Page 64 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
Grateful his friend recognized his need to stay away from Morgan, Andrew handed over the dish and utensils and headed to find Bodie and Ben.
“I’m sorry,” Cole said from behind him.
Yeah, Andrew was, too, because he never should have gotten involved with Morgan and staying away from her and Greyson wasn’t going to be easy.
“Cole said he can’t wait to see your Christmas ornament,” Sophie told Greyson as they entered the fire hall for the Fire Department’s Christmas Open House. The lit-up red nose on her reindeer sweater blinked. “I know it’s sure to be awesome.”
“Me, too,” Morgan agreed. She glanced down at her own tribute to the festivities. She was getting better at this dressing for Christmas stuff. Of course, it helped that Sophie had brought her over a box of ‘extras.’ The red sweater with its green Christmas tree and sequined decorations wasn’t nearly as blinky as her cousin’s, but Morgan felt she was making progress on her overall Christmas spirit. Lots of progress.
As was Greyson. He was so excited for the holidays. She’d wanted to give him the best Christmas ever, and that was exactly what she was going to do—even if she hadn’t seen or talked to Andrew in over a week.
“They have the entries hung up on the hallway walls. Chief and the other judges have already put ribbons on the winners,” Sophie said. “There aren’t names on the fronts of the entries so the judging would be fair.”
“Mine was really good,” Greyson told them. “I’ll show it to you.”
Morgan smiled, so glad to see her son gaining more and more confidence. “I know you worked really hard on it.”
Nodding, he looked around the fire department’s decorated lobby. “Do you think Andrew will be here? I want to make sure he saw my ornament, too.”
Morgan and Sophie exchanged looks.
“I can’t imagine him not being at the fire department’s open house,” Sophie answered.
Morgan hadn’t seen him since Sarah and Bodie’s Christmas party. He’d acted so strange when she’d gone to tell him goodbye. He’d been guarded and hadn’t looked her in the eyes, leaving her wondering if he was upset with her for pulling away from him earlier. She should have taken him aside to explain her emotional reaction to Bodie and Sarah’s pregnancy announcement. She felt embarrassed now that she’d been so overwhelmed. Maybe she’d get the opportunity tonight to talk to him a moment in private so she could try to explain.
“I hope so because I miss him,” Greyson announced.
Morgan missed him, too. She didn’t like missing him. But she did.
As Sophie had predicted, Andrew was there, talking with Ben in the long hallway that led to the deck where the fire trucks were kept and that all offices, living areas, and the dayroom branched off from. At the sight of him, Morgan’s pulse skyrocketed like Santa’s sleigh jetting through the sky. Everything in her yearned to go to him.
Whether because he was on duty or just to distinguish himself as a member of the fire department, he wore uniform pants and a matching button-down uniform shirt with the fire departments logo and his name over his heart. He looked handsome, professional, and so very good to her crazy, yearning heart that had missed him so much.
“He’s here!” Greyson said, tugging on Morgan’s hand. “Can we go see him?”
Morgan nodded.
“I’m off to find Cole,” Sophie told them. “Then we’ll get with you guys so Greyson can show us his ornament picture. I can’t wait to see it.”
Morgan let her son lead her toward his hero. As Andrew spotted them, his gaze didn’t quite meet hers and his hesitancy sent shock waves through her. Had her reaction at Sarah’s bothered him that much? Surely not. But there was no denying that he no longer exuded warmth toward her, and that, well, it left her bereft. Even more so when his gaze dropped to Greyson and she saw a moment’s hesitancy prior to his entire face transforming with warmth. It had been as if he’d been fighting his reaction and failed.
“Hi, Firefighter Andrew and Ben,” Greyson said, sounding a bit breathless with his excitement at seeing them.
“Hey, buddy,” Andrew said, tousling Greyson’s hair. “How have you been?”
“Good. Did you see my ornament?”
“I...” Andrew paused, took a deep breath, then shook his head. “I wasn’t on duty yesterday when the coloring sheets were hung up. There are some awesome ones, though.”
“We had over three hundred entries,” Ben said, obviously proud of the contest’s success. “Chief says we may make it an annual event.”
“That’s great,” Morgan said, her gaze not leaving Andrew’s face. Why hadn’t he made eye contact with her yet? Why wasn’t he teasing her or saying anything to her? Why did it bother her so much? “Hi, Andrew.”
There. She’d go first and break the ice. Then, just as soon as she had an opportunity she’d explain about what had happened at Sarah and Bodie’s.
“Morgan.” But he still didn’t look at her, just kept his gaze on Greyson, who was talking a mile a minute telling Andrew about his classroom’s Christmas party and how his ‘girlfriend’ Brynne had gotten his name in the gift exchange.
“She knows I’m going to be a firefighter like you and gave me a fire truck. The lights work and so does the siren.” Greyson talked fast, his excitement both over the gift and seeing Andrew evident. “And, it has a ladder that goes up and down, too.”
