“Was that too sappy?” Teddy chuckled. “How about as promising as your smile?”
“I hadn’t realized you were farming dairy as well. All this cheese.” Her skin felt too tight for her body. “What are we doing here?”
“I’m showing you how beautiful the mill is. I come here every day and think about the possibilities.” He didn’t say she was beautiful. He didn’t say he had feelings for her.
But she heard the meaning behind those words and began to tremble.
“I look at the mill and I see Abigail’s college education. I see a new oven for my mom. I see better healthcare for my dad and uncle.”
He saw the mill differently than she did. Not a place from memory. And he certainly didn’t see it with the income-generating vision Chloe had lost. Regardless, there was one person he left out of his vision. Her.
“Teddy? What do you see for yourself if you owned the mill?”
“Peace,” he said softly.
“It’s the season for it.” Peace and forgiveness. Chloe stared at the mill. But try as she might, she couldn’t see it as her dad had or as Teddy did.
A strong hand hooked hers. Teddy tugged her across the worn cloth seat until she sat next to him.
Caught. She was caught.
Go-go-go, the pounding blood in her temples seemed to say, fearing a kiss.
Stay-stay-stay, her rapidly beating heart cried, anticipating a kiss.
“Do you remember the first time you tried to hit a ball with a bat?” He'd played on the high school baseball team. The moonlight danced across his hair. His lips came closer to hers, making breathing difficult and answering impossible. “Swing and a miss. That’s all it is. Until one day everything aligns, everything feels right. And then…” His lips came closer. “Pow.” His thumb stroked her cheek. “That’s how it was with us. We were swinging and missing, until – ”
Chloe couldn’t stand it anymore. She leaned into him, offering her lips, burning with wanting, hungry for his touch. He talked too much. Had he always talked too much?
No. That’d been her.
His arms came around Chloe, bringing her closer, as close as two bodies could get when bundled in winter jackets and hindered by a steering wheel. She lost herself in the thrill of his kiss, in the warmth of his arms, in the rightness of it all.
A branch cracked from the weight of snow, startling them apart.
For a moment, Chloe couldn’t pull away. This was Teddy, and she was in his arms.
But then she realized. This was Teddy, and he hadn’t made her an offer on the mill. He’d low-balled her before. She had to stay focused and be a tough negotiator, not a starry-eyed ex-lover. She had Marnie and Noelle to protect, an asking price to hold firm to. Getting into his truck had been a mistake.
“You need to take me home,” she said, not that she moved.
“We need to talk.” His voice was low and gruff and sexy as all get-out.
So she got out, welcoming the cold. She walked along the country road in her sneakers. The way was illuminated by the moon and Teddy’s headlights once he turned around. When she reached the house, he pulled up next to her and rolled down the window.
“I spent years loving you and years letting you treat me like I didn’t matter.” She tried to meet his gaze squarely, focusing instead on his right ear. “And then the impossible happened and you said you loved me, only to cast me aside the way my parents did.” The cold bit into her soles and made her words crack. “So now I have to wonder why you’re kissing me instead of making me an offer on the mill. I have to wonder if you’re trying to put your interests and what you think is right ahead of me.” She drew a lungful of icy air. “So the next time you come to talk, bring me an offer for the mill. In writing.”
He glared at her and pulled away.
“What happened?” Marnie was waiting for Chloe in the living room, wearing baggy sweats and a Little Mermaid T-shirt. “I saw you drive off with Ted. Did he make you an offer for the mill? Did you accept?”
Chloe pressed her lips closed.
“You kissed him, didn’t you?”
“How did you know?” Chloe went to the hall mirror, checking her reflection in the glass. Sure enough, her cheeks were red, but that could have been from the cold.
“You look about to cry. Do you want me to call Sam and have him knife Ted’s tires?” Marnie hugged her. “Just kidding. Do you want pie? Ice cream? Alcohol?”
Chloe couldn’t shake the cold. She stepped back. “I think I just need to be alone.”
She ended up back in Dad’s office, sitting in a daze before opening a desk drawer she hadn’t touched yet. The manila files inside were thick with paper. “Computers never were your thing, Dad.”
She found twenty years of tax returns. She’d box them and put them in the attic where they’d probably sit for another twenty years.
She moved to another drawer and found business plans he’d typed up on his typewriter. She flipped through them, pausing to note each year’s expansion plan: Turn the mill into a bed and breakfast for honeymoons. Turn the mill into an office building. Turn the mill into a bar and grill. Every year her father had written an expansion plan that included the mill. Every year for the past decade, he hadn’t done a thing.
In the next folder she found out why. Every year, he’d loaned Chloe the money he set aside to bring his idea to life. It was there, in his notes. Except for the car wash loan, she’d paid him back every time, and he’d found other needs for the money – a new roof for the house, a new transmission for his car, a new heating unit. What would have happened if he’d put himself first over her? Just once? Would one of his ideas have succeeded? Would it be making money for the Wright triplets now?
Chloe crumpled over the desk. This changed everything. She owed more than the bank. She owed her sisters.
Teddy was right. There were no magic apples.
~*~
“I suppose you want me to come help you at the mercantile after classes today.” Abigail kicked her backpack as Ted drove her to school Monday morning. “If I live through the horror of the school experience, that is.”
The sun bounced off the drifts of snow, but the weather forecast predicted another snowstorm blowing in mid-afternoon. Ted didn’t have to wait for the tempest. Abigail’s mood was dark with threat of a downpour of angst.
Ted popped an antacid. “No need. Chloe will be there.”
He’d screwed everything up last night with Chloe. Her magic apples were giving his family the Christmas they deserved. He’d wanted to apologize for all the years she’d smiled through his heartless and immature treatment of her. He hadn’t planned on kissing her. But when they’d kissed, something had gone wrong. One minute, he’d connected with the ball. The next, he was striking out. Painfully so. She didn’t trust him to keep his word about the purchase price of the mill. He’d been so angry with himself, he’d driven away without making any offer at all.
“Didn’t Chloe tell you she’s not coming in today?” Abigail’s doom and gloom carried over to this bit of knowledge.
“No.” He clenched the wheel, slowing to a crawl as they neared the drop off point. Ted pulled up to the curb. “They just did a feature on you two in the newspaper this morning. Every kid in town who hasn’t bought a bag of magic apples is going to want a bag of magic apples. I need her.”
“It’s okay. I can juggle and tap dance.”
Sure, Abigail could handle the magic apple routine. But he wanted Chloe to be there because…because…because he still loved her. He’d never stopped. But she was right. He always put the needs of others ahead of that love. “Did Chloe say why she was bailing?”
“No. Don’t you know? I’m always the last to know anything about anybody.” Abigail looked close to tears as she hopped out of the truck and hurried to join her friends.
Ted went back to the farm and sorted apples, loading barrels and boxes. He headed to the mercantile around eleven to set up, but the excitement of the past few days wa
s gone. The magic was gone. Chloe was gone.
Ted wanted her back.
“Mom dropped us off.” Abigail had Lizzie on her hip when she showed up around three that afternoon, looking as if she’d been crying. “Can I talk to you?”
“Sure.” Hardly anyone was shopping yet. Ted grabbed his jacket and the locked cashbox, pausing only to ask Max and his Rudolph sweater to keep an eye on his booth for a few minutes.
The air outside was a balmy forty degrees. Lizzie buried her face in Abby’s shoulder and muttered, “Cold.”
Ted rubbed Lizzie’s back. “We should go inside and find somewhere warmer to talk.”
“Frank is seeing someone else.” Lizzie’s face crumbled. “She…she…she had a ring!”
Ted wrapped his arms around his sister and niece. The cash box dropped to the pavement. He ignored it. Abigail’s heart might be broken, but Frank was finally out of the picture. Relief had him squeezing them too tight.
“Unka Ted!” Lizzie pushed against him.
“Okay. I know. Tone it down.” He slung his arm around Abigail’s thin shoulders. She laid her head against his chest. “On the one hand, I want to deck him for breaking your heart.”
“And on the other hand?” Abby’s voice was muffled in his jacket.
“If I deck him, he might think he broke your heart.” That didn’t stop Ted from daydreaming about it though.
“My friends told me it was about time.” Abigail gave a half-laugh/half-sob as snowflakes began to fall. “I thought they were going to call me a loser.”
“Frank’s the loser,” Ted said.
Her smile grew stronger. “I should have known he was a cast-off when he didn’t argue with me about naming our child in the Lincoln tradition – after famous figures in U.S. history.”
“Mama, don’t cry.” Lizzie kissed Abigail’s cheek.
“Lizzie’s right,” Ted said, uncomfortable with his little sister’s tears. “Don’t cry over that guy. Or your daughter’s fabulous name. Isn’t that right, Elizabeth Eleanor Lincoln?”
Lizzie grinned and patted Abigail’s cheeks dry.
“I always admired you stepping up and marrying Gwen when she was pregnant.” Abigail stepped out of his embrace, smiling tenderly. “Even if I didn’t like your choice in women. But that doesn’t matter now. You have a chance with Chloe.”
Ted picked up the cash box, clearing his throat. “I don’t know about that. I think I blew it last night.”
Abigail stared at Ted as if he’d just told her Santa was skipping Christmas Town this year. With a big sniff, she looped her arm through Ted’s and led him inside. “I don’t feel so pathetic now.”
“You wasted three years of your life on Frank, Abs.”
“You wasted something like six on Gwen.” She seemed happy to find troubles in Ted’s love life. “Two years in high school. Three years of marriage. A year trying to work out the divorce settlement.”
“Enough about the past. There’s someone better out there for you.” Ted pointed out men working booths they passed, drawing curious glances. “Could be that guy. Or that guy.”
“You’re such a nerd.” Abigail swatted his arm down. “I know there’s someone better for you. And there she is.”
Chloe stood in their booth talking to Max.
Ted stopped.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Abigail pushed him forward. “You’re not getting cold feet. Take her by the gazebo. Kiss her under the mistletoe.”
“It’s not Christmas Eve.” That’s when couples traditionally committed with a kiss in the town square.
Abigail’s eyes misted. “Frank never kissed me under the gazebo. There was always a line.” Her gaze cut to Ted. “There won’t be a line now.” She tugged him forward against the increasing stream of people. “And it’s right across the street.”
“But…”
“Your happiness could be a kiss away.”
“Kiss, Unka Ted.” Lizzie reached for him with a slobbery pucker. “Kiss, kiss.”
“But – ”
“Chloe,” Abigail stopped in front of their booth. “Ted needs to show you something outside. Lizzie and I will work the booth.”
Their eyes met. Chloe’s blue ones were guarded. He should make her an offer. After all, she made it clear last night that’s what she wanted.
But all he could think of was how good she felt in his arms.
~*~
“Before you show me whatever…” Chloe’s courage faltered as they stepped outside onto the cold, snowy sidewalk. She tried again. “I need to see your offer.”
Teddy was nervous, walking fast. “Our attorney is drawing up the papers. We’re offering you one hundred thousand dollars.”
“Really?” Chloe grabbed his arm to steady herself, because it felt as if she’d veered onto a patch of ice. “It’s…That’s…Thank you.”
“So it’s a deal?” he asked hesitantly, turning to face her.
A few shoppers passed them by, some holding children with their school backpacks strapped over their coats.
“Before I accept…” Chloe stressed the word, because she hadn’t accepted. “I want you to know that I pulled on my big girl panties today and called the bank. I told them they were over-representing the value of my business and that I thought a fair settlement of the lien would be fifty thousand dollars.” She’d been so paralyzed under the weight of failure and the inability to see what the mill could be, she hadn’t thought of bargaining before.
“Half,” Teddy murmured. “Did the bank accept?”
“Yes.”
“So I can buy the mill for fifty thousand?” Teddy’s mouth twisted in an almost-too-good-to-be-true smile.
“No. I owe my sisters money.” And she wanted a little for herself to start over again. She was going to think carefully about what she did next. She’d only go into something where she had a clear vision of the future. Taking a page from Dad's files, she'd listed her businesses last night and then jotted down notes as to why they'd failed. And she'd realized that she'd moved on from businesses when they got to be too much for her, much as her mother had moved on from being a parent. She had to stick with something. No more gambling. No more flipping. “I’m selling you the mill for your original offer of eighty thousand.” She paused. “If that’s agreeable to you.”
“Very much so. Thank you.” There was a flash of a smile, and then he turned serious again. “Last night, before we…” He cleared his throat. “Last night, I meant to apologize to you.”
For what? For which offense? Chloe bit her lip to keep from asking.
“The day we met, I put you first in line to see Santa.” His voice was low and gruff. He took a step closer, edging into her space until she felt the warmth of his body. “I never put you first again. And for that, I’m truly sorry. You deserve to be put above all others with me, all the time.”
Chloe couldn’t speak. She was afraid if she did, she might cry. She managed a nod.
“I’m an honorable man, Chloe.” He ran the back of his fingers over her cheek. “I’ll always try to do what’s right. But I never should have cast you aside. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”
If Chloe could have spoken, she wouldn't have known what to say.
“Then it’s settled.” Teddy grabbed her hand and began walking toward the town square. “Come on.”
She kept her eyes on the icy pavement, so as not to fall. “Where are we going? Your attorney’s office?”
“You’ll see.” He charged ahead, looking both ways before leading her across the street to...
The gazebo. White wood. Delicate arches. And a big bouquet of mistletoe hanging in the middle.
Chloe couldn’t count how many of her friends had received marriage proposals beneath the gazebo on Christmas Eve. But it wasn’t Christmas Eve, and there was no way that was where he was taking her.
“Are we going to The Tea Pot? I could use a coffee.” Chloe tugged her hand slightly, but Teddy held on.
It was cle
ar where their destination was.
No one was out. The snow was gently falling. Their breath came in soft puffs. And the gazebo was empty.
Teddy pulled her beneath the gazebo’s mistletoe and captured her other hand. “I love you. I’ve always loved you, even when I didn’t know how to love you.”
She would always remember this moment. The snow. The mistletoe. The tender light in his eyes. But she couldn’t believe him. “You didn’t love me when I was seven. Or when I was eight. Or – ”
“I loved you as a kid with a stupid boy's stupid ways. You had this laugh – ”
“It annoyed you.”
“I envied that laugh,” he said, completely serious. “Nothing ever got you down. Nothing ever got in the way of what you wanted.”
A few shoppers paused on the street corner, watching them.
Chloe shook her head. “I didn’t get you,” she said quietly. “After finding parents to love me, that’s all I wanted. You.” She squeezed his hands.
“And you can have me. Forever.” He looked as honest and excited as he had that night at the mill. “I want to marry you. I want you to be my partner, in business and in life.” His words, spoken softly, rang as loud as chapel bells in Chloe’s ears.
But she hesitated. “I’m not a sure thing when it comes to business.” She didn’t want to lose any of his family’s money.
“You have magic when it comes to apples.” He slid his arms around her. The love in his eyes was enough to warm her against the chill wind and the snow and the uncertainty. “You come up with the ideas. I’ll tell you if we can afford to invest.”
It was the perfect balance – his eye on the bottom line, hers looking forward. And she could see the Lincoln Farms logo on a number of apple products. She could see selling them here in Christmas Town, as well as expansion opportunities elsewhere.
And in his eyes, she could see a little boy with brown hair and sturdy shoulders. And a little girl with red curls and a smile that charmed her daddy. She could see a future. And it looked so very bright.
A Heartwarming Christmas: A Boxed Set of Twelve Sweet Holiday Romances Page 8