Christmas in Cupid Falls

by Holly Jacobs

  They stepped onto Main Street and found there was already a crowd waiting.

  The kids all seemed to be dancing around in excitement. A lot of the adults, too. She was sympathetic because she felt that same sense of anticipation.

  She walked toward the small gazebo in the center of the town’s square. There’d been talk about naming the park but it never got any further than just talk. It wasn’t as if people didn’t know what you meant if you said the park or the square . . . there was only one in Cupid Falls. It had a gazebo in the center and a bunch of trees.

  Kennedy realized so much of Cupid Falls was simply known by its purpose, rather than its name/proper noun. Town Hall, the square, the park, the Center, the creek, the falls, the flower shop, the grocery store . . .

  Of course other towns had squares, shops, and parks; bigger cities had multiple ones. But Cupid Falls was so small there was no need for any more of a description. Each thing was what it was. She’d thought maybe she’d started a trend by naming the flower shop Cupid’s Bowquet. But so far, no one else seemed to see the merit.

  She started to say as much to Malcolm but realized that she’d lost him in the crowd. So she chatted with one group or another as she slowly made her way to the gazebo. As she approached, the crowd got quiet and Malcolm was suddenly back at her side.

  Lamar was standing nearby with a group of boys she knew belonged to a local scouting group. “The microphone’s on, Mayor,” he said.

  “Thanks, Lamar.” She turned to Malcolm. “Looks like I’m good to go.”

  “Break a leg,” he offered.

  She took the first step onto the gazebo when she noticed that it was snowing. “Look. It started right on cue,” Kennedy said, holding out her mittened hand. “A Hollywood production couldn’t have planned it any better.”

  Malcolm grinned. “You ask for snow, I give you snow.”

  She laughed, not because what he said was really that funny, but because she felt like a little girl finding it snowed on Christmas Eve, just in time for Santa.

  She climbed the rest of the stairs to the gazebo and pasted a smile on her face as she approached the microphone. “Welcome, everyone. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but more than that, I hope you spent the day with family or friends and that you took some time to count your blessings.” Her hand fell to her stomach and she said a silent thanks for the baby that would be with her soon. “And if we didn’t see you at the Center today, I hope we see you there tomorrow.”

  The crowd chuckled and she continued, “It’s been years since we’ve had lights for the town or for our tree. The pine tree next to the gazebo supposedly came from a seed that came from a tree that came from a seed . . . well, there were more than a few seeds and trees. But way back when the first tree here was planted, it supposedly came from Maine with a certain young man who was part of General Washington’s retinue when they visited neighboring Waterford. That nameless man had spent a day hiking in the area and discovered our falls, where he met a farmer’s daughter. This was long before there was a town here. But the boy didn’t forget the girl or this place. When his work for Washington was over, he came back to find her. He brought the seeds from his home and planted them here. Now that tree’s great-something-grandchild stands in the center of our town square. Waiting. Lamar and his assistants”—she pointed to the town handyman and the scouting troop who’d helped him—“spent last week stringing lights on it, as well as down Main Street and throughout the square. And I for one want to say thank you.” The audience clapped, too. She saw Jenny and her kids over to the right. Ivy was clapping hard and laughing at something Jenny had said.

  “And I want to thank Lincoln Lighting for defraying the cost of the decorations. They are a new member of the Cupid Falls business community. For those who haven’t heard, our new LED lights are powered by the solar panels Lincoln Lighting provided for City Hall. So, our display isn’t just red and green, it’s actually very green as well.” Everyone laughed again.

  Kennedy loved these moments—moments when she realized she had the audience. She wasn’t some big-time politician, but even the mayor of a small town had to speak in public. The first few times, she’d been terrified. But eventually, she stopped trying to read from a script and she’d simply talked to her audience. Most of the time, she had a moment like this . . . a moment when she knew they were engaged with what she had to say.

  When the laughter died down, she said, “I think that’s it. I want to wish everyone a magical holiday season. And without any further ado . . .”

  Kennedy put her hand on a plunger that looked like one of the old TNT plungers that Bugs Bunny used. It really didn’t do anything. Lamar used it as a signal to plug in the lights. He would actually be the one lighting everything.

  “Ten, nine, eight . . .” she started.

  The crowd joined in. “Seven, six, five, four, three, two . . .” they all chanted with her.

  “. . . one . . .” She pushed the switch and Lamar did his magic. The tree lit up, and so did the rest of the lights in the park and along Main Street. The red and green LED lights cast a different glow than the old incandescent bulbs had.

  The crowd made a long awww sound and then clapped.

  “Please, everyone, help yourself to the free hot cocoa and cookies. Be sure to thank the ladies of Falls Creek Church for donating their time and the wonderful treats.”

  “And me,” Clarence yelled.

  “The ladies and Clarence,” Kennedy corrected herself, and laughter rang out through the crowd.

  The tree in front of her glowed.

  Main Street did, too. Kennedy couldn’t help but admire the banners with cupid figures dressed in Santa outfits that hung beneath each light. Tomorrow there was going to be an ad in the Erie paper with that same design that said Come Fall in Love with Christmas in Cupid Falls.

  The crowd applauded again. Kennedy stepped down from the gazebo. She was congratulated left and right as she made her way through the crowd. She wasn’t sure where Malcolm had gone. Not that it mattered. They’d walked together, not really come as a couple.

  “Nice job, Mayor,” Lincoln Gates said. He was a tall, good-looking man. He was new to Cupid Falls, so she had no childhood memories to compare him to, but she suspected he was a Clooney, too. He wasn’t quite six foot, and though she couldn’t make them out in the glow of the Christmas lights, she knew that his eyes were blue. Every woman in Cupid Falls between the ages of thirteen and ninety knew that. He had dark hair that had the slightest touch of grey at the temples. Not a grey that said, “look, I’m getting older,” but rather a grey that said, “hey, notice how unbelievably good-looking I am.”

  But beyond his looks, which were simply a gift of good genetics, Lincoln was nice. And that, more than anything else, was what made him so appealing to the female population of Cupid Falls.

  He shot her a dazzling smile and said, “Everything looks wonderful, Mayor.”

  Pretty much any other woman would swoon if Lincoln smiled at them like that, but though she registered his looks, they didn’t affect her that way. Kennedy chalked up her nonswooning to her advanced pregnancy. “Everything does look wonderful, and a big part of that is thanks to you, Linc.”

  “I told you when we opened the plant I wanted Lincoln Lighting to be a part of the community.” He offered her his arm.

  Kennedy wasn’t sure what it was that made all men think she’d lost her ability to walk simply because she was pregnant, but she took Linc’s arm. “Well, you are an important part of the community. The jobs have been a godsend, but more than that, Lincoln Lighting has given us all a sense of pride. Knowing that we’re instrumental in making something that’s going to help save the environment.”

  She stopped at a cluster of people and they congratulated both Linc and Kennedy on the tree lighting. As they continued walking down Main Street, Linc said, “I wanted t
o talk to you about some ideas I have—ideas about how Cupid Falls can help my company, and Lincoln Lighting can help the town. I know it’s a crazy time of year, but any chance you can find some time for me?”

  “How about lunch on Monday?” Kennedy offered, mentally trying to juggle her day in order to make it work.

  “That’s perfect. I’ll meet you at the restaurant at say, noon?”

  “Sounds great.”

  He guided her farther down the street.

  Mal didn’t think of himself as a jealous man. He’d had serious relationships in the past and he’d never minded when someone he was dating talked to another man. But watching Kennedy talk to whoever that Adonis was . . . well, he minded.

  The man reached out and touched her arm and she smiled at something he said.

  “Malcolm,” Clarence’s wife, Joan, called.

  He waited, still watching Kennedy and her new guy mingle with the crowd.

  “Malcolm,” Joan called again.

  He turned. “Yes, ma’am?”

  “We know what you did, and no one’s happy about it. Make it right. Kennedy deserves better.” She humphed and stormed away.

  Joan was the grand total of people who’d talked to him this evening. But the fact he was being shunned suddenly had an upside. As he followed Kennedy and the new guy, the crowd parted like toast under a knife.

  Kennedy and Adonis were talking to May as he approached from behind Kennedy. May took one look at him, sniffed, and said, “I’ve got to go, Kennedy.”

  May glared hard enough in his direction as she left that Kennedy turned and shot him a questioning look.

  Mal shrugged.

  Kennedy sighed and said, “Malcolm, I don’t think you’ve met Lincoln Gates. Linc, this is Cupid Falls’ own Malcolm Carter, Esquire. He lives in Pittsburgh now and is a rising star in the legal world. He’s home for a visit. A brief visit,” she added, looking at him pointedly.

  “Not all that brief,” he said as he shook Lincoln’s hand. Maybe he shook it a little too long, a little too hard, because the man gave him a quizzical look that seemed to say, what did I do to piss you off?

  Mal glanced at Kennedy and then back at Lincoln, who had an oh, I see look, then gave the merest shake of his head to say he wasn’t interested in Kennedy.

  That very unaccustomed feeling of jealousy faded and he said, “Call me Mal,” with more friendliness.

  Linc nodded. “I’m Linc.”

  “Lincoln Lighting?” Mal asked. He remembered his grandfather and mother talking excitedly when the new company bought the long-vacant furniture plant. And Kennedy had mentioned them in her speech.

  “Guilty,” Linc said.

  “My grandfather has nothing but nice things to say about you,” Mal told the guy.

  “Your grandfather is . . . ?” Lincoln asked.

  It was unusual to find someone in Cupid Falls who didn’t know his family. “Pap Watson at the—”

  “The Center,” Linc finished. “We’ve been in talks.”

  “Talks?” Mal tried to remember what, if anything, his grandfather had said about Lincoln Lighting, but other than talking about the new plant and new jobs, he drew a blank. “What kind of talks?”

  “Talks he said I need to take up with you since you officially own the business, at least that’s what Pap said. I have a meeting with Kennedy on Monday. Maybe you’d like to join us? I can tell you what I want to suggest for your business.”

  “I’m sure I can make it.”

  “Great,” Linc said. “Kennedy and I have talked about the Center. It’s aptly named. It seems to be at the heart of the community. People have celebrations there. There are events like today’s craft show and the dance in a few weeks. I could use your help.”

  Mal couldn’t help but notice that Kennedy was frowning. Maybe Linc didn’t think there was anything going on between them, but maybe Kennedy did—or maybe she wished there was something between them.

  Mal turned back to Linc. “When on Monday?”

  “Lunch at the restaurant at noon.”

  “I’ll be there.” He noticed that Kennedy’s frown deepened.

  Linc looked from her to Mal, then back again. He seemed to know he was missing something, but Mal could see that Linc couldn’t decide what.

  “Nice meeting you, Mal. See you both on Monday,” Linc said, obviously giving up trying to figure things out. He turned and melted into the crowd.

  “So what was all that about?” Kennedy asked Mal when Linc moved out of earshot.

  He tried to look innocent. “What?”

  “There was more machismo between the two of you than there are frogs at Joan’s house.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Fine.” She started to walk down the block, so he followed. He thought about offering his arm, but he wasn’t sure she’d take it, so he settled for simply walking beside her.

  Mal glanced across the street. He couldn’t help but notice Clarence talking to Linc, then Linc looking in his direction and scowling.

  Kennedy must have noticed it as well because she asked, “And what is going on with you and . . . well, everyone?”

  They walked past the Miller family, and all of them, right down to thirteen-year-old Violet, scowled at him.

  “It’s Cupid Falls,” he said as if that explained everything. “And Clarence—”

  Before he could say guessed, Kennedy interrupted him. “Let’s go right to the horse’s—or frog’s, as the case may be—mouth.”

  She headed toward Clarence.

  “What is going on?” Kennedy asked Clarence.

  Clarence swept his hands wide. “A fine start to our holiday season, Mayor. That’s what’s going on. Everyone’s talking about what a wonderful job you’ve done.”

  “You know what I mean, Clarence,” Kennedy said. She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t sound the least bit angry, but Mal was sure that Clarence knew she was annoyed, every bit as much as he did.

  “Don’t make me get Joan,” Kennedy added. “What is going on with you and the entire town toward Malcolm?”

  “I . . .”

  “Clarence,” Kennedy prompted.

  Clarence looked at Mal. Other than Joan hollering at him and Linc talking to him, it was the first eye contact anyone in town had made with Mal since the craft party.

  “Fine,” Clarence said, glaring at Mal. “We don’t like how he’s treating you. We know he’s the baby’s father, and we all think he should step up and take responsibility.” The old man turned to Mal and said, “You can’t simply knock up our mayor and then abandon her. We won’t put up with it.”

  “Clarence, it’s not like that,” Kennedy said.

  “From where I’m sitting it is.”

  “He—”

  Mal sensed she was about to try and save him. “Just let it go, Kennedy.”

  “I won’t let it go,” she said. “Listen, Clarence, Malcolm offered to marry me. I said no.”

  “Then he didn’t offer right. When I asked Joan to marry me, she said no. So I sent her a frog—her first frog. It was sitting on a toadstool and had a sign that said, ‘Kiss me. I could be a handsome prince in disguise.’ Then I asked again. She still said no. I sent her another frog and kept asking. Eventually I wore her down.” He looked at Mal. “Sometimes women need to feel you’d go the extra mile for them.”

  Mal nodded, accepting advice from Cupid Falls’ unlikely Romeo.

  “Clarence,” Kennedy said, “I’m so glad you wooed Joan. And now I know who actually started her collection. Next time you complain about it, you won’t get any sympathy from me. But no amount of frogs will change my mind about Malcolm. We’re both working together to give this baby two loving parents.”

  “He just ain’t tried hard enough,” Clarence insisted. “Being a father
isn’t about making a woman pregnant. It’s being there for your kid. It’s sitting up with them when they’re sick or have nightmares. It’s taking them to games. It’s being there for their mother. I ain’t seen much of you until recently.”

  “Malcolm didn’t know—” Kennedy started again.

  “Kennedy, it’s fine.” He didn’t need her to save him from the town’s ire. He understood their anger. And the truth of the matter was, they couldn’t be more mad at him than he was at himself.

  Kennedy shook her head at him. “Let me explain, Malcolm.” She turned to Clarence. “He just found out. And since he has, he’s been here. He worried I’d done too much today, so he made me take a nap, then fixed me dinner before we came here tonight.”

  Clarence snorted. “But he’ll be going to go back to Pittsburgh. He’ll be leaving you and the baby all alone here in Cupid Falls. I don’t know how you can do that,” he said to Mal. “We all saw the way your father neglected you after your mom divorced him. I’d have thought you’d be the last man to do something like that to your own child.”

  The old man turned back to Kennedy. “Mayor, don’t you worry. We’ll all be here to support you and the baby. You won’t be alone.” He shot Mal another dark look, then stomped off.

  “Well, two mysteries solved. I now understand Joan’s frog obsession and I understand why everyone is treating you like you have the plague. I’m sorry you’re taking heat over this, Malcolm. I’ll tell them all how it really is and try to get you off the hook.”

  He was touched that his public shunning bothered her. “It’s fine, Kennedy. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”

  “You’ve never been an outsider,” she said. “I’m not sure you have any inkling about what you’re letting yourself in for. But I’ll try to put out the truth.”

  “What is the truth?” he asked.

  “The truth is, you’ve asked me to marry you and I’ve said no. The truth is, you’ve done everything you can to help me since you found out. You’re still going shopping with me, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Tuesday night?” she asked.