AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They were on the square now, facing the tree, and she came to a stop, looking over at him. “What?”
“I stopped by that coffee shop on the strip to get a latte this morning,” he said. “That’s where I ran into Matt. He said you needed a truck.”
“Matt was getting coffee there?”
The surprise in her voice made him wonder if he’d messed up. Had he just outed the mayor as not shopping local? He definitely had.
“Don’t say a word,” he said. “He didn’t swear me to secrecy or anything.”
“Maybe he was picking up coffee for his family.” Charity shook her head. “He should definitely be getting his coffee from Joe.”
“He headed in to get a latte for himself,” Nic said.
He could have covered up for the town mayor at that point, but he trusted Charity. She wouldn’t say a word to anyone. They’d kept many, many secrets over the years, and neither one of them had ever betrayed the other’s trust. Even in the end, he’d been faithful to her and as honest as he could be about his plans to move away from Misty Mountain permanently once he had his degree.
“You did a great job on the tree,” he said.
Now he had his arms crossed. He wasn’t sure if he was doing it because he was cold or because it was the only way to resist the urge to put his arm around her and pull her toward him. That would definitely be inappropriate.
“I can’t take credit for that,” she said. “A full team of volunteers decorates it every year.”
Nic looked over at her. “Where’d they get the decorations?”
“I picked those out. They were using the same ones year after year. I gave it an upgrade a couple of years ago. It’d be nice if we could afford all new ones every year, then donate what we don’t use to a nonprofit, but I don’t think people notice that it’s a repeat.”
Shaking his head, Nic studied the tree for a moment. “To be honest, I never noticed the decorations. It was always the lights that caught my attention.”
“That’s the trickiest part. We have to make sure the lights work before we get the whole town out here, but we also have to test it undercover.”
“How do you do that?” he asked. “This tree isn’t exactly hidden.”
“We test it in the daytime,” Charity said.
The only other couple he saw was exiting the square. That meant the two of them would be completely alone. It was a Sunday night. He assumed work and school tomorrow meant everyone had already gone home for the evening. This was probably the perfect time to see the tree, especially if he wanted to be alone with her.
“Let’s go take a closer look,” he said.
Dropping his arms from their crossed position and shoving his hands into his pockets, Nic started in that direction. Tonight, he’d do just about anything to prolong his time with Charity.
The tree was raised on a platform. It was the same platform that’d served as the stage for the tree lighting. As a kid, he’d begged his mom to climb up there, and she’d wisely kept him on the ground. But not tonight.
He looked back at Charity, following just behind him. “I’ve always wanted to do something.”
He didn’t wait for her response, instead heading straight for the steps on the far right side of the platform. There were the steps Charity and the mayor had climbed at the ceremony last night.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
He was already halfway up the steps. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”
“Nobody’s supposed to be up there,” she said. “There’s a sign.”
“We’re the only ones here.” He gestured to indicate their surroundings. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
By then, he was up on the stage, looking down at her. He gave her a big smile.
Eyes wide, she looked around. Was she afraid someone would catch her here and fire her as tree-lighting ceremony coordinator? It was a volunteer position, so that was doubtful.
Finally, with one last look around, she apparently changed her mind and started walking toward him. He held back a smile as he walked over to the tree, mostly to get a close-up look at the ornaments.
