The Christmas Cottage(8)

But still, the music and the smiles on everyone’s faces pulled her back into the moment. Enjoying it even though she told herself she shouldn’t. She couldn’t. When the song ended there was a hush over the crowd. A dog barked once. She heard Josh’s loud whisper. “Hush, Louie.”

Then all at once the large evergreen came alive with lights of every color and a brightly lit star on the top of the tree. A collective, ooooh went through the crowd.

Steve moved closer and smiled down at her. She shivered slightly from either the cool night air or from the emotions of the evening, she wasn’t sure which.

“Cold?” Steve draped his arm lightly around her shoulder. She nodded and smiled. Forgetting for a moment she wasn’t supposed to be enjoying herself. Enjoying anything that had to do with Christmas.

The band started up with Jingle Bells and the crowd joined in. Holly relaxed and joined in the singing this time, too. After a few more carols, the mayor announced there was hot chocolate and cookies for everyone and motioned to the tables set up beside the gazebo.

“I’m going to go help serve.” Bella touched Holly’s arm. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you, too.”

The people of Comfort Crossing mingled around, sipping on hot chocolate and snacking on cookies. Steve introduced her to another hundred people. She’d swear it had been that many. He must know every single person in the town.

“Josh.” Steve called out for his son a while later. Josh and Louie came running over. “We should go now. It’s getting late.”

The crowd broke up and people headed out to their cars. Josh and Louie led the way back to the truck, jumping over a low wall, and then walking down a bench on their way. The boy had boundless energy.

Until he didn’t.

Josh nodded off to sleep on the way home.

They pulled into the drive at the cottage. Steve got out and walked around to open her door and help her out. He walked her up onto the front porch and took the key from her to open the door.

“I had a nice time.” She smiled up at him, his dark brown eyes filled with a look that almost scared her. A look filled with friendship and caring and everything she didn’t want. She took a step back, tripped on the doormat, and stumbled.

Steve reached out and caught her before she fell. His strong arm wrapped securely around her. Her heart beat faster and she told herself it was just from tripping, not from having this man holding her so close in his arms. Because that would be wrong.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine. Just clumsy, I guess.” Holly pulled herself from his arms and the sudden lack of warmth startled her. Twice she’d fallen in front of him. He must think she was the biggest klutz.

“Well, goodnight then.”

“Goodnight. Thanks again.”

Steve looked at her for a moment, nodded, and turned to go back to his truck. She stood on the front porch and watched him pull out the drive. In a few moments she could see the truck turning into the drive to the house next door.

She turned and walked into the cottage, and for one brief moment, before she could cram the thought safely out of sight, she wished she were going into the house with them. A house full of love and laughter. A family. All the things that were no longer hers. She deftly squashed those thoughts, from a year of practice, and closed the front door.





CHAPTER FOUR



Steve decided it would be neighborly to invite Holly to go for a drive. It was Sunday, the clinic was closed, and Josh was spending the night with a friend. The school winter break had started and Josh was off of school until after New Years.

Inviting Holly was only a friendly gesture, he promised himself. It wasn’t the fact that he had enjoyed every minute he had spent with this woman. It wasn’t her sexy smile, which he was pretty sure she had no idea she had, or her sparkling green eyes. It wasn’t the way she tucked her brown hair back behind her ear when she looked down to talk to his son. He swore it wasn’t any of those things just like it wasn’t the fact he felt comfortable with her, unlike he had felt in a long time. Very long time.

He’d only dated a few women since Josh’s mom had left. None of them had really amounted to anything. Well, except for Melissa. And see how well that had turned out?

Anyway, he was busy with work and raising Josh. Plus, he would never let another woman get close to Josh and then desert him. So he kept everything on a friendly level. Then, undoubtedly, the woman he was dating would get tired of being just friends and want more. They inevitably broke up. He’d repeated the pattern again. And again. Then he’d basically given up the whole dating thing.

But this wasn’t a date. It was just a neighborly thing.