Christmas Kisses: An Echo Ridge Anthology (Echo Ridge Romance Book 1)

by Lucy McConnell

  FRIDAY AFTERNOON WAS A WHIRLWIND as Jessica dragged Chelsea to have her hair cut and then her makeup done. They spent an hour trying on dresses at Chelsea’s house before Jessica finally declared a jade-colored knee-length dress was, “Perfect.” It was the same dress she’d brought by the house a week ago.

  “We could’ve saved a lot of time if I tried this one on first,” Chelsea muttered.

  Jessica eyed her like she was insane. “That wouldn’t be any fun.” She forced Chelsea to put on some low-slung sparkly silver heels.

  “I’m going to freeze,” Chelsea said, pointing to the open-toed shoes.

  “Whatever, the dance will be warm.”

  “Getting to and from the dance and dinner, before Chayton’s truck gets warmed up.” She hugged herself just thinking about it. Chayton had a beautiful restored truck that took forever to get warm.

  “You don’t have a dress coat?” Jessica’s mouth dropped open in horror.

  “Well…” Chelsea had a nicer coat she wore to church, but she knew Jessica would not approve.

  “How soon is Chayton coming?”

  Chelsea glanced at the clock. “Ten minutes?”

  “Stall him. I’ll be right back.” Jessica flung the front door open and sprinted through the snow.

  Chelsea heard Jessica’s engine fire and then her Honda CR-V roared away from the house. Chelsea couldn’t help but laugh. She walked to the mirror in her bathroom, shocked at how different this woman looking back at her was. They’d cut several inches off her hair and curled it, but luckily the hair stylist had talked Jessica out of low lights, whatever they were, claiming Chelsea’s hair was a golden mahogany. Chelsea rolled her eyes. The mascara and eyeliner did make her green eyes stand out more, but the lipstick was pushing her past the comfort level. She felt like a little girl playing dress up and was afraid it was all ridiculous.

  The doorbell rang. She forced herself to pick her way toward it. The heels weren’t that high, but she still felt awkward in them. She pulled the door open and smiled at Chayton.

  He stared. For far too many seconds, he did that jaw dropped open and stare at the woman thing. Chelsea finally snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Hello, Chayton, it’s me.”

  “Wow.” His mouth snapped shut and he handed her a simple bouquet of flowers. “Wow, Chelsea. You’re gorgeous. I mean your hair all curled and pretty and—” He squinted at her eyes, “—Are you actually wearing makeup?”

  “Don’t act so shocked.” She took the flowers and gestured him into the house, not sure why it bugged her so much that he thought she was gorgeous. Didn’t normal women want a handsome man complimenting them? Maybe Jessica was right and she wasn’t normal.

  “I’m not… shocked, just pleasantly surprised.”

  “Is it really that big of a change?” She filled a tall cup with water and jammed the flowers into it.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty huge. You’re like a totally different person. In a good way,” he hastened to add.

  Chelsea’s face filled with heat. She knew Jessica would be upset that she wore her old coat, but maybe after she wrapped up in that Chayton would stop acting like she was Cinderella or something. Why did men have to be so focused on looks? She and Chayton were good friends. She was still the same person. He didn’t have to act like a hormone-filled teenager because she curled her hair and put on lipstick.

  She grabbed her coat from the closet and Chayton hurried to help her into it. “Thanks,” she murmured, feeling guilty for being upset with him as he escorted her to the door and she glanced at the flowers he’d brought.

  “No, thank you for going with me tonight,” Chayton said. “Every boy in the school is going to be jealous.”

  “Holy crap, Chayton. I’m not arm candy!”

  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. You just look so great. I was trying to compliment you.” They walked toward Chayton’s cherry red restored truck.

  Jessica’s sport utility flew into the driveway and stopped with a puff of snow. There was the fairy, making sure Chelsea looked perfect for the stupid ball. Chelsea just wanted to go find Drew and eat pizza or play basketball. Even whacking herself in the nose with a racquet would be more fun than this.

  Jessica jumped out and tugged at Chelsea’s coat. “Get this thing off,” she hissed into Chelsea’s ear.

  “Calm down,” Chelsea retorted. “I’ve got it.”

  Chayton helped her remove her coat and put on Jessica’s knee-length caramel-colored leather coat, his hands lingering on her shoulders for far too long. At least the coat was warm.

  Jessica stepped back and clapped her hands. “Wow! You look amazing together. Love that suit, Chayton.”

  “Thanks.” Chayton beamed at her. He opened the door for Chelsea and helped her inside.

  Chelsea knew she should probably feel guilty that she hadn’t even noticed how nice Chayton looked in a grey suit, crisp white shirt, and striped grey and teal tie that set off his dark hair and skin, but she just felt too awkward with the entire situation. Where was Drew when she needed him?

  “Have fun,” Jessica called out to them.

  “We will,” Chelsea heard Chayton answer.

  The drive to The Outlook restaurant was uncomfortable for her as Chayton made small talk and took every chance he could to sneak glances at her with his mouth half open like she was some kind of freak or famous person, she couldn’t tell which.

  As soon as they arrived at the restaurant, Chelsea excused herself to the restroom. She debated washing off her makeup and getting her hair wet to pull out the curl. She laughed to herself as she exited the ladies’ room. It was fine that Chayton thought she looked good, even if it bothered her.

  “Is that a personal joke you’re laughing at ma’am?”

  Chelsea glanced up to see Drew, looking amazing in a bright blue shirt and plaid tie. She found herself panting for air as her pulse skyrocketed. She chastised herself for gaping at him when that was exactly what Chayton had done to her and she’d been annoyed by it. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

  “I offered to take Darcee and Jake out to dinner.” He shrugged. “They jumped at the idea and had a babysitter so fast you wouldn’t have believed it.”

  She smiled, remembering her brother and sister-in-law reacting similarly when she’d gone to visit and offered to babysit so they could go out. They adored their children, but it seemed parents needed a break and it was thoughtful of Drew to offer them one.

  “So you and Chayton tonight, huh?” he asked.

  Smile evaporated. “He sees me as female, Drew.” Oh, my, did I really just say that? And honestly Chayton saw her as too much of a female tonight.

  His eyebrows arched. “And I don’t?”

  “Um, I don’t know what you see.” She studied the women’s symbol on the bathroom door thinking, Please tell me what you see and please let it be good.

  Drew stroked a hand down her cheek and she couldn’t hide the tremble his touch caused or stop herself from savoring the look in his brown eyes.

  “I see you, Chels, all of you, and you’re beautiful. You look stunning tonight, but you look just as great in a pair of sweats. Is it really about how I see you physically? I thought we had a pretty amazing friendship going on.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, loving the intriguing mixture of comfort and excitement Drew stirred within her. He thought she was beautiful, but he wasn’t just talking about her exterior.

  “Can I take you to the dance at Kenworth’s tomorrow night? Maybe then I can show you what I see,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “and what I feel.”

  Chelsea swallowed hard and unable to speak, she simply nodded. All kinds of visions for what tomorrow night may bring played through her head, more exciting than any sports competition.

  Drew smiled sweetly and squeezed her shoulder. “Thank you.”

  “I,” she cleared her throat, “need to go.”

  The sparkle in his eyes dimmed but he gave her a slight nod. “I und
erstand. H-have fun.”

  The words were forced and completely insincere but she appreciated that he’d made the effort.

  “See you tomorrow.” Spinning on her heel, she strode away from his dark eyes and back to her date while she still had the strength to leave Drew. If she stayed much longer she was afraid she’d beg him to not let her go.

  MASON TRIED TO TURN THE CAR KEY several times, always with the same result. The stupid battery was dead again. They needed to replace it, but of course that took money they didn’t have. He rested his head on the steering wheel. Their neighbor was always great to jump the engine, but it was eleven at night. Mason couldn’t bug him. If only his mom would get home early. She’d taken Beau’s Explorer to work tonight and since Beau and the girls were asleep Mason decided he’d just run to the dance quick.

  He climbed out of the car. It wasn’t a great idea to go to the dance in jeans and a sweatshirt anyway. He walked toward the house, kicking at clumps of snow, but then changed direction and headed east to the high school. It was only half a mile away. He wasn’t going to go into the dance, he just wanted to see Kaitlyn in her dress and see for himself that Gabe was treating her with respect.

  He picked up the pace to a jog, ignoring the bitter air stinging his face, ears, hands, and lungs. The cold seared down his throat, but he was grateful Ms. Jamison had kept him in decent shape without lacrosse practices this winter.

  Once he got to the school he realized how completely stupid this was. He couldn’t walk into the gym to check on Kaitlyn and the gym didn’t have any windows down low.

  He wandered around by the football field, stomping through knee-high snow and thinking he should just go home. His mom would worry when the car was there and he wasn’t. Voices floated across the snow to him. He hid behind the bleachers and waited for the couple to go away. Hopefully they wouldn’t make out for too long.

  “And this is where I scored the winning touchdown on homecoming night.”

  Mason stiffened. That was Gabe, bragging.

  “Is that all you wanted to show me? It’s freezing out here,” Kaitlyn said.

  “There’s a lot more I’m going to show you.”

  Mason rounded the corner in time to see Gabe pull Kaitlyn close, his beefy fingers cupping her rear end. Kaitlyn slapped Gabe with some pretty impressive force.

  “Dream on,” she yelled and tried to pull away from him.

  Gabe held her tight. “I took you on a nice date, you owe me.”

  “I don’t owe you crap,” Kaitlyn said.

  Mason sprinted the last few steps; the snow barely slowing him down as his anger increased. He grabbed Gabe’s shoulder and shoved hard. Gabe spun away from Kaitlyn and smacked the goal post.

  “Dude,” Gabe exclaimed. “You need to back up a step.”

  “No, you need to.” Mason planted himself between Gabe and Kaitlyn.

  “Mason,” she whispered.

  Gabe stepped closer. Mason could smell the alcohol on his breath. His stomach tightened. He hated that stench. The reminder of his stepdad and all the fear and frustrations. He forced himself to speak calmly, “You’re drunk, man. Get one of your buddies to drive you home and I’ll make sure Kaitlyn gets home safe.”

  “Hey, I’ve never had a problem with you, even though you’re white trash and chose lacrosse over football,” Gabe slurred his words slightly and moved into Mason’s personal space. “But you have no right to mess with me and screw up my date. Kaitlyn’s not your problem tonight.”

  “Kaitlyn’s never a problem, and there’s no way I’m letting you take her home.”

  Gabe swung without warning, connecting his fist with Mason’s jaw. Pain exploded through his face. Apparently Gabe could still hit hard, plowed or not. Mason responded with an uppercut to Gabe’s abdomen. He could hear Kaitlyn behind him, but wasn’t sure what she was saying as blood roared in his ears. He got in a couple more solid hits and knocked Gabe to the ground with the third. He turned to check on Kaitlyn. Gabe plowed into him from behind. Mason stood his ground and spun to face him.

  Two of Gabe’s buddies rushed into the fight, each grabbing one of Mason’s arms and forcing them behind his back. Mason managed to fling his right arm free, but not before Gabe landed some vicious hits to his face. Kaitlyn was pleading with them to please let him go.

  “We’ll finish with him and then take care of you,” Gabe promised Kaitlyn.

  Mason broke free with his other arm and slammed into Gabe. He would never allow him to touch Kaitlyn again.

  “Fight, there’s a fight,” the words were whispered from student to student, but luckily Chelsea was talking with some girls from her team and heard it. She ran to Chayton, her silly shoes slowing her down.

  “There’s a fight outside,” she told him.

  The gym was emptying and Chayton had to yell a couple of times before the students made room and let him and Chelsea pass.

  It was hard to run through the snow in heels. The icy wetness seeped in between her toes and covered the top of her feet. Chelsea cussed Jessica with every step. Thankfully enough students were in front of them that a path had been cleared to the fight on the football field.

  Chelsea could not believe the brawl that was underway. There were dozens of boys and even a few girls slugging it out. Blood and future bruises were all too evident, but nobody seemed to be slowing down as more students joined the fray and chose sides, some staying out of the action, but cheering for one side or the other.

  Kaitlyn was thrust to the side and toppled into the snow in her beautiful dress.

  “Kaitlyn,” it came as a roar from the mass of fighters, then two boys went flying and Mason knelt next to her in the snow.

  Chayton ran right into the mix of students and started thrusting them apart and yelling for his players to stop. The fighting slowed down as the lacrosse players recognized their coach and finally Chayton was able to pull the last few boys apart. The entire crowd went strangely silent then a few boys spoke up, “Sorry, Coach,” Chelsea heard over and over again.

  Mason lifted Kaitlyn to her feet and they walked slowly toward Chayton.

  “Sorry, Coach,” Mason began.

  “Mason.” Chayton shook his head, resting his hands on his thighs and taking a long breath. “I would never have thought you’d be part of something like this.”

  “He was defending me,” Kaitlyn spoke up quickly. Her eyes darted around the crowd and then she jabbed a finger at Gabe. “He was trying to force me to…” She swallowed and looked up at Mason with something akin to hero worship. “And Mason saved me.”

  Chayton nodded, his eyes softening as he exchanged a glance and a nod with Mason. Then his eyes darkened to obsidian as he looked back at Gabe. “Everybody go back inside,” he barked. The students were quick to obey. Gabe tried to blend in with the crowd. “Except you, Gabe.” Chayton pinned him with a stare and Gabe trudged back to them. “Pull your phone out and call your parents. Tell them your version of the story and then I’ll tell them mine.”

  Gabe pulled out his phone and exhaled. “Can you just tell them?”

  Chayton paused a few seconds then nodded. “You understand Kaitlyn can press charges against you?”

  “Dang straight I can,” she said.

  Gabe looked at her then studied the bleachers. “Sorry. Jace gave me some shots before dinner. I wouldn’t have… well, you know me and you know my dad.”

  Kaitlyn pressed her lips together. “I know you’re an idiot and your dad is going to do much worse to you than the police would. I wouldn’t have come with you if I thought you’d try what you did.” She blushed as she looked at Mason then took a long breath. “Lay off the liquor, Gabe, and don’t try this with any other girls, and maybe I won’t press charges.”

  Mason looked at her in surprise.

  “I’m just a sweetie like that,” she whispered to him.

  Mason wrapped his arm around her. “You are sweet,” he whispered back.

  Chelsea heard it and smiled to herself.


  They slowly walked back inside the gym to wait for Gabe’s parents and the principal. It was an awkward huddle with Mason keeping a solid arm around Kaitlyn and Gabe looking both sullen and embarrassed.

  Chayton gave Chelsea half a smile and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Quite the exciting date.”

  She laughed.

  “Coach,” Mason came up to them and spoke quietly, “I hate to ask you this, but could you or Ms. Jamison run Kaitlyn home? It’s embarrassing for her with everyone looking at her and she doesn’t want to be around Gabe.”

  Chelsea couldn’t help but love this kid. He was always thinking of others, probably ignoring the fact that he was getting more looks from his fellow students than Kaitlyn was in his holey Levi’s and lacrosse sweatshirt, with cuts and scrapes from battling on the ice, when everyone else was dolled up.

  “I think I’d better stay with Gabe until his parents come,” Chayton said and Mason’s face fell but he nodded his understanding. “Would you mind running them both home?” Chayton asked Chelsea.

  Mason turned to her with hope in his bright blue eyes.

  “That’s a pretty huge responsibility, driving the truck,” Chelsea said.

  “It’s amazing the trust I have in you.” Chayton held out the keys to her and she took them.

  “I won’t violate that trust.” She winked and grinned, grateful that she and Chayton were back to teasing. They were good friends, and with Drew dwelling in every nook and crevice of her brain, she wasn’t ready to push out of the friend zone with Chayton.

  Mason held the door for Chelsea and Kaitlyn as they left the gym and again as they exited the high school and climbed into Chayton’s classic truck.

  “Thanks,” Kaitlyn said, smiling at Mason then dipping her head and biting her lip after he climbed in next to her.

  Chelsea had to hide her own smile. These two were cute together. Kaitlyn gave Chelsea instructions to her house and Chelsea shouldn’t have been surprised when they rose to one of the highest hills of the Ice Money neighborhood. She thought it would intimidate Mason, but he sat straight and tall and talked confidently with Chelsea about how the basketball season was going and with Kaitlyn about her plans for family ski trips during the holiday.