Christmas in Destiny

by Toni Blake

  The little boy dutifully nodded, then held up the ornament Candice hadn’t noticed in his little mittened hand until now. It was tiny reindeer fashioned from clothespins painted brown and glued together to form both antlers and legs, with some other details added, as well. Though the paint was worn off the edges and it looked like it had seen better days. “Grandma ’Nita let me pick one off her tree,” Dustin announced with pride to Candice.

  “Well, you picked a very nice one,” she assured him.

  Then he informed her, “It’s a reindeer.”

  She feigned surprise as she looked closer. “Well, how about that—it sure is!”

  “Big fan of reindeer, this one,” Mick said. “Can’t get enough of ’em all the sudden.”

  Then Jenny spoke under her breath to Candice. “But Anita acted a little funny about him taking that particular ornament, so we plan to guard it with our lives.” She shook her head. “She said it had a special meaning for her—and I suggested Dustin pick another, but then Anita insisted he take it. Still, we’re going to be super careful with it and be sure to take it back with us later when we leave.”

  Candice nodded—and Dustin asked again, “Where’s Santa? Is he here? When is he coming?”

  They all laughed at his impatience and Candice told him, “He should be pulling up in his sleigh anytime now.”

  Both Jenny and Mick looked at her, wide-eyed. “In his sleigh?” Mick asked. “That’s new.”

  She nodded, shrugged. “What can I say—I take my party-planning duties seriously. I pulled some strings with the big guy.”

  “Impressive,” Mick mused.

  In reply, Candice tilted her head and quietly added a small confession. “Actually, I can’t take all—or even any—of the credit. It was Shane’s idea.” Then she glanced back to Mick. “So speaking of Anita, how are things looking at the church?”

  He tipped his head back slightly. “Good. So long as we keep moving at the current pace, we’ll be set for the wedding. New carpet comes tomorrow, and the damaged front pews have been refinished and are ready to be put back where they belong. The ceiling might not look so great, with only short-term roof repairs in place, but as long as nobody looks up, we’re good.” He finished with a wink—then, at Dustin’s prodding, headed toward the garden, the boy still in his arms.

  “Well, what a relief for Anita,” Candice said to Jenny.

  Jenny nodded, smiled. “You can say that again. Anita and Dad are so grateful for all the help, and they’re looking forward to getting to thank everyone today.”

  Hearing that made Candice’s heart expand a little. “Oh, I’m glad they’re coming. I know she’s been pretty overwhelmed lately, but a party will be good for her.”

  Just then, Tessa and Rachel exited the garden and joined them near the front stoop. “The ornament tree seems to be a big hit with the kids,” Tessa said, then glanced to Jenny. “Dustin just hung his—he was so excited to pick exactly the right spot.”

  “Mike helped Farris hang hers a little while ago,” Rachel added with an easy smile.

  “I think after a quick warm-up inside, Lucky and I are going to try ice-skating,” Tessa announced. “Amy and Logan are already on the ice.” She pointed vaguely in the direction of the lake. “And again, Candice—great job on the party! It’s amazing.”

  It was from the corner of her eye that Candice saw Shane approaching up the front walk. He wore a hoodie under his coat, with the hood pulled up, and had his hands stuffed in his pockets. The mere sight of him heated her up inside and made her skin tingle beneath her winter apparel.

  “I think all the hot chocolate machines are finally set up,” he told her—then added a playful wink. Implying there had been a million of them or something.

  “There are only three,” she pointed out, returning his teasing smile.

  He let out a light laugh. “Three. At one party. I think you just made my point for me.”

  “Which is?” she asked, eyebrows arched in playful challenge.

  “This place has a serious hot chocolate obsession,” he said. “Hot chocolate and cats.” Then he shook his head lightly. “Does anyone even own a dog in this town?”

  “I do.”

  They all looked up to see Adam and Sue Ann exiting Miss Ellie’s house, skates draped over their arms. “But I’m lucky he stays,” Adam added with a grim shake of his head, “with all the preferential treatment given to cats around here.”

  “It’s more like he’s lucky the cats let him stay,” Sue Ann pointed out.

  Shane chuckled—then motioned toward the house. “Need to grab some more cups from inside for the hot chocolate stand on the dock.”

  And Candice watched him go, aware of how much she simply liked being near him now. Or maybe she always had. But now she no longer had to fight the intense attraction, the sheer magnetism.

  Adam and Sue Ann had proceeded down the walk toward the lake, Tessa and Rachel promising to join them soon—but before they headed inside, Candice realized Rachel was giving her a look.

  “What?” she asked. “Do I have icing on my face?” She’d been eating a gingerbread man with white icing piped around the edges a few minutes earlier.

  “Things have changed,” Rachel speculated, tone suspicious, eyes narrowed in what looked almost like accusation.

  Candice tried to play dumb. “What are you talking about?”

  “You and Shane.” Rachel pointed one finger—her hand covered by a stylish leopard-print glove—in the general direction in which he’d just disappeared. “Something’s happened between you two. You’re not all snippy with him anymore. And he winked at you.”

  “So what?” Candice replied, realizing it wasn’t exactly the strongest defensive stance in the world, especially since she felt her cheeks warming, even in the freezing temps.

  And Rachel smiled—as Jenny let out a soft little gasp. The two of them and Tessa looked as if they’d just discovered a huge secret. Even though it was purely conjecture on their parts. “So what’s up is the better question,” Rachel said slyly.

  Then Jenny pointed at her, clearly having a revelation. “Mick said Shane asked to be dropped at your house last night. That he made some claim of helping you with some last-minute party stuff. But it wasn’t party stuff at all, was it?”

  Candice appreciated that Shane had been polite enough to try to cover up what was taking place between them—and apparently it had even worked until Rachel had figured it out anyway, with way less to go on. And now she added, “I think it was a private party. Of the sexy kind.”

  “Okay, okay, fine—but keep it down,” Candice said, trying to shush them.

  After which Tessa’s eyebrows shot up—since apparently she’d been holding out for the confirmation Candice had just delivered. “Really?” she asked. “You took my advice?”

  “I guess I kinda did,” Candice admitted.

  “And?” Tessa asked.

  All three ladies leaned closer in anticipation.

  So Candice tried to keep it real, but also light. “It was great,” she said softly. “As in . . . amazing and miraculous and the perfect holiday fling. He’ll only be here a few more days, after all. But for now . . . it’s fun. Really fun.”

  Her cousin and the other two smiled. “Holiday cheer,” Rachel said smugly.

  And Candice simply replied, “Something like that.”

  And sure, she already knew her holiday cheer would also be her New Year’s heartache—but she still had no regrets. How could she? She’d fallen hard for him. And she was living in the moment, enjoying the time she had with him for all it was worth. She’d worry about the fallout later. When she had no other choice.

  “I’m so happy for you,” Tessa said, reaching out to give her a hug.

  Then Rachel did, too.

  “It’s not like we’ve gotten engaged or anything,” Candice said, trying to play it off. But she appreciated her friends’ support, and she knew that they knew this was about more than having a fling—that i
t was about . . . really living again. Really being open again. To possibilities. To romance. To love.

  What they didn’t need to know was that she was more than just open to love—she was already in it.

  As Rachel and Tessa headed inside to get warm, leaving her with Jenny, she again took in the winter splendor of it all. People kept arriving and more kids—and even a few adults—now stood in line near the tree by the gate, waiting to hang their ornaments. She could hear children laughing—and more singing, too. Now a rousing rendition of “Jingle Bells.” She spotted Adam’s adolescent twin sons building a snowman of their own near hers and Shane’s just as Lettie Hart and LeeAnn Turner stopped, Lettie placing a hand on Candice’s arm, to tell her what a great party it was.

  She smiled, accepting the compliment, and feeling like she was in a dream. Not only had normally reserved, keep-to-herself Candice thrown a great party—she had a hot, mysterious lover, too.

  And yeah, some of the mysteries around Shane were . . . troubling. What he’d told her about his job in Miami had been more than a little disillusioning. She didn’t like to think of him doing something illegal for a living. Maybe it was true that the guy she’d come to know wasn’t an angel—but he also didn’t seem like a criminal, either.

  And of course, it had reminded her that maybe she’d been right to be wary. That she didn’t really know him—that no one here did.

  And maybe what he’d told her should have made her afraid. Like she used to be.

  But somehow it hadn’t.

  He’d wanted to give Grampy a Christmas tree. He’d made sure to return Harvey’s gloves. He’d rescued her cat in a blizzard. And he’d helped repair the church.

  No matter how she looked at it, he just wasn’t a bad guy. No matter how much he kept telling her he was.

  That job in Miami notwithstanding.

  Just then, the door opened behind them and Shane came out, a sleeve of cups and some red party napkins in hand. He whisked past them, giving Candice a sexy grin on the way.

  “You know,” Jenny said to her then, “I would never suggest that it was a good thing the roof caved in on the church, especially with the wedding about to happen there. But . . . maybe this party is one good thing that came out of the blizzard.” Her neighbor squeezed her mitten-covered hand, then went off in the direction of her husband and child.

  And, of course, Candice could think of another good thing that had come out of the blizzard. He was crossing Blue Valley Road toward the lake right now.

  She stood there a few moments longer, watching. As he delivered the cups and napkins to the hot chocolate table, handing one of each to Ed Fisher, she noticed how different he seemed than when they’d first met. A moment later, she could see him talking, laughing, with Tyler Fleet, home from college on Christmas break, and then helping Old Mrs. Lampton add some tiny marshmallows and whipped cream to her cup.

  So perhaps all that had happened—the blizzard, wrecking his truck—hadn’t been good only for her, but for Shane, too.

  Even if he wasn’t a forever kind of guy.

  Shane wrapped both palms around a paper cup of hot chocolate as he stood on the dock looking out over the ice-skaters on the lake. Sure, he liked to give the whole town a hard time about their hot chocolate consumption, but at the moment, he was damn glad to have it, both to warm his hands and the rest of him, too, as he drank it.

  Despite the cold, though, it was a nice day. The sun was shining, and the people here were nice. He supposed Destiny—complete with its sense of community—had grown on him a little.

  “You plan on staying in town?”

  The question had come from Raybourne Fleet, a local cop he’d been chatting with after also meeting the guy’s son, who was home from college between semesters.

  Shane shook his head. “No—headed to Florida.” Then he answered the next question before it was asked. “Have a job waiting for me—need to get there by Christmas.”

  “Why now, that’s a dang cryin’ shame.”

  He turned to see that Edna had approached. She wore a powder blue parka with matching fluffy earmuffs. “I knew you’d be leavin’, but didn’t know it’d be before the holiday. Was expectin’ you’d be at the big Christmas dinner at my house. I bake a big ole turkey and Willie whips up some mean mashed potatoes.”

  Hmm, Shane couldn’t deny it sounded nice. And he almost suffered a small pang of regret that he couldn’t be there. It sounded . . . easy. Like an easy place to be. And, well, if he was completely honest with himself, like a better kind of Christmas than he’d anticipated the first year without his dad. And better than he’d have in Miami.

  But hadn’t he decided he didn’t really want or need Christmas? So he tried to make light of it. “Will there be gingerbread?” he asked Edna.

  “Of course.”

  Having grown fond of the older woman, he gave her a teasing grin. “You could almost tempt me with that, Edna.”

  “In my experience,” she said, “I’ve found that almost is a lot like maybe—it usually turns out to mean no.” Then she dropped her gaze to his hands. “But what else should I expect from a dang fool boy who don’t even have the sense to wear gloves?”

  He just laughed and told her, “I’m fine.”

  “Lucky your fingers ain’t froze off.”

  Edna was maybe the one person on the planet he didn’t mind giving him a hard time. Well, okay, her and little miss Candy Cane. And it was damn shocking, actually, that he’d put up with that from anybody. So it struck him odd that he’d found two such people in the same little town.

  Must be losing my edge. Maybe this town was making him soft. So it was probably good his time here was almost over. Even if he wasn’t as sure about the job with Donnie V. as he used to be. And even if . . . maybe, just maybe, he might miss a few things about this place when he was gone.

  He looked up to see one of those things walking down the snowy path to the dock. And he met Candy’s bright gaze and gave her a smile without even thinking about it. Damn girl seemed to have that effect on him lately—making him smile for no good reason whatsoever.

  Then again, maybe there were reasons. Hot sex was a reason. Her pretty face was a reason. Seeing how happy it made her to have thrown this party was a decent reason, too. He was glad he’d been part of putting it together and making her proud.

  She hadn’t told him she was proud, but he could tell. And she deserved to be. Everybody was having a great time and Santa hadn’t even arrived yet.

  Upon reaching them, she smiled at Edna as she curled one mittened hand around his wrist. “Mind if I steal him away for a minute?”

  “Not at all,” Edna said. “I come down here to sit on one o’ these here benches and watch some folks skate, so that’s what I aim to do.” The wooden benches were among things Shane had helped deliver from the church basement.

  “You’re not skating?” Shane teased her.

  “On these knees?” She glanced down. “Nope, I’ll leave that craziness to you younger folk. But if I was your age, I’d be skatin’ circles around ya—figure eights to be exact.” She winked.

  “I don’t doubt it. Probably still could now,” he added on a laugh.

  Edna laughed, too. “I’m spry, boy, but not that spry.”

  “Wouldn’t take much,” he assured her.

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Why’s that?”

  “I’ve never done it before.”

  “Never ice-skated?” The older woman gave a succinct nod in Candy’s direction. “You best fix that, Candice. This fella is headed south soon—can’t let him leave the last taste o’ winter he might ever have without gettin’ him out on that ice.”

  At this, though, he drew back slightly as he set down his near-empty cup. “O-ho-ho no—I don’t think so,” he said, holding his hands up in defense.

  “Scaredy-cat,” Edna accused dryly, then ended the conversation by heading toward the benches where a few people sat putting on skates.

  Shane just gave his head
a good-natured shake as he turned back to Candy, remembering she’d wanted to steal him away. “Whatcha need, Candy Cane?”

  In reply, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the far side of the dock, where they had more privacy, no one else around. Then she flashed a smile that warmed him from the inside out—even more than the hot chocolate had. “I just wanted to give you something.” She held up a small package—wrapped in Santa paper with a white ribbon tied around it.

  It threw him, made his gut clench slightly. Damn, he hadn’t seen this coming. “Honey, I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t get you anything. I didn’t know you were . . .” He trailed off then, feeling awkward.

  But she sounded completely relaxed when she replied, “I don’t care about that, Shane. It’s a gift from the heart. Nothing big, promise. Just something I want you to have.”

  And as Shane took the package from her, he somehow felt all her sweetness wrapped up inside it along with whatever else was there. Confusing emotions warred within him, at once both liking and not liking that she’d done this.

  He tore the paper off, and when he saw what was inside realized he should have known. Of course. A pair of men’s winter gloves. Dark red with a surprisingly masculine-looking white snowflake design on top.

  She was right—a small gift. And simple and obvious as hell. And yet it touched him more than he could easily understand.

  He hadn’t been given many gifts in his life—even less since reaching adulthood.

  But he chose not to let it show. Not much anyway.

  He gave her a smile. “Gloves.”

  She smiled back. “I know you won’t get much use out of them once you leave, but they should make the next few days easier anyway.”

  “They will,” he agreed, putting them on to find they fit perfectly. He couldn’t deny it felt good to suddenly no longer have his hands exposed to the cold. “Thank you.”

  Then he lifted his newly gloved hands to her face, cupping her cheeks, and gave her a firm yet gentle kiss on the lips. Not caring if anyone saw. And she didn’t seem to care, either. She simply kept her eyes on his afterward and he soaked up the warmth of that connection. A different kind of warmth than gloves or hot chocolate could provide. And he knew he’d miss it when it was gone.