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Nate took another sip of his latte. “I don’t know. The whole thing just baffles me.”
“You’re a good-looking guy, Nate. I’m sure once you make up your mind, you’ll find someone.”
“There is something about you that always brightens my day, Daisy.” He shook his head. “Even when you’re having a crummy day, you just know how to make people feel better.” He tapped his finger on the table. “Hunter is really missing out, and I just might need to remind him of that somehow.”
An evil laugh escaped my lips, and I shook my head. “I still have faith. I refuse to believe the rumors.”
But I knew that wasn’t entirely true, or I wouldn’t be sulking in the middle of the coffee shop in Buttercup Lake to try to make myself feel human again.
Nate polished off his latte and held up his candy canes. “Duty calls.”
“Have fun with your bells.”
He winked at me and rang his bells with enough enthusiasm to wake the dead as he circulated through the coffee shop again.
I couldn't help but think about the absurdity of this holiday season, all because I'd decided to let myself be open and tear down my walls a bit. So, here I was, moping in a coffee shop while a grown man in an elf costume spread questionable cheer, all while still being responsible for the safety of Buttercup Lake. The situation would have been hilarious if it weren't so pathetic.
Glancing around the café, I spotted couples holding hands over their lattes and friends laughing together while little ones ran around the tables.
Was everyone else really as happy as they seemed, or were they just better at hiding their worries?
With a sigh, I stirred my coffee and Schnapps, watching the whipped cream swirl into the dark liquid. The holidays were supposed to be filled with joy and togetherness, but I felt uncertainty and indigestion from eating my emotions. I knew I needed to talk to Hunter, but the uncertainty and fear almost paralyzed me.
The bells jingled swiftly with a crash, and I looked over to see the elf tripping over a chair, toppling over onto a table. The ridiculousness of the moment broke through my melancholy, and I found myself laughing as Nate stood up and glanced over at me, giving me the booze sign with his hand.
Maybe there was still a little bit of holiday spirit left in me after all.
I finished my peppermint mocha, and Abby brought me another one, but this one without the Schnapps, which was perfect so I could read the next few chapters of our book club selection.
Maybe Millie had been right.
I pulled out the paperback from my purse, the cover featuring a small-town bar with snow speckled on the cover and a windswept heroine in the arms of a dashing yet brooding hero. The sign on the bar was crooked as the title splashed across it.
Settling into my chair, I flipped the page open to chapter nine. Mary was caught in a complicated love affair with a man whom she thought she wanted, but then the man she’d left was truly who she needed. Her heart was torn between wants and needs, and her overall directness zapped me in my place. As I continued flipping the pages and delved deeper into the story, I couldn’t escape the chill of recognition that swept through me. Only I wasn’t her. She was Hunter.
I groaned and kept my eyes glued to the pages. “Great. Our relationship is a walking cliché.”
As I turned the page, the scene in the book shifted away to an over-the-top Christmas party at the bar where Mary found herself stuck in a nightmare with her hero playing Santa and his elves handing out presents. One of the elves was overly enthusiastic, shouting out, “Yule be sorry if you don’t try the eggnog.” And I couldn’t help but picture Nate as the elf and Hunter on the pages I was devouring.
And then it turned quickly. Nate, I mean, the book elf, was the one Mary was torn over, and Santa begged for her to realize he was the one. The next thing I knew, Mary was running out of the bar, screaming. Things were going haywire left and right, and my mind became muddled as I closed the book.
“Whew,” I muttered. “Too much for one day.”
Maybe, like Mary, I needed to stop overthinking. I’d always been one to take action. I polished off my mocha, the last zip of peppermint mocha stinging my lips, and made a decision. If Hunter wasn’t going to come up here and tell me, I was going to go down to Madison.
I was going to get my own happy ending whether I wanted it or not.
Darn it.
I shoved the book back into my purse and shot up from the chair just as I heard the most magical words by an unlikely source.
“Daisy, I heard you were here.” His gaze locked on mine, and all my fizzle fizzed as I slumped back into the chair, trying to get a glimpse of my future.
But would it be with or without Hunter?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hunter
