Christmas Wishes

It’s been a couple of days and I hadn’t heard from Matt since our little date night and I think everyone could tell I was a bit bummed about it. I was helping Carson pack his backpack when he asked me a question that threw me off guard.

“Mom did you scare Matt away?” he asked and I looked up at him confused.

“What makes you say that Cars?” I asked him.

“Because Matt hasn’t come into the shop in like two days,” he said and I sighed looking at him.

“I don’t know Carson,” I said being honest, “I don’t know. He’s just being. . .”

“Stupid,” Carson said and I smiled lightly.

“I hate that word but I have to agree with it,” I laughed lightly, “You ready to head to school now?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Well come on let’s get you to school,” I said.

I dropped Carson off at school and then headed into the coffee shop to find Lennox already baking in the back.

“Morning,” I sighed, “What do you want me to cook?”

“Want to talk about how pissed you are at Matt?” she asked and I shook my head no.

“I’m not pissed at Matt,” I said, “I just knew it was too soon to put myself out that.”

“Macie,” Lennox said and I just shook my head.

“I would like to tell you if you and Brian don’t date I am going to kick your ass personally,” I said, “He’s a good one Len. Ten times better than the other tattooed men you’ve brought home to introduce to me and dad. Mom would’ve even liked him.”

“You think so,” Lennox asked smiling and blushing.

“I know so,” I said as we continued to bake cookies, breads, and brownies.

We just had sister bonding time like we always did when we baked at the shop when our dad came into the back.

“You have a visitor Mace,” my dad smiled lightly.

“Who is it?” I asked confused as I wiped my hands on my apron.

“Tell them she’ll be out there in a minute,” Lennox said and pulled me to the side.

“You have flower on your face,” she said and wiped off the flour and then fixed my clothes, “If Matt offers to make it up to you take it and then come back later. Dad, Logan, and I can totally hold down the fort.”

“Len,” I started and she just smiled and shook her head.

“Go,” she said and then pushed me out the door and I saw Matt nervously pacing back and forth and I smiled lightly at the sight.

“You know if you pace any more you’ll put a hole in the floor,” I said leaning against door frame.

“Macie,” he said, “I am so sorry.”

I was about to tell him to not worry about it but he cut me off.

“No do not tell me to not worry about it,” he said, “I told you had a good time Saturday night and then I haven’t even so much as text you and you’re so calm about the whole thing.”

“I. . .” I started.

“Let me make it up to you,” he said, “Take you out to lunch? Then we can go get Carson and bring him back here.”

“Let me think about it,” I replied, “Come back around lunch time?”

“Sure,” Matt said and I could tell he was a bit nervous about it, “I know that you have every right to not believe me but you did nothing wrong okay?”

At the moment I couldn’t really believe it after everything Heath had put me through but for the sake of the moment and to put Matt a bit at ease and just nodded my head.

“Um. . .Do you think I can have a hug?” Matt asked rubbing the back of his neck and I smiled lightly.

“Sure,” I said and walked over to him and he wrapped me in his arms.

I knew the hug lasted longer than a normal one should but I was too content and didn’t want to ruin Matt’s excitement at the fact of giving me a hug. Besides like I said before I was too content being in Matt’s arms because for some unexplainable reason it felt just right. We let go and Matt looked down at me and smiled lightly and I could see the regret and guilt in his eyes.

“I am truly sorry Macie,” he said quietly, “I hope you’ll come to lunch. See you in a few hours.”

“See you in a few Matt,” I replied just as softly and for some reason as I watched Matt walk away my heart was actually breaking.



After a long lecture from Lennox and then about fifteen minutes later from Brian about how I just needed to put the boy out of his misery and just go out to lunch with him and tell him I forgave him I had made my decision. I was currently talking to Logan, one of the baristas I had hired because of the holidays when the door chimed and I looked up to see a nervous Matt give me a small smile and I gave one back.

“We’ll be fine Mace,” Logan said, “Besides the boy looks completely miserable like he hasn’t slept in days.”

I just laughed lightly and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then with Jake,” I said and then walked over to Matt who was nervously sitting at a table way in the back corner.

“Hiding from the world?” I asked quietly and he quickly turned to look at me.

“Not really,” Matt mumbled and I smiled lightly holding out my hand.

Matt eyed it warily and I just laughed.

“I made sure to wash it,” I said, “I promise.”

Matt looked at me shocked and I smiled lightly.

“I’m not your ex-wife Matt,” I said quietly, “I can’t hold a grudge to save my life.”

Matt’s entire person lit up at my response and he then started dragging me towards the exit of the mall.

“Slow down their slick,” I giggled, “What’s the rush?”

“I got a reservations at one of my favorite restaurants in an hour and we both need to change into something a bit more appropriate,” Matt said quickly and I just laughed as he then grabbed me by my waist and threw me over his shoulder.

I squealed and laughed while Matt was just chuckling as he picked up his pace.

“I’m pretty sure you gave the old woman we just passed a heart attack,” I laughed and Matt’s entire body just chuckled.

I was then put into Matt’s car and he quickly got in the driver’s seat and he drove quickly to my house.

“Um. . .” Matt said as he grabbed a bag and I laughed at how nervous he was.

“Matt breathe,” I laughed, “You can use the guest bedroom and bathroom while I get ready.”

Matt gave me a sheepish smile and I just smiled at how prepared he was. We then went into the house and I showed Matt where the room was and I went to my room to get ready. I quickly changed out of my work clothes into something nice but not too over the top and curled my hair since it was up in a messy bun from work. I was lightly applying some makeup when there was a knock on my bedroom door.

“Come in,” I said, “I’m almost done Matt.”

“Um. . .” I heard a voice that wasn’t Matt and I spun around to see Heath standing in the bathroom doorway.

“What are you doing here!?” I exclaimed, “How did you get in?!”

“You gave me a key just in case something happened I needed to get Carson or something,” he said and I noticed he looked at my outfit, “You look. . .”

I knew Heath was shocked because I knew I never got this dressed up for him unless he told me we were going out to some ball or some charity event. The minute we were married, Heath just stopped all the little things he used to do when we were dating so our marriage started fizzling out before it even started.

“Mace is everything okay. . .” Matt’s panicked voice could be heard as he walked into my room and I noticed his eyes narrowed when they saw Heath’s and so did Heath’s eyes.

“Yeah,” I sighed, “Heath just gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here Heath?”

“I saw an unfamiliar car out front of the house,” Heath said, “I was just making sure that there wasn’t a break in.”

“It’s my car out front,” Matt said gruffly and I looked at Heath.

“Are you two going out?” Heath asked, “Shouldn’t you be at the coffee shop?”

“Matt is taking me out to lunch,” I said, “And my dad told me to get out of the shop. Now can you get out of my house? We have reservations.”

Heath grumbled something I couldn’t hear and marched out of my room as I turned off the lights.

“Are you sure your finished Mace?” Matt asked me concerned and I smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

“I am Matt,” I replied, “Let’s just go get some food. I’m starving.”

Matt then gave me his dimple smile and we headed down the stairs and out my front door to find Heath driving away. I just shook my head as I shut and locked the door and followed Matt back to his car. On the way to the restaurant, Matt grabbed my hand and I smiled lightly at him and he physically relaxed after I smiled.

“I forgot to tell you that you look stunning by the way Macie,” he said, “I can’t wait to see you get completely ready for a fancy date.”

I blushed at Matt’s words because that meant there was going to be more dates and something was going to get pursued.

“Thanks Matt,” I smiled lightly, “And you clean up pretty well for Sunday’s best clothing.”

Matt just beamed at me as we pulled up to the valet parking and I immediately was completely shocked where we were. La Vie Bohem was a French restaurant that I had always wanted to go to but Heath never wanted to take me here because he absolutely hated the food here.

“Do you speak French?” I asked as we walked in complete awe of the place.

“Enough to get me by,” he smiled at me as he gave our name for our reservation and we headed to our table.

The waiter asked for our drinks and Matt told the waiter that we needed to decide and to come back.

“Your French isn’t have bad Sanders,” I giggled at him and looked at me confused.

“I was a foreign exchange student my junior year in high school,” I smiled, “I went to France.”

“So you speak it fluently?” he asked shocked.

“I still talk to my host sister on skype from time to time,” I replied smiling lightly, “It also helped when Heath would take me and Carson to Paris because I could get us around no problem.”

“I would have never guessed,” Matt said smiling at me, “So I’ll let you pick our drinks then?”

“Oh no,” I said, “I’m sticking with water. We have to drive to get Carson Matt.”

“Okay,” he smiled, “Water for the both of us it is.”

The waiter came back and took our drink orders and Matt ordered us an appetizer and then we looked over the menu.

“What did you order us?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise,” he winked and I just giggled.

As I was looking at the menu my face paled at the prices of the dishes and Matt reached across the table and put his hand on top of mine.

“Don’t worry about the prices,” he said, “Really. This is me making it up to you for being a douche.”

I sighed and nodded my head and he gave me a small smile. We then ordered our food and we continued talking and getting to know each other better.

“You know,” I said after we had gotten our food, “You’ll have to make it up to Carson too.”

“Oh I know that,” Matt said, “I’m not his biggest fan am I?”

“He called you stupid this morning,” I said and Matt winced.

“That’s a really hurtful word,” he said and I shrugged my shoulders.

“I had to agree with him,” I said and Matt smiled lightly at me and put his hand on top of mine again and the warmth and electricity went up my arm like it always did when we had skin to skin contact.

“Well I plan on making it up to him too,” he replied and I smiled lightly at Matt.

Lunch was really enjoyable and I loved how easily conversation flowed between Matt and I. There was never really a dull or lull moment in our conversation. We talked about nothing and everything and it was just nice to have friends who were my age again even if this friendship was blossoming more into a relationship. We got back to Matt’s car and he grinned over at me.

“To Carson’s school?” Matt asked.

“To Carson’s school,” I said and smiled.

Matt had a lot of making up from not coming around for two days and I sure hoped Matt was up for it because Carson would definitely yuck it up.