All I Want is You this Christmas Final Read online

  “Always are on Saturday mornings. Where’s Casey?”

  “Mike is keeping him busy. He finally has his strength back, so he’s catching up on log reindeer and snowmen orders. You know how your dad loves to create things.”

  Jared frowned. "He shouldn't be lifting anything. Are you sure Casey will actually help and not just sit around like a lazy little shit?”

  She poked his side. “Hey, now. Watch your mouth. I know you two aren’t on the best of terms, but Casey processes grief differently that you or me. Mike retired right before social services placed him with us and they're very close. It was hard for him when Mike got sick, especially after losing his mom. I’m not saying I condone his behavior, but he’s a good boy. We just need to be patient.”

  Jared released a deep breath. “I know the kids had it rough, but he called Mr. Salvatore an asshole.”

  “Which we’ll deal with.” She pinned him with a pointed look. “If you’d told me about the trouble to begin with, we could've handled this sooner.”

  “I didn’t want to add to your stress.”

  Karen gave him a hug. “I’m a parent, sweetheart. It’s all stress. I worry about you constantly.”

  “Why?”

  “Your work. Snowy Springs may be small, but I’m still concerned you’ll pull over the wrong car one night.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Your love life is also concerning...all the girls you’re dating.” His mom clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “You should really find a nice girl and not do all this bed hopping.”

  Jared groaned. “I’m not hopping anywhere and besides, I’m twenty-seven. I’m supposed to take my time and see what’s out there and not have my mom chiding me for it.”

  “Well, I go to church with the mothers of those women you’re seeing.”

  The line finally moved and he took a step forward. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, I hear about whose heart you’re breaking.”

  “For the love of…I’m not breaking hearts. I go out with a girl to see if we click and if we don’t, I move on.” Jared shook his head at the absurdity. “I need to get out of this town. People can’t seem to mind their own business.”

  “Oh, stop being so dramatic. You’re quite the catch. Any girl would be devastated to lose you.”

  They reached the counter and Olive Waters greeted them with a sunny smile. “Hi, Karen. Jared. What can I do you for?”

  “Hi, Olive. You wanna go out with my son? He’s still single.”

  Jared glared at his mom until Olive started laughing. “What’s funny?”

  “The thought of actually dating you. He’s pretty, Karen, but I remember when he used to wipe his boogers on the monkey bars.”

  Karen turned his way in horror. “Jared Tyler!”

  “I did not!”

  Olive scrunched up her nose. “Pretty sure you did. The images are seared into my brain.”

  Jared shook his head. Olive had been a year behind him in school and when Anna Beth had moved to Snowy Springs, she and Olive became best friends. Because of Anna Beth, Jared and Olive spent a lot of time together in middle school and high school, but as adults, they didn’t run in the same crowd.

  “Can I get a large coffee with room for cream, and fewer embarrassing lies being spread about me?” Jared asked.

  “Not a lie, but I can still get your drink. How about you, Karen?”

  “A medium coffee, black.”

  “I love you, but you’re boring.”

  Karen laughed. “And you’re mouthy! I’m going to tell your mama when I see her later.”

  “Where do you think I get it from?” Olive tapped the register. “Alright, that will be five-thirty-eight.”

  The bells on the door jingled behind them and Olive squealed. Jared jumped a foot in the air as she took off around the counter and through the shop. He turned around to follow her movements and time slowed the same as when he’d seen Anna Beth at the market.

  Anna Beth stood in the doorway, her face beaming. Olive launched herself into Anna Beth’s arms and the two women danced in a circle.

  Olive pulled back and grabbed Anna Beth’s shoulders in her hands, shaking her. “What took you so long? I heard you were in town yesterday and I didn’t get a phone call.”

  “I wanted to surprise you, but I should have known someone would spill the beans.”

  Their excited voices carried from the front door to the register and Jake caught himself staring. Anna Beth’s happiness shone in every feature. From her eyebrows to her lush pink lips and he couldn’t help admiring her.

  Karen pinched Jared's arm, drawing his attention away from the two friends. “You didn’t tell me Anna Beth was back.”

  “Sorry, I forgot.”

  His mom sent him a disbelieving look, but Jared ignored it. He’d never told anyone, not even Vance or Karen, about what he’d done on Anna Beth’s wedding day. Partly because he hadn’t wanted to talk about it, but mostly, he knew they’d agree he’d been a romantic idiot.

  Olive let Anna Beth go, backing away slowly. “Do not move. Let me clear this line and I am yours.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Olive came back around the counter, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry about that, guys.”

  “I understand. As soon as I pay, I’m going to go hug her myself,” Karen said.

  “I haven’t seen her in a year.”

  Karen shook her head. “It’s been longer for me. Not since a few days after her wedding, I think.”

  Jared wished he could disappear out the door without anyone noticing. Karen had always loved Anna Beth and berated him for not asking her out all through high school. If she only knew he’d laid his heart open for Anna Beth and she’d squashed it like a tomato, she’d probably have a few choice words for him about waiting too long. But relationships had never come easy for him, still didn’t. Which made it hard to open himself up to someone.

  Jared held out his debit card to Olive. “I’ll pay. You go say hello.”

  “Thanks, baby.” Karen patted his shoulder. “Come over when you finish. I don’t know what the two of you fought about, but it really should be water under the bridge by now.”

  When his mom took off, Olive ran his card, watching him with her left eyebrow arched. “Your mom doesn’t know?”

  “Know what?”

  “That you confessed your love for A.B. on her wedding day, serious rom-com style, with the car still running?”

  “That’s not how it happened…is that what she said?”

  Olive shrugged. “Not exactly. She told me the basics and I let my imagination take it from there.”

  “It wasn’t quite that dramatic.”

  “Yet you didn’t share with anyone? Not even Vance?”

  “No, I never told anyone.”

  “I see. I wouldn’t either, I guess.” Olive handed him back his card. “Even if the two of you were destined to be together, you telling her like that wasn’t cool. Expecting her to run off with you and break another man’s heart? That’s just immature.”

  “Thanks.” Jared took the receipt and signed his name with jerky motions.

  “Don’t forget to tip your barista.”

  “What happened to tips are accepted, but not expected?” Still, he wrote two dollars on the tip line. He handed her back the receipt and she blew him a kiss.

  “This girl needs all the mula she can get.”

  “Maybe you should be a little less honest with your customers. You may find your tips increase.”

  “Hey, I call it like I see it. I gotta do me.”

  He’d forgotten what a pain in the ass Olive could be when she thought she was right.

  She is right. Confronting Anna Beth that day and expecting her to choose you was a stupid move. You should have just sat in the back pew and gotten drunk at the open bar during reception on Ian’s dime. At least then, you might have stayed friends.

  As he crossed to the back of the shop where Karen stood talking
animatedly with Anna Beth, his heart beat double time. Bundled up in a blue hooded peacoat with a yellow and blue plaid scarf, she looked so sweetly beautiful his teeth ached. Her blond curls were held back from her face in a ponytail, drawing focus to her rosy cheeks and sparkling green eyes.

  “Jared, I was just telling Anna Beth she needs to come over for dinner tonight.”

  Anna didn’t quite meet his eye as she responded, “And I told your mom, I didn’t want to impose at the last minute.”

  “I invited you, silly! It’s not an imposition at all, and I’m not taking no for an answer. Tell her, Jared.”

  “Hi, Anna Beth.” There was no staying out of the conversation now. “You might as well say yes. Unless you’ve forgotten how stubborn she can be.”

  Her gaze finally met his. Before her wedding, he would have greeted her with his arms wide open and she would have jumped into them or burrowed herself against him, but they weren’t kids anymore. They were adults and virtual strangers, so he kept his hands at his side.

  Her lush mouth twitched. “Oh, so you didn’t forget my name? I thought I was ma’am now.”

  “What’s this?” Karen asked.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Hmmm mmm, sounds like it.” Karen cupped Anna Beth’s cheeks. “Come by the house at six, alright? It is so good to have you back, baby.”

  Anna Beth’s eyes shimmered. “Thank you, Karen.”

  Olive called out his name and before he could make his escape, his mom hurried to grab the cups. An awkward silence fell between the two of them amid the bustle of the coffee shop.

  Anna Beth spoke first. “If you don’t want me to come to dinner, I can make an excuse.”

  Jared shook his head. “No, she’s excited to have you. I can skip it, if me being there makes you uncomfortable.”

  “Not at all. I’m fine.”

  Exactly how he felt. F.I.N.E.

  Fucked up. Insecure. Neurotic. Emotional.

  I should have just gone home.

  Six

  Anna Beth followed Olive out of Foam Capped Java ten minutes later, a peppermint mocha in one hand the other arm linked through Olives. They headed down Main Street, Olive's black, puffy coat rasping against Anna Beth's wool blend peacoat. The noise was different, but familiar, as they’d traveled arm in arm since the day they met. For the first time since her return, she felt completely at ease and all the tension drained from her body.

  “I am so happy you’re back! I’ve missed your face.”

  Anna Beth squeezed her arm. “I’ve missed you, too. A year is too long between visits.”

  “I know. I’m a terrible friend,” Olive said.

  “No, you aren’t. We’ve both been preoccupied. Will your boss be upset that you took off like that?”

  “Nah, Sierra came in, so we should be good. I was just filling in today, anyway. I only work Mondays and Wednesdays to help out, but Sierra had car trouble. Every other day is spent taking pictures of adorable newborns and families.”

  “And your pictures are beautiful.” While Anna Beth headed to California to major in screenwriting, Olive stayed closer to home to study photography. She’d always had an amazing eye, even with a cell phone camera.

  “Thanks, doll. It’s hard to make a living with so many people doing it as a hobby. The good news is, I have over sixty-thousand followers on Instagram and I’ve been selling my pictures on various stock photo sites. Every little bit helps us starving artists.”

  Anna Beth chuckled. “I’ve hardly posted on the Gram at all this year. Nothing good to post.”

  “I don’t blame you. You’ve had a lot going on.” Olive hugged her close, squishing their faces together. Olive was only an inch taller than Anna Beth with dark hair and blue eyes. Anna Beth adored Olive since she’d sat beside her on the bus her first day at Snowy Springs Intermediate. Despite the distance between them as adults, when they were together, they never missed a beat.

  “How are you doing, by the way?” Olive asked.

  “Me? I’m fine. Just plugging along.”

  “I mean, really. I know you miss him.”

  A lump formed in Anna Beth’s throat. “Every minute of every day.”

  Olive took her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Thanks. We had a nice celebration of life the year before he passed. Ian insisted on attending his own funeral, so to speak. A bunch of his friends flew in and they roasted him pretty good.” Anna Beth signed. “I miss his laugh. The way he could get me out of a bad mood with one corny joke.” She blinked rapidly, keeping the tears at bay. “Let’s change the subject.”

  “Sure. How is the writing going?”

  “You know, slow. Who knew writing what you love could be so hard?”

  Olive took her arm once more as they rounded the corner onto 2nd Avenue. “Shakespeare? Dickens? Austen? I’m pretty sure they all wanted to throw in the towel at one time or another. Just remember that you are one badass writer and you're gonna hit the big time sooner or later.”

  “See, I should record you saying that and replay it when I need a boost.”

  “Record away, boo. Now, what about Ian’s lists? Is that why you're back? Tell me everything.”

  “Not much has changed since we talked a few weeks ago. I’m only here because of Ian and I’m down to the last thirteen items on my list. Nope,” she said, realizing that her meeting with Olive took another off the list. “Make that twelve.”

  “Okay then. Let’s get real, here. What is it like seeing Jared again?”

  Anna Beth laughed weakly. “In a word? Rough.”

  “I figured. Has he said anything to you?”

  “Besides calling me ma’am and an awkward exchange where we both offered to skip dinner at his mom’s house but ultimately decided we could handle it? No, it’s been silky smooth.”

  “Easy, Sassy McAssy. Maybe if we can just get you two alone in a room, you can hash it out. Or let it go and move on.”

  “I’m not sure it really matters. In three weeks, I’ll be out of here and my path will no longer cross with Jared.”

  Olive frowned. “Really? You’d give up the snow and country charm for the bright lights of La La Land again? I always figured you lived there because of Ian and work. Can’t you write anywhere now that you don’t work for The Darcy’s?.”

  “I can. Believe me, I do not want to go back to LA. I sold our house, per Ian’s instructions, but I’m not sure what’s next. I was thinking I’d try New York. Or maybe Ireland. We have friends there and it’s gorgeous.”

  “You have friends here, too,” Olive said softly.

  Anna Beth swallowed hard. As much as she loved Olive, she wasn’t sure Snowy Springs should be her final destination. Even though things with Sarah were better, there wasn’t anyone else besides Olive who’d miss her if she left again.

  How did they keep ending up on all the tough subjects?

  “Let’s talk about you,” Anna Beth said. “Seeing anyone?”

  Olive smiled like the cat who caught the canary. “I have a casual something-something with Vance, but other than that, nope.”

  Anna Beth stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Wait, Vance Shepard?”

  “The very one. We’re keeping it on the down low though, so shhh.”

  “But…you hate Vance.”

  Olive winked. “I don’t have to like him to enjoy him, sunshine.”

  “Seriously? What do the two of you even talk about?”

  “We don’t talk. That is the beauty of it.”

  Anna Beth couldn’t understand sleeping with someone you didn’t care about, but Olive seemed happy. “You couldn’t even be in the same room together in high school. You two ripped each other apart every chance you got.”

  “Now we just rip each other’s clothes off,” Olive said, winking. “That is the whole point of casual relationships. We do the deed, he leaves, I grab a pint of ice cream and watch whatever the hell I want. You know why I don’t want a man? Because I don’t want his
action movies gumming up my que.”

  “So, find someone with similar tastes. You don’t like having someone to cuddle with?”

  “Not at all. Cuddling makes me hot and grouchy.” Olive waved her hand. “I get that being in a relationship worked for you but some of us enjoy being alone.” Anna Beth must have winced because Olive’s face fell and she squeezed her arm. “Ah, A.B. I’m sorry. I’m an insensitive prick.”

  Anna Beth smiled a little too brightly. “You’re fine, and you’re right. You’re young and you should enjoy all the wonders being single in your twenties has to offer. I just want you to find someone worthy of you, instead of sleeping with someone you can’t stand just to scratch an itch.”

  “Vance isn’t so bad, now that we’ve both grown up some. Eventually I will start thinking of a future with someone, but until then, I’m living large. Besides, Vance is an excellent scratcher.”

  “Gross, no details, thanks” Anna Beth laughed.

  “Suit yourself.” Olive’s expression turned serious. “You know, you can have some fun too. You are single in your twenties. Have you been out with anyone since Ian…passed?”

  Anna Beth didn’t want to think about dating. After spending months in a writer’s room with six men in their late twenties to early thirties, she’d learned a lot about the way men think and she wasn’t interested in being a punchline.

  She’d dated sporadically through high school, but until Ian, she’d never had a serious relationship. She wasn’t quite ready to swipe right yet.

  “I’ll get there. It’s hard to date as a widow. You get the guys who are super creeped out about it and then there are the ones who ask really awkward questions or talk about their dead pets, as if that’s somehow the same. I figure, if it happens naturally, fine. But I’m not really interested in actively seeking someone. Not yet.”

  “I completely understand, but...what about sex?

  “If the mood strikes, I’ve got a rechargeable friend I brought with me.”

  “You make me feel like a horn-dog.”

  “You’ve always been a horn-dog,” Anna Beth laughed.

  “True. Would you like to change the subject?”

  “Yes, please.”