Christmas Cocoa Read online

  As she rounded the corner, she heard Reid asking Melody if the truck was a ’63, and before her friend could respond, Delaney said, “It’s a ’64, actually. I’m Delaney.” She reached around Melody, and he took her hand. Delaney could see why Melody was attracted to the handyman. With piercing blue eyes and sandy blonde hair, he had an air about him that seemed lighthearted and fun. The little boy standing between them was absolutely adorable with his mop of blond hair and beaming smile.

  “Reid, nice to meet you,” he said, releasing her hand. Then, gesturing back to the truck, he added, “It’s a classic.”

  Smiling, Delaney replied, “Thanks. It’s my dad’s pride and joy. I’m surprised he even let me borrow it, but I wasn’t sure I could get a Christmas tree on the roof of my Charger.”

  With a shrug, Reid said, “Oh, with the right bungee cord hacks, you could, but why chance it?”

  “Exactly,” Delaney agreed, thinking of what tree sap might do to her paint job. Turning her attention to the little boy, she said, “And you must be Michael? I’m Delaney. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” She offered her hand to him as well.

  He reached out and took her hand with his mittened one, and Delaney was impressed with his manners. “Nice to meet you, too. Are you and Miss Melody sisters?’

  “No, but people ask us that a lot,” Melody explained as both she and Delaney giggled.

  Winking at the sweet little cherub, Delaney said, “We are like sisters.” She put her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Are you ready to go find a Christmas tree, Michael?”

  Hopping up and down in the freshly fallen snow, he exclaimed, “I can’t wait!”

  “Well, then let’s go,” Reid suggested, and Delaney turned to lead them in the direction of the tree lot, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

  Meeting Melody’s friends had been a nice distraction, but as they neared the large snowman holding a sign that said, “Taylor Tree Farm,” in festive red, Delaney’s nerves threatened to overwhelm her. So many catastrophic scenarios played through her mind, and if she wasn’t aware of the people following her, she thought her feet might stop moving. She generally had no problems talking to anyone, but she’d been thinking about seeing Josh again for so many days, the idea that she might be standing in front of him again in a matter of moments was unsettling. What if he wasn’t even there?

  She heard Reid and Michael talking behind her, but she wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying. While she was certain the little village laid out in front of her was just as quaint and charming as it had been when she’d looked at it online earlier in the week, she wasn’t really able to focus on that either. She glanced around nervously, wondering where Josh might be. She saw some workers; they were easy to distinguish thanks to their green aprons, but she didn’t see Josh anywhere, and she wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or disheartened.

  A hand on her shoulder brought her back around, and Melody’s voice in her ear caught her attention. “Do you see him?”

  Sighing, Delaney turned to face her. “No.”

  “That doesn’t mean he isn’t here,” Melody assured her. One of the tree farm employees was headed their direction, though from the expression on his face he was on a mission, not on his way to greet them. He looked young, and the comment Josh had made about working with teenagers came to mind. She absently wondered if this was the boy who hadn’t been able to make the delivery the day that Josh came to Charles Town. “Maybe you should ask one of the other workers.”

  Delaney’s eyes widened. “What am I going to say? ‘Hi, my name is Delaney and I just drove all the way from Charles Town to see if Josh was working today’?” She’d been over this scenario a dozen times, but none of the inquiries she’d rehearsed seemed to be quite right, and now faced with this dilemma, she wasn’t sure what to do.

  Melody bit her bottom lip, and Delaney could see the beginnings of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Maybe you should’ve worked that out before you drove all the way from Charles Town.”

  Before she could even attempt to explain that she had been trying to work that out—for days—she realized that Reid was stepping forward to intercept the young man headed in their general direction. Delaney held her breath, not quite sure what he might say.

  “Excuse me,” Reid said smiling at the young man, his tone light and nonchalant. “Is Josh around?”

  From here, Delaney could see that the boy’s name was Payton, and while he didn’t look exactly like Josh, she could see a resemblance. She wondered if they were related. Payton replied, “Um, yeah. He’s out on the tractor right now bringing in a few trees for customers, but he should be back in a few minutes. He’ll be over by the shaking station.” He turned and gestured in the direction he’d just come from.

  “Thank you,” Reid said, and as he turned back to face them, Payton hurried on his way. Echoing Payton’s tone, as if they hadn’t just overheard exactly what the boy had said, Reid repeated, “He’s out on the tractor right now bringing in a few trees for customers, but he should be back in a few minutes.”

  A wave of relief at getting past the first obstacle washed over Delaney, and even though she felt a bit nauseous realizing this meant she’d actually have to explain to Josh why she was here, an overwhelming sense of gratitude made her feel ten times lighter. “You’re a lifesaver!” she proclaimed, hurling herself at Reid. “I could kiss you.” Realizing what she’d said and seeing a shade of red start to creep up his neck, Delaney released him and assured him that she was not being literal. “I won’t—but I could.” She looked at Melody to make sure she knew there was absolutely no intention of imposing on her mind, and she could see in her friend’s smile and the twinkle in her eyes she was amused, not threatened.

  As she stepped away, Reid shrugged. “Asking questions is one of my specialties. I learned it from Michael. He can ask forty-five questions in a minute. Easily. Without taking a breath.”

  Melody began to giggle, and Delaney assumed there was an inside joke there she was not privy to. “Well, he’s an awesome teacher,” Delaney replied, shoving her hands into her coat pockets and smiling at Melody, happy to see her friend in such a good mood.

  Turning his full attention to Melody, Reid said, “All right. We have some reindeer to greet.” Delaney didn’t miss the intensity behind his smile. Whether or not Melody realized it yet or not, she couldn’t be sure, but this guy was definitely into her.

  Delaney realized that Michael wasn’t with them, and glancing over her shoulder, she noticed him standing over by the reindeer pen. “Okay. I’ll just have a look around at the trees and come find you in a bit.”

  Melody reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Good luck,” she said as she and Reid headed off in the direction where Michael was playing.

  While she wanted to say, “You, too,” she couldn’t risk Reid overhearing, so instead she just waved at both of them, and taking a deep breath, she slowly headed over in the direction of the shaking station, intending to stand around and admire the trees for a little while before, hopefully, Josh showed up on the tractor, and she said something witty and charming to make him remember just what a great conversationalist she had been during the five minute long discussion they’d shared over a week ago. Sighing, she attempted to focus on the lovely scenery before her, not the dragons buzzing around in her stomach.

  Delaney wandered among the trees for a few moments, looking at tags and comparing different varieties. She knew from her exploration of the website that she would be able to borrow a saw and forage into the woods to cut down her own tree if she wanted to, but thought picking out one of these pre-cut trees was probably more her style. When she heard the sound of an approaching tractor in the distance, she felt a lump forming in her throat again, and tried to stay focused on the trees. “The last thing he needs is to see me standing up here like a big dork, as if I was stalking him,” she muttered, hoping no one was close enough to hear her tal
king to herself. She looked around, and while the lot was full of many smiling, happy people, no one seemed to be paying her any mind. She glanced over her shoulder to see precisely how close the tractor was and felt relieved when she saw he was still about two football fields away. That might give her one last chance to get her act together.

  Stepping around behind the tree, Delaney decided to try to make herself as invisible as possible so she could determine when best to approach him. She glanced down at her outfit and realized now that red may not have been the best option. She knew she looked great in this color, but there would definitely be no way to hide with a backdrop of green trees and white snow.

  Even from here, she could see that he likely wouldn’t notice her anyway. He had a far off expression on his handsome face, as if he were attempting to solve all the world’s problems as he drove a tractor pulling a flatbed full of various coniferous trees. She’d worried that he wasn’t quite as attractive as she’d made him out to be in her head, though with his personality it wouldn’t really matter to her. As he drew closer, however, she could see that, if anything, she’d forgotten just how good looking he really was. Her heart fluttered as her eyes traced the outline of his strong jawline and his perfectly formed nose. She couldn’t quite make out his hazel eyes, but that’s one feature that had definitely stuck with her. Tufts of his dark hair stuck out around the sides of the black stocking cap he wore, his tall frame evident behind the wheel of the late-model tractor.

  Eventually, he came near enough that she could’ve stepped out and waved to get his attention, but she decided that would be a bit much, so she kept her position behind the tree, trying to focus on the springy needles before her, while she listened to what was going on near the shaking station.

  The tractor engine turned off, and she heard a voice, presumably the young man from earlier say, “You need some help unloading them, Uncle Josh?”

  “No, I’ve got it,” Josh replied. “Go ahead and start shaking them as I bring them off.”

  “Okay,” was the response, and Delaney peeked around the tree to see Josh hauling the trees off of the trailer one at a time. He was preoccupied with his back to her most of the time, and she watched him set each one against the small building next to the machine that shook off the loose needles. The sound of the machine as it whirred to life was overwhelming, and Delaney swore her teeth were shaking. She wondered how she would even have the chance to speak to Josh at all if the machine was still on by the time she decided she should approach him.

  She saw that it was Payton running the machine, and he flipped it off between trees, which would give her a chance to say hello, should she find the courage to do so. As Josh brought the last tree around, he said something to a woman standing nearby that Delaney couldn’t make out over the shaker, then turned as if he was headed back to the tractor. Deciding it was now or never, Delaney forced her feet to begin to trudge through the snow, hopeful that Payton would kill the machine in time for her to call his name.

  He was next to the tractor just about to climb back into the driver’s seat when Delaney found herself less than a foot away. The machine was still whirring behind her, and short of hurling herself at him, she wasn’t sure how she might get his attention. If he were to leave again, there was no way she’d have the courage to continue to stand here pretending to look at trees for who knew how much longer.

  With a deep breath, Delaney cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Josh!” She had only gotten the first sound out when the machine abruptly stopped leaving her standing right beside him screaming the “osh” part of his name at the top of her lungs. Before he could even turn to face her, Delaney felt crimson filling her face and knew she must be about the same color as her coat and hat.

  Josh turned around rather quickly, possibly startled at the sound of most of his name being shouted at such close proximity in an unfamiliar female voice. Delaney braced herself, afraid he might think she was a lunatic or have absolutely no recollection of her at all. She wasn’t certain which would be worse. And though his eyebrows were wrinkled in confusion when he first turned, immediately his countenance changed and a smile of recognition splintered across his handsome face. “Hey!” he said, taking his foot down off of the step-up to the tractor he’d been about to mount. “You’re the girl from the bakery. Delaney, is it?”

  Instantly, Delaney felt her stomach muscles relax and the color in her face begin to return to normal. “That’s me,” she said laughing. “I wasn’t sure if you’d remember me or not.”

  “Oh, no, of course I remember you,” Josh said, and Delaney noticed that with the comment he began to look a little flushed himself. “What are you doing here? Did you bring your family to find a Christmas tree?”

  He had completely turned to face her now, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his gray coat and his hazel eyes smiling at her inquisitively. “I came with my friends,” Delaney began to explain. Gesturing in their general direction she said, “That’s my friend Melody over there with Reid and Michael.” She didn’t think there was any point in trying to fill him in on how she’d technically just met Reid and Michael a few minutes ago.

  Josh glanced over in the area she was pointing. “They look like they’re having fun,” he said.

  Delaney noticed Michael running around with some other kids, only knowing it was him because she recognized his coat from earlier. Melody and Reid were sitting on a bench nearby. They did look rather cozy together, and Delaney absently hoped things were going well.

  Drawing her attention back to Josh, she said, “Yeah, so anyway, I just wanted to say hi. I know it’s been a few days since you came in, but when my Nana suggested we get a live tree this year, I immediately thought of Taylor Tree Farm.” She chuckled nervously and silently hoped she didn’t sound like a dork.

  If he thought so, he didn’t let it show. “Well, that’s quite a compliment,” he replied. “It’s a bit of a drive from Charles Town.”

  “True,” she admitted, shoving the snow around with the tip of her boot. “But I looked it up online, and we really don’t have anything like this in Charles Town. Your family has really gone all out to make this a memorable experience.”

  Josh was clearly proud of the place. He looked around, nodding, as if he needed a reminder of exactly what his family had built here. “It definitely has a hint of Christmas magic you won’t find anywhere else.”

  “I totally agree,” Delaney nodded. “You should’ve seen Michael’s face when he first noticed the reindeer.” Again, no need to mention she hadn’t seen Michael’s face when he first noticed the reindeer because she’d been too busy freaking out over trying to find Josh, but she could imagine what he must’ve looked like, and she was certain it had to be magical.

  “Yeah, my nieces love them, too,” Josh agreed.

  “What do you do with them the rest of the year?” Delaney asked, the question just popping into her head. Could reindeer acclimate to West Virginia summer weather?

  “My dad borrows them from a farm up north every holiday season,” Josh explained. “They aren’t actually ours. Although, we do try to get the same ones every year if we can so they sort of feel like our adopted pets.”

  “I see,” Delaney replied. The snow was beginning to fall again, and she glanced up at the sky, thinking about what a wonderful winter day it was turning out to be. When she returned her eyes to Josh, she realized he was staring at his tractor, as if had somewhere he needed to be, and Delaney remembered that he was working. “I’m sorry,” she offered. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your schedule.”

  “Oh, no, not at all,” Josh stammered. “I mean, I do need to head back out and gather up the rest of the trees these customers are waiting on, but it looks like they are all enjoying the reindeer or the shops.”

  Delaney glanced around and could only see a couple of people waiting by the shaker with several more trees leaning against the building. As if looking in its direction some how brought it back to life
, the shaker began to roar again, and Delaney wanted to throw her hands over her ears to force the noise out of her mind.

  She didn’t realize Josh had stepped closer to her until she turned back around, her head almost colliding with his as he leaned in to speak directly into her ear. There was a rush of warmth as her cheek brushed his, and Delaney felt her knees grow weak. He smelled like fresh balsam and pine needles with a faint minty undertone, and she had to concentrate to make out what he was saying. “Do you want to go for a ride on the tractor? I’ll take you out to gather some more trees and give you a little tour,” he shouted into her ear.

  While she hadn’t been expecting that at all, she couldn’t help but smile. Since her grandfather had been a farmer, she was used to tractors, and her dad still used one to mow his land. Still, it had been a while since she’d been on one, and she’d never been anywhere with a man as attractive as Josh. Using the shaker as an excuse, she leaned in close to his ear and shouted, “Sure! That sounds fun. Just let me tell Melody where I’m going.”

  She stepped back and Josh nodded, with a smile, and Delaney fumbled to get her phone out of her pocket, unable to pull her eyes off of his for a moment. Eventually, she got the device out of her coat pocket and sent Melody a text.

  “I’m going out for a tour of the farm on Josh’s tractor. Hope you don’t mind!” Once she hit send, she returned her attention to Josh but kept her phone in her hand in case Melody had an objection. From the looks of things, she seemed to be doing just fine with Reid, but then there was most of a Christmas tree village between them, so it was a little difficult to tell.

  “You’ll have to ride on the trailer,” Josh was explaining, still shouting over the machine. “I hope that’s okay.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine,” Delaney replied. “I grew up on a farm, so it’s no big deal.”