Katy Sullivan bobbled double-stacked bins of sugar cookies as
she navigated the crowded school hallway. Holly Haven Elementary School’s
Christmas Family Night was cranking up to full-speed-ahead, and she wondered
once again how her sister had talked her into spending the better part of a busy
work day baking her special recipe cookies for this event. It wasn’t as if Katy
didn’t already have enough to fill her to-do list; managing her Main Street
Boutique kept her especially busy this time of year, with holiday shoppers
hunting for the perfect gifts.
“Oh, good…you made it.” Liz rushed up to greet her, and
snatched one of the plastic bins from Katy’s arms. Liz lifted the lid, inhaled
appreciatively. “Oh, these smell heavenly, and just when I was beginning to
worry you’d burned the sweets.”
“Me…burn my soon-to-be-famous, top-secret-recipe cookies?”
Katy blew out a breath, desperately trying to move the strands of hair that
spilled across her forehead to tickle her cheek. “Never. Surely you know better
that that.”
“Well…the thought did cross my mind—for a second or two. After
all, we all have our off days.” Liz rolled her eyes. “I had one yesterday, and
I hope I’ve fully recovered.”
“You had an off-day? Impossible. You are never less than
perfect, sis.” Indeed, Katy had spent the better part of her life trying to
live up to the standards her twin sister had set. Liz had penned a life plan by
the age of fourteen, and she’d spent the last decade-and-a-half conquering it.
She’d graduated college a full year early while Katy opted for the five-year plan.
By twenty-two, even before Katy donned a graduation cap and gown, Liz was
happily engaged to Curt.
By Liz’s twenty-third birthday, the couple had married, and by
her twenty-fourth they’d built and moved into Liz’s dream house—a whopping
three-story deal near the outskirts of town. Merely a few months later, Janie
came along; and following half-a-decade of teaching, Liz had been named the
principal of Holly Haven Elementary School.
Now, five years later, Curt captained trans-continental
airline flights while Liz had been named Holly Haven School District’s
Administrator of the Year for two years running. Katy’s head spun simply trying
to keep up with all the details of their busy lives.
“Never mind about my faux pas. It’s getting dangerously close
to time to open our doors for this fundraiser, and right now there are still a
million-and-two things left to do.” Liz glanced at her wristwatch as impeccably
neat, cropped blonde hair framed her face of perfectly-arched cheekbones and
porcelain skin. You’d never know she’d already put in a ten-hour workday.
Unlike Katy, who chose to wear her natural curls in their true strawberry
blonde color—a sign of her Irish heritage—whose hair constantly looked as if
she’d just stepped out of wind storm.
Unlike
Katy. That seemed to be Katy’s mantra when it came to Liz. It
wasn’t a bad thing in Katy’s mind. They were just different where everyone
expected them to be…well, identical. Liz, unlike Katy, was minus a smattering
of freckles across the bridge of her nose. When the two were young children,
before hair dye and make-up, those freckles—or lack of them—were one of the
only ways the teachers at school could tell them apart. That led to a shipyard
of laughs and one very memorable phone call to their parents.
“I need you to take these down the hall to the fishing game in
the Janie’s classroom, at the far end of the kindergarten wing, Katy.” Liz
directed without missing a beat. “I’ll help the others get set up and ready for
the crowd forming in the foyer. Janie can show you the way.”
Unlike
Katy, Liz’s mind didn’t wander all over the place while escorting cookies down
the school hall.
“I know the way.” Katy had visited the class for show-and-tell
day just a few weeks ago, when Janie begged her to come and share cookies for
her classmates to decorate. Hence her invitation to this Christmas Family Night
event—word of her delicious cookies had spread like wildfire through the halls
of Holly Haven. And, just last week, Janie’s teacher had invited her back for
the class’s Career Day, where Katy had shared an assortment handmade jewelry,
scarves, and handbags she’d fashioned for her boutique. She’d brought
inexpensive baubles and allowed every child to create his or her own art
design. The girls had practically squealed with delight and even the boys had
loved the activity.
“I can help you carry those.” Janie swooped in beside Katy,
her cheeks flushed with excitement as she reached for a cookie container. “Mama
says I’m strong.”
“That you are.” Katy handed a smaller tub that held decorating
supplies to her niece, who balanced it carefully in tiny hands. At five years
old and nearly halfway through kindergarten, she already had the take-charge
attitude of her mother that made her seem older and wiser than her years. Katy
supposed she came by it honestly. Both Curt and Liz proved headstrong. “You
lead the way.”
“OK, follow me, Aunt Katy.” Blonde pigtails bobbed as the
heels of Janie’s black patent leather shoes clacked across polished tile. She
was dressed in crisp evergreen holiday velvet and white tights…a miniature
fashionista. “Mr. Caleb—he’s Billy Kendrick’s uncle—has been waiting for you.”
Katy knew well the Billy whom Janie spoke of. He was the son of Mariah Kendrick, one of
Katy’s closest high school friends, and he had been full of questions during
both of her visits to the school, practically talking her ear off with chatter
about the treasures his uncle Caleb had scored during his many cross-country
treks. The kid was a firecracker for sure, and with his tousled dark hair and eyes
the intriguing color of seafoam, he’d proved the spitting image of his uncle
Caleb Kendrick…the same Caleb Kendrick who’d broken Katy’s heart.
“Caleb?” Katy’s heart did a weird little two-step as his name
whispered from her lips. She already knew the answer, yet she had to add, “It
can’t be…it isn’t possible…I never imagined he’d be here tonight. Are you sure
it’s Caleb Kendrick…the Caleb Kendrick?”
“Are there two Caleb Kendrick’s?”
“I don’t think so.” The world couldn’t possibly handle two.
“Then yes, that’s right. Billy’s uncle just opened the antique
store next to yours. Mr. Caleb volunteered to help with our fishin’ game when
Mrs. Onsteen got the flu.” Janie peered over the decorating bin, her gaze
narrowed with a sort of confusion that said all the puzzle pieces weren’t
fitting together for her. “You look upset, Aunt Katy. Why?”
“I’m just…it’s just…” Why, exactly, was she upset? It was an
inevitable fact of life that she and Caleb would run into each other again,
eventually, especially in a small town like Holly Haven. She just didn’t expect
it to be this soon.
It’s been ten years, Katy…more than ten years. And you’ve
spent the better part of that decade dodging him. The gig is finally up…
“Mama says you and Mr. Caleb used to be kind of special friends
when you were in high school. What does ‘kind of special’ mean?”
“Umm…hmm…” She wasn’t often rendered speechless, yet Katy
paused as a worried frown caused her lips to sag at the corners. She managed,
“Caleb and I were…we were…I was…”
“His girlfriend?”
“Yes.” Katy swallowed hard as the thought invaded. “For a
while.”
“But you’re not now?” Janie hugged the box tighter to her
chest, as if trying to squeeze an answer from it. “Why?”
“I…we…” Katy couldn’t manage an adequate explanation. Even she
still failed to understand what, exactly, had transpired that final day…in
those last heart-wrenching moments when Caleb had ridden off, literally, into
the sunset.
“Mama says Mr. Caleb still likes you. She says his eyes lit up
when she told him you’d be here tonight to help, and that you were makin’
cookies. Are you gonna go out with him again—maybe to the Christmas tree
lighting or for a sleigh ride along Main Street to see all the pretty holiday
displays?”
“I don’t think—” Katy paused, had to catch the door jamb to
steady herself. Her breath wouldn’t seem to come. “No…I have no plans to do any
such thing with Caleb.”
“Hey, are you OK?” Janie bobbled the decorating crate as she
tugged at Katy’s shirt hem. “You look like Mama did yesterday when she told
Daddy she backed the car into the garage door.”
“She what?” Katy’s eyes grew wide and her thoughts came into
focus. Liz had a perfect driving record…never so much as a speeding ticket or a
fender-bender. “When did your mama manage to do that?”
“Last night. She called Daddy on the phone to tell him—he’s
flyin’ his plane for the airline, you know—but Daddy wasn’t mad at all. He said
it’s OK…it was just an accident…and he called the repairman for Mama. Daddy
said we all make mistakes.”
“Yes, we do.” And as far as Katy was concerned, she wouldn’t
repeat her mistakes, especially those she’d stumbled through with Caleb.
“So, you’re OK?” Janie’s brown eyes shone like a pair of
newly-minted pennies. “Are you havin’ a headache like Mama does after a rough
day at work?”
“Kind of…just a little.”
“Should I get Mama?”
“No, I’m fine. I just didn’t…” Katy sighed and glanced back at
Liz, who’d not made her way down the hall yet seemed to hear every word of
their conversation. Now, Liz simply waggled her fingers as she offered a
lopsided grin along with a slight shrug as if to say, “Buck up little camper,
where’s your holiday spirit? You act like you’re the one who plowed your SUV
through the garage. It’s only Caleb. You’ll survive this.”
Easy for her to say. Katy grimaced and turned from Liz with a
death glare.
“C’mon then, Aunt Katy.” Janie nodded toward a set of double
doors sporting signage that read, Kindergarten Wing. “Mr. Caleb said if you
didn’t get here soon he’d have to sing for the fishing game prize, and that’d
be awful. Mama says he sounds like a walrus with a bad cold.”
“Is that so?” Katy’s trepidation segued to quivering laughter,
because she knew Liz was teasing and Caleb’s singing voice was anything but
abrasive. When Katy and Caleb were classmates at Holly Haven High he’d sung to
her from the bed of his pickup truck on a stretch of warm, lazy summer nights
beneath the stars. They’d even slow-danced a time or two while he serenaded.
The gesture had made her feel loved and special beyond words. But that had been
years ago…too many seasons ago to count. When Caleb left town following
graduation, all but shattering her heart, Katy thought he’d stay gone forever.
But he’d returned, and a couple of weeks ago, he’d opened an antique shop right
next door to her Main Street Boutique.
Twelve days ago, to be exact. Katy knew, because she’d seen
Caleb with her own eyes when he stopped by the boutique one afternoon looking
for her. Of course, she’d closed the door to her back office and pretended to
be busy—well, she didn’t really have to pretend that part because it seemed
when it came to managing the boutique she was always busy—and said she couldn’t
take visitors when her assistant Cassie buzzed in with Caleb’s request to speak
with her. She’d managed to avoid him for a full dozen days, though he’d set up
shop right alongside her, just to stumble into him here at Holly Haven’s
Christmas Family Night.
Who would have thought?
“Yep, that’s so.” Janie’s response brought Katy back to the
task at hand. “A singing walrus, that’s funny!”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Katy drew a long breath. She shook
her head to clear memories of time spent with Caleb and the odd sense of
longing that seeped like warm cider through her veins. She’d have to get past
this train of thought and quick if she and Caleb planned to make their futures
in the same town. And, from the chatter she’d heard through the grapevine, he’d
returned for the long haul. Katy plastered on a smile and winked
conspiratorially as she shoved open the doors with a swing of her hips. “We don’t
want to scare away the customers.”
“Then we’d better get these cookies delivered to the fishing
game quick.” Janie started off again, skipping to close the distance while her
patent leather shoes clacked a staccato beat along the floor tile.
They rounded a corner that opened into a suite of kindergarten
classrooms merrily decorated in handmade holiday crafts and strands of
colorful, blinking LED lights. Christmas music spilled from a portable CD
player on the counter. Above the upbeat tempo of piano chords and jingle bells,
Katy heard the murmur of voices.
She recognized one of them as—
“Well, hello there, Katy.” Caleb glanced up from a where he
sat in a chair that seemed impossibly too small for his broad, tall frame. He
held an old-fashioned wooden fishing pole in one hand, the end adorned with a
laundry clip instead of a hook and the handle graced with a generous red-velvet
bow. Eyes the color of an ocean storm skimmed over her as an appreciate grin
bowed his lips. “So, you’ve finally come out of hiding. You look…good.”
“I haven’t been hiding.” She barely voiced the words, because
Caleb’s assertion rang true. She had been hiding. For a moment or two, a breath
stuck like a blob of glue to her throat. Time had been good to Caleb; he’d lost
none of the muscle he’d honed so meticulously while being the star receiver at
Holly Haven High. And that hair…maybe it lay just a little bit shorter, but the
waves toppled as thick and dark over those mesmerizing seafoam eyes as Katy
remembered. Despite her resolve to stay strong against his charm, memories
bubbled up and spilled over. “I’ve been busy with work and marketing and
penning Christmas cards and baking and…”
“Might I find a card in your stack addressed to me?”
“Caleb…I don’t even know your address anymore.”
“I’m staying at the farmhouse…with Mariah. I thought you would
have heard by now.”
“Mariah might have mentioned it…in passing.” Of course she
had, and Katy had done a good job of glossing right over that particular nugget
of information. With good reason, too. She knew the farmhouse well, having
spent the better part of her childhood there hanging out with Mariah on long
summer days and then later with Caleb. She and Caleb had spent hours beneath
the massive weeping willow in the side yard, wishing and dreaming; and a creek
that ran the rear length of the property was perfect for wading and skipping
rocks on warm summer days. Later…as the pair headed toward graduation,
stargazing and kisses had come…and then, finally, the leaving.
The memory stung. Just because Mariah remained a good friend,
didn’t mean Katy had to offer Caleb the proverbial olive branch.
“Of course, well…My mistake.” Caleb studied her as if he read
her mind. “Let me help you with those containers.” He rose from the chair and
took the cookie bins from Katy’s hands. “Billy, come out and see the bounty I
just snagged. Maybe Katy will let you taste test these delicious morsels before
we start handing them out.”
Billy scrambled from beneath a platform that had been
fashioned with white cotton dusted with glitter as well as a touch of silver
foil to look like an ice-fishing hole.
“Hi, Miss Katy.” He offered a quick wave as he brushed
too-long hair from his eyes. Mariah probably hadn’t been able to get him to the
barber’s in a while, since she was feeling poorly. The realization tugged at
Katy’s heart. Perhaps Caleb would see to it, now that he was home again.
Home…
“Hi, there.” Katy was warmed by Billy’s eager welcome. At
least one of the Kendrick men had a shred of manners. “How are you?”
“Great. Uncle Caleb is going to show me how to hook the
treats, but we were waiting on you to bring them.” He scampered over to Caleb
and reared up on his tiptoes to peek into the oversized plastic containers.
“Are these the cookies?”
“Affirmative.” Caleb mussed Billy’s hair. “Take a sniff.” He
popped open the corner of a container and slid it Billy’s way as the aroma of
brown sugar and warm, creamy butter drifted up to tickle. “Pretty amazing,
huh?”
“Oh yeah. Wow.” Billy tossed Katy an eager look over one
shoulder. “Uncle Caleb says you make the best sugar cookies ever. He knows,
’cause you used to bake them ’specially for him, right Miss Katy?”
“That’s right…once upon a time.” The memory of it caused
Katy’s heart to ache just a little.
“Katy and I once shared a kiss over a sugar cookie,” Caleb
offered, slanting a look her way. The grin on his face might have melted
butter. “Do you remember, Katy?”
She did…all too well. It hadn’t just been a kiss…it had been
her first kiss. And Caleb had stolen her breath, literally. They’d been
standing in the farmhouse kitchen, having just pulled the baking sheet from the
oven. Warmth drifted as Caleb leaned in, his hand resting at the small of her
back, and the room had spun, her knees had buckled, and she’d have hit the
floor if he hadn’t caught her in his arms and held her. She’d been all of
seventeen, and thinking, right up until then, that she’d never know what it
felt like to be kissed—really kissed.
It had been worth the wait.
“You two kissed. Really?” Billy asked.
“Really.” Caleb nodded.
“That’s gross.” Billy’s mouth twisted and he scrubbed his lips
for emphasis. “I’m never kissin’ a girl…except for Mom, that is…on the cheek.”
“You’ll feel differently one day.” Caleb laughed. “But there’s
plenty of time for that. For now, we’ll just stick to enjoying the cookies.”
“Oh, they are the delicious.” Janie nodded to solidify the
fact. “Aunt Katy’s good at lots of stuff, but her holiday cookies are the best.
Last year she won the blue ribbon at the Holly Haven Christmas Cookie Bake-off.
No one can beat her.”
“If I remember correctly, that’s spot on.” Caleb nodded
appreciatively as he slanted a look Katy’s way. “And, if my memory serves me
right, her kisses…Yep, they’re worthy of a blue-ribbon, too.”
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