Page 8 of The Holiday Exchange

“Yep—overly confident jerks who don’t consider my feelings.” I bury my face in my hands. “God, how pathetic.”

“Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself. We all have our pasts, and exes are exes for a reason.” He grips my shoulder. “But maybe it’s time to flip the script.”

“What do you mean?”

“Date someone the opposite of your type and see what happens.”

The idea of putting myself out there again curdles my stomach. “Think I’m done with dating for the moment, but I’ll take your suggestion under advisement.”

Once we’re back on the road, I tell Dawson more about my town and my family’s farm.

“As a fellow small-business owner, I’m impressed,” Dawson says after hearing that Blooming Acres is still going strong after thirty years. “Do they expect you to take over someday?”

My stomach sours. It’s not something I enjoy thinking about—my parents growing old and retiring. Or worse, having health complications. “They know my interests lie elsewhere, but if I had to, I would. I’d do anything for them.”

It’s true. They never put pressure on me to help run the farm, especially when I became a computer whiz in school and pursued my degree. But they sacrificed a lot to give me a wonderful childhood, so I’d be willing to give back. I’d at least try to make it work.

“I can hear how much you love them,” Dawson says. “My parents are different, and Nathan is more like them. He dreams of making money and retiring early so he can travel the world. That’s kinda how they are.”

Hearing Dawson describe his brother makes it even more obvious that we were too different to make anything work. I enjoy my career, and it allows me to live comfortably, but I don’t have any other aspirations besides finding someone to grow old with. And so far I’m striking out.

“Were you and Nathan close as kids?”

“Yes. And we still are. I mean, there’s this thing between twins, this connection you don’t experience with anyone else in the world. We’ll always have that.” He blows out a breath. “But as soon as we hit middle school, it was evident how different we were. Is it weird that we can be different but still close and not close at the same time? He’s my brother. He always will be, even if we move through the world differently.”

It’s obvious even being in the same room with the two of them, but still I ask, “How so?”

“He was an all-star in sports, the class president, popular…and I was just his twin brother.”

“Ouch.” I rub my chest as if I can actually feel the sting.

He shakes his head. “Honestly, I didn’t really mind it. I enjoy living under the radar and following my own path.”

“I can see that. You have this quiet confidence. Bet your parents are proud of everything you accomplished.”

“Thanks.” He dips his head in this shy, unassuming way his brother never would. “I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, maybe like your parents. My one small shop suits me fine.”

At the next rest area, he insists on driving and sharing the load. I don’t fight him on it too long because it feels nice to stretch my legs and watch the landscape from the passenger side.

“What’s the plan if we mess up some of the dating details?” Dawson asks.

“Good question. I’m sure we can play it off. Say we were friends first.”

“Because your office building is close to my shop?” he asks as he navigates traffic.

“Uh-huh. I met you on my latte-and-smoothie runs.”

He nods. “True enough. What else should I know?”

“Um, let’s see…my family is pretty informal, so you can call my parents Jeffrey and Donna. The week before Christmas isbusy at the tree farm with all the last-minute shoppers.” I take a sip of my soda, then quip, “Dad might try to put you to work.”

“I don’t mind helping. Do you pitch in?”

“I normally do, but that’s not what this trip is about. We’re on holiday, and I want to show you the town.”

He waves a hand. “There’ll be plenty of time for that. I’ll just go with the flow.”

“Thanks for being cool about all this.”