The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)(52)

‘Oh, that’s new!’ Annie said, pointing to a particularly garish light-up snowman display.

‘It’s certainly bright. You can probably see it from space.’

She laughed and he wanted to bottle the sound.

‘Oh, look at that one.’ She pointed across his body to a house on the left and it reminded him of when they were kids on that tour, the way she’d leaned into him, the way he hadn’t wanted it to end.

She didn’t move all the way back to her side of the car and instead stayed close to him, her shoulder nearly pressing against his. She smelled like frosting and ginger and Mac barely contained his groan. He wanted her.

Whatever she was willing to give.

He wanted it.

The snow was still falling in thick white flakes and Nat King Cole crooned a Christmas classic on the radio. The truck was warm, the windshield fogging over in between swipes of the wipers. They drove slowly around the block, admiring the light displays as they went. It had been years since Mac did anything like this. He slid his gaze to Annie’s face, watching her delight in her neighbors’ efforts.

She was so fucking beautiful.

‘How about that one?’ He pointed to a house with white icicle lights on the porch and a candle lit in each window.

‘Understated. I like it.’

Mac smiled in the darkness.

‘How about that one?’ Annie pointed.

‘Too blue for me.’

‘You’ve gotten picky with lights in your old age,’ she teased, nudging him a little with her shoulder. The warmth of her seeped into him. He wished she would stay pressed against him in the dark.

‘I learned a lot about myself while I was away,’ he said. ‘But one of the main things was that I like my Christmas décor understated.’

‘Wow, you really did some deep thinking out there on the road. It’s a good thing you stayed away for so long, I guess.’ And just like that the mood in the car shifted again. Annie moved away from him, back to her seat, and turned her gaze out her window.

Would they ever be able to be near each other without digging up the past?

He’d been joking about the Christmas decorations, but it was a good thing that he'd been gone so long. He sorted out a lot of stuff while he was away. Learned a lot about himself, what he wanted from life. When he came back to Dream Harbor, it was because he wanted to, not because he was born here, not because he was stuck here, or because it was his only option. He needed to experience life outside of Dream Harbor before he could appreciate life in it.

But if he said any of that, he knew it would come out wrong. That all Annie would hear was that he was glad he left her.

They drove the rest of the way without speaking. The only sounds were the quiet mewing of the cats and the windshield wipers pushing the snow from the window. Sometimes, he wondered that if he had done things differently, would there still be a chance for him and Annie? He didn’t regret leaving but he hated the way he’d left.











Chapter Twenty-Three





Then


‘I’ve gathered you here today to discuss an important matter,’ Mac said, glancing from his mom to his dad. He hadn’t actually gathered them anywhere. He’d waylaid them at the dinner table.

‘Mac, what is this about?’ his dad said, already looking impatient. His father was not a man who liked to be waylaid. Mac rarely ever even saw him sit down.

Mac folded his hands on the table in front of him and then unfolded them and then folded them again. His palms were damp. He’d had a whole speech planned but now, with his mother 's worried face and his father already looking antsy, Mac’s preparedness went right out the window.

‘But first, a gift!’ He was totally stalling but he and Annie had finally tracked down the perfect gift for his mom and now felt like the right time to give it to her. He set the gift bag on the table.

‘An early Christmas present?’ his mom asked. She looked skeptical which, after the gifts he'd given her over the years, she had every right to be.

‘Yep. For you.’ He pushed the bag toward her.

She pulled out the tissue paper that Annie had insisted he put in, saying it didn’t count as wrapping without it, until she got to the hand-carved Nativity scene he’d found at a craft fair. It was Annie who’d noticed that his mom had several scenes around the house, and when he saw this one, he knew it was the perfect gift.

‘Mac, it’s lovely,’ his mom said. ‘Thank you.’

Mac breathed a sigh of relief. He’d nailed it, which was good because now was the hard part.

‘I also wanted to talk to you about … you know … the future. Uh … my future, specifically.’

His mom looked hopeful at that. ‘Have you finally decided to enroll at the community college? They have a great nursing program.’

Mac sighed. He was positive he would be a terrible nurse. He didn’t have his mother's patience or her iron stomach.

‘No, that’s not really what I was thinking…’

‘Well, we could use you for more hours down at the pub,’ his dad said, and the suffocating feeling in Mac’s chest grew. He knew his dad would love it if he worked more hours pouring pints or serving food and eventually take over more of the business side of things, but the pub was his dad’s dream. Not his. At least he didn't think it was.