Yuletide & Yearnings by Harper Pugh & Heather C. Myers

Author:Harper Pugh & Heather C. Myers [Pugh, Harper & Myers, Heather C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grey Star Publishing, LLC

Chapter 11

Ellie

The second I hit “submit,” I froze—like the universe might change its mind and delete everything. But the screen didn’t blink. My thesis was officially gone, uploaded, turned in, done.

I slumped back in my chair, breath catching in my throat before spilling out in a long, shaky exhale. It was over. Months of second-guessing, all-nighters, and questioning every life choice I’d ever made had finally culminated in a quiet little email confirmation.

Somewhere beneath the exhaustion, pride flickered—small but stubborn. I hadn’t quit. I hadn’t let the stress win, even when it felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. I’d finished it. I was still standing.

The apartment felt too quiet, the kind of silence that pressed in after a storm. No looming deadlines, no blinking cursor daring me to keep going. Just peace. Foreign, weightless peace.

And then, like clockwork, Gabriel’s face surfaced. That maddening little smirk he gave me every time I spiraled about this project. The way he’d rolled his eyes and said, “It’s a thesis, not the end of the world,” like I was overreacting—which, okay, maybe I was.

A laugh slipped out, soft and tired. Everything had felt like a mess lately—my life, my emotions, my weird almost-something with him. But maybe, now that this mountain was behind me, I could finally take a breath and figure out what we were.

Assuming he didn’t bolt again.

The peace lasted maybe five minutes—just long enough to pour myself a cup of coffee and take one blissful sip before the Cocoa Crawl exploded into holiday mayhem.

The town square had transformed into a sugar-fueled war zone. Kids zipped past like caffeinated elves, shrieking with laughter and smearing marshmallow fluff on everything they touched. I stood behind the cocoa booth, apron askew and mittens already damp with cocoa splatter, trying to herd the chaos into something remotely manageable.

To my left, a kettle teetered on the edge of a full-blown cocoa eruption. To my right, a little girl gleefully aimed a can of whipped cream at her older brother’s face.

“Hey—watch it!” I ducked just in time to avoid the splatter, laughing even as I did.

“Sorry!” she chirped, grinning like she hadn’t just declared sticky, dairy-based war.

Holiday music played faintly under the din, mixing with the scent of peppermint and pine. The lights overhead twinkled like they knew the secret to world peace. And maybe they did—because somehow, amidst the chaos, it still felt like magic.

“Ellie!” Beth waved frantically from across the booth. Her flour-dusted hands flailed as her hair stuck out in every direction like a frazzled halo. “We’re out of cookies! And we need more cocoa!”

“On it!” I called back, grabbing a ladle with one hand and passing a napkin to a marshmallow-covered toddler with the other.

“Can I have more mallows?” he asked, chocolate coating his chin and pure mischief in his eyes.

“Only if you promise not to pour them down your shirt this time,” I teased, guiding him to the cookie table.

And then I saw him.

Gabriel.

Striding toward the booth like someone had dared him to be festive.

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