~*~
Savannah hung up her cell phone with a frown. It was Wednesday, and this was the third day in a row that Baxter had let her know he wouldn’t be by to work on the deck. She got that things might be a little crazy at work or something the first day or two. But she had a hard time believing the credit union was that busy this close to Christmas. She wondered if he was avoiding her but immediately set the thought aside. Surely not, especially after he’d worked so hard at getting her to go out with him.
She replayed the weekend’s events in her mind and allowed a smile to take over. The way he’d kissed her under the mistletoe had been one of the sweetest, most romantic things she’d ever experienced. She still had to shake her head at the realization Baxter had wanted to kiss her so many years ago. She’d truly had no idea.
Honestly, she was sure she would’ve shoved him had he tried back then. The thought made her laugh. So maybe it was a good thing that their first kiss had come years later. Still, she wondered where they would be now if all of this had started sooner.
Maybe she wouldn’t have gone through so many relationships that had only made her self-conscious and hesitant. Or maybe things would’ve ended badly between them back then, and she’d be right where she was now. There was no sense in playing the what-if game.
She tried to pull her focus back to the customers she was helping at Sweet Hearts. She’d already caught herself making a mistake twice because she was so preoccupied with her own thoughts.
Just before it was time for her to call it a day, Jay asked if she’d come to the back office for a few minutes. He’d mentioned maybe opening other stores in the past, but she hadn’t realized how serious he was until he shared his future plans for the Sweet Hearts name. She was still trying to process everything he’d told her when she waved to her coworkers and headed out for the day.
Jay wanted to turn Sweet Hearts into a franchise. And he wanted her to train the bakers at each location? The fact he was willing to give her a choice of the new locations to manage and eventually buy was huge. She’d always dreamed of having her own bakery. And here she had the opportunity to build one from the ground up.
But it would require moving out of Romance. Just thinking about that was scary. She’d lived here all of her life. Leaving it behind—even if it was only for another town in Oregon—hurt in more ways than one. At the same time, she’d only be moving around for a few years at most. And it’s not like even Salem was too far away to not be able to regularly visit her family.
What about Baxter? If this opportunity had come up even just a few weeks ago, she’d jump at the chance. Or at least seriously think about it. But now? She had no idea where she and Baxter stood. Was it too soon to define their relationship?
She didn’t want to call him while he was still at work. Instead, she texted him with a brief message. “Hey! Are you coming by this evening? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Minutes later, she received his response, “Yeah, I’ll be there around six to stain the deck.”
That meant he’d probably eat before he arrived. Savannah had already decided to dress appropriately and go out and help. If they could get that staining done, then maybe they could spend a little time together over the weekend before Christmas. Baxter had once mentioned going to the live production of A Christmas Carol.
By the time Baxter arrived, Savannah was waiting for him on the back porch. She smiled brightly when he came through the gate. “Hey, stranger. Seems like forever since Sunday, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does.” He gave her a smile in return. He had a paint can in one hand and a bag full of brushes and other supplies in the other. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I’m hoping to get this all stained tonight.”
Savannah held her arms out. “I’m ready to help. Just hand me a paintbrush, and I’m good to go.”
“Awesome. We should have no trouble getting it finished then.”
There was something about him that seemed different. She watched as he emptied the plastic bag, shook the paint can before carefully opening it, and finally handed her a brush. Instead of his normal teasing, he simply explained how to stain the boards, and they got to work.
He was probably stressed about finishing everything before the end of the year. With the weekend and then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day coming up, the month would come to a close before they knew it. Besides, if he hadn’t been by this week, he’d been working a lot. The poor guy was likely just tired.
“How’s everything at the credit union?” she asked as she dipped her paintbrush into the stain.
“We’re trying to tie things up this week. We’ll be closed for three days for Christmas. It’ll be nice, I think. My cousin is practically prancing around the place like a kid on Christmas Eve.” He chuckled a little before glancing at her. “How about you? I imagine it’s crazy busy at Sweet Hearts this week.”
“It is. But Jay’s always been good about putting deadlines on orders received. We’re right on track and should have three days off as well.” She paused. “Jay surprised me today, though. Apparently he’s looking at adding more stores in Portland, Salem, and maybe Eugene and eventually turning Sweet Hearts into a franchise. He’d talked about it for a while, but I had no idea how soon he’d planned to begin.”
“Oh?” Baxter focused intently on bringing new life to the deck.
Savannah stopped working and watched for his reaction. “He said he wants me to go to the different locations and train the bakery staff. He’s offering to pay the cost of wherever I live as an incentive since there’ll be a lot of moving around for a while. I figure, if I can save up all the money I’m not spending on rent, maybe at the end of it all I could afford to buy one of the stores from him. I’ve always wanted to run my own bakery…”
Baxter stilled and looked up at her. “I think that sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Savannah.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You should go for it. Not many people get a chance to make their dreams come true.”
“I’m not sure about the timing, though. You just moved back, and everything with us is still really new… I don’t know.”
Baxter rested his paintbrush on the plastic bag. “Savannah? If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you need to grab onto something you want. If you wait too long, it could very well slip through your fingers.” He gave her a sad smile before returning to the deck.
What was going on with him? It wasn’t like she was planning on moving away forever. It’d be months before Jay would have things progressing enough to change things for Savannah. A feeling of dread gathered in her stomach like a bowling ball. “Baxter? Are you still up for going to see A Christmas Carol?”
“I should probably go check on my parents this weekend. Take their gifts and everything. They mentioned they may do Christmas there on Sunday.” He paused. “I’ll try to get back on Christmas Eve if I can.”
Disappointment warred with the dread. She totally understood about wanting to go back and spend Christmas with his family. He should do that, but he hadn’t said a thing about it to her until now. She picked at the wooden handle of her brush. “My parents are hosting Christmas Eve at their house this year. It’s at five if you’d like to join us. You don’t need to bring anything. Believe me, we’ve got the menu covered. I think several of the neighbors are joining us.” She held her breath, hoping he’d agree to be there.
Baxter only shook his head. “I’m not sure, Savannah. I’ll just have to see how the weekend goes.” He nodded toward her paintbrush. “We’d better focus so we can get this done before eight. I’ll come back tomorrow and finish the front deck and will probably call that good. Once it warms up a little in late spring, I’ll check with Grandpa and see what else I can help him with.”
“Sure.” Savannah got back to staining the deck, but her heart may as well have fallen through one of the slats into the darkness below. Baxter had just told her that if you wanted something, you h
ad to grab onto it. She could only assume his obvious pulling away this week meant he’d changed his mind about them. For whatever reason, he didn’t want her bad enough.
Her heart pinched, and tears filled her eyes. She’d opened herself up to the possibility of something with Baxter when she should’ve known better. She tried to focus on the deck, more than ready to escape to the emptiness of the Potters’ house.
Chapter Ten
The weekend before Christmas was supposed to be fun. Instead, Savannah felt as though she were going through the motions. She did go to the play with Mom and Dad. It was awesome, and all the people who put so much work into putting it together did a fabulous job. Granny Mary directed it with style as always. But it just wasn’t the same without Baxter. The entire time, she kept replaying their conversation in her head. Was there something she should’ve said differently? Had she missed a cue somewhere along the way that might’ve prepared her for what was happening now? She only wished she knew.
Now it was Christmas Eve. Savannah stared at the countertop as she held her phone to her ear.
“You haven’t heard from him at all?” Katrina asked in disbelief.
“Not a word. He came by and finished the front deck at some point last week while I was at work. He was gone before I got home.” Savannah sighed. “It’s like he was a ghost that just appeared one day and then disappeared the next.” A ghost who’d managed to worm his way into her heart. “Was this all a game? Find the girl who used to hate him and see if he could get her to change her mind?” Even she was surprised by the sarcasm and resentment that dripped from her words. She sighed. “I wish I knew what I did wrong.”
“I don’t think you did anything wrong, Savannah. Whatever happened was all him, or at least partially him. It really doesn’t make any sense. I know you were looking forward to bringing him to Mom and Dad’s house tonight. Are you still coming?”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Savannah forced herself to smile even if her sister couldn’t really see it. “I’ve got cookies baking in the oven as we speak.” She glanced at the timer and noted that she had only a few minutes left. That would finish up the chocolate chip cookie batter. Next would be apricot.
“Oh! Did you hear?” Katrina’s voice rose in excitement. “They’re saying we should get snow today.”
“Really?” Savannah sat up straighter and glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven in the morning. “Oh, I hope so!” See? This only proved that she needed to dig herself out of her pity party and focus on the fact that it’s Christmas. She enjoyed the holiday before Baxter came back to Romance. He might have made her crazy over this last week, but she wasn’t about to let him take Christmas from her, too.
A whine at the back door had her up and looking around the corner to find Nellie staring at the yard, her nose pressed against the glass. “Hold on, I need to let the dogs out real fast.”
The moment she opened the sliding glass door, Nessie magically appeared from somewhere else in the house. Both dogs ran across the newly stained porch and into the grass to do their thing.
Savannah swallowed hard. Everything reminded her of Baxter now. Working on the porch together. Even the fact she could now go back to sitting in the kitchen and not have to worry about the dogs escaping through a hole in the fence.
“You still there, Savannah?”
Katrina’s voice pulled Savannah from her thoughts. “Yeah, I’m here. Is it silly to hope for enough snow that we get stuck at Mom and Dad’s house?” Since it was only next door, she could easily walk over to take care of the dogs. The extra work would be worth it for enough snow to cushion them from the rest of the world.
Suddenly something dawned on her. “Oh no! Is Don going to be able to make it today? When is he supposed to get into Portland?” Her brother-in-law normally got home for the weekend but had opted to work Saturday and Sunday so he could be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with his family. If it snowed, driving into Romance could be a problem. It didn’t snow frequently enough around there for people to really know what they’re supposed to do with it. In general, snow meant the majority of the town shut down until it melted again.
“His plane is supposed to land just after two. He said he was going to try to be at Mom and Dad’s in time for dinner.” There was a little doubt in her voice. “Kyle’s so stoked about having him home.”
“He’ll get here, Katrina. You’ll see.” The oven timer went off. She pulled the pan out and closed the oven door again. “I’d better go and mix up the next batch of cookies. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Okay. Hang in there, huh?”
“I will, you too.” She ended the call and slid her phone onto the counter. Twenty minutes later, she’d mixed up the newest batch of cookies and had a pan of them baking in the oven.
It was only then that she realized she’d left the dogs outside for so long. Poor things, they were probably freezing.
She expected to find them staring through the glass waiting for her, but there was no sign of their furry bodies. They didn’t come when she opened the door, either.
Savannah stepped onto the deck. “Nellie! Nessie! Come on, girls.” She whistled and patted her leg. Nothing. Her stomach turned as she rushed inside to pull on some shoes. As soon as she stepped into the yard, she noticed that one of the side gates was partially open.
“No, no, no!” How did that happen? She never used the side gate. Because of that, she never would’ve thought to check if it’d been latched securely. She ran around the side of the house, through the gate, calling the dogs’ names as she went.
“Savannah?” Mom was standing on the front porch. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“The gate came open, and the dogs ran out.” Savannah put her hands on her head and tried to think. “They might’ve gotten out a half hour ago. Maybe even longer. I had no idea.” Frustration welled up inside her. At herself. At the stupid gate. Even at the annoying canines that couldn’t be content with their own backyard. “I have to find them. I won’t lose the Potters’ dogs on Christmas Eve.” Mrs. Potter, especially, would be just devastated. “I’ll go looking for them. Will you keep an eye out? If you see them come back, call me, okay?”
“I will. Your dad ran to the store. I’ll call him and have him watch for them on his way home, too.”
“Thanks!” She waved over her shoulder. Inside, she turned the oven off and pulled the half-baked cookies out so they wouldn’t burn. After throwing on a coat, scarf, and grabbing mittens off the side table, she put the dogs’ leashes in her pocket and set out to comb the street for them.
An hour in, there was no sign of the furballs. A single snowflake drifted down to land on Savannah’s nose. Just perfect. The snow she so desperately wanted was going to make finding the dogs even harder, not to mention the night colder if they were stuck outside somewhere.
“Come on, you guys. Where did you go?”
~*~
Baxter enjoyed the early Christmas celebration with his parents and most of his siblings. There’d been great food, gifts, and lots of laughs. There were several times he’d even managed to forget about Romance and Savannah for a while.
Okay, for a very short period of time, and it’d only happened once. Then everything came crashing back. The truth was, he missed Savannah like crazy. He missed her laugh and the way she always smelled like vanilla. He missed the way she felt in his arms.
He thought he’d hidden it all well until Dad had confronted him about it earlier that morning. They’d been sitting on the front porch in the crisp air sipping cups of coffee.
Dad looked over at Baxter. “Who put the bee in your bonnet?”
The phrase would’ve had Baxter laughing in his coffee if he was in a better mood. “Do you ever wonder why some things can’t just come easily?”
“Sometimes.” Dad was silent for several moments. “You know, they say anything worth having is worth fighting for. I really think that’s true. After all, if it came
too easily, then we might not appreciate it as much.”
Those words kept replaying themselves in Baxter’s mind all morning. When he finally announced that he’d decided to head back to Romance for the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas, none of his family had seemed surprised, least of all Dad.
Now Baxter was driving down the highway with the windshield wipers going to keep the steady snowfall from obscuring his view of the road. He’d heard on the radio they were getting snow in Romance, too. He imagined Savannah’s smile once she saw it for herself. A white Christmas was exactly what she’d been hoping for.
The unfairness of it all washed over him for the hundredth time. Why did he keep falling for women that ended up leaving and traveling the world? Or maybe he should wonder what it was about him that attracted them in the first place. Was there something about him that made it easy for them to leave?
With his last girlfriend, he’d simply let her go. It’d been hard, but he’d never second-guessed his decision. Not like he was doing now with Savannah. The truth was, he’d never considered fighting then.
Savannah was different. As he drove, he weighed the pros and cons of their situation. It didn’t take long to realize that, as much as he hated the idea of her traveling during the week, at least she was staying in Oregon. Worst-case scenario, he’d drive to see her at the end of every week, and they’d spend the majority of the weekend together. No, it wouldn’t be easy. But for her, it would be worth it. They could make it work. He could make it work.
Assuming, of course, that he hadn’t messed everything up when he started to pull away. It’d been a miracle that she’d given him a second chance at all. Had he already ruined that?
The drive to Romance felt like an eternity. By the time he got into town around three, there was enough snow on the ground to make the streets slippery. It was difficult to discern where the grass and pavement began and ended.
A Merry Miracle In Romance (Christmas In Romance Book 2) Page 7
