Christmas Trees and Cocoa by Taylor Claremont

Author:Taylor Claremont [Taylor Claremont]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor Claremont
Published: 2022-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

“Patrick?”

Upon hearing his sister calling for him, Patrick scrambled to clean up the space in front of him. He had spent all day fixing up a room in the barn, converting it into a space Michelle could use for her café. It was the least he could do after she saved his butt with Laney.

He had on one of the gimmicky t-shirts Michelle had found the day before and laughed every time he caught his reflection in the mirror. Michelle had spent some time going through old pictures to find him wearing one. It still baffled him that he couldn’t remember the shirts, but there was too much evidence for him to stick with his original thought about his grandpa.

Sweeping up the remaining debris from a day of cutting and rearranging the old tack room, Patrick stepped back to look at the changes in the room and smiled before calling out to his sister.

“I’m in here, Michelle!”

He heard her footsteps travel across the barn and threw open the door when she got close.

She stepped inside and looked around, completely unaware of why he was grinning and waiting for a reaction from her.

“It’s not fully done yet. I talked to Carla, and she has some equipment she could sell you. I didn’t want to buy the wrong thing, so I told her you’d be in to see her soon.”

Michelle’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, is this what I think it is?”

Patrick nodded, and his sister ran over to squeeze him tightly. She walked around the room, taking in the counter he built into the wall, the space for storage, and small details, like a sign he had tucked under the counter that said “Michelle’s Café”. She put the sign on top of the counter and tilted her head towards him.

“Why’d you hide this? It’s a beautiful sign.”

Patrick shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. “It’s nothing, it’s just a little hobby I’ve picked up while waiting for tree sales to come in.”

“Patrick! Some handmade signs would be great at the Christmas party!”

He looked at his sister quizzically, and she rushed to fill him in on everything.

She finished up by saying, “Laney and her family have really put in a lot of time and effort helping us. I can tell they really care about the farm, and Laney is obviously still in love with you.”

Patrick felt his cheeks burn and shook his head. “You’ve got something wrong there. She’s never been in love with me.” He choked over the last part of the sentence and refused to make eye contact with his sister.

Michelle scoffed and shook her head, but Patrick was grateful when her next words were about the party and not Laney.

“We put together a list of things to get ready for the party. Can you go downtown and pick up the supplies in the morning?”

Patrick nodded and headed to bed, his thoughts swirling with confusion.

The next morning, he wiped sleep from his eyes, groggy from tossing and turning all night.

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