belonged to.
Addison.
Well, Addison’s family, rather.
While the baking contest had always been considered the most important Christmas event in Wintervale, the Murdoch family had been petitioning to add a lights and decoration event for over a decade. The only reason the city council hadn’t agreed was because they were afraid of everyone in town going as crazy as the Murdoch’s did, and the running joke was that by the time Christmas rolled around, the lights of Wintervale would be visible from space. As James idled in front of Addison’s house, he could see why the council had been concerned. The effect was practically blinding.
Afraid he might be caught staring, he put his truck back in drive and was just about to pull away when Addison came bounding out of the house, waving excitedly at him to stop. He groaned as he put the truck in park again and then faked a smile while he rolled down the passenger-side window.
“Hey, Addison,” he called out as she slid up to him, her sneakers losing traction on the snow. She giggled when she caught herself on the door.
“Hi, you. What are you doing hovering around my house?” she asked, batting her lashes at him.
James felt his nose instinctively crinkle up though he wasn’t sure why. “I just stopped to look at the lights. I’m on my way up to Meg Harrison’s to drop up some food for her and Belle.”
Now it was Addison’s turn to make a face, but instead, she looked like she was sucking on a lemon. “It seems like everyone is talking about Annabelle Harrison. Was she some kind of big deal here or something?”
James shrugged. “Not really. Not to anyone but me, anyway.” He immediately regretted saying it out loud because not only did it make Addison look even crankier, but he had admitted something he had been trying to avoid for a long time. “So, I should probably get going. Even in this weather, the food will start defrosting soon. See you at the Inn tomorrow? You have a shift, right?”
Addison quickly tried to change her expression and make it sunny again. “You bet, boss. You know I love working at the Inn. Just let me know if you need me to pick up any more shifts!”
“Um, sure. Okay, bye!” Before she could say anything else, James threw the truck into drive and sped away a little too fast, causing the tires to spin and slow him down. But it was worth because a moment later, he was inching up the driveway to Meg’s and nowhere near Addison. He had no idea what it was about that girl, but she put him on edge, and no one really did that to him.
Grateful to be away from the Murdoch house, James pulled to a sliding stop in front of Meg’s and started unloading all of the food. He carried the bags up to the door and knocked hesitantly, suddenly nervous but unable to pinpoint why. Just inside, he could hear the distinctive and familiar sound of Meg and Belle lovingly shouting at each other, just like they had all those years ago.
“Belle! Get the door!” Meg shouted loud enough to hear through the heavy wood.
“Gran, you’re in your wheelchair! Can’t you get it? I’m kneading the dough!” Belle screamed back. James chuckled as he waited to see who was going to be suckered into letting him in. A minute later, the door opened, and Meg was on the other side in her wheelchair. She looked cranky for a second, but then when she saw it was him, her face brightened up.
“Jamie! What are you doing here? Again?” Meg asked, clearly just as confused to see him as she was delighted.
James held up the insulated bags of food. “I didn’t want you guys to st
arve up here and I figured bringing you some meals would help aid the cause.”
“Well, aren’t you the hero? Come on in and make yourself at home! We can pop one of those babies in the oven and have a feast!”
He walked into the warmth of Meg’s hallway and could already smell the scent of gingerbread wafting out from kitchen. James set the freezer bags down and took off his coat, then hung it on the coat rack as he took another long smell of the delicious bread. “Is Belle baking?” he asked.
Meg waved a hand and she picked up one of the bags off the floor, set it in her lap, and started wheeling toward the kitchen, her casted leg proceeding her arrival. “She’s been baking like a maniac since she got home from the shop! The only way we’d starve is if she burned the kitchen down making cupcakes. How many batches was it, honey?”
Belle didn’t answer, but when James followed Meg into the kitchen, he saw four trays of elaborately iced cupcakes stacked up on the back of the table on a tiered plate. They looked like they had come straight out of the window display of a fancy Manhattan cupcake shop.
“What are those for? And why are they shoved in the corner like that?” James asked.
“Not good enough. Not enough flavor. I was going to throw them out, but she wouldn’t let me,” Belle muttered over her shoulder. James shook his head, confused. Meg just rolled her eyes.
“They are delicious, Belle. You are being crazy.”
James set the freezer bags on the only counter that wasn’t covered in dough and flour and bags of brown sugar. “Seriously… what are you baking for? Do you have to take all of these back to the city?”
A Sugar Cookie Christmas: A Sweet Holiday Romance (Wintervale Promises Book 1) Page 5
