Page 45 of Deck the Hauls

I turned to find Dana walking toward me. I broke into a wide smile.

No turning back now.

She looked good. Brown boots, navy pants, a red-and-navy plaid jacket, and a navy beanie tugged over her head.

I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her. Is that what I would do with a friend if I was meeting up with them? Possibly? But we weren’t at that level of friendship yet—at least I didn’t think so. I’d never really analyzed the stages of friendship before.

“Do you want a drink or anything to eat?” Dana asked. “We could try the hot chocolates here, see how it compares to the one at the ice rink?”

“Yes, please! And I’d love to check out George and Hannah’s stall too.”

At their stall, Dana knelt to pat their gorgeous golden retriever, Max, talking to him in such a warm, affectionate manner that I couldn’t help smiling. We purchased a bag of George’s gingerbread cookies to go with our steaming cups of hot chocolate.

The barn had transformed since yesterday, and the vendors and visitors perusing their wares brought even more color and energy to the space.

Dana bit the head off a gingerbread person and moaned. “These are just as amazing as I remembered.” She caught me staring at her and shrugged. “I like to make an exception to my anti-Christmas stance for George’s gingerbread cookies. You should try them.”

I took a small gingerbread star from the bag and bit down on a corner. Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and rich molasses filled my mouth. Damn, no wonder Dana was moaning over them. They tasted like Christmas in a cookie.

As we walked up to the next stall, the tension I’d been holding in my shoulders since the flower delivery earlier in the week began to release. Fuck Phillip. I wouldn’t let him ruin this for me too. But the fact that he’d gone to the effort of tracking me down on the farm was more than disturbing. And did he know I’d spoken to Rebecca? I hadn’t even told her anything. After his threat and my conversation with Brittany, I was even less inclined to. My chest tightened. Don’t think about it.

I would enjoy tonight and our last week of filming. Once I was home in Brooklyn, I would have the time and mental bandwidth to sit down and work out what I was going to do about him. For all I knew, this might be the last thing I ever filmed. I didn’t want that dickhead to overshadow it.

I shifted my focus back to Dana. With her hands in her pockets and her arms relaxed, this was the most at ease I’d seen her in a Christmas setting.

“Do you need to buy Christmas presents for anyone?” I asked.

“I’m doing secret Santa with my friends, so I’ll keep my eye out for something under $30.” Dana grimaced. “I’m not very good at shopping for presents.”

Had she already bought presents for her family, or did they not exchange gifts? Perhaps their relationship really was strained. My chest ached at the thought.

“Well, good thing you’ve got me then. I excel at buying presents.” I grinned.

“Oh really?” Dana chuckled.

We approached a sparkling display of snow globes and delicate hand-painted glass Christmas ornaments.

“Oh, I should get one of these for my parents,” I said, picking up a glass ornament painted with green holly sprigs and red berries.

“For your sad tree that no one else wants?” One side of Dana’s mouth curved up.

I laughed, my chest warming. She remembered our family tradition.

“Yes, exactly. Just because the tree might be a little sad doesn’t mean the decorations need to be.”

Grasping the ornament, I gazed over the snow globes. My eyes lit up at one with ‘Welcome to Sapphire Springs’ painted on it.

A street sat in the middle of the globe. On either side, the pavement was dotted with perfectly made tiny cast-iron lamps and bare trees. Quaint buildings lined the pavement. My eyes widened. “Oh my god! Look, it’s Builders Arms and the General Store! And Novel Gossip too.”

I turned the snow globe over to look at the price. Ouch. It was expensive, which wasn’t surprising given how incredibly detailed it was. It would be a lovely memento of my time in Sapphire Springs.

It was hard to believe I’d been here nearly two weeks. Filming finished on Wednesday, and then I would be catching the train back to Brooklyn on Thursday morning for Thanksgiving. I glanced at Dana, who was inspecting a snow globe of an ice-skating rink. My shoulders slumped. I would miss her. Maybe I could come back to visit. Would that be weird? Perhaps it was better not to see her again, go cold turkey—a very fitting approach to adopt just in time for Thanksgiving.

I shook the snow globe and watched as snow fell down on Sapphire Springs. It was just like the whole thing with Phillip. I didn’t need to work it out now. I could just live in the moment and enjoy my last few days in Sapphire Springs.

I reluctantly placed the snow globe back on the table and handed the store owner the more affordable ornament along with my credit card. I hadn’t received my paycheck from HolLove yet.

“This could be a good idea for the secret Santa,” I said, lifting up a beautiful oak cheese board at the next stall, which had an array of handcrafted wooden objects on display. “And it’s $29.99. Who doesn’t like cheese?”