Cody Schaefer loves the Christmas season and a benefit to working from home means that he gets to be surrounded by his decoration collections all the time. And as a bonus, he starts getting deliveries from a local café containing holiday treats flavored with gingerbread. The notes aren’t signed, but they clearly come from someone who knows him.<br><br>Out of all of Cody’s friends, Jason van Buren is the only one level-headed about the mysterious treats, and Cody begins talking to him daily. Cody enjoys their chats, and the two men grow closer. One Christmas Eve, no delivery appears. But Jason shows up on his doorstep, ready to back gingerbread cookies. It’s then Cody realizes just who is behind the deliveries. And perhaps, Cody will get Jason as his Christmas gift this year.

Gingerbread and Good Tidings

Carefully, slowly, I laid my hand on his shoulder. He froze. I wasn’t even sure he was breathing. But he didn’t pull away.


“I’m not upset or anything. Just confused,” I murmured.


“I’m sure.” I couldn’t quite zero in on what I wasfeeling, but it definitely wasn’t anger or anything remotely like that. A little hurt, because we’d been talking about it for days, and he’d been my source of common sense through the whole thing. And it had been him all along, so it made sense he’d been confident in his assertion that the treats were safe and well-intentioned.


“Good. That’s good,” he whispered. He relaxed a little, but not completely. I patted his shoulder and moved my hand.


Chapter 12