A Christmas Call of Duty (Sweet Christmas Kisses)

21. Chapter One

Chapter One

Caroline

I nstead of ending my wedding with thunderous applause and a romantic kiss, I bring my beautiful, whimsical-themed ceremony to an end by fleeing the chapel before we even reach our vows.

“Caroline!”

With my white gown bunched in my hands, I kick off my heels and hurry down the sidewalk. I hear the voice of my ex-fiancé sounding from behind, but I keep running as my veil flies off my head and strands of wavy, blonde hair unravel. I don’t worry about comforting him. He probably has no clue I’ve caught on to him and all his lies. I wonder if he even realizes the perfume I smelled on his jacket this morning when we met with our photographer isn’t mine—poor guy.

But I digress. All I can think about right now is how long it will take me to run home, take off this silly dress, and eat Chinese takeout until I pass out.

Maybe it’s not how I pictured my night going, but I’d much rather end my wedding day single than with the wrong guy. And somewhere, the right man is out there. I just—!

“Oof!” I gasp as I turn the corner and collide with something solid. I stumble backward, thinking I’ve somehow hit a wall, but the wall suddenly has hands that grab my waist.

“Caroline?”

Ugh… it can’t be . I steady myself and look up into the familiar green eyes of none other than Aiden Reeves, who pitches me the same stern look he’s given me since we were kids. He’s my older brother Max’s best friend, which wouldn’t be an issue if he wasn’t as handsome as he is a total grump.

“What are you doing here?” I question him as I lift an eyebrow. It takes only a second to realize my hands are resting on the bulging pec muscles that protrude from his dark blue Sweet Water Fire Department T-shirt. I try to be stealthy as I remove them, but I can’t help but look away with a dumb deer in headlights expression on my face.

“Jogging before my shift. I should be asking you the same,” Aiden says, letting go of me and eyeing me up and down with an annoyingly amused smirk. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting married right now?”

Since the fire station is right around the corner, I suppose I am the one out of place. His words hit me like a punch to the gut, but I straighten up and try my best to play it cool.

“Aren’t you supposed to be rescuing people from fires right now?“ I pitch back, not wanting to get into the truth with him. Who knows what he’ll chastise me about this time? When we were younger, Aiden and I always butted heads. He thinks I’m too carefree and, therefore, reckless. And I think he’s a total stick in the mud who wouldn’t know fun if it jumped out of a cake and yelled, “Surprise!”

But such is my luck that Max would choose him, of all people, to form a lifelong bromance with.

Aiden gives me a pointed look as he crosses his arms over his chest, and I feel my face grow hot again. His muscles are noticeably bigger than they were the last time I saw him, and the sandy blonde hair I teased him for wearing in a ‘man-bun’ is now much shorter and compliments his neatly trimmed beard. I can’t help my mind as it wanders.

I know he’s a single dad, but I don’t know if he’s still… single. Not that it matters to me, but even without him looking like a shaggy beach bum, it would take a special kind of woman to deal with all his moody angst.

“Why do I always find you in some sort of trouble, Caroline?”

I wrinkle my nose at him, not liking his tone. He always acts like I’m some troublemaker when it’s usually quite the opposite.

“Says the man who got detention three times in one week,” I say, shooting his pointed look right back at him.

Aiden scoffs and shakes his head. “Now, you know that wasn’t my fault. That was—“

“Caroline!”

Speaking of troublemakers, I hear Max calling out from behind us. I whirl around and see him jogging toward me in his black suit, and a sheepish look fills my face.

“What in the world are you doing?” Max asks, leaning over to catch his breath. “Who runs from their own wedding?”

“I was just wondering the same thing,” Aiden says, drawing my attention back to him. His presence is so… demanding—like nothing else can be the center of attention. Or maybe it’s just hard for me to ignore him. His stern attitude definitely makes him hard to ignore.

I look between the two of them as the magnitude of the current situation hits me like a Mack truck. Did I actually run from my own wedding and leave all my friends and family sitting in their pews with no explanation? They must think I’m a total basket case!

“I’ll talk to you, but I’m not going back to that chapel,” I murmur to Max, not wanting to give Aiden any more arsenal than he already has. My sheer lack of luck when it comes to love is none of his business. Besides, what happened wasn’t entirely my fault. But I’m still the one who crashed the wedding by abruptly running away from it, and I know I will have to face the music eventually… just not today.

Max nods and bumps the side of his fist against Aiden’s. “I’m going to sort this out. I’ll see you at the bonfire?” Max asks.

He’s referring to the town’s biweekly bonfires down on the beach. They kick off at the start of every summer and usually run through the end of Sweet Water High’s football season.

“Yeah, my shift is about to start, but I’ll be there,” Aiden says before looking over at me.

My heart beats heavily in my chest as our eyes briefly meet.

I hardly ever miss a bonfire, but I don’t recall the last time I saw Aiden show up for one. My initial reaction is a confused, conflicting web of feelings when I think about running into him again so soon.

Am I looking forward to it or dreading it?

Why can’t I settle on an answer?

Aiden’s eyes sweep over my wedding dress one more time. “You look nice,” he says and continues his jog toward the fire station.

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Wow. Did Aiden compliment me? Baffled, I turn to Max, who crosses his arms and gives me an expectant look.

“What happened, Caroline?” Max asks. “You were head over heels for Eric when I saw you this morning.”

He’s right. I was. It’s crazy how quickly things changed, though. I went from being a happy bride-to-be to a bitter ex-fiance in what feels like a snap of the fingers.

“Eric isn’t in love with me,” I blurt out the words with clenched fists. “He—He’s in love with someone else.” I look down as the weight of my words sinks to the bottom of my stomach. How embarrassing.

But I suppose being left at the altar is pretty humiliating, too.

Max’s eyes grow wide in surprise. “Care…. How do you know? I mean—Are you sure?”

A cold laugh leaves me as I look down at the dress I spent hundreds of dollars on. You best believe it’ll be returned tomorrow.

“Oh, I’m sure,” I scoff, and my chest tightens. The realization that I’ll have to start over again is almost more than I can bear. This was supposed to be it for me. Eric was supposed to be the one . I blink back the surge of tears. “I’ll explain later, I promise, but I just need some time right now.”

Max sighs as he glances back in the direction of the chapel. “Well, go on and make a run for it, then. It might be DEFCON 1 by the time I get back there, but I’ll take care of it,” Max says.

I throw my arms around him and hug him so tight it knocks the breath out of him. “Thanks, Max. I owe you one!”

I just hope he knows how much I mean it. Explaining my sudden case of cold feet five million times is not what I need to be doing right now. Orange chicken, my cat, and my couch are all calling my name, and I want nothing more than to escape this awful day.

Max squirms out of my death grip. He pushes back and gently places his hands on my shoulders. “I really am sorry, Care,” he says, looking deep into my eyes. “You know I’m always here for you. Call me whenever you’re ready to talk about it.”

My face softens, and I give him a look of gratitude. I have the best older brother in the world. Max still has a hard time with it, so we hardly ever talk about it, but our parents died in a plane crash when we were away at college, and he’s been my rock ever since.

“It’s for the best,” I say, smiling.

I give his cheek a light pat before turning and continuing down Main Street toward my neighborhood, where my small but cozy beach bungalow awaits.

I don’t get far before a fire truck pulls out of the station with its lights and sirens blaring. It stops me dead in my tracks, and my eyes trail the large vehicle as it turns and drives in my direction, blowing past me and giving my dress and hair a little ruffle. With a lazy smile, I imagine Aiden inside with his gear on.

My heart skips a beat, and I snap myself out of my thoughts before picking up my pace. Now is not the time to be ogling over Aiden Reeves and his perfectly chiseled bod.

Tomorrow is a new day, and it’s time to start thinking about my happily ever after—Version 2.0.