by Janice Lynn
He gave a little squeeze back, even half-smiled, and Sophie’s heart leapt. Yes. She’d invited Cole to church, and he’d come. He hadn’t wanted to, but he still had. Because of her. He was next to her, holding her hand, and they were about to begin worship services.
Giddiness threatened to have her floating off the pew.
Today was an excellent day the Lord had made.
Then, Cole’s gaze went beyond her to Isabelle and her mother, and his partial smile faded. He pulled his hand away to reach for a hymnal.
“I’m not much of a singer. Hope it’s okay if I just listen.”
“That’s fine,” she assured, looking him in the eyes as she said it because she wanted him to know she truly meant it. It was more than fine.
She glanced in the direction of her mother and sister, wondering what it was about them that had Cole pulling away. As expected, they were watching them. Her mother had a smile on her face. Isabelle’s expression, however, was fretful.
Oh, Isabelle. Not all military men are Dad. With Cole, Sophie was going to trust her instinct rather than give in to her big sister’s worries.
Cole needed her friendship. She needed his.
Based on those wonderful brief seconds that their hands had been laced, she’d guess that her emotions were tangled up with the firefighter in ways that went way beyond just friendship.
Guessed? Ha. She was so entrenched in her emotions for Cole Aaron that not even the child’s sweet little voice singing from behind her was enough to distract her from the man sitting next to her, holding his song book, and staring down at the words in such a way that Sophie wanted to wrap her arms around him and hug away every bad thing that had ever happened to him.
Sophie and Cole finished putting together a large artificial blue spruce in the assisted living center’s dining hall. Sophie stepped back to inspect their work.
“Hmm, that branch needs to be fluffed up a little.”
Eyeing the tree to figure out which branch she referred to, Cole then reshaped the branch while Sophie pulled decorations from a box. She plugged in a string of colorful lights to make sure they all lit up. Each light twinkled with a burst of color that filled Cole with a bit of nostalgia.
“Yay. They all work.”
His lips twitched at her happy little dance moves.
“Laugh if you want to, but the lights are my favorite part,” she asserted as she handed one end of the strand to him.
“Why’s that?” he asked, surprised by the feelings swamping him.
He acted as if Christmas had never been a big deal, but memories of Christmases with his parents pre-divorce, decorating their tree, flashed through his head for the first time in years. Maybe the young family he’d seen that morning in the church had triggered thoughts of himself as the child he’d once been, a part of a loving family.
“Because it’s the first layer of magic,” Sophie informed as if he should have known the answer all along.
“First layer, huh?” He couldn’t resist smiling at how she swayed her arms out, stretching the lights out across her pretty red dress and down the long sleeve covering her arm. “How many layers of magic does a Christmas tree usually have?”
Not nearly as many magical layers as Sophie Grace Davis. She overflowed with goodness.
“Let’s see,” She pretended to be considering her answer very seriously as she twirled, slowly winding a bit of the light string around her waist and making him think yet again that she was his own personal Christmas tree. “There’s the lights, then the ornaments, and then the most magical layer of all—the star.”
“I see.”
Eyes twinkling brighter than any star in the sky, she laughed and stretched out her arms, lights and all. “What do you see? That I look like a beautiful Christmas tree?”
Had Sophie read his mind? Sometimes, it felt as if she could. Perhaps because she’d read his journal and knew the inner ticking of his thoughts. Or perhaps it was something more he felt zinging between them.
Cole studied the vision she made with the lights wound loosely around her a few times. She was beautiful.
His heart sped up as he wondered whether the lights truly were magical. He couldn’t deny that something was happening inside him at being near her, at looking at her, at getting wrapped up in Sophie’s joy.
Magic. That was as good a word as any for what happened when he looked at her. She made him feel things he’d have thought impossible. That had to be magic.
“You think I’m being silly,” she laughed as she twirled herself free of the strands twisted around her. “I know I’m a kid at heart when it comes to Christmas—and a lot of other times of the year, too, actually. But you have to admit, this is fun.”
“You have a strange idea of what embodies fun,” he countered, just for argument’s sake. In truth, he knew she was right. He was enjoying her company and was glad that they were doing something good in the process of their “fun.”
The assisted living crew had been excited when they’d arrived to decorate, and the looks of appreciation on the faces of the elderly residents they’d come in contact with thus far had made him feel ashamed he’d ever even considered not coming to help.
He glanced at the boxes he’d carried to the room. The contents were now spread out on a table. He and Sophie were the only ones here in the dining room, but there had been a large group that had come out to the facility. While this tree was going up here, others had been paired off to go to various resident rooms to decorate mini trees.
Which was fine by Cole, as he felt more comfortable being away from the group.
Although being alone with Sophie held an edge as well.
Truth was, he’d been on edge from the moment she’d held his hand at the beginning of the church service. Those few seconds had rattled him, though not necessarily in a bad way. It was more that he was excited to be in this moment with her—excited enough that it had him feeling edgy.
Sophie had wanted to hold his hand. He’d wanted to hold her hand.
Which was possibly how he ended up brushing his hand against hers as he took the lights from her.
Her gaze jerked to his as if she’d felt the same zing as he had when their skin grazed. Her eyes sparkled more beautifully than any of the lights, giving off more magic than any tree that had existed in the history of Christmas trees.
Good grief. She was turning him sappy and he could barely even bring himself to mind.
Sophie’s throat worked as she swallowed, then she looked away from him and back at the tree. “If we work together, this will go much faster.”
“Are we in a hurry?”
She shook her head. “No, I…no…no rush, we just want to make this tree amazing for the residents, so that when they come to the dining hall tonight, they’ll oooh and aaah and feel Christmas spirit fill their hearts.”
“I’m sure it will be, and that they will.”
She nodded then, turning toward the tree. She sounded a little breathy when she next spoke. “When decorating, it works best if we start at the top and work our way down with the lights. That okay?”
“Fine.” He didn’t have tree-decorating preferences. He didn’t recall having ever decorated a tree at all before, though perhaps he had helped his mother at some point in the period between his parents’ divorce and his mother’s remarriage.
“I’ll go up the step ladder to where I can reach the top and get the lights started. Will you move them around the tree for me, so I don’t have to go up and down over and over again?”
She climbed several rungs up the step ladder, reached out and wove the lights in and out of the fake evergreen branches. When she indicated, Cole moved around the tree, trying not to feel nervous as she leaned in to reach far branches. But he was unable to squelch the uneasiness in his stomach.
“Be careful.”
“Afraid you’ll have to catch me if I fall?” she teased, shooting him a look that could only be labeled flirty.
Lord help him.
“More like I know how you are with trees,” he countered, holding onto the ladder to help keep it steady. “I don’t want to have to come up there to rescue you.”
Sophie giggled. “No worries. You’re safe. I doubt I’ll go climbing on these little branches in search of Stitches.”
Cole arched his brow. “You’ve officially made friends with your tree cat and given him a name?”
“He comes to visit me every night, but I don’t fool myself that it’s for reasons other than that I feed him,” she admitted, sighing a bit dramatically. “He’s never let me get more than a few feet away but now sits outside my bedroom window every night. Sometimes, he’s still there when I wake in the mornings.”
“That’s better than his waiting on a tree branch for you to come save him,” he teased.
Pausing in draping the lights to look his way, Sophie’s eyes danced. “Ha, ha, you’re so funny.”
“Not that I ever saw him in the tree that night,” he mused, “but I suppose I’ll give you the benefit of doubt.”
She laughed. “You think I was walking home that night and just thought to myself, ‘Hmm, it’s been a few years since I climbed a tree, I should try my luck with that one’?”
Had she said that was what had happened, it wouldn’t have surprised him. Sophie had an impulsivity that had probably gotten her into a bind on more than one occasion.
“I’m a firefighter. That doesn’t sound too farfetched to me. Have you heard about some of the rescues we’ve assisted with in this town?”
As they wound the lights around the tree, then began placing ornaments, Cole told Sophie a few stories of the more unusual rescues he and the guys had made. He’d never been much of a talker but recounting the tales to Sophie was easy.
“I know I shouldn’t laugh,” she admitted as he told her about a person they’d had to rescue who’d gotten stuck on Halloween when he’d tried to slip through a narrow row of metal fences so he could surprise his pregnant wife. “But the image of you and Andrew having to rescue a grown man wearing a diaper, bonnet, and booties strikes me as hilarious.”
“Once we knew he was okay, we found it funny, too. Apparently, his wife had found out she was pregnant a few days before, and he hadn’t taken the news so well, initially. He was trying to make it up to her with the costume and gifts he’d stashed in his goodie bag.”
“Strange man.”
“We thought so, too, but hey, by the time we got him out, his wife wasn’t mad at him anymore, so I guess it worked out for him in the long run. What about you? Any funny tales at the quilt shop?”
“We have some interesting customers, but none who get stuck in iron fences.”
“Just trees?”
“That would be our workers,” Sophie corrected with a smile flashed his way.
While talking, they finished the lights and made a good dent in the ornaments on the table.
Sophie stepped back and surveyed their work. “Hmmm, we need more near the top.”
“Plus, the star.”
“The star is last, the icing on the cake, so to speak.” She climbed back up the step ladder and rearranged an ornament that Cole had thought looked fine the way it was. “Hand me that box of ornaments, please.”
She pointed to a plastic tray that held half a dozen big red balls adorned with gold flecks.
“This would work better if I was on the ladder and you just handed me what you wanted hung higher,” he suggested, not liking that she was balanced precariously on the ladder again, leaning toward the tree.
She stretched to straighten an ornament. “How would that be better?”
“You know which ornaments you want put where and I don’t. If I was up there, you could supervise me from down here.”
“That’s not a problem. You will know which ones to hand me because I’ll be telling you. I have no problem ordering you around. Now, get me that box, Marine,” she purposely made her voice deep and harsh. “Snap to it or I’ll make you drop and give me twenty.”
Snorting, Cole glanced at the array of ornaments still on the table, then picked up the box she’d indicated. “Auditioning to be a drill sergeant?”
Eyes sparkling, she asked, “You think I’d cut it?”
He gave her a get real look. “Nope. Too soft. You’d go down as the nicest drill sergeant in history.”
“Apparently, my tough voice wasn’t nearly tough enough.” Sounding a little self-conscious, she laughed. “But I’d be okay with being known as the nicest drill sergeant in history.”.
Studying where she’d placed the ornament and rearranged it on the artificial tree, she decided she didn’t like where it was hanging and removed it.
“I’d cover the whole world in niceness if I could,” she continued when she finally got the ornament positioned just as she wanted it.
At least, Cole thought she had. Instead, she leaned back to get a better look.
“Be careful, Sophie.”
Turning, probably to assure him she was fine, she lost her hold on the top of the stepladder, then lost her footing.
Grateful he’d always had quick reflexes, Cole caught hold of her waist and put her firmly on the ground in front of him. Just as her hand had lingered against his earlier, his did now at her waist.
She’d grasped his shoulders to stabilize herself. How could catching her steady him and make his knees wobble at the same time?
Her gaze locking with his, Sophie swallowed.
She had that look again. The one that conveyed things she shouldn’t think, shouldn’t feel. The one that clouded his good intentions.
“Sophie,” he began, his hands leaving her waist to cup her face as he stared down into her eyes. “My beautiful Sophie. What are we doing?”
The emotions swirling in her gaze branded his soul.
“I’m no good for you,” he insisted.
She shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
“Sophie.” They couldn’t do this. Only, as Sophie stretched on her tiptoes, intending to touch her lips to his, he didn’t move away or make any attempt to stop her.
Just held his breath in anticipation of her lips against his—
“How’s it coming in here?”
At Isabelle’s voice, Cole jumped back from Sophie.
Or had it been Sophie who’d leapt away?
Cole inwardly grimaced. What was he thinking? Of course she was embarrassed. He wasn’t a “bring home to meet the family” kind of guy. He was a guy who was so messed up in the head that he still occasionally had nightmares that left the sheets sweat-drenched. No wonder her sister was giving him an evil eye.
He didn’t say anything, just met Isabelle’s unhappy gaze and braced himself for whatever condemnation she hurled at him. What could he say in his defense? Nothing. He didn’t blame her for not being happy about what she’d walked in on.
Sophie had almost kissed him.
Would have kissed him had her sister not interrupted.
And him? He would have let Sophie kiss him.
Thank goodness Isabelle had chosen that moment to walk in.
Or maybe not. Because Cole couldn’t help but wonder if Sophie’s lips would have been as soft against his as he suspected. If her kiss would have been full of sugar and everything nice.
Spice? He suspected there would have been that, too. Sophie certainly spiced up his life.
But he hadn’t even decided he and Sophie could be friends beyond the toy drive. He definitely shouldn’t be kissing her.
It didn’t matter that she’d been the one going to kiss him. He should have been strong enough to resist. Instead, he’d been powerless to step away.
Powerless to do more than stand th
ere, knowing what she intended, and feeling the greatest, sweetest anticipation of his life.
When what he should have been doing was taking charge of the situation and putting a halt to what was happening for his sake and Sophie’s.
Only…
“We’re actually finishing up. We just have the star left,” she continued, her voice a higher pitch than her normal tone. If Cole recognized that telltale sign, no doubt her sister did, too. “It’ll be the perfect topper for this one.”
When Isabelle didn’t say anything, Sophie turned to look at her, but didn’t back down beneath her sister’s unhappy glare.
For that, Cole was grateful. He’d have hated to witness Sophie’s regret. His own was more than enough.
She would regret what had happened, but not as much as she would have had her sister not interrupted. He needed to put some distance back between him and Sophie. For both their sakes.
“Everyone else is finished with their mini trees for the residents’ rooms,” Isabelle informed, her gaze going back and forth between them. She might not be saying anything condemning aloud, but her expression conveyed she knew exactly what had happened, and that she didn’t approve. “We’re all in the foyer, about to decorate the big tree there. We thought we’d do it as a group and take photos for the church website. I didn’t want you to miss being in the pictures.”
“We’ll be there in a few,” Sophie told her sister, then looked toward him. “Cole, if you’ll get me the star, I’ll put it on the tree.”
Cole got the star, but rather than hand it to Sophie, he climbed the few steps up the ladder himself.
“Hey, I said I’d do it,” she reminded.
“Humor me,” he asked of her, needing to be doing something—and also knowing there was no way he was letting her back on that ladder. “I’ve always wanted to put a star on a Christmas tree.”
Despite the tension of their almost-kiss and her sister’s near tangible unhappiness from the other side of the room, Sophie laughed. “Yeah, right. Don’t think I don’t know exactly what you’re doing.”
“What’s he doing?” Isabelle asked, coming to stand next to Sophie as they both watched Cole put the star on the tree.
