Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Felicity hadn’t had nearly enough beer for this.
The last time she’d been cozied up in one of the horseless carriages that roamed Christmas Grove, she’d been a teenager.
Handsy Harrison had been her date, and after the first sloppy kiss that was more saliva than tongue, she spent the rest of the night fending him off.
The memory was so vile that she found herself scowling as Jackson placed the thick blanket over their legs.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he pulled the blanket back. “Too warm?”
“Oh no.” She reached for the blanket as the chill in the air set into her bones. “The blanket is perfect. I was just remembering a particularly unpleasant evening in one of these rolling cheeseball contraptions when I was in high school.”
“Cheeseball contraption?” he asked with a chuckle and small shake of his head. “What’s next? Is the tree-lighting ceremony at the square each year trite? Do you throw tomatoes at the screen if a Hallmark movie comes on? Do you leave coal for Santa?”
Felicity cackled. He seemed so earnest, but she knew he was just needling her. “No. Maybe. And no. I’m all for people enjoying the season any way they like. Even if it’s riding around in one of these and marveling at the decorations. Maybe I’m the problem.”
“I wouldn’t say you’re a problem. People like what they like,” he said, resting his arm on the seat behind her as the carriage lurched forward. “But even if this is cheesy, there’s nothing wrong with cheese.”
“You know what, Jackson Bell?” she said, eyeing him with appreciation. “You’re right about that. I love a good gouda. Now, show me some gourmet decorations.”
He leaned forward and spoke as if talking to an invisible horse. “Show us the most interesting and unusual magical decorations that Christmas Grove has to offer.”
“Uh-oh. Seems like we’re in for some serious shenanigans,” Felicity said, wondering exactly how long she’d be trapped in the carriage.
Though, she did have to admit that sitting under a blanket with Jackson was hardly a hardship.
She leaned into him, pressing her head to his shoulder, and was pleased when his arm tightened around her.
After the day she’d had, she reveled in the warmth and safety of his embrace.
Felicity knew that snuggling with a man who made her feel safe certainly wasn’t going to fix any of her problems, but Jackson had a way of making her feel comforted, and that was really what she needed at the moment.
Otherwise, she was going to spend the rest of the night worrying about what was going to happen to her orchard.
“I’m not sure if magical snow is unusual, but that sure is pretty,” Jackson said.
Felicity jerked her head up and turned to see what he was looking at.
The carriage had stopped in front of a horse property that had a gentle, rolling landscape.
At the end of a treelined drive sat a large white house that was lit up with what seemed to be twinkle lights, but when they blinked off, the lights all shot off the house and lined up in formation just before they darted into the shape of a Christmas tree.
“Are they fireflies?” Jackson asked. “Seems too cold for them though.”
“They are snow fairies,” Felicity said, her voice hushed with awe. “I’ve only seen them once before.”
Jackson turned his attention to her. “I’ve never heard of snow fairies.”
“They don’t perform for just anyone. They must have a connection to someone who lives at that house.” The fairies dispersed, and when they came back together, they formed a star. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
“Extremely,” he agreed. “When and where did you see them before?”
“With my grandmother,” she said, pressing her hand to her heart.
“One year when my mom went away for a weekend with her boyfriend when I was just sixteen, the snow fairies made an appearance at the orchard. It was mid-December, and they formed all kinds of holiday images, but at the end, they formed an apple. I’ll never forget it. ”
“Like they are now?” Jackson asked softly.
Felicity’s eyes widened and then filled with tears as the snow fairies held an apple formation.
And when they started to hum Silent Night, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
She was so moved that she felt like her heart was going to burst. “Thank you,” she whispered to the fairies.
“You have no idea what you’ve given me.”
The humming faded and then suddenly the fairies disappeared. Snow began to drift down over the gorgeous property, turning it into something out of a Christmas card. Felicity clutched at Jackson’s hand, full of love and warm memories. She looked up at him. “How did you make this happen?”
“I didn’t,” he said, running his hand down her arm. “I had no idea that snow fairies even exist. All I did was ask that this carriage ride be something special. I guess this means mission accomplished.”
Felicity let out a bark of delighted laughter, almost unable to believe she was actually having a good time.
It had been years since she’d enjoyed anything to do with Christmas.
Not because she didn’t want to, but because it had hurt too much.
Now, somehow, the sweet man beside her had just found a way to give her back something that she’d lost when her grandmother passed.
That joy when the magic of Christmas touched her.
He could never understand what that meant to her.
She smiled up at him. “This was just our first stop. I can hardly wait to see what else is in store for us.”
“You and me both,” Jackson said as he stared at the snow-blanketed house, awe in his handsome features.
As gorgeous as the farm was, Felicity found herself studying Jackson’s face.
There was a sense of wonder about him that she couldn’t deny was infectious.
Everything about him was at ease, but he also seemed to still have that childlike joy bubbling beneath the surface.
It was charming, as well as a little disarming, to realize that the joy was part of why she was so drawn to him.
He tore his eyes away from the farm and then met hers.
Electricity sparked between them, and Felicity sucked in a tiny breath as a shiver sparked over her skin.
Jackson took it as the invitation it was and bent to kiss her.
His lips were warm and demanding as his arms tightened around her.
She reached up, sliding her fingers through his thick dark hair as she leaned into him, getting lost in the kiss.
Jackson caressed her cheek as he pulled back and said, “If we don’t stop, we’re going to be giving the snow fairies quite the show.”
Felicity chuckled softly. “We wouldn’t want to scandalize them.”
“I’m more worried about frostbite if we start ripping each other’s clothes off.”
“I’m not.” She winked at him, knowing that if he got her clothes off, she’d be burning up from the inside out. But she was still a respected member of Christmas Grove. She figured she’d like to keep it that way.
“You’re trouble,” he said and then asked the carriage to carry on.
The carriage moved effortlessly down one of the country roads until it suddenly stopped by a large frozen pond. There weren’t any houses nearby, and the moon was shining down on the icy surface.
“What are we supposed to be looking at?” Felicity asked.
“I’m not—oh.” Jackson pointed to the other side of the pond. “Look.”
Out of the shadows, suddenly a dozen snowmen appeared and stepped out onto the ice in ice skates.
They lined up, skating around, and then suddenly broke out in what could only be described as a flash mob.
“All I Want for Christmas is You” started to play out of nowhere, and the snowmen started spinning and jumping while one did fancy footwork as if he were a professional ice dancer.
Snowmen were everywhere, delighting Felicity.
She couldn’t help it. She started to dance in her seat as she sang along with the song that usually grated on her nerves due to how much it was overplayed in every establishment in Christmas Grove. But the dancing was so good, she just couldn’t be anything but joyful.
“Wow,” Jackson said after one of them did a back flip that turned into a spin that was so fast the snowman became just a white blur in the middle of the pond.
The rest of the snowmen danced around, tipping their hats and skating as gracefully as Olympic ice skaters. Suddenly the snowmen and the music stopped. One by one the snowmen left the pond, leaving only the one right in the middle, who was still frozen in his post-spin pose.
The moon seemed to shine brighter, and suddenly the polished snowman morphed into something more rustic. A snowman that looked all too familiar. One that had been built in front of her store that morning.
The snowman moved its stick arm to its face, touched its glass apple nose, and then pointed at Felicity and Jackson before turning and skating off the pond.
“Are you sure you didn’t plan this?” Felicity asked Jackson with suspicion.
“Scout’s honor,” he said, holding up three fingers. “I figured you’d stop by while I was still working in the kitchen. You usually don’t come in so late.”
Most days she popped in to say hi to Marissa, but even she had to admit that she didn’t stay for a beer that often. She usually had a diet soda while she caught up with her friend, and then she headed home to have dinner with her roommate, Clara. “Okay, but you still could have planned this.”
“While I’d love to take credit for this, I can’t,” he said. “We’ll just have to chalk it up to some Christmas Grove holiday magic.”
“Okay. If you say so,” Felicity said, even though she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure he hadn’t had anything to do with all the specific details. But then, he hadn’t even known that snow fairies existed, had he? She supposed he could have been acting, but she really didn’t think so.