Page 70 of Baking it Merry

“We’re working on holiday and seasonal decorations that you can swap out depending on the occasion.Naturally there are all kinds of Christmas decorations—I’m trying to figure out how to hook up a snow machine that won’t make it necessary to do a massive cleanup every day.”

Her eyes lit up.

“We’re making oversized sunflowers for the spring and giant Easter eggs, then there’s the pumpkin patch that will go off to the right here…I have a specialty wood shop working on all of them.”Taking her by the hand, he brought her into the house.“You’ll have actual electricity built into it.No more running extension cords and taping over them so people don’t trip.And you’ll have limited plumbing, so you can offer coffee if you want to add it to the menu.”

“Tristan, I’m…I’m…speechless.This is so much more than I ever imagined.”

“I hope I did it justice.We’ve talked about this space so much that I felt like I knew what you would want, but if you want me to add anything…”

“No.It’s perfect.”Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms around his waist.“Thank you.”

Placing a kiss on the tip of her nose, he whispered, “You’re welcome.”

It was a sweet and wonderful moment.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” she quietly told him.“It all just made sense on the surface, and then people kept convincing me of all the reasons it had to be true.”

All he could do was nod.

“So…who was it?”

“Jeff.The work of a very disgruntled ex-employee.”

“Oh, wow…but…why?”

“In the beginning, he thought he was doing me a favor.He had no idea our relationship had changed.And the day I fired him, he blamed you for turning me against him so…”

“He amped up his campaign to get me out of here.Yikes.”She shook her head.“Is anything going to happen to him for this?I guess technically he didn’t break any laws, but I feel like he still should be punished.”

“Unfortunately, there isn’t anything we can do.He’ll never get a recommendation from me or anyone at Knights, but I doubt that is going to hurt him.I’m sorry.”And he genuinely was.All he’d wanted to do for the last week was go and beat the crap out of Jeff and demand that he come and apologize to Daphne, but that wasn’t going to change anything either.So, he took the high road and did something he knew would bring her joy.

Christmas music began to play softly from somewhere, and off in the distance, he heard their families saying goodbye.With his arms around her, they began to sway to the music.Michael Bublé was singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and it was exactly where Tristan wanted to be—with Daphne.

“Would you like to come home with me for lunch?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“Is there really a battery pack in this sweater?”

The bark of laughter was out before he knew it.Reaching under the hem, he found the button and squeezed.There was one in his Santa hat too, so he squeezed the button in the white bobble and lit that one too before stepping back.

“Oh my goodness!It’s even better than I imagined!”she gushed.“I love it!”

Taking her hand, he tugged her back into his arms so they could finish swaying to the music.“Does that mean you’ll come home with me?”

“I’m a bit of a wreck,” she softly told him.“I had barely gotten out of bed when I got the call.”Glancing up at him, she added, “That was kind of a devious plan to get me here.I’m pretty impressed.”

“I knew you wouldn’t just come here if I called you.It had to be someone else reaching out and making it sound urgent.”

“Believe me, I was freaking out.I only had time to brush my teeth and throw on whatever clothes I could find.”

“And this has to do with lunch…how?”

“Well, I’d rather look a little nicer before coming for lunch.What if I go home and freshen up and meet you at your place in an hour?”

He pretended to consider it.“Or…I follow you home and wait while you freshen up and pack an overnight bag and then take you to my house with me.Then, later on, we go to your parents’ place for dinner and then go back to my house.We can open presents in front of the tree in the morning before going to be with my family.”

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