by Janice Lynn
“I had a few boyfriends during high school,” she admitted. “Mostly guys I met through our church youth group. Nothing serious.”
“How about since high school?”
Yeah, she didn’t like this table-turned thing. She longed for a relationship like her parents had had, a relationship like Charlie and Ruby still had—but her own relationships had never even come close.
“There were a couple of guys I dated for a short time during junior college, none serious until I met Richard.”
“That’s the last guy?” The corner of Bodie’s jaw gave a visible twitch, as if he’d fought clenching his teeth and his muscles had protested.
She nodded. “I shouldn’t say we were serious, because he never was. Leaving Pine Hill was always his goal, not a life with me.”
Just as leaving was Bodie’s goal.
“He never even asked me to go with him, which was just as well since I wouldn’t have left.” Not for Richard. Now where had that thought come from? She wouldn’t leave Pine Hill for anyone. Her life was here—the people she loved, the places she loved. She couldn’t imagine ever willingly walking away from her beloved hometown. “Anyway, Aunt Jean died, Richard left, I inherited Hamilton House, and I’ve been too busy to think about dating since.”
His brows rose. “And yet you claim the Butterflies want you married off to the first willing man.”
Sarah’s cheeks heated at the memory of having told him that. A group of baton twirlers walked past them as the parade progressed.
“Not giving in to them isn’t always easy, but that particular issue hasn’t really been a problem all that often. I never meet anyone who catches my eye, and I’ve been busy this past year.”
She had been busy. No one had caught her eye.
Except for the man standing next to her.
The twirlers moved on and several floats with scouts and various kids’ groups passed.
“Look, there’s the sheriff’s department float.” She pointed toward the upcoming float, then waved at Sheriff Roscoe and the deputies as they passed. “I was afraid we’d missed it.”
“What’s this Sheriff Roscoe was saying about you getting a ticket?”
Sarah narrowed her gaze and gave the meanest look she could muster. “Don’t go there.”
He laughed.
“Okay, I won’t.” He hesitated, then added, “Speedy.”
Sarah rolled her eyes.
Bodie’s gaze went back to the parade. “How about we find Lou’s booth and grab a bite to eat before the parade ends and there’s a rush?”
She didn’t really want to miss the rest of the parade, but she was starving, and the booths would get busier and busier as the parade participants returned to the square, so Sarah nodded. Maybe they could get their food and find somewhere to eat where they could still watch the parade.
If not, then maybe Bodie would check out the other booths with her, play a few games, and sample some of the homemade goodies being sold.
“Harry seems to like Lou,” Sarah said in between bites of her chili. The dog had finished the plain burger Bodie had bought him and was lapping water from the bowl Bodie had gotten out of his truck earlier in the day.
Lou had made a big to-do over the dog, making sure Bodie got extras for him. Apparently, Lou had even begun to let Harry inside his place when Bodie came by for breakfast.
“Lou seems to like Harry, too. He offered to buy him from me one morning last week.”
“What?” Sarah gasped, her gaze going to the black and white dog. “Surely he knew you wouldn’t sell Harry?”
Though his mouth was full of chili, Bodie shook his head and reached down to pet the dog.
“How long have you had Harry?”
“Not nearly as long as you’d think.”
That piqued Sarah’s curiosity and she stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. As usual, she had to prompt him.
“Where did you get Harry?”
“He was my best friend’s dog.”
There was a story there, but Sarah knew she’d have to pry it from Bodie. “How did Harry end up your dog?”
“I stole him.”
Sarah’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“Gotcha.” Bodie laughed. He popped the last bite of his chili into his mouth, put his plastic spoon back into the empty bowl, then wiped his hands over his jeans.
Pleased he’d teased her, Sarah put her hands on her hips. “You may as well keep talking, because you know I’m not letting you stop with that smug little ‘gotcha.’”
He grinned, glanced toward the dog who was lapping at his water. “Lukas gave him to me.”
The named clicked.
“The Lukas you listed as a reference?”
“Yes.”
“Your references were your stepfather and your best friend?”
He nodded. “Can’t think of any reference that would mean more than one coming from those two men. They’re the most honest, trustworthy men I know.”
When he worded it that way, Sarah couldn’t really question his choices further. But she did have questions.
“Why did your best friend give you his dog?” She couldn’t imagine anyone willingly giving up such a great pet.
Bodie hesitated a moment, then said, “Lukas has a baby on the way, and I guess he thought Harry would be better off with me.” He finished his water. “Done?”
Not by a long shot, but it was obvious he didn’t want to discuss anything personal any longer, so she nodded and gathered up her trash. He offered to take it with his, but she followed him to the bin.
They watched the end of the parade, then made their way around the booths, Sarah saying hi to her friends and neighbors, Bodie mostly watching in silence and only speaking when spoken to.
More and more people glanced at their watches, then stopped what they were doing to head toward the far side of the courthouse yard.
“It’s almost time for the tree lighting.” Yeah, that had been her voice hitting several octaves higher than normal, but she was excited.
Turning toward Bodie, Sarah caught him looking at her and suddenly felt self-conscious. Did he find her excitement childish?
If so, too bad. She loved Christmas and wasn’t ashamed of that fact.
Lifting her chin, she asked, “What?”
A half-grin on his face, he shrugged. “Just you.”
Yeah, like she was going to leave it at that. He should know better.
“What about me?” she pushed as they walked toward where the tree lighting would take place.
“You and your excitement for all this.”
“‘All this’ is a big deal to me and to Pine Hill. Although I love the On-the-Square Christmas Festival for so many reasons, the tourist dollars the event pulls in are vital to local businesses on the square. Not to mention the organizations that set up booths on the courthouse lawn, such as my special projects and the ladies’ class at church. Plus, events like these will bring in guests for Hamilton House, which is a huge added bonus.” Sarah gave a little shrug. “Mostly, though, I love that these events draw us together as a community.”
He nodded as if he understood, but Sarah wasn’t sure he did. He’d told her he was from Houston. Maybe big cities didn’t have the sense of community she enjoyed in Pine Hill.
Or maybe it wasn’t big cities lacking a sense of community, but Bodie himself who lacked it.
If that was the case, then certainly, that would make it easier for him to never stay in one place for too long. A sense of community meant strings, attachments to a place or to a group, meant being a part of something that was bigger than oneself.
A sense of community was important. At least, to Sarah it was.
She supposed to Bodie, his sense of community came from being in the military, his brotherhood there—although she cou
ldn’t say for sure, since he never talked about it.
“Come on,” she encouraged as the crowd of people grew thicker the closer they got to the tree. “Let’s get as close as we can to watch the tree lighting. If it’s like years past, my dad will be leading a prayer prior to the lighting and I don’t want to miss it.”
Watching the tree lighting wasn’t nearly as interesting as watching Sarah’s face as Pine Hill’s mayor spoke, read a short Bible passage, then called on Sarah’s father to come up to say a prayer for their community and to bless their holiday season.
“I don’t know why, but I always get nervous when he speaks in public like this,” Sarah whispered to Bodie, reaching out to take his hand as her father took the microphone and she bowed her head.
When the prayer ended, Sarah didn’t let go, just whispered, “Amen,” and kept her eyes on the unlit tree as the ceremony proceeded.
Her gloved hand inside his was warm, her grip firm, as if she had no intention of letting him let go.
On the count of three, the tree lights came on, lighting up the twenty-plus-foot-high live Fraser fir tree like a Christmas beacon on the courthouse yard.
“Wow,” Sarah breathed, turning to look at him with excitement in her eyes. “It’s not as magical as our tree at Hamilton House, but isn’t she gorgeous?”
Our tree. She should have said her tree. But he didn’t correct her, not wanting to take anything away from her happiness.
“She?”
Looking very serious, Sarah nodded. “Oh, yeah. This tree is female.”
“You know that how?”
“She was planted when I was ten years old. Since then we’ve had a few talks over the years.”
“You talk to trees?”
“Only ones that get decked out in Christmas lights.”
Bodie laughed, then glanced around. People were milling around, sharing their appreciation of the tree’s beauty, taking photos of the tree and of others standing in front of the tree. Some had headed back off to various booths or to shop the open businesses.
“Let’s!”
Bodie looked at Sarah, not sure what she meant.
Pulling out her phone, she gestured to the tree. “Take a selfie with me?”
Why anyone, let alone Sarah, would want a picture with him was beyond Bodie, but if that’s what Sarah wanted, that’s what he’d do.
Turning so their backs were to the tree, Sarah held up her phone, then frowned at the image. “You’re too far away. Move closer.”
Bodie moved closer, not surprised when Sarah wrapped an arm around his waist and smiled up at where she held her phone as high as she could reach with her other arm.
“Smile and say ‘cheese,’” she ordered, moving her thumb to snap the picture. “Ack, this is harder than people make it look. I need one of those stick things.”
“Here, my arms are longer,” Bodie offered, taking her phone. He hugged her close and then, making sure he had the tree behind them, he took their picture.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the phone from him and checking the image. “Look, you got Harry’s face in it, too, but just barely. Okay, now a funny one.”
“A what?”
“Come on. Make a funny face.” Sarah leaned in close to him, held her phone out in front of them, stuck her tongue out at the corner of her mouth, looked upward and clicked the phone again.
Glancing down at the photo on her phone, she laughed. “That’s your funny face?”
He glanced at the photo. He was looking at her rather than at the phone camera. “Looks funny to me.”
“O-kay.” She laughed again, then moved away from him and aimed her phone in his direction. “Let me take one of you and Harry.”
“Why?” Bodie frowned. He wasn’t much for pictures. Never had been. Which was just as well, as he’d never wanted his image to end up on social media. When one worked in the shadows, one didn’t post pictures.
Not that he was working in the shadows anymore. Not yet, anyway.
“Because after seeing how hilarious you were in our funny picture, I have to have one of you and Harry. Try smiling this time.”
Bodie shrugged, got down next to Harry, then smiled for Sarah. It wasn’t as if smiling was difficult when she was around.
Obviously satisfied with her picture, she rewarded him with one of her smiles, pocketed the phone, then took his hand. “Let’s go have some fun scoping out our competition.”
Bodie laughed. “Ah, so it’s not all fun and games at the Christmas Festival.”
Sarah smiled at him. “Did I say ‘scoping out our competition’? Oops, I meant, ‘supporting the other booths.’ Those ‘s’ words trip me up sometimes.” She hesitated. “You are okay with staying a while longer?”
He should have left hours ago. But he hadn’t. What could staying longer hurt?
“Let’s go scope out—I mean, support other booths.”
“But only if we’re not needed at our booth,” she reminded, grinning at him.
“Our booth first, then support other booths.”
Her smile lit up her entire face. “You’re going to be glad you stayed.”
Possibly.
He suspected the day would linger in his mind much longer than the images on Sarah’s phone.
Their booth was having a post-tree-lighting rush. Bodie and Sarah jumped in to help as Maybelle, Rosie, and Claudia were busy waiting on customers. As she often was, Ruby was off somewhere with Charlie.
When the rush passed, Sarah and Bodie offered to stay, but the Butterflies refused.
“There’s another round of volunteers signed up who should be here any moment,” Rosie assured.
“Plus, we’re almost sold out.” Claudia gestured to the pegboards, which were starting to look bare. “We’ve depleted our reserves, so this is it.”
“Go,” Maybelle insisted. “I signed on to stay until close. Your dad and some other volunteers are going to help with shutdown. Working in the booth makes me feel useful since these legs of mine are too old to walk around much more tonight.”
“You heard her, folks. She admitted she’s old,” Rosie called out with glee. “Anybody get that recorded? I’d be up for watching an instant replay.”
Just as Sarah and Bodie were leaving, a distressed Ruby rushed into the tent.
“This is terrible.” The dyed redhead looked as if she were about to burst into tears. “My Charlie had a tumble and is feeling sore. Nothing serious, but rather than stay, he wants to go home.”
“Oh, Ruby!” Sarah wrapped her arms around her distraught friend and gave her a hug. “You’re sure he’s okay? Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Do you need us to drive you home?” Maybelle asked, moving close as well.
“No, no,” Ruby insisted, sounding stressed. She dug around in her coat pocket, then pulled out a slip of paper. “That’s not why I’m here. Our grandson is visiting from out of town. He and his girlfriend are helping Charlie to his car, driving him home, and making sure Charlie gets inside and settled.”
“Does your grandson need help getting him inside your house?” Bodie asked, wanting to help Sarah’s friends any way he could. Plus, he genuinely liked the older man.
Sarah shot Bodie a look of gratitude, but Ruby shook her head. “Charlie insisted he was fine and didn’t need help. He’s probably right, but he gave me such a fright when he went down. Thank goodness he didn’t break anything or need stitches.”
Assured he wasn’t needed, Bodie stepped back, looking around to make sure none of their current customers needed assistance.
“Still,” Ruby continued. “Although I’m not sure about the girlfriend, I’m glad our grandson is staying with us, just in case.”
The women surrounded Ruby with their support.
“I know you’re worried about Charlie. It’s a go
od thing Rick is here to help you.”
“Sounds as if he’s going to be just fine, but you keep a close eye on him.”
“If you need anything, anything at all, you call.”
Ruby nodded, then took a deep breath, and visibly pulled herself together.
“I need to get going. I’m supposed to be following in our car, but these,” she waved the paper she’d pulled from her pocket, “sold out almost immediately, and I couldn’t bear for our reservation to go to waste.”
Bodie wasn’t sure what the paper was, but the other women seemed to understand. Their eyes grew wide, then they nodded in agreement.
Rosie patted the woman’s hand. “That’s so sweet of you, but I talked to Mrs. Harvey and she saved one for me. I’m meeting Lou at our designated time and he’s going with me.” She waggled her drawn-on brows. “Thanks anyway.”
Ruby’s gaze went to the others.
Maybelle shook her head. “I’m working the ornament sales until we sell out or close down.”
Claudia also shook her head. “I promised my daughter she could drop the grands by my place later. They’re going to stay the night and go to church with me in the morning. I’m heading home as soon as I finish here.”
All eyes turned to Sarah and Bodie.
“Oh, Ruby, I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” the Butterflies all asked simultaneously.
“Well, I…We…” Sarah’s face was flushed as she turned to him. “What do you think? Would you want to go?” Her eyes were full of longing. “I mean, I’ve always wanted to go on one of Mr. Harvey’s sleigh rides, but that doesn’t mean you want to. Or that you have to. I mean, I understand if you don’t want to.”
Sarah was rambling and Bodie felt obliged to rescue her.
“If you want to, I’m fine with whatever,” he agreed.
At his words, all the Butterflies lit up like lightning bugs. That might have had him backtracking, except Sarah’s eyes glowed with pleasure and she moved from Ruby to wrap her arms around him in a hug.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”