Chapter Seventeen #2
It would be an understatement to say I was excited for the light festival. It would be my first time attending with a boyfriend. It would be my first time going to a public event as part of a couple.
I was nervous, but mostly excited.
His question surprised me, because I hadn’t even thought of that. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
He pulled the blind down on the front door. “Well, yes. If that’s okay? I can come over, or you can come to my place if you want. It’ll just be me and Ro, and Merry and Bright, of course. Do your folks do anything special?”
“Dad and I will go to the clinic in the morning. We have two admitted patients who will need tending, twice tomorrow at least.”
“Oh no! Are they okay?”
“They will be,” I replied.
“I guess I never thought there’d be animals hospitalized over the holidays. Of course there would be.” He frowned. “Those poor little things.”
“They don’t know it’s Christmas. Though my mom made them little stockings to hang on the front of their cages.”
He smiled then, his eyes glinting. “Cute.” He handed me my coat and pulled his own on, then his beanie and gloves. “So, gifts tomorrow then.”
I nodded. “It’ll be Christmas Day, after all.”
“Ro and I always have a quiet day on Christmas. We do a big lunch, then we usually watch sappy Christmas movies all afternoon. It’s quiet and lovely.”
“Do you not see your mother?” I asked, then realized far too late that I probably shouldn’t have. “Sorry if that was insensitive.”
“It’s fine, really.” We went out through the front door, and he locked it with the key. “I will call her, and I did send her a card with some lottery tickets. But we’re not close. Ro is more of a mother to me, and we’ll have a lovely day together.”
“I’m glad you have her,” I said.
He grinned at me. “So am I.” As we reached Main Street, he stopped walking. “Oh my word. Look at how beautiful this is. Isn’t this the prettiest town ever?”
Main Street was always pretty but the holidays were something special. The lights, the decorations, the people.
“Evening, Deacon,” Mr. Piper said as he walked past. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” I replied to him, nodding to his wife and kids.
Winter grinned at me when they’d gone past us. “You’re so cute,” he whispered.
My face burned despite the cold. I pulled my beanie down and fixed my glove, embarrassed but happy. “As are you,” I replied.
He beamed, then rubbed his gloves together and blew out a puff of steam. “Boy, is it cold tonight.” Then he saw some food stalls. “Ooh, let’s go see what goodies Jayden has tonight.”
Turned out, Jayden had spiced-meat-on-a-stick things, which I didn’t want to try, but the cups of tomato soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches were delicious.
Perfect for this weather. We strolled as we ate, stopping excitedly only when something caught his eye.
“Oh my goodness, Deacon, look! I have to get them, obviously,” he cried at one craft stand.
He held up two small, crocheted orange-and-white cats. “Oh, these are just like my boys.”
Seeing him so happy did something to my heart. I was sure it was physically impossible for it to increase in size, but it felt like it had grown two sizes.
Then he spotted some familiar faces in the crowd. “Oh, it’s some of the guys. Come on, let’s go say hi.”
It was indeed Hamish and Ren, Clay, Gunter and Doctor Rob, and Braithe. They were by the Winter Wonderland area. “Evening all,” Winter said. They turned and all said hi to both of us, smiling.
“Deacon, good to see you again,” Gunter said.
“Hello,” I replied, nodding. It was a lot of people, and for the most part, their attention was on us. I tried to smile. Not just for Winter’s sake, but for mine as well.
I wanted to do this.
“Merry Christmas,” I added.
This seemed to please them because they eagerly replied in kind.
“I was talking to your mom and dad earlier,” Ren said. “They were by the animal pen.”
Oh, of course.
I looked down the street, but there were too many people to spot them. Still, I liked knowing they were here.
“We’re all here for our annual Santa photo,” Hamish said, nodding to the Winter Wonderland where Santa Claus sat on his big chair for photos.
Clay groaned. “You sit on my dad’s lap and you’re uninvited from New Year’s.”
They all laughed. Hamish laughed the loudest.
Gunter slid his arm around Clay’s waist. “Cliff was saying he might hand the baton over to Clay next year.”
They all stared at him. Hamish gasped.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Clay said.
“You must,” Hamish said. “Oh, Clay, you must.”
“I agree,” Braithe said, putting his hand up.
Gunter found this funny for some reason. “Told you, babe.”
Clay grumbled, just as Deputy Price came over. He was in full uniform, so working, obviously. “Oh good, glad you’re here,” Clay said to him. “We need some crowd control, starting with these two.” He gestured to Braithe and Hamish.
Deputy Price shook his head. “Don’t wanna know.”
Everyone laughed, Winter included. I wasn’t entirely sure I fit in with them, but it was nice to be included, and for some reason, they had included me in their circle of friends.
“Busy day?” Ren asked Winter. “A few customers told me they went to your store today. Said it was crowded.”
“Oh, yes,” Winter replied. “It’s been three and a half weeks of busy days. Not complaining though. I love it.”
“And he had you working today,” Ren said to me.
“I offered,” I said.
“I couldn’t have done it without him,” Winter added, smiling up at me.
Everyone smiled at me.
I tried to smile again, but it was all a bit much. Too many people, too much attention. I felt as if all eyes were on me, as if they expected me to say something, and I didn’t like that.
That not-good jittery feeling began to creep in, and I wondered if I should make an excuse to leave. But then Winter tugged on my sleeve.
A little reminder that it was okay.
He was with me.
Some kids ran past saying hello to Mr. Branson, and Braithe called out for them to not run. Rob made a joke about school-teaching mode, and the conversation moved away from me.
And I could breathe.
Winter never let go of my sleeve.
We were close enough that no one would have noticed, but that contact, that comfort was what I needed. He was a tether before the storm could roll in.
How he knew, I’ll never know.
But I was so grateful.
“You okay?” he asked me quietly.
I gently pulled my arm free from his hold.
“Oh, sorry,” he murmured.
But then I took his hand in mine.
His eyes met mine and his smile made everything okay.
We were wearing gloves, so there was no skin contact, and I think that helped. There was no clammy skin feeling, even if the gloves meant our fingers were bulky. Even if it was in public.
I needed to do this.
I wanted to.
For him, for me.
Everyone chatted some more, but after a while, Winter leaned in. “Want to go find your parents to say hi?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay, guys,” Winter announced. “We’re just going to catch up with Deacon’s folks. We’ll see you in a bit.”
They waved us off and we headed further down Main Street to where there was a crowd of mostly children. I kept hold of Winter’s hand the whole time. I knew my parents would see, and they’d understand the significance for me.
How big this was.
As soon as they saw us, Dad grinned at me, and I remembered that I’d hugged him earlier today. “Oh, Deacon, love, there you are,” Mom said. “Winter, hello.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said. “Isn’t this all so magical?” He looked around, and it was only then that Winter seemed to realize where we were, or more to the point, what was in front of us. “Oh my god, is that . . . is that an actual reindeer?”
I chuckled at his reaction. “Yes, it is. Toni Beltran has a breeding pair.”
His eyes were comically wide. “Toni, the mail carrier?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
He looked around then, at the crowd, searching for someone . . .
“Ro!” he called out.
His aunt Ro turned around, and seeing him, she waved. She was talking to Toni, said something to her, then made her way over to us.
“Remind me to tell you about this later,” Winter murmured to me before he greeted his aunt. “Hello there, fancy seeing you here. At this stall in particular.”
“Oh, shush,” she said to him, giving him a nudge. “Hello again, Deacon.” Then turned her attention to my parents. “Hello again.”
“Oh, lovely to see you,” Mom said, and they all exchanged pleasantries and small talk.
“I cannot believe that’s an actual reindeer,” Winter said to me, bewildered, almost.
“Have you not seen one before?”
“Only on TV.” He couldn’t take his eyes off it. “That’s . . . that’s incredible.” Then he looked at me. “Do you tend to them?”
I nodded. “Yes. If we have a scheduled house call to the Beltran ranch, you should come with us. You can see all her animals. She has quite the menagerie.”
He nudged Ro with his elbow. “I’d love to go to Beltran ranch one time.”
She leveled a tight smile at him, which he seemed to find funny. I wasn’t sure what that was about.
“Did you have a good day?” Mom asked me.
“Yes. I had a great day.”
“Me too,” Dad added, his smile aimed right at me. I was certain he was referring to the hug . . .
“Ah, the Clarks,” Mrs. Phillips said, coming over. “Merry Christmas to you all.”
Then the Jacksons stopped by to wish us a merry Christmas, then my parents got chatting with Mr. Hayes and his two boys, then the mayor, then someone else, then someone else after that.
And of course, people said hello to me too, and as Winter chatted with Ro, he included me as well, but throughout all the interaction, I was more than happy to stand back and watch.
It was as if I was a part of it all but not in the middle, and that suited me perfectly.
I noticed Mom watching me. She saw that I was holding hands with Winter, and her smile was pure joy.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said quietly to me.
“Mm,” I said, unsure what I could say. “I am too.”