by Katie Carver
Ginger scanned the crowd to see who was already there. Franklin was there, of course. He was probably the first one to show up, but she found it odd he wasn’t following Mayor Curtis around. She looked for Mayor Curtis and saw that he was talking to Jake. She wondered what they could possibly be talking about. Even Mayor Curtis couldn’t possibly think that his display was on par with his image of the quaint small-town picture he tried to paint by having them all decorate. If Ginger was going to start the peace between her and Jake, there was no better time than now. Victoria’s encouragement would soon fade and letting it go until tomorrow was just one more night of the music playing.
“Matty, can you watch the cookies for a minute? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure, but just don’t take too long,” Matty said hastily.
“One per person. And just so you, know, Timmy Hawkins has already been up here for one. I know he’ll try to get another as soon as he sees me leave.”
“That child is a troublemaker. The baby Jesus in front of the church was stolen within an hour of being put out. No one knows how he did it. They even set up surveillance cameras this year.” Matty looked disgusted. “Why can’t he just stay indoors and play video games like a normal twelve-year-old?”
Ginger smiled at Matty. Timmy had stolen the baby Jesus from the nativity scene for four straight years. It was a bit impressive that he always found a way to get around the town’s attempts to stop him. If he could stop using his skills for pranks and vandalism, he’d probably go far in life.
“I promise I’ll be right back,” Ginger said and stood up quickly.
“It’s going to start getting busy soon and if you aren’t back, I won't care if people take as many as they want,” Matty said gruffly.
Ginger noticed that Jake was now alone and Mayor Curtis was chatting with other people. That was good, she didn’t want an audience for what she was about to do. Jake looked bored as he glanced around the town square. She wondered if Andy misinterpreted his boredom for loneliness. When she reached his location, he didn’t acknowledge her at first.
“I didn’t think I’d see you here,” Ginger said with as much friendliness as she could muster. He just shrugged without a word and Ginger pressed on. “Look, Jake. I know you don’t like me and I’m not your number one fan either.” Ginger wasn’t going to apologize for anything she’d done because she didn’t feel any of it was out of line, but she could at least acknowledge her role in their conflicts. “I know I haven’t gone out of my way to make you feel welcome. I don’t believe you and I have anything in common and I doubt we will ever be friends.”
Jake looked at her with a combination of confusion and animosity. “Is there a point to any of this?”
Ginger grimaced. He was going to make it difficult for her. She should have guessed that. “Yes, I was getting to that before you interrupted.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t like you, you don’t like me, we’ll never like each other. Please, continue.”
“Look, Jake. What I’m trying to say is that this feud, or whatever we have going, isn’t really doing either of us any favors. It was wrong of me to tell Mayor Curtis you refused to decorate and send him after you. I really was just trying to help you when I said to just put up a wreath. It’s a big deal to the town and to Mayor Curtis and you weren’t ever going to get out of it.”
“I decorated,” Jake said flatly.
“I know. I can still see it when I close my eyes.”
Jake smirked and Ginger could sense he was pleased it bothered her. “Can you at least turn the music off at night? I can hear it in my apartment over the shop at all hours.”
Jake’s smirk was replaced with horror. “You live over the bakery?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I didn’t realize that. I was just trying to get under your skin during the day, I wouldn’t have kept it on if I knew.”
“I would appreciate it if you did turn it off at night,” Ginger said evenly.
Jake nodded. “I will.”
“Thank you.” Ginger could tell he felt genuinely bad about keeping her up at night. He may not have been a good guy, but thankfully he wasn’t that malicious. “I came over to ask you if you and I could start again. We don’t have to be friends or anything, but if you are willing to try, I think we can both at least be civil to one another. What do you think?”
Jake paused for a moment before he answered. “We could give it a try.”
Ginger smiled at Jake. “Good.” She held out her hand and he shook it. “Truce?”
“Truce.” Jake smiled, too.
Ginger noticed it was a different smile this time, it seemed more genuine. He looked much more handsome when his smile wasn’t fake. Not that it mattered to her what he looked like. She just thought it was an interesting change. She walked back to the table and saw that a small line was beginning to form. She sat quickly behind the table and turned to Matty. “Sorry.”
“I was going to start giving them away if you didn’t get back soon,” Matty said dryly.
Ginger started to hand out the cookies and the line died down a bit. During the lull, Matty leaned nearer to her. “I was surprised to see you over there talking to Jake. Especially after what he did to you.”
“The music has been extremely irritating, but I think it’ll be better now. That entire display is extremely annoying.”
Matty looked at her surprised. “I wasn’t talking about the display. I was talking about the Festival. We were all rooting for you to beat Franklin. Most of us even waited to put up our window displays because you took so long to do yours. We didn’t want to make you look bad. I do the same thing every year and it takes five minutes, I didn’t need to wait on it, but Franklin is annoying and he needs to lose.”
“What do you mean you weren’t talking about the display?” Ginger asked.
“Mayor Curtis gave Jake the best spot in the festival for his booth,” Matty said irritated. “He said he seemed to be making an effort, however misguided, but thinks with some encouragement he could be a real asset to Main Street. I don’t agree.” Matty gave Ginger a disgusted look. “I think he’s mocking us, but Mayor Curtis would never see it that way.”
Ginger’s mind reeled. All of her efforts were worthless and now Franklin would still have a chance to win. She knew Jake would never take the booth seriously and without the upper hand, she didn’t stand much of a chance. Jake must’ve known he usurped her spot when she went to speak to him and he never said a word. He wasn’t interested in making peace, he wasn’t the lonely, misunderstood person Victoria tried to make him out to be, he was simply diabolical. She couldn’t let him get away with it. She spotted Sheriff Sam in the crowd and stood.
“I’ll be right back, Matty.” She didn’t even care if all the cookies were gone when she got back. She walked up behind the Sherriff and tapped him gently on the shoulder.
When he turned around, he smiled. “Hey, Ginger. The cookies are even better than last year.”
“Thanks,” she said quickly. She wasn’t there for pleasant chit chat. “I want you to do something about the display at Jake’s.”
The Sheriff’s face fell. “I’m not going to do anything about the display. It’s awful, but your Turkey was, too. There isn’t a law about that, as you well know,” he said exasperatedly.
Ginger smiled. “No, there isn’t. But there is a city code against those reindeer, isn’t there?”
“Possibly. But can’t we just cut him a break? He’s obviously trying.”
“I was trying when my snowman got me a fine. I paid for it and learned my lesson. I think that every citizen in town should be held accountable, don’t you?” Ginger asked determinedly.
Sheriff Sam rolled his eyes. “You aren’t going to let it go, are you?”
“No,” Ginger smirked.
“Fine. But really, Ginger, I’m surprised at you. I thought you had more Christmas spirit than this.”
“I promise, whe
n you cite him, I’ll have plenty of Christmas spirit.”
Jake wasn’t going to get away with it. That spot should have been hers and the fact that he didn’t care about the town or the festival just burned her up. She walked back to her table and nodded to Matty.
If Jake wanted a war, she was going to give him one.
Chapter Ten
Jake tried to wrap his head around his encounter with Ginger. The display had taken him four hours to set up and another three to find a song that was suitably annoying to anyone within earshot. He had really outdone himself. He searched high and low for the gaudiest Christmas decorations he could find online. Some of the things he purchased were tame in comparison to what he found out there. He wanted to make sure it was not at all appealing, but he didn’t want to make it so unappealing that people would lose their appetites. He felt bad about it now. His intention had always been to make Ginger miserable, but he had never intended to make her lose sleep. He’d left the music on all night because he knew she opened much earlier than he did and he didn’t want to lose the hours the song could annoy her by turning it off at night. If he had known she lived above the bakery, he would’ve never even considered it. It was one thing to antagonize someone for business purposes, but when it spilled over into her personal life, he knew he’d crossed a line. She was much calmer than he would have been if she’d done that to him. He caught her smiling at the table near the gazebo while handing out cookies. The town people greeted her happily and she did seem to get along with everyone who walked up to her table. Maybe he had misjudged her. Maybe she was the generous and kind person that Sandy had said she was, just with a bit of a temper. He could respect that. He wasn’t exactly a saint and it seemed her main grievance with him had always been that she was fiercely defensive of her town. Jake could understand needing to protect the things you loved and couldn’t fault her for doing just that.
He noticed Sandy talking to a group of people her age and waved. She waved back and jogged over to him. “You came! I was hoping you would,” Sandy said happily.
Jake smiled at her. “You said it was fun. I thought I’d check it out for a bit. Are you enjoying yourself?”
“I am. I haven’t had a chance to see everyone yet, so this is a good opportunity to catch up for me while I’m in town,” Sandy said scanning the crowd with Jake. “What do you think of it?”
Jake shrugged. “I’m not sure I’d call it fun, but it’s not what I expected.”
Sandy looked at him strangely. “What did you expect?”
“I’m not sure.” Jake couldn’t exactly pinpoint what he was feeling. It was something close to contentment, but that couldn’t have been it.
“Don’t forget to get your hot cocoa and a cookie. It’s the best part of the whole event.” Sandy winked. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jake.”
Sandy walked off back towards her group. Jake was glad she was enjoying herself. Between taking care of her aunt and working, he was sure that she didn’t allow much time for herself to have fun. She seemed like a sweet girl and he made a mental note to make sure she took a little more time off while she was home.
Jake walked around and couldn’t help but be impressed by the number of people who came to the little town’s event. Jake zipped up his coat a bit higher as he walked. The air was chilly, but no one seemed to mind as they sipped their hot cocoa and ate their cookie. It seemed that everyone had made their way up to the town square and it was crowded with people happily talking and laughing. It was quaint and simple and it was unlike anything he’d ever attended. There wasn’t much to do except stare at the light display. Mayor Curtis gleefully told him he’d be making a speech later, but that seemed to be the sum of the festivities planned. The mayor had greeted him the moment he walked over to the town square and seemed to be waiting for him. The mayor congratulated him on his display and told him that new information recently became available regarding his permit. Jake had expected as much. He was grateful that he was back in the mayor’s good graces, at least for now anyway. He needed his help to get things done for the time being, after that, he could go back to normal. The mayor had even told him he’d been assigned a booth at the town festival next month. Though Jake didn’t clearly understand what the purpose of the booth was, the mayor had said it was a coveted location. When he told him, the mayor seemed to expect him to become excited by the honor. He tried to play along the best he could, but couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about. He vaguely remembered Mike mentioning something about the festival being used as a charity function when he was checking on the construction at some point, but really didn’t know much more than that. If this tree lighting was anything like the festival, he wouldn’t mind attending. He was enjoying being out of the restaurant for a bit. He’d been spending every moment he could there and the break from it was probably necessary. He’d planned on keeping the restaurant open and now he could see that if he had, he wouldn’t have had one single customer from town. He watched the children running up and down the sidewalks of the square while their parents spoke to their neighbors. It seemed like something from an old television show and the word wholesome came to mind. He couldn’t help but smile. He was glad he decided to come, it would have been a shame to miss this.
“Hey, Jake. Got a minute?”
Jake turned to the voice behind him. It was Andy from the construction crew. “Hi, Andy,” Jake said pleasantly. It was nice to run into someone he somewhat knew. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. Listen, Jake, I need to talk to you about something,” Andy said urgently.
“Okay. Can I ask you a question first? You know a lot about this town. Does Ginger really live above the bakery?”
“Yes, she moved in when she opened the place. I was kind of surprised she didn’t stay in her mom’s house when she passed a few years ago. Around here, most people hang on to their family homes.”
“Why is that?” Jake wondered.
“Houses in town are hard to come by and so kids take their parents' homes when they move or pass away and live in them or rent them out. Most places stay in a family a while. Mabel, the lady whose diner you bought, her house sold in a day. Everyone had been waiting for it and once word got out you bought the place, people pounced on it right away.”
He should’ve realized as much. When he was looking into houses in the area, there was absolutely nothing available. It was a small town, so he didn’t think there would be much and thought if he just waited a bit, something would come available. From what Andy was saying, that wasn’t going to be an option. Maybe he’d get lucky and find a rental. He was getting tired of living at the Inn. Even though it was nice, he was ready to have a place of his own. Now it seemed he’d have to try to find something outside of town or much further away from work.
“I didn’t realize it was such a competitive market around here.”
Andy smiled. “I guess. When you get to know people around here better, you’ll probably know when something is coming available.” Andy’s smiled faded. “I do have to talk to you, Jake.”
Jake nodded. “Okay, but who do you think would know first when something was available?” Jake asked. Maybe he could rent something outside of town and wait until something closer to the restaurant came on the market.
Andy contemplated a moment. “I’d have to say it’d be either Mayor Curtis or Ginger. Listen, Jake –”
“I’ll talk to Mayor Curtis then. I doubt Ginger would help. Do you think –”
“Jake!” Andy interrupted.
He had been so wrapped up, he had missed Andy’s attempts to interject. He snapped out of his thoughts. “Sorry, you did want to tell me something.”
“I do.” Andy took a deep breath. “I don’t just work construction. That’s my job, but I also am a volunteer in town. I’m the fire chief. It’s about the restaurant.” He handed him a piece of paper.
Jake took the paper and read the top Spruce Valley Sheriff and Fire Department. He read further to see that he h
ad just received a fine for his Christmas display. “Three-hundred dollars?” Jake guffawed. “For what?”
“The reindeer are in violation, they are too big. They’re a safety hazard for people walking on the sidewalk and technically it could impede an exit from your restaurant if there was ever a fire.”
“You can’t be serious,” Jake said angrily.
“I’m sorry. I did try to get you a warning, but I couldn’t swing it,” Andy said apologetically.
“It’s been like that all week, why am I just finding this out now?”
“There was a complaint lodged this evening.”
“Who?” Jake demanded.
“Another business owner,” Andy demurred.
Jake could guess who that owner was. She had come over to him and pretended to want to act civilly when her true intentions were to have him lower his guard so that she could continue her attacks. Anger surged through his body. It seemed so genuine when she approached him and he was completely taken by surprise.
“This is ridiculous,” Jake spat.
Andy looked at him awkwardly. “When the Sheriff came up to me, I thought he was joking. I feel bad about it, Jake. I really do.”
“Don’t. You didn’t do it. Thanks for letting me know.” This wasn’t Andy’s fault, he was just doing his job and he wasn’t going to take his anger out on him.
Andy looked relieved. “Sure. If I see anything like that again, I’ll give you a heads up.”