I stare at her decorated sugar cookies. There isn’t one mistake, between the Santa’s red cheeks to the reindeer’s dark eyes. “They’re too beautiful to eat.”

  She chuckles. “Nothing is too beautiful to eat.”

  I have a bunch of questions I want to ask her. Like does she prefer the thinner cookie versus a thicker? What does she think makes the perfect sugar cookie? But she’ll probably ask me why and I don’t want to get into why I know so much about baking.

  “Thanks a lot… for everything.” I head back upstairs and open the door of our room.

  Tre is standing there in only his boxer briefs. I shut the door immediately and hear him howling with laughter behind the thick wood.

  “You can open the door now, Rapunzel.”

  I open the door but look at the other side of the room from him. “Why Rapunzel?”

  “Because she was innocent. Stuck up in that tower and didn’t experience much. You looked so shocked and scandalized when you saw me in my briefs. But you can look now, I’m in my sweats.”

  I glance at him. “Still without a shirt.”

  “If you think I’m wearing a shirt to bed, you’re crazy. You’re lucky I’m wearing sweats. It’s, like, a hundred degrees in here.” He lies on the bed, and I pretend to be busy grabbing my clothes.

  “I brought up some cookies. I’m going to take a shower.”

  I hurry out of the room and lock myself in the bathroom. I’m traveling across the country for another man. I have to remember that. Though it’s not like Tre would want me anyway. I’m pretty sure he finds me annoying.

  I shower, dry off, and put on the shorts and T-shirt set, thankful I didn’t just bring my shorts and tank silk sets. I’m hoping he’s asleep and I can sneak my way into the room and slide into bed without him noticing, so I slowly turn the doorknob and inch it open.

  The lights are still on and he’s on his phone, so I push the door open the rest of the way. “Not tired?”

  He yawns. “Getting there. Just texting my family to say we’re staying the night somewhere again.”

  He shuts off his phone while I stuff my dirty clothes into my bag and pull back the covers to get into bed.

  “I like the barrier you put between us.” He chuckles.

  “Thanks.”

  Both of us click the lights off by our heads, then I turn on my side to face away from him, but I swear I can feel the plethora of nutcrackers staring at me in the dark.

  “Good thing we’re not a couple,” I say.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I can’t imagine having sex with all these wooden statues staring at us.”

  He laughs, and the sound echoes in the dark, feeling like a warm caress.

  “Did you have a cookie?” I ask.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  He’s quiet for a beat. “It’s embarrassing.”

  I roll over to face him, but it’s dark, so I only see a shadow of him. “Tell me.”

  “I’m not giving up any information without you doing the same.”

  I blow out a breath. “Fine, but you answer first.”

  “I promised my mom I wouldn’t eat a sugar cookie until I get home. It’s just this big thing at our house ever since I was little. My mom plans an entire night of cutting them out, baking them, and decorating them.”

  “That’s so sweet.”

  “It means a lot to her. It’s weird, but ever since I went into the military, I feel like I broke her. She’s always so worried. Reading the newspapers, watching the news, calling me and telling me what could happen. I could be shipped here or there. When I decided on Army Ranger, my dad thought it was great, but I saw it in my mom’s face—the fear. So if not eating a sugar cookie even though I fucking love them is important to her, then I’ll wait until we’re together again.”

  Tears well up in my eyes, but I suck them back. I don’t know what it’s like to have someone like that in your life. To have someone care about you that much. “That wasn’t the answer I was prepared for.”

  “Didn’t think so. Now it’s your turn in the hot seat.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  He’s quiet for a second, and I worry that he might have fallen asleep. “Name the shittiest thing to happen to you this year, other than some schmuck stealing your seat in first class?”

  I smile since he probably can’t even see me. “I feel like you set me up.” I’ve been vocal about my life sucking recently, but not in specifics.

  “You seemed really upset about the seat, but you’ve been going with the flow since we got snowed in at the airport. Makes me think there’s a lot more to the story.”

  Do I tell him or keep it to myself? We’re only traveling a little bit longer together. Then we’ll go our separate ways. But he’s easy to talk to, and after the story he just told me about his mom, I know he cares about others. So I opt for honesty.

  “I had to close my bakery in New York. It was my dream for so long, but it’s hard to make it there. Rent is so high, there’s so much competition…”

  “I’m sorry.” His voice is soft and full of sympathy.

  “Thanks.”

  We’re quiet for a while, then he breaks the silence.

  “I feel it sometimes when we’re alone and neither of us are talking,” he says quietly.

  “You feel what?” I’m almost afraid to ask.

  “Your sadness.”

  A tear slips from my eye, but I quickly turn back around and wipe it away. “We should go to bed.”

  Neither of us says anything for a long time.

  “Good night,” he whispers eventually.

  But I pretend as if I’ve already fallen asleep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tre

  I wake up as a stream of light peeks through the curtain.

  It takes me a moment to register the warmth pressed to the front of my body—it isn’t something I’m used to when I wake up. I’m a “kick the covers off in the middle of the night” sleeper. But the soft skin under my hand, the ass wiggling in my crotch, this is all new.

  Oh shit.

  I peek through one eye, and sure enough, I’m spooning Tessa. I’m not sure what my hand was doing, but she’s moaning and squirming. Retracting my hand is torture, but she’s going to freak out if she wakes up and sees the position we’re in. Especially since my dick didn’t get the memo that this is a platonic sleeping situation. When I roll onto my back, she rolls to her stomach, sliding her arms under her pillow and bending one knee up.

  Once I’m not attached to her like a monkey, I sit up and look at her. The underside of her right ass cheek sticks out of her pajama bottoms, and her shirt has lifted enough that I know her stomach is exposed on the mattress.

  She’s so damn hot, I have no idea how I’ve been able to keep my attraction hidden. Her following some guy across the country isn’t really something that would have stopped me before. I’d shoot my shot and see what happened. But my military training runs deep, and I can deny myself if it’s what’s best. It’s like we’re on a mission and we have to depend on the ones alongside us. We’re a team, and if we cross that line, we’d compromise the mission.

  Once I’m out of bed, I position the blanket wall that’s half crushed and pooled at our feet back into place. No reason she has to know how close we were last night.

  It’s easy to see that she’s had a rough go of it lately, what with knowing her better now and looking back on how she acted when she found me in her first-class seat. Didn’t help that I acted like a complete dick. But when she told me about her bakery, I heard the grief in her voice, but mostly I heard hopelessness. I’d like to get deeper into it sometime before this road trip is done, especially since I feel like maybe she’s chasing this guy, not because she loves him but for a completely different reason.

  I leave her sprawled out on the bed rather than waking her so we can get on the road right away. Then I grab my bag, change in the bathroom, and head downstairs.

  Mrs. Kringle is in the kitchen, cooking. I knock on the doorframe to avoid startling her, but she still steps back from the stove with her hand over her heart, gasping.

  “Oh goodness, you scared me. Tre, right?”

  I nod.

  She catches me reading her apron that says, “Let’s Get Baked.” “It was a gift from my grandson. He didn’t quite understand the meaning, just thought of his grandma and baking.”

  “Makes sense. How old is he?” I take an egg from the carton resting on the counter and crack it into a bowl.

  She points at the carton of eggs. “A dozen scrambled. And he’s five. We’ve been blessed with many grandchildren.”

  I finish cracking the eggs and use the fork she puts out for me to whisk them. “Do they live around here?”

  “One does. This town doesn’t offer much for people with big dreams.” She looks around her kitchen decorated with smartass signs like, “How do you like your eggs? In a cake.” It’s definitely her space and no one else’s. “It’s small, and Christmas isn’t for everyone. We try to get out and visit our other kids, but we run a B&B.” She shrugs.

  I continue to scramble and walk the bowl over to a hot pan. “Who’s all this for? You feeding a whole platoon?”

  She laughs. “What you guys don’t finish, I’ll take over to the firehouse. They can always use a good meal.”

  I cook the eggs on the burner, slowly like my dad taught me on Sunday mornings when he cooked our family breakfast so our mom could sleep in.

  They’re about halfway done when I hear footsteps barrel down the stairs.

  “I think she’s up.” Mrs. Kringle laughs.

  We both turn toward the doorway, and sure enough, Tessa skids to a stop, heaving for a breath. “You.” She points at me with an accusatory finger.

  “What?” My eyebrows raise.

  “You’ve got to stop leaving me…” She pants and inhales a deep breath. “In the morning. I keep thinking you’ve left me.”

  “I’m just helping to cook you breakfast.” I motion to the pan filled with eggs on the stove.

  “Sweetie, go take a shower, then come on down to eat. It’s almost ready.” Mrs. Kringle points toward the staircase.

  Tessa lets out another long breath. “Okay, yeah.”

  Then she stares at me as if she needs reassurance I’m not going to leave her. I nod, and she turns around.

  After we hear her walk back up the stairs, Mrs. Kringle comes over to the stove with the pancake batter. She warms the skillet and puts pats of butter on the hot surface.

  “She’s been left before, I take it?” she asks me in a tone of voice as if she asked me what the weather was supposed to be like today.

  “Um… I don’t know everything, but the way she freaks out, I’d say yes.”

  “That’s a hard one to get over. You two aren’t a couple, are you?”

  I shake my head. I’m sure she assumed, and maybe we could have asked her if there was another room available because we aren’t a couple, but it didn’t sit right with me to ask for a second room when we weren’t even paying for the first.

  “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

  “Why?” I ask, the crease between my eyebrows deepening.

  “Forgive me for saying so, but sweetie, if you were my boyfriend, looking the way you do and all that, we wouldn’t be leaving the bed until lunch.”

  I clear my throat and feel my cheeks heat.

  “And because if you were her boyfriend, I don’t think she’d be so fearful of being left. You remind me of my eldest. I’m not sure if it’s because he had younger siblings, but he just knew how to nurture, you know. I think you do too, and if she were yours, she’d know there’s no chance you’d cast her aside. All that doubt inside her wouldn’t be there if you were hers.” She shrugs. “Just a feeling. But what do I know, I’m just an old lady.” She turns her head to look at me and winks.

  “She’s actually on her way to meet a guy, an ex of hers. Wants to surprise him.” Even I can hear the mild irritation in my voice.

  Her eyes widen, and she flips the first round of pancakes. “Well, lucky him then, I guess, huh?”

  She doesn’t look at me for a reaction. I’m not even sure why she’s saying it, but I feel like a million little needles are poking my skin all at once when I envision Tessa running toward him, all excited to see him again. I shake my head because I don’t need the baggage of all her problems. I have enough of my own.

  After breakfast, Tessa waves to Mrs. Kringle, thanking her again for use of the room and for breakfast.

  “Thank you so much,” I say, surprised when Mrs. Kringle steps into me with her arms open. I hug her, but not as tightly as she hugs me.

  “It’s never too late,” she whispers.

  I pull back from her, and both her gray eyebrows are raised. “Sorry?”

  “To change the future. It’s not etched in stone like the past.”

  I nod even if I’m not sure what she’s talking about. “Thanks again.”

  We walk out of the Jingle Balls B&B and the cold hits us like a punch in the face. Tessa runs across the street toward the car, clearly wanting to get out of this cold as fast as possible. I carry my bag that’s filled with my newly ironed fatigues and fresh laundry, grateful to Tessa and Mrs. Kringle for their help.

  “Tre!” Tessa screams from around the corner.

  I smile to myself, wondering what on earth is wrong now. Is there a reindeer on top of our car? I turn the corner and stop in my tracks, staring at where Tessa’s twirling around where the car used to be parked, mouth gaping open.

  “Where’s the car?” I ask.

  She stops and stares at me, her eyes boring into mine.

  “Yeah, stupid question.”

  I look around and spot the police station on the other corner of the square.

  “Let’s head to the police station. We might have to report it stolen.” I start walking, and she groans, following me.

  “Why would someone steal that car? I mean, it’s a deathtrap on wheels.” Her voice is raising.

  This has really set her off even though she’s the one who’s ready to take detours. Maybe she’s getting eager to reach our destination so she can meet up with her ex.

  My hands fist at the thought. “Just relax. I can handle this.” I open the door to the police station for her, but she doesn’t walk through. Instead, she again glares at me.

  “You can handle it? Because little ol’ me can’t? Is that because I have a vagina?”

  I inhale a deep breath and let my eyes drift shut for a moment. “I only meant because you seem like you’re about to come undone, and we don’t need to piss them off.”

  “Huh, I see. Well, Mister Calm, Cool, and Collected, you go right ahead.” She waves with an arm outstretched, and I walk into the police station first.

  “Look who it is,” Rowdy says. “Last night’s winner.”

  “Oh shit,” Tessa says under her breath when she registers that he’s wearing a police uniform.

  “Hey, Rowdy, right?” I approach him and hold out my hand, which he doesn’t shake. “We were parked along the square in the northeast corner, but our vehicle is gone. We’re not sure if it was stolen or what.”

  “You come here for one night and steal my championship, and now you’re accusing one of our residents of being thieves?” He crosses his big arms, and another guy comes to stand alongside him.

  “We don’t steal things, especially matchbox cars,” the other officer chimes in.

  Off to a great start, I see. Awesome.

  “Okay then, do you have any idea where it might have gone?” I’m wondering if these two took it somewhere as payback for me winning the chugging contest. Towed it behind the building as some joke on us.

  “I’m not sure where you’re from, but around here, no one but Judge Sullivan parks in his spot.”

  “Judge Sullivan,” Tessa says. “It didn’t say anything like that. How were we to know?”

  “She’s right. When we parked, there wasn’t a sign anywhere.”

  “So now we’re liars and thieves?” Rowdy asks.

  I place my stuff on the wooden bench and walk up to him. “It was an honest mistake. We’re not from here.”

  “Nope, you’re not,” Rowdy says.

  “I’m assuming from what you’re saying, is that our car got towed?”

  “Smart one you are,” the tall thin guy says.

  “How much do we need to pay to get it out?” I ask, pulling out my wallet.

  “Don’t pay them, this is ridiculous. There was no sign.” Tessa comes up next to me.

  “Try looking for a sign in the snow, lady.” The tall one gets his face right into Tessa’s. “Because it’s there now.”

  “No, it’s not.” She stomps out of the police station, and I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

  “I’m going to show it to her.” Rowdy’s coworker follows her, and I walk out after them, watching from the stairs of the police station.

  Their voices echo in the vacant square as they argue about whether or not there is a sign, when I hear Tessa say, “Oh, I see. But it wasn’t there last night!”

  “Woman, you think we could get a pole in this frozen ground overnight?”

  They argue the whole way back.

  “You better get your lady in line,” Rowdy says when he comes out to stand beside me.

  “My lady?” I arch an eyebrow.

  “Henry doesn’t take any shit, and she’s piling it on pretty thick right now.”

  Once they’re at the bottom of the stairs, I give Tessa a look to say calm down, but she breezes right by me, and pokes the tall officer in the back.

  “Excuse me.”

  He turns around and towers over her.

  She puts up her hands. “Fine. There was a sign, and I clearly missed it. The snow was covering it, but isn’t there a ticket to be paid, or did you tow us?”

  The tall guy crosses his arms and smirks at Rowdy. “Yeah, and it’s gonna cost you all in all about five hundred between the ticket and fee for the tow and storage.”