His Christmas Angel: A Sweet YA Holiday Romance (Christmas Snow)
Page 11
“You can say something,” I said.
“You’re dating a dying girl,” Beau said, “that kind of sucks.”
Toby reprimanded him with a forceful nudge and a look of disgust.
“Angelina’s not dying,” I said, unperturbed by Beau’s lack of filter. Beau never minced words. “She’s in remission, she’s amazing.”
“Cancer kills,” Beau stated. “It’s a fact.”
“Yeah, but this one’s got a high survival rate. Angelina’s got every chance of beating this disease.”
“That’s great,” Toby said, holding his hand out for a fist bump. “I hope she does.”
“Hey, I do too,” Beau said, putting his fist forward, too.
“Thanks,” I said, bumping them both. “She’s pretty special.”
“Yeah, she’d have to be to date you, Masters,” Ronan said, punching my shoulder. “She’d have to be extra special!”
“I don’t get it,” Toby said, “you get grounded for two weeks, yet you somehow still manage to get the girl! What’s with that?”
“Charmed, I guess,” I said with a cheesy smile.
Epilogue
Angelina
I’M SITTING AT A SMALL round table in the cafe, my eyes flitting to the door every two seconds, ridiculous thoughts racing through my mind:
He’s not coming.
He’s changed his mind.
It was all a joke.
He’s stood me up.
Okay, so I’m ten minutes early, but that doesn’t calm the pitter patter of my heart.
My phone pings.
I almost have a heart attack as I read my screen: Change of plans.
Here we go, my worst nightmare come true: He’s come to his senses. One week back at school and hanging with his school friends, he’s realized that I’m not the girl of his dreams after all. Chase Masters doesn’t want to be dating a sick girl, he’s probably about to head for the mountains, try out his new snowboard.
Another text chimes: Our date is off
My heart drops. Of course it is. I’ve been dreaming about this for a week now. Chase came off his grounding on Monday, the first day back at school. He’s talked to me every day since, our conversations easy and fun, and today was supposed to be the best date ever, the two of us exploring everything Snow Ridge has to offer.
I had gotten my hopes high.
Foolish, foolish girl with leukemia.
I check my watch. Mom will still be at the grocery store. If I call now, I can get a ride back home with her. I’ll probably lie and say something like his truck has broken down. It will be too embarrassing to say that he’s dumped me before our first date.
I stand and slip on my coat, my sweater sleeve bunching up. I need to get away quickly before the waitress comes back for my order. I’d told her I was waiting for a friend. Ha! How can my heart hurt worse than chemo treatments? I pull up my hood, anonymity is good. Just as well no one knows me in Snow Ridge.
My phone chimes again. I tuck it into my pocket. I don’t need to read any more. What’s the excuse? That he’s conveniently grounded again?
Fighting back tears, I push the chair in. And that’s when I feel someone grab my shoulders from behind, but it’s gentle, sending a shiver of delight through me.
And then his voice, “And where do you think you’re going?” My hood slides down and I’m spun around, finding myself looking into the blue, smiling eyes of Chase.
“But...you canceled...”
Next, there are squeals. And two little girls jumping around me, my name called over and over, “Angel, Angelina! Angel!”
Annalise and Karolina cling to me, one on each arm, affectionately holding me, though I don’t know who is who.
“Heeyyyy,” I say, a little overwhelmed by all the love and attention, “My two favorite twins.”
They’re both talking at the same time—we’re going ice skating, Chase is taking us, Chase will probably fall over a hundred times! Chase hushes them.
“Annalise, sit down,” he directs, pulling out a chair. Annalise’s purple scarf is knotted in the front. “Karolina, over here.” Her purple scarf is tied to the side. I make a mental note to remember that.
He turns to me, his brow furrows. “You were about to leave?”
“You said there was a change of plans, that the date was off,” I say, aware that my misty eyes are betraying me.
“You didn’t read them all?” He’s grinning.
“What?” I fumble for my phone in my pocket, clicking on my messages:
You have no idea how popular you are.
This is out of my hands!
My heart jumps, and I feel rather silly. “I thought you’d had second thoughts,” I murmur.
“They begged,” Chase says, his eyes flitting to the twins, “Like, begged to see you! I hope you don’t mind. I promised them we’d go to the ice rink together.”
“That sounds fun,” I say.
He pulls me close so that my head rests on his chest. “There’s no way I’m having second thoughts. You know I’ve been hanging out for this day all week.”
“I thought you might have decided to go with your friends.”
“No.”
“Or snowboarding.”
“Nah.”
“Or...”
“The date will have to wait until after ice skating,” he says as he tilts my chin up. His finger taps my nose. “And this is a hint of what we’ll be doing.”
The smile on his face soon disappears as his lips descend on mine, a kiss that steals the air out of my lungs and stirs up the butterflies in my stomach, a kiss that fills me with hope and leaves me with no doubt at all that
Chase Masters
is the boy
for me.
THANK YOU FOR READING Chase and Angelina’s story. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review or a rating! Christmas is a time for family, love, hope, gingerbread and all things cinnamon! I’m not the world’s best baker, but I have a particular love for gingerbread people and gingerbread houses! I’m sharing my special gingerbread recipe!
GINGERBREAD COOKIES
- 150g butter (5oz) cut into cubes
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 cups plain flour (all purpose)
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line two large baking trays with baking paper.
• Place the flour, baking soda, ginger, mixed spice and brown sugar into the bowl of a food processor.
• Add the butter, pulse until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg, pulse to combine. Turn out the dough and work into a ball with your hands, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll out the chilled dough between two sheets of baking paper. Use cookie cutters (I use people or stars or you can use any Christmas shapes) to cut the dough into desired shapes, then place onto the baking trays – leaving space for the cookies to expand while cooking. Re-roll the leftover dough and keep cutting shapes until the dough is used up.
• Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Remove from the oven, allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the tray, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• To decorate: Sift 1 cup of powdered (confectioners) sugar into a bowl. Add 3-4 teaspoons of warm water, mix to piping consistency. Spoon the icing (frosting) into a piping bag fitted with a fine nozzle, then pipe decorations onto the cookies and decorate with candy, sprinkles or currants.
• Enjoy!
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mas Angel: A Sweet YA Holiday Romance (Christmas Snow)