The Christmas Box (The Box Books Book 2) by Toni Blake

Author:Toni Blake [Blake, Toni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oliver Heber Books
Published: 2024-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

Lexi

A little while later, after Travis has waved goodbye and wheeled his father away, a tap comes on my shoulder and I turn to see Brenda, a friend of my mother’s who waited tables at the diner back in the day. Her long, silver hair is pulled up into a high ponytail atop her head, a sprig of holly tucked in as an accoutrement. “Who was that man, Lexi?” she asks, sounding all dreamy and suspicious.

“What man?” I blink, playing dumb.

Beside me, Dara has tuned in to the conversation, too.

“The very handsome one who sent you this,” Brenda replies, holding out a paper plate on which rests a perfect triangle of pumpkin pie heaped with fluffy whipped cream.

“He sent me pie?” I scrunch up my nose, feeling both smitten and a little confused.

Brenda nods as if I’m keeping some secret from her, but I just take the plate.

“Is this…like when a guy sends a woman a drink in a bar?” Dara suggests, one fingertip to her lips as she ponders it. “Just the small-town version?” Then she addresses Brenda. “Oh, and he’s the long-lost Travis Hutchins, who once stood Lexi up at a high school dance and is now rehabbing the Lucas Building, while keeping watch over his father, Tom, who has a terminal illness.”

We both just gape at her dramatic yet concise explanation.

“What can I say?” she goes on. “Mom and I like to watch the few daytime soaps still on. Sometimes I view things through that lens. Especially when the shoe fits. And now that I think about it, this one definitely does. All he needs is a little romance with the girl whose heart he once broke to help him through a difficult time.”

But at this, I draw the line. “Don’t be ridiculous. He did not break my heart.”

She casts me a doubtful look.

So I add softly, “He only bruised it a little.”

“Well, all I know,” Brenda says, “is that he was a looker. I’d eat pumpkin pie—or pig slop, for that matter—with him any day.”

As I try the pie—which I can’t deny tastes a little sweeter just knowing where it came from—Brenda is drawn away by another customer, leaving Dara to lean close and say privately, “Don’t look now, but I think he likes you, too.”

“It’s just pie,” I tell her.

“And gingerbread buildings and...well, who knows what other scrumptious treats are in your future.”

Despite my denials, I can’t help feeling a little giddy inside—even if it is just pie. I love that he brought his father here tonight—although, wow, Tom looks so much thinner than when I last saw him. I love that he made the gingerbread shop for me, and that he took Marley to visit with people who surely needed it. And I love that he plugged his tree lights in again tonight.

Only…it’s hard to let myself feel happy for long when I remember why he’s here. Because how am I going to feel when his time in Winterberry comes to a close and

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