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It was a great idea. Patience could see the brilliance in it. She was impressed that he was willing to contribute so much time and effort when he obviously had other projects he hoped to complete. No one else in town had offered her this much support. But she was worried about the expense. “How small is small when it comes to budget?” she asked with a wince. “We don’t have much to work with, not if we’re going to pay Tara full retail for the cookies.”

“Could we dedicate ten or twenty bucks a day to a couple of ads? If they’re effective and we want to scale up, we could try to raise more money. We could also ease the budget a bit by paying Tara a dollar less per cookie. Do you want me to talk to her about it?”

Patience shook her head. “I hate to renege on her. Those cookies are so much work.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You and I are investing hours and hours for free. I think it’s a reasonable ask.”

His argument made sense, especially because the whole town had a lot on the line—including Tara. And with how much people used social media these days, there was a decent chance his idea could really make a difference, especially if something they put up went viral. “Okay. But I’ll check with her myself.”

“Great. If she says yes, can you get some pictures of the cookie while you’re there? I can use those for different ads. Then we’ll be able to see which one does better.” He gestured for her to come over to the bed. “Check out the ads I’ve created so far.” He lifted his laptop and turned it so she could see the screen.

He’d used the same basic design as the cookie card, which was perfect since it all matched. “These are really nice—they’re Christmasy without being too elegant or too ‘kiddie.’ They’re exactly where I feel we need to be to appeal to the most people—contemporary, festive and fun.”

He seemed surprised, maybe even flattered, by her assessment. “I was afraid you might prefer something that looked historical, more in keeping with the town’s heritage. Or even Western.”

“No, lots of other festivals go in that direction. I think this is fresh.”

“Thank you.”

“I really appreciate all the help you’re giving me,” she said.

“Does that mean you’ll take off your coat and stay awhile?” he asked with a chuckle. “I can’t put too much text inside the graphic or Facebook will reject it, so I was hoping you’d help me with the wording. I know it’s a little strange to do this in a motel room. But most of the businesses in town will be closing soon if they aren’t closed already, and we’ll just get in Kelsey’s way if we camp out in the lobby while she’s trying to take care of any check-ins.”

The lobby was very small and didn’t have anything they could work on besides the counter. Patience agreed that they’d just be in the way.

She finally put her computer bag on the bed while she removed her coat. “Of course I’ll stay. I’m not worried about being in a motel room with you. I know you don’t have any designs on me.”

She gave him a playful grin to make it clear she was joking, but he didn’t laugh with her. He seemed entirely serious as he looked her up and down. “How do you know I’m not interested?”

Embarrassed she’d brought it up, she felt her face heat. “Because…because you’re not even willing to call Glenda.”

“You’re not Glenda,” he said and sat on the bed as he pulled his MacBook into his lap.

She felt weak in the knees, as if he’d just grabbed her and kissed her passionately, but he hadn’t even touched her. It was something about his expression in that moment; it’d caused a visceral reaction. And yet he seemed totally unaffected, was starting to work as if nothing had happened.

Drawing a deep breath, Patience willed the jittery feeling away that’d come over her. You’re such a dork, she told herself and was careful not to come into contact with him when she climbed onto the bed.

* * *

Kanon thought getting the ads up would only take an hour, but it was nearly midnight by the time they finished. “So what do you think?” he asked as he closed his laptop. “Are you satisfied?”

In between brainstorming the wording and getting him links for the ads, Patience had been creating a schedule of social media posts and emailing various online sites to see if she could get a free listing. But when he looked over, he could see that her computer had slid from her lap halfway onto the bed, her hand had fallen back on the pillow and her eyes were closed.

She’d spoken to him just a few moments ago. She’d said she was going to leave, but he’d told her to hang on a minute. A storm had come up while they were working. He planned to go out with her and scrape the snow from her car, make sure she got off safely. But he’d wanted to finish what he was doing first so he wouldn’t lose his place after all the effort they’d put in tonight, especially because he was getting tired, too.

And now she was asleep.

He got off the bed and went to the window to part the curtains. It hadn’t just been snowing; the wind had come up. He could hear it howling through the eaves as it tossed icy flecks against the glass. He didn’t want to wake her to send her home in a blizzard. Not only would she face freezing cold temperatures and limited visibility, but the roads would be slick and dangerous.

Although she probably had to be up early to get her daughter off to school…

Hoping the storm would pass if he let her sleep for a few hours, he set an alarm on his phone for 5:00 a.m., just to be sure she could get back before anyone realized she’d been out all night, and covered her with the spare blanket from the closet.

He considered braving the cold to go over to Kelsey’s apartment, where he could crash on the couch, but he didn’t want to explain to his stepsister that he had a woman in his room, and he didn’t want Patience to wake up in the middle of the night disoriented and a little freaked out to be in such a strange place.

It wouldn’t be a big deal if he napped on the same bed as long as they were both completely dressed, he decided. They wouldn’t even be under the covers together.

He got in bed facing away from her. But when his movements didn’t seem to disturb her, he switched to his other side. He’d turned off the lights, but there was a dim night-light in the bathroom that offered just enough illumination that he could see her.