Christmas in Bayberry

Her aunt sighed. “I can’t do that. Not yet—”

“If there’s something else I can do—”

“It’s not you.” Her aunt’s face filled with love. “You are amazing and a very hard worker. But I need Wes to complete his report before I can do anything.”

Kate nodded. She didn’t like it, but she understood. “Just know that I’m here and ready to take over, if you need me too.”

Aunt Penney moved around the table and then leaned down to give her a brief hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Now, do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Go to the tree lighting tonight. It’s an order. After all, I’m still your boss. At least for a little longer.” Aunt Penney gave her a stern look, like she’d done when Kate was a kid and wanted to stay out past curfew on a school night.

Years of experience told Kate that there was no point in fighting her. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Then get going. You don’t want to be late. Everyone will be there.” And with that, her aunt hurried out the door.

>

Kate was tempted to finishing responding to comments on her latest post about Bayberry Candles. Her fingers moved to the keyboard. But she knew once she started working, time would get away from her.

With a groan, she closed the window and then shut down her computer. Aunt Penney was right. It would wait until tomorrow.

She recalled her aunt’s words: Everyone will be there. Did that include Wes? She moved faster. Suddenly, going to the tree lighting sounded a lot more tempting.

She reached for her bag. She’d made some preparations the night before, just in case she had time to go. And those preparations included going with Wes.

Kate wondered if he was still working. After all, he didn’t have someone in his life to tell him when to call it a day. She was willing to bet he was still in his, erm, her office. But not for much longer.

Someone had to tell Wes that the building was closing. She rushed to finish gathering her things. She was a woman on a mission.

“It’s tree lighting night.”

He’d know that warm, feminine voice anywhere.

Wes glanced up from his laptop, which was still sitting on Kate’s desk among piles of papers and stacks of reports.

He saw her in the doorway. “I hope you have a good time.”

“What?” She stepped into the office. “You’re not coming?”

He shook his head. “I really need to keep working. This section is taking longer than I thought it would, and I’ve been out of the office a lot this week.”

She checked the time. “But it’s after six, and the tree lighting in the square is at seven. We have to get going if we want a good spot.”

She sounded as though she was really anxious for him to join her. His gaze moved to the work on his desk. Would anyone really notice if he took the evening off? The thought nagged at him. An evening with Kate was so tempting.

He leaned back in his chair. “You’re really excited about this.”

“Aren’t you?” Her face lit up. “It’s Christmastime. A time to celebrate all the good things in life.”

“Can you really be that happy when you know what I’m doing? And how it might turn out?”

She shrugged. “Someone just reminded me that there’s more to life than work. It doesn’t have to be either/or. Work will be waiting for us in the morning.”