Page 30 of Hiding for the Holidays
“Wow…” I say, spinning in a circle to take it all in.
“I thought you’d like it,” Leo says, placing a hand on my lower back and guiding me towards the display case. “Pick out a treat and a drink, we’ll stay here and eat it.”
“Really? What about Asher and Grant?”
His lips twist for a second as he gives me an intense stare, then he nods. “Pick out ones for them, too. We’ll take them back.”
“Okay,” I nod excitedly as I turn back to the display case and look at all the options. There are rows of sugar cookies, a handful of squares and some beautiful cupcakes. “That one!” I tell him, pointing to the white and light blue decorated cupcake with a white chocolate snowflake on top.
“We’ll take four snowflake cupcakes please,” Leo tells the woman behind the cash desk. “Clara, what do you want to drink?”
“Hmm? Oh!” My eyes grow wide when I see the huge list of drinks on the wall behind her.
Leo laughs when he sees my face. “Want me to pick?”
“Yes please. There’s too many to choose from!”
“We’ll take two eggnog lattes, please.”
“Coming right up,” she says with a smile.
“Go find us a table. I’ll bring it over,” Leo tells me, and I nod, looking for the best place to sit where I can see all the decorations.
I end up picking a small table at the front, where we can watch the snow falling outside and see the entire shop. The snow is starting to come down a little harder now, and I hope it doesn’t settle. I have to walk to work tonight.
“Here we go,” Leo says, setting down our drinks. He goes back to the counter and comes back with a small box with two cupcakes inside and a plate with another two. He sits opposite me and dives right into his festive treat. “Mmm, so good.”
I grab mine and take a little nibble. White chocolate and peppermint flavors burst in my mouth, and I moan in approval.
“Do you like everything about Christmas?” Leo asks.
“Yeah, at least I used to,” I say, picking the wrapper off my cupcake.
“Used to? What changed?”
I press my lips together, wondering what I should tell him. “My mom and I used to love the entire Christmas season. Starting with Black Friday shopping. We’d take the day off of work so we could go find some great deals on presents. As soon as it turned December first, we’d set up the tree and decorated the house. She had a huge collection of Christmas angels that we’d place all over the house. When I was a teenager, we collected little ceramic Christmas houses that we painted then outfitted with lights to create an entire Christmas village. And of course there’s the holiday baking and the Christmas movies.”
“How long ago did you lose her?”
My eyes shoot up to meet his in surprise. “What?”
“You talk about her in the past tense.”
“Oh,” I say, glancing down at my half-eaten cupcake. “A little over a year ago. It was cancer."
He reaches out and places his hand on mine as he asks, “And your dad? Siblings?”
I shake my head. “Dad died of an aneurysm a year before, and I’m an only child.”
“Is that why you came here? For a fresh start?”
I shrug. “That’s part of it.”
“Do you still have all your mom’s Christmas decorations?”
My brows pinch together as I try not to cry. They were all in storage at my old place, the one I ran from over a month ago. I didn’t have the heart to set them up last year, and I’m unsure if Scott would have left them alone or destroyed them out of anger for me running. So, I shake my head. “They’re gone.”
“I’m sorry, Clara. Hey—your name, it’s from the Nutcracker, right?” I give him a small smile and nod. “Was that because your mom loved Christmas?” I nod. I mean, it was our shared love of Christmas that had me using that fake name.
