Page 17 of Jam and Jingle Bells
He nodded once. “I can respect that. You don’t know me that well and you probably shouldn’t give unknown men your address.”
I snickered and patted his chest. “Ellis.”
“Yes?” he whispered, his voice soft and hesitant.
“I live above my salon. I have a two-bedroom apartment. I live alone, so I made one an exercise room for my elliptical. The apartment has this cute little kitchen done up in roosters and chickens, and a living room that sports a big-screen TV, a couch, and a coffee table. I’ll show it to you if you’d like. I’m not trying to hide anything from you. I’m not trying to be someone I’m not. You should do the same.”
The left side of his lips tipped up into an impish grin. “I’m nervous, in case you couldn’t tell. I don’t know a lot of people here and I don’t want to screw up with the one person who has been there for me. I’ll try to do better about being more transparent with my friends. Thank you for what you did today. You don’t know how much it meant to me.” He picked up my other hand and held it loosely in his.
“You’re welcome, Ellis, but you’ve already thanked me profusely, including publicly.” I winked and a smile made it the rest of the way across his face. “I’ll always be there to help out a fellow business owner, and friend.”
“I was actually referring to the tree lighting ceremony,” he whispered, pulling me into him and putting his arm around my shoulder. He was ridiculously lanky which was saying a lot since I stand five-foot-eight. He rested his chin on the top of my head. “You willingly stood there awkwardly so I didn’t have a complete panic attack followed by a heart attack. I just wanted to say thank you because I’m not sure the tree would be glowing brightly if you hadn’t.”
I put my arm around his back and squeezed his waist. “Sure it would be. Shep would have flipped the switch,” I joked as I laid my head on his chest. “I was happy to do it. There’s no way I can understand what it’s like to move to a new town, start a business, and try to get to know people. It must be incredibly hard.”
“And lonely,” he whispered, his chin still on my head. “Overwhelmingly so.”
“Ellis, I’m surrounded by people who love me, and I’m lonely. Sometimes lonely has less to do with the mind and more to do with the heart.”
He squeezed my shoulder and we stared at the tree in silence. “You’re absolutely right there. Thanks for taking the loneliness away when we’re together.”
“Same,” I whispered.
“The tree reminds me of winters in Wyoming,” he said, but I couldn’t tell if he was wistful for the days of his childhood or happy he wasn’t in Wyoming now. Either way, I wished he wasn’t so disheartened.
“The tree reminds me that even in the cold, dark night, there’s always a light shining somewhere.”
The snow fell in the silence to tip the blue lights white with each passing minute. “Life is funny sometimes,” he whispered. “You think you have it all figured out and your plan is in motion, but then something, or someone, comes along and it all shifts. Do you know what I mean?”
I laughed softly and with great appreciation for his words. “I sure do, more than you may ever know.”
“I think you’re pretty great, Addie,” he said, his lips near my ear.
“And I think you’re pretty great too, Ellis,” I whispered, the shadows of the gazebo giving me the courage I normally wouldn’t have in the light of the day. The atmosphere was charged and I wondered how I was going to suck in enough air to get to the next moment, much less leave this place and go on with life as if it hadn’t all changed in the blink of an eye.
“I really want to kiss you right now,” he admitted, nuzzling my cheek with his nose. “I just thought you should know that because if I spend another night with you, I might not be able to stop myself.”
His honesty was refreshing, but it was also scary for a girl like me. “I really want to kiss you right now, too,” I whispered. “I just thought you should know that because if I spend another night with you, I might not be able to stop myself.”
His lips brushed my cheek and then he let out a breath of air that was warm against my lips. “You’re incredible, Addie. There’s something about this space that says take a chance, don’t waste the time God gave you, be brave.” Before he finished the last word, his lips were on mine, brushing softly against them as though he was testing the water before he dove in. I brought my arms up and braced them around his neck, holding his lips to mine in a soft kiss of expectation, and if I was honest with myself, a new beginning.
I slid onto a stool at The Nightingale Diner and glanced around. The place was hopping as always at one in the afternoon on a Saturday. Mason waved at me from the kitchen window. “Hiya Addie,” he called out, flipping something on the griddle I couldn’t see. “You want the usual?” he asked, his head turned back over his shoulder.
My usual was bacon, eggs, hash browns, and a side of pancakes. That was a lot of food, considering I was going out for dinner tonight, but I decided I’d take some home and save it for tomorrow morning. “Sure, that’d be great, thanks bro,” I yelled, laughing.
He gave me a laugh and a thumbs up then motioned down the hallway. “Ivy’s in her office, I’m sure she’d love it if you stopped in and said hi.”
“Oh, great!” I jumped up and pushed my way through the swinging doors that led to the bathrooms, Ivy’s office, and the kitchen entrance. I knocked on the cracked office door. “Ivy, it’s Addie,” I called out.
“Come in,” she answered.
I did just that and pushed the door closed a bit behind me. She came around to hug me, her slight frame easily engulfed in my arms. “Hi, Ivy, happy anniversary,” I said, patting her back. She was older than me by a couple of years, having graduated the year I started high school. She didn’t have an easy life as a kid so it was nice to finally see her happy with Shep. When they married at the gazebo during last year’s tree lighting, it was the most romantic wedding I’d ever been part of.
“Hi, Addie. Thank you! Can you believe it’s been a year since that day? I’m sorry we didn’t get to chat last night. It was crazy,” she said, falling into her desk chair and motioning for me to sit across from her.
“Itwascrazy. I think it was a record crowd if you use the coffee and hot cocoa tally. The kids had so much fun, though. It’s a good thing you planned ahead with extra hot chocolate. We went through all of it. I think the guest of honor might have drunk a good portion of it, though,” I teased.
She leaned back and smiled. “The event grows every year and I suspected one year we were going to see a huge explosion in attendance. This was the year. There were a lot of people from neighboring towns there for the first time. Word traveled and suddenly the Bells Pass Christmas Tree Lighting was the peak entertainment for the night.”
