by Janice Lynn
“You should consider using one of the suites for storage, so you don’t have to traipse up and down two flights of stairs to get to your decorations,” Bodie suggested wryly after they’d made a dozen or so trips.
“What’s wrong? Too out of shape to help me carry the rest down?” she teased, grabbing another box to carry down the two flights.
Okay, so her calves were burning and she had no doubt she’d be sore in the morning, but Bodie appeared to be in peak physical condition. The Butterflies had told her he jogged every morning before coming to work at Hamilton House. No doubt they knew that from their spying. She’d ordered them to quit, but they kept ignoring all her protests. Poor Bodie.
She turned to see if he was behind her, but he hadn’t picked up his box yet. He just stood there, watching her.
“Bodie?” she asked, not sure why he wasn’t right behind her.
His gaze narrowed, and he motioned for her to go ahead. “Nothing. Go on. I’ll be right behind you.”
Doing so, Sarah set down the box she carried, glanced around the living room. It looked like Christmas had exploded in the room. Unable to resist adding to the mounting chaos, she opened the box she’d just carried to pull its contents out.
One by one, she removed the precious ornamental snowmen her aunt had collected and removed them from their protective bubble wrap.
“There you are,” she said when Bodie came back into the room with a box. “I was about to send a rescue party after you.”
Stairs, Bodie thought with disgust. He could breeze through most of the physical therapy exercises the doctor had told him to keep doing as he healed. But stairs? With working on the main floor of the house, he hadn’t had a lot of reason to go up and down the stairs. When the need had arisen, he hadn’t had issues, but multiple trips had him gritting his teeth as sharp pain shot through his pinned-together hip.
Maybe he shouldn’t have been so eager to do Sarah’s bidding.
Not if he wanted to keep her from figuring out he wasn’t as tough as she thought he was.
He knew he wasn’t. But he liked the way she looked at him, as if she thought him capable of doing anything. Being with her made him feel as if he could.
Except stairs.
He was finding out the hard way that going up and down stairs repeatedly was torture on his hip and leg. And his teeth may be permanently damaged from the grinding he’d done that last trip down.
“Would you mind if, rather than bring down more boxes right away, we put these decorations out first?” Her eyes were full of pleading. “I’d like to unpack these, and then we can carry the empty boxes back upstairs to keep from having such a cluttered mess.”
Despite his lack of Christmas spirit, he jumped on the offer to decorate if it meant he could give his body a break from the steps.
“Sounds like a great idea.”
Getting Sarah’s claw-foot tub into the bathroom had been a major pain, but with the help of some of Sarah’s church friends that morning, Bodie had gotten it in, and was working on getting it hooked up. The tub made the room a bit tight, but with the right lighting, the finished product was going to look good.
She’d opted to go with the tiled showers in both downstairs suite bathrooms, just a much smaller one in the room with the tub. He’d almost finished Aunt Jean’s en suite and was making great progress in the other.
“Bodie and I carried Aunt Jean’s ornaments down last night.”
Trying not to listen in on Sarah’s phone conversation, Bodie focused on his work. Unfortunately, Sarah had a tendency to talk loudly when she was excited, so not hearing her conversation proved impossible.
“I’m going to go pick out a Christmas tree at Harvey Farms later this morning, but I still have to make arrangements for delivery,” she continued.
Earlier, she had been in the living area going through the remainder of the boxes they’d carried down the night before. Now, he could hear her moving around, cell phone to her ear, as she decorated the room while talking to her friend Maybelle.
“I need a truck.” She laughed. “Maybe I can get Rosie to convince Lou to get it for me.”
From where he worked on the tub, Bodie struggled to turn off years’ worth of paying attention to every detail in his environment and his need to do whatever he could for Sarah.
“Why is Lou short-handed?” She groaned to Maybelle. “Guess I won’t be getting my tree today, after all.”
Her disappointment was so heavy Bodie stared at the ceiling and counted to ten.
He didn’t have to do this. He shouldn’t do this. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was be involved in getting a Christmas tree.
He needed to finish Sarah’s job, get to Texas for a short visit, then make a new life for himself at iSecure. Although his body still had its limits—as going up and down the stairs had made painfully clear—he was getting his strength back.
He had been stiff that morning but had pushed through his physical therapy stretches. After moving around all day, he didn’t feel much worse for the wear.
Thank goodness. He’d worried about the aftereffects of having overdone it. He’d known better and should have come up with some excuse as to why he couldn’t carry down the boxes after his hip had started protesting.
Only that would have left Sarah doing it all by herself. And thinking less of him for not contributing. That didn’t work for him.
He was here to help her. First because of the quilt and now… now, because he wanted to help the bubbly do-gooder who was affecting his life in so many positive ways.
Like making him smile.
“I know there’s plenty of time between now and Christmas, Maybelle, but if I don’t go soon all the good trees will be gone and I’ll have to settle for what’s left. Who wants to settle for a shabby Christmas tree at their business’s grand opening? What kind of start would that be for Hamilton House B & B?”
Bodie closed his eyes.
“This year’s tree has to be extra special. Everything has to be perfect.”
Why was he still squatted on the bathroom floor? Sarah needed a truck so she could get a tree. Wasn’t his purpose for being in Pine Hill to help Sarah?
Gritting his teeth from the discomfort in his hip, he stood, and then marched forward, just the way he used to march into battle.
He found Sarah in the kitchen, having just placed an antique candelabra with red candles on the island. Thick green garlands with red ribbons adorned the piece.
She was just as he’d imaged, phone to ear, pretty in her Christmas green sweater and jeans. Her hair was pulled up and tied with a red ribbon patterned with strings of colorful lights. Around her neck, she wore a necklace made up of more Christmas lights. He’d bet anything that there was a button that made them twinkle.
Sarah liked things that twinkled.
Seeing him come in, she smiled.
The inside of his chest did the little fluttery thing it had started doing when Sarah was around. He should probably see a doctor in case they’d missed something in the scans he’d had that year. He wouldn’t say the flutter felt like shrapnel moving, but there was definitely something up in there.
When she smiled at him like that, something inside of him twinkled like he was a string of lights going off in multiple bursts of color.
Him. Bodie Lewis. Twinkling.
It was enough to make him want to slap his hand across his forehead and see if he could knock his brain back into gear because apparently his injuries had extended to his head, after all.
Tough soldiers didn’t twinkle.
He winced. He might not be a tough soldier anymore, but he wasn’t embracing twinkling, either. The sooner he finished this job, the better.
Her gaze holding his, she held up a finger as if to say to hold on and she’d be off the phone in a few. Rather than wait for her to finish, B
odie pulled his truck key from his pocket and tossed it to her.
Catching it, she looked at the key, then back at him.
Putting her hand over the mouthpiece of her phone, she asked, “What’s this?”
“My truck key.”
Keeping her hand pressed over the mouthpiece, she veed her brows in question. “I know that, but what am I supposed to do with this?”
“Get your tree.”
Her jaw dropped a little as she realized what he meant. “You want me to drive your truck to Harvey’s Farm?”
“If it makes you happy.”
Because, more and more that seemed to be what motivated his every move. Making Sarah smile.
Sarah stared at Bodie in disbelief. They’d only known each other a short time. That he trusted her enough to let her borrow his truck had her insides filled with warm fuzzies.
“You going with me to get my Christmas tree would make me happy,” she admitted, hearing the bit of longing in her voice and not really caring if Bodie heard it, too.
“Well, if you want me to go, I will,” Maybelle said over the cellphone.
Oops. She’d forgotten about her conversation with Maybelle and had neglected to keep her hand over the mouthpiece to block out her conversation with Bodie.
“Not you,” she clarified, then winced as she realized how that sounded. She should have muted her phone or ended the call. Something.
She took a big breath and tried to dig herself out of the hole without ending up in a deeper mess.
“I mean, of course, you going with me would make me happy, Maybelle. But I was talking to Bodie. He just came into the kitchen and—”
“Bodie going with you to get a Christmas tree would make you happy?” Maybelle interrupted, her voice full of curiosity.
Sarah could feel Maybelle’s matchmaking instinct going into full-fledged overdrive from over the phone line. Not good. She’d been fighting tooth and nail to keep the Butterflies away from Hamilton House so Bodie could work in peace. So far, she’d succeeded. Any more slip-ups like that one and they’d be camped out on her doorstep wanting to know more.
“No,” she insisted. Then, wondering if Bodie could hear what Maybelle had asked, she met his gaze and corrected her answer. “Yes.”
His expression was wary, guarded, and she didn’t like it.
“Look, Maybelle. I have to go. Thanks for being willing to go to Harvey’s Farm with me, but I’m going to pass. Love you.” She hung up the phone before Maybelle could say anything further, then addressed Bodie. “Not sure how much of that you could hear.”
“Enough.”
“Then you know I would love for you to go with me to get a Christmas tree.”
He glanced behind him as if looking for a reason to say no. “I need to finish hooking up the plumbing to the tub. Plus, now that I have it here, I’m going put in the vanity.”
She did want him to finish with the bathroom plumbing and the vanity. But at the moment, what she wanted most was for him to go with her to get a tree. The work at the house was important, but so was a tree, she reasoned. After all, how could she have an open house on Christmas Day without a tree?
“How long will that take? I can wait,” she offered, then clasped her hands. “Or, better yet, I’ll help you if you’ll tell me what to do.”
“Like you did with the painting?”
“Hey, I helped,” she reminded, smiling, and grateful that his tense expression had eased.
“Helped make a mess,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, yeah, but painting was a lot more fun with me helping. Admit it.”
“Not going to happen.” He took a step back in what she could only label as a retreat. “Take my truck and get what you need. I have a lot to do today.”
“It’s almost lunchtime, Bodie. We can get something to eat, then go to Harvey’s Farm. Or better yet, we can eat there.”
Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? Bodie would love Harvey Farms. Or at least, she’d love showing it to him.
“You have to see it to believe it. Christmas trees for miles and miles. Plus, all kinds of Christmas goodies.” She sighed at the memory of going with Aunt Jean year after year. Some years, her dad had gone with them. Some years, he hadn’t been able to due to his pastoring work. The life of a minister wasn’t a nine-to-five weekday one. Aunt Jean had always been there. Sarah had loved going to pick a tree with her each year.
“Go with me to get a Christmas tree and you can put the vanity in while I decorate the tree this evening,” she suggested, wanting Bodie to go with her for so many reasons.
Rather than agree, he just eyed her skeptically. “You didn’t get enough decorating this morning?”
“Nor last night,” she confessed. If it were up to her, she’d have every inch of Hamilton House draped in garland and in the holiday spirit.
And Bodie Lewis in the holiday spirit, too.
“Thank you for helping me carry everything down, by the way. I never would have gotten so much done had you not been here.”
He didn’t quite meet her eyes, but said, “You’re welcome.”
She gave him a hopeful look. “So, you’ll go with me to get a tree?”
“You don’t need me to go. You have my truck key,” he reminded. “Go find your tree. There will be someone to help you load it and I’ll unload when you get back here. Problem solved.”
He was right. She could do that. But…
“You might not get another chance to see Harvey Farms before you leave Pine Hill. It would be a shame to miss out on seeing something so magical.”
“I’ve seen farms before, Sarah. Not a one of them was magical.”
“That’s because you weren’t at a Christmas tree farm with me.”
He shook his head, but a flicker in his eyes spurred her on.
“Mrs. Harvey makes a delicious soup and sandwich,” she tempted. “Plus, in addition to trees, they have a gift shop that sells the most awesome homemade goodies ever. Oh, and you can buy fresh holly wreaths, too. We could get one for the front door.”
One side of his mouth hiked up. “All that? Really?”
“Really,” she agreed, not caring that he found her enthusiasm amusing. She wanted to show him Harvey Farms. “It’s not quite as wonderful as the festival, but Harvey Farms is still like a dream come true.”
“Your dream, maybe.” He leaned back against the kitchen counter, crossed his muscular arms, and regarded her. “You know this isn’t my kind of thing.”
“Only because you’ve never been,” she assured him, thinking how much fun she’d have showing him one of her favorite places, letting him see it through her eyes. Bodie didn’t have a lot of Christmas spirit, but she suspected that came from lack of exposure.
Holiday happiness was contagious, and she wanted to infect him with a big dose of Christmas goodness.
“I’ll be fine if I never go,” he countered.
“Once you’ve tasted Mrs. Harvey’s yummy soup you’ll think otherwise. No one should go their whole lives without sampling some of her treats.” Just recalling how wonderful the woman’s past offerings had been had Sarah’s mouth watering. “I’m sure Harry would love the opportunity to stretch his legs.”
This point seemed to make more of an impact. He tilted his head and seemed to be actually considering it. “There is that,” he admitted. “Though I could just take him for a walk around the block.”
“Wouldn’t he rather run through the woods? The trees are breathtaking. Like a forest of Christmas enchantment waiting to happen.”
“A forest of Christmas enchantment waiting to happen?” Snorting with amusement, he shook his head. “You sure you don’t work for a holiday advertising company?”
“Am I selling you on coming with me?”
“You’re not going to leave without me, are you?”
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Excitement filled her. “After you’ve worked so hard since you arrived, it would be my pleasure to take you to Harvey Farm today.”
“Your pleasure to take me, eh?” A full grin broke out on his face. “In my truck?”
“Well, yes. Unless you want to strap the tree to the top of my car?” She batted her lashes. “Can’t you see me driving us around with a tree hanging over both ends of my little car? No doubt that would be some type of traffic violation. Donnie would be waiting in his patrol car and would take great pleasure in giving me another ticket. I might lose my license.”
He chuckled. “Then how can I say no?”
Her insides warmed. How could she have ever thought he never smiled? Sure, the smiles still didn’t come as often as they should, but the man certainly could smile. And how! She’d also been right about how his smile transformed everything about him. She’d never admit it to the Butterflies, but she knew full well that Bodie was a very attractive man.
With a smile so brilliant it could top a Christmas tree and outshine any star.
“You can’t. I’m irresistible,” she teased and almost felt as if she really were with the way Bodie indulged her.
Too bad he planned to leave Pine Hill as soon as he finished at Hamilton House. If he were staying, it would be so easy to let herself fall for him.
But she wouldn’t.
Nor did she want to think about his leaving. Not now.
For the moment, Bodie was going Christmas tree shopping with her and that was enough.
“An irresistible snowflake.” He gave a resigned sigh. “Then I have no choice but to go.”
“Yay!” Before she thought better of it, Sarah crossed the short distance between the kitchen island and the counter, wrapped her arms around Bodie and gave him a hug. “You won’t regret this.”
Although she did regret hugging him, because she’d swear he smelled better than Christmas morning itself.
Chapter Seven
Bodie had heard of Christmas tree farms, but Sarah was right that he’d never been to one.