Page 38 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
“I’m not sure. I’ll be at the fire hall all night and sometimes we don’t get much sleep.” Truth. He never knew what a shift would bring, and even though it had been a slow day with no calls, that didn’t mean he and the guys wouldn’t be up all night should a call, or several, come in. There were times when a whole shift would be quiet, just for chaos to strike right at the very end. Fires didn’t come on schedule.
“But if you get sleep, you’ll come?” Greyson implored.
Guilt tipped the scale and Andrew glanced toward Morgan. She averted her gaze as if she didn’t want him to see what was there. Whatever that magic bubble had been, it was gone.
“I don’t want to make a promise I might not be able to keep.”
Greyson nodded as if he understood. “It’s okay if you can’t promise. But I hope you’re able to come. I’d like that.”
“I always like seeing you, too, but it’s unlikely I’ll be there.” Very unlikely, as he hadn’t been to church in some time. Occasionally, his grandma would convince him to go for some special occasion or other, but it was rare. And yet his hesitance now was mostly because he got the impression Morgan was torn on whether she’d want him there. “Night, Greyson. Until we meet again.”
He held up his fist and Greyson bumped his little fist against it. Andrew’s insides smiled.
“Night, Andrew.”
Andrew stepped back and Morgan closed the car door, then faced him.
“I need to get him home,” she immediately said.
“I know.”
“I...about what happened a few minutes ago,” she began.
“Nothing happened, Morgan.”
“Okay, then, about what almost happened,” she corrected. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
It took him a second, but then the penny dropped. “That you like me? That’s what you wish you hadn’t said?”
She nodded.
“You’re overthinking this, Morgan,” he suggested. “Why can’t we just like each other, be friends, and not slap any other label on it?”
“You make it sound simple, but it’s not.” She glanced through the car window to where the boy appeared to have gone back to sleep. “I have to protect Greyson.”
Andrew suspected that even though she was saying “Greyson,” the person she was really trying to protect was herself.
Which made him wonder if maybe he was under-thinking the whole thing, because maybe just being friends with Morgan was impossible.
Chapter Seven
“What’s he saying to her?”
“They just moved closer.”
“Come on, Andrew, kiss her,” Rosie said, peeping out the dark classroom’s window where they had a clear view of Morgan’s car and the couple standing to the side of it in the church parking lot.
Maybelle cut her gaze to her friend. “Now, now, he shouldn’t rush things.”
“Especially not with my Morgan. She’s as skittish as a newborn colt when it comes to romance,” Claudia reminded them.
“You sure about that? Miss Skittish just put her hand over his heart,” Maybelle pointed out.
“Way to go, Morgan!” Rosie cheered.
“What is taking that boy so long? His grandfather didn’t have a problem making his move for that first kiss,” Ruby mused, shaking her head.
Three Butterflies’ gazes shot to her.
