Page 39 of Under the Mistletoe
Hannah walked to the back of the van and pulled out a bag of groceries. “Leah’s and Caroline’s kids have the flu. We had to cancel.”
“Oh. Well, Logan was going to help me put names on these, but if you two are back then maybe?—”
“No,” the two women said in unison, and Devin frowned.
Logan sent a look toward them.Subtle.
Hannah had the decency to look a little ashamed. But Libby just ignored him and rushed on to add, “You two have fun.”
Logan wanted to groan. Older sisters could be such a pain. He unlocked the passenger door for Devin, then walked around and got into the driver’s seat. “Sorry about them.”
“I didn’t think they minded helping me before, but maybe?—”
“They don’t.” Logan started the car and flipped the heater on high. “That was about me, not you.”
She didn’t look convinced but let it drop. She pulled the blue box from her pocket and flipped it open again, her finger toying with the charm.
“What is it?”
“A snowflake. I think it’s to go on this.” She dug under the sleeve of her coat and produced the silver bracelet. She carefully hung the snowflake on the bracelet a few rings over from the skate. “I got the skate on the day we went ice skating and a snowflake the day it’s snowing. My Secret Santa is good. I will give her that.”
“Her? How do you know it isn’t a secret admirer?”
“Because this isn’t a movie. It’s my life. I think maybe it’s one of the moms. The moms of the kids in the program are so sweet to me.”
“Well, you deserve it. You work so hard and try to do so much for everybody.” When she just toyed with the bracelet, he pushed on. “Want to tell me why the order upset you so much?”
“It’s nothing.”
“I disagree.”
“In the moment, it felt bigger than the order.” She stared out the side window. “It was the burned down Christmas tree all over again.”
“You mean when made your own tree?”
“Sometimes it’s like I’m putting so much of my energy into something that I miss key details that result in…”
“The fireman being called?”
“Exactly. They didn’t mess up the order. I did. I ordered the wrong stockings. I set the tree on fire.”
The tears were back, and if the road were clearer, he would pull over and wrap his arms around her. But pulling over here wouldn’t be safe. He settled for handing her his scarf.
She used it to wipe her eyes, then folded it over. “I get excited about a project then lose focus of everything else and let people down and?—”
“Hey, stop. You haven’t let anyone down. That energy you have also helps you create amazing things.” He reached out and squeezed her hand before quickly dropping it. “I’m sure the tree was amazing before…”
“Before it nearly burned the house down.” A laugh escaped as she wiped away a tear that had formed. “It actually was.”
“See? Focus on that.”
She wiped her face again. “Thank you, Logan.”
“For helping? Of course.”
“No. For just being you.” She rested her head back and turned her full face toward him. “For rescuing me from myself and my panic.”
He swallowed down a lump.
