“I’m sorry, darling,” Dottie said. “My offer still stands, you know—to help you with your school expenses so you can quit that awful job.”
“I know, Grandma,” Cozy said, smiling lovingly at her. “But I don’t want to put you in a financial bind. I can handle it a little longer.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Most people hate their jobs. If I hang on long enough and get my degree, maybe I can get a job I won’t hate so much. I’ll certainly appreciate almost anything else after working at the café.”
Dottie sighed. “Well…at least you’re finished with making ornaments this year.”
“That’s true,” Cozy said, smiling.
They were silent for a moment as Cozy fashioned a bow out of red ribbon and attached it to the newly wrapped gift in her lap. “There! That one came out very nicely, if I do say so myself.”
“It’s beautiful!” Dottie gushed. “How about we have some cider to celebrate its loveliness?”
“Great idea, Grandma,” Cozy giggled. She thought about the conversation she’d had the day before with Jesse concerning her grandmother’s cider and his grandfather’s overactive bladder. It was romantic, in truth—Buck Bryant drinking gallons of cider just because he liked Dottie Robbins. It was hilarious as well.
“You know, Cozy,” Dottie began, “Buck loves my cider! He just can’t seem to get enough of it. I do wonder that the spices don’t upset his stomach though.”
Cozy smiled and followed her grandmother into the kitchen. She thought about sitting on the bench with Jesse beneath the canopy of gold created by the cottonwoods. What she wouldn’t give to relive that moment.
She sighed and smiled. No matter what happened between her grandma and Buck Bryant, her Thanksgiving Day walk with Jesse would forever be one of her most precious memories—of that she was absolutely certain.
❦
The day after Thanksgiving came and went. Although Cozy had enjoyed her time with her grandmother—enjoyed listening to her favorite Christmas music, wrapping presents, and sipping cider—she felt a strange sort of emptiness wash over her. Black Friday had been the first day in a week that she hadn’t seen Jesse, and she felt dissatisfied and lonesome.
Not only did the strange sense of absent joy linger all through the night, causing her sleep to be fitful and broken, it made the next day at work all the more difficult—especially when the creepy guy who had been giving her such a miserable time for over a week really stepped out of bounds in his treatment of her.
Still, as she drove to her grandmother’s house after her shift, Cozy tried to put the latest incident out of her mind. She clung to the hope that Mr. Bryant and Jesse would drop in for the evening. Somehow she knew that just seeing Jesse, just being in the same room with him, would make her feel happier—more secure and not so alone.
Cozy nearly burst into tears of joy when she parked in front of her grandmother’s house to see Jesse hunkered down before one of the animated deer in her grandma’s yard. She was astonished at the emotions that broke over her—resplendent joy mingled with some sort of desperation. She suddenly wanted to jump out of her car, run to him, and tell him all about her horrible day at the café. She shook her head, trying to rattle some sense into her freaked-out brain. Was she losing it or something? She hardly knew the man! But there was something heroic about Jesse Bryant, something that inwardly whispered he would protect her if he could—or, in the very least, comfort her.
Still, Cozy knew she was out of control. So she inhaled a deep breath in an effort to calm her nerves, exhaling it slowly. She repeated the exercise five times in succession before stepping out of the car.
Jesse turned when he heard her car door close. “Hey, Little Red,” he greeted with a smile.
“Hi,” Cozy managed. She didn’t know how she’d managed to respond to him—for she could have sworn her heart had leapt into her throat at the sound of his voice. She still wanted to run to him—even more than she had a moment before—but she forced herself to a normal pace of walking.
“Is something wrong with it?” she asked as she approached.
“Just a couple of bulbs that needed replacing,” he said, standing up.
Cozy forced a conspiratorial smile. “Well? Are they inside…alone?” she asked.
“For the moment,” he answered. “But I swear your grandma seemed nervous or something.” He smiled then, adding, “And Grandpa has already been to the restroom twice.”
Cozy covered her mouth as she burst into giggles. “She’s going to drown him!” she said, trying to settle her laughter.
“I know!” Jesse chuckled. The mirth evident in his fascinating blue eyes was like some healing potion, and Cozy immediately felt better—safe.
“Did you get it fixed, Jesse?”
Cozy and Jesse both tried to withhold more laughter as they looked to see Dottie standing on the front porch.
“I’ve got some fresh cider,” she added.
Cozy heard Jesse choke on a chuckle, and she bit her lower lip hard to keep from giggling.
“Okay, Grandma,” Cozy managed when she realized Jesse was too close to laughter to answer. “We’re coming in.”
“Good. I’ll fill your mugs,” Dottie chirped.
“I have to go to the bathroom already,” Jesse mumbled.
Cozy couldn’t keep from laughing, but managed to cover her mouth to muffle it.
As she and Jesse walked to the house, she said, “It’s stuff like the cider that just makes me adore her all the more.”
“She’s hard to resist falling in love with, that’s for sure,” Jesse agreed.
Cozy smiled at him, thinking it was quite a wonderful thing he’d said about her grandmother. The thought also crossed her mind that she wished he felt the same way about her.
“Well, hey there, Cozy!” Mr. Bryant greeted from the family room sofa as Jesse helped Cozy remove her coat.
“Hi, Mr. Bryant,” she cheerfully greeted. Looking to Jesse, she said, “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Jesse said, winking at her. She thought her heart might burst right out of her chest. He was so gorgeous—such a gentleman! She’d never been treated so well by a man.
“Come on in, and have some cider with us, kids,” Mr. Bryant said.
Cozy and Jesse exchanged amused grins. “Yes, let’s,” she giggled softly.
She shivered with euphoria as she felt Jesse place his hand on the small of her back to urge her into the family room. She was certain she was going to fly apart! Or in the very least that she was going to turn to him and confess her growing feelings for him. Still, she somehow managed to remain calm—or at least present the pretense of calm.
“Here you go, my darlings,” Dottie said, offering a silver tray with four mugs on it to Cozy.
“Thanks, Grandma,” Cozy said, taking a mug from the tray. She smiled as she watched her grandmother offer the tray to Buck and then Jesse.
Jesse winked at her, and she giggled.
“Ahh!” Dottie sighed as she sat down on the sofa next to Buck, her own mug in hand. “Sit down, kids,” she said, smiling at them. “Buck built a fire, and I’ve got the candles on the mantel lit…lovely Christmas music in the background. It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
“Perfect,” Buck said, winking at Cozy.
Cozy winked back at Buck, thinking he was cut from the same heroic cloth as his grandson. It would take a true hero to drink as much cider as her grandmother was constantly pouring down his throat—a very patient, understanding hero.
“So, Jesse,” Dottie began then, “your grandpa says you put your Christmas tree up last night. How did Cozy’s ornaments look on it?”
Cozy quickly looked to Jesse. Could it be that he really did put up a Christmas tree?
“Awesome,” he said. “I should’ve bought more.”
“Oh, good! And I’m sure Cozy has a few more she would—”
“Grandma!” Cozy scolded.
“Do you have any more?” h
e asked Cozy.
“Of course she does,” Dottie answered for her granddaughter. “She always has extras. I do my whole tree with nothing but red glass ornaments and Cozy’s walnuts. It’s beautiful!”
“Why don’t you tell Grandma about your raspberry almonds, Jesse?” Cozy interjected before the conversation could linger on her walnut ornaments any longer.
“Ooo! Raspberry almonds? Sounds simply tantalizing,” Dottie breathed.
Touché, Buck mouthed to Cozy.
Jesse’s eyes narrowed as he playfully glared at Cozy.
“Jesse says his raspberry almonds will change my life,” Cozy added.
“Really?” Dottie asked with obvious delighted curiosity. “Do tell, Jesse.”
Buck chuckled as Cozy offered Jesse a triumphant smile.
As Jesse began to explain to Dottie about the raspberry almonds he and his grandfather made each Christmas, Cozy sighed. She looked at the fire—the candle flames flickering inside the crackle‑glass votives on the mantel. It was a warm and cozy scene, and she felt the stress of the day beginning to leave her body. She was glad to be there, right there with a grandmother who loved her and a potential grandfather who was charming and heroic—and the most wonderful man she had ever known.
❦
Jesse grinned and tucked the five-dollar bill into the front pocket of his jeans. “Thanks, Grandpa,” he said, restraining an amused chuckle.
“No. Thank you, son,” Buck whispered with a wink.
Chuckling, Jesse left the hallway outside Dottie Robbins’s bathroom and headed for her family room, where Cozy was relighting the candles on her grandmother’s mantel. “Hey, Cozy,” he said, still amused that his grandpa had bribed him in order to have some time alone with Dottie Robbins.
“Yeah?” Cozy asked, blowing out the match she’d been using.
“Do you wanna take a walk with me?” he asked, arching his brows and nodding toward the kitchen where his grandpa had rejoined Dottie.
A puzzled frown puckered Cozy’s brows. Yet when Jesse again nodded toward the kitchen, Jesse saw understanding wash over her, and she smiled.
“Sure,” she answered. “I could use a little walk.”
“Cool,” Jesse said, striding toward the door and retrieving Cozy’s red coat from a hook. He chuckled again. He’d never imagined his grandpa could be such a player.
“Here you go, Little Red,” Jesse said. A low growl rumbled in his throat as he helped Cozy on with her coat.
Cozy bit her lip with being overly delighted at his wolfishness. He winked at her as he took his barn jacket down from a hook and put it on.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Cozy tried to keep her smile from stretching from ear to ear, but it was impossible. Another walk with Jesse Bryant? It was too surreal!
“Yep,” she assured him as he opened the front door and gestured for her to precede him. “Thank you, Jesse.”
“My pleasure, Cozy,” he said.
“So,” she began once he’d closed the door behind them, “you’re already conniving to leave them alone with one another. You’re a smart man.”
But Jesse grinned, shaking his head. “Nope. My grandpa’s a smart man,” he said. “A little devious…but all’s fair in love and war, they say.”
“What do you mean?” They descended the front porch steps, and Jesse fell into step beside her.
“He gave me five bucks to disappear so he can put the moves on your grandma,” he told her.
Cozy’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. “Seriously?” she giggled. “Are you kidding me?”
Jesse shook his head and chuckled. “Nope.”
In truth, Cozy was severely disappointed to learn that Jesse had not truly wanted her to go for a walk with him—that he’d been bribed to do it. Still, she wouldn’t let on.
“So…we’ve got five bucks. What do you want to do?” he asked.
“You actually accepted the five bucks?” Cozy asked as they passed through the gate and turned right. She was rendered breathless for a moment as he placed a hand on the small of her back to urge her forward.
“Of course,” he answered. “I learned a long time ago that sometimes you need to let people give you things or do things for you…especially older people. He’s never actually verbalized it, but I know Grandpa wants to feel like he’s spoiling me. He didn’t get to do that much spoiling when I was a kid. He was too busy helping Grandma to raise me. But he wants to be my grandpa now—you know, buy me things, give me five bucks to take a pretty girl out for…for whatever you can do for five bucks these days.” He winked at her and smiled.
Cozy studied him a moment as they strolled down the leaf-littered sidewalk. It was such a sweet thing—his grandpa giving him money to get out of the house. She had no reason to allow her feelings to be hurt. Furthermore, she suddenly realized how wise Jesse had been to accept the five bucks.
“So you’re telling me that every time my grandma buys me something I don’t need…that I should just be way excited about it instead of scolding her for doing it?” she ventured.
“Yeah,” Jesse confirmed. “I know with Grandpa, it takes the joy out of giving me whatever it is he’s giving me if I make a fuss or tell him he doesn’t need to spend his money on me. I’ve learned just to let him give.” He smiled again—a somewhat melancholy smile. “After all, who knows how many more years I have with him? So I don’t see any reason to make him feel bad about spoiling me a little.”
Cozy sighed, looked down, and watched her own feet crunching brittle leaves as she walked. “You are a smart guy,” she said—and it was true.
“Not really,” Jesse mumbled. “I can just read Grandpa’s expressions…like a book. He’s not as good at guarding them as he used to be.”
Cozy was awed with Jesse’s insight, thoughtfulness, and humility. He was absolutely right. She thought about how excited her Grandma always got whenever she was presenting Cozy with some little something she’d picked up with Cozy in mind—or some big something. She thought about the thirty or more different crackle-glass votives and candle holders she owned, all lovingly given to her by her grandma. A vision of the pure joy evident on Dottie Robbins’s face whenever she watched Cozy open a new box of crackle glass lingered in her mind, and in that very moment, she vowed never to put up a fuss again. The next time her grandma spent too much money on her or gave her something—anything at all—she’d do nothing but express her delight and appreciation. For a moment, she let her thoughts linger on the fact that her beloved grandmother would be gone one day—and that when she was, Cozy could sit in her home (wherever it happened to be), watch the tiny flames flicker in the pretty crackle-glass votives—watch the lacy shadows they cast dance on the wall—and remember how much her grandma loved her.
She quickly changed her train of thought, however, for tears were welling in her eyes, and she didn’t want to appear too sappy in front of Jesse. The lousy day she’d had at work did nothing to strengthen her, however, and she truly had to struggle to keep her composure.
Still, she obviously hadn’t struggled hard enough, for in the next moment, Jesse asked, “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah,” Cozy fibbed, shrugging her shoulders. “Just thinking about what you said…and I sort of had a lousy day at work. I guess I’m just a little tired.”
“A lousy day at work?” he pressed. “Why?”
A breath of nervous laughter escaped her lungs, and she shook her head. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the regular junk. I can’t wait until I’m finished with school. Then I hope I never have to waitress again.”
“What happened?” he asked.
She looked up to him to find he was frowning. He wore an expression of genuine concern, and Cozy’s heart did a little flip-flop inside her chest. He was so handsome! Jesse Bryant was so very classically handsome that Cozy could hardly believe he was giving her the time of day.
“We’re out for a refreshing walk, with five whole bucks burning a hole in your
pocket,” she said, smiling at him. “Why on earth would I want to tell you about my lousy day at work…with all this to wipe my worries away?” She inhaled a deep breath of crisp, late autumn evening air and sighed.
Jesse’s frown relaxed and then disappeared. His perfect lips curved and parted to reveal his movie-star smile.
“Okay,” he said. He nodded in the direction before them. “There’s that little coffee shop and bakery up here about a mile. Are you up for hot chocolate or something?”
Cozy giggled. “Ooo!” she cooed. “Maybe we could share a hot chocolate and have enough money left over to split one of those big iced sugar cookies they sell!”
Jesse laughed. “Yeah. I like those big cookies they have there.”
“Me too,” Cozy admitted. “I’ve been going there with Grandma as long as I can remember. I think one of my first memories is of her and Mom pushing me in the stroller when I was little and going to Bea’s Bakery for a cookie.”
“Bea’s Bakery?” he asked.
Cozy shrugged. “Yeah,” she sighed. “It used to be called Bea’s Bakery back then. It was just a bakery, without a coffee shop and tables like it has now.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“But,” Cozy continued, raising an index finger for dramatics, “when Miss Bea sold the bakery about five years ago, the guy who bought it kept her son on as the baker in the coffee shop. So that’s why the good cookies are still so good there.”
“Wow! You really know stuff,” Jesse said, a lilt of admiration in his voice.
“Oh, I know a lot of stuff,” Cozy confirmed. “None of it is of any value, of course…but I do know stuff.”
“Such as?” Jesse prodded with an amused chuckle.
“Such as…did you know that crayons are one of the top ten most recognizable scents to American adults…and that smelling them has been proven to lower stress?” she offered.
Jesse laughed again. “I’m not too proud to admit that I did not know that.”
“Well, now you do…which means you know stuff too.”
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