Not Until Christmas Morning (Hope Springs Book 5)

by Valerie M. Bodden

  “I still can’t believe Leah asked us all to help make the community Thanksgiving dinner. The last time we offered, she practically laughed in our faces.” Jade’s husband Dan came up behind her and read the list over her shoulder. “She must be really sick.”

  Austin nodded. No need to mention that technically it hadn’t been Leah who had texted to ask her friends to help with the meal. It had been Jackson’s idea to “borrow” Leah’s phone and contact her friends to see if anyone would be able to help with the cooking. Austin had agreed, making it clear to the boy that the only reason it was acceptable was because they were doing it to help Leah.

  He’d been apprehensive at first, but he had to admit now that it had been a good idea. In addition to Dan and Jade, Peyton and Jared, Ethan and Ariana, Grace, and Emma had made it.

  Austin glanced toward the building’s small lobby, where Jackson was keeping Hope and Ethan and Ariana’s little girl, Joy, entertained.

  “So, where do we start, chef?” Dan teased.

  Austin scanned the list Jade passed him. He’d thought Leah had been exaggerating when she’d said she had to make twenty turkeys, but judging from this, she hadn’t been.

  He swallowed. “How many people does this need to serve?”

  “A couple hundred. Mostly homeless people or people who have nowhere else to go for Thanksgiving.” Jade was studying the list. “I can handle the mashed potatoes. Pretty hard to mess that up, right?”

  Austin made a mark on the paper. “And I can take care of the turkeys.” He divvied up the rest of the tasks among the others.

  As they broke off to do their jobs, Austin rummaged in the industrial-size refrigerator for the herbs he’d need for the turkeys. He snapped off a piece of sage, the smell a punch straight to the gut.

  He’d promised himself he’d never cook again, and everything in him rebelled at the idea, from his trembling hands to his churning stomach. But what else could he do?

  You could turn around and leave. You don’t owe these people anything.

  But that wasn’t true. Leah could have written him off that first night they’d met, when she’d found him chopping wood at midnight. Instead, she’d gone out of her way to make him feel at home here. And her friends had all been more than welcoming too.

  Austin threw the sage back in the bag. Today was not the day to get caught up in those old memories. Today was a day to make new ones. If not for his own sake, then for Leah’s.

  With a quick breath, he grabbed the rest of the ingredients from the fridge.

  For the rest of the day, the kitchen bustled with activity as everyone worked on their tasks. As Austin understood it, they’d make all the food today, then transport it to the church, where they’d let it warm tomorrow during the Thanksgiving service so that no one had to miss worship to prepare the meal.

  “It smells good in here.” Jackson stopped in front of Austin, carrying baby Hope. “Way better than she smells.”

  From next to Austin, Jade laughed and took her daughter. “Unless you want to change her?” She wiggled her eyebrows at Jackson, who gave her the kind of revolted look only a thirteen-year-old boy could pull off. “I’ll take that as a no.” Jade carried the still smiling baby off.

  “So it smells good, huh? You want a bite?” Austin leaned closer and whispered. “I won’t tell anyone.”

  But Jackson’s mouth dropped into his more typical scowl. “I don’t want it. It just smells good.”

  Austin studied the boy. There was a reason he wouldn’t eat more than peanut butter and jelly, he was sure of it. But if Leah wasn’t going to push it, neither was he.

  “All better.” Jade passed a fresh-smelling Hope back to Jackson. The baby immediately gripped his ear, and Jackson’s scowl transformed into a smile as he tickled the little girl into letting go. Too bad Leah wasn’t here to see that smile. On both kids.

  Actually, it was too bad Leah couldn’t be here, period. Surrounded by her friends, the dull longing he’d felt after not seeing her for two days had grown into a need to be near her. And it didn’t help that they kept mentioning her name.

  As Jackson took Hope back, Jade leaned her hip on the counter and regarded Austin. Peyton came and stood next to her. Austin eyed the two women. They were ganging up on him about something, he could feel it.

  “It was nice that you did this for Leah.” Peyton gave him a wry look that said he’d been busted.

  He tried to play it off. “Oh, I didn’t do― She was the one who―”

  But both women were shaking their heads and laughing at him.

  “Nice try,” Jade said. “But Leah could be dead, and she still wouldn’t give this up. You must really care about her.”

  “I didn’t― I don’t―” He turned his full attention to the turkey he’d been carving. “I was just trying to help,” he finally mumbled.

  Jade’s grin gentled. “I know. And we all appreciate it.” She gestured around the room, where everyone was now cleaning up. “And so will Leah.”

  He lifted the turkey pieces into the large roaster they’d use to warm it tomorrow. He tried to ignore the fact that the women’s eyes were still on him.

  “Can I tell you something about Leah?” Peyton asked.

  Austin shrugged, as if he couldn’t care less what she had to say about Leah. He doubted they bought it.

  “If you like her, you’re going to have to make it painfully obvious.”

  His eyes swung to Peyton, then to Jade. Both looked completely serious.

  “And be persistent,” Jade added. She grabbed a rag and wiped up the juices that had dripped from the turkey.

  Austin opened his mouth to argue, but clearly there was no point. These two had already made up their minds.

  And it wasn’t like they were wrong.

  Not that it mattered after the way he’d left things with Leah the other night.

  Peyton set a hand on his arm. “I can tell she likes you too. Or, she would if she let herself. But you’re going to have to fight if you want to get out of the friend zone. She’s been hurt in the past. So she tends not to give men much of a chance, beyond friendship.”

  Austin’s shoulders tensed. He hated the idea of anything hurting Leah. “Oh, I―”

  But he had no idea how to finish the thought. Did she even consider him a friend anymore? And if she did, did he want her to think of him as something more?

  No.

  But the weak voice wasn’t enough to convince even himself.

  Chapter 20

  With a gasp, Leah sprang upright, her eyes flashing open.

  What was she doing in bed? How long had she been sleeping?

  A faint trace of light leaked in through the curtains above her bed, and she reached to open them. The sun was low in the sky, faint lines of pink and orange oozing from its center into the clouds.

  Could it really be sunset already?

  But no, that couldn’t be right. The sun set on the other side of the house.

  It rose on this side.

  She jumped to her feet but had to pause as a remnant of yesterday’s headache pounded at her temples. She waited for the dizziness to pass, then sprinted for the bedroom door. Somehow, she’d slept through an entire day and night.

  The day and night she was supposed to spend preparing the community Thanksgiving dinner.

  She had to call Dan. Maybe he could get the word out that the event was canceled before people started showing up.

  A sick feeling not at all related to her illness swirled in her stomach. She shouldn’t have insisted that she had to be the one to prepare the meal. She should have listened to Austin yesterday when he’d suggested that she call someone else to make it. It would have been better than letting an entire community down.

  Austin.

  She stopped as her thoughts caught up with the spinning in her head.

  Austin had been here yesterday. He’d tucked her into bed. She could still feel the soothing coolness of his hand on her forehead. The rag he’d pla
ced there.

  She’d woken once in the middle of the day yesterday to find a glass of water that she’d gulped down. She could only assume he’d left it. And the note.

  He’d left a note.

  Saying that he would take care of everything.

  She rushed back to the nightstand, grabbed the note, then burst into the hallway. She’d run over to his house, find out what still needed to be done, and then get to work. Maybe the meal could be salvaged.

  Jackson’s bedroom door was open, but he wasn’t in there.

  She padded to the kitchen, already calling for him. “Jackson, do you know if . . .”

  But she lost track of what she was going to say as her eyes fell on Austin standing at her kitchen island.

  “Good morning.” Austin raised a coffee cup toward her, his eyes finding hers and sending a tingle from her toes up her spine. “How are you feeling?”

  “Much better.” But her voice was scratchy and dry, and the words came out sounding more frog than human. She probably looked more like a frog right now too.

  Austin grabbed a glass from the cupboard as if he’d lived here his whole life, filled it from the refrigerator, and passed it to her.

  She took a long drink, letting the water soothe her throat, still struggling to recover from the shock of finding Austin in her house first thing in the morning. “Where’s Jackson?” At least she sounded more like herself now.

  “In the living room. I hope you don’t mind, but I said he could watch TV.”

  “I got your note.” She lifted it. “I’m going to go change and then I’ll run over there and finish things up. What needs to be done yet?”

  She braced for his answer. Hopefully she’d be able to accomplish at least some of it in the few hours before hungry people started to arrive.

  “Nothing.”

  “What do you mean, nothing?” Even she usually left a few last things for the morning. “What about the turkeys?”

  “Roasted, carved, and ready to warm.”

  “And the stuffing?”

  “Stuffed.”

  “Potatoes?”

  “Mashed. I think you can see where I’m going with this. Your friends all pitched in. Jackson too. He kept the little ones occupied all day. You would have been proud.” He stepped around the counter and passed her a cup of coffee, his eyes seeking out hers. “I’m sorry about the other night.”

  But Leah couldn’t worry about the other night right now. Or about how it felt to have his eyes on her. Or about how much she’d missed seeing him for the past few days. Those kinds of thoughts would only confuse her.

  “Do you want some breakfast?” Austin cleared his throat and escaped to the other side of the counter. “You must be starving after not eating at all yesterday.” He picked up her cast iron pan and started wiping it out with a paper towel. Somehow the guy who didn’t cook knew not to submerge a cast iron pan. And had cooked a turkey dinner for the whole community.

  “No thanks.” Leah watched him a moment longer. She had so many questions. But now wasn’t the time. “I should go check on Jackson.”

  “He didn’t sleep very well last night. He got up every hour to go to the bathroom, but I think it was just so he could check if you were still―” Austin looked toward the living room and lowered his voice. “Still alive. He seemed pretty freaked out.”

  Leah pressed a hand to her chest. She highly doubted that Jackson cared what happened to her. But if her illness had triggered memories of what had happened with his mom, she was terribly sorry for that.

  Something else Austin had said snagged at her. How did he know Jackson had been up? “Did you stay all night?”

  A trace of pink rose in Austin’s cheeks. “I didn’t want to leave Jackson. And I didn’t know if you might need anything . . .” He swallowed and directed his eyes to the now gleaming pan in his hands.

  “Oh.” Hopefully he’d figure the flush of her cheeks was still from her fever. “I’ll go check on Jackson.”

  She gulped in a clearing breath as she made her way to the living room. Just because the man had taken care of her, taken care of her son, taken care of the meal she was supposed to prepare, didn’t mean anything. Aside from the fact that he was a good friend. A really good friend.

  Jackson looked up as she entered the living room. He looked smaller than usual, curled into a tight ball in his chair, and his eyes were heavy. He didn’t say anything when she greeted him, but she could almost believe a flash of relief sparked in his eyes. Was it possible that Austin had been right? Had Jackson actually been worried about her?

  “Happy Thanksgiving.” She dared to slide a few steps closer, and Jackson went so far as to nod. “I’m going to go shower and get ready, and we’ll leave for church right after that. Then we’ll go serve the meal everyone made yesterday. Austin said you were a big help.”

  This time the corner of Jackson’s lip lifted into what Leah could almost convince herself was a smile.

  “Thank you for that.” She wanted to say more. To tell him how much it meant to her. But maybe this was where she should leave it for now. Baby steps.

  She padded back toward the kitchen to let Austin know it was okay if he went home now. She had things under control.

  But at the sight of him wiping her counter, she paused, taking a moment to watch him. He looked up, and she snapped her head toward the refrigerator as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

  But she could feel her face heating again. There was no way he hadn’t noticed her staring.

  “I’m going to get ready for church,” she mumbled, taking a step down the hallway. But halfway to her room, she turned back. “Would you like to come with us?”

  She held her breath as she brought her eyes to his. He stopped wiping the counter and stared at her.

  She should have known better than to ask. He’d already declined multiple invitations to church.

  But he offered a slow nod. “I think I might.”

  She could feel the grin lifting her lips, and she didn’t try to restrain it. Chalk one up to God for an answered prayer.

  Chapter 21

  Austin’s shoulders tightened as he drove into the church parking lot. He’d insisted they take his truck, since a fairly heavy snow had started to fall about half an hour before they’d left. Already, a slick half-inch of snow covered the roads.

  “Should I drop you off at the door and then find a place to park?” Austin glanced at Leah out of the corner of his eye. In her black leggings and an oversize pink knit sweater that hung almost to her knees, she looked cozy enough to snuggle.

  He knew he should chase the thought from his mind, but he couldn’t. He’d spent all night considering what Jade and Peyton had said. About how he must really care about her. About how he’d have to fight if he wanted to get out of the friend zone.

  And somewhere around two in the morning, as he’d laid a hand on her forehead and been swamped by relief to find it at last cool and fever-free, he’d realized―he did want to get out of that zone. He wanted to tell her how much he cared for her. But he hadn’t figured out exactly how to do that yet.

  “That’s okay.” Leah’s smile strengthened his pulse. “Let’s all walk in together.”

  Austin nodded, pulling into one of the few remaining parking spots. He jumped out of the truck, then sped around to the other side to help Leah down from her seat. The feel of her warm hand in his made something in his throat jump. It didn’t make any sense, how he felt about her. He’d only known her for three weeks. And yet, in that time she’d become a constant in his life.

  She hit him with another smile as she walked around the truck with him. “I’m glad you came.”

  He nodded, but his muscles tensed as they joined the river of people flowing toward the building. He hadn’t considered how many people might be here this morning. Sweat pricked the back of his neck even as snow landed on his face.

  He never should have said yes to this. But he hadn’t wanted to see the di
sappointment that flitted on Leah’s face every time he declined her invitations to church. Plus, his mom had always taken them to church on Thanksgiving, and he’d felt a sudden, unexpected nostalgia for that family feeling this morning as he’d stood in Leah’s kitchen.

  As they stepped through the doors, Dan greeted him with a handshake and a pat on the shoulder. Austin’s eyes darted around the large lobby, crowded with groups of people talking and greeting one another. Beyond them, the sanctuary was even more packed. His jaw tensed as he checked over his shoulder for the door. As long as he could see it―as long as he knew there was a way out―he’d be fine.

  He was pretty sure.

  “Where do you―” Leah cut off as her eyes searched his face. “What’s wrong?”

  He shook his head, clearing his throat and trying to put on a halfway normal expression. “Nothing. What were you going to say?”

  Concern hovered in Leah’s eyes, and she moved closer to his side. “I was going to ask where you want to sit.”

  He did a quick survey of the sanctuary. “How about there?” He pointed to a small section of open seats near the back. It might be a tight squeeze, but it was better than being in the middle of the crowd.

  Leah gave him an odd look but led the way. He silently thanked her for not pointing out that there were at least two nearly empty rows near the front of the church.

  After squeezing past three people’s legs, they settled into the empty spots, Jackson on one side of him and Leah on the other. As Leah folded her hands and closed her eyes and Jackson picked at a hangnail, Austin concentrated on taking a few calming breaths.

  He wasn’t in danger here. There was no reason for him to count the number of steps from here to the exit.

  Fourteen.

  Solely to distract himself, he picked up a Bible from the rack hanging on the back of the seat in front of him. He paged through it, not paying attention to the words. It wasn’t like they meant anything.

  Next to him, Leah shifted, her arm brushing against his, and he couldn’t resist turning toward her. Her smile was as ready as ever.