Page 6 of One Little Chance
The two of us both grabbed the bags at our feet.
I dropped mine in his lap first. “Open up, buddy.”
He pulled the packaging paper off the giant blue Texas-shaped mug and a laugh burst from his lips. “This is heavy,” he said pretending he could barely hold it up. “And so beautiful.”
I leaned into his arm giggling. “I originally rejected this mug, but it eventually won me over.”
Something about Jordan, and how we loved each other, made me feel safe enough to let my competitive stride slow down enough to be silly with him. To stop hunting for perfect and let myself grab hold of whatever made us laugh.
“I will keep this mug forever and always think of the girl who can make me fall in love with just about anything to do with her.” He twirled it around his hands, examining it. “This baby is the finest ceramic.”
I reached into the plastic bag he’d placed in my lap, grabbing hold of something delicate and small. Dangling from my fingers was an ornament with a preserved piece of mistletoe in glass, red ribbon tied at its base.
Tears prickled my eyes. “Jordan, how’d you find this?”
“One of those ornament racks. It was the only one like it. I saw it, and it reminded me?—”
“Of our first kiss,” I said, breathless. I fingered the ornament. The glass was smooth under my fingertips.
“I owe a lot to mistletoe, you know.” He ran his thumb along my jaw. “Still can’t believe I get to be the guy kissing you.”
“You never did need mistletoe to kiss me,” I said, placing my hand against the back of his neck and pulling him in until his lips were firm against mine. He dug his hands into my lower back, pulling me closer. There was nothing as fun as being in love with him.
Years later, I was digging through boxes and tubs as the sun got low in the sky outside the windows until I finally found that ornament of mistletoe encased in glass. Red ribbon looped around my finger as I dangled it in front of me. After all this time, the green leaf of mistletoe was still preserved. The color was unfaded by time and as evergreen as the night by the fire. I ran a finger across it, trying to ignore the thought that when it came to Jordan it sometimes felt my own feelings had been preserved and tucked away all this time, too. And now that we were in the same city, I’d have to pull them out of the box and face just how vibrant and unfaded they may be.
Chapter 3
DECEMBER 31ST, 2022
New Year’s Eve night, Orlando and I met Dad and his wife, Heather, at our small town’s New Year’s Eve Celebration in our bustling downtown. I wore a thick cream sweater dress and a navy knit hat. We arrived to find crowded streets and excitement as thick in the air as the scent of hot chocolate and caramel popcorn. Live music boomed as we weaved through the crowds.
Orlando twirled me to the music until we ran into old friends. Everyone was talking a mile a minute catching up. Dad and Heather bought hot drinks to warm us up. We were swapping stories about silly past Christmas gifts when my eyes landed on someone dancing across the way. I squinted to see Jordan’s girlfriend, Emma. Her long blonde hair and bright blue eyes matched the photos of her I’d found on some of his tagged photos online. I searched the faces standing with her for Jordan’s, but he wasn’t there. She was with the Hernandez siblings. I knew them from school. I pulled my coat tighter around me in the winter night air.
We rushed to the fireworks show as the crowd chanted the countdown.Five, four.We found a spot squeezed in the sea of people.Three, two, one.
My dad kissed me on the forehead at the stroke of midnight. “Happy New Year, my girl,” he said under fireworks exploding overhead.
I slid an arm around his waist. “Happy new year, Dad,” I whispered into his fluffy coat.
“I’m so happy you’re home,” he said. His voice was nearly lost under the booming fireworks, but I still heard him. Another piece I’d thought was broken and lost forever, safely in my hands again.
“Watch out, Sweet River. Sophie’s back this year,” Orlando shouted, giving my arm a little nudge. I crinkle my cold, pink nose at him.
Walking back to our car, I quizzed Orlando on his college life back in Austin. When I recognized the big, white Ford F-150 parked in front of our own car, Orlando didn’t notice as he climbed into the driver’s seat of his Jeep. He was still chattering away unaware who that truck belonged to—since he hadn’t been obsessively keeping up with Jordan via social media and mutual friends—but I stayed on the sidewalk for an extra minute, becausewhat if…
My eyes landed on Jordan walking toward his truck, looking up at the stars overhead. His eyes took a moment before they settled on me.
He stopped in his tracks as our eyes locked. We hadn’t spoken since I broke up with him on his parent’s front porch that fall when we were both eighteen.What’s a good icebreaker when you run into your first love?
“You’re back.” He spoke first. His voice was rugged, making mist in the air.
I nodded. The fuzzy ball on top of my knit hat bounced with the movement.
“For Christmas?” He kept looking away like it hurt to look at me.
“For good,” I said, my heart rocking against my chest. Taking him in after all this time, new creases lined around those same hazel eyes, his sandy locks had grown out a little shaggier, and stubble shadowed his jawline.
His gaze finally locked on mine. “For good?”
