It Started at Christmas...

by Janice Lynn

  Grinning in that carefree way he had, he blew her a kiss and panic filled her.

  People were all around, watching them, gawking, pointing and staring.

  Run, McKenzie, run.

  It’s what she did.

  What she always did.

  But she’d never had concrete blocks for feet before.

  Which really didn’t make sense. How could her feet be concrete blocks?

  Somewhere in the depths of her fuzzy mind she realized she was dreaming.

  Unable to run?

  People everywhere staring at her?

  That wasn’t a dream.

  That was a nightmare.

  Even if it was Lance who was closing in on her and he seemed quite happy with his pursuit and inevitable capture of her.

  * * *

  “The radiologist just called me with the report on Edith’s CT and D-dimer.” McKenzie stood in Lance’s office doorway, taking him in at his desk. His brown hair was ruffled and when his gaze met hers, his eyes were as bright as the bluest sky.

  “She has a pulmonary embolism?” Lance asked.

  “He called you, too?”

  “No, I just figured that was the case after listening to her last night and the things you said.”

  “That doesn’t explain the blood she spat up. She shouldn’t have spat up blood with a clot in her lungs. That doesn’t make sense.”

  “You’re right. Makes me wonder what else is going on. Did they get the sputum culture sent off?”

  “Yes, with her first morning cough-up. Her pulmonologist is supposed to see her this morning. Her cardiologist, too.”

  “That’s good.”

  Suddenly, McKenzie felt uncomfortable standing in Lance’s doorway. What had she been thinking when she’d sought him out to tell him of Edith’s test results?

  Obviously, she hadn’t been thinking.

  She could have texted him Edith’s results.

  She’d just given in to the immediate desire to tell him, to see him, to share her anxiety over the woman’s diagnosis. She really liked Edith and had witnessed Lance’s affection for her, too.

  “Um, well, I thought you’d want to know. I’ll let you get back to work,” she said, taking a step backward and feeling more and more awkward by the moment.

  “Thank you, McKenzie.”

  Awkward.

  “You’re welcome.” She turned, determined to get out of Dodge as quickly as possible.

  “McKenzie?”

  Heart pounding in her throat, she slowly turned back toward him. “Yes?”

  His gaze met hers and he asked, “Dinner tonight if I don’t see you before then?”

  Relief washed over her.

  “If you do see me before, what then? Do I not get dinner? Just dessert or something?”

  He grinned. “You do keep me on my toes.”

  Since he was sitting down, she didn’t comment, just waited on him to elaborate.

  “Regardless of when we next see each other, I’d like to take you to dinner tonight, McKenzie. As you well know, I’m also good for dessert.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” she answered, wondering why she felt so relieved that he’d asked, that they had plans to see each other after work hours. He’d been asking her for weeks and she’d been saying no. Now that she was willing to say yes, had she thought he wasn’t going to ask?

  “Great.” His smile was bigger now, his dimples deeper. “We can discuss what we’re going to wear for the Christmas parade. I’m thinking you should be a sexy elf.”

  “A sexy elf, hmm?” she mused, trying to visualize what he was picturing in his mind. He’d make a much sexier Santa’s helper than she would. Maybe he should do the sexy-elf thing. “I haven’t agreed to be in the Christmas parade,” she reminded him.

  “It’ll be fun. The mayor’s float is based on a children’s story about a grumpy fellow who hates Christmas until a little girl shows him the true meaning of the holidays. It’s a perfect float theme.”

  “I get to do weird things to my hair and wear ear and nose extensions that make me look elfish for real?” she asked with false brightness.

  “You do. Don’t forget the bright clothes.”

  She narrowed her gaze suspiciously. “And you’re going to do the same?”

  “I’m not sure about doing weird things to my hair.” He ran his fingers through his short brown locks. “But I can get into the colorful Christmas spirit if that makes you happy.”

  This should be good. Seeing him in his float clothes would be worth having to come up with a costume of her own. After all, she had a secret weapon: Cecilia, who rocked makeup and costumes.

  “Well, then. Sign me up for some Christmas float happiness.”

  * * *

  Cecilia really was like a Christmas float costume secret weapon. A fairy godmother.

  She walked around McKenzie, her lips twisted and her brow furrowed in deep thought.

  “We can use heavy-duty bendable hair wires to wrap your hair around to make some fancy loops.” Cecelia studied McKenzie’s hair. “That and lots of hair spray should do the trick.”

  “What about for an outfit?”

  “K-I-S-S.”

  “What?”

  “Keep It Simple, Stupid. Not that you’re stupid,” Cecilia quickly added. “Just don’t worry about trying to overdo anything. You’ve got less than a week to put something together. The mayor may not be expecting you to be dressed up.”

  “Lance says we are expected to dress up.”

  Cecilia’s eyes lit with excitement, as if she’d been patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask but had gotten distracted at the prospect of having her way with McKenzie’s hair and costume makeup. “How is the good doctor?”

  “Good. Very good.”

  Cecilia’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  McKenzie looked heavenward, which in this case was the glittery ceiling of Bev’s Beauty Boutique. “I’ve kissed the man. That’s it. But, yes, he was very good at that.”

  Cecilia let out a disappointed sight. “Just kissing?”

  Her lips against Lance’s could never be called “just kissing,” but she wasn’t going to point that out to Cecilia.

  “What did you think I meant when I said he was very good?”

  “You know exactly what I thought, what I was hoping for. What’s holding you back?”

  McKenzie shrugged. “We’ve barely been on three dates, and that’s if you count the community Christmas show, which truly shouldn’t even count but since he kissed me for the first time that night, I will.” Why was she sounding so breathy and letting her sentences run together? “You think I should have already invited him between my sheets?”

  “If I had someone that sexy looking at me the way that man looks at you, I’d have invited him between my sheets long ago.”

  McKenzie shrugged again. “There’s no rush.”

  “No rush?” Shaking her head, Cecilia frowned. “I’m concerned.”

  “About me? Why?”

  “For some reason you are totally throwing up walls between you and this guy. For the life of me I can’t figure out why.”

  McKenzie glanced around the salon. There was a total of five workstations. On the other side of the salon, Bev was rolling a petite blue-haired lady’s hair into tight little clips, but the other two stylists had gone to lunch, as had the manicurist. No one was paying the slightest attention to Cecilia and McKenzie’s conversation. Thank goodness.

  “How many times do I have to say it? I work with him. A relationship between us is complicated.”

  Cecilia wasn’t buying it. “Only as complicated as the two of you make it.”

  McKenzie sank into her friend’s salon chair and spun ar
ound to stare at the reflection of herself in the mirror. “I am creating problems where there aren’t any, aren’t I?”

  “Looks that way to me. My question is why. I know you don’t fall into bed with every guy you date and certainly not after just a couple of dates, but you’ve never had chemistry with anyone the way you do with Lance. I could practically feel the electricity zapping between you that night at the Christmas show,” she pointed out. “You’ve never been one to create unnecessary drama. So, as your best friend, that leaves me asking myself, and you, why are you doing it now?”

  True. She hadn’t. Then again, she never dated anyone very long. Not that three dates classified as dating Lance for a long time. She’d certainly never dated anyone like Lance. Not even close. He was...different. Not just that he worked with her, but something more that was hard to define and a little nerve-racking to contemplate.

  “You really like him, don’t you?”

  At her best friend’s question, McKenzie’s gaze met Cecilia’s in the mirror. “What’s not to like?”

  Cecilia grinned. “What? No argument? Uh-oh. This one has you hooked. You may decide you want to keep him around.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Then what? Eventually, he’d be ready to move on and if she were more vested in an actual relationship, she’d be hurt. Being with someone so charismatic and tempting was probably foolish to begin with.

  She toyed with a strand of hair still loose from its rubber band. “So, on Saturday morning you’re going to make me look like Christmas morning and then transform me into a beautiful goddess for the hospital Christmas party that evening?”

  “Sure. Just call me Fairy Godmother.” Cecilia’s eyes widened again. “Does that mean you’re going to go to the hospital Christmas party with Lance?”

  McKenzie nodded. She’d just decided that for definite, despite his having mentioned it to her several times. Even if she did insist on them going separately, what would be the point other than that stubbornness he’d mentioned?

  * * *

  Lance stared at the cute brunette sitting on a secured chair on the back of a transfer truck flatbed that had been converted into a magical winter wonderland straight out of a children’s storybook.

  As was McKenzie with her intricate twisted-up hair with its battery-powered blinking multicolored minilights that were quite attention gathering for someone who’d once said she didn’t want anyone staring at her, her elaborate makeup done to include a perky little nose and ear tips, and a red velvet dress fringed with white fur, white stockings and knee-high black boots that had sparkly bows added to them.

  She fit in with the others on the float as if she’d been a planned part rather than a last-minute addition by the mayor. Lance liked her costume best, but admitted he was biased. The mayor and his wife stood on a built-up area of the float. They waved at the townspeople as the float made its way along the parade route.

  “Tell me this isn’t the highlight of your year.”

  “Okay. This isn’t the highlight of my year,” she said, but she was smiling and waving and tossing candy to the kids they passed. “Thank you for bringing candy. How did you know?”

  “My favorite part of a Christmas parade was scrambling to get candy.”

  “Oh.”

  Something in her voice made him curious to know more, to understand the sadness he heard in that softly spoken word.

  “Didn’t your parents let you pick up candy thrown by strangers?” He kept his voice light, teasing. “On second thought, I should talk to my parents about letting me do that.”

  “Well, when there are big signs announcing who is on each float, it’s not really like taking candy from strangers,” she conceded. “But to answer your question, no, my parents didn’t. This is my first ever Christmas parade.”

  “What?”

  She’d grown up in Coopersville. The Christmas parade was an annual event and one of the highlights of the community as far as he was concerned. How could she possibly have never gone to one before?

  “You heard me, elf boy.”

  He smiled at her teasing.

  “How is it that you haven’t ever gone to a Christmas parade before when I know you grew up here and the parade has been around for more decades than you have?”

  She shrugged a fur-covered shoulder. “I just haven’t. It’s not a big deal.”

  But it was. He heard it in her voice.

  “Did your parents not celebrate the holidays?” Not everyone did. With his own mother loving Christmas as much as he did, he could barely imagine someone not celebrating it, but he knew those odd souls were out there.

  “They did,” McKenzie assured him. “Just in their own unique ways.”

  Unique ways? His curiosity was piqued, but McKenzie’s joy was rapidly fading so he didn’t dig.

  “Which didn’t include parades or candy gathering?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “You know, I’ve seen half a dozen people we work with in the crowds,” she pointed out. “There’s Jenny Westman who works in Accounting, over there with her kids.”

  She smiled, waved, and tossed a handful of candy in the kids’ general direction.

  “I see her.” He tossed a handful of individually wrapped bubble gums to the kids, too, smiling as they scrambled around to grab up the goodies. “Jenny has cute kids.”

  “How can you tell with the way she has them all bundled up?” McKenzie teased, still smiling. “I’m not sure I would have recognized them if she wasn’t standing next to them.”

  “You have a point. I think she just recognized us. She’s waving with one hand and pointing us out to her husband with the other.”

  Still holding her smiling, waving pose, McKenzie nodded.

  “I imagine everyone is going to be talking about us being together on this float.”

  “We’ve had dinner together every night this week. Everyone is already talking about us.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “And the ones who aren’t will be after tonight’s office Christmas party.”

  “Why? What’s happening tonight?”

  “You’re going as my date. Remember?”

  “I remember. I just thought you meant something more.”

  “More than you going as my date? McKenzie, a date with me is something more.”

  “Ha-ha, keep telling yourself that,” she warned, but she was smiling and not just in her waving-at-the-crowds way of smiling. Her gaze cut to him and her smile dazzled more than any jewel.

  “You look great, by the way,” he said.

  “Thanks. I owe it all to Cecilia. She worked hard putting this together and got to my house at seven this morning to do my hair and makeup. She came up with the lights and promised me that my hair, the real and the fake she brought with her to make it look so poufy and elaborate, wouldn’t catch fire. I admit I was a bit worried when she told me she was stringing lights through my hair.”

  “Like I said, you look amazing and are sure to help the mayor win best float. Cecilia’s good.”

  “Yep. Works at Bev’s Beauty Boutique. Just in case you ever need a cut and style or string of Christmas lights dangled above your head on twisted-up fake hair.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” He reached over and took her gloved hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “I’m glad you agreed to do this.”

  She didn’t look at him, but admitted, “Me, too.”

  When they reached the final point of the parade, the driver parked the eighteen-wheel truck that had pulled the float. Lance jumped down and held his hand out to assist McKenzie. The mayor and his wife soon joined them. He’d just been discharged from the hospital the day before and probably shouldn’t have been out in the parade, but the man had insisted on parti
cipating.

  “Thank you both for being my honored guests,” he praised them in a hoarse, weakened voice. He shook Lance’s hand.

  “It was our pleasure,” Lance assured the man he’d checked on several times throughout his hospital stay despite the fact that he wasn’t a patient of their clinic. He genuinely liked the mayor and had voted for him in the last election.

  The mayor turned to McKenzie. “Thank you for saving my life, young lady. There’d have been no Christmas cheer this year in my household if not for you.”

  McKenzie’s cheeks brightened to nearly the same color as her plush red dress. “You’re welcome, but Dr. Spencer did just as much to save your life as I did. He’s the one who did the Heimlich maneuver and your chest compressions.”

  “You were the one who revived me. Dr. Spencer has told me on more than one occasion that your actions are directly responsible for my still being here.”

  McKenzie glanced at him in question and Lance winked.

  “If there’s ever anything we can do.” This came from the mayor’s wife. “Just let us know. We are forever indebted to you both. You’re our Christmas angels.”

  “We’re good, but thank you,” Lance and McKenzie both assured them.

  “Amazing costume,” the mayor’s wife praised McKenzie further.

  They talked for a few more minutes to those who’d been on the mayor’s float, then walked toward the square where the rest of the parade was still passing.

  “If it’s okay, I’d like to swing by to see Cecelia at the shop.”

  “No problem,” he assured her. “I need to thank her for making you look so irresistibly cute.”

  McKenzie grimaced. “Cute is not how a woman wants to be described.”

  “Well, you already had beautiful, sexy, desirable, intelligent, brilliant, gorgeous, breathtaking—”

  “You can stop anytime,” she interrupted, laughing.

  “Amazing, lickable—”

  “Did you just say lickable?” she interrupted again.

  He paused, frowned at her. “Lickable? Surely not.”

  “Surely so.”

  “I said likable. Not lickable.”

  “You said lickable.”