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“Hunter? Merry Christmas!”
“Abilene! How nice to see you.” He greeted her with an immediate smile as he pushed a double stroller forwards and pulled it back—a makeshift rocking-chair.
She gestured to the round-faced boy and girl in the stroller Hunter was manning. “Are these your little ones?” Obviously twins, they both looked to be around a year old.
“They are. This is Joel and Ellie.” He pointed at the pretty blonde woman who sat on a stool, painting another child’s face. “Over there is my lovely wife, Chelsea. She does a mean candy cane.” At her name, Chelsea looked up and offered a quick wave.
“I’ll keep that in mind when I decide what I want on my cheek.” Lena was probably the only adult in line for herself, but she didn’t care.
“How are things at the farm?”
“Much cleaner!”
They both laughed.
Hunter pointed at Copper. “If you need a shady place for your dog to hang out, feel free to bring him over to our table.” He pointed to one of the picnic tables she’d noticed earlier, laden with food, and surrounded by what looked like a small army. “Just tell them I sent you. My sister Ali loves dogs. She and her husband Jake are vets.”
“Oh, thank you so much. I just might do that.” She definitely needed to find water for Copper, sooner rather than later. He was panting like mad.
“Meanwhile, I’ve got to get these two down for their stroller nap.” They said their goodbyes, Hunter dashed a quick kiss to Chelsea’s cheek before pushing the stroller back out to the path, and then it was Lena’s turn to have her face painted.
Not fifteen minutes later,she was admiring Chelsea’s handiwork in the mirror— a spray of stars around the curve of her right eye. “I love it! Thank you!”
“My pleasure! Now, you’ll want to get yourself something from the RSL barbecue men, before it’s all gone.” She gestured in the direction of the fragrant smoke. “There’s a new bloke over there at the grill, who I’ve heard knows what he’s doing and looks good doing it.” She winked and ruffled Copper’s scruff. “Maybe he’s looking for a friend or two.”
Lena’s cheeks went hot, but her stomach was growling. She’d been mostly living off yogurt and granola bars all week—too tired to bother cooking, and not wanting to heat up the non-air-conditioned house any more than it already was. “You look hot, Coppy.”
She debated asking if she could leave Copper tethered at the table Hunter had indicated, but Coppy had a piercing bark when she left him behind, and no way was she going to foist him on the town vets when they were trying to enjoy time with family.
She found her place in line for food, impressed by the variety of offerings laid out on the tables: cold salads of all kinds, an assortment of summer-time fruit like watermelon and peaches, seafood platters on ice, laden with lobster, oysters, and prawns—so many prawns! She snagged a chunk of ice and then snuck some cold cuts and cheese from another platter, all with Copper in mind. What Lena wanted though was something from the barbecue. There was quite the team of men—all with that upright military bearing—manning the grills, but her eyes kept going to one of them. He had his back turned to the line, but he worked with a focus and intensity that were familiar. He was tall, and his broad shoulders and well-muscled arms were on display beneath his just-the-right-amount-of-tight black t-shirt, as he moved burgers, sausages and onions from the barbecue onto a serving tray.
She inwardly rolled her eyes at herself, ogling yet another attractive man after everything that had happened. She was ridiculous. Or far too lonely. Both obviously.
The man turned around, the tray in his hands, and she couldn’t stop herself from laughing when she saw what was on the front of his shirt. It had the Grinch, tangled up in Christmas lights, and the words ‘Is This Jolly Enough?’ stacked in the shape of a Christmas tree.
“Lena?”
Her eyes snapped from the man’s chest to his face and she felt hot and frozen all at once. She was clearly hallucinating, because standing before her was the last person she’d ever expected to see.
20
RUN RUN
“Grinch Guy? What are you doing here?” Lena’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
Heath damn near dropped the tray full of rissoles and snags. He’d hoped Lena would be at the town Christmas picnic, because it was exactly the kind of thing she wouldn’t be able to resist. He’d been so confident, he’d even ordered the stupid shirt he was wearing just because he thought it might make her smile, which it had. What he hadn’t prepared for was what hearing her laugh did to him.
“Working. Volunteering. With the RSL.” If hearing her laugh had him undone, then seeing her about killed him.
Her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail and tied with a red bow, showing off a scattering of glittery red stars that curved from just above her eyebrow to just along her cheekbone. Emblazoned across her green t-shirt in red metallic script—always with the sparkly stuff—were the words ‘Jingle All The Way.’ He wanted to grab her, pull her to him, and kiss his way along the stars and to her red lips. He couldn’t, though. Not with how badly he’d messed things up with her. Well, and not when he was on duty.
He busied himself emptying the tray of meat into the massive serving plate, buying himself time to get his feelings in check. He could barely look at her, so badly did he want to lean across the table and kiss her in front of everyone.
“You joined the RSL?”
“Yeah.” He darted a glance at her, to see how that information landed.
“Really? That’s great. I, um…” Her expression brightened, losing the shocked quality for a second until Copper pulled at his leash, making her stagger forwards. He wriggled and wagged, trying to get under the table to say his own hello. “Copper! Sit!” The dog obeyed, and she shook her head at him, loosening tendrils of hair that framed her face.
