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I smiled. “It does.” I grabbed one box of decorations and began pulling them out one by one, while she grabbed the other box. Empty boxes strewn on the floor, Cadence carried over the last ornament and placed it on the tree. Then we both stood back looking at the masterpiece we’d decorated.
“It looks great,” she said, looking at me to see my reaction.
“It does! Not bad at all!”
“And it finally feels a little Christmassy in here. She walked back over and sat down at the table, noticing a small box sitting in the corner. “Oh gosh, we missed one.”
I turned and looked over my shoulder, recognizing the white box instantly. I’d purposely placed that there hoping she wouldn’t see it. Panic flooded me, and I was about to tell her not to open it, when she lifted the lid of the box and looked inside. Removing some of the tissue paper, she stopped and lifted her head, her gaze meeting mine.
“Oh, my…” she murmured. Shock lined her face as her cheeks reddened. “I can’t believe that you…you kept it?” she stammered.
Embarrassment crept into me while she stared down into the white square box that held an ornament. It was something she shouldn’t have seen, and had I been smart, I’d have left it in the storage area. The contents of that box were so precious to me, there would have been no way I could ever have thrown it out. No matter where my life had taken me.
When she looked up at me this time, tears lined her eyes. She carefully reached into the box and pulled out the round glass ornament and ran her fingers over it.
“My cutest little snowflake…” she whispered as she looked down at the ornament. “I remember making this...”
“I remember when you gave it to me, but I could never figure out why that saying was on there. Now, if it had said something like ‘the biggest pain in the butt snowflake,’ I’d of understood and known it was for me. But saying something nice about the pain-in-the-ass brother’s best friend threw me. Did you make another?” I chuckled.
Cadence softly smiled as she looked at the ornament. “No, this was the only one I made.”
“Gabe must have pissed you off then. Was that why you didn’t give it to your brother?” I replied, knowing that the pair of them were close.
“I can’t believe after all these years…you…” she murmured, more to herself than to me, and that was when I realized the truth: that she’d had a crush on me all those years ago also.
“Cadence, was that really made for me?” I asked, my voice low. “Did you…” I stopped. I couldn’t ask what I wanted to for fear I was wrong.
The room grew silent while I stood there waiting for her to answer me. My entire body was tense as I waited for a response. Then she looked up at me, her eyes full of tears.
“That was why I had to leave. Why I couldn’t hold on to my friendship with Ella. It killed me, knowing…” She put the ornament back into the box and placed it on the table. She looked around in a panic and rushed over to the door where her coat hung on a hook.
I stood there, frozen, realizing what she’d said.
She went to grab her coat but stopped and covered her mouth with her hand. Sobs escaped her covered mouth, and her shoulders shook.
She’d had a crush on me all those years ago. She’d never let go of it either. Just like I hadn’t. Instead, I just forced myself to fall in love with someone else because I never thought I could have her. It felt like forever for me to cross the room. I was almost afraid to touch her for fear she’d freak out on me after exposing her feelings toward me. Slowly, I reached out, placing my hands on her shoulders. Her body shook as I pulled her into me. “Why didn’t you ever say anything to me?” I questioned, holding her tightly against me.
“Why, to only have my heart broken?” she said, her voice heavy.
“I’d never of broken your heart. Not intentionally anyway.”
“Yes, you would have.”
“Not a chance. The only reason I never made a move was because of your brother. I wanted you then, and honestly, after seeing you, spending time with you again, I realized that those feelings never left,” I said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
Cadence
December
I pulled out the roast I’d gotten from the grocery store for tonight’s dinner from the fridge. I lifted the lid off the roasting pan and set the roast inside, surrounding it with some onion.
Connor had asked that I come over tonight. He’d wanted to prepare the roast for us, but he was needed out in the barn, so I’d come to him instead. I searched the pantry, looking for a couple of spices, when the phone rang.
I grabbed the two jars I’d been looking for and ran out to grab the phone. “Hello, Darling Ranch,” I sang into the phone as I danced around the kitchen to the Christmas song that blasted from the radio on the counter.
“Cadence?” I could barely make out the voice on the other end because of a poor connection. It had been storming most of the day, and it always seemed to affect the phone lines.
“Yes, this is. Who is this?” I questioned, turning down the radio, hoping that I could hear better.
