by Janice Lynn
Putting the box on top of another, Bodie straightened. “There you go bossing—I mean, directing—again. Me, Harry, whoever is within hearing range.”
Standing from where she’d been petting Harry, she put her hands on her hips. “Yeah, well, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you liked being bossed—I mean, taking direction, Bodie.”
“The Army taught me well.”
“Let’s see if they taught you about arranging ornaments on this display,” she quipped, handing him a snowflake from the box she’d just opened.
Other volunteers had set up pegboard backdrops painted to look like Christmas trees to separate the ornament booth from the others. Hooks were scattered on the boards. On each hook, she and Bodie hung ornaments, essentially decorating the pegboard trees.
“Not much arranging involved when all we’re doing is hanging them on pre-placed hooks,” Bodie mused.
“We’re not done yet,” she warned, gesturing to the group headed toward them with a live Christmas tree in tow. Harry got to his feet to inspect as the noisy group neared. Two teen boys carried the tree. A few other volunteers carried cardboard boxes. All were singing Christmas carols. Maybelle, Rosie, and Claudia, dressed in matching red coats and Santa hats, led the way and the songs.
“The hornets are here,” he drawled, eyeing the approaching three women and their entourage. “How come I get the feeling things are about to get crazy?”
“Butterflies. Not hornets.” Sarah slapped his arm but couldn’t quite smother her laughter. “Surely you aren’t afraid of them?”
“Those butterflies of yours aren’t the gentle, fluttery kind. They’re more like wasps with colorful wings.”
Sarah laughed. “They’d love that you said so.”
“Just in case, don’t tell them. They might hurt me,” he said with a grin.
“Yeah, yeah. I saw how you had them eating out of your hand at Harvey Farms,” she reminded, handing him another ornament.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Claudia said, spreading more Christmas cheer as they neared the booth.
“Afternoon, hun.” Maybelle stepped up to Sarah, leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Looks like you have everything in the Christmas way, here.”
Maybelle’s gaze went to Bodie as she said the last.
“Not everything,” Sarah admitted. “But we’re working on it.”
One of the teens who’d been patiently standing beside the live, balled tree, pulled out his cell phone. Maybelle was having none of it.
“Boys, set that tree up at the end of this table and go back to get the other one for the opposite side,” she ordered, motioning for the young man to put his phone away. “You have the lights, Sarah?”
She nodded. “Thanks to Bodie. He helped carry everything and is going to help with the ornament hunt.”
Rosie reached out and squeezed Bodie’s upper arm. “Good thing you’re here to save the day after Sarah’s help cancelled on her.”
Bodie shot Sarah a see, I told you look. Wasps with colorful wings. With the way her friends had been behaving, the description semi-fit. She’d often thought of them as bees over the years. Hard workers, full of energy, and always buzzing around.
“Rosie, behave,” Maybelle ordered, clucking her tongue at the other woman. “Claudia, you have the tree skirts?”
“Like you’d let me forget.”
“I just don’t want to have to walk back to our cars this quickly after arriving.”
“Admit it. You’re getting old,” Claudia accused.
Maybelle’s brows touched the tips of her dyed hair. “Old? Me? Over my dead body.”
“Something like that,” Claudia said under her breath, winking at Sarah.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing,” Claudia denied, taking the Christmas tree skirts the Butterflies had hand-quilted years ago from a bag and shaking them out. “Nothing at all.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Sarah covered her mouth to stifle a smile.
Despite Claudia’s digs, Maybelle started whipping out orders again, telling the boys to adjust where they’d put the tree and having Claudia wrap the skirt around the ball base. “Mr. Lewis, grab the box of lights and do the honor of putting them on the tree.”
“Me?”
“You have a problem with that?” Maybelle’s narrowed gaze said he’d best not.
“No, ma’am. Just that having never put lights on a tree before, I’m getting ample experience while in Pine Hill.”
“Well, it was high time you learned, son.” Maybelle’s drawn-on brows rose as she gave Sarah a look that told her she’d realized that Bodie had just admitted he’d helped decorate Sarah’s tree.
Sarah just smiled, refusing to say anything that might give the Butterflies something more to latch onto.
“Sarah, you get the extra ornaments organized so as soon as we sell one, we can easily replace it with a fresh one.”
Sarah and Bodie exchanged a look and Sarah fought laughing as Bodie held his hand to where only she could see his face and he mouthed the word, “Wasp.”
Maybelle’s gaze fell to Harry. The dog sat at perfect attention, quietly taking in the commotion. His head cocked as his gaze met Maybelle’s, as if he was waiting for her to give him orders, as well.
“You best be on good behavior,” she warned the dog. “Stay out of the way and no barking at the customers.”
Seeming to understand, Harry settled back into his corner, laying his head on his legs, and watching Maybelle as if he wasn’t sure about her.
Fifteen minutes later, the trees were positioned to Maybelle’s specification. The boys had gone to run errands for one of the women working the game portion of the tent, and Maybelle, Claudia, and Rosie were checking out the baked goods and discussing who’d made what this year with the other volunteers.
“Okay, you’re right. The wasps scare me,” Bodie said under his breath.
Sarah laughed. “There goes my big, brave, tough soldier image of you. Taken down by a group of elderly church ladies.”
“Pretty sure Maybelle was a general in a previous life. I can’t figure the sweet grandma-looking one out, Claudia. She comes in with a sharp tongue here and there just to keep you on your toes. Ruby seems to spend more time in marital bliss than flittering around with the rest of the swarm.” He finished wrapping the lights on the tree and plugged the end into the generator. “The other, Rosie, is a friendly sort. Always smiling. A few times now, she’s invited me to stop by so she could bake cinnamon bread for me.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “Did you go?”
He shook his head. “Every instinct said for me to just say no.”
Sarah feigned disbelief. “Rosie offered some of her grandmother’s cinnamon bread and you said no?”
He stared at her as if he didn’t see what the big deal was. Sarah didn’t believe that Rosie’s grandmother’s cinnamon bread would have wooed Bodie, but she was amused that Rosie had offered.
“Too bad for you,” she told him. “Rosie’s grandmother’s cinnamon bread is legendary. It’s a secret family recipe and she rarely offers to make it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind if I’m invited over again.”
A smile played at Sarah’s lips. “You do that.”
Bodie stepped back to survey the trees he and Sarah had decorated with the various ornaments for sale, along with the festooned pegboards.
“Not bad, if I do say so myself.”
“They’re beautiful,” Sarah agreed, looking wistfully at the trees. “Someone should buy the entire trees with everything on them so they could have these in their home exactly as they are right now.”
“That would be something,” Bodie agreed, turning an ornament to a better angle.
Sarah reached for the ornament at the same time, their hands brushing against each
other’s. Her gaze cut to Bodie’s.
She had taken off her gloves some time back, to avoid the ornament hooks snagging on the material. Despite the chilly December air, her fingers hadn’t felt cold, but she imagined they did next to Bodie’s warm ones. She didn’t pull her hand away from his, just looked up at him, thinking how glad she was he was there, how much she looked forward to what the afternoon and evening would bring.
If Bodie were gone by Christmas, then this year, the On-The-Square Christmas Festival would likely be her most favorite day of the year rather than second-best.
Good thing she’d have her Grand Opening to keep her busy, with no time for dwelling on how much she would have enjoyed spending the day with Bodie, wrapping him in Christmas joy.
His blue gaze held hers, and then he smiled. Sarah felt as if she were a Christmas tree someone had just flipped the light switch on. She lit up so brightly that she was sure she shone for miles.
Her breath caught, getting trapped in her chest and making her feel a little lightheaded as her eyes searched his. For what, she wasn’t sure—she just knew that she looked into their blue depths for something more than what was on the surface.
“Thank you for coming today, Bodie.”
His fingers moving slightly against hers, he shrugged. “So far it hasn’t been too bad.”
“Not too bad,” she agreed, staring up at him and marveling at how she could feel so close to someone she’d only known a few weeks. “Good news is that the best is yet to come.”
“That best being the ornament hunt?”
“The ornament hunt, the parade, the tree-lighting ceremony, the booth sales, the games, the sleigh ride.” She let out a happy sigh. “I’m glad you came with me. Very glad.”
“Me, too,” he surprised her by saying and by moving his hand over hers and giving a gentle squeeze.
Sarah’s gaze dropped to where his hand held hers, then lifted back to his eyes, seeing that something more she’d been searching for earlier.
That something that said he felt the connection between them just as she did.
That maybe she wasn’t the only one struggling to pull the cold December air into her lungs.
“Sarah, I—”
“Wow. You two have been busy,” Rosie exclaimed, coming back to the booth and breaking up whatever magic had been stirring in the air. “The trees are the prettiest I’ve ever seen.”
Immediately, Bodie’s hand dropped and he stepped away from Sarah and the tree.
“I was just telling Bodie the same thing,” Sarah said as she rearranged the ornament where their hands had been and fought disappointment at how quickly Bodie’s gaze had become shrouded, at how lonely her hand felt without his near.
At how much she wanted to know what he’d been about to say, to do.
Internally, she groaned at Rosie’s timing.
But maybe it had been for the best. For a second, she’d gotten caught up in the moment. She had actually been wishing she and Bodie could become something more than what they were. That he’d choose to stay in Pine Hill, to date her and see what developed between them. But that was ridiculous. Of course Bodie didn’t want to stick around. There was nothing in Pine Hill to draw someone so worldly.
She already knew she wasn’t reason enough for someone to stay.
Catching on that she must have interrupted something, Rosie looked back and forth between them. Sarah prayed her friend would use discretion with what she said.
Rosie just smiled and talked about the tree and how all the other booths were coming together.
Maybelle and Claudia came up, both of them carrying a cup in each hand.
“We brought hot chocolate to keep you warm during the ornament hunt.”
“Thank you,” Sarah said, taking the steaming cup although she couldn’t say she felt cold, thanks to the outdoor heater running beneath the booth checkout table. Anyone visiting their booth that evening would get a reprieve from the outdoor chill.
Or maybe it was the memory of Bodie holding her hand that warmed her insides.
“Harvey Farms is doing sleigh rides again this year,” Ruby informed them unnecessarily as she joined them. “Charlie’s over with them now lining up a ride for us later in case they sell out again.” She sighed. “Cuddling up next to him in the sleigh is my favorite memory from last year.”
Sarah loved the addition of sleigh rides to the On-The-Square Christmas Festival. For the past few years, she’d wanted to go, had always thought a sleigh ride as something super romantic and straight from a fairy tale. Richard had thought the sleigh rides a silly waste of money and had refused to go even when Sarah had offered to pay. She should have known right then and there that he wasn’t the man for her.
How had she ever thought he was?
Thinking back, maybe she had known all along that she and Richard weren’t really meant to be. She just hadn’t wanted to acknowledge that Richard hadn’t been right for her.
Why? For fear of being alone?
No, she wasn’t afraid to be alone. Maybe it was more that she’d been so anxious to have what her parents had had before her mother died, what Ruby and Charlie had enjoyed for fifty-plus years.
But maybe that life wasn’t for her. Maybe she was meant to live alone, as Aunt Jean and Maybelle had done.
She glanced toward Bodie, wondering what he thought of sleigh rides. He was leaving. Soon. Yet the idea of a going on a sleigh ride with him, with him looking at her the way he’d been doing moments before, appealed far more than it should.
Sliding an empty box that had held ornaments under a table, Bodie didn’t seem to be thinking about sleigh rides or their moment at all.
When he straightened, he slid his hands into his jean pockets. “Anything else you need me to do before we head to the ornament hunt?”
Yes. I need you to tell me what you were going to say to me before Rosie showed up. I need to know if I imagined that you wanted to kiss me.
Even if Rosie wasn’t standing there, Sarah wouldn’t have said the words out loud, but oh, how she wished she knew the answers.
To cover her wayward thoughts, she glanced at her watch. “It is about time we head toward the church.”
The ornament hunt was held a block over from the square at the church’s playground.
From inside the community room, Sarah, Bodie, and a couple of other volunteers gathered bags of prize-stuffed plastic ornaments and headed to the playground to “hide” them.
Bodie had attached Harry’s leash to a fence post and the dog barked when he spotted them.
“I hate that he’s tied up,” Sarah mused as they began hiding ornaments around the playground.
“Better that than him finding the ornaments and demolishing them before your kids have a chance to hunt them.”
“He might think he was in the greatest game of Christmas Fetch ever.” Sarah smiled at the image of Harry happily hunting the ornaments.
Bodie chuckled. “Possibly. Either way, Harry and all these ball-shaped ornaments wouldn’t be a good combination.”
She didn’t think Harry would make any trouble, but it probably was better to leave him on his leash and tied to the fence.
Sarah “hid” an ornament on each swing seat. Bodie paused from where he was tucking one into a patch of higher grass at one of the swing frame’s legs.
“You’re sure it’s okay that we’re just putting most of them in plain sight? Isn’t the objective to hunt for the ornaments?”
“We want this to be easy and fun for all ages.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Won’t the older kids grab up all the ornaments in the open rather than leaving them for the younger kids?”
Placing ornaments on the slide’s steps, Sarah shook her head. “We start by letting the two-year-olds in first. Then, thirty seconds later, the three-year-olds. Thirty seconds
after that, the four-year-olds go in and so forth up to the ten-year-old cut-off age. It’s a little chaotic, I guess, but it gives the younger kids the opportunity to find the easy ones first.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“It worked well last year and will hopefully do so again this year.” Sarah tucked an ornament up beneath the end of the slide. “Mainly, our goal is for the kids to have a great time.”
“How many kids will hunt?”
“Last year, we had around seventy. We’re hoping to break a hundred this year.”
Sarah glanced around at the playground, looking for barren areas to put the rest of their ornaments. Red, gold, green, and silver plastic ornaments were visible wherever one looked. She smiled. The kids were going to have so much fun.
Bodie mused, “There’s ornaments everywhere.”
“Two thousand or so.”
He whistled. “That’s a lot of candy-stuffed plastic.”
“Not all of them have candy. I told you some have gift cards to local business and a few other small prizes.”
“Which leaves a lot filled with candy,” he reiterated, grinning. “It wasn’t a local dentist who sponsored this event, was it?”
A hundred and four children had arrived to hunt ornaments. Sarah was over the moon. Bodie had stepped back, moving to where he had Harry tied, so he wouldn’t be in the way and could hang out with the dog.
And observe Sarah.
Watching her with the other church volunteers, the kids, and the people from her community was seeing her in her element. He hoped after she opened the bed and breakfast that she would be able to continue her work with the church. Her deep love for it shined through in all she did.
Not to mention what a blessing she was to those she came into contact with. And those she didn’t come into actual physical contact with.
Such as himself, before he sought her out.
She glanced up from where she stood near the gate, talking with the families of the children who would soon be rushing into the playground with their large red stocking-shaped plastic sacks, and caught him watching her. Her gaze searched his, questioning him.