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“I think I’ll let my new friend place the first ornament,” Lance replied. He took the ugly ornament from her hand and gave it to the boy. “Go ahead, kiddo.”
You would’ve thought he’d just given the boy a Maserati for Christmas. Brandon flashed a giant gap-toothed smile and took off with the ornament in tow. Lance and Gemma watched him sprint toward the tree and then come to a screeching halt as he considered the best place to put it.
“You got through to him.” Gemma turned to him with a disbelieving smile. “The girls and I can never get him to talk to us, but you got through to him. What did you do?”
He shrugged. “Absolutely nothing. He came up to me and grabbed my hand.”
She shook her head and laughed. “Well, keep doing what you’re doing, then. That kid needs some healthy interactions with adults. He’s been so quiet since he came here this summer. His mom’s in rehab and I know she’s desperately trying to get clean for him. But, he could use a friend for the moment.”
Lance worked his jaw, his smile disappearing as he considered his little friend’s checkered past. He watched Brandon finally choose a spot for the ornament, front and center. With a little help from Chloe, he was able to hang it and step back to admire his work. He shot Lance a thumbs up, which he returned.
“Don’t let it bum you out,” Gemma said with a nudge of her elbow. She’d been watching Lance’s reaction to Brandon’s story. “This isn’t the time to dwell on sad stories. Christmas is a time of hope for these boys. Hope for presents and delicious food and a better year. We can’t let sadness get us down.”
He looked over at her, meeting her gaze. For the first time, he realized how her eyes crinkled when she smiled. He liked that about her. He allowed his eyes to search the rest of her face. Her cheeks were still flushed from the cold of the outdoors. She wore a red lipstick that drew his eyes down to her lips, eliciting a reaction deep within his gut. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white, making her warm smile even more brilliant. He liked that mouth. He would’ve liked to lean in closer.
“What’s wrong?” She tilted her head to the side and laughed nervously. “You’re staring at me. Do I have something on my face?”
He cleared his throat in embarrassment and stepped back. Obviously, she hadn’t felt the same heat between them or she wouldn’t be looking at him with such wide eyes. Stupid Lance, always making the wrong assumptions.
Shaking his head, he mumbled an apology. “No, sorry. I’d better go find Brandon.”
He peeled off to find the little boy, feeling frustrated and confused. His time in New Hope wasn’t supposed to be like this. He had been determined to hate every minute of it and all the souls that lived in this town. That had been his promise to himself when he left the life he loved behind in Minneapolis. It had been what he wanted.
But why, then, did he want something else so badly now?
Chapter Eight
Laurie and Chloe showed up at her apartment the next evening, bottle of wine in hand and an armful of outfits. They burst in on Gemma already wearing her reindeer pajamas with her hair piled on top of her head in a bun.
“But it’s a Tuesday night,” she argued as they spread the outfits out for her to see. Several of them were uncomfortably low cut. “I can’t go out on a Tuesday night. That’s ridiculous.”
“You’re a single woman in her prime,” Chloe rebutted. “You can go out any night of the week you want. Besides, tonight is the New Hope festival of lights. That’s a good enough excuse for me.”
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Laurie held a blouse up to her chest and modeled it for the girls. Chloe cheered and booed the options, helping herself to a particularly generous glass of wine. It seemed to Gemma that she had no other option, so she joined in on the outfit selection and even let her friends tease her hair up into a fancy do and play around with her makeup.
“This is going to be totally lame,” she warned, stepping out of her apartment wrapped in a soft woolen sweater with shiny gold sequins on the front. “There probably won’t be anyone there.”
Chloe grinned and downed the rest of her drink before sprinting out the door after her. “You’re only worried about one person being there, am I right? A certain guy with an affinity for expensive suits and fancy ties?”
Gemma dug her heels into the threadbare carpet of the hallway and turned to gape at her friend. “What do you mean?”
“Come on, you totally like him. You’re always smiling when he’s around.”
“No, that’s not true.” She brushed at the annoying little curls of blonde hair falling in her eyes. “I always argue when he’s around. That guy knows how to frustrate the heck out of me. It’s like he knows every button to push.”
Chloe and Laurie exchanged amused glances, which only irritated Gemma more.
“You guys! It’s not like that.”
“Sure,” Laurie said with a laugh. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“It is.”
It was true they seemed to argue every day, but yesterday at the Children’s Home they’d had a moment. Of course, Gemma had to freak out and ruin it by accusing Lance of staring at her. He couldn’t run away fast enough. She wasn’t sure what he’d been thinking, but she liked the way he watched her mouth, as if he hung on her every word. She’d imagined those full lips of his against hers, a time or two. It didn’t mean she was pining after him, though.
Leaving Gemma’s apartment, they made a bee line for Main Street and the City Park that sat in the midst of all the downtown buildings. Every tree had been decked out for Christmas and additional light figures had been added for this special event. Apparently, Gemma had been wrong. It seemed that the whole town was out to enjoy the crisp December night. They could barely walk on the sidewalk without bumping into someone.
