His determined optimism inspired her to think positively. "You're right. I need to concentrate on all that." She let out a breath. "Now I need a favor. I know—there's no end to the favors I need."
He smiled. "Considering where we're standing, I'm guessing you need help getting a tree back to your house."
"Good guess."
"What were you going to do?"
"Donny said he would deliver the tree, but maybe not until late tonight. I'd rather get it now."
"I assume your mother is watching Brett."
"Yes. And they're baking the cookies I need to take to the hospital party tomorrow."
"How did that all happen?" he asked curiously. "I thought she didn't even want to see Brett.
"She had second thoughts. Once she met Brett, he stole her heart with one smile. I was a little reluctant to leave them alone, but my mom has been sober for almost four years, and there's no alcohol in my house at the moment, so she should be okay, right?"
"I would think so."
"How is Trevor doing?" she asked.
"He's almost to the forty-eight-hour mark without a drink, so he's hanging in there. He thinks the worst is over."
"He's lying to himself."
"Maybe. But he seems determined to get clean."
"By himself? That rarely works."
"I said the same thing, but he tried rehab once and it didn't stick, so he thinks he needs to be able to stop in the real world."
"He has a point, but it can still be physically debilitating."
"I agree. But he has to do it his way. I got him some groceries. I'll check in on him again tonight."
"That's generous and very kind."
He shrugged. "He's not a bad kid. He's just emotional and having a rough time. It doesn't help that it's Christmas."
"What do you do for Christmas, Jake?" she asked as they headed toward the tent where hopefully Donny would have her tree waiting. "Do you spend the day with your family?"
"I'm leading a cross-country skiing group in the morning. I'll drop by for a drink before dinner. My parents usually have about twenty people over for dinner, so it's not just a family thing, which is fine by me. What about you?"
"The last couple of years, Tyler and I would make enormous bowls of cereal in the morning. We mix three or four different kinds like we used to do when we were kids. We catch a movie in the afternoon and later in the evening we get pizza for dinner."
"You don't see your mother?"
"Not usually on Christmas. But this year is going to be different. It has to be more like a traditional Christmas—cookies for Santa, presents, stockings, a big breakfast, playing in the snow, and maybe a prime rib for dinner. I want Brett to have the kind of holiday I had when I was young, when my dad was alive."
"And your mom will be included?"
"I think so. We'll see how things go between now and then." She paused as they got to the tent.
Donny handed her back her credit card and then he and Jake took the tree out to Jake's truck.
When the tree was safely loaded, Jake said, "I'll meet you at your house."
"Thank you so much for this. I can pay you in cookies."
"That your mother made? I'm sure she would not want you to do that."
"Probably not, but she won't have a choice."
As Jake got into his truck, she walked back to her car and slid behind the wheel. On the way home, she called her mom.
"Everything is fine," her mother said. "We just took the last tray of cookies out of the oven, and Brett is decorating them. I also made spaghetti. It should be ready when you get back."
"That's great."
"Did you get the tree?"
"I did. But I needed help to get it back to the house. Don't freak out, Mom, but Jake is bringing the tree over. He's going to come inside. I'm probably going to give him some of your cookies."
Her mother's sigh was long and heavy. "Fine."
"I need you to be polite. He's doing me a favor."
"I just don't understand how you can give him another chance, but it's up to you."
"It is, and I'm not giving him another chance. I'm just…" Her voice trailed away as she realized she didn't know what she was doing with Jake. She just knew that she wanted to keep seeing him and talking to him. She wanted to kiss him again. She felt more like herself with him than she did with anyone else. "I'll see you soon," she said, ending the call before her mother could ask her any more questions she didn't know how to answer.
Chapter Fifteen
Jake pulled the tree out of his truck, and with Hannah's help, they carried it into her house. While he was happy to assist Hannah, he wasn't looking forward to seeing her mother again. But he reminded himself that he wasn't a teenager anymore, and Katherine Stark was nowhere close to perfect, either. They'd both hurt Hannah. Maybe they could both find a way to make it up to her.
As they entered the house, he was overwhelmed with delicious smells of vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon. "It smells like Christmas," he murmured as they set the tree in the corner of her living room.
"Now, we have to make it look like Christmas." She stepped back, her gaze sweeping the tree. "I think the size is right."
"You couldn't have gone any bigger, not if you have an angel to put on top."
Her gaze moved back to him. "We used to have an angel. I think it's still in one of the boxes in my garage."
Brett came running into the room, his eyes lighting up when he saw the tree.
"That's what I wanted, right there," Hannah muttered. "That look on that little face."
"You got it."
"It's so big," Brett said in amazement. "I never had a tree this big. Are we going to decorate it?"
"We are," Hannah assured him. "As soon as I pull out the decorations."
Jake stepped to the
