Page 50 of Christmas Wishes

“Isn’t that a camping food?” The grocery store was a madhouse of people prepping for the storm expected to come in tomorrow. I thought the store would be quieter since we were there just before it closed. I’d tried to finish my appointments as fast as possible, but it always took longer than I planned.

“It’s like we’re camping inside your house.” Keaton, still wearing Nico’s coat, grabbed a bag of marshmallows and then put them back. “Hmm. But it’s almost Christmas. S’mores aren’t a Christmas food.”

I shook my head as one side of my mouth turned up. “We needessentialsfor three days.”

“It’s December. Christmas cookiesareessential.” He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t need to waste electricity on baking.”

“As I told you in the baking aisle, I’ll do it before the storm hits. It’s not supposed to come until tomorrow evening, right? Plenty of time, and then we can enjoy during the storm.”

Keaton gave the marshmallows one last look.

“You’ve got an excuse for everything.” I found it endlessly entertaining.

Keaton’s lips curved into a teasing smile. “Finally figuring that out, huh?”

I laughed and pulled a box of protein bars off the shelf. My supply was getting low. Keaton eyed them suspiciously.

“What are your favorite Christmas treats?” Keaton asked while grabbing a box of PopTarts. I stared at them dubiously. “What? They’remyprotein bars.”

Keaton kept me on my toes. That was for damn sure. “Sugar cookies are classic.”

He hummed. “Agreed. Especially chewy ones. I’m not as fond of thin, crispy ones. Frosting or sprinkles?”

“Both.”

“Absolutely. What else do you like?” He politely asked someone not paying attention to move their cart blocking the aisle. The person, who’d been scowling at two different pickle jars in his hands, smiled and apologetically moved out of the way.

“There’s a Greek cookie Nico made each year. It’s got Christmas spices and honey. Syrup too.” He hadn’t baked much, but those had been his thing. They were delicious. I’d considered asking Doris to make some, but I wasn’t sure if that would be too sad for her. Though maybe it would make her feel good to do something in honor of Nico. After seeing how much she’d enjoyed talking about Nico with Keaton, she might enjoy keeping some of Nico’s traditions alive.

“That sounds so yummy. My mom makes cookies with pecan chunks and dipped in powdered sugar. So good.” As we walked the aisles among the sea of other locals, Keaton told me about his favorite Christmas foods. I jumped in from time to time by agreeing or adding something I liked. All the while, he continued to put splurge items in the cart while I grabbed the bare necessities.

“What are you doing for Christmas? Going to visit your family?” Keaton didn’t realize he’d stepped into a minefield with that simple question.

I parked the cart in a long line. “Dinner with Doris. She sometimes has folks from the senior center come by too if they don’t have other plans.”

He scanned the bags of Christmas candies on the shelves next to us. “Aww. That’s nice. Do you usually skip seeing your blood family at Christmas?” he asked in a lower voice.

I appreciated the lack of judgment in his tone and differentiation of blood family because Doris was my family.

“When they lived here, I’d suffer through Christmas dinner out of tradition, but I haven’t been to Colorado since they moved.” Jesus, was that only the start of the year? Got dumped, my parents moved away, and I lost Nico. One hell of a year.

“Good riddance. I bet Christmas with Doris will be more fun.”

I could kiss Keaton for that. He caught my smile and gave one back to me. Too bad Keaton was flying home before Christmas. It would be even more fun with him there.

Chapter27

Keaton

“How doyou decide what yarn to use for a project?” I dragged my fingertips along puffs of yarn as soft as cashmere. The yarn store had a welcoming energy about it. The employee wore a cushy, ivory sweater that I wondered whether she’d made herself, and the place smelled faintly of teak and vanilla.

Half the store was filled with organized bundles of yarn and supplies, while the other half had tables and cozy seating areas. Doris said local crafters hung out in the store, including a yarn guild she was a member of. I bet the yarn guild had the good gossip in town.

Doris grabbed yarn and pointed to part of the label. “Each yarn has a different weight or thickness. That’s what this icon means. Some patterns call for specific weights. The combination of yarn weight, crochet hook thickness, and stitch determines how dense or loose a piece will look.”

“It still seems like it would be overwhelming. There are so many colors.”

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