“Um, sure. Thanks?”
He nodded and then added, “By the way, something came up. I can’t go to the Bear Den tonight.”
My heart contracted in on itself until it was a tiny, invisible dot in my chest.
“Sure,” I said in a tinny voice that didn’t sound like mine.
All three of us watched as he picked up the box as if it weighed nothing and strode quickly out of the office on long, fast-moving legs.
“I don’t know what bee got under his bonnet, but Easton seems upset,” Nicole whispered.
Lenore nodded. “Yeah. I’ve never seen him like that before.”
Nicole tut-tutted. “He’s beensobroken up ever since his grandpa died. It’s probably hard with Christmas around the corner.”
Then Lenore said something that flipped my world upside down. “Wait a minute. Easton’s single. Why isn’t he on your list?”
I blinked up at them rapidly. “Easton? Peter didn’t put him on the list. I don’t know why. I figured because he doesn’t actually work in the office.”
Nicole was still staring at me, deep in thought. “Easton’s your Secret Santa. It has to be him.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but… could it be true?
My heart clenched in on itself as I thought about the letter I’d left.
If Easton was my Secret Santa, then had he read the letter I’d left? Did he think I was in love with another man?
“He seems kind of mad at me.” My mind was spinning, thoughts flying in different directions like I was on the Christmas Tilt-a-Whirl at the Winter Wonderland Festival.
Nicole shook her head. “No. He’s just got a lot on his mind. The estate finally settled this month, and he took it hard.”
“The estate?”
“His grandpa’s property. They were close, and I heard his grandpa left everything to him. Even his cabin.”
In a daze, I unfolded the letter that my Secret Santa had dropped off this morning along with the box.
Violet,
I must have misread things between us. I thought, well, you know what I thought. I was practically giving you googly-eyes on our date at the ice skating pond. I didn’t know your heartalready belongs to someone else. I’ll leave you alone going forward. But you have to take this one last gift. I can’t have you walking to work in this weather.
Whoever the guy is, he’s one lucky son of a bitch. I wish it could have been me.
Love, Easton
Clutching the letter to my chest, I gasped out, “I should go. I need to talk to him.”
Nicole grabbed my hand. “Wait. If itisEaston, you need to be gentle with him. We’re a little protective of him in this town after what happened.”
I looked from Lenore to Nicole, expecting them to tell me more about his grandpa. “What happened?”
Lenore gave me a sympathetic look. “His fiancée died in an accident right out of high school. They’d been childhood sweethearts. He hasn’t dated anyone since then.”
My heart cracked in two. “That’s so tragic. But he must be in his mid-thirties. He hasn’t dated anyone at all infifteenyears?”
Nicole nodded, then whispered, “And when Lenore says anyone, she meansanyone. He doesn’t even do casual hookups. I don’t think he’s been with a woman since Leann passed away.”
My legs were rubbery as I stood up. “Will you tell Aemon I have a personal issue and had to leave work for the day? I’ll be back tomorrow.”
