Page 46 of Cakewalk

He set her down on the vanity and turned on the hot water spigot on the clawfoot tub. Turning back to her, he was confused by the look on her face. She was looking at him like she was trying to work out a puzzle, or like what he had just said had been in a language she didn’t understand.

“Are you going to get in with me?” she asked.

“If you would like me to.”

She nodded. “I trust you, Holden. I feel safe with you. I…I more than like you.”

“You ‘more than like’ me?” he asked, halfway teasing, halfway curious what that was supposed to mean.

“There isn’t a word for that step in between like and that other L word. More than like was the best I could come up with,” she responded, looking a little sheepish.

“I more than like you too, sweetheart. A lot.”

20

Gigi

With only a few days left until Christmas, Gigi seemed to have lost track of whether she was coming or going. The Busy Bean was the busiest she’d ever seen, with the whole town of Colebury seeming to be in and out of the café as they were doing their holiday prep. The peppermint-bark cupcakes she’d created on a whim had been a big hit, both the test batches she’d dropped off at Speakeasy and the Gin Mill and at the Busy Bean as well. So much so, she now had special orders for them for the holiday seemingly coming out of her eyeballs. But the cupcake, which had either white or dark chocolate cake with chunks of peppermint candies mixed in, a chocolate mousse frosting, and was topped with a decent-sized hunk of the peppermint bark, was so much fun to make that the task didn’t seem quite as daunting as it would have only months ago.

Today, however, was not about baking. Holden had made her mark off the entire day, telling her they had plans. Not that she had any idea where they were going. He’d been all kinds of secretive the last few days, telling her it was a surprise and that all she needed to do was be ready to go by two o’clock, and to wear warm clothes. Every time she tried to figure out what he could possibly have up his sleeve, her whole body thrummed with excitement. She had tried to coax it out of him that morning in his bed, peppering his chest with kisses, as she had recently discovered he liked, but he held strong and didn’t crack even in the slightest.

“You're about to explode over there with anticipation, aren’t you?” he asked, after they’d been driving for about forty-five minutes.

“Yes!” she told him. It had been what felt like forever since they’d seen anything other than trees and farmland, but Gigi had learned that Vermont was just like that, and it didn’t mean they were lost. She trusted that Holden knew where he was taking her—she just wished they would hurry up and get there.

“Good, because we’re here.”

Gigi sat up in her seat, looking around to see if there were any signs of life, but still nothing. Until a second later, when a large sign reading “Aurora Christmas Tree Farm” came into view. A few hundred feet past the sign, they pulled into a parking lot that was streaming with people and families, some carrying trees, wreaths, and other assorted Christmas décor, while others milled about and chatted.

“A Christmas tree farm?” Gigi asked, her excitement boiling over. She knew she must sound like a little kid, but she couldn’t help it. “Are we going to pick out a Christmas tree?”

“Sure are, sweetheart,” he said, parking the truck and hopping out. When he came around and opened her door, he looked at her like she was the only woman on earth. It sent a ripple of emotion through her, loving the way he made her feel with just a look. “You said you don’t have a lot of happy Christmas memories. That changes today.”

Gigi bounded out of the door so fast, Holden had to take a step back to not lose his balance. She didn’t have the slightest idea how this was done, but that wasn’t going to stop her from enjoying every moment of this day. She rushed toward the area where most of the people seemed to be heading, with Holden hot on her heels, snow crunching under their feet as she found her way to the grove of pine trees.

“Okay, stupid question,” she said, stopping in the middle of a row of trees. “What makes a good tree?”

There were fewer people around now that they were out among the spread of pines. It amazed her how each tree could look so similar and yet so different. Looking between them all, she had so many questions about this process and couldn’t even begin to form them all.

“You just kinda pick one,” Holden said with a shrug.

"So, we just walk up and down the rows until we see one we can’t live without?”

Holden chuckled, grabbing her hand and pulling her into him. “Pretty much, sweetheart. Christmas trees are kinda like love in that sense—when you know, you know.”

“I thought I knew once,” she said, looking down at her feet, her joy over this experience fading slightly to the pain of thinking of Bradley and her sham of a marriage. “But I was wrong. It wasn’t real. I chose the wrong tree.”

Holden squeezed his arms tighter around her, drawing her into the warmth of his chest. She inhaled his spicy scent, finding comfort in it as well as his embrace. A brief wave of guilt hit her, reminding her that she still needed to let him in on the rest of her secret. Sucking in a deep breath, she tried to find the words now, but couldn’t. His arms around her left her feeling safe, like everything she had left behind in Atlanta wasn’t real. The thought slipped from her mind just as Holden rested his head on top of hers, allowing her a moment to deal with her emotions.

“That tree had no idea what it missed out on, in my opinion,” he said, still holding her tight against him. She could feel his chest rumble as he spoke and couldn’t help but smile at the vibrations. “Today’s tree, however, will be so overjoyed to have been chosen by you, that it won’t have the ability to do anything other than stand proud and try to make you happy every day.”

“Is that so?” she asked, lifting her head to look him in the eyes.

“Absolutely.” He took a step back, releasing her, but almost immediately took her hand in his and started to lead her down the row. “Now, traditionally the tree goes in the living room, right by the fireplace. We’ve also put it in front of the bow windows before. So, picture that space in your head and the shape of the tree you can see there.”

Gigi looked around at the different trees, trying to place each one in front of the large window. She liked the idea that you’d be able to see the tree as you drive up to the house, like it was greeting you from inside. She squeezed Holden’s hand as they walked along, each tree they passed not quite right. When they got to the end of the row they were on, they made a little U-turn into the next one, continuing their stroll. After about twenty minutes of walking, she was starting to wonder if maybe she was being too picky, if she’d gotten too far into her own head thanks to the love metaphor, since every one they saw had something “wrong” with it. They were all either too tall, or too skinny, too robust, or missing a patch. So much for knowing it when I see it…

The sun was starting to set, and a shiver ran through her from the cold. It was only going to get colder as the sun disappeared, and Gigi started to wonder if she needed to give up and just let Holden pick one.