Friendship was the best he could offer. But he wasn’t going to suddenly pretend that he loved Christmas. Just like he wasn’t going to ask her to dim her holiday sparkle to suit him.
They worked together in silence, stringing the lights around the tree. Cassidy was on the ladder; Liam was on the ground. He fed her the strands as they moved from branch to branch. Somehow, among the gathering crowd and falling snow, they got it done right on time.
“Perfection. I had all the faith in the world in you two,” Mayor Bloomfield said, strolling over. He tugged down on the red velvet lapels of his sport coat and rocked back on his heels, admiring the tree. “That’s a gorgeous spruce, son. Your family should be proud.”
“Always an honor,” Liam replied.
“And those lights?” Mayor Bloomfield clapped. “You do have an eye for Christmas décor.” He nodded to Cassidy.
Liam watched her beam under the mayor’s praise.
“Thanks. I wanted it to be perfect,” she confessed.
“Well, you two certainly saved the day,” the mayor said, voice booming just enough to carry to the nearby onlookers. “And after the recent… disruptions, I know the whole town appreciates it. Whoever’s behind these incidents—we’ll get to the bottom of it. Mark my words. The so-called Gingerbread Jerk won’t ruin another Maple Falls tradition on my watch.”
He gave a meaningful pause and then added, “Let’s just hope there aren’t any more surprises hiding in the shadows, hmm?”
Cassidy’s eyes flicked toward Liam. “Fingers crossed,” she murmured.
Liam took a step back and watched as Cassidy surveyed the tree. She was still arranging lights here and there, making sure it was just so. She was such a perfectionist, and the mayor was right—she really had a talent for this. Something shifted in his chest as he felt equal parts admiration and dread. If he hadn’t realized it before, he realized it now. Friend or not, Cassidy was going to be hard to beat for the Christmas Light-Up Display Competition.
As much as he liked her and could not get enough of her contagious smile, he couldn’t let her win. His family needed that prize money. The llama rescue project was too important to him, to Jackson. His brother deserved it after the hell he’d been through. Not to mention the promotion that winning the competition would bring to the family farm shop. He knew how important the first year of business was to a new store, and just like Cassidy, he had a lot to prove.
He had to win, and that meant Cassidy had to lose. But tonight, he didn’t want to think about any of that.
All he wanted was to have fun at the tree lighting ceremony—for Cassidy’s sake. For their new friendship that felt so natural despite their differences, and seemed to be building very fast.
For the first time in four years, Liam felt like he could put aside the dark memories that surfaced this time of year, the bitterness and guilt it dragged up. He knew he couldn’t let it go completely. But he could go back to being a grinch tomorrow.
“What are your plans for after they light this beauty up?” Liam motioned to the tree.
Before Cassidy could answer, Madison, Zach, and Kit appeared from the Kettle, bottles of spiked cider in hand.
“There you are,” Madison said. “Kit’s trying to wrangle us all for sleigh photos before the crowd gets worse.”
“Like you don’t want to get in Santa’s sleigh. Look at that thing.” Kit used her cider to motion down the street at the candy-apple-red sleigh in front of the Santa House. The volunteers had gone all out with the sleigh, a wall of wrapped presents, and a glittery backdrop.
“You want one?” Zach asked, offering Cassidy a bottle of cider.
She reached over and accepted it.
“Hey, where’s mine?” Liam asked.
“Probably back at the Kettle.” But even as Zach said those words, he was opening his coat pocket and taking the third and final bottle out of his inside pocket. “I figured we’d all want one.”
They twisted off their caps and clinked their drinks.
“To Christmas,” Kit said.
“To Christmas,” everyone echoed—except Liam, who simply couldn’t go that far. He took a sip and glanced away, pretending not to notice the way Cassidy was watching him.
The group stayed huddled together, chatting, sipping their ciders, and then, with the crowd gathered, the countdown began.
“Three… two… one…”
Mayor Bloomfield flipped the switch.
For a heartbeat, everything was still.
