After throwing her hip to the side and giving an exaggerated eye roll, Christina put her hand out in front of me. “Why do you hate Christmas?”
I shrugged. “I don’t hate it. I just … don’t prefer it.”
“I’ve known you for two years and haven’t seen a spark of Christmas spirit, it’s weird.”
I sighed. “Let’s just say that I grew up in a town that went way overboard with Christmas and … I’ve just had enough.”
She stirred the sauce. “Of the town or of Christmas?”
I paused, not expecting the directness of the question. “I guess both.”
She sprinkled a touch of salt into the sauce. “Hmm, so that’s why you work so much?”
I sighed. “What can I say? I’m living the American dream.”
“Until you take over the world?”
I grinned. “You know I want my own store…then another store, and another.”
The way Christina’s eyebrows furrowed, I knew she didn’t buy it. “Right, the path to success…”
I played along, she was quoting me. “…is paved with hard work. Exactly.”
Her very red lips sealed into a noncommittal line. “You will never be happy selling jewelry.”
“Why?” I challenged back.
“You are not making a difference.”
“I’m helping with the most important events in life—marriage, anniversaries, birthdays.”
“And you care about those events?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Okay, fine. I like selling things. I’ve always liked marketing and selling. It’s what I do.” She had me on the defensive. “How do hairdressers make a difference?”
She narrowed her eyes. “We counsel others. We make people beautiful. They feel better because of us.” She gave a soft smile. “We don’t just sell, sell, sell. You have to believe in something.”
I rolled my eyes. “I believe in not having to struggle your whole life. But don’t worry, I’ll share with you.”
She cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes. “So, I had this dream,” she said, changing the subject.
“Oh, dear.” I moved away from the stove, not ready to indulge Christina in another round of ‘guess what the dream means.’ Her grandmother had taught her about the power of dreams and she would spend hours interpreting them.
Her bracelets jiggled as she cut me off. “Madre Mia—it’s serious.”
I stopped. The normal look of superiority on Christina’s face was gone, replaced by wide eyes and distress in the corner of her eyes.
Annoyance stirred through me. “This better not have anything to do with Sean.”
Instantly Christina jerked her head back and forth. “This is serious,” she said again.
“Christina!” I had to hand it to her, her blatant fear made me unwillingly shiver. “Don’t do this to me.”
“I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Christina, what did you see?” I didn’t care, but I couldn’t shake this insane feeling.
“Muerto.”
“What?”
Tears appeared in her eyeliner coated eyes. “I am sorry. I—I felt death. I—”
All my patience fled. You didn’t mess with that word. “What do you mean? Am I dying?”
She gulped back a swallow. “It’s not like that—it’s all symbols.” She put her shaky hand on my shoulder. “I—I’m sorry, I wish I didn’t have this gift, but as you know with your natural gift to sell things, we get what the Lord gives us.”
A nervous pulse went through me. “Tell me exactly what you saw.” It wasn’t that I put a lot of stock in her dreams, but I couldn’t discount the time I’d lost the key to the store and she’d dreamed that it was at the bottom of a swimming pool. The next day I’d found it in the filled kitchen sink, left overnight.
She pressed her fingers into the side of her head and rubbed. “I don’t know.” It came out fast. “But I also saw love. I saw death and love. True love’s kiss on Christmas Eve. ” She exhaled like she’d run a marathon.
Okay, now it had turned stupid. And typical of her. “Have you been watching Disney Princess movies, again?” I whirled away. “You almost had me.” This was also her thing—shocking me to keep me lively and vivid.
She laughed nervously. “I’m not being a drama queen, I really saw something that freaked me out.”
“Whatever,” I called over my shoulder and dropped my things onto my desk, promptly forgetting Christina’s dramatics.
“Molly!” Christina called out. “Luis said Sean really likes you. He bought you a Christmas present. You will have dinner with us, won’t you?”
I frowned. “Can I just eat in my room?”
“No!”
I traded my work clothes, black skirt and fancy top, for dark jeans and a snug, green sweater. Comfort clothes. I called out. “Fine, I’ll eat, but I should be running.”
“You run too much.”
I almost tripped on the cord that connected the lights from the tree to the outlet in the hall. I turned back. “I hate Christmas, by the way.”
“Feliz Navidad.” Christina sang out to me.
I roughly brushed out my red hair. It had an autumn color to it. Natural, but no one ever thought it was. I’d had it in soft curls earlier, but the curls easily fell out, going back to my usual straight. It took a lot of product and an hour of curling to get the curls just right. I did reapply my make-up, wishing I wasn’t a slave to my stomach and could make a stand about this holiday fun we were about to have. I didn’t like to have my boycotting sabotaged.
I worried. Christina and her ‘dream interpreting’ didn’t sit well with me.
***
Two hours later, Luis and Christina sat on one side of me. They made out as ‘White Christmas’ played on the television.
Sean lightly traced my shoulder and slid his hand down my arm. He paused.
I pulled away from him. “Umm, I think I need to get to bed.” I stood and tried to avoid the hurt look in his eyes. It wasn’t his fault he was Luis’s sidekick and I didn’t like him as more than a friend. Honestly, he was a pretty nice guy, even if he had talked about the bonds and protein again all night.
Christina murmured, “Night, Molly.” But didn’t break from her make out session.
Sean stood too, flattening his tight t-shirt over his abs. “Yeah, I get that you have to get up early. Can I give you something?”
I really didn’t have any desire to be mean to him. But, I didn’t want anything from him. Not to mention the fact I didn’t have a return present. Awkward. “S-sure.”
He moved to the coat rack next to the door.
I followed, ready to face the impending hurt when he realized I had nothing to give him in return.
He unfolded a brown bag from his coat pocket and extracted a small box.
I took a quick step back. No. No. No. This couldn’t be a ring. Nooo. There had been no kisses. Not even real hand holding. Nothing that would warrant a ring.
He chug laughed. “It’s not that kind of ring.”
I exhaled and reluctantly took the box.
It wasn’t wrapped. I hesitated.
Sean licked his lips. “I know we’re not...” His eyes averted to Luis and Christina, then back to me. “I just thought that you might need a reminder.”
My heart sped up. “What?”
Gingerly, he pulled the top off the box to reveal a small silver ring. “I figured since you work in a ring shop, you must like jewelry. It reminded me of the star that guided the wise men.”
My hand hovered over it. “It’s…”
He picked it up and held it out. “It’s a Christmas star.” He rolled his eyes and blushed. “Christina told me you hate Christmas and I noticed you seem...” He trailed. “I just thought you might need something to help you find your way.” He slipped it onto my left pinky finger.
I was speechless, my throat tightened and I thought about the star that my father used to help me put right on top of the tree. I p
ushed the thought away and tried not to think about that.
A nervous breath huffed out of Sean. “Whenever I see the star, it makes me feel like I know where I’m going. I hope it can guide you to whatever you need right now in your life. Even if that’s not me.” The side of his lip went up. “Merry Christmas, Molly.”
Sincerity. I would give him that, but I wouldn’t say those words … Merry Christmas. Even though it felt awkward not to say them back. “Thanks.”
Additional works by Cami:
The Broken Path
Fourth of July
Dead Running
Dying to Run
Poison Me
Blog This
The Colony
Shadows in the Curtain
A portion of the proceeds from Full Court Devotion will be donated to The Child and Family Support Center. For more information on this worthy cause – http://childandfamilysupportcenter.org/
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www.camichecketts.com
About the Author
Cami is a part-time author, part-time exercise consultant, part-time housekeeper, full-time wife, and overtime mother of four adorable boys. Sleep and relaxation are fond memories. She’s never been happier.
Please refer to her website – http://www.camichecketts.com for more information about her books.
Full Court Devotion Page 9