“Good. More publicity for the lodge though you might have to put those on the menu for the restaurant now if people come in asking for them.” He told her as she chuckled.
“I’ll think about it,” Avery promised as she glanced down at the book in her hand. “Let me buy these and we can go.”
Jefferson took the shopping bags from me with an exaggerated groan as Avery shook her head, laughing as she headed to the counter to make her purchase. “Good luck out there.” he told me as I tried to not watch Avery walk away. “It feels like it’s extra crowded tonight.”
“Just wait until you have a kid next year that wants to see everything,” I teased him, chuckling as realization passed over his face. “I’ll see you later, buddy. Tell Polly hi for me.”
“See you tomorrow,” he called to me as I made my way out of the shop. I glanced at Avery in line, hoping to catch her eyes, but she seemed to look down at her phone as I headed to the door of the shop.
That was close. It was too fucking close, and I let the situation wash over me as I blended into the crowd. Why did I think I could kiss Avery in the middle of any store on this street tonight of all nights?
I felt irritated with myself as I strolled with the crowd to the bar. How would we have explained that to Jefferson if he walked up just a few minutes later? He’d probably want to kill any man that did that with his sister, and he had three of us competing for her attention.
When I approached the bar, the line was just as long as before. At least I had work to distract me from thinking about Avery too much.
I greeted Stephen with a half-smile as I took my place again, asking the next person in line how I could help them.
I saw Jefferson and Avery pass on the sidewalk as he pointed to the bar with a wide grin on his face. She laughed as she looked over, meeting my eyes as she offered me a knowing smile.
The date felt like a lifetime from now since it was only Saturday of the current weekend, but it’s all I had to go on. I had to make the best of every moment with Avery and based on our last date, it would be a great time.
They made their way towards Polly, talking about anything other than me, I hoped. I worked the rest of the evening, handing out more cups and plates than I could count before we wrapped up for the night. I had two more of these events to look forward to over the weekend, so we’d all be busy.
We drove the bar to the lodge in a truck once we secured it in the back. The city wanted the streets clear during the day for holiday shoppers, apart from all the lights and decorations that covered every surface on the street.
I helped put it off to the side and cover it for the night before making my way to the cabin. It was colder tonight than it had been, or at least it felt like that to me. I started a fire and made some herbal tea so I could decompress without waking myself up too much.
Since we sold out of everything tonight, I had to get more cider ready tomorrow. I tried to think about how well this would do for the lodge as I leaned back on my couch. We’d get a lot of publicity and a lot of new customers, I hoped.
This was how I wanted to make a living, and I knew I’d be happy about it if I weren’t so distracted thinking about Avery. I was so close to feeling that sexy mouth on mine tonight. I reminded myself that it worked out exactly like it needed to and we’d have next weekend to spend some time together.
I ended up falling asleep in the living room with the fire keeping me warm, waking up to my alarm in the morning. I stretched, hating myself for sleeping on this couch before I made some coffee and took a shower to get started with my day.
I made sure the fire was out before I left for the cidery to bottle some more of the holiday spice blend along with the one with the peach notes I’d made a while back. I prepared double what I did last night with a few people helping me and we stacked it in six packs on a rolling cart as we finished. The bar had a fridge on it and enough room to store extra bottles behind us, so I’d make it work.
Besides, it was so cold outside, we probably didn’t even need the fridge. Thinking about the weather just made me want the date with Avery to come sooner so I could get away from it. I hated saying goodbye to her last night so casually, but we had no choice. Her brother was right there, and I was damn lucky he didn’t see me leaning in to kiss her right there in a public store.
How stupid was I to do that in the first place?
By the time night fell, we set up for another chilly night on Main Street, and it seemed to be just as crowded as the night before. I didn’t expect Avery to be here tonight with the temperature outside shopping for more Christmas presents.
She’d helped in the kitchen that day to make more dough for the beignets, and a few new people were here to cook tonight. Everyone that worked at Peaks Lodge and Ciderworks was friendly and made the job easy for me, but nobody had ever affected me how Avery did.
There had been some women over the years, but it was all casual with them. On some level, it was the same way with Avery, but I felt so drawn to her. I still felt selfishly happy that I was the first man to feel her wrapped around me. After all the years of knowing her and seeing what a beautiful woman Avery had become, I’d cherish every moment I had to spend with her.
I just didn’t know what it all meant if she were to get a job and leave Lake Placid. That was her plan all along and she was allowed that, but I never expected us to become involved during her time here. It was something I had to hold inside since her brother couldn’t know that we were seeing each other, and it made it harder because he was my best friend. Jefferson had been my best friend for years, and I had a lot of history with him and Avery.
We spent hours together when we were younger. We’d probably seen every acre of the lodge over the years, and I knew that’s why it was so comfortable for me to be here. I just didn’t know what it meant now that Avery was such an important part of my life.
Was she just meant to be someone that passed through and moved on? It didn’t feel like it.
I came back to reality as I recognized Avery’s mom approach the bar with a few friends. She greeted me with a big smile and asked how business was, making me feel guiltier for sleeping with her daughter.
“Everything has been great. We sold out last night on everything, including your daughter’s beignets. Have you had them?” I asked her, as Valerie nodded.
“They’re incredible,” she agreed, glancing back as her friends asked her something. “In fact, I’d love five and five of your holiday spice ciders. Avery told me they’re delicious.”
“Coming right up.” I argued with her about paying for a moment, but she insisted since it was such a big order that she needed to give me money. I chuckled and took her bills, and we got the order ready in record time.