Obviously, she wasn’t in the loop regarding the latest Red River drama because she wasn’t aware of anyone who wanted to ruin Christmas for the entire town.
Oh. Wait…
Her leg bounced so fast, and furiously, the table shook, but it didn’t compare to the quake of nerves rocking her insides.
She looked down at her fingers, and could swear her skin was taking on a greenish hue. She angled her head to one side and studied her hands. Was that green fur sprouting on her knuckles and around her fingertips?
Joe’s suddenly seemed very, very warm.
She’d kept the idea she’d planned to pitch to the town council on the down-low so the element of surprise would work in her favor. How in the world had her secret gotten out?
And I’m just now hearing that in my head. This was Red River, where few secrets could be kept.
“Sounds like gossip to me.” She waved a hand in the air. “I’m sure it’s been twisted into something very different than what it was meant to be.”
“Chairperson Clydelle and Ms. Francine alerted me that there might be a troublemaker at the meeting who had a problem with buying new decorations,” Ross said.
Ah. Kimberly all but sniffed the air for two rats who wore thick glasses and had silver hair. It was no secret that Kimberly was thrifty.
Okay, she was a complete tightwad, so when she’d asked to be included on the agenda, Chairperson Clydelle and Ms. Francine must’ve gotten suspicious as to her reasons.
Dylan walked over and put a piping hot cup of coffee in front of Ross. “Your usual.”
The two men fist bumped. “That’s why Joe’s is the busiest foodie establishment in town.”
When Dylan was gone, Ross went back to grousing about the unidentified green monster.
“Why is this so important to you?” Kimberly half-scoffed. “I’ve seen your shop and the lodge you own next to it. You string enough lights on your businesses to shut down the power grids throughout the entire Rockies.” She laughed and gave his shoulder a friendly push.
Her laugher sputtered to a stop when he didn’t respond.
Instead, he circled the rim of his coffee mug with a fingertip and stared down into the dark liquid, as though it was a mirror into his soul. “Christmas is special … because…”
Councilman Flaps finished his accounting report and sat down.
Ross let a sad sigh slip through his lips. “It doesn’t matter why it’s important to me. It just is, and I don’t know who came up with such a ridiculous idea, but I can’t let anyone steal Christmas from Red River.” Ross sipped his coffee, steam swirling into his bad-boy ’stache.
“Um, well.” Maybe her idea to speak last wasn’t the brightest in this case. Maybe presenting her idea should’ve been first on the agenda before Ross walked in and threw her off her game. Or realized she was the She-Grinch in question, even though he was mistaken when it came to her intent. She didn’t want to ruin Christmas. Contrary to what he’d obviously been led to believe, she wanted to make the holiday extraordinary for kids who rarely, if ever, got a Christmas at all. “I wouldn’t necessarily call it stealing Christmas.”
Ross kept gazing into his mug, as though it was a crystal ball. Sorrow filled his eyes, and his usual easy-going countenance drained away, replaced by a heaviness that rolled off him in waves.
“Ross, what is it?” she whispered, placing a hand on his arm.
He snapped out of his trance and blew on the steaming liquid, then took a sip. The muscle in his squared jaw hardened. “If this Grinch person doesn’t want to celebrate Christmas…”
“There are a lot of different ways to celebrate the holidays.” She pulled her hand away from his arm and instantly missed the contact. “A few less decorations won’t stop anyone from celebrating.”
He rolled right over her comments. “They don’t have to celebrate it, but for some of us, Christmas is a tradition.” His strong jaw released and tensed again. “It represents loved ones and memories that shouldn’t be forgotten, so why cancel it for everyone?”
“I wouldn’t really call it canceling Christmas, either,” she said with the same meekness she’d felt every time she’d had to walk into a new foster home for the first time.
Sure, she got it that the holidays meant something to most families in a way that was elusive to her because of her upbringing. The holidays also represented commercialism, and seemed like an excuse to spend gobs of money on things that people didn’t really need.
“I think you’re blowing this out of proportion, Ross.”
Ross’s gaze slid away from his mug and locked with hers. “What are you saying, Kimberly?” He didn’t let her answer. “Do you think the Grinch is right?”
When the table began to rock back and forth from her bouncing leg, she slipped a hand under the table, placed it on her thigh—which was clad in red and green reindeer leggings, so where did he get off calling her a Grinch, anyway—and dug a set of nails into her own flesh to still her limb.
“Owwsh,” she hissed under her breath.
Ross let his mug hover at his lips. “You okay?” His tone softened with concern.
“Yep.” She pushed back, scooting her chair out from under the table. “I just remembered I had something important on my schedule this morning.”
Like finding a hole to crawl into until the holidays were over. Or climbing to the top of Wheeler Peak, which loomed over Red River, to see if she could find a cave, a sled, and a little dog to slap fake antlers onto.
As she started to stand, Chairperson Clydelle pounded a gavel, as though she was a Supreme Court judge, and read from a sheet of paper in front of her. “Kimberly Perez.”
Kimberly halted her attempt to straighten and froze in a weird half crouch, half standing position.
Chairperson Clydelle looked up from her paper. “You’ve asked to be put on the agenda to speak before we vote on the new decorations. You’ve got complaints over expanding the budget, I presume?”
Kimberly narrowed her eyes at Chairperson Clydelle and Ms. Francine. Superpowers when it came to reading people must run in their bloodline, because yep. Those two old widowed sisters had definitely figured out why Kimberly had come to the meeting, and they’d called in help from the hottest mechanic in town. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the mechanic also happened to be Kimberly’s dancing and drinking buddy until recently. And was hotter than a five alarm fire.
Well, the joke was on them, because Kimberly had put a stop to buddying around with Ross.
Chairperson Clydelle and Ms. Francine leveled laser stares at her, waiting for her to respond.
Obviously, they knew Kimberly hated wasteful spending. They just didn’t know why she despised it so much. Kimberly didn’t talk about her upbringing with anyone but her bestie, Angelique.
Superpowers aside, the fact that Kimberly had shown up at last summer’s council meeting armed with financial pie charts before they’d voted on renovating the Chamber of Commerce building had probably tipped them off as to why she wanted to speak at today’s meeting. She’d won that battle, convincing the council to sow those precious funds into local kids by building a new playground in the park instead.
Now, the kids filtering through her office had a place to play while their mothers, or guardians, or case workers came from far and wide to utilize the pro bono work Kimberly offered.
Winning this battle wasn’t going to be so easy because those two shrewd silver-haired sisters had come prepared with an ambush.
Kimberly’s gaze darted to Ross.
His expression was still stern. Not something she was used to from him, and he watched her expectantly. He was obviously still unaware that she was the one who had a heart three sizes too small.
It was now or never. And since she didn’t plan on following through on her feelings for him because she was too much of a black sheep to make anybody happy, she said, “I’m sorry, Ross.”
She turned her attention to the council members. “I’d like to
propose a new city ordinance that cuts all holiday decorations and costly festivities from the city budget.” Damn, she really could use that spiked coffee right about now. A little liquid courage never hurt. “I’d also like to propose we find alternative ways to celebrate that don’t cost anything, so the money can be an annual contribution to kids in our area who won’t receive a gift from any other source.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Ross go deathly still. Except for his coffee mug, which tipped to the right just enough to slosh coffee onto his coveralls. He didn’t move. Didn’t wipe off the coffee. He just kept staring at her, as though she was … well, the Red River Grinch.
Chapter Two
“You?” Ross rasped out over the rim of his steaming hot coffee mug. “But why, Kimberly?”
He’d thought he was going to the meeting to stop a horrible person from ruining Christmas. From depriving him of what his sister had asked of him, once Noelle’s doctors informed their family it would be her last holiday season.
Always celebrate Christmas to the fullest.
He’d followed through on his promise every year since. He wasn’t about to stop now.
Kimberly was the Grinch?
He was trying really, really hard to wrap his head around that surprise development.
She was one of the best people he’d ever met. Definitely the most interesting, with her larger-than-life personality and peculiar appearance. When everyone else raised a brow over her free-spirit ways and blunt talk, he found himself chuckling because a warmth flowed through his veins and filled his chest. He loved her boldness. It was refreshing and attractive.
It hadn’t occurred to him that she’d turn out to be the Red River Grinch.
“I, well…” Kimberly stammered, then leaned over to talk specifically to him. “I’m explaining why. This isn’t personal, Ross.”
Sure as hell felt personal.
Celebrating Christmas with decking the halls, trimming the trees, fa la la la la-ing, and anything and everything else that went along with the holidays was how he kept his sister’s memory alive. Noelle was born on Christmas day, so naturally, it had been her favorite holiday, with their family going all out to celebrate both occasions every year.
Until she’d passed away the week between Christmas and New Year’s, when she was twelve and Ross had been just sixteen. After that, his parents had stopped celebrating all together, so it was up to Ross to honor her last wish.
As Kimberly continued her speech about the wastefulness of decorations, Ross retrieved his phone from his pocket and sent an SOS message to every Red River resident in his contacts list. Time to bring in reinforcements to save Christmas.
And to save Kimberly from herself. Hating on holiday decorations wasn’t the Kimberly he knew. The Kimberly he’d secretly come to care for. The Kimberly he’d been waiting patiently to open her heart to him and give him a chance at being more than just a friend.
Hadn’t happened.
He’d waited a long time for the right woman to come along. Even her wild hair and clothes hadn’t scared him off, which she wore like armor. It was obvious that she didn’t let most people get too close, and when something beyond friendship had stirred between her and Ross several months ago, she’d all but severed contact.
Kimberly went on about how underprivileged kids would benefit if Red River didn’t buy new decorations.
Her heart was in the right place, he’d give her that. Ross donated plenty to charity, too, but why take away the cheerful decorations and bright twinkling lights, which every kid on the planet loved?
The front door of Joe’s opened and dozens more people started filtering in, all from Ross’s contacts list.
One of the perks of living in a small town—Red River was a tight-knit community. Sort of like a family who argued with each other but had each other’s backs, too. One text calling for help with very little explanation, except that their presence was needed to stop Christmas in Red River from being ruined, was all it took for most of the town to show up and offer support. By the time they finished filing in, it was standing room only in Joe’s.
Kimberly faltered. Went quiet.
She seemed to straighten her spine and square her shoulders. Only the quiver of her plump bottom lip gave away how nervous she really was underneath the adversarial attorney routine.
That quivering lip chipped away at Ross’s resolve, and he seriously considered giving her what she wanted. He took out his wallet and stared at Noelle’s picture in a Santa hat and jingle bell earrings. It had been taken a few weeks before she passed.
That’s all it took for his resolve to turn to steel again, and he shoved his wallet back into his pocket.
Kimberly walked to the front and picked up one of the big balls that Ms. Francine had pulled from a box to put on display as an example. “Do we really want to spend our money on this, when the money could make a difference in so many children’s lives?” She gave the ball a boost.
The shiny material must’ve been more slippery than she’d thought because it popped from her grasp.
Her expression turned bewildered, as though she couldn’t believe what was happening.
The giant ornament crashed to the ground, shattering in a million pieces.
Someone from Ross’s SOS responders yelled out, “You did that on purpose!”
Both of Kimberly’s hands flew to her mouth. “I didn’t mean—”
“Grinch!” another of Ross’s contacts shouted.
Oh, shit. He’d called them in as an SOS support team, not a hit squad.
He might disagree with Kimberly not wanting to purchase new decorations for Red River, but she wouldn’t have broken the ornament on purpose.
He stood. “I don’t think she—”
Chairperson Clydelle banged her gavel. “I agree with Mr. Armstrong. I don’t think Ms. Perez understands the implications of what she’s proposing. Red River without holiday decorations just wouldn’t be Red River at all. It might even hurt our holiday tourism.”
What? That wasn’t at all what he was going to say, and he was beginning to suspect he’d been had by the chairperson and her sidekick sister.
Kimberly’s expression turned from disbelief over the shattered ornament, to confusion as she looked up at Chairperson Clydelle. Then her look darkened to disappointment, finally morphing into betrayal when her gaze locked onto Ross.
“If the decorations are that fragile, then they aren’t worth what they cost. They won’t last the winter with the kind of wind and snowstorms we get in Red River.” Kimberly folded both arms. “The money really could be better spent, and these decorations would be a careless and irresponsible way to use our town’s funds.”
The churchgoers mumbled and nodded their approval. Their ring leader held his small Bible in the air. “I agree with Ms. Perez. If Jesus isn’t going to be represented in the decorations, then we ought not have decorations at all.”
“Well.” Kimberly paled. “That’s not exactly what I meant—”
“We want Christmas decorations!” someone shouted from Team SOS.
An argument between the two sides broke out, with most everyone yelling.
Deep red crept up Kimberly’s neck and into her face.
He’d like to say the color change to her skin made her hazel eyes turn Grinch-green, but that would be a lie. They deepened to gorgeous glittering emerald.
Ross reminded himself to stay strong. No matter how sensual he found the rapidly beating pulse at the base of her neck, no matter how good her intentions were, she was his rival on this issue. Not his friend. And not his lover.
Unfortunately.
Still, he could not, under any circumstances, let her take Christmas away from Red River. “We could find more durable decorations.” His comment wasn’t heard over the din of arguing.
Chairperson Clydelle thumped her gavel against the table until the crowd quieted. “Now that we’ve heard from everyone, are we ready to put the big balls to a vote?”
>
Normally, that was exactly the type of comment that would have Kimberly snorting with laughter while using her razor-sharp wit to spit out a pun faster than anyone else he knew. Ross would usually laugh along with her, because watching her snort was hilarious and warmed his insides like nothing he’d ever experienced. But seeing his sister’s last wishes carried out was too serious, so instead of laughing at Ms. Francine’s unfortunate description of the holiday decorations, he raised an index finger. “I have something to say.”
Chairperson Clydelle sighed, but one side of her wrinkled lips twitched, as though she was fighting off a smile of victory. “Go ahead.”
“Look around.” He swept a hand across the room. “One text from me, and all of these people showed up because they want to celebrate Christmas the way we always have in Red River.”
“You called on most of the town residents to shoot down my idea to help little kids?” Kimberly let her jaw hang open dramatically. “Wow, Ross. I didn’t realize I was such a threat.”
Okay, texting his entire contacts list may have been an overreaction. He’d been so disappointed when he’d found out who wanted to ban Christmas in Red River, that he’d overcompensated. “Why can’t we find a middle ground and do both? We could help children and decorate Red River at the same time.”
“We can help even more kids if you don’t spend any money on decorations,” Kimberly huffed.
The room erupted into arguing again, with both sides squaring off against each other.
Chairperson Clydelle steepled her fingers and watched the show.
Kimberly kept her arms folded and tapped a foot. The look on her face said steam might as well billow from her ears.
Ross thumped a thumb against the table.
An advocate for a Nativity scene stood. “We’ll boycott every business in town whose owners want the decorations!”
“That’s your way of spreading good will?” grumbled one of the guys who’d shown up because of Ross’s text. “In return, we’ll call every newspaper and television station in the state and have them film us protesting your picket lines because you’re trying to cancel Jesus’s birthday.”
It's In His Christmas Wish (A Red River Valley Novel Book 7) Page 2