'Tis the Season for Love: A Charity Box Set

by Maggie Dallen

  “I love you, baby,” Sapphire said in between kissing noises.

  Love? Already? Hadn’t Dustin just met this girl?

  “I love you, too, beautiful.”

  This was getting out of hand. Dustin didn’t even know her. How could he know if he was in love with her? From what Noah understood, Dustin had only met her yesterday. He’d known Josie for fifteen years, but he still hadn’t told her how he felt. That was why he was so hesitant to play along with Josie’s game of pretending they were a couple.

  Because if he wasn’t in a relationship with Josie, he wasn’t sure he could pretend he was. And he didn’t want her to use him to make Dustin jealous.

  He finished tying the skirt and pushed himself out from under the tree. He stood and rummaged through the ornament box before pulling out two rolls of ribbon. Josie had been the one to help him pick out these decorations two years ago when he’d decided he was grown up enough to store Christmas decorations. Before that, he’d just ended up buying stuff from the dollar store and tossing it out after the holidays. But he’d put down roots after buying a place of his own two years ago, and he wanted to feel settled in now. Dustin had only lived with him for the past six months. He’d moved in after Noah’s previous roommate took a job out of town.

  Dustin worked for the fire department like Noah did, and when he’d heard about the vacancy at Noah’s place, he’d jumped at the opportunity to rent a room. It had worked out great—until he started getting eyes for Josie. Noah wasn’t thrilled when the two of them had started dating. He knew from the start that they were incompatible. It was a surprise they’d lasted two months, let alone two weeks. He wasn’t impressed with Dustin’s decision to jump into another relationship so quickly—and with a girl he barely knew.

  Noah unwound the wide ribbon and wrapped it around the tree.

  “You forgot to plug in the lights,” Sapphire said.

  “Oh, right. Would you mind getting that for me?”

  “No. I was just pointing it out.” Sapphire snapped Dustin’s wad of gum.

  Noah gritted his teeth. He finished wrapping the ribbon and bent down to plug in the tree.

  “You guys got anything good to eat around here? I’m starving.” Sapphire didn’t wait for them to answer. She hopped off the couch and headed into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets. “Ooh. You have Doritos. Cool.” Without asking, she ripped open the bag and began stuffing her face. She carried the bag back to the couch and kept eating like watching Noah decorate the tree was a new spectator sport.

  “Mm. Your lips taste like cheese,” Dustin said.

  “Gee, I wonder why, doofus?” Sapphire gave a high-pitched laugh.

  They really were nauseating. Noah wasn’t sure how much more he could take. And he’d only met Sapphire today. He considered abandoning the tree altogether and going out to the garage to work on his old truck, but he figured Dustin and Sapphire wouldn’t finish the project, and he wanted to get it done tonight. He would go nuts if he had half-empty Christmas bins strewn across his living room for longer than necessary.

  So he ignored the two lovebirds, if you could even call them that, and finished wrapping the rest of the ribbon around the tree. When that was completed, he began hanging the red and gold ornaments Josie had helped him pick out. Then he interspersed the poinsettias she’d insisted he needed. He’d thought them too girly for a bachelor’s tree, but they made her happy, and he couldn’t resist making her smile. Nothing brought him more joy than seeing Josie happy. He was glad she’d seen that a relationship with Dustin would never work.

  Noah didn’t mind Dustin as a roommate. He wasn’t messy, and he always paid rent and utilities on time. He wasn’t bad to hang out with either. He just didn’t appreciate it when Dustin started dating Josie, the girl he’d had his own eye on for a while. The one good thing that came out of Dustin’s relationship with Josie was that she’d spent a lot more time at Noah’s house to see Dustin. He never minded having her around, even if it meant she was kissing on his roommate. But he didn’t want to think about that anymore. Thank goodness that was over.

  But now he had to witness all the smooching Dustin was doing with Sapphire, and he had to admit, he wasn’t looking forward to her being a regular visitor in his home. Especially if she kept taking his favorite snacks without asking. She’d announced her hunger and helped herself. He was about to label his snacks. Better yet, hide them in his room, under his bed. He wasn’t usually stingy about sharing food. He just appreciated someone waiting to be served, or at least asking before taking chips or cookies.

  When all the poinsettias were on the tree, Noah reached into the bin for one last item. He pulled out a large gold star. He reached up and put it atop the tree.

  Sapphire clapped, orange dust flying off her Dorito-encrusted hands. “It looks perfect. How is it that a dude has such pretty decorations for his tree?”

  “Josie helped me pick them out.”

  “Who’s Josie?”

  “She’s the girl we saw at the tree lot,” Dustin explained.

  “Oh! The redhead kissing on Noah. You guys are adorable together.”

  Noah wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

  “You know what?” Sapphire clapped her hands again like she had the most brilliant idea ever. “We should go on a double date. All four of us. Wouldn’t that be perfect, baby?” She said this last part to Dustin with big pleading eyes. She didn’t seem to notice the way Dustin recoiled at her suggestion. Or how quiet Noah had gotten.

  “I don’t know . . .” Dustin looked to Noah for help.

  “Whatever you want, Sapphire.” Noah wasn’t so sure he’d just made the best decision by allowing Sapphire to talk him into double dating. He didn’t know if he could pretend to date Josie like that.

  But it was too late to back out now.

  Chapter 3

  Josie pulled out the boxes of ornaments she’d bought for her new tree. Christmas music played over the speakers in her coffee shop. She pulled out the sparkly silver and blue round ornaments and hung them on the tree around the silver ribbon she’d already put in place. She’d decided to decorate the tree while it was slow in the coffee shop that afternoon. After she placed all the round ornaments, she brought out tiny silver sleighs and glittery blue stars and added them to the tree. Grabbing a chair and setting it below the tree, she climbed up and placed an angel dressed in silver atop the tree. She climbed back down and then stepped back to inspect her work.

  The bell on the door jangled, and Josie turned to see Callie step into the coffee shop. Callie worked at her grandmother’s bookstore next door. Josie had chosen the location for her coffee shop because she loved that bookstore so much. She’d been shopping there since she was a tiny girl, and she’d gotten close to Mrs. Ellison over the years. The sweet woman’s health had deteriorated lately, but she stubbornly insisted on continuing to work.

  “Hey, Callie.”

  “Hey, Josie. Can I get a latte?”

  “Sure,” Josie said, abandoning the empty boxes scattered across the corner table. She rounded the counter and fixed Callie her drink. “How’s your grandma?”

  “She finally cut back her hours. I convinced her to hire another employee to pick up some of her time.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “It would be if she hadn’t hired this particular girl.”

  Josie handed Callie her latte. “What do you mean?”

  “Come sit down with me for a second. It’s pretty much dead in here, anyway.”

  Josie followed Callie to a nearby table, and they settled in.

  “My grandma asked me to train her. We’re on day one, and I’m already ready for her to get fired. I can’t get her to follow any of the store protocol. She keeps trying to reinvent the wheel, doing things in a way she thinks is better. But she doesn’t know the store and the system we’ve already put into place. I’ve had to go reorganize the books she’s shelved three times already this morning.”

  “Ha
ve you talked to her about the correct way to do things?”

  “Over and over. But Sapphire thinks she knows better and won’t listen.”

  “Sapphire?” What were the odds? “Does she have blonde hair?”

  “Yeah. How’d you know?”

  “She’s Dustin’s new girlfriend. Or at least she was acting like it at the Christmas tree lot last night when I was picking out the tree for the coffee shop.”

  “New girlfriend? I thought he was dating you.”

  “I broke up with him last weekend.”

  “Good for you. He didn’t seem right for you, anyway.”

  “He totally wasn’t.”

  “But how could he already be with someone else so soon?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know any of the details.”

  “I bet Noah knows. Have you asked him?”

  “I don’t care enough to ask.” Josie tapped her bright red nails on the table. “That’s so weird that you work with her.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “And too bad that Dustin’s dating someone who’s awful to work with. I can’t see that lasting,” Josie commented.

  “I hope for his sake it doesn’t.”

  But Josie wasn’t so sure that would be the case. He seemed completely wrapped up in Sapphire at the tree lot. She had a feeling she would be seeing a lot more of Sapphire.

  Josie sat by a raging fire in her fireplace with her favorite red blanket draped over her lap and a cup of steaming hot cocoa. Her red-and-gold decorated tree blinked merrily at her with white lights. Her parents sat across from her. They’d spent the evening eating a ham Josie had baked. Then they’d made a big batch of Christmas cookies. The last tray of cookies was in the oven baking, and the entire house smelled heavenly.

  She looked around her home appreciatively. Her father had helped her fix up her 1940s cottage. When she moved in, it had been partially fixed up, but it had still needed a lot more work. Her dad had construction experience and came over to help her refinish the original hardwood floors. They’d put in a dishwasher and disposal in the kitchen and tiled the backsplash with white subway tiles. She’d repainted the red and tan walls with a soft gray, and white, gauzy curtains hung around the cheery window that faced the street.

  She loved her house so much more because of the hard work she had put into fixing it up with her dad. They’d created beautiful memories together as they’d rolled up their sleeves and gotten the job done. She’d learned to fix up houses with her dad growing up as they’d renovated her family’s home. She loved turning something old and worn out into something fresh.

  She’d converted the second bedroom into a library. Two of the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with bookshelves her father had helped her build and paint a glossy white. She had an e-reader filled with books, but she much preferred to hold a book in her hands. She loved collecting old books, especially rare ones, and she’d inherited her grandfather’s book collection, so the shelves were filled with all of her prized books.

  “How was your day today?” her father asked.

  “It was interesting. Mrs. Ellison hired a new employee named Sapphire. It turns out she’s dating Dusting now.”

  “Your old boyfriend?” her mom asked.

  “Yep. The same guy.”

  “Have you met Sapphire?” Her dad sipped his cocoa.

  “Not officially. I saw her with Dustin when I was picking out a Christmas tree for the coffee shop.”

  “How do you feel about that?”

  “Well, initially, I was jealous. But I’m okay with it now. It was just a shock, you know? I just thought maybe he’d be a little more upset about our breakup. But he seems to have moved on like it meant nothing to him.”

  “I can see how that might hurt.” Josie warmed at the kindness in her father’s voice. He was one of her best friends. She was blessed to have such wonderful, supportive parents. The three of them had always been close.

  “Callie said she’s difficult to work with,” Josie said.

  “It sounds like she’s going to have her hands full,” her mom commented.

  Josie thought about telling her parents about her kiss with Noah, but she held back that juicy tidbit of information. She didn’t know how to explain it to herself. How could she explain it to her parents? She didn’t know how they would react to her impulsive behavior.

  Josie was ready to settle down and get serious with someone. Dustin just wasn’t the guy for her. He was too interested in playing around. She couldn’t see a future with him, so she’d ended it, because she longed for her future to come. She wanted babies to nurture and care for. And she couldn’t imagine Dustin being the father of her children.

  She longed to fill her arms and heart with a little family of her own. But she wasn’t so sure that day would ever come for her.

  Chapter 4

  The past two weeks since Thanksgiving had been unseasonably cold. When Noah finished up work at the firehouse Thursday afternoon, he headed over to the pond at a nearby park. He’d heard from a bunch of the guys at the station that it had frozen over enough to skate on. He swung by the house first to grab his ice skates. Since playing hockey in high school, he missed being out on the ice. He pulled into the parking lot and grabbed his skates from the seat next to him. He tugged the knit hat his grandmother had made him over his ears. It was frigid outside. Hopefully, he’d be able to warm up on the ice.

  The frozen-over pond was crowded. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who’d heard about it being frozen enough to skate on today. He sat on a bench and changed from his snow boots to his skates, lacing them up securely. He hadn’t worn them in years.

  “Noah!”

  He turned to see Josie approaching him, her wavy red hair tumbling over her shoulders.

  “How’s it going, Josie?”

  “Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “Dustin’s new girlfriend works at the book shop next to my coffee shop.”

  “I’ve seen enough of her to last me two lifetimes.”

  “What do you mean?” Josie cocked her head to the side.

  “She’s been driving me up the wall. She’s practically living at my house now. I’ve had to kick her out past two a.m. because she’s keeping Dustin up late, and she’s laughing so loud I can’t sleep. She’s eaten all my snacks, and she’s constantly bossing me around my own house but won’t lift a finger to help.”

  “Callie has been telling me similar stories. She’s been driving her nuts at the bookshop too.”

  “The bad thing is, she’s been hanging around the fire station, and when Dustin’s not around, she’s all over his buddies. I caught her kissing McNeil when she thought I wasn’t looking.”

  “McNeil’s probably the biggest troublemaker at the fire station, so that doesn’t surprise me,” Josie said.

  “We have to do something about this,” Noah said. “I’ve had about enough.”

  “You mean, like sabotage their relationship?”

  “I mean, get her to move back to wherever she came from.”

  “Where did she come from, anyway? And what’s she doing in Maple Creek?”

  “I don’t know. She’s been secretive about that. Not even Dustin knows. But he’s so taken with her he doesn’t seem to care.”

  “That’s just weird.” Maple Creek was such a small town, and people usually knew everything about each other thanks to town gossips like Mrs. Wheaton.

  “Speaking of weird, Sapphire thinks we’re dating because she saw us kissing. She wants to double date.”

  “Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

  “You mean, like, actually date?” Noah wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Josie had just broken up with his roommate.

  “Not for real. Just pretend. Think about it. If we’re pretending to be in a relationship, we can sabotage their relationship more easily because we’ll have an excuse to hang out with them all the time as a couple. We both agree she’s awful. Let’s do something abo
ut it.”

  “I don’t know . . .”

  “Come on, Noah! It could be fun.”

  “Don’t you think that might make Dustin uncomfortable?”

  “You mean like he made me uncomfortable when he showed up with some new girl only two days after we broke up? I don’t think he’s too concerned about me.”

  That wasn’t what Noah had noticed when Sapphire had suggested that they double date. He’d looked pretty upset about the idea. He didn’t want to start drama with his roommate. They’d had it good so far, and he didn’t want to end up finding a new roommate because of this experience.

  “You want to go skate?” Josie asked.

  “Sure.” Noah stood, and she reached her hand out. He hesitated for a moment.

  “Come on, you can do the fake boyfriend thing. I promise I don’t bite. At least not too hard.”

  Uh. That was kind of hot. He couldn’t deny that he was insanely attracted to Josie and had been for years.

  “Be my pretend boyfriend.”

  “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.” He took her hand and hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

  She led him onto the ice and held his hand as she skated out a bit. They waved to the police chief, Will Vance, and his fiancé, Layla Bowen, who owned the flower shop next door to Josie’s coffee shop. Noah and Josie had been friends with them since childhood. He still remembered when Will had a crush on Layla in middle school.

  “They look cozy on the ice,” Josie said.

  “They sure do.” Lately, they had been cozy a lot. He’d seen them around town holding hands. But that was what happened when you fell in love.

  “I’m not very good at this,” she admitted. “You’re going to have to let me hang onto you.”

  “We can take it slow if you need to.”

  She didn’t seem to notice the double meaning that could have been taken from his words. Or if she did, she pretended not to notice. “I appreciate that. I can be a bit of a klutz. I’ve never been known for my balance and coordination.”