Page 4 of A Christmas Spark
“Actually, we—” Vanessa started to speak up, but Mabel shook her head, throwing Vanessa a wink. Vanessa stopped speaking immediately, realizing that Mabel was giving her and Jackson an opportunity to have lunch alone.
She was more than happy to take it. They were still managing their once-a-week date night, but with the holiday season in full swing for them both, time together had been harder to get since it had started. She still enjoyed being busy, even without her former workaholic tendencies, but she missed how much time they usually spent together. It was nice to have a half-hour of a quiet lunch together in the afternoon.
Jackson nudged the container of food toward Vanessa as Mabel waved goodbye and walked out to the parking lot, getting up to get them both a couple of forks from a drawer. “So, whatwerethe two of you talking about when I came in?” he asked curiously, as the two of them started to eat.
Vanessa laughed as she took a bite. “Well, if you must know,” she said, reaching for her glass of water that Jackson had brought over as well with the silverware, “I was telling Mabel that I wanted to get you something very special for Christmas. She was tossing out some ideas. And we wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.” She grinned at him, before taking another bite of her food. “This isamazing, by the way. Best pot pie I’ve ever had. Definitely better than the freezer ones that I used to eat.”
“I’ll make it anytime you want,” Jackson promised. His expression turned thoughtful then, as he took another bite of his pot pie as well. “You know, about the gift thing though—I don’t want to put any pressure on us this year. It’s our first anniversary, and your first Christmas really being all in here, and I don’t want it to be overwhelming.” He considered for a moment longer. “What if we just agreed not to get each other anything? We could just enjoy the season together, and let that be the gift, instead of adding pressure to get the perfect present along with everything else.”
Vanessa looked at him in surprise. “I wouldn’t have thought of that,” she said slowly. “But honestly? I think I like the idea. You’re right, it is crazy busy right now. We could be spending time together instead of shopping for each other, or trying to figure out what to pick. And there wouldn’t be any pressure to get it just right. I like the sentiment of that… just letting our time together and enjoying the season be our present to each other.”
Jackson grinned. “I’m glad you think I have good ideas.” He leaned over, giving her a quick kiss. “It’s settled, then?”
Vanessa nodded decisively. “It’s settled.”
CHAPTER THREE
Imogen stood behind the counter at Artisan Chocolates, working on the seasonal Christmas gift baskets that she planned to set out in a window display. Next to her on the counter was another sheet, with a list of orders that needed to be sent out. She’d gotten everything out—the pretty wicker baskets, rolls of Christmas fabric ribbon in tartan, red and green velvet, bright gold and silver, and red and green cellophane to fill out the baskets. On her other side was a list of all of the various chocolates that she was adding to each basket.
She looked over it all, hands on her hips, and smiled. There was a small afternoon lull while the locals and tourists alike were mostly all getting lunch at either the tavern or the diner, and it was a perfect time to get some busy work done. She always enjoyed doing this—the process of arranging the gift baskets was an easy, rote task that let her relax and defocus her mind a little, after hours of customer interaction.
As she worked, though, she felt her mind wander a bit. There were plenty of busy seasons for the chocolate shop—Valentine’s Day and Easter came to mind—but the Christmas holidays kept her especially busy. She’d been running nonstop for days, her shop packed with customers, chocolate deliveries to make,including the delivery of cocoa powder to the hockey rink, and all of the other small tasks that were necessary to keep both her home and her business running smoothly. This opportunity to just work quietly and let her mind wander felt almost as good as an actual break, after the hecticness of the past week.
She hadn’t even managed to grab her usual weekly lunch with her best friend, Vanessa. Ever since Vanessa had decided last Christmas to stay in Fir Tree Grove for good, she had become the closest friend that Imogen had. Right off the bat, they’d started making sure to meet at least once a week for lunch or dinner, and they’d kept that up all the way until the holiday season had started, when they’d both just been too busy. They’d promised to make up for it next week, but Imogen had missed the couple of hours that they would spend chatting and gossiping and just generally enjoying time away from her responsibilities.
It was more than just the shop that kept her on her toes this time of year too. Imogen glanced toward the back room, where her seven-year-old daughter, Katie, was busy playing. There were plenty of challenges year-round that came with being a single mother, but at Christmastime especially, Imogen worked hard to try to make sure that Katie didn’t feel that she was missing out on anything, or that her Christmas was any less full of joy and festivity than any of her friends’.
She wanted to make sure that her daughter got to experience every part of the season that her little heart desired, whether that was going to the Christmas market, walking around town to look at the light displays, going to the annual town play, or anything else that Katie wanted to do.
She tried to make sure that Katie always got exactly what she asked for from Santa. Last year, Vanessa and Jackson had been instrumental in making that happen—after finding out that the toy Katie had desperately wanted had been sold out everywhere,even to the point that Mabel couldn’t find it from any of her distributors for the toy store, Vanessa had searched high and low for a way to get the toy. Eventually, Jackson had gotten in on the hunt, and had managed to secure it in time for Christmas.
Things like that were just one of the reasons why Imogen loved Fir Tree Grove so much, she thought as she arranged peppermint bark in one of the gift baskets. Everyone in the town was always so willing to help one another when needed, and look out for one another. She couldn’t count the number of times that she’d needed help with Katie, whether it was someone to babysit or help run an errand for her while she was trying to manage the shop, single parenting, and everything else that came along with adult life; someone had always offered to help her out.
Fir Tree Grove was a special place, and she was even happier now that she’d made such a close friend in Vanessa. Being a single mother certainly came with its challenges, but Imogen took comfort in knowing that she was always doing her best to give Katie everything that she could.
She added the last of the chocolates to their gift baskets—maple truffles and white chocolate peppermint bark to the display baskets, and the requested chocolates to each of the ones ordered for delivery—and set the delivery ones aside as she started to work on the displays. By the time the first few customers post-lunch started to trickle in, she had the ready-to-purchase gift basket display organized exactly as she wanted it to be.
“Let me know if you need any help,” she called out to the family browsing the truffle selection, as she set up the sign in front of the gift baskets and dusted her hands off on the short apron tied around her waist. She glanced back toward the back room as she said it. Katie had been entertaining herself for quite a while, and Imogen thought that maybe she should go back and check on her in a minute. Usually Katie was out and about inthe shop as soon as she heard customers, offering free samples, chatting merrily, and generally enchanting everyone who came into the shop.
Katie wasn’t the type of child to get into trouble, so whatever she was up to was likely just something extremely engrossing. Still, Imogen thought it was probably a good idea to see what that was.
When the family had finished browsing and making their purchases, along with three other customers who came in to purchase truffle assortments and get the special hot cocoa that the shop sold, there was another momentary lull in which Imogen was able to duck into the back.
Katie was sitting at the small table nudged against one wall between the refrigerator and sink, bent over a piece of paper with strands of her chestnut brown hair—exactly like her mother’s—falling into her eyes. At first, Imogen thought that it was one of her coloring books, but after she looked at it for a moment, she realized her daughter was studiously working on writing a letter.
“What are you working on, sweetheart?” Imogen asked, walking around to the other side of Katie to get the jug of apple cider out of the fridge. She poured a glass for herself and for Katie into clear plastic cups, and reached for a jar of cinnamon powder, sprinkling a little on top before setting the cup down next to Katie.
Katie looked up, brushing a piece of hair out of her face as she looked at her mother with an expression so serious that it almost made Imogen burst into laughter. Whatever it was, it was clear that her daughter felt it was very important.
She schooled her expression, glancing back quickly into the main room of the shop before sitting down next to Katie. There were only a few customers milling around, and no one was waiting for hot cocoa, so she thought she had a few minutes.
Katie frowned. “I’m working on a letter to Santa,” she said, reaching for the cup of apple cider. “But I’m not sure exactly how I’m supposed to write it.”
Imogen pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. “Well,” she said slowly, “writing a letter to Santa is pretty much like writing a letter to anyone else. The rules of communication aren’t any different. Remember when we worked on thank-you notes for everyone who came to your birthday party last year?”
Katie nodded, her expression still gravely serious. “I do.”
“Well, it’s a lot like that. Except now you’re asking for something instead of saying thank you for things you’ve already gotten, so you should be extra polite and considerate. Does that make sense?”
