22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
H e hadn’t blown it with Belle.
Had he?
Parker hated running out on her. He felt as though they were getting somewhere when his phone had gone off. Talk about the worst timing ever. And as much as he loved Belle, he had to answer when he was needed.
It was the middle of the night by the time Parker relinquished the accident scene to his deputy.
It was a bad scene—six cars and one tractor trailer that couldn’t stop on the icy roadway.
He always felt like he just couldn’t do enough when he showed up at those tragic scenes.
Thankfully, there were no fatalities, so he would take that as a win.
He’d been so busy all evening that he hadn’t had much of a chance to think of Belle. And that was saying a lot. She was all he’d been able to think about since he pulled her over for her burned-out tail light. A lot had happened since then.
As he pulled into his driveway, he recalled their snowy kiss.
It seemed like so long ago that he had held her on the sidewalk and kissed her.
He had a feeling when they’d sat down to drink their cocoa that she had something important to tell him.
He couldn’t help but wonder what she’d wanted to say.
He thought of calling her—of wanting to hear her sweet voice to wash away the brutal images from the accident scene. When he reached for his phone, the time flashed on the screen: 12:23 a.m. Um, yeah, I can’t call her . At least one of them would get a good night’s sleep.
He was too wound up to sleep, so he got a hot shower, and then he went downstairs to finish attaching the last glass pieces to the ornament. And then he was going to spray them with clear acrylic to help hold everything in place.
Now that he was having Christmas Eve dinner with her, it would be the perfect time to give her the ornaments. He just hoped she liked them.
The most important dinner of her life.
At least, that was the way it felt.
Belle had gone into town first thing in the morning. She had Christmas shopping to do. What was she supposed to buy Parker? Her mind drew a total blank.
A wave of panic surged through her. She’d invited him over for Christmas Eve, and now she didn’t have a gift for him. She wanted to get him something special, but she had no clue what that might be.
She’d walked through the men’s store. She checked out the clothing. Nothing jumped out at her. She went to the hardware store, but she had no idea what tools he already owned and what he still needed. Maybe next year she would know these sorts of things.
The thought stopped her in her tracks. Would they be together next Christmas? Were they even together now? She had so many questions and absolutely no answers.
When she passed in front of the card shop, she slowed down.
The Christmas tree in the window with its white lights and multitude of colorful ornaments on its branches called to her.
The next thing she knew she’d moved to the front door.
Her hand wrapped around the brass door handle, and she pulled it open.
She stepped inside the cozy shop. There was the pleasant scent of cinnamon, citrus, and cloves in the air. It drew her farther into the shop. There were so many shelves and stands with things for her to check out.
She thought of getting Parker a Christmas card, but she had no idea what tone it should take. A romantic card might be putting the cart before the horse. A friendship card just didn’t seem like enough after what they’d shared. And then there were funny ones, but those didn’t feel right either.
The next thing she knew she was in the aisle with all of the beautiful ornaments. She stood there, taking them all in—reminded of the heirloom ornaments that had been destroyed during the break-in. Those ornaments had meant the world to her, and she missed having them on her tree.
She stepped farther down the aisle. She saw an ornament that reminded her of Odie.
She picked it up and took a closer look.
It was as though this ornament was telling her to buy it for Parker.
Even if after this dinner they went their separate ways, he would have this ornament to remind him of the Christmas he rescued her furbaby.
Yes, this was the right gift. It was simple and yet meaningful.
With the perfect gift in hand, she rushed home. Odie met her at the door. When she picked him up, he gave her a great big sloppy kiss. And her heart was full of love.
Belle rushed to the kitchen. She started by making a pecan pie for dessert. And then because she didn’t know if he liked nuts, she decided to make something else. But what? She flip-flopped a half-dozen times before settling on a chocolate cake. It would have to cool before she could frost it.
She roasted a turkey breast seasoned with herbed butter and plenty of rosemary.
And then she’d pulled out her mother’s recipe for stuffing.
Because this was last minute, she’d had to tear the bread up, put it on a baking sheet, and dry it in the oven.
Not ideal but it would have to do. She prepared potatoes until they were creamy and light.
There was homemade gravy from the drippings from the turkey. And roasted carrots.
She checked the time. It was late in the afternoon. Parker was supposed to be there after his shift ended at five. She rushed upstairs to do her hair and makeup. Then the hard part was figuring out what to wear.
Should she dress up? After all, it was Christmas Eve. Or should she play it casual with jeans and a sweater? And if she dressed up, should it be a dress? Or slacks? There were so many choices.
She tried on a few outfits and promptly discarded them on her bed. She dug to the back of her closet and stumbled over a deep-red sweater dress. She studied it a moment. She’d had it for a few years, but she’d only worn it once. It still looked new.
She pulled it out of the closet. She didn’t know why she hadn’t worn it more. It was very comfortable, and yet it looked nice. She wondered if it would still fit her.
She took it off the hanger and tried it on. Then she stepped in front of the mirror. She gave her image a once-over. It fit. And it looked good on her. It was the winner.
A timer went off in the kitchen. She glanced at the mess of clothes on her bed. She would deal with it later. Right now, she had a cake to frost. Parker should be there any minute.
She rushed downstairs and glanced around. It was only then she realized she needed to plug in the Christmas tree and turn on the flameless candles in the windows. In the kitchen, she lit a bayberry candle that was on the island.
She whipped up some chocolate frosting and just finished frosting the cake when she heard a knock at the door. Oh, no. He’s here.
“Arf! Arf! Arf!” Odie raced to the front door, barking the whole way.
She placed the empty bowl in the sink and quickly inspected the cake. On her way out of the kitchen, she caught her reflection on the door of the microwave. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
She rushed to the door and paused. She straightened her dress before picking up Odie, who was still barking. “Odie, hush.”
Odie didn’t pay her the least bit of attention as he continued to sound off. And then, hoping she didn’t have any frosting on her face or in her hair, she opened the door.
Her stomach fluttered with nerves. A big smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Merry Christmas.”
Odie stopped barking when he saw Parker. Instead, he started whacking her with his tail, which rapidly swished back and forth. It moved with such force his whole body was moving with it.
Parker smiled back at her, raising her pulse. “Merry Christmas to you too.” And then his attention moved to Odie. He reached out to pet him. “Hello, little buddy.” When Parker’s gaze rose to meet hers, he asked, “Can I come in?”
“Oh.” Heat from her chest set her cheeks aflame. She backed up, pulling the door wide open. “Come on in.”
She noticed he had a big box wrapped in silver wrapping paper decorated with the images of multi-colored ornaments. She grew worried that perhaps her ornament wasn’t enough. Maybe she should have gone back and gotten that royal blue sweater she’d noticed in the men’s store.
After he took off his coat and boots, he walked to the living room. He placed the package beneath the tree next to the gift she’d gotten for him. His present dwarfed hers. Did size really matter?
He turned to Odie, who was seated beside him. Parker bent down and picked up her puppy. Just like they were old friends, Odie lathered Parker with kisses. She was a little surprised to see the big welcome Odie gave Parker. Apparently, she had good taste in men, and her pup agreed.
When Parker turned his attention to her, he said, “This place smells amazing.”
“Thanks. I made a little something for dinner.” No way was she admitting that she’d spent most of the day working on it.
“Just point me in the right direction.” He placed Odie on the floor. “I’m starved.”
At least one of them was hungry. At that moment, it felt as though a swarm of butterflies had invaded her stomach. “Right this way.”
She led him to the dining room. Odie was right beside him.
When Parker stopped, so did Odie. Parker looked at the dining room table, which was already set with one of her mother’s white tablecloths with red poinsettias around the border.
She’d put out her grandmother’s china. For the centerpiece, she used a miniature Christmas tree with itty-bitty ornaments and two red tapered candles.
Suddenly, she felt as though she’d tried too hard. What did he think?
She turned to him. “Since it’s the holidays, I thought we’d eat in here.”
He turned a smile to her. “It’s beautiful.”
She felt her face grow warm. “I just hope dinner is as good.”
He made a show of inhaling. “If it tastes half as good as it smells, it’ll be perfect.”
Even though she objected, he insisted on helping her serve dinner. Odie followed them back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room over and over again, hoping some of the food would leap from the serving dishes into his mouth. He was such a beggar.
Odie was disappointed nothing fell for him to catch.
Instead, Belle fed him his kibble just like she did each evening when she had dinner.
The only problem was that he gobbled it down much faster than she ate her dinner.
And then he lay at her feet, just waiting for something to fall into his mouth.
Belle was relieved to find the food was actually good—really good. Not that she ate much. Feeling bad for Odie, she ended up feeding him some of her roasted carrots. He loved carrots. With his belly full, he ran off to the living room, where he curled up with his stuffed lamb and blanket.
Belle found herself repeatedly glancing across the table at Parker, wondering when she should tell him that she was wrong about ending things between them.
She had missed him and she was falling in love with him.
Every time she thought those words, her heart would launch into her throat, choking off her ability to verbalize her feelings for him.
But she couldn’t keep quiet all evening. She had this feeling that if she didn’t make her move tonight, she’d lose her chance. After all, Sheriff Bishop was one of the most eligible bachelors in Kringle Falls.
She glanced over at Parker. He lifted a serving dish and went back for seconds. And there were plenty of leftovers to save her from cooking for a few days.
After dinner, Parker insisted on helping her clean up. It was so sweet of him. She was touched. When they both reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes, their fingers touched and lingered. She raised her gaze to meet his. The visual connection caused her heart to flutter.