by Janice Lynn
“You’re sure?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, good grief, just kiss me and get this over with.”
Not sure he wanted to kiss Sarah under these circumstances but realizing the longer he hesitated the more awkward this would become, especially for Sarah, Bodie leaned in and touched his lips to hers, then backed away. The kiss, if you could call it that, lasted a millisecond.
“That was too fast,” Mrs. Harvey complained, her white brows drawn together in a frown. “I didn’t get a picture.”
Sarah gave him a look that said not to argue, but to just do what the woman wanted. “Guess you have to kiss me again.”
Bodie sighed. “Guess I do.”
“Slower this time, so she can get the picture and we can go help with clean-up.”
Bodie leaned in, touched his mouth to Sarah’s again. This time, he lingered long enough to fully register how soft her lips were.
He kissed Sarah.
And she kissed him back.
He really was lying in a hospital bed somewhere dreaming, because no way was this real.
No way could Sarah be kissing him the way she was.
As if the kiss wasn’t staged but was something magical, something she wanted and was enjoying.
“Oh! That’s perfect,” Mrs. Harvey interrupted the moment. “I got it. All the photos will be available for pickup at our place on Monday morning.”
Slowly, Bodie and Sarah parted. Sarah looked at him with the same wonder and awe as she’d looked up at the snow.
As if he enchanted her and filled her with happiness. As if she trusted him completely.
His promise to Maybelle rang through his mind, causing him to swallow the lump in his throat. He shouldn’t have kissed Sarah, shouldn’t have let them get into a situation where the kiss could even have happened.
He didn’t want to hurt Sarah. Couldn’t let himself hurt her.
He needed to protect her. Even if that meant protecting her from himself.
Chapter Fourteen
Watching Bodie and a handful of others work to break down the tent, Sarah stood in the lightly falling snow, holding Harry’s leash and her stuffed elf.
Maybelle joined her. “How was the sleigh ride?”
“Good,” she said, keeping her eyes trained on Bodie.
They’d sold out of ornaments. Maybelle, her father, and the other volunteers were just packing everything up when Sarah and Bodie returned. They’d had plenty of volunteers. Bodie had asked Sarah to stay back with Harry while he went to help. She hadn’t argued. She’d needed a few moments to contemplate her and Bodie’s kiss.
He hadn’t wanted to kiss her. Why had he been so reluctant to play along with a quick, staged kiss beneath the mistletoe?
While Bodie helped the men take down the tent, was he thinking about their kiss, too? Wondering what it meant?
“Good,” Sarah repeated without meaning to.
Sarah didn’t have to look at Maybelle to know her brow had lifted. She could feel that arch.
“That’s all I get? A one-word answer twice over?”
Rubbing her gloved hand over her elf to smooth down its floppy ears, Sarah fought grimacing. What would Bodie say if he could even hear them—if she told Maybelle the truth, that the sleigh ride ended with a kiss that had her head spinning?
She’d never again see mistletoe without thinking of Bodie. How could she? Bodie’s second kiss had been sweet and tender… just what a kiss following a magical sleigh ride should be.
But that didn’t mean she should or even wanted to tell Maybelle about it. She didn’t know what their kiss meant.
Who was she kidding? Nothing. The kiss meant nothing. No big deal, remember? Wasn’t she the one who had told Bodie that? So why was she twisting herself into knots over a mistletoe kiss when she knew better?
Bodie was leaving. She needed to just forget that kiss had even happened.
“It was cold.” Sarah kept her voice rather blah and didn’t meet Maybelle’s eyes for fear the woman would see right through her. Instead, she wished she could read what was going on inside Bodie’s head as he worked alongside her father and people she’d known all her life.
“That doesn’t sound like fun.” Maybelle’s gaze bore into her. “Rosie mentioned the Harveys had some nice additions this year.”
Maybelle’s nonchalant tone did nothing to hide that she was fishing for details.
In Sarah’s fluster over her and Bodie’s kiss, she’d forgotten all about Rosie and Lou. Now there was a subject that might deter her friend from further prying.
“How did their sleigh ride go? Has Rosie finally admitted she has feelings for Lou? I mean, she did make him her grandmother’s cinnamon bread.”
“Apparently that stuff works. He admitted he’s crazy about her.”
Maybelle’s sassy tone suckered Sarah in and she couldn’t resist looking at the woman.
Maybelle’s pale blue eyes lit with delight when they connected with Sarah’s. No doubt she knew she had Sarah under her power, and she’d soon confess everything.
But her friend had a bombshell of her own to drop first.
“Lou asked Rosie to marry him at the end of their sleigh ride.”
Surprise and excitement filled Sarah. “Seriously? That’s wonderful.”
Not looking surprised or excited, Maybelle nodded. “Lord only knows why that man wants to marry her.”
“Did she say yes?”
Maybelle snorted. “What do you think?”
Sarah’s heart sank. “She said no?”
“Of course she said no. We’re talking about Rosie.”
“Poor Lou.” It was common knowledge he’d had a thing for Rosie for years. “He must be devastated.”
Maybelle’s gaze dropped to where she was hugging the elf. Sarah resisted the urge to hide the stuffed toy beneath her coat.
“Rosie told him when he proposed properly with a big, blingy diamond and down on one knee, she might reconsider. Until then he can sit next to her in church and she’ll let him hold her hand.”
Picturing Rosie telling Lou just that, Sarah smiled. “Lou may have to get Alberta involved again to get Rosie in a more agreeable state of mind.”
A sly smile dug wrinkles into the corners of Maybelle’s eyes.
Realization dawning, Sarah’s eyes widened. “Alberta didn’t invite Lou to go on a sleigh ride with her, did she?”
Maybelle looked offended. “She most certainly did.”
Sarah wasn’t buying it. She knew her friend too well and recognized that smile.
“Because you put her up to it?” she guessed.
Maybelle’s smile said it all.
“Rosie is going to kill you if she finds out.”
“Finds out what?” Maybelle asked, not seeming concerned. “I haven’t admitted to a thing.”
She didn’t need to. Sarah smelled a Butterfly. A matchmaking one.
“What did you think about the mistletoe?” Maybelle asked, adjusting her scarf. “I thought it was a nice touch to the end of a romantic sleigh ride.”
Sarah’s mouth dropped. “You did that, too?”
“I’m good, Sarah.” She said it as a statement of simple fact. “But it’s been years since I could climb up a lamppost to hang mistletoe. I doubt there were any ladders lying around waiting for an old woman to use.”
“True,” Sarah admitted. “Yet you knew exactly where the mistletoe was.”
The older woman’s blue gaze sparkled. “Pay attention, girl. I said I couldn’t climb a lamppost. Not that my eyes and ears don’t work.”
“Rosie told you about the mistletoe? That’s how you knew?” Sarah clarified, shifting her elf and Harry’s leash. The dog was lying near her feet with his head on his paws, watching the tent being packed away and every so often looking up at Maybel
le with suspicion. Smart dog.
“Rosie told me.”
“You’re saying you had nothing to do with the ‘Christmas miracle,’ as Mrs. Harvey called it, of the mistletoe appearing earlier tonight?”
“Lou kissed Rosie beneath that so-called Christmas miracle.” Maybelle sounded right proud. “You think she wasn’t telling everyone with ears about how he was so overcome by their kiss that he proposed?”
It’s exactly what Rosie would do. Maybe Maybelle had been innocent.
“Lou and Rosie weren’t the only ones beneath that mistletoe.”
Sarah’s face heated.
“Oh, look, I think they’re done,” she rushed out, taking a step toward where the crew had finished packing up the tent. Just in time to keep from tripping, she remembered she had Harry’s leash and waited for the dog to jump to his feet and join her in heading toward Bodie.
“That’s okay, Sarah,” Maybelle called from behind her, her voice full of merriment. “I always did say a picture was worth a thousand words.”
Bodie wasn’t at Hamilton House when Sarah got home from her post-church lunch with her father the following afternoon. As much as she hated to admit it, her mind had been on Bodie rather than her father’s sermon.
When he hadn’t shown at her place prior to church services, she’d consoled herself that she’d see him later that afternoon.
Coming home to an empty space where he usually parked his truck had disappointed her.
Surely, he’d be by in a few? Not that there was much left to be done on the specific jobs she’d hired him to do.
He’d stayed well under her budget, which meant she could afford some of the projects she’d planned to put off. If he was willing, she’d ask him to start on renovating the upstairs or at least as much as he could get done prior to his leaving for his job in the new year.
The advertisements she’d purchased were set to start running this week, but she’d been actively promoting on social media for months and had visitors lined up for the new year. Soon, Hamilton House would be filled with guests, she hoped and prayed.
She sighed. If only Hamilton House opening didn’t mean Bodie would be gone.
If only he wasn’t leaving, then she could allow herself to think on their kiss, could allow herself to think about him, and dream of what might be.
She didn’t want him to leave, but he would. And soon.
Trying to change the course of her thoughts, she went to her bedroom. After programming her phone to play Christmas music, she flipped on her sewing machine and pulled out the fabric she was making into quilt blocks.
If anything could give her peace, it was sewing. She’d always found taking pieces of material and transforming them into something beautiful, something useful, to be cathartic. An added benefit was that it was something that made her feel closer to Aunt Jean. As she ran the material through the machine, she could hear her aunt’s voice telling her to make sure she kept the seams at a quarter inch.
Oh, how she wished Aunt Jean was there, so she could’ve met Bodie.
After completing several pieces, Sarah stood, set up her ironing board, and turned on the iron so it could heat while she placed a sewn section of fabric on her ironing board.
Although pressed for time with the B & B, she planned to complete another Quilt of Valor in the upcoming year, and at least one annually for all her years to follow. Doing so was yet another legacy to her aunt. And to her mother.
Sarah smiled at thoughts of the quilt she always gravitated toward at her father’s house. The quilt her mother had made him while he’d been away in the service, that she had given him upon his return.
Had Aunt Jean fantasized that each Quilt of Valor she so lovingly made was for Roy? Had those fantasies fueled her constant need to make and then donate the beautiful patriotic quilts?
Taking the iron, Sarah pressed the seams down so the material would lie flat.
She was a lot like her aunt. Hadn’t she dreamed of a love of her own during all the hours she’d put into the special quilt she’d made following her aunt’s death?
She’d poured so much love, so much emotion into every stitch as she’d grieved her aunt. Somewhere, there was a soldier who would return to his love, her quilt in tow, and they’d have happiness.
She’d pour just as much emotion into this new quilt, would send it off to wrap another soldier in love and good wishes.
Lord willing, she’d continue to do so as her aunt had.
Just as she finished pressing the newly sewn pieces, she heard a vehicle pull into her driveway. Her heart kicked into overdrive. That was Bodie’s truck.
Grateful her bedroom had a window on the driveway side of the house, she walked to it and saw Bodie getting out of his truck, Harry jumping out right behind him. Joy spread through her.
She shouldn’t feel such happiness at his arrival, but she did. He’d been at Hamilton House so much that his not being there when she got home had felt wrong.
After unplugging the iron, she practically ran to the foyer. Not waiting for him to knock, she opened the front door.
He stood on the porch, hand poised to knock.
“Hey there,” she breathed, smiling at him. Realizing he wasn’t smiling back, Sarah’s smile fizzled.
Looking at Bodie like this was a flashback to seeing him for the first time when he’d shown up at the community center. Just like then, his expression was tight, withdrawn, almost tormented. What had happened?
“Is everything okay?” she asked, reaching out to touch his jacket sleeve.
Rather than reassure her, he looked back into her yard, his gaze stopping on where Harry sniffed at a bush at the yard edge. “You busy?”
Not sure what she’d expected, her hand fell to her side. “Not doing anything that can’t wait.”
It wasn’t as if she was on a timeline to finish the quilt. But even if she’d been busy, she’d have dropped everything to talk with him when he seemed so upset. Something was wrong.
Still gazing out at Harry, he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. “I had it in my head what I wanted to say to you, but now that I’m here, words are failing me.”
That sounded ominous. She knew he was essentially finished with the work she’d hired him to do, having only a few small things left undone. Had he come to say goodbye?
“You want to come in? Have you eaten? I could heat something up for you.”
His gaze came back to hers and he shook his head.
Did that mean he didn’t want to come in? Hadn’t eaten? Or that she couldn’t heat something up for him?
Talk to me, Bodie. Tell me what’s wrong, what’s changed from last night when we were so happy in that sleigh?
Unless he regretted their ride, their kiss.
And was leaving.
“You want to go for a drive?” he surprised her by asking.
“Uhm, yeah. A drive would be great. Let me get my coat and keys. I’ll be ready in a few. Feel free to come in and grab something out of the fridge if you’re hungry.”
Where had all the things he’d planned to say gone? Bodie wondered. He’d had everything all planned out in his head long before he’d pulled into Sarah’s driveway.
He’d had most of the night to think on it, because he sure hadn’t been sleeping. Thankfully, it hadn’t been nightmares that had robbed him of rest. Instead, Sarah had been heavy on his mind.
He’d kissed Sarah. He shouldn’t have kissed her.
He was leaving. Sarah had looked at him as if she wanted him to stay.
He couldn’t stay.
He needed to put his life back together, to make a new life for himself, to feel whole again. iSecure was giving him that opportunity, and Bodie was grabbing it with both hands.
Wasn’t that what he’d told himself as he’d been aimlessly driving around all morn
ing?
When Harry came bounding up the steps, Bodie let them both inside the house. As was their routine, Harry paused, waiting on the rug as Bodie wiped his feet, then took a towel off the coat rack to check Harry’s feet so the dog wouldn’t leave muddy paw prints everywhere.
Thankfully, Harry didn’t seem to mind the extra attention and had taken to stopping on the rug automatically after the first few times Bodie had ordered him to do so. When finished, Bodie hung the towel back up on the rack and followed the dog into the living room. His gaze immediately went to Sarah’s tree.
It was the middle of the day, but she had the lights plugged in and twinkling and there were already presents wrapped beneath it. Her comment the night before was correct. Their tree was more beautiful than the town’s tree.
Their tree.
His fingers had wrapped around the ornament in his pocket moments before on the porch and now it called to him. Taking it out of his pocket, he unwrapped the snowflake from its protective tissue paper, then looked for a spot on the tree. Finding an area where he could put it, he hung the ornament, then stepped back to make sure it looked right.
“What do you think, Harry?”
At his name, the dog lifted his head from where he lay in front of Sarah’s fireplace. He cocked his head, but lost interest when Bodie didn’t say anything further because Sarah entered the room.
“I think it looks great.”
He thought she looked great. She’d put on her coat, her hat, scarf, and gloves. Her cheeks glowed pink and her eyes were bright.
“Thanks,” he told her. “Ready?”
She spread her arms, drawing attention to her winter get-up. “Do I look ready?”
One side of his mouth lifted as he met her gaze. “Ready for what is the question.”
“For whatever today’s adventure is,” she assured him. “I’ve got my keys in my pocket.” She jingled them as she stepped into the foyer, then motioned for him to join her. “Let’s go.”
Bodie followed her, opened the door and let Harry and Sarah go out, then made sure the handle was locked before pulling it closed behind him.
Harry followed him to the truck and hopped up onto the seat. Bodie brushed off the seat. “I should have let him in on my side.” There was just enough of a sprinkling of snow still on the ground that Harry’s feet had left wet marks on the seat. “Sorry.”