Page 24 of Blame It On The Carols

“Fix what?”

“I’ll call for reinforcements,” Jackie said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and making a call.

“Good call. I’ll reach out to Andi for help as well. Don’t worry, Makayla, we got you.”

“Got me for what? What’s going on?” I could hear the confusion in her voice but loved the way her face lit up with wonder.

“We’re going to remind you how we do Christmas in Sugarplum Falls.”

Sixteen

Makayla

“Are you kidding me?” I laughed harder, tossing my head back at how crazy all of this was.

“We don’t joke when it comes to Christmas,” Sam said, breezing past me with two trays filled with to-go cups of coffee while a kid wearing a Sugarplum Lattes shirt followed behind him with two more.

“I can’t believe this.” I shook my head, staring in disbelief as the quiet bar was now filled with people from all over town who had joined together to help us decorate. Not only that, they brought a whole freaking party with them.

Andi showed up with containers filled with sugar cookies and stuff to decorate them. Sam brought our caffeine fix. A sweet girl named Hadley came from Sugarplum Gifts with new decorations Aiden had ordered sometime during the madness of everything. There were a few other people who all came to help out which made my heart feel all warm and fuzzy.

“I wasn’t sure if you were ready to mix up your drink options yet,” Sam said, holding a cup in each hand. “So, I brought a gingerbread latte as well as a salted caramel latte, just in case you were getting tired of the gingerbread one.”

“I don’t think I could ever get tired of it,” I said with a laugh before reaching for the other one. “But I’m learning that change can be good, so I’ll give this one a try. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“No candy canes today?” Aiden questioned as he walked past us to the bar and looked at the cups lining it with names written on them. Once he found his, he lifted it to his lips and frowned before taking a drink.

“I brought you your usual, you big baby,” Sam said, watching as Aiden’s features changed once he took a drink.

“What’s your usual?” I asked, curious what kind of coffee he drank these days.

“Nothing special. Just plain black coffee.”

“He plays it off like it’s just plain black coffee, but technically, he’s been getting a black eye, which adds two shots of espresso to it. It’s like he’s not sleeping well or something,” Sam said with enough sarcasm that everyone in the room picked up on it.

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