Page 89 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
“I’ll be at the fire hall all day. Got to be there at eight in the morning to relieve the crew working tonight.” She should have known that he’d have volunteered to work the holiday so others could be off. “But we’re working partial shifts tomorrow and I should be off around four. I could swing by on my way home to save you from having to take Greyson out.”
“Sounds good.” She smiled at him, then decided it was time to take an interest in this new path that was so important to him. After all, she’d need to know what to be praying for. “Now, tell me exactly what you’ll be doing at your training and how long that lasts, and where you’ll be going to fight fires. I want to know everything.”
“Really? You want me to tell you about becoming a smokejumper?”
“Shocking, I know, but I really do.” Too bad every excited word from his lips was a reminder that he’d soon be gone.
“Your firefighter does a decent Elvis impersonation.”
“He’s not my firefighter, John.” Morgan patted the bench beside her where she was taking a break from her ice-skating attempts. Greyson was still on the ice, holding hands with a nutcracker-costumed skater on one side and Brynne on the other as they got a personalized ice-skating lesson. “I’ve told you that before.”
“It was my hip that was broken, not my eyeballs,” he reminded her. “I saw that mistletoe kiss and was a bit jealous that elf never made his way over to where Maybelle and I were. Had you ever offered me that kind of cane, I wouldn’t have complained so much about using one.”
Morgan laughed. “You think so? I can put it in the suggestions box at work.”
“Good idea.”
“I was tickled when I saw you and Maybelle dancing,” she told him, smiling.
“Not much of a dance with this still-healing hip, but at least I didn’t fall on my face. Then again, if I had, someone might have brought that cane over to me.”
“Can you imagine the comments Rosie would have made about you throwing yourself at Maybelle’s feet?” Morgan smiled. “She seemed to be enjoying herself. And as far as my and Andrew’s kiss, it was just the mistletoe.”
“You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?”
“I told him that I didn’t want him to go, John, but when I listened to him talk about being a smokejumper...well, I’ve realized that I was wrong to ask him to stay.”
“You’re going with him?” John asked, sounding shocked.
Stunned, she shook her head. “No, of course, not.”
“Why ‘of course not’?”
“I can’t go with him.”
John stared at her blankly. “Why not?”
“Because Pine Hill is my home and is where my grandparents and family are. I don’t want to leave.”
“Then you’ll let him go and forget about him.”
“I won’t forget,” she admitted.
“Yes, I agree. Because love doesn’t work that way.”
“Would you quit saying that?”
“You saying you don’t love him?”
No, Morgan admitted to herself, she couldn’t say that.
Christmas Day proved to be boring at the fire department, which was a good thing for the fine folks of Pine Hill. It meant all was well.
It was less good for Andrew, who was plagued with a restlessness that he couldn’t shake. He had a week left to work out his notice, and then he’d be unemployed until he started his new position in California. He’d miss his Pine Hill crew, especially Cole with his crossword puzzles and Ben with his grand visions of beating Andrew at the latest video game sensation. Change, even good change, was never easy.
“I’m headed to Sophie’s for Christmas dinner. You want to tag along?” Cole offered.
Andrew shook his head at his best friend. “Thanks, but I have plans.”
