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“What are you smiling about?” Lexie asked. I tucked her hand in my arm again and waited for her to pull away, but she didn’t.
“A guy can’t smile, taking a beautiful woman to the Christmas Jamboree?”
“No. I mean…I guess he can,” she said, and I could feel her wanting to trust this. Wanting to trust me.
“Hey! Ethan!” a man said, walking past us with a kid on his shoulders. “I’m real excited about what you’re doing with the police department. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Dr. Sherman, that means a lot,” I said. Dr. Sherman was a clinical psychologist with a practice in town and his expertise would be valuable. “My office will be in touch.”
“Great,” Dr. Sherman said, and then he smiled at Lexie. “Hi. I don’t know that we’ve met. I’m Dr. Sherman. Avery’s dad.” On his shoulders, Avery bounced.
“Nice to meet you,” Lexie said. “I’m Lexie. I work at the inn.”
“You’re doing the pageant.” Avery said. “My friend from school Marissa is in it.”
“Marissa isn’t staying at the hotel?” she asked. “She lives here?”
“Her dad works out at the farm on the weekends, helping Paul,” I said, and Lexie started laughing.
“Well, that’s amazing. The little sneak. I thought she was staying at the hotel.”
“Can I come, too?” Avery said. “I like singing.”
“Oh, I think it’s just for guests,” Dr. Sherman said.
“Apparently not!” Lexie stepped forward. “Avery, we’d love to have you. We meet every day at ten in the morning for two hours. Can you do that?”
“School’s on break,” Dr. Sherman said. “And if you don’t mind, we can get him there.”
“Avery, you’re in the show.”
Dr. Sherman left with a very happy kid on his shoulders and I wanted to grab Lexie by the waist and swing her around and tell everyone in this town that this beautiful woman was mine.
Patient.
“That was nice of you,” I told her.
“What’s one more at this point?” she asked.
We made our way into the main square.
“Wow,” she said, her eyes and mouth opened wide. All the fairy lights in the trees reflected in her eyes. “It’s beautiful.”
All the little wooden huts were open, selling crafts and food and drinks. The game corner was doing big business with a Christmas version of a dunk tank with a guy sitting under a bucket of snow. If someone hit the target with a baseball the bucket tipped.
Matt should be here, I thought. The town would make a mint.
Next year, maybe. If there was a next year.
My favorite booth sold gourmet grilled cheese and I’d learned my lesson ordering food with Lexie. She’d get whatever she wanted but only eat about half. So I ordered accordingly, knowing I’d be eating what she didn’t, on top of what I ordered.
Lexie got brie and pear. I ordered mozzarella and prosciutto. And they handed us steaming sandwiches in silver foil, and we wandered around taking tiny bites and burning our mouths.
“This is delicious,” she said, her lips glistening. I brushed a bit of cheese off her face there in front of the kid running the ball toss game. She didn’t balk so I took it as a win.
In the gazebo in the center of the square the Methodist church choir had set up singing holiday songs and on the other side were the craft booths. “Can we walk over there?” she asked. “I need to get some Christmas presents for my mom and Henny.”
“And your Secret Santa.”
“Right. Heidi.” She sighed heavily. The email about the Secret Santas came after I arrived here and I was relieved to have gotten one. Even if it was Heidi. “I’d also like to get a little something for your sister and Jasmine.”
“Really? That’s nice.”
“Well, I’m very nice, Ethan.”
“I noticed.”
“And they’re good friends. I’ll miss them.”
“Then don’t leave,” I said. She looked at me and I stopped walking. I could be patient, but not at the expense of telling her how I felt. “Stay.”
“Until after Christmas?”
Forever. Stay forever.
“As long as you want.” I stepped closer again. Our bodies almost touching. Her eyes opened wide and I could tell she was about to step back, so I didn’t move closer. I just stood there, breathing her in. Trying to show her, without the words that would make her uncomfortable, that I wanted her with me.
“You want to get a divorce, fine,” I told her. “I’ll sign the papers. But I’ll do it planning to marry you for real one day. Stay and let’s see if we work. Long term.”
“You want someone to run the front desk at the inn,” she said.
“I will fire you this minute,” I said as a joke, but she didn’t laugh.
“You’re paying me,” she said.
“Because you deserve it. Not, to like…keep you here.” I tilted my head, watching her. I understood a little bit her thing with money and the job and how it all came back to her mom in some way.
