Page 47 of Blame It On the Secret Santa

She picked up her fork and knife, cutting into her chicken as she made it clear that the conversation wasn’t going to go any further.

Dinner was painfully long with not knowing what had Cassidy so upset when she first got there, but when she ordered a third glass of wine, I decided to put a stop to it. I knew she was staying at the hotel for the night, so she didn’t have to worry about driving, but I still didn’t want her trying to drink away whatever problem she was avoiding.

Melissa stood at the front of the room with Bruce while he gave a quick toast, thanking the employees for their hard work and dedication. I missed most of it, but I couldn’t focus as I struggled to keep from reaching for Cassidy’s hand underneath the table.

Everyone around us raised their glasses in the air and cheered. I lifted my water and absentmindedly clanked it against those around me. Melissa and Bruce worked on passing out the gifts, and I was surprised when I was handed the gift I had seen Cassidy come in with.

She held hers from me in her lap and played with the ribbon that I had tied around the box.

“You got me?” I asked, reading the tag again, just to make sure.

“Yeah. It’s funny how that worked, huh? That out of all the employees at Waldon’s, we would draw each other’s names.”

“Guess fate had plans for us.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes or make them light up the way they looked when she was truly happy.

“You first,” she said, nodding to the large box I was holding.

“Nope. Ladies first.”

“Please?” It was the crack in her voice that killed me and made me open mine first.

Inside was a brand new ax, and I grinned, knowing Sam must have had a hand in this since he was the only one who knew mine was broken. In addition to the ax was a small box filled with some of my favorite snacks that we used to enjoy back when we were dating and would have our weekly movie night dates.

“Wow. Cass,” I sighed, trying to focus on what I was trying to say while being so overcome with emotion. “Thank you. For all of this. I really appreciate it.”

“I didn’t know what to get you,” she admitted, tapping her fingers along the top of the box she was holding on her lap. “I remembered how much you used to enjoy mixed nuts and Milk Duds back in the day, so I was hoping you still did.”

“Well, you were right. It’s still the perfect combination of salty and sweet. And thank you for the new ax. I actually needed one.”

“My brother told me,” she said, scrunching her nose in the most adorable way. “I’m sorry. I wanted to be a better gift giver, but I was coming up empty-handed.”

“Don’t be. These gifts are wonderful, Cassidy. I don’t expect you to know what to give someone you haven’t talked to in over a decade. People change. You know that.”

“True, but I like to think that Iusedto know you better than anyone.”

I didn’t want to get into any heavy conversations right now because I wanted to have them when we could fully focus on them and not have the distraction of liquored-up coworkers. I let her comment go and nodded to her box.

“Your turn.”

She smiled and pulled the ribbon off before lifting the lid and opening the box.

“Oh my God,” she whispered, covering her mouth with both hands as she stared inside at the copy ofThe Christmas CabinI had found for her. “How did you...”

She didn’t have to complete her sentence for me to know what she was asking.

“I remembered you reading the book to me when we were younger, and then I overheard you and Rachel talking about it. I know it’s not the same as the one your grandma gave you, but at least now you have a copy of it.”

“Sean,” she breathed, wiping the corners of her eyes. “This is the sweetest gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” I smiled when she took it out of the box and slowly flipped the pages.

“I still can’t believe you got one. How did you find it?” she asked softly, setting it back in the box.

“It took a little bit of work, but I got lucky.”

“Why did you go through all of that when I’ve been treating you so terribly?”

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