The Christmas Eve Kiss: A Snow Valley Christmas Romance

by Taylor Hart

  “Y-yeah.”

  “I do have a little favor.”

  At that moment, my mother walked through the door. When she saw the Pastor, her face brightened. “Pastor John.”

  They hugged and he patted her arm as he pulled back. “He looks better today.”

  The look my mother gave me spoke volumes. Obviously, she was ticked at me. She went for my father’s other hand and fussed with the sheets, tucking them around him. “He does look better.”

  “Hi, my Katie.” My father opened his eyes for a second and then closed them. “I’m just resting.”

  She frowned and glanced at me. “Has the doctor been in today?”

  “Just the nurses.”

  My phone buzzed loudly.

  I quickly pulled it from my pocket and looked at the text from Stan Hollingsworth.

  JUST TALKED TO SALLY, HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE COMPUTER.

  “I’m fine.” My father didn’t open his eyes. “I just need some rest.”

  With that, my mother frowned at me. “I think we need to move out of the room to talk to visitors.”

  The pastor sighed. “I’m sorry, Katie.” He went for the door.

  I followed and texted Stan back.

  I’LL CHECK ON IT.

  I held my phone out. “I’ve got to go make a call real quick.”

  Pastor John turned around and motioned me to a waiting area. “Molly, let me tell you about that favor.”

  My mother joined us. “Favor? Didn’t she tell you she was leaving?”

  I exhaled and looked away. I would not do this with her.

  Pastor John patted her arm then turned back to me. “You said your plane’s not until tonight?”

  I nodded my affirmation and, in my peripheral vision, I saw someone. “Yes, that’s right.” A nervous flutter went through me. I realized the guy in my peripheral was Kevin.

  He was no longer dressed in Carhartt. He wore dark jeans and a black button down shirt. His black hair that had been tucked under his beanie was longer than before. It was styled in that messy gelled way that male models wore in magazines.

  The fact that my heart rate went up a notch and all I could think about was the last time he’d kissed me, right before he’d told me he needed ‘time,’ was not good.

  He didn’t look at me. Just held a brown bag out toward my mother. “Hey, my mom wanted me to bring up some lunch. She thought you might be hungry.” He winked at my mother. “Hospital cooking will kill you, ya know.”

  I recognized the look my mother gave him—like he was an angel. Yes, her personal Christmas angel. She took the food and gave him a hug. “Pastor, did you know that he’s been doing all our morning chores for us?”

  The Pastor slapped Kevin on the back. “Kevin’s a good soul, yes, he is.” He cleared his throat. “It seems like there’s been lots of chore doing by strapping young men in Snow Valley lately.” He let out a soft laugh.

  I gave him a confused look.

  Pastor John shook his head. “Never mind.”

  “How is he?” Kevin looked at my mother.

  The edges of my mother’s lips stayed in her ‘you’re my hero’ face. “Better. Thank you. Thank you so much for everything.”

  “Well,” Kevin said, shrugging, “I didn’t do anything, but you’re welcome Mrs. O.”

  It wasn’t only that Kevin looked good at this moment. Dang good. He had obviously been doing those push-ups that he talked about. He looked more like a man than the boy I’d grown up with. His facial hair was perfectly trimmed. Begrudgingly, I admitted that he was hot. Completely hot. Too bad I definitely didn’t care.

  The pastor smiled at him, then turned back to me. “I need you to decorate a tree.”

  I was dumbfounded. “What?”

  “The favor I needed.” Pastor John pushed back his glasses.

  “A tree?” My mother echoed my confusion.

  Kevin stuck a thumb at me. “Her?”

  Pastor John amicably pasted on, what I’m sure he would call his ‘pastor smile.’ “Yes, poor Addy Haze called me in a panic this morning because she hasn’t gotten the tree in front of the hospital decorated.” He tapped his watch. “And time is running short. She’s been under a lot of pressure this year and her crew has all gotten sick.”

  Okay, I had to admit that decorating a tree was not the ‘favor’ I thought the pastor would ask of me. Especially decorating the gigantic tree in front of the hospital. I thought he would ask that I call my mother more or keep saying my prayers at night. An actual favor hadn’t crossed my mind. I sized him up.

  “You and the gang did such a great job of decorating that cabin at bible camp that year.” He winked at me.

  “O-kay.” But I couldn’t believe he’d brought up that summer. I thought about the way the outhouse had ‘accidentally’ burnt to the ground that year. He’d never told our parents, but this felt like a threat. I evaluated him. He looked innocent enough, but the pastor had a streak of manipulation about him. “Hmm…”

  “On my way here I just had the thought pop into my mind, ‘Ask Molly.’”

  How do you argue with a pastor when he basically says God told him to ask? You don’t.

  “I just thought, if you’re going to be here …” he left it hanging.

  “Actually, I probably need to sit with my dad.” I would call his bluff.

  “No, you don’t.” My mother was back to the pinched look on her face. “I think doing something to serve this community would be good for you.” She crossed her arms. “You know your father would want you to help the Pastor if he needs help.”

  I crossed my arms back. “Well.”

  My mother cocked an eyebrow. “It won’t take you that long, you should do it.”

  “I don’t have any lights.” I threw back at her. “Or decorations.”

  Pastor John let out a muffled laugh and then cleared his throat. “I asked Addy about the decorations from years past and she isn’t exactly sure where they are.”

  “I have lights. We’ve used them to decorate the house, but mom wanted smaller lights this year.” Kevin’s voice was tentative.

  For a second, I didn’t acknowledge that he’d said it.

  “I’ll just get them out of the shed.” Kevin pasted on a fake smile. I knew it was fake because I’d seen him practice it many, many times in the mirror when we were younger.

  I pasted on my fake sad face. “I don’t think I need your help.”

  The pastor put his hand up. “Whoa. Yes, Kevin, that would be great.” He gave me a slight frown. “Remember, the Lord provides in mysterious ways, Molly. Take his miracles when you get them.” He promptly did an about face. “I have others to visit, but I’ll look forward to the finished product. Kevin, just Facebook message me when you all are done.”

  “Okay, Pastor.” Kevin’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “What do you think, Mol? There might be something useful in that shed after all.”

  Chapter 7

  The Carhartt suit my parents had stored for me fit better now than it actually had in high school. I’d dropped a few pounds the last couple of years. If Christina hadn’t been my roommate, I would have dropped more.

  Kevin sat next to me on the rear of his pickup, pulling lights one by one out of the box.

  I inspected them and, if need be, switched out the fuse. In no way was this how I envisioned myself spending the last of my time in Snow Valley. I’d called Sally and she had frantically told me how the computer had been freezing and our system inventory wasn’t scanning the jewelry properly, but she thought it was figured out. I promised her I would be back tonight and could figure it out before the store opened tomorrow.

  Kevin and I had both mutually, without talking, agreed we wouldn’t talk. Which was ludicrous because it felt like he was punishing me when I was the one who deserved to punish him.

  One, two, three, four…

  “Quit counting in your head.” Kevin picked through more lights.

  I blinked. The fact he knew I was countin
g was a stark reminder that, yes, he knew me that well. “I wasn’t.”

  “Yeah. You were. I can always tell when you’re doing it because the little line between your eyes deepens.”

  Reflexively, I touched my forehead.

  A soft laugh that sounded more like a long sigh came out of him. He stopped shuffling lights and stared at me.

  For the first time, I looked into his eyes. Really looked. They had always been a piercing green. I used to think that if I didn’t know him, I would have thought he wore contacts.

  “What?”

  I shook my head and went back to changing a light fuse. “Don’t do that.”

  “What? Tell you to stop counting?”

  “Yes.” I snapped.

  The way his lips stretched into a smile told me that he was enjoying this moment very much. “It feels like nothing has changed.”

  “Everything’s changed.”

  “Oh really? Do you have a boyfriend that I should know about?”

  In the most absurd way, I knew I was blushing. I also knew there was nothing I could do about it, so I refused to answer.

  He scooted closer to me. “I saw your pinky ring. Is that from your guy?”

  “My guy?” I spat it out like food with too much salt.

  His shoulder lifted and he looked back at the lights as if he didn’t care. “It looked like a Christmas present, that’s all.” He hoisted a finished strand of lights toward the tree in front of the hospital.

  “What if it is from my guy?” I shouted after him.

  “Then that would be too bad.” He flung back, but kept walking.

  A nervous pulse went through me. A twinge. That twinge you get when the boy you like confides that he likes you back. It was stupid. Completely stupid. Because I was over Kevin. I’d been over him for a long, long time.

  After continuing to pick my way through another strand of lights, methodically checking all the fuses to see if they were burnt out or not, I carried it toward the tree.

  Kevin was on top of a ladder and another hospital worker I didn’t recognize was helping him. Carefully, I dumped the strand next to the ladder.

  Kevin looked down at me, grinning. “Bout time.” He started descending the ladder.

  I ignored him and went back to the truck.

  “Hold on.”

  Reluctantly, I looked back.

  A snowball landed squarely against the side of my face.

  Soft laughter. “Does your guy throw snowballs at you, Mol?”

  Extreme anger burned inside me. He did not just do that. The mature part of me turned away from him. The mature part of me picked up another strand of lights and put them on the back of the truck. The mature part of me watched Kevin laughing as he looked at the other worker and said, “Gus, I have to use the bathroom, I’ll be back in a sec.”

  Then the immature part of me hatched a plan.

  Five minutes later, Kevin walked out of the hospital and the first snowball in my arsenal flew right into the side of his head. A rush of adrenaline whooshed through me and I couldn’t stop myself. I laughed, relishing the part of this where I got to throw things at him. I didn’t pause to feel the full enjoyment of it, I threw another and another, knowing I wouldn’t have long to get them off.

  Kevin immediately whirled in my direction and ran like a storm trooper under threat of death toward me.

  I picked up two more snowballs and took off running into the deeper snow around the side of the hospital. I fired off a last shot and gulped out a laugh at the way Kevin’s snowman face looked as he grabbed me and pulled me down. “You just woke the giant, my friend,” he said.

  My fall wasn’t long, being that I’d ventured into the deep snow, but it was cold. I struggled to get away from him. “Let me go!”

  He tugged my hat off and shook out my hair. This is what he did. Had done. Used to do. Snow flew around me. “Take that! You redheads think you can get away with anything.”

  Crazy giggles came out of me. The kind of giggles that I hadn’t giggled in as long as I could remember.

  “Now, you shall pay young Skywalker.” He took some snow and stuffed it into my collar.

  “Stop!” I yelled and remembered that he always quoted Star Wars. It felt like forever since we’d been twelve and he’d made me watch all six movies.

  Finally, he stopped. His cheeks were red, his aqua eyes were happy and his lips…were roughly two inches from mine.

  Butterflies erupted into my chest. Both of us were breathing hard. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me.

  The way his happy eyes went instantly sad, made me breathless. “Do you have a guy, Mol?”

  I wanted to give some quip, the kind that would be flirtatious, yet mysterious. I exhaled and wondered how I could so vividly remember the way my lips felt against his. “No.” I answered quietly. “Do you…have someone?” I asked quickly.

  The way he gently reached out and pushed a strand of hair out of my mouth, made my insides go completely gooey. He peered into my eyes. “There’s never been anyone else.”

  At this point, I could feel myself teeter, on that edge between my feelings in the past and the real time of the present. I flinched back, my breath coming out in manic puffs. I clumsily shoved myself to my feet. I could not do this. “We have to finish the lights.”

  He was beside me, helping me through the snow to the sidewalk in front of the hospital. “Molly?”

  I shook my head, trying to shake away these feelings. “Kevin, I’m leaving.”

  I was a different person now. I had a life. I had a store.

  “Molly.” He took my arm and pulled me into him.

  I pushed away. “Stop.”

  He pointed up. “Look, Gus has the lights on.”

  I stopped walking and peered up at the tree. Gus and another worker were standing by the lit tree; they both waved at us and smiled.

  “We have to get it decorated.” Kevin grinned at me.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was only two o’clock. I sighed. “We don’t have anything to decorate it with.”

  At that exact moment, the double door to the hospital opened and a young girl ran toward us. Her black hair and green eyes gave her away. She was a Snow. “Uncle Kevin!” She leapt into his arms with complete faith that he would catch her.

  And he did, swinging her around. “Lacey Bacey!”

  She laughed with the freedom of a child.

  After putting her down, he turned to me. “Molly, you remember my niece, don’t you?”

  I half-smiled, nodding. Of course I remembered Lacey. “H-hey.”

  Lacey flung herself at me. “You’re finally here!”

  Stunned, I held her. “You’re so big now.” I reflected that kids changed a lot from five to seven.

  When she pulled away, she grinned, her two front teeth missing. “Are you coming to the fireworks tonight?” Her hands clapped together. “I love fireworks. We’re going to watch them right here next to the beautiful tree.”

  “I won’t be able to make it.”

  She pulled back, looking me up and down. “Your mom told me you would be coming home. I guess the hospital is a shock at first for most people.”

  I cocked my head to the side and frowned back. “Yes, I guess it is.”

  Kevin cleared his throat. “Um, Mol.”

  I glanced over at him.

  He nodded to the hospital. “I want to show you something.”

  A nervous flutter went through me. “Okay?”

  He took Lacey’s hand. “C’mon, Lacey Bacey, let’s go in.”

  Chapter 8

  We walked into the wing of the hospital that was the ‘care center’ wing. Where my grandma had been the last year of her life right after the ‘new’ hospital had been built.

  “How is your dad?” Lacey moved beside me, putting her hand easily into mine.

  I peered down at her and smiled. “He’s doing better, thank you for asking.”

  She nodded, seeming to think. �
��Your mom was really afraid at first, but I told her that God has a plan and that someday we would all die.”

  God talk. Not expecting this from her, I nodded.

  Kevin stopped in front of a room. He turned back and he rapid blinked. A memory assaulted me. The first time he’d shown me his artwork. The first time he’d walked me into the barn and shown me his canvas. He was nervous. “Lacey, go in and talk to your mom for a minute, we’ll be right in.”

  This was where her mother was? Janet. Immediate surprise and worry rushed through me.

  Lacey obediently dropped my hand and then turned back and winked at me. “Remember, it’s okay, that’s the important thing.”

  I didn’t know why I unexplainably wanted to cry.

  Kevin moved next to me, not looking directly at me. “Janet was diagnosed two and years ago.” He paused.

  I sucked in a breath. Not Janet. She was five years older than us. She babysat me when I was growing up. Janet spent hours with Kevin and me; helping us build a tree house, teaching us how to fish. She had always been my idol; tall, the Snow family perfectly black hair, and pure kindness. I loved her. I put my hand to my chest, feeling the painful crush of it. I remembered her husband had left her a year into their marriage after she’d just had Lacey. She had been so strong, though, working and raising Lacey by herself.

  “It was already stage four. Breast cancer. But now it’s through her whole body.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry.” His lip trembled and the emotion in his eyes made me want to reach for him, pull him into me, take some of this pain.

  I touched his hand.

  He grabbed mine back, like he would soak up my touch. “I’m sorry, Mol. I—should have told you then. I just…it was like it wasn’t real if I didn’t tell you. Plus, she didn’t want everyone to know. We really only started telling people outside of the family a year ago. She’s been living at home until…” He stopped. “Well, now the fluids fill her lungs daily and she needs to be here to get the maintenance treatment.”

  Kevin leaned into me, the Irish Spring scent of him surrounding me. “Shh.” He squeezed my hand. “Not now, Mol. She needs happy. She needs Christmas, fireworks, a decorated tree.”