5. Erik
ERIK
On Christmas morning, Erik stood behind a plastic folding table in the reception room of the Center, scooping fruit onto plates as he took in the delicious scents of the homemade breakfast, and the happy faces of the gathered crowd.
Of course he and the other veterans were there, that had always been the plan. What he hadn’t anticipated was the crew of volunteers who had taken time out of their own family holiday traditions to help out.
Betty Ann Eustace had come by with her great-nephew, Fisher.
Betty Ann was one of the pillars of the town, responsible for planning so many of the bigger events.
It was touching to see her here on Christmas morning, scrambling eggs and frying up fragrant strips of bacon on hot plates, with Fisher dishing them out as fast as the guys could step up.
There seemed to be no task, however humble, that Mrs. Eustace wouldn’t undertake for her community.
And she always brought at least one extra pair of hands along.
A couple of the Cassidy boys had already dropped off pies for tonight, along with hot cocoa kits and a massive pan of lasagna to put in the fridge and heat up later in the week.
Annabelle Williams, who always ran the book sale at the Winter Wonderland Festival, had come by with two big canvas bags of used bestsellers that she had pulled specially to donate to the Center.
They were spread out on Erik’s desk now, and the vets were taking turns looking through the cache of mysteries, thrillers, and even a few romances, each choosing a book or two to enjoy.
There were also trays of cheese and salami from Mal over at the bakery, and sandwiches from the Co-op’s deli. They had run out of Mal’s doughnuts first thing, but with so much other food, he was hoping that no one missed the sweets too much.
The gift exchange this morning had been a hoot. In addition to the gifts from Erik, the other vets had done a white elephant exchange. The whole building practically shook with their laughter as silly gifts were opened and passed around.
Everything was much better than Erik had expected, honestly.
Well, almost everything.
He still hadn’t heard a peep from Jenny.
Sighing lightly, he willed himself not to check his phone again.
“You okay, Cap?” one of the younger guys asked.
“Sure, Steven,” Erik told him, shaking himself out of his thoughts and spooning a scoop of cut fruit onto the man’s plate. “Sorry, just daydreaming.”
“We know you’re dreaming about Goldilocks,” Steven teased him, winking before he walked off with his brunch.
Oddly, it hurt more that Jenny and Gael hadn’t decided to be here than it did that the real Goldilocks had dumped him.
But hurt or not, he was going to have to come clean with the guys, and the sooner the better.
The last few vets in the line for food moved through and left with plates piled high with bacon, eggs, and fruit. They sat in the folding chairs that had been arranged in a big circle around the room.
“Hey everyone,” Erik said, stepping out from behind the table, ready to face the music.
His own voice sounded too loud in his ears. Looking around at the expectant faces, he had no idea how he was going to disappoint them all at once.
“There’s something I need to tell you about my fiancée…” he began.
There was a flash of movement in the doorway as someone stepped inside. Erik glanced over to see that it was actually two someones.
Jenny and Gael.
Erik’s heart pounded, pumping a dose of fresh optimism through his veins.
“There she is,” someone pointed out. There was gentle laughter in response.
Erik looked to Jenny, silently asking if she was really here for the reason he hoped she was.
She nodded her head almost imperceptibly, a tiny smile on her lips.
“Some of you know my fiancée by her nickname, Goldilocks,” he said, improvising. “Well, she normally goes by Jenny with her friends, and this is her son, Gael.”
There were smiles and shouts of hello and welcome as Erik moved to the back corner that bordered the hallway, where there would be enough room for the three of them to stand together.
“Thank you all for having us,” Jenny said, looking around with a warm smile.
Because he knew her well, Erik could see by her posture that she was feeling a little shy. But she stepped further into the room with Gael by her side, carrying an enormous foil-wrapped tray.
“Merry Christmas,” Gael said. “We brought cookies.”
“They’re from Trudy at the inn,” Jenny added.
That was met with predictable enthusiasm from everyone. The vets all crowded around Jenny and Gael as they made their way to one of the tables and set down the big tray, uncovering it to reveal a mountain of gorgeous cookies.
Trudy had outdone herself. There were sugar cookies, gingerbread boys, what looked like rum balls, and even beautiful Italian pizzelles sprinkled in powdered sugar.
One or two guys broke into spontaneous applause, which prompted good-natured laughter from everyone.
“This is just what we needed,” Steven said as he turned to Jenny, his mouth already half full of gingerbread. “Now it really feels like Christmas.”
“My nonna used to make these,” Tom said appreciatively as he lifted out one of the pizzelle snowflakes, a big smile on his face.
Jenny’s cheeks went pink with pleasure.
“Can I have one?” Gael asked her quietly.
“Of course,” Tom told him before Jenny could reply. “Kids should have lots of cookies on Christmas.”
But Gael waited until Jenny nodded to him before he reached out and took a gingerbread boy.
The two of them headed over to join Erik, and he reached out instinctively to take Jenny’s hand and pat Gael on the shoulder.
“I’m so glad you came,” he told them. He was wishing he could say more, but he was pretty sure they understood.
“This is really special,” Jenny said, looking around. “Everyone seems so happy.”
“We have a great group of guys and gals here,” Erik agreed. “And so many volunteers from town who all want to help out.”
“I can see why,” Jenny said, smiling as she watched Betty Ann talking avidly with two young men who seemed to hang on the older lady’s every word. “It’s such a welcoming place.”
“Cold enough for you?” Fallon asked playfully as he approached them.
“Oh, we’re used to it in Boston,” Jenny replied right away.
Fallon got a funny look on his face and Jenny’s eyes went wide as she realized her mistake.
Erik had a moment of panic. He’d been so thrilled to get Jenny to finally agree to go along with this crazy plan, only to have it blow up in their faces almost immediately.
“I mean,” Jenny said, fumbling a little, then regaining her composure. “I went to college in Boston, so I got used to it back then. We’re not from there, of course. We just flew in from…”
“Seattle,” Erik finished for her.
“That’s good,” Fallon teased. “Cap could never marry a Patriots fan.”
Gael let out a good laugh at that, and Erik could only hope that there were no follow-up questions.
“Hey, whatcha got there?” Fallon thankfully asked Gael instead, gesturing to the box Gael was pulling out of his backpack.
“It’s a guessing game,” Gael told him excitedly. “I got it for Christmas. Do you want to play?”
“Of course,” Fallon said, his eyes lighting up as he nodded. “Do we need more players?”
Gael seemed very excited at that prospect, and the two of them started off around the room, discussing the game and asking other vets if they wanted to play.
“He’s a great kid,” Erik said, watching the boy approach the vets one by one, practically vibrating with excitement each time someone nodded to him.
“This is great for him,” Jenny said, her eyes on Gael. “He loves interacting with adults, but sometimes people don’t really want to engage with a kid. Your crew is so encouraging.”
“I think they’ve missed being around kids and older people,” Erik said. “I know I did. You don’t even realize it sometimes until you’re back in your everyday life and you see everything that was missing.”
“I never would have thought of that,” Jenny said thoughtfully.
Gael was helping his new friends put the plastic headbands on now, and absolutely cracking up as they all acted silly getting ready for their game.
“What made you decide to come?” Erik heard himself ask softly.
“Gael really wanted to,” she said right away.
He nodded.
“And… I did, too,” she admitted.
He turned to her, wondering what it was he heard in her voice. But her eyes were on the floor and he couldn’t read her expression to know if her eyes were downcast because she was hiding her shame at the lie they were telling, or if it was… something else entirely.
If I didn’t know better, I might think she had feelings for me…
But he did know better. They hadn’t seen each other in years. And even back in college, he’d never asked her out. As far as Jenny was concerned, he was just an old friend. And he wasn’t exactly sweeping her off her feet by asking her to do something that made her feel torn.
“I’m glad you did,” he told her. “And I don’t want you to feel bad about this for one moment. You’re making a lot of people’s holidays a lot brighter. That’s the most important thing here.”
She nodded, glancing up at him so that he could see gratitude in her beautiful brown eyes.
“Now, what were you and Gael planning to do this week?” he asked her.
“We didn’t have a hard and fast plan,” she told him, her eyes lighting up at the change in topic. “But we made a list of possible things, and then we were going to just play it by ear and do whatever he felt like doing each day.”
“That sounds like a perfect vacation to me,” Erik told her, meaning it. “Can I see your list?”
“Sure,” she told him, digging in her bag and fishing out a little notebook. “Maybe you can give us some advice, or even add to it, since you know the area.”
She found the page she wanted and then handed it over.