Page 30 of Wintertime Love (Holiday 2)

“You’ve clearly got the idea. So, come on.” He edges towards me, his eyes glinting. “I walked all the way here in the cold to bring you this food and you can’t even give me some company?” He sighs then, his shoulders drooping in an exaggerated manner. “I see how it is. I guess I’ll just go back and sit alone in my room while everyone spends time with their family.” He shoots me a look as if checking to see of it’s working and then adds another layer, sighing even more heavily, “I don’t even have family here.”

“Fine!” I growl. “I’ll go. I’m coming!”

His entire demeanor changes in a heartbeat from a beaten down expression to a cheerful smile. “Good.” He helps me into the jacket.

I am now wondering why I let him talk me into this. Two weeks or so of knowing me and he knows just how to get under my skin.

He’s completely shameless.

Finn turns me around and starts zipping up my jacket.

His face is so close to me that I can see the length of his dark lashes, covering those beautiful eyes that have a habit of haunting me when he’s not even around. His hands are rough and coarse. I can almost feel them on my skin and I choke silently, hating that he’s close but I can’t have him. It will only deepen the pit that I’m trying to crawl out of.

He starts buttoning me up.

?

??I- I can do that,” I state my voice sounding shaky.

He gives me an odd look and then his lips curve in a half smile. “I like doing it.”

How am I supposed to respond to something like that?

“Wait, why are you grabbing the basket?” I ask as he picks it up.

“It’s hot food. We can have it later on in the car.” He takes me my hand.

I don’t even get to protest as I’m dragged out.

The town council always sets up the Christmas Garden each year and it is a beautiful sight. The previous fairy lights that are always a prelude are removed, to be replaced by entire trees wrapped by shimmering lights which move in and down, creating patterns down the pathway. Snowmen made from wires and fairy lights are stationed in random places, along with reindeer and elves.

It’s a stunning sight as always. I walk next to Finn, my hands tucked in the pockets of my jacket.

He looks around at the number of Christmas trees that have been decorated with such love and care and his eyes are lit up.

Maybe he really wanted to see this? I muse.

“Doesn’t WestHallor have a Christmas garden every year?” I ask, hesitantly.

He shrugs. “It does but my grandmother never liked me to go. When I was a teen, I was never allowed to attend the Christmas markets and the events. Then by the time I could have sneaked out, I had been sent off to boarding school.”

I freeze, horrified. “You spent Christmas at school?”

His shoulders move up and down a little as he takes in a snowman made from wires with glinting blue eyes. “Grandmother is a very status conscious woman. I was allowed back home for the Annual McCarthy Christmas Ball. But I arrived in the afternoon and had to return to the school premises by the next morning.”

My heart goes out to the lonely young teenager who was on the cusp of adulthood, wandering the school grounds on Christmas Day, alone, with no family to surround him, no presents to open, no warm house filled with laughter and joy and ugly sweaters. “That’s awful,” I blurt out. “Christmas is meant to be spent with the people you love, not alone.” My jaw tightens. “If I had known you back then, I would have taken you home and made you spend it with my family!”

The declaration is childish to say the least but Finn pauses and meets my gaze, a softness in his eyes. “Knowing you…you would have.” He reaches out and caresses my face, a curious awe on his face. “You’re just that kind of person.”

My cheeks flame and I duck my head, clearing my throat. “There’s hot chocolate further down the path. It’s fifty cents per cup.”

We make our way down the pathway and it takes us longer than it should because Finn wants to look at every little thing. At some point, he takes my mitten covered hand and holds it in his bare one.

I frown at that and then take off my other mitten. “Put this on and keep you other hand in your pocket.”

He gives me an amused look. “It’s fine.”

A muscle in my jaw twitches. “Don’t argue with me.”

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