Tidings of Joy: Based on a Hallmark Channel original movie Page 8

  “No such thing,” Michelle corrected her. “I never met a cookie I couldn’t eat.”

  “Me neither,” Henry said. “But if you have any you don’t think are worthy, send them my way so I can prove you wrong. I’ll consider it my favor to you.”

  “You’re just too generous,” Michelle said.

  Katie placed another chocolate-coated candy on her Christmas tree cookie, finally satisfied that it was pretty enough to consider complete. She glanced down at Ben’s. “Whoa, wow, I am not as good as you are at this.” His cookie, a star shape, was a work of art.

  “I know my way around a cookie.” He held up his star. Edged in white, the pretty sky-blue star was piped in a filigree pattern. “Plus, this one is extra special.”

  “Really? Are you gloating?”

  “Not at all. Watch this.” He raised the cookie above his head and lowered it slowly back to the table. “It’s a falling star. That’s why it’s extra special.”

  “Of course it is.”

  “Hope you made a wish.”

  “I wish I could compete with that,” she teased. Katie held up her less-than-amazing cookie. The only cookies she’d ever made were of the slice-and-bake variety, and she wasn’t sure she could remember the last time she’d done that. Perhaps before her parents’ divorce, when she and her brother had surprised them with homemade cookies. “Mine’s not amazing.”

  “You’ll be happy to know there’s no such thing as a bad Christmas cookie.”

  She did feel better for that. At least it would taste good. Katie washed her hands and came back to the table. “I think if I’m going to help, I need a lesson. I guess it’s obvious I’m a beginner,” she said to Ben.

  “Like, absolutely first-time beginner or—”

  “I mean…my mom and I didn’t do a lot of baking or cookie decorating. She was busy. We bought our holiday baked goods at the bakery down on the corner.”

  “That’s still good.”

  Katie pulled her lips to the side and scanned the table. She brushed flour from the front of her apron. “Not as fun, though, I have to admit.”

  “There’s all different types of fun. What kind of traditions do you have?”

  “On Christmas Day, Mom and I go to the movies. We volunteer. It’s been just the two of us since my parents’ divorce.” She lifted her shoulders. “It’s nice, though.”

  “I’m sure it is.” His smile was gentle.

  “I’m seriously considering boxing a few of these up to send to my brother, though. Especially those red truck cookies David decorated. My brother is a total car nut. He’d love them,” Katie said.

  “Do it,” Megan said. “Didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but we have plenty. I even have a little priority mailer you can ship them in. Such a good idea.”

  “Thanks. I will.” Katie looked around at the room full of people, laughing. I’ve never had a holiday gathering anything like this. She felt like these people were her family tonight. “What about you?” she asked Ben. “It was all—”

  “It was all Evergreen. Caroling, sledding, wreath-making.”

  “So you grew up in a Christmas movie?” she teased.

  Laughing, Ben had to admit, “It felt that way sometimes.”

  “Did your parents love Christmas too?”

  “Ah, I really don’t even know. They died before I could even talk.”

  “I’m sorry.” How many times was she going to stick her foot into her mouth?

  “Nan was the best parent figure I could have ever wished for.” He motioned to where she was showing off another ornament cookie. “She clearly adores the holidays. Not just Christmas, either. All of them.”

  Katie nodded; that made sense.

  Megan carried another batch of cookies over. “Okay. We need to taste test these. What do we think? Enough cardamom?”

  Ben handed Katie a cookie and they tried them at the same time.

  Katie’s eyes popped open wide. “Oh, wow. Of all human inventions: the wheel, the printing press…”

  “Cookies are right up there, yeah.”

  Ben and Katie went back to decorating the cookies. “Let me help you decorate this one.”

  She stepped in closer, his breath tickling her neck as he reached around her and assisted her with the pastry bag. She held back a nervous giggle.

  “I’ll get you started. Hold the bag like this, and you’re going to gently squeeze.” His arms were warm against hers. His moves were light and adept. “You try it.” He let go of her hands but didn’t move from behind her.

  “Like this?” She moved the icing across the cookie. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. She turned her head to the side to see his reaction.

  “Yeah. See? You’re a natural. You just needed a little Evergreen magic.”

  The private lesson felt like magic, too.

  Nan scooted a bowl of translucent glasslike sugar in front of Katie. “This is my secret weapon. Anything with these sprinkles always looks pretty. Plus I love the crunch of it.”

  “I see.” Katie dipped her spoon into the sprinkles and dribbled some across the still-damp icing. “Wow, that does jazz it up.”

  “Mm-hmm. Who do you think taught Ben?” Nan winked.

  “Truth comes out.” Katie wondered how she’d gone this many years and had never decorated Christmas cookies.

  Megan held up a decorated gingerbread man with gumdrop buttons. “Isn’t he cute?”

  Michelle held one up she’d decorated in a Christmas apron. “Look at mine! They can be friends.”

  “We are flying through these,” Megan said. “Thank you so much. I would’ve been working on these all week long to get them done.”

  A round of you’re welcomes bounced through the room.

  “Ben, will you help me? I made something for us to reward ourselves with.”

  “Sounds like food. Count me in.” He raced to her side, and she whispered instructions to him. Ben left and then came back carrying a white milk glass pedestal cake plate. A tall three-layer cake frosted in white had 3-D Christmas trees made from ice cream cones turned upside down and green frosting tips. On the side, perfectly spaced, were more trees.

  Ben set the cake in the center of the table. Megan carried the sifter over to the table and bumped it a few times to add a few real snow-like flakes from confectioners’ sugar across it for that final touch.

  “Who wants a piece?” Megan carried a stack of red plates to the table.

  Everyone raised their hand in the air.

  “Cake for everyone.” She began cutting the cake while people cleared off their little workspace.

  “Hey, Hannah,” Ben said from across the table. “Can I borrow Allie’s truck to pick up the tree from Henry’s lot for the library tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, sure.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the key. “Catch!” She tossed it with no further warning.

  Ben snagged the key out of the air. “I’ll give you a lift home when you’re ready to go.”

  Hannah shook her head. “No way. I’ll walk home. It’s a perfect night to walk off all the cookies I sampled, not to mention the hunk of cake I’m getting ready to devour.”

  Katie felt like she was going to have to walk all day to work off the snacking she’d done tonight.

  Megan clapped her hands. “Thank you all for your help. We have more than enough cookies to do the job.” Megan’s eyes sparkled as she handed out the cake. “Is there nothing we can’t do when we come together? My biggest heartfelt thank-yous to you all.”

  “We haven’t bumped into anything we couldn’t get done yet,” said Hannah as she took a bite from her piece of cake.

  “And we won’t on my watch,” Michelle teased in regard to her new role as mayor. “Y’all better be careful—I’ll be tapping you all for new committees I’m going to put in place for Everg
reen.”

  “Works for me,” Megan said. She handed a “something special” wrapped in paper towels to Ben. “For a little late snack. I know they’re your favorite.”

  Ben peeked inside and grinned. “Thank you, Megan.”

  “Count me in on your committee,” Carol said as she washed up, and Joe nodded in agreement.

  Katie cleared the red paper plates from the counter. “Looks like we filled up an entire trash bag.” She pulled it out and tied it up. Ben swooped in and took it from her. “I’ll take that out.”

  Everyone else began getting their coats and hugging out goodbyes.

  It was like a cookie-scented parade out of Barbara’s Country Inn as everyone went their separate ways. Katie was glad she didn’t have anywhere she had to go. She went to the door to see off her new friends.

  “Nan, wait. I can drive you home.” Ben hurried to catch her as she and Hannah walked down the steps.

  Nan turned and looked at him as if she were ready to argue. “No. I’m fine. I’m going to walk.”

  Katie appreciated the way Ben watched over Nan. It was really sweet.

  “You shouldn’t walk alone.” He stepped onto the front porch.

  “Benjamin, I am perfectly capable of walking home. It’s not that far, and it’s good for me.”

  Hannah tried to hold back a laugh. “I can walk her down a ways.” She placed a hand on Nan’s arm. Nan gave Ben a victorious smile as she took Hannah’s arm and started walking down the sidewalk. Over her shoulder, Hannah said, “Nan always has the best stories.”

  “Okay,” he conceded. “I appreciate that, Hannah.” Ben waved, and Nan rolled her eyes.

  Katie wished she’d offered to walk Nan home now. She did enjoy a good story. But she was staying here, and saying goodbye to all of her new friends was a little bittersweet. Besides, offering to walk Nan home would’ve meant shortening her time with Ben. She looked up at him. One of the good guys. She hated for the night to end. She could’ve hung out in that kitchen all night with him. A million novel-worthy thoughts raced through her mind.

  Ben was the last one out the door. As he descended the steps, he stopped and turned to her. “It was fun tonight.”

  “It was. So, tomorrow,” Katie said. “When you go to get the tree. I should come along. Yes?” She twisted her hands in front of her, hoping he’d say yes, but he was hesitating, and that felt like a looming no. Was he not feeling the spark like she was? Not one to give up so easily, she said, “Do you mind if I tag along?”

  He shoved a hand into his pocket. “Why would you want to do that?”

  You’re fun. I want to spend more time with you. Can’t you see that? But she couldn’t say that. “What better place to prove this isn’t all some kind of Christmas hallucination than to see it for myself? Right? You say it’s all authentic. I say prove it.”

  His response to the playful banter was exactly as she’d hoped. That playful smile turned her insides out. “Okay. Fine. Tomorrow morning. Right here.” He pointed to the steps.

  “Right here.” That was the answer she’d been hoping for. “Okay.”

  He pulled the key to the truck out of his pocket to leave, and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was a lift to his step. If she weren’t afraid he might turn and catch her in mid-bravado, she’d do a little leap in the air right now.

  He stopped and waved before sliding behind the wheel.

  “Oh, wait.” She leaped off the porch, and ran to the truck. “Let me give you my number. You know, in case you decide you want to get an earlier start.” She held her hand out, palm up.

  His lips pressed together. He gladly placed the phone in her hand.

  She typed in her number and her phone rang. “Now we’re all set.”

  “Yes, we are. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Yeah.” She clung to her phone. “I’ll see you then.” She turned and ran back to the porch.

  The red truck with the wreath and fresh garland down the sides started with a throaty rumble, then slowly made its way down the road.

  She waved from the porch, tightening her charcoal-gray sweater around her and glancing at the sky as tiny dry snowflakes started to fall. Another perfect evening in Evergreen. She couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring.

  Chapter Twelve

  When Ben drove up to Barbara’s Country Inn, Katie was sitting on the front porch, writing in her notebook. There’d been a time when he’d scribbled like that in one. Seeing her made him envy that a bit. He wasn’t even quite sure when he’d gotten out of that habit. From here, the sun glistened in Katie’s hair, like an angel among all the gold ornaments and ribbons that decorated the porch.

  The truck puttered to a stop in the driveway. The way she smiled when she looked up captivated him, making him happy he’d agreed to take her along for the ride. He stepped out of the truck, feeling young and inexperienced, which he wasn’t, but it’d been a long time since a woman had made him so nervous.

  He stepped out onto the running board, stretching tall above the door. “You ready?”

  “Waiting on you.” She leaped to her feet and ran down the stairs toward him.

  Her enthusiasm was addictive. He couldn’t get enough of it. Once she experienced Evergreen for herself, he was certain the story she wrote wouldn’t be like those fluff-pieces of the past. “Well, come on. Let’s get a tree, but first let’s start by having peppermint hot cocoa. Sound good?”

  “Well, yeah! That sounds really good.” She climbed into the truck. “Is this another one of those Evergreen traditions? Peppermint hot cocoa?”

  “I guess it will be if you agree to do it with me again tomorrow.”

  She smiled wide, nodding slowly. “So that’s how it starts.”

  “It’s just the beginning.” Ben started up the truck and made the short drive around the block to Kringle Kitchen. “Just a short pitstop, then we’ll be on our way.”

  “Fine by me.”

  She hopped out of the truck, and the two of them went inside. Before the door even closed behind them and Ben got the words, “Morning, everyone,” out of his mouth, David was out of his chair and across the room in front of them.

  “I was just at the library looking for you. I’ve been going though these things Nan found, and look! Do you know where this picture was taken?”

  Ben waved to Carol. “We need two peppermint cocoas to go, please.”

  “Coming right up.”

  Ben took the picture from David and examined it closely. The old photo was grainy and had faded over time. The Turners, Hannah and Thomas’s parents stood smiling in front of a building with a winter mural painted on it. In the background, he could make out a red truck. “That has to be Allie’s grandfather’s truck in the background, but I don’t recall ever seeing a mural like that in this town. Are you sure it was taken here?”

  Hannah walked across the room to see what the fuss was about. Peering over David’s shoulder, she said, “I’ve never seen this photo before.” Her smile was an exact replica of her dad’s in the picture. “I miss them so much.” She reached for the picture. “Where’d you get that?”

  Ben showed Katie, then handed the photograph to Hannah, who marveled at it.

  “It was in the stack of papers Nan brought me,” David said.

  Joe motioned over their shoulder. “That’s Kringle Alley. Right outside. You can see the old bakery sign in the photo.” He pointed to the edge of the photo. “See? It’s where I park the cocoa cart.”

  “I wonder what happened to the mural,” David said.

  “Uh-oh, looks like someone’s wheels are turning,” Katie teased.

  “Oh, he does love a puzzle,” Hannah said. “Just like me.”

  “Yes,” David quipped. “I promise to tell you all about the key and the mystery of the silent bells in the church last year.”

  �
�Sounds like a Nancy Drew mystery.” Katie’s eyes lit up. “Put me down for that story time.”

  “No time for that this morning,” Ben said. “We’re off to pick up the tree for the front of the library. Henry’s waiting on us.”

  “Soon,” Katie said to David.

  “Deal!” David was more focused on the picture than his conversation with her, though.

  Carol carried two large cups of cocoa to go for them. “You two have fun.”

  “We will.” She took one of the cups and headed for the door. Ben held the door for her as she skipped outside and playfully raced him to the truck.

  She climbed into the passenger seat and announced her victory, but it was clearly a tie.

  “Here we go.” Ben turned the key, and they set off for Henry’s Christmas Tree Farm.

  Katie sipped her hot cocoa, and he liked that she didn’t feel like she had to fill every quiet moment with words. Instead, she watched thoughtfully out the window. He pointed out a couple of landmarks, including the old grist mill. “It’s still a working mill in the spring and summer. Very primitive, but productive. It’s really pretty too that time of year. And over there is where Allie’s grandfather used to live and practice. Like Allie, he was a veterinarian. A lot of people would bring their animals to the big barn for his care. Allie focuses more on pets in her clinic in town, but she still does large animals too.”

  “And this was his truck?”

  “It was. He used it for his house calls, and Allie does too.”

  “This truck really gets around.”

  “He may not look it, or always act like it, but he’s one of the more reliable things in town.”

  “I’m sorry. But, he?” Katie’s brow lifted.

  “Yeah. He. You’re really an Evergreen somebody if you’ve driven the red truck. And we all know he’s a he.”

  “And let’s be honest, what’s more picturesque and appealing to tourists than a big red truck hauling Christmas trees?”

  There she went again, assuming everything was part of a big marketing master plan. “Yes. I suppose that’s one way of looking at it,” Ben said.

  “What’s the other?”