Felix

It didn't take Georgia long to get ready, and for that, Felix was thankful. While he waited, he got the old truck out of the barn. It may have been old and rusted in places, but it was still in pretty good shape. It even had a half tank of gas; his mom must keep it topped up for use on the farm.

For Felix, seeing the truck again was like seeing an old friend, one he'd had a falling out with. He knew its features as well as his own, but there was too much history there for it to be a comfortable reunion. And, of course, it reminded him of his dad—in fact, the cab still smelled strongly like him—of leather and pine and home. The scent washed over him as soon as he opened the door. Felix had to lean away and take a deep breath of fresh air to stop it all from overcoming him. He took another deep breath to steel himself and climbed inside. The truck protested the first few times he turned the key but eventually sputtered to life. The roar of the engine was another jolt of familiarity.

By the time Georgia emerged from the house, the truck was running smoothly, warming up for the ride through the cold and Felix was waiting, trying to ignore the memories all around him. As she walked towards him and the truck, Felix could see the furrow in her brow, and the tightness in her jaw. She didn't look happy about their upcoming trip together. He understood why. He couldn't imagine she was excited about sharing a car ride with the stranger who had seen her naked—almost naked—even if it was an accident.

He really did feel bad about that. Though his mom had pestered him to apologize, he really did want to make it up to her. He wished there was some way that he could magically make her feel more comfortable, but he couldn't think of anything. Maybe it didn't matter; once she got her car, she'd be on her way, and she'd never have to see him again. He'd just be a bad memory of a rude jerk on a cheesy farm.

Still, he'd do what he could.

He rolled down the driver's window—having to put in some elbow grease to get the old manual crank to turn—when she got close enough to hear him.

"Did you bring your car keys?"

"Yeah, of course," she said like it was obvious. She pulled them from her pocket and held them up as proof.

"Good," Felix replied as she put them away again. "If your car is in good condition, you might be able to just drive it back."

"Great." She gave him a stiff, insincere smile and headed for the passenger side.

Yup, he thought. She definitely does not want to be anywhere near me. All the more reason to get on the road. The sooner we go, the sooner we're back.

He began to roll up the window again when he spotted his mom running out of the house, carrying something in her hands.

"Wait!" she called to them.

Felix paused and wondered what she was up to now. Isn't one scheme enough for today?

By the time she reached them, his mother's panting breath was coming out in great white puffs against the cold air. Through the open driver's window, she handed him two red paper cups. The cups were branded with the Nissen farm logo, the same ones they'd use to sell hot chocolate and cider to their customers out of the old shop attached to the house.

"There," she said, smiling. "Now you can have your coffee to-go."

"Oh, Sue, you didn't have to," Georgia said, her eyes brightening at the sight of her. "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks, mom," Felix said, handing one over to Georgia.

"Oh, now," his mom said, acting bashful. "It's the least I could do. Besides, you'll need some fortifying Christmas cheer for the work you'll be doing out there." She winked.

Felix blinked slowly to avoid rolling his eyes. The last thing he needed was more Christmas cheer—he was actually hoping that this little trip was going to be a nice little break from the house and the sheer intensity of the holiday decor. But he raised the cup anyway, doing a silent toast to his mom as he rolled up the window again. At least the drink was warm. Though the weather was clear, it was still very cold.

His mom waved to them and hurried back inside to the comfort and warmth.

Felix took a swig of the coffee and almost spat it back out. His mom had sweetened it not with sugar but with peppermint syrup. He realized then that this must be what she had meant by 'Christmas cheer.'

Is she trying to poison me? he wondered. He thought of just opening the door and dumping it out into the snow, but his mom was probably watching from the window and would give him an earful for it. Besides, he needed the caffeine. Bracing himself, he chugged it back—it burnt his tongue a little, but at least it was gone.

"Oh," Georgia said next to him.

He looked over at her. She, too, had taken a sip of her coffee, and it looked like she was having a similar reaction—her nose was all scrunched up, and her mouth was pursed with distaste.

"Not a fan of peppermint?" Felix asked, dropping his empty cup into the console cup holder.

"N-No, not that," Georgia said. "Just not much of a fan of—"

He watched her gaze travel from the red cup to the candy-cane-striped sign to the rows and rows of evergreen trees that surrounded them.

"Well, it's just been a lot... A lot of," she said with a wince like she was trying to choose her words carefully, "Christmas."

He gave a small laugh and shifted the truck into drive. "I get it. Believe me, I get it."

🎄

They were making good time. Fortunately, the roads were fairly clear. The blizzard may have dumped a bunch of snow on them, but then its blustery wind had also blown it off the roads. The day was also turning out to be a nice one. Cold, sure, but mostly clear. Though there were clouds gathered at the perimeter of the sky, there was only blue overhead.

Inside the truck, however, the atmosphere was a lot less pleasant. A heavy, uncomfortable mood hung between Georgia and Felix. She hadn't said much of anything since they had left the farm. As he stared out into the white-flanked road, Felix was racking his brain, trying to think of a way to get her to hate him a little less, at least for a little while.

"Sooooo," he began, shifting awkwardly in his seat. "Do you live around here?"

"No," Georgia replied.

Ouch, Felix thought. One-word answer. That wasn't encouraging, but he pressed on.

"What brings you out here, then?" he asked. The area wasn't exactly a tourist hub, certainly not in the winter months.

"I'm visiting my sister."

Felix nodded. That was a wordier answer—a small success. "Nice, nice, I guess that's what the holidays are for, right? Family and all that," he said. It was a canned response. He wondered if he knew her sister. This was where he'd been born and raised, but it had been a while since he'd spent much time around here, and he knew that plenty of people had come and gone by now.

However, Georgia didn't seem to want to elaborate on that subject. "Yup," was all she said.

Back to the single-word answers... Felix was at a loss now. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, drumming out a random beat, trying to fill the awkward silence with something, anything. Maybe she didn't want to talk about her family. He was the first to admit that the topic of the family could get awkward fast. He decided to try a different topic. "What do you do for work?"

"I work as an executive assistant."

"In the city?"

"Yeah."

"Me too. I mean, I work in the city. I'm a web developer."

"Cool."

Felix blew out a big breath. So that was a dead end, too.

There was one more topic he could try...

He could be straightforward and talk about what had happened. He hated dancing around things, anyway, though he knew that not everyone appreciated his directness. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? It wasn't like she could hate him more. And even if she somehow managed it, it wasn't like it mattered. Once they got her car out of the ditch, he was never going to see her again...

He steeled himself, took a deep breath, then went for it.

"So, about last night..."

Georgia's eyes fluttered closed like she was trying to picture herself anywhere but here. "What about it? You've already apologized."

It was the most she'd said to him all morning, and she hadn't exactly told him to go to hell, so Felix continued. "I know. But I thought you should know, I didn't see anything."

"What?"

"I didn't see anything," he repeated, leaning forward in his seat, trying to catch Georgia's eye though she refused to look at him. "Did you know I wear contacts? I'm actually blind as a bat without them and I take them out at night, so, like I said... I didn't see anything."

That seemed to get through to her. She finally peeked over at him. "Really?" Her eyes were narrowed with suspicion like she didn't quite believe him.

"Really," he said, looking back to the road. "If you want evidence, there's albums of it back at the farm, full of pictures of me as a little kid with thick-as-hell glasses. Ma would be all too happy to show you if you ask. She loves to embarrass me with them." He glanced over again and offered her his most charming smile.

Georgia eyed him for a moment, but then her expression softened. He saw her shoulders relax, and she leaned back in the seat with a big sigh. He was pretty sure that she believed him.

"That was really bothering you, huh?" Felix asked.

"Wouldn't it bother you?" Georgia replied. "I don't think anyone likes getting caught with their pants down—literally."

Felix gave a light laugh. "No, I guess you're right." He was glad she was finally talking.

"I know you didn't mean to do it," Georgia said, with a small smile—a real one this time, "It was just really embarrassing, but knowing that you couldn't actually see anything makes me feel a lot better. Thank you."

"You can thank my parents for my crappy eyesight," Felix replied. "I got my blue eyes from my father, but I also got his near-sightedness."

Georgia laughed, which surprised Felix. She was definitely more at ease now. Felix realized that she had a nice laugh, too. "I will," she said. "At least, I have a lot to thank your mom for, that's for sure. I have no idea how I'm going to repay her for all she's done for me. Any ideas on how I can pay her back?"

"Good luck there. You can try, but she'll never allow it," Felix warned. "Ma loves to give but hates to receive."

"I don't believe that," Georgia said. "Everyone likes to be treated now and then."

"Not Ma. I can't even pay for her dinner if I take her out. If I try, she'll find a way to sneakily pay me back. Once I paid for coffee—just coffee!—while we were out in town for the morning and that afternoon I found her stuffing money into the socks folded up in my suitcase."

That only made Georgia laugh harder. "Wow. She's one of the good ones, huh?"

"Yeah," Felix agreed, smiling fondly to himself. His mom may drive him nuts sometimes, but she was pretty great.

"Is she sad about having to sell the farm?" Georgia asked.

Felix felt that tightness in his chest again. As he thought, family could be an awkward topic—and now he was on the other end. "She is, but I think she's made her peace with it by now. It's time and she can't keep it up on her own."

"What about you?" Georgia asked. "Are you going to miss it?"

"I've already said my goodbyes to the farm." He realized too late that his tone was sharper than it should be for their light conversation.

"I see," Georgia replied. He thought she must've sensed that he didn't really want to get into it because she dropped the topic. "So, you know how to operate a tow truck? Web developer, tow truck driver... You must be a man of many talents."

"Something like that," Felix said, relaxing again. This was something he was much more comfortable discussing. "I used to help dad when he'd run the tow truck during the summer. Not really a big market for Christmas trees in July, so we did what we had to make ends meet."

"That sounds kind of fun," Georgia said.

"It was. Hard work, yeah, but fun. Driving all over the place, meeting people, helping them," he patted the console between them. "This is just a light-duty truck so we never got to see any serious action. Mostly just folks getting stuck in the mud or driving off the road. It was meeting people that I liked the most. Got to hear their stories, find out where they came from, where they were going, why they ended up in the ditch." He looked over at her then, smirking. "What's your story, then? How'd you end up in the ditch?"

Georgia raised an eyebrow at him. "Your mom didn't tell you?"

His mom hadn't gone into detail about Georgia's predicament when she was quietly telling him off last night. "I only heard that you ended up in the ditch during a blizzard," he said, shrugging. "What was it? Black ice? Strong wind?"

"I swerved to avoid an animal," she said flatly.

He shot a look at her again. She had gotten all stiff and clammed up again. Did I say something wrong?

"What kind of animal?" he prodded. "Like a deer?"

"Something like that."

Something like that? "A moose?"

"Not quite."

Felix didn't understand why she was being so coy about it. "Then what was it?"

"There!" Georgia cried, pointing at something.

He slammed on the brakes. The truck skidded a little but, thankfully didn't slide. He expected to see a deer—or whatever it was—Georgia had seen, but he quickly realized that she wasn't pointing out an animal.

It was her car.

Poking out of the snow, sitting at the edge of a ditch, was a small red compact. Just as the blizzard had blown the snow off the roads, it had done the same to the car, unearthing it instead of burying it out of sight. It was a bit of good luck, to be sure.

Felix shifted into reverse and turned the truck around before pulling over to the far side, getting into the best angle for towing it out.

"Great," he said. "With any luck, we'll get you back on the road before noon."

Once again, he felt like he said something wrong because as soon as he mentioned luck, Georgia pursed her lips and frowned.

🎄

Do you need glasses?