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“A tree?!”
I smiled down at her enthusiasm over me having some decorations in my life.
“It’s something she wanted to do this year, and I have a hard time telling that woman no. I’ll show you pictures the next time I see you.”
“It’s a date.”
With that, I opened the door and made my way down the stairs, failing to avoid peeking in the window of Jitters as I walked by, so I caught Susie noticing my origin and breaking into a wide grin as she set about preparing her bakery case for the day. I lifted my hand in a wave and kept on walking back to the parking area where I left my car overnight.
I was sure there was a chill in the air, it being mid-December in New England, but I sure couldn’t feel it.
Chapter 26
December 20
Cole
Blaire and I fell into a pattern after the opening night of the festival. I would come to Holly Ridge under the guise of being helpful with the festival, but really, I couldn’t make myself stay away from Blaire. We usually ended up back at her borrowed studio above Jitters. I found out the third night that Susie had left her a key to Jitters for “emergencies” and made her break in to “borrow” a bit of cookie icing that I proceeded to use to decorate and then lick off Blaire’s body like my own personal Christmas cookie decorating contest.
Blaire mentioned her muscles were a bit sore from overuse, which led me to mention I had a bathtub with Jacuzzi jets in it, which inspired us to spend last night at my place for the first time. Having Blaire wet and naked in my tub, with me holding her legs open in front of one of the Jacuzzi jets while I directed her to play with her tits? That was my own personal Christmas miracle. Having her flip the script on me and suck me off while a jet massaged my taint would keep me going through the new year.
I found myself not minding the Christmas music or corny romantic Christmas movies Blaire would put on in the background while we were spending time snuggled together in her bed or mine. I don’t know if it was just exposure therapy or if my Christmas spirit was slowly being reignited by this magical girl, but it was the best December and lead-up to Christmas I had ever had.
It was after the night in my tub, Blaire had just left to get back to Holly Ridge to oversee a final run-through ahead of the Christmas parade, that reality finally came calling, literally.
I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard my phone ringing in my bedroom. I walked into the room with just a towel around my waist, picking up the phone to see “State Audit Office” showing up on the caller ID. Running my hand through my damp hair, I took a deep breath and answered.
“This is Cole Thomas.”
“Hi Cole. Barney Windfall here. How are you doing this morning?”
“Hi Mr. Windfall. I’m doing all right. How about yourself?”
“Can’t complain. Just a few more days until the office closes for the holidays. Listen, I wanted to give you a call to update you about the status of the Holly Ridge festival and confirm your start date with us when you come aboard next year.”
I felt my knees bending as I sat down on the edge of my bed. Next year. As in just a few weeks. And I could tell from his voice that the news about Holly Ridge would be something I’d want to be sitting down for.
“We’ve been looking over the numbers Holly Ridge’s City Council’s office is sending over each morning, and while you did a fantastic job keeping the budget in check and offsetting expenses with some of these sponsorships, I’m afraid unless something drastically changes over the next ten days of the festival, it’s still not going to be enough to save the town.”
Six months ago, hell even three months ago, I could have imagined myself feeling smug at the news of Holly Ridge being absorbed by Winterberry Glen. But somehow, now that the news was tied up with a big Greene ribbon in my mind, all I could feel was a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“Well, that’s too bad to hear...I know Miss Greene, and well, I mean the whole town, worked incredibly hard on this year’s festival.”
“That’s just how these things go sometimes, my boy,” Barney replied. “But as you’ll remember, we were interested in your work overseeing the budget and maintaining a professional relationship in tense scenarios like these. They’ll be more common than you think and will certainly crop-up in your work at the state level, and we cannot have been more impressed with your work.”
“Well, thank you, sir,” I answered, almost on autopilot, my mind trying to catch up with the news. Suddenly, I had an idea.
“And by the way, sir, I had nothing to do with securing those sponsorships. That was entirely Blaire Greene’s doing. It was a pleasure to manage her throughout this process. She’s really a very talented festival planner.”
“Is that so?” Barney replied, seeming to take the bait. “My wife works in the special events department here at the state house and was certainly impressed at all the sponsorships in a budget like this festival’s, especially after the budget was such a disaster in years past. Should Miss Greene be interested in her next move, now that it appears Holly Ridge will no longer have a Christmas festival to plan, I’d be happy to make a connection.”
Remembering who I was talking to, and his allusion to professional relationships moments earlier, I didn’t want to lay it on too thick.
“I’m not sure what will be next for Ms. Greene, but should an opportunity arise for me to bring this up, I most certainly will do so.”
“All right, Cole, well, I won’t keep you much longer. Will a start date of January fifth work for you? Give a bit of time to get settled in after the start of the year and then hit the ground running?”
Just a little over two weeks away. Because of course, in the eyes of Barney and everyone else in the state audit office, after securing the job three weeks ago, I would have spent the last three weeks securing housing in the capital and packing and such, not obsessing over the festival planner I wasn’t supposed to be having a personal relationship with.
