Page 26 of Blame It On the Secret Santa

Seventeen

Cassidy

“Ineed another gingerbreadlatte,” I told my brother as I stood in line at the pop-up booth for Sugarplum Lattes for the third time in an hour. Frosty Fest was in full force with people everywhere and lines at all of my favorite booths.

“No,” he replied, giving me a concerned look. “You’re going to be wired for days.”

“Come on, Sam,” I groaned, letting my head fall in frustration. “I need the caffeine boost to help me think.”

“Think about what?”

“Finding theperfect giftfor anot-so-perfectperson,” I said grumpily.

I was at my wit’s end trying to come up with something for Sean. I’d gone from store to store to store, coming up empty-handed every time. I’d even checked out all of the booths set up for Frosty Fest and still couldn’t find anything worthy of a Secret Santa gift for someone you sorta hate. I did, however, find plenty of stuff for myself that I didn’t need.

“You still shopping for Sean?” he asked as he made a latte for someone else.

“Yes. Now can I please have my latte so I can go on my way and be miserable somewhere else?”

“Nope. But I will make you a chocolate raspberry hot chocolate,” he offered, raising an eyebrow as if he didn’t know this was my weakness.

“Fine. But when I crash out in Sugar Faced Bar, I’m blaming you.”

“Well, I’ll give Aiden a heads up to watch for you and deny you service when you get there.”

“You wouldn’t!” I gasped, clutching my chest as he worked on my drink.

“Oh, I would. Drunk, stressed-out Cassidy is just as bad as high as a kite on Percocet Cassidy. No one needs that right now,” he teased.

“You know, I’m not sure I like you very much,” I teased back. “Maybe I’ll go exchange your gifts and buy myself a nice bottle of wine or some truffles from Sugarplum Sweets.”

“An ax,” he blurted out randomly while putting a lid on the to-go cup he handed me.

“What? Are you threatening me? I was just kidding about taking your gifts back, Sam.”

“For cutting wood. Sean mentioned the other day that he hadn’t had a chance to gather wood before the storm hit. I asked if he wanted me to come over and help, but he said no because he needed to get a new ax. The one he had broke.”

“You want me to buy the guy I hate, and who I’m pretty sure doesn’t like me much either, an ax?”

“No, Cassidy. I want you to buy the guy you once loved and were best friends with a gift that he could use. Something helpful and thoughtful instead of some rude and insulting gift because you can’t get over the past and the hurt he caused twelve years ago. You’re not seventeen anymore. It’s time to move on and let all of that go. It’s not healthy to hold on to grudges like that. Like Grandpa used to say, every ounce of anger you hold onto is an ounce of happiness you miss out on instead.”

I inhaled deeply, allowing the air to move through my lungs before slowly letting it out.

He was right. It was time to move on and forget the past. The thing was that it wasn’t just the past that I was worried about. It was about how I currently felt about him and the realization that maybe I didn’t hate him as much as I once thought.

I thanked my brother for the drink—which he refused to accept payment for—and went to finish my shopping. While I liked his idea, I wasn’t sure thatSeanandaxbelonged in the same sentence.

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