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“Ahh!” Maye tossed her phone to Tracy. “You read it. I can’t.”

“Let’s see…” Tracy tapped the message and read it aloud. “He says, ‘Hey, that’s cool, right? Did you punch him in the face?’”

“He did not!” Maye grabbed her phone back. “Let me see—he did not say that!”

“He said most of that. See? He’s happy for you, Maye. I told you it was a good idea.”

“Now can we get through some of the volunteer business?” Maye asked. “Todd emailed a huge list of volunteers we have to assign jobs.”

Over the next few days, when Maye and Tracy met to conduct official volunteer subcommittee business, Tracy asked for status updates about Chris. They were only days away from Halloween, and Chris had promised to come back to Greenville for it. Maye tried not to let doubts overtake her thoughts, but Chris delaying his return had her wondering if he was trying to avoid something. Or someone.

Maye delivered two mugs of freshly brewed autumn spice coffee to her table where Tracy sat waiting. She added a splash of pumpkin spice creamer and slid a mug to Tracy.

“What if he thinks I need space?” Maye theorized. “What if he’s afraid to run into Randall? Why else would he stay away?”

Tracy looked at her with skeptical eyes. “Really? You think Chris is afraid of Randall? The guy who lifts people into the air to kiss them is afraid of the guy who couldn’t get out of a tree? I think you’re overthinking it. What has he said about it?”

“He said that he is working, and seeing some friends, and that he’s coming, he’s just a bit more day-to-day than he expected.”

“What would you tell me to do in this situation?” Tracy asked.

“Hm.” Maye thought about it. “I would say that you have a lot swirling around in your head, and that the best thing you can do is boil it down to the essence of what you want, and then communicate that.”

Tracy nodded. “That’s perfect.”

“Yeah…” Maye said. “Yeah! That’s exactly what I need to do. I am going to do that right now.”

Maye typed a summary of her thoughts and feelings to Chris.

MAYE is typing…

Hi…I’ve been wanting to reach out to you but I don’t want to bother you. I wish I were with you. I hope you come back soon. Or I could go visit you again? You don’t always have to just come here. I don’t want you to feel like you have to be the one to travel here all the time. Unless you like being away and need time apart? People need that sometimes. Especially when they are working. They can focus deeply and concentrate. It frees their minds of distracting thoughts and stress. You might need space for that. In that case, I can just stay here. And I can try to leave you alone while you’re away, too. If that helps. I kinda wouldn’t mind visiting you again, though. I really enjoy that. I liked being with you and seeing your world. Being part of your world. You’re actually trying to make me part of it. It feels sweet and special. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I miss you. When will I see you again?

She re-read her draft and edited what she wrote, then tapped send before she could overthink it.

Maye:

I miss you. When will I see you again?

“Great,” Tracy said. “Now let’s start planning our trip to the Christmas Con.

- 35 -

De-Autumnatize & Christmatize

Halloween was a special time in Greenville, Maine. The town turned the page on one season and welcomed another. Maye spent most of the day fulfilling Volunteer Coordinator duties, since the work of the Christmas season volunteers began that night after Mayor Mayer ushered in the holiday season.

For the downtown Christmas Market, they needed people to help with crowd control, keeping the market clean, parking, and other duties required for a large event. Besides the standard volunteer positions, there were also unique roles that the Christmas Planning Committee expected, which were deemed essential to a successful and joyous event. These included hot chocolate tasters, candy cane distributors, snowball makers, whipped cream shakers, scarf wrappers, mitten tuggers, coat zipperers, caroler tuners, ornament straighteners, and nutmeg shavers. Then there was another whole level of volunteers required for the tree lighting, most of which Maye didn’t have the security clearance for.

Between calls confirming volunteer positions, Maye checked her phone incessantly. She read the last text she got from Chris over and over.

Chris:

Aw, I miss you, too. Sorry this trip is taking longer than expected. Cramming in as many boring business meetings as I can. Turns out, there is one type of Fest I don’t enjoy. A Snoozzzzzze Fest.

As the sun began to set, she still hadn’t heard from Chris. Until finally, her phone dinged.

Chris: