Chapter Thirteen
Nursing a heartafter a rejection was never easy for Mason. It was as though the universe was once again telling him,Nope, you’re not meant for anyone. You’re going to die alone in the field next to your bees, and they will use your rotting corpse for their next hive.It was the beekeeper’s equivalent of a cat lady’s face being eaten off by her beloved pets. Considering how much joy his bees had brought him, it wouldn’t be the worst way to go.
He’d been wrong, once again, about there being a real connection with someone, and maybe he was feeling somewhat foolish thinking Natalie was a possibility. As soon as he asked her to go sledding, he’d seen the answer written all over her face.
It sucked, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He returned to his job, trying to push her from his mind. Except, Natalie was always there, even when Lana stopped by. A local event planner, Lana was someone he had become familiar with since she’d approached the farm about holding special events, most of them being weddings. In fact, Lana had been entertaining him with a story about a chipmunk that had crawled up a bridesmaid’s leg during a wedding reception inside the barn and mass chaos had ensued.
He forgot about the conversation as soon as Natalie appeared, fire sparking from those beautiful brown eyes of hers.
No one was more surprised than him when she blurted, she’ddo the damn sleddingwith him. He wasn’t quite sure why she sounded angry about it, but he wasn’t about to ask. While he would have preferred her to accept his invitation with more glee, the point was she’d agreed and that was enough for him.
He couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across his face. “Okay. Great. Sounds good. Oh, this is Lana, she’s a local event planner. Lana, this is Natalie. She runs the coffee truck here. Great coffee. If you ever need one at your events, I highly recommend her.” The two women shook hands although Lana appeared way more enthusiastic about it than Natalie. When an SUV pulled up, Lana’s husband stepped from the driver’s seat.
“Is loading here okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Mason replied, bringing the Christmas tree closer so he could help tie the tree to the vehicle’s roof.
“You picked a great tree, honey,” the man said to Lana. “The kids are going to love it.”
Natalie backed away as if she was attempting to escape unnoticed while everyone was busy. “I’ll come see you at closing, Natalie,” Mason said before she could disappear completely.
She lifted her hand in acknowledgment as she walked away. He did hear her say, “Dammit, Mia! You are the worst.”
Through the coffee trailer window, Mia appeared to be cleaning furiously with a rag, only glancing at him to offer a tiny wave. He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but he was coming to like her more and more.
He caught Lana studying him with a funny little smile playing on her lips. “Maybe someday you’ll need my services for yourself, Mase. I’d love that.”
He dropped eye contact, focusing on tightening the tree’s ties. “Oh, uh, probably not anytime soon.”
The rest of the workday was uneventful. As the day started to wind down, he asked Charlie to keep an eye on things so he could slip into the barn to find the old snow tubes and fill them with air, making sure they weren’t duds. He obviously hadn’t thought far enough ahead to consider maybe they had sprung leaks or were unusable. Luckily, they were in good shape.
As the day’s end drew closer, he made his way to the Placerville Waffle Company truck. “Hey, Marco. How’s it going?” Mason said to the young guy working the window.
“Mase, hey. You want the special?” Marco brushed his long, unruly locks from his forehead.
“Yeah, I’ll take two.”
“Ma, I need two of the Philly wraps.” He leaned on the counter. “Sounds like two is getting to be a regular thing with you. I heard from Santa’s little helper that you have a thing going on with the coffee girl. That true?” The man pumped his eyebrows suggestively.
“Is that Mason?” Marco’s mom asked, pushing her way to the counter with his food in hand. “Is it true about you and the coffee girl? She’s a pretty one. I told Marco he better get a move on it, but you know…” His mom gave her son a playful smack on the head. “You snooze, you lose, buddy.”
Mason wasn’t sure how to approach this situation he had created. As much as he wanted to trust Stan not to be a blabbermouth, this was Stan. The chance of maintaining any kind of secrecy was low at best. He attempted to appear casual. “Yup, I have a thing for her.” This was technically correct even if it wasn’t exactly what they’d asked.
“Good for you, Mase. She seems like a nice girl,” she responded while handing the food to him and refusing to take his money no matter how many times he offered.
“She definitely keeps me on my toes,” which was also true considering how the day had been a roller coaster of emotions but, so far, he was coming out on top. Mason hoped it stayed that way.
He made his way to the coffee trailer, and Natalie was locking the doors as Mia stood nearby, zipping her coat. Mia gave him a bright smile and a tiny wave.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go sledding with us?” Natalie asked, unaware Mason was already there.
“I want to get home to Ross so we can decorate our tree. Hi, Mason. I think Natalie might be a little nervous going tubing with you. She told me that she hasn’t done it in a while. You better stick close to make sure she doesn’t wipe out or something.”
“I’m not nervous. It’s tubing, not skiing. I don’t think it’s possible to get hurt,” she said, not appearing any less irritated with her friend.
Mia leaned closer to him, whispering loud enough for anyone to hear. “Don’t believe her. She’s definitely nervous.”
“Ugh! Mia, I swear to God.” She shoved her beanie on her head and jammed on her gloves, turning to address him. “Do you have any customer bathrooms, outhouses, port-o-potties that need cleaning? Because I might have someone I can volunteer for the job.”
