I grin at him as kids start streaming through the front door to the bakery.
“It’s this great thing they started here a few years ago. The kids get out of school a few days before Christmas, and the city decided to come up with something to keep them busy, get them in the Christmas spirit, but also help them feel like they havesomething to contribute to their family’s Christmas,” I explain, pointing kids to different tables around the bakery.
“On December twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third, they go from business to business doing different activities. Here, obviously, they’re going to decorate cookies. Then they get to take them home and share them with their family.
“Over at the hardware store, they build little wooden boxes with hinge tops. They can give that to someone at home as a gift.
“Then they go over to Hope’s shop. She sells soaps, lotions, essential oils, and things like that. They get to mix a hand lotion in whatever scent they want and again, make that a gift for someone.
“At City Hall, they decorate Christmas cards for their families. And many of the other businesses have little stops along the way. The library gives away Christmas books. The grocery store has a cocoa station. The beauty salon has coloring pages. They can have a bowl of soup at Dottie’s. Other stores give them a chance to decorate the store’s front window or write Santa letters. All kinds of little holiday-ish things. It’s a fun way for the kids to stay busy, and the town to support them.” I pause. “It’s really incredible.”
Everett just shakes his head. “I’ve never lived anywhere that did something like that. I grew up in L.A. in a gated estate. And since then, I’ve always lived in big cities. I suppose it’s possible neighborhoods do things like this, but I never saw it. This town is great.”
I nod. “Now that I’m back, I realize that I missed it more than I thought. I think I talked myself into not missing it while I was away.”
“And it’s pretty awesome how your whole family comes together to help out here at the bakery.”
I lift a shoulder. “Of course. That’s just what we do here.”
He looks around. “So you want me to teach some of these kids how to decorate cookies?”
I laugh. “We donothave time for that. How about I handle decorating, and you make sure we don’t run out of supplies?”
He grins. “Whatever you say.”
That is a very addictive phrase, and he says it so easily. But I can’t get too used to anything—and certainly not addicted to anything—with this guy.
I’ll just have to keep repeating that to myself during this visit.
CHAPTER 8
EVERETT
“Here, you’ll need these.”
The reindeer antlers Ginny thrust at me make sense the moment we cross the threshold of the Come Again bar.
My antlers and her Santa hat seem to be the bare minimum expected inside.
I’ve never been to an ugly Christmas sweater party before, but I’ve heard of them and it seems Sapphire Falls took the concept and said hold my beer. The majority of the people inside have on sweaters and oh yes, they’re obnoxious—like the one that saysHung With Careand has a stocking at the bottom hanging over the man’s fly—but there are also hats, pants, dresses, and even ugly Christmas overalls.
“I…” I’m not sure what to say.
“I know,” Ginny assures me, grabbing my sleeve and dragging me further into the bar.
“Wow, is the whole town here?” I asked.
Somehow, Ginny hears me over the noise. “A lot of people are going to be leaving. They’re just here to pick up pizzas.”
“Allof them?” It’s hard to move without bumping into someone in here.
She stops next to a tall table and waves at someone I can’t locate in the crowd.
She turns to me and explains. “The Come Again does amazing pizza, and a few years ago, when they started doing this community-wide Christmas camp thing for the kids, they started doing pizza specials so that people could just pick up dinner on their way home. You have to order ahead of time, but then everyone crams in here and picks them all up at once.”
She looks around, and I follow her gaze. People aren’t just chatting. They’re also hugging, exchanging gift bags, cookie trays, and envelopes that I assume contain holiday cards.
“It also functions as a great chance to see people one last time before Christmas Eve.” She smiles affectionately at the chaotic scene. “It’s crazy and awesome. Like a lot of things in this town.”
