“Well, it’s simple,” William said, his eyes lighting up. “Classic Christmas.”
“Classic?” I scoffed. “What does that mean?”
“The decorations are classic, like the senior citizens are classics,” William said, the corner of his lip turned up in a triumphant smile. I hated that he was so handsome when he smiled, and I especially hated that he probably knew it.
I said, exasperated, “That’s not a theme.”
“Sounds like a theme to me!” William said. He slapped Nick on the back, and they turned and walked toward the door.
Melissa gave me a conciliatory smile. She shrugged. “It’s not an ugly tree, but you’re right. The lack of theme sucks. There’s no way a tree with no theme will win.”
I sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll have to let the voters decide.”
Melissa raised one of her perfectly groomed eyebrows, “What’s bothering you? I’ve never seen you go at someone like that.”
“I didn’t go at him,” I said defensively. “I just take the competition seriously. And don’t you think having an interior designer decorate your tree for you is cheating?”
Melissa gave me a concerned but playful look as she hooked her arm in mine again and pulled me toward the door. “Okay, are you sure it’s not that William is so sexy and he’s living with you now? Maybe you’re trying to create a little conflict to create a boundary between you and your hot housemate.”
“Melissa!” I cried. “You’re married.” My face burned with embarrassment.
“What? I’m married, not blind.” Melissa laughed. “I can say someone is cute! Now let’s go. I promised Trent we’d kick his ass tonight at pool down at The Pub.”
I rolled my eyes. Melissa was right about one thing: William was sexy.
Chapter 4: William
Decorating the Christmas Tree had been more fun than I thought it would be. I mean, it wasn’t NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden fun, but I knew better than to compare Creekstone life to New York City life. I had to stay laser focused on the endgame which was getting into the C-suite in Atlanta, and the only path there was through Creekstone.
Nick called me earlier this week to help me get set up in Creekstone. I asked if there were any organizations that he recommended I get involved with so I could meet more of the community, and he recommended I get involved with a local holiday competition because it would allow me to rub elbows with many of the business and nonprofit leaders. Nick connected me with the Senior Citizens’ Center and said they needed help decorating their tree. When I talked to the program manager, Rhonda, she noted that funding was always an issue, so I offered to purchase some ornaments and bring them with me. Rhonda was ecstatic. I met her and her team at the library, and we got to work putting the decorations I brought on the tree.
Everyone seemed to think the tree looked amazing, and honestly, it should’ve looked amazing considering how muchthose decorations cost. The only person who didn’t think the tree was great was Kit Campbell. It seemed like everything I did annoyed Kit, but everyone in town loved Kit. I understood why. She was smart, beautiful, and friendly to everyone—except me.
After our tree was finished, I stuck around because Nick invited me to go out and get a bite to eat and a drink. Nick told me we should walk to a place called The Pub. He told me it was a good time to run into folks as they headed home. Nick was right. Most of the shop owners were closing up as we walked down the street. He stopped and talked to every single person and introduced me to each of them. I was beginning to see how Nick won this election. His friendliness opened a lot of doors for him.
As we walked down the street, I had to admit that Creekstone at night was charming. The air was crisp, the holiday lights twinkled and reflected off the wet pavement, and the darkened storefront windows caught the light in a way that felt magical.
When we reached The Pub, Nick opened the door for me. Inside, the brown walls were covered in sports memorabilia and neon signs. A jukebox played the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” from the corner of the room. Locals dined alone or in pairs at booths and tables. Televisions were strategically placed so that people could comfortably watch TV from any spot while they ate. A no-nonsense bartender washed dishes behind the long bar. There was a pool table tucked into the back corner of the room with a group playing pool.
As soon as Nick walked in behind me, the group at the pool table waved him over. Trent, the librarian, and Melissa were standing on one side of the pool table facing us as we walked toward them. It looked like Melissa told the other two people playing pool that we were heading toward them because I saw them both turn to look at us. I didn’t recognize one of the women and the other was Kit.
I took a deep breath. I felt a knot in my stomach. I hoped that Kit wouldn’t be annoyed with me the entire night, but I was determined to make this work. I smiled and waved, but Kit scowled and turned back around. Kit’s annoyance was particularly harsh because, before she went to work at the library this morning, she had changed into a cute little dress, some tights, and a pair of black boots. She definitely looked the part of the sexy librarian.
Nick made a beeline for Melissa. She threw her arms around him and snuggled her face into his neck.
Trent introduced me to the fourth woman playing pool. “Sasha, this is William. He’s new to town.”
Sasha was tall like Trent. She had long blonde hair and wore a black Metallica T-shirt under an unbuttoned flannel shirt. She held a pool cue in one hand and extended the other for a handshake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Sasha. Trent’s wife.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“So, William,” Sasha said. “Trent tells me that you just moved here from New York.”
“Yep,” I said. “I moved to New York for work. I was never there though. I travel a ton for work. How about you guys? Are you all from Creekstone?”
“Yep, we’re all Creekstoners.” Trent had walked around the pool table to hand Sasha her beer. He shook his head. “We don’t get many folks moving into Creekstone. What brought you all the way down here from New York?”
“Well, my company has an office in Atlanta, and I hope to be doing less traveling and more regional work. I decided I wanted to try something different.” I didn’t want to go into it too much. “I came to Creekstone for work a few weeks ago and loved it. So, I thought I’d give it a shot.”
