“You love me, then?” I ask.
“Yeah. Yeah, I fucking love you.”
EPILOGUE
TWO YEARS LATER
The chocolate peppermint brownies are the perfect consistency. Not too cakey, not too chewy, with the ideal amount of crunch from the crushed pieces of candy cane. The peppermint offers the necessary festive kick, and the white chocolate chips I threw in at the last-minute add a delectable sweetness. They’re the perfect holiday treat…formostpeople.
“I wish you could try one,” I tell my boyfriend, who’s leaning against the kitchen counter, a glass of scotch in his hand. He’s looking annoyingly handsome in a pine green Henley and dark jeans, his hair curling in that perfect dark wave over his forehead. “They’reheavenly.”
Landon eyes the tray, nose wrinkling, and shakes his head. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“I could be the worst baker in the world, and you’ll never know,” I point out, before taking another small bite of the brownie.
“If you were the worst baker in the world, your store wouldn’t have sold out on opening day.”
I grin at him unabashedly. “You’ve got a point.”
“And you would’ve had about a million awful reviews on the site within twenty-four hours.”
“Also, true. I guess you’ll just have to accept that I’m amazing.”
“Easy,” he says, his soft eyes landing on mine, and the look he gives me says a million and one things. Love. Trust. Affection. Admiration. “That I never doubted.”
I bite my lip to hide my smile, but it’s impossible not to mirror the grin he gives me before taking another sip of scotch. “You know, you should probably wait to drink,” I say. “Eli said he was making his signature Christmas eggnog martinis…or something.”
Landon levels me a look. “That’sexactlywhy I’m already drinking.”
I shake my head and resume cutting the brownies out of the pan before setting them on one of the Santa-themed serving dishes I picked up at the store for the occasion. The unexpected ring of the doorbell makes my head snap up, and I glance toward Landon. “I swear to God, if that’s Eli, I’ll kill him. Who shows upthree hours earlyto dinner?”
“Are you really that surprised?” Landon asks wryly. Shaking my head, I wipe my hands on a towel and round the corner into the hallway, hurrying for the door. I’m formulating a few sour remarks in my head—Elialwayspulls this shit—but when I open the door, the comments die on my tongue.
“Hey, kiddo,” comes a voice thatdefinitelydoes not belong to Landon’s brother. No. It’s a voice I haven’t heard in person in nearly three years, and my mouth drops open in disbelief. Tears fill my eyes when I see my dad standing on the front steps, and it takes me seconds to wrap my brain around it before I throw my arms around his strong, sturdy frame.
“Dad?” I cry, still in disbelief. I squeeze him tight to make sure he’s really here and not some sort of hallucination.
“Vi,” he says, squeezing me right back. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I can’t believe you’re here! Oh my god! This is insane.” I pull back, shaking my head with a smile so big it hurts. He hasn’t aged since the last time I saw him. He has the same salt-and-pepper hair, the same warm, crinkly eyes, the same stocky build. I hug him again, one more quick, hard squeeze. “I can’t believe you came all this way! Did you actually fly?”
“We did,” says Dad with a chuckle, patting my back.
When I break away again, I notice Becca standing just behind him. Her slim frame is bundled in a coat much too hot for Florida, and her short brown hair is clipped back from her face. I pull her in for a hug as well and say, “Hi, Becca, I can’t believe you guys are here.”
“It’s so good to see you again, honey,” she says, shifting on her feet a bit nervously. If we were still in the old, monster house, I have a feeling she would have taken one look at it and ran.
I usher my dad and Becca inside, gesturing for them to set their suitcases next to the door.
“I thought you said you’d never leave Green Haven,” I say, looking back and forth between the two. “How are you here right now? What changed your mind?”
My dad grins. “Well, we can’t take all the credit.” He nods over my shoulder, and I turn to see Landon standing in the doorway with a knowing look in his eye. “Landon bought the ticket and organized the whole thing. All we had to do was show up at the airport.”
I swear, my heart swells to triple its normal size with this new information. It’s the best gift he could have given me, and judging by the slightly smug smirk on his face, he knows it, too.
“We wanted to see the bakery in person,” Dad explains. “We’re just so proud of you.”
“Thanks,” I say softly. I reach out and grab Landon’s wrist, pulling him forward. “So, I guess you already know Landon, then, but let me properly introduce you to my amazing boyfriend.”
