The Christmas Plan Read online

  The three of them worked first on some basic chocolate candy using festive holiday molds. Then she taught them how to paint the chocolate using red and green before moving on to switch over to white chocolate. Once the candies were set aside, they moved on to creating a nice assortment of different flavored truffles.

  And ate almost as much as they made!

  “I know the boys would be upset if I didn’t make dinner tonight, but I’m so full of chocolate that I don’t know if I can eat another thing!” Gabe’s mom said with a laugh when the last of the truffles were done.

  “How about takeout?” Aspen suggested. “Maybe some pizza or something?” Both women looked at her like she was crazy. “I mean…there’s still so much to clean up and I just thought…”

  “You’re brilliant, Aspen!” Grandma Andrews said with a hearty laugh. “After all the Thanksgiving cooking and baking, it will be nice to give the kitchen a rest. Pizza it is!”

  It was her turn to look at them like they were crazy because it didn’t seem like a big deal. She and Gabe ordered pizza at least once a week.

  When Gabe and the rest of the family came home for dinner, Aspen could tell they were all exhausted. It was so cold outside and even though she knew they had a heated tent and plenty of hot coffee and cocoa, it had to be brutal to be working outside all day. While everyone was talking about who came in to buy trees and how much they sold, Aspen had slipped out to go and pick up their dinner.

  As usual, everyone she saw waved and said hello and asked her to say hello to Gabe and his family. Every building in town had Christmas lights up and as much as she knew she sounded like a broken record, it really did look like the world’s most perfect winter wonderland–complete with snow and music!

  Luckily not “Silver Bells” this time.

  Back at the house, when she walked in with four pizza boxes, everyone jumped up to help her. Gabe got to her first. “What in the world?” he asked with a small laugh, taking the boxes from her.

  “We ate a lot of chocolate today and the kitchen was a mess so we opted for takeout,” she explained.

  He glanced at her over his shoulder and frowned. “Seriously?”

  “Um…yeah. Why?”

  Placing the pizzas on the table, he gently led her to the corner of the dining room. “My parents never get takeout. My mother cooks dinner every night and they only go out to eat for special occasions. Did she know you were doing this?” he looked over her shoulder toward the kitchen. “She could already have something cooking in there.”

  He looked so serious and sounded so concerned, and yet it was hard not to laugh. Quietly, she cleared her throat and whispered, “Yes, Gabe. She was well aware of my plan. Not only that, she paid for it, so…I think she’s cool with the whole thing.”

  Everyone was gathering around the table and there was a ton of talking and if Gabe had anything else to say about it, he opted not to.

  Dinner was yet another boisterous time and by the time she retreated to the tiny house, she was grateful for the silence.

  Sunday was more of the same–Gabe and his father, uncle, and grandfather went to the tree lot, and Aspen gave a lesson on dipping chocolate to his mother and grandmother. They had done chocolate-covered marshmallows, pretzels, and some dried fruit. Mrs. Andrews had already started making plans for how she was going to be on the hunt for strawberries for Valentine’s Day, and Aspen knew she’d have some fun with it.

  When they had exhausted things available around the pantry to dip in chocolate, Aspen decided she wanted to go and check out the tree lot and maybe lend a hand. Bundling up as warmly as possible because she still couldn’t believe people were able to stay outside in such cold temperatures, she drove into town and told herself this was going to be fun.

  “Hey!” Gabe said with a big smile when he spotted her. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to help!”

  The skeptical look on his face spoke volumes.

  “I’m serious, Gabe. Your mom and grandmother are making a big dinner, we did a bunch of chocolate stuff, and I wanted to get out and…you know…help.”

  He took her by the hand and led her to the small wood shack that was the office for the tree lot. Once inside he poured her a cup of hot chocolate–something they kept going all day long–and motioned for her to sit on one of the stools. “Aspen, no one expects you to work while you’re here. I just thought this would be a good distraction for you to get away.”

  “Yeah, I know and I appreciate it, but I can’t just sit around all day doing nothing.”

  “You’ve been making my family extremely happy with all the chocolate you’ve been making. My dad’s been telling everyone in town about it, and it’s only a matter of time before people are going to be asking you to make some for them.”

  She let out a soft snort. “Please, I’d welcome it. It would give me something to do and it would be the first time I’d be making my creations for me instead of for the restaurant and letting them get all the credit.” Pausing, she let that thought sink in for a minute. Then she looked around the office and realized it was a bit more spacious than she originally thought. “Um…this may sound crazy, but…what would you think of maybe selling some chocolate here? You know, letting me set up a little table or something for people who are here to buy trees? Or…giving out free samples to anyone who buys a tree?”

  He looked at her like she was crazy for a moment. “If you gave out free samples, that’s money out of your own pocket, Aspen. And the point of you being here was to try to save some money.” Then he paused and excused himself. “I’ll be right back. Just…give me a minute.”

  Shrugging, she took a sip of the steamy hot chocolate and sighed happily. “You’d think I’d be tired of anything chocolate but…nope.” Another glance around the office space showed that she could clean it up a bit and set up little bags on two of the shelves that currently just housed Styrofoam cups and some random odds and ends that could easily be put elsewhere. Maybe she could line the shelves with some festive wrapping paper and hang some decorations and really make it look like a little shop. Of course, if they didn’t want her to use the space in here, she could always set up a table outside–in the cold–and just grab a red tablecloth and go from there.

  A list of things she would need to buy began to tally in her head–more chocolate, gift bags, ribbons, bins to transport it all in…there was definitely a road trip in her future to go and shop. Of course, she could order everything online and have it here in a few days’ time, and that would give her more than enough time to get organized.

  Excitement was bubbling up and as she hopped off the stool, Aspen knew this was exactly the kind of project she needed this month–something fun and creative to keep her mind off of her crappy situation come January. Perhaps she’d have to really go and sell herself and her idea to Gabe’s family so they’d see this could be something great for all of them. Although, considering this had been their family business for generations, they probably didn’t need her silly candy samples to help them out.

  “Well…shit,” she murmured and immediately began second-guessing herself and mentally exhausting herself in the process. “Clearly I don’t need to be in a winter wonderland, I need to be in therapy.” She was about to step outside and let Gabe know she had changed her mind when he walked back in. His cheeks were a bit ruddy and between his beard and knit hat there wasn’t a whole lot of his face to see, but she thought he looked adorable. Without thinking, she handed him her mug. “Here. Warm up for a minute.”

  He accepted it and took a sip. “Thanks.” When he handed it back to her, Aspen couldn’t quite read his mood or even imagine what he was going to say.

  “So…um…”

  But he held up a hand to stop her. “Dad loves the idea of the chocolate samples,” he began with a small smile. “And he insisted on paying you for them.”

  “Gabe…”

  “It’s not negotiable,” he countered. “The plan is to give anyo
ne who buys a tree a goody bag filled with whatever chocolate treats you plan to have on hand.”

  “Oh, wow! I love it! I think I could make all kinds of different things! A variety–you know, in case anyone has allergies or anything like that.”

  He nodded and went on. “Then there’s the arts and crafts festival in two weeks. It’s the same day as the Christmas parade.”

  “O-kay…”

  “Once I thought about what you were suggesting, I figured you’d possibly want a bigger venue to sell your stuff so…”

  “Thought about it? That was like three minutes ago!”

  Gabe nodded again. “I know, but sometimes it just takes one little idea to get me going,” he teased. “I think word is going to spread about your chocolates and with people coming here and getting samples, they’re going to want more. So getting you a booth at the festival will be the perfect place for you to set up shop! What do you think?”

  Placing her mug down on the desk, Aspen turned and hugged him. “I think this is going to be awesome!” Then she pulled back and gasped. “But…what if there’s no room for me at the festival? What if all the booths are filled?”

  “My mom’s already working on it. I texted her as I was talking to my dad.”

  “Gabriel Andrews…what would I do without you?”

  He pulled her in for another hug and it hit her how in another month she was going to have to do just that.

  Be without him.

  Exhaustion.

  Yeah, that was what Gabe was feeling.

  It didn’t matter that he did this every year practically since he was a toddler–the older he got, the more exhausting it was. How his father managed to do this full time for so long was beyond him. It had been less than a week and Gabe was already marking off the days on his calendar and dreaming about when he could go back to Atlanta.

  Without Aspen.

  That was the one perk of being here in Silver Bell Falls–she was with him.

  Here it was, December 1st, and they had less than a month before she left and because of his commitment to his family, he wasn’t going to be there when she walked out of her apartment across the hall from him for the last time.

  And it sucked.

  Every time he thought about it, he got a knot in his stomach and wished he had a solution for her.

  Today, she shopped and bought all the supplies she was going to need to have her candy business–both at the tree lot and the festival. She had been gone all day with his mother and they didn’t get back until after dinner. Now she was over in the tiny house and he was in his room and as much as he just wanted to crawl into bed, it felt wrong that they hadn’t seen each other today.

  Picking up his phone, Gabe tapped out a quick text.

  Gabe: Hey. You still up?

  * * *

  Aspen: Sort of

  * * *

  Gabe: Sort of? What does that mean?

  * * *

  Aspen: I keep telling myself to go to sleep but my mind won’t shut down.

  * * *

  Gabe: I know that feeling. Want some company?

  * * *

  Aspen: Desperately