Page 3 of Christmas Kisses

“Uh…no,” I admitted with a wince. This was worse than I thought. “The last time I saw her, I was too little to bake or candy make or whatever it’s called.”

He nodded slowly. “I take it you didn’t inherit her skills in the kitchen.”

“I don’t know what I inherited,” I admitted. “But it wasn’t any cooking or baking skills. That must have skipped some generations.” I looked around the sparkling clean, overwhelmingly high-end kitchen, afraid to even think of touching anything. “Could I maybe just order some candy online and sell it?”

“Oh, boy…” He laughed as he slid off his jacket and hung it on a hook by the door. I caught myself staring and quickly looked away as he turned back to me. Hurriedly, I took off my own coat. He took it from me and hung it near his.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go over what’s here, and we’ll see if we can’t come up with something for you. The town is forgiving, but they’re expecting the store to open this weekend.”

Okay. So, now, the lumberjack-handyman guy was going to help me make candy? What the hell?

Two

Micha Parsons

Doris’ granddaughter surprised me. I’d only known Doris as an older woman, but I had to imagine, Jessica was what my neighbor had looked like when she was younger. Silky dark brown hair tumbled over her shoulders in a riot of curls while her eyes reminded me of the milk chocolates that had been sold here for years. She was delicious, and…

Stick to business.

I couldn’t afford to fall for her. She hadn’t said so, but I got the distinct feeling she was here for the holiday then she’d race back to Colorado faster than I could sayflambe.

“This is, um, was Doris’ office.” I led Jessica to a door on the side of the kitchen. “She kept her inventory sheets in here. And employee information.”

“Employee information?” Jessica gasped. “You mean like people who might know how to make this incredible candy I keep hearing about?”

“Especially onepeople. My Grandma Maple, actually. She was more than a worker. She was Doris’ best friend. I know she’ll be thrilled to help you. We’ll both help you.” I couldn’t help offering the last part but didn’t know why. I had about a million other things waiting for me, but as soon as I’d steppedfoot through the shop’s back door and laid eyes on Jessica, everything else had faded away. She needed me, so I’d be here.

I wanted to get to know her.

And that made no damn sense. I’d just met the dark-haired beauty. I knew she was from Colorado, but for some reason, she didn’t fill my vision of a ski-lodge slope bunny.

“You’re kidding me,” she exclaimed, dragging me from my thoughts. Had I said that out loud?

“About…what?”

“Your grandma’s name is Maple?” She laughed, and my ire raised on my gran’s behalf.

“Yeah? And?” I asked, my tone just shy of hostile.

“The lawyer told me maple would help. I thought he meant some kind of candy flavoring. Not a person named Maple. I should have known…” She whispered the last, shaking her head.

Oh… Okay, well, that was okay. My anger receded, and my mind returned to whether or not a fling with Jessica would be a bad idea. Which was weird for me. I couldn’t recall a time when I’d felt so instantly attracted to a woman. This was like what had happened to my best friend, Caleb, last Christmas. He claimed it was a family thing, but I thought maybe it was a Majestic Falls thing.

“She’ll definitely want to help. She…loved your grandma.”

Jessica walked into the office and peered around. “So, I don’t really need to find employee information? You already have it.”

“I have my gran’s info, yes. But I don’t have Jenny, Moriah or Isaac’s. They help run the counter and make a lot of the candy. They’ll be glad you’re here and opening the store, so they can get back to work. Isaac will get the online store up again, too.”

“What? Wait! No, I’m just here to run the store—the brick-and-mortar portion—through Christmas. I didn’t know there was…staff.”

I raised my brow. “You didn’t think your grandma made all the candy, ran the counter for the town and all the tourists who come through, and filled thousands of web orders? All by herself? Did you?”

She shrugged a slim shoulder, looking sad. “I… I didn’t know anything about her, actually. She and my mom…didn’t get along. They didn’t speak. By extension, well, I didn’t know my grandma. Or anything about her business. Honestly, I didn’t even know she had a business or where she lived.”

“She was a great lady.”

“Seems like it.”