Christmas Cocoa Page 12

  “Right,” Delaney said, though now her expression looked skeptical. She was leaning away from Travis, and Josh wondered if she even realized she was doing it. She appeared to need a bit of rescuing.

  “Thanks, Travis. We’ll head in and talk to Mom. Do you mind helping Payton with those three trees?” Josh said, stepping past his brother and clapping him on the shoulder.

  “Not at all,” Travis said. “In fact, we’re done in the field for today, so I’ll be happy to run the tractor if you… have other things to take care of.”

  While Josh was more than aware what his brother was so un-tactfully trying to imply—that he might be interested in spending more time with Delaney—he both appreciated the offer and wanted to shake him for being so blunt. Rather than attempt a long explanation, he simply said, “Okay, thanks,” and led Delaney toward the shop, hopeful that his brother hadn’t made her want to run for the hills.

  As they walked along, he could see Delaney looking around and realized she might be looking for her friend. “No sign of Melody?” he asked.

  “I don’t see her,” Delaney replied, giving up and returning her attention to him. “I guess she could’ve headed out to find her tree. Or maybe they decided to go home.”

  “You say you drove?” Josh asked, making sure she had a way home.

  “Yes,” she nodded. “I borrowed my dad’s old truck, just to make sure my tree fits okay, and I don’t get any sap on my Charger.”

  “You drive a Charger?” Josh asked, stepping around a little boy who was attempting to persuade his mother to let him have one more turn at feeding the reindeer.

  “I do,” she said. “It’s my pride and joy, though I don’t get to spend as much time driving it as I’d like since my commute is only about ten minutes, and I never have much time to go anywhere besides work.”

  Josh nodded. “I hear you. I mean… about the not going anywhere part. Unless you count tree lots, and that’s not as much fun as, say, a tropical vacation. And my work commute is actually pretty long, so maybe I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.” She giggled at him, and he couldn’t decide if he should stop talking or try to further explain. Eventually, he decided to just go with it. “I mean, I think a lot of people spend time in their cars but not going where they wish they were going.”

  “And where do you wish you were going?” Delaney asked. “Visiting a tropical location?”

  “Sure,” he shrugged. “Or taking a leisurely drive to visit someplace I’ve never been, I guess. Probably not hauling trees.”

  “You don’t like hauling trees?” She glanced up at him and then returned her attention to where she was going to watch out for other people and potential slick spots in the snow.

  “I do,” he said. “I guess. I don’t know.” There really was no way to succinctly explain that he liked helping his parents out, but he wasn’t sure that hauling trees was the life for him.

  She looked at him again, her eyebrows arched, but she said nothing more. A moment later, they were standing outside the shop, and Josh realized what he was about to do. Taking a deep breath, he put his hand on the door pull, and waited. Delaney stopped in her tracks and looked up at him. “Delaney, you are about to meet my mother,” he warned.

  A curious smile crept across her face. “Okay?”

  “I just want you to know that I don’t normally introduce women to my mother so soon—as in before I’ve even had a chance to ask them on a date yet—so… please be forewarned. She’s wonderful, but she is my mother, after all, and you just never can tell what might come out of her mouth.”

  Delaney laughed, and it didn’t sound like nervous laughter either. It sounded like she was genuinely chuckling at his discomfort, which set him at ease a bit because at least she didn’t seem scared to meet his mother. Of course, that might be because she wasn’t interested in him at all, and after the way he’d just made that statement—“had a chance to ask them on a date yet”—could it be that this was all a bit ridiculous to her?

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” Delaney assured him. “After all, remember, talking to women your mother’s age is sort of my specialty.”

  She was looking at him with large doe eyes, and he realized he was being silly. Of course she could handle his mother. They would definitely have baking in common, that was certain. Letting go of the breath he’d been holding, he pulled the door open and waited for Delaney to step inside, following after her.

  Lydia greeted Delaney first, shouting a Merry Christmas over her shoulder as she finished arranging a few items on a shelf on the other side of the store. When she realized Josh was also there, she turned to approach them. “Oh, hi, Son. I didn’t realize you’d made it in. Is the tractor holding up in the snow?”

  “Yeah, it’s not that deep yet,” Josh nodded once Lydia had come to a stop in front of them. There were a few other customers in the shop, but they were preoccupied looking at the nutcrackers against the far wall. “Mom, this is Delaney. She owns the bakery in Charles Town.”

  Lydia’s face lit up as if she were meeting a celebrity. “Delaney? It’s nice to meet you!” Lydia gushed, taking Delaney’s hand in hers. “I have heard such wonderful things about your cocoa.”

  “Thank you,” Delaney replied. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Taylor.”

  “Oh, please, call me Lydia,” the older woman insisted. “Why don’t you two come in and warm up a little bit. I’d offer you some of our cocoa, but I’m sure it just wouldn’t do.”

  Delaney followed her across the shop floor, taking her red gloves off as she did so and shoving them into her pocket. “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” she said politely.

  Turning to look at her for a second, Lydia shook her head slowly from one side to the other. “It seems like it’s all people can talk about. They love everything else, but they don’t really dwell on that. It’s all about the awful cocoa.”

  “Mom, only a few people have even mentioned it,” Josh reminded her as he leaned against the counter where the cash register sat.

  “Not too long ago, a cute couple came in with an adorable little boy, and the woman mentioned that she couldn’t even drink it she was so hooked on yours,” Lydia continued, looking Delaney in the eyes.

  “Oh, that was probably my friend Melody,” Delaney explained. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “She didn’t,” Lydia replied, though clearly the comment had upset her. “I just thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to meet this Delaney. She’s world famous!’” Lydia chuckled, and glancing over at Delaney, Josh could see the color rising in her cheeks. “Here, you can take a sip,” his mother continued with a shrug, and she went about pouring a bit of the dark liquid into a Styrofoam cup.

  Delaney smiled as she took it, though he saw a bit of hesitation as her bottom lip quivered before making contact with the soft container. She swallowed and then paused for a moment before she withdrew the cup and forced the smile back to her mouth. “It’s… not awful,” she managed. “I mean… it tastes like the store bought kind, that you mix up. With water.”

  “That’s what it is,” Lydia assured her with a shrug. “What can I do?”

  “Well,” Delaney began, glancing at Josh who wasn’t sure whether to rescue her or let Delaney finally give his mother an answer so she could stop dwelling on the cocoa issue. “How much do you usually sell in a weekend? I could bring you some of mine. You mix it with milk, not water, and it takes a few special tools to get it to mix just right, but I can explain how.”

  Josh watched as his mother’s face lit up. “Would you mind, dear? I’m more than happy to pay for it, or give you whatever profits we make. I’d be so honored to have your cocoa as part of our Christmas village. I don’t sell much cocoa now, but I’m sure if people knew it was yours, we’d sell a whole lot more. Oh, we could even use cups with your bakery name on them. What’s it called?”

  “Delaney’s Delights,” Josh answered before she could reply, and when she beamed up at him
as if she were proud he could remember the name of her establishment, he could only shrug and hope his face wasn’t turning too red. He’d only been dwelling on that name for the past two weeks.

  “We could do something like that if you want,” Delaney replied. “Whatever works for you. I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of people to drive from Shepherdstown to Charles Town just to visit the bakery when I’m pretty sure there’s more than one here.”

  “There is, but from what I hear, they’re nothing compared to what you’ve got going on in Charles Town,” Lydia replied, looking up at Josh and then back at her.

  Rather than let his mother break into a description of how frequently he may have mentioned the bakery over the last several days, Josh attempted to move things on. “All right, now that we’ve got that settled, I think I’ll take Delaney for a tour of the farm on the four wheelers. Travis said he had things under control with the trees.”

  “That sounds fun,” Lydia agreed. “Aren’t you starving, though? It’s past lunchtime.”

  While Josh’s stomach had been growling earlier, it had suddenly stopped when Delaney had showed up. “I guess so,” he shrugged.

  “Well, you could take her over to the house and fix some sandwiches from the leftover ham from last night, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to use the microwave to heat it up,” Lydia said, shaking her head and looking intently at the checkout counter.

  Josh felt his stomach knot up. He knew that tone. “What’s the matter with the microwave?” he asked.

  With a sigh, Lydia began an explanation, her voice hushed so that the customers couldn’t overhear, Josh supposed. “Your father was attempting to reheat his coffee when the boys went back for lunch a while ago, and he put it in for forty-five minutes instead of forty-five seconds. Of course, it didn’t go that long before Travis realized there was a problem, but by then, the microwave had just about had it, and there’s burned coffee all over the place.”

  “Oh, no,” Josh mumbled, shaking his head. He was afraid something like this might happen someday soon. They were all very lucky that Travis was there to prevent a fire. “Is Dad okay?”

  “He’s fine,” Lydia shrugged. “Travis said he went on like it was no big deal. He hasn’t even come down here to tell me about it. But… well, I worry.”

  Josh nodded, and knowing his mother wouldn’t say more in front of Delaney, he decided they could talk about it later. He glanced over at Delaney, and she had a concerned look on her usually cheerful face. She was chewing on her bottom lip, and while Josh was surprised his mother had mentioned it in front of her, he could see that she was absorbing the information as if she genuinely cared about his father as well, a man she’d never met. “I’ll go check on him in a little while,” Josh offered.

  “Thank you,” Lydia replied, exhaling. Then, shaking her head as if to clear it, she looked at Delaney and smiled broadly. “It was just lovely meeting you, Delaney. I’m so excited to get to try your cocoa for myself.”

  Smiling back at her, Delaney replied, “It was so nice to meet you, too. I’ll talk to Josh, and we’ll figure out the best way to get the cocoa over before next weekend. Does that sound good?”

  “That sounds just wonderful,” Lydia assured her, and before his mother could forcibly hug the young woman she’d only just met, Josh took her gently by the arm and began to lead her out of the shop. “Bye!” Lydia called and they both echoed her with a wave as they made their way back out into the falling snow.

  Once they were back outside, Josh wasn’t sure if he should apologize for his mother or try to put their conversation in context. Honestly, she had behaved herself quite well, except for the cocoa discussion, and Josh hoped Delaney didn’t feel obligated to supply Taylor Tree Farm with cocoa, though the idea that she would be working as a sort-of supplier for them was kind of nice because it meant he might have more of a chance to see her. As he led her away from the shop, he stopped and turned to face her, touching her gently on the arm as he did so, “Thanks a lot for volunteering to help my mom with the cocoa,” he began, not really sure what to say.

  Delaney looked up at him, a smile on her pretty face. “Sure. Your mom is so nice. She seems like she really cares a lot about this place. And Christmas.”

  Josh couldn’t help but chuckle. She’d hit the nail on the head. “My mom is a Christmas fanatic, and I think this is probably her favorite place on Earth.”

  “No tropical paradise for her?” Delaney teased, clearly referencing their earlier conversation.

  “I don’t know if my mother has ever even been to a beach,” Josh admitted, thinking about when that might have happened. “I guess she would like it, but… I don’t know.”

  “Everyone should go to the beach some time in their life,” Delaney shrugged. “There’s a reason the expression is ‘life’s a beach’ instead of ‘life’s a mountain top.’”

  “True,” Josh replied, though the mountaintops he was standing amidst seemed pretty decent right about now. “Would you like to head back to my parents’ house and grab some lunch before we go out on the tour? I know I’m taking up a lot more of your day than you might have planned, but my mom makes the best ham.”

  Delaney’s smile broadened. “That sounds great,” she said, nodding. “I didn’t really eat any breakfast this morning.”

  “Awesome,” he said. “I mean… that you want to have lunch, not that you didn’t eat breakfast.”

  Giggling, Delaney swatted him on the arm playfully. “I knew what you meant.” She looked around. “Do we walk to your parents’ house? We could take my truck.”

  While Josh was thinking of taking his dad’s old work truck that they often used to drive back and forth between the village and the house, it was possible someone else might need it, and there was no reason to leave Delaney’s truck in the parking lot. “We can take your truck, if you’d like.”

  “Okay,” Delaney replied. “I will have to actually pick out a Christmas tree before we go, though. Nana will not be very happy if I spend my whole day at a Christmas tree farm and don’t bring her back the perfect tree.”

  As he led her off toward the parking lot, Josh said, “Don’t worry. We’ll find you the perfect tree.” Perfect tree, perfect day, perfect girl. This mountainside was looking better and better all the time. Who needed a beach?

  Chapter 11

  The drive from the village to Josh’s parents’ house had been relatively quick, and Delaney hadn’t said much. She was too busy concentrating on where she was going since most of the way actually crossed the acreage, and she couldn’t see the ground well because of the snow. Originally, she had thought to let Josh drive, but he’d insisted that it wasn’t far and that she wouldn’t have any problems navigating what had become a pretty well-worn path even if she couldn’t see it. When she’d pulled up outside a cozy log cabin and switched the engine off, she’d given a small sigh of relief before jumping down out of the truck and following Josh inside.

  Meeting Josh’s mom had been nice; Lydia seemed very sweet, and she wasn’t pushy, nor did she seem to make any assumptions. While meeting one parent was enough for one day, Delaney did sort of hope that Josh’s dad would be around, or that she’d have a chance to meet him later. While she’d tried to stay out of their private conversation, his forgetfulness had caught her attention, and she wanted to mention Nana, though it hadn’t been the right time. Josh’s father seemed like a nice man, and Delaney hoped she’d get to make his acquaintance sooner or later.

  Josh led her inside what turned out to be an empty house, despite the various vehicles outside. The front room was decorated beautifully with a large Christmas tree, boughs of various evergreens draped in garlands and formed into wreaths, with large red bows and golden ornaments. However, as soon as they entered the kitchen, the overwhelming smell of burnt coffee hit her nostrils, almost making her gag and ruining a bit of the ambiance.

  “Leave it to Travis not to clean that up at all,” Josh muttered, approaching the microwave. “So
rry about that, Delaney.”

  “It’s okay,” she said, though she was sure her tone probably revealed her stomach was having other thoughts. “Can I help you clean it up?”

  Josh stood back at arm's length and opened the microwave door. The smell was even worse now, and he began to cough. “You know what,” he said, closing the door quickly, “I think I’ll just set it outside. It might be time to get a new one.”

  Despite the green tinge to his face, Delaney couldn’t help but giggle. “Do you want to take it out the back? I’ll get the door.”

  “Sounds good,” Josh said as he pulled the plug from the wall and shimmied the appliance out of its cubby above a built-in cupboard. Delaney went ahead of him and pulled open the back door before stepping in front to fling open the screen door. Despite having left her coat in the living room at the entry, she was happy to be outside in the fresh air again, even if the breeze did bite just a bit. Once Josh had the microwave on the edge of the porch, as far away from the door and windows as possible, she closed the door, taking another deep breath of mountain air.

  “Thanks,” Josh muttered, stretching his back. The microwave was a larger model and clearly it had been heavy. He shook his head as if he was still contemplating the whole situation.

  “No problem,” Delaney replied, wanting to mention she understood his concerns, but afraid to invade his privacy. Just then, she realized they were not alone. A large bloodhound with a substantial belly slowly made his way up the steps and approached her, his sad eyes begging to be petted. “Aww! Who’s this?” she asked as she offered her hand for his approval before she began to stroke his head.

  Josh’s countenance changed immediately. He stepped over with a smile on his face and dropped to a knee, patting the dog on the back. “This is Critter,” he replied. “How are you today, boy?” he asked. The dog dropped down and rolled over, a clear indication that he needed a belly rub immediately. Josh complied, and the whacking of the dog’s tail against the porch showed his happiness.