Page 2 of The White Chocolate Christmas Wish

Colton tilted his head from side to side. “Hmm. I suppose I’ll take that. At least you didn’t callhiscell.”

I chuckled as he began carefully working to free the box. It’d been silly, but even though I’dcalled the office line of the private investigations office Colton ran with his best friend Tucker, I really had hoped he’d be the one to answer it.

And when no one did, the obvious choice was to call Colton instead of Tucker. Dakota had a Christmas date night planned for her and Tucker—one involving a giant, snowman-covered apron for Tucker to wear—and I couldn’t ruin that for her. Especially since she’d promised to send me a pic of his reaction to having to wear it.

All jokes aside, calling Colton was a big deal for me. I’d been crushing on him since we met, sure, but letting people in wasn’t something I did lightly. And there was something about finding this box that felt significant somehow, and I just knew it wasn’t meant for me to dig up on my own. In the end, I supposed there was just something about Colton Hayes that made me feel like maybe he was worth trusting with… well, anything.

“I can’t tell how big it is yet,” Colton said, his voice strained with effort, “but if it’s really holding that treasure, Tucker’s gonna flip.”

I knelt beside him, my fingers itching to help. “Should we call him?”

Colton paused, considering. “Nah, let’s see what we’ve got first. No sense getting everyone worked up if it turns out to be a stash of your grandpa’s tax returns or something.”

I chuckled, picking up my scrubber even though he insisted he didn’t need my help. But I won, and as weworked side by side, I stole more than a few glances at Colton’s profile. The way his brow furrowed in concentration, the slight upturn of his lips as we made progress—it was all oddly captivating.

“Almost got it,” he grunted, giving a few bricks a final tug to break them free from the hearth. “Ready to see what’s been hiding in here?”

“More than ready.”

My heart raced as he gently lifted it, but then I scowled. It wasn’t a hulking metal container that could contain over a million dollars of missing pirate treasure. It was much too small for that. And when he opened the lid to find another box inside rather than the glow of rubies or sapphire-encrusted daggers or gold… I sighed.

It was an old, rusted cookie tin.

“Well, that’s anticlimactic,” I said as he brought out the tin.

I trailed my fingers over the faded Christmas scene on the sides, and Colton’s eyes sparkled as he looked over at me. “Why do you look so bummed? We haven’t even opened it yet. This might not be the treasure, but it’s gotta be something cool for it to be hidden away like that, right?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, I’ll bite. Let’s see what’s inside.”

As he carefully pried open the lid, the scent of aged paper and more dust wafted out. Inside, we found an assortment of items: a gorgeous antiquesnow globe, a few yellowed photographs, a small cloth doll, and some other items that were clearly handmade by a child.

But the thing that caught my eye was a folded piece of paper with what was probably supposed to be a reindeer drawing on the outside.

“What’s this?” I murmured, gently unfolding it. Colton leaned in close, his warmth heating my skin like this fireplace surely would if it were lit.

“Looks like a list,” he said in a low tone.

I read the top of the page out loud, my voice stiff. “Steps for the Perfect Charlotte Oaks Christmas.”

He grinned, and I shook my head as that boyish excitement lit up his face as he scanned the list. “Jackpot. It’s my first Christmas in Charlotte Oaks. We should do all of this stuff.”

“What? No, we can’t just?—“

“Why not?” Colton interrupted, his enthusiasm growing by the second as he swiped the note with a teasing grin. “Think about it. Somebody left this behind for a reason. We’d be a couple of Grinchy jerks if we didn’t follow their guide to the perfect Charlotte Oaks Christmas after they went through all this trouble.”

“‘Grinchy jerks,’ huh?”

“Yeah, and those are the worst kind.”

“Uh-huh.” I frowned down at the other contents of the box. “I would’ve thought this was my grandpa’s based on how old it looks, but the stuff in here is pretty…”

“Girly?” he finished for me, picking up the cloth doll.

“Yeah. Not that I’m judgin’ my gramps, but I don’tthink I’ve ever heard that he played with dolls. There isn’t a single wooden car or tool in this thing.”

“All the more reason we should follow the list. Maybe we’ll find out who left this box here, and we can return some of this stuff to her. Or maybe a relative,” he added with a slight frown. “Not sure if she’ll still be… you know.”

I nodded and looked away. I did know. My grandpa had passed a few years ago, and if he were alive today, he’d be ninety-six.

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