“Hungry?” I ask. “Can I get you some coffee?”
“Will I sound uncool if I ask for a cup of cocoa?”
“You remember.” I don’t know why this pleases me. I’ve made him so much cocoa over the years it would be a shock if he didn’t.
“Is that something people forget?” he asks.
“Not around here,” one of the high school boys at the nearest table says. “Good choice. Get a cranberry blondie too.”
“Cocoa and a cranberry blondie, please,” he says.
I pop up to fill a mug and plate the blondie, setting them both in front of him less than a minute later. I pinch a piece of his blondie before he can even touch it and pop it in my mouth. “So how long are you in town?”
“Not sure. Through Christmas, at least. Kind of depends on when the magazine has a new assignment for me.” He takes a bite of his blondie and his eyes widen. He chews with the look of someone savoring his food before he narrows his eyes. “Should I be super happy to be eating this right now or upset that you’ve never made it for me before?”
“Happy since it’s a new recipe I tried this year. And maybe grovelly so I’ll give you another one.”
He presses his hands together, prayer-like, and dips his head toward me. “All the groveling.” Then he takes another bite.
He doesn’t have to grovel. It makes me happy to see him enjoying my baking. It always has.
I steal his mug and take a sip. “Dang. I am so good at cocoa.”
He laughs. “No lies detected.”
The two high school boys get up and clear their table. “Bye, Taylor,” one of them calls.
“See you, gentlemen. Cookie if you get an A.” It’s a standing deal I have with my high school regulars—cookies for smart cookies.
“Bet on it,” the other one says, and they wave goodbye.
“So you’re going to entertain me while I’m here, right?” Levi asks.
I smirk at him. “No. I’m in charge of Christmas Town again, remember?”
His eyes go shifty, darting from side to side.
“Too late,” I tell him. “You’re getting drafted.”
He heaves a deep sigh. “It can’t be as bad as that time insurgents held me captive for three days.” He slides his mug back and takes a drink, setting it down with a considering look. “Fine. I’ll do it, but you’re going to have to pay me in cocoa.”
“Deal. Now get out of here and go see your parents before I get in trouble with your mom.”
He wipes the crumbs from his lips with a napkin then stands. “I’ll be back when my mom lets me out of the house again. But she might not let me out at all. You know that, right?”
“Yes, dummy.” I step into his waiting arms, and the strongest wave of nostalgia I’ve ever experienced washes over me, strong enough to make my breath hitch.
His arms tighten for a second and then we let go of each other, smiling.
“It doesn’t suck to see you again, Taylor.”
“You’re surprisingly tolerable, Levi.”
He picks up the remainder of his blondie and heads toward the door. “I’ll see you when my mom is done spoiling me.”
“So never?”
The bells over the door jingle. “Basically.”
