Page 21 of Christmas Cove

“Hold on to something,” Leo said and pulled up on the reins.

America stumbled backwards and then forwards. She braced her hands against an ebony railing as they came to a stop. The final movement was all it took for her to lose all semblance of the balance and grace she had pretended to possess, and she fell back into Leo’s lap.

This time, his hands wrapped around her midsection, and he held her tightly.Four. Everything inside her told her to move off of him, but the gravity she had felt since first meeting him held her in place, unmoving. America’s arms fell around his shoulders in a far too familiar way, and neither of them attempted to part ways.

“Thanks,” she said, “for catching me.”

“It seems to be a trend,” he spoke loud enough for only her to hear.

Edwin’s car door slammed shut and broke their tension. America flinched away from Leo, and Edwin offered a hand to her. “Here, let me help you down from there,” he said.

“Thank you, good sir,” she said and curtsied once her feet touched solid ground.

“Will you look at that? We got their attention,” Edwin said and pointed down the street. “That is what you were going for with all that clatter?”

“Was it too much?” America said.

“We’ll find out soon,” Leo said and joined them at the bed of Edwin’s truck. “Did you see that woman back there, the one who poked her head out the window?”

America turned and looked down at the darkened street. “Who is she?”

“Scrooge McCarol,” Edwin about choked on his answer.

“Excuse me?” America said, sure she had misheard the older man through his mustache.

“Let’s just say, if we don’t get her blessing, then we might as well not even try,” Leo said. “Pa, can you unload these crates? You can just leave them here. It’s not like anyone’s going to take them.”

“You got it,” Edwin said and had already moved three or four crates to the steps in front of the building.

“Is this the town hall?” America asked. “It’s a beautiful building.”

“It’s town hall, the library, daycare, wedding venue, courthouse, and community center.”

“Seriously?”

Leo laughed at himself. “Might as well be. Anyway, that’s why we’re starting here. If there’s one place in town that deserves to be decorated first, it’s this place. I bet you can ask anyone in town, and they would each have a story of what this place has meant to them at one time or another.”

America had no words, none at least that she thought did the moment any justice. Her first reaction was one of wonder and curiosity. Her second thought was of the camera and notebook she had neglected to bring along. The carriage ride and barn escapades threw her off of her real mission. She made a mental note to come back and take photos of Main Street before it was completely decked out. She would need to turn the images in along with her article.

The photos of the town hall would be beautiful, she noted as she ascended the white stone steps washed in sunlight. A velvety smell of pine oil wafted in on the back of a cool breeze that followed them up to the doors. “I have one question.”

“I doubt it,” Leo said. “Only one?”

“I’m going to ignore that.” America blinked at him. “I was wondering where all the snow is. In all the photos I looked at online, there was always snow.”

“Hasn’t been snow like that for years, not in time for Christmas anyway,” Leo said and yelled down to Edwin. “Hey, Pa! When was the last time we had a white Christmas?”

“About the last time we had water in the cove, I imagine,” Edwin’s voice carried up the steps.

“Curious,” America said. “Do you think it has something to do with the lake drying up?”

“It didn’t dry up. They stole the water from us.”

Leo’s reaction had America on her heels. “You have some strong feelings about the matter, I sense.”

“They could have rebuilt the dam here, but they didn’t. And the only people suffering are the residents of Christmas Cove,” he said. “Or what’s left of us.”

“I’m no meteorologist, but lake effect snow is a real thing. I wonder if there is something to it, even though the cove was a smaller body of water.”

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