To help her mom out, Ashley had put up the last of the decorations and cleaned up the mess in the living room. After she had dusted and vacuumed, she’d also gotten the extra bedroom ready for her brother Keith and his family. They were expected in from Oregon that evening and her mom was a little worried. If the storm started early, they could get stuck in bad weather somewhere. Maybe if her mom didn’t have to worry about the housework, she would be able to relax a little.
Just when things were starting to go according to plan, Kayla had realized that she couldn’t leave Andrew with sick grandparents, so she’d had to find a babysitter. By the time she’d found someone, and dropped Andrew off, it was edging past noon.
They’d decided to do their shopping in Branson where there was a mall, but it took thirty minutes to drive there. By the time they were finally able to start shopping, they had lost valuable time. The haste of their shopping had worn Ashley out.
She was glad for the rest she was enjoying now, but she was dreading the trek to Kayla’s car with all of this stuff. “If we’d bought anything else, we’d have had to rent a moving van to get it all home,” Ashley said, looking at the pile of shopping bags around them.
Kayla didn’t answer because she was busy sifting through the bags and checking her list. “I can’t help but feel like we forgot something,” Kayla told her in a worried voice as she dug through a large bag full of fleece pullovers.
“Well, we didn’t. We checked and rechecked your list.”
“What about Mark? Did you get something for him?”
“Actually, yes, I did.”
“What? I didn’t see you get anything.”
“Well, it’s kind of little.”
“Little can be good. Let me see.”
Ashley found a small bag from a bookstore and pulled out a box of colored pencils. “Specifically the pink one,” she said, knowing that Kayla would think she was nuts.
Kayla looked at it for a few seconds before she said, “Ok, I don’t get it.”
“No, but Mark will.”
“An inside joke, huh?”
“Maybe, if he remembers.”
“But that’s all you got him?”
“Well, it felt kind of awkward getting him anything else. I mean, I haven’t known him long so I don’t know what he needs or wants, or if I should be giving him anything at all. And I don’t know if he got me anything. Besides, you can read so much into a present. It’s like a land mine of double meanings.”
“I know what you mean. When I was dating your brother, I got him a beautiful book of photography about Florida for his birthday, you know, because that’s where he served on his mission. How was I to know that there was a whole chapter on popular honeymoon destinations?
It’s not like I looked through the whole book before I gave it to him. Of course, he thought I was hinting and got kind of freaked out because we’d only been dating for about a month. It took me forever to convince him that I had no idea it was in there. The funny thing is, when he proposed, he teased me by opening the book to that chapter and asking me where I wanted to go.”
“Well, there’s no way that Mark will be able to read anything into this gift.”
Kayla glanced down at her watch. “Hey, can you believe that it’s almost 5:00? Daniel and Becca were supposed to go to your house when they got off the bus, but I'd better call Justin on the way home and make sure that he remembered to pick up Andrew. I think I'll tell him to go over and check on the kids. Hopefully, he’ll stay there until I get all these gifts safely wrapped and hidden.”
“That's a good idea. Come on then. Let’s see if we can lug all of these bags out to the car.”
Traffic was heavy so the drive home took longer than usual. It was almost an hour later when they got home. Ashley walked into her parent’s living room and saw that it had been taken over by a rowdy bunch of football fans. She’d never understood what made the men in her family so crazy about the sport.
They didn’t seem to be paying much attention to Andrew, who was happily chewing on the corner of a present he’d found under the tree. Ashley sat her bags down. took it away from him, and quickly handed him a toy to soothe his wrath. Daniel and Becca were fighting over a hand held video game, but if Justin didn’t care, she wasn’t going to do anything about it.
She picked up her bags again, groaning at the heavy load, and walked towards the stairs. As she began to go up the first step, she dropped a bag and had to bend down to pick it up, straining not to drop any more.
“Here, let me get that for you,” said a familiar voice behind her.
Ashley straightened up so fast that she nearly lost her balance. “Mark! I didn’t see you.”
“Ah, so that’s why you didn’t say hi.”
She realized at once that he was teasing her so she only laughed. “Where were you?”
He shrugged slightly. “I was in the kitchen,” he replied, showing her the piece of fudge he held before popping it in his mouth.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“It’s no secret that I like to eat.” He pointed to her bags. “It looks like you bought the place out.”
“It’s not all mine. It’s not even mostly mine. I thought I’d never get Kayla out of that mall.”
“Great,” Justin groaned as he overheard her comment. “I can’t wait to get the credit card bill.”
“Oh, relax,” Ashley told him. “Everything was on sale. Well, almost everything,” she corrected. “But she did say you would be happy that she stayed on budget.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Justin said. “Mark, when you get married, take my advice and either marry a rich woman or one that doesn’t like to shop.”
Since Ashley was holding about fifteen shopping bags, she flushed in annoyance and reddened still more when Mark looked at her quizzically.
To pay her brother back a little, she told Mark in a voice that was clearly meant for Justin to hear, “Kayla gave me all of her gifts for Justin so I can wrap them and hide them over here. Apparently, he’s like a little kid and always peeks at his gifts. In fact, I’d better go get these wrapped while he’s distracted by the game. He and Shawn are pretty obsessed with football, you know.”
“So I’ve noticed. I don’t get it myself.”
Ashley looked at him doubtfully and saw the glint of laughter in his eyes. “Why don’t I believe you?”
Shawn was listening now too and told her, “He played in college, Ashley.”
Did he have to say it as though she was an idiot? She looked back to Mark and asked lamely, “You did?
“Just my freshman year – before I left on my mission.”
“Really?” Ashley was surprised, though she didn’t know why. He was certainly built for it. “Why haven’t I heard this before?”
“I don’t know. I guess it never came up.”
“What position did you play?”
“Wide receiver.”
“Huh. Well, why didn’t you play when you got home?”
“I had a knee injury from a bike accident that would have made it hard to get in shape again.”
Ashley quickly glanced at his tall athletic build. She couldn’t imagine him being in better shape than he was. By this time though, she felt like the circulation was being cut off in her fingers from all the bags she was still holding. As much as she wanted to stay and ogle him she needed to go. “Well, I’m glad to hear that we have another football fan around here. When your game's over, I’ll be up in my mom’s craft room wrapping presents.”
“Well, here. Let me help you carry that stuff up.”
Shawn was appalled “Are you serious, man? It's fourth and goal!”
But Ashley had thankfully handed most of the bags to him already. He briefly told Shawn, “Let me know who wins,” and followed her upstairs.
When they got to the craft room, she opened the door and turned on the light. She stepped aside to make room for him to come in with his bulky load. As he passed close to her, she could
feel body heat emanating off of him. Her awareness of him shot through the roof.
Mark didn’t seem to be similarly affected. He was looking around curiously, waiting to be told where to put the bags down. Ashley put hers on the floor and Mark set his down next to them.
When he straightened up again, he pointed to an old recliner and asked, “Would it be ok if I sat there?”
“I’m sure it would be,” she replied, though a little doubtfully. The chair was covered in fabric and other crafting supplies. Ashley moved it all for him, hoping that her mom would be able to find all of her things again. Soon he was kicked back in the old chair looking around.
“Wow, I never knew this room was here. Of course I haven’t been upstairs very much.”
“When we were little, mom and dad shared the room that he uses for an office, but mom’s stuff was always taking it over. They argued all the time over it, so as soon as Keith got married, mom moved her stuff to his bedroom.”
“What’s she working on over there?” He pointed to the work table that had something big sitting on it. It was covered with a sheet, and Ashley had no idea what it was.
“I have no idea. Do you think I should look?”
“Why not?”
“It’s Christmas. What if it’s a present for me?”
“All the more reason to look. Did she tell you not to come in here?”
“No. You know, I’ll bet it’s for Becca because Kayla was working in here with her on Saturday.” As she spoke, Ashley went and pulled the sheet back. It was a beautiful dollhouse, complete with wall paper, carpet, furniture, and lots of little accessories. Ashley was enthralled by it. She carefully examined it, pointing out all the cute little details to Mark. Her mom and Kayla had obviously been working hard on it.
Mark was laughing at her though. “Do you want a dollhouse for Christmas too?”
“No.” She was embarrassed at her enthusiasm. “It’s just really cute.”
“You’re really cute,” he told her, still chuckling at her.
“Thanks,” she told him, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. The last thing she wanted was for him to think of her as a little girl. “I should get these presents wrapped.”
“Need any help?”
“No, I can manage. I like wrapping presents.”
“Well, it’s probably better that you do it. I’m terrible at it. Thank goodness for gift bags.”
“Personally, I prefer to unwrap something than just pull it out of a bag.”
“Really? I hate trying to untie the ribbons and find a place to tear the paper.”
“It adds to the anticipation. Plus, it just seems like someone took more time over your gift if it’s wrapped. At least to me.”
As she got busy sorting out the gifts and finding boxes for the ones that needed one, Mark quietly watched her. After a few minutes though, she looked up and saw that his eyes were closed. He was leaning back comfortably in the recliner.
“Tired?” she asked, not sure if he was awake to hear her.
He opened his eyes briefly when she spoke but he didn’t bother to keep them open when he answered her. “A little. It was a long day, and I had a lot of meetings.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I survived, but I’m glad it’s over. I wish I didn’t have to go in to work tomorrow. I’d take off, but I’ve still got things that I need to clear up before Christmas. I took the whole day off on Wednesday though.” He was quiet a minute before he continued, “I’m flying home that night.”
“Yeah,” she said, not knowing how to respond. She was certainly not thrilled that he was leaving, even if it was only for a few days.
For the next half hour, she wrapped presents on the floor while he rested. Occasionally they talked, but when a silence fell, it was a companionable one. After a while, she thought he might have gone to sleep, but when she looked up at him, she saw that he was actually looking at one of her mom’s magazines. She was done with the wrapping and wanted his help carrying some of them back downstairs. She said his name, but it didn’t rouse his attention. When she said it a second time with no better result, she grabbed a roll of wrapping paper and hit him softly on the head with it. His eyes flew to her face and she burst out laughing at his startled expression.
“Oh, you’re going to get it,” he promised her.
She dodged quickly as he grabbed for the roll of paper. She attacked again, managing to give him a few more good smacks before he pulled it out of her grasp. He stood up and gave her a thorough walloping, despite her attempts to dodge him. Soon they were both laughing hysterically. Ashley’s defense was sadly hampered by laughter, but it didn’t seem to impair Mark’s aim any.
“Mark, stop! You’re ruining the paper. Look.”
He paused and looked at the roll which was bent in several places, creasing the paper that wasn’t torn and unrolling from the card board tube. “You chose the weapon, not me.”
“Ok, ok. But give it back.”
“Come and get it,” he dared her.
She moved closer, slowly, with her hand held out for the paper. Her experience with boys didn’t lead her to expect him to hand it over, but if she moved quickly enough she might be able to take him by surprise. Just as she was gathering herself to spring, Mark dropped the paper, grabbed her by the waist, and tossed her into the recliner. Her brothers would have been impressed with the maneuver. She knew she was.
As she got up, her eyes fell on the magazine he’d been reading and she burst out laughing. He’d been looking at recipes for Christmas dinner. No wonder it had been so hard to get his attention.
“What’s so funny?”
Still laughing, she could barely talk. “I’ve never met anybody so obsessed with food.”
“What? Some of that stuff looks really good.”
Ashley wasn’t sure why it struck her so funny, but it did. When she continued to laugh, Mark threatened her, “I’ll give you something to laugh about.”
He tickled her without mercy. She was laughing so hard that it hurt as she twisted back and forth in an effort to evade his hands. They were at her sides, her waist, under her arms. Through choked laughter, she begged him to stop, but he continued to torture her. All at once though, he froze.
His strong hands held her on either side of her waist. While trying to keep her from escaping, he’d pulled her close against him. The look in his eyes was scorching, but his expression was troubled.
“I think we’d better go back downstairs, don’t you?” Mark finally asked her after a long moment. “Are you done with your wrapping?”
“Yes,” she whispered, but he didn’t immediately let go of her. She bit her lip and continued to look up at him, overwhelmed by the pull of attraction between them.
Finally, his hands dropped and he stepped away. He held out his arms and said, “Load me up.”
Glad for something to do, she stacked gifts in his arms until they reached his chin. She grabbed the last few herself, being careful to leave behind the gifts for Justin so that she could stash them away for Kayla later. She also left Mark’s gift behind, which she’d fortunately been able to wrap while he hadn’t been paying attention.
“You got it?” she asked, realizing that the stack of gifts he was carrying was kind of unstable since they were all different weights and sizes. “We could take a couple of trips.”
“No, I’ve got it. No problem.”
They went downstairs, Mark going first. It was almost disgusting how easily he handled the unwieldy stack of gifts. She decided to make it a little more challenging for him. She sat her gifts down on a step behind her and caught up to him. Just as he was a few steps from the bottom, she reached out and tickled him on his sides. His whole body twitched in reaction and the gifts wobbled crazily. Ashley almost panicked, wondering which box held the ceramic mixing bowl Kayla had gotten for her mom. Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea.
She needn’t have worried though. Mark was able to set the stack down on the coffee table an
d catch the top two as they fell. As soon as they were steady he turned slowly towards her. The look on his face nearly sent her running back up the stairs, but regretfully, she realized that he wouldn’t retaliate in front of her family. Too bad.
They heard the front door open and Shawn said, “I bet it’s Keith.” But it wasn’t. It was Kayla.
She said hello to Justin and her two older kids, but hurried over pick Andrew up and fuss over him. It was hard on her to be away from him for so long. As this little reunion was taking place, Ashley grabbed the gifts she’d sat down and put them next to the others. Kayla noticed what she was doing and asked, “Are those mine? You got them done already?”
“Yep. Did you doubt me?”
“I thought you might have been a little distracted,” she said glancing at Mark, who was standing near her with his hands in his pockets. “But that’s great. Some of them are going over to my house. Want to help me take them over before Keith and his family get here?”
“Sure,” she replied. Ashley and Kayla gathered up the gifts, checked the tags, and left the gifts for Shawn and her parents under the Christmas tree.
“Want help carrying them over to your house?” Mark asked Kayla.
“No thanks. There aren’t that many left. We’ve got it and we’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Well, I’ll go outside with you. I’m going to get out of the way for a while since your family is going to be getting here soon.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Ashley told him hurriedly as they stepped out on the porch.
“I know, but it will be better. Don’t worry. You can call me when things settle down if you want me to come back over.”
“I don’t have your number.”
“That’s easily solved. Do you have your phone with you?”
“No, it’s upstairs in my purse, and I’ll never remember it if you tell it to me.”
“You can get it from Shawn then.”
They all walked down the steps and started off in different directions. Ashley paused however, and called across the yard to him, “Do you want my number?”
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