Page 57 of Merry Cherry Christmas
“Looks like Jeremy made a new friend.”
Max bit back a groan. “Shut up, Meg.” He fed the stove more kerosene, ignoring her and hoping she’d go away. Of course, she was standing there smiling placidly when he turned.
“What’s the prob, big brother?”
“You know exactly what,” he grumbled.
With a laugh that was a straight-up cackle, she said, “I sure do. You loooove him.”
“Meg.”
“Okay, okay.” She held up her hands in surrender. “Mom’s going to give Papy a break and take out the next wagon tour. I’ll do taffy if you want to take over the sugar house. Oh look, Jeremy and his hot date are heading in there.”
Max cursed her under his breath, giving a bright smile to a nearing family as he passed them. Sure enough, Jeremy and Levi were in the sugar house, examining the boxes of maple sugar treats. Judging by the depleted stock, they’d sold quite a few.
“Hey folks!” There were about fifteen people milling around. “I’m happy to answer any questions you have, and I can tell you about our operation.” In the silence, his gaze slid to Jeremy—and Levi, who slung his arm over Jeremy’s shoulders and gave Max a bright smile.
“How many taps do you put in the trees?” Levi asked.
“We have um—” Max cleared his throat and gulped from his metal water bottle. “Sorry. Frog in my throat. I’m sure you all saw the tubing run along the trees as you drove in. When the sap starts running, probably in March, we’ll put the taps back into the trees, and the syrup will travel through the tubes. We have thirty-four hundred taps.”
Levi’s niece asked, “Does it come out of the trees like this?” She motioned to the clear bottles of amber lined on the shelves.
“No, it’s just sap when it comes out of the tree and finds its way here to the sugar house. He motioned to the metal equipment that dominated the space. “That’s our evaporator, which is wood-fired. We cook the sap in there until it becomes the syrup you pour on your pancakes.”
He answered more questions and sold some products from the little register. When that group moved on, he sighed in relief before realizing Levi and Jeremy were still there. And Levi was still way too handsy, leaning close and whispering something in Jeremy’s ear near the evaporator.
Which Max was about to shove Levi into.
“You should go,” Max blurted. Jeremy and Levi blinked at him in surprise. “We have a two-hour limit. To, uh, give other people a chance,” Max added weakly, motioning to the new vehicles pulling in outside.
“Uncle Levi, I’m hungry for real food! I’ll get a tummy ache if I eat more sugar.”
Levi smiled at his nieces. “Burgers and fries? Don’t tell your mom.”
“Yay!” The girls jumped up and down.
“You want to come with us?” Levi asked Jeremy, whose face had flushed. Which was perfectly reasonable, Max reminded himself.
“No, I should stay and help.”
This was the part where Max should have told him to go for lunch, but he couldn’t seem to get the words out. Because he was an asshole.
“Sorry we stayed too long,” Levi said to Max, offering his hand. “Good to see you again.”
Max cringed inwardly. “No, it’s cool. You can stay as long as you want.” He shook Levi’s hand.
“Burgers and fries!” One of the nieces exclaimed, and Levi ushered them out. At the door, he said, “Later, Jeremy.” And winked. Because he was the worst even if he seemed disgustingly nice and reasonable.
Max unclenched. The guy was gone. Now he’d tell Jeremy what an idiot he’d been—except Jeremy was glaring at him. His stomach clenched.
“That was so rude!” Jeremy hissed as Valerie led a red-cheeked family into the sugar house. Shaking his head, he squeezed through the group, disappearing outside.
“Wait!” Max asked Valerie to take over and dashed out, speed-walking across the lot so he didn’t draw attention. Jeremy neared the house. Cursing, Max followed him inside and yanked off his boots before sprinting up the stairs, taking them two at a time, Jeremy disappearing around the corner.
No doubt about it. He wanted Jeremy. The snowball was still careening down the hill. The snowball was a damn avalanche, and Max was done fighting it.
Chapter Eleven
Jeremy reached behind him to close the bathroom door, hitting solid flesh instead. It was Max, and he crowded him inside and shut the door behind them. He pulled off his hat and gloves, tossing them on the counter. He still wore his coat.
“Look—”
“No, you look!” Jeremy clenched his jaw, frustration and embarrassment battling. Levi had only been trying to help him. “He’s a nice guy, and you were totally rude.”
“I was just—” Max huffed. “Rude. Yes.” He held up his hands and let them drop. “I’m an asshole. I’m sorry.”
Jeremy wasn’t sure what to say. “That’s it?” After the call with his mother, he was automatically in argument mode, expecting defensive justifications and lashing out.
