AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“WE WON!” Keaton shouted.
I exhaled, exasperated.
Chapter 9
Pushing myself upright, Keaton still sitting on my back like a horse, I glanced apologetically at the woman below me. She pulled her lips between her teeth and bit back a laugh.
I was frustrated, yet again; she seemed to merely find it hilarious. What was up with this woman?
And this kid on my back. “Keaton, get off,” I grumbled, and he quickly scrambled down.
“I told you we would win!” He danced in a circle as I sat back on my heels and watched him. “Where’d Doc Tenley go, anyway? She was the reason—” He stopped talking the moment he’d made a full circle and noticed Tenley laying in the snow, directly below where I’d fallen.
His eyes widened, practically bugging out of his head as he rapidly glanced between her and me.
Back and forth. Again and again. There was no explaining my way out of this one, no pillow wall and tangled sheets to blame.
“What are you doing down there?” Keaton finally said, and I snorted. The innocence in him was still intact. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, buddy. Nothing.” I put my hands on my thighs as Tenley slowly sat up, sliding her legs out from under me.
“Seriously, Doc Tenley. The snow is cold and wet,” he explained.
She nodded. “That it is.”
“And you’re wearing a pretty dress. Isn’t it ruined now?” Keaton continued. I ran a hand over my mustache, looking at everything and anything except for Tenley and Keaton.
“Snow is just frozen water, it’ll eventually dry,” Tenley kindly replied.
“But you also curled your hair today, all pretty and nice,” Keaton’s voice cracked as Tenley giggled.
“Yes, I did. It’s probably a frizzy mess now.”
I took a peek at the woman as she ran her hands over her long locks and tugged at the beanie. They weren’t in those beautiful waves anymore, but they draped over her shoulder much like how I imagined a mermaid's hair would look. Stunning.
“Why are you so dressed up today?” Keaton continued, and her eyes snapped to mine. I merely gave her a subtle shake of the head. It was up to her what she wanted to say. Up to her because I’d almost kissed her in front of my siblings and family.
“Oh, well, um, it’s-it’s the Christmas Festival,” she quickly stammered, and I watched as her already red cheeks turned a deeper shade of crimson.
“Right? It’s so exciting! Even better, we get to start setting up for our Christmas Eve party that’s in two days. We get Christmas pajamas, read a Christmas story, and Uncle Weston breaks out his guitar so we can sing Christmas songs while opening just one present before bed. Everyone is there, it’s a huge thing. Takes two days to prepare for because the amount of food and friends we have on Christmas Eve is insane!” Keaton explained, and Tenley’s mouth dropped open.
Her gaze swung to mine, accusatory. “You play the guitar?” She glared at me, literally skipping over everything else.
“Uncle Cassidy and Uncle Weston always lead us in the Christmas Country Carols. My dad once in a while joins in, but usually all Millie has to do is bat her lashes at him. Perks of being the baby of the family, and the only girl, apparently,” Keaton explained, and I grimaced, realizing that maybe that was something I should’ve mentioned. “Do you want to come? You could bring your parents, too! I bet it would be totally okay if you guys all came!” he continued, and her eyes widened.
“My parents. Grammy. Gramps.” She swiveled her head, frantically searching the crowd. “I totally forgot. What if they’re worried about me? I mean, I simply snuck off without saying much.”
“We could go look for them for a minute if you want,” I offered. The date was already ruined anyway, there was no alone time coming soon. Especially now that Keaton had offered up the little detail that I typically held as a vital part in our Christmas Eve tradition—something I’d been hoping to get out of this year. I’d been banking on the idea that I could sneak away to my house with Tenley and watch a sappy Christmas movie instead of helping with all of that preparation stuff tomorrow along with the continuation of this festival.
“If we could,” she quietly asked, and I nodded.
“I’ll let Grams and Gramps know that we’ll have extra visitors for Christmas Eve! Oh, do you want to come up to the ranch tonight? Uncle Weston and I usually start putting the lights on the houses. It’s fun in the dark,” Keaton asked, oblivious to Tenley’s quiet whispered question to me. Though as he bounced from foot to foot, I knew he wasn’t taking no for an answer, and I braced for it.
Tenley opened her mouth to protest, but he didn’t give her a chance. “Yeah, you’ll come. See you tonight!” he exclaimed, and scurried off with a grin on his face.
There it was.
“He likes you,” I began, helping Tenley up, hoping to help her avoid the whirlwind of events that were simply thrown at her, and we slowly started wandering back toward the crowded town square. My stomach grumbled quietly.
