A Mountain Springs Christmas

Chapter 12

twelve

JACK

Jack went back into his office, shut the door behind him, set his coffee on his desk, then ran his fingers through his hair. The moment Noelle had walked through the doorway into the break room, his entire body had filled with happiness. Like it had forgotten all the time he’d spent worrying over the past day and a half. His body just felt more alive whenever she was in the same room.

But Lennox’s reaction to catching them in the teeniest tiniest bit of a moment together was precisely the reason why it was so wrong to have fallen so fully for Noelle.

He knew Friday that he’d stepped over a line in the sand that he’d drawn for himself. He’d known then that the smart thing to do—the responsible thing to do—would’ve been to call things off then. Yet he didn’t.

And then, during Saturday’s activity, there had been no time to think—just time to react as they raced through the scavenger hunt and made everything they needed for the tree. There hadn’t been time for the logical part of him to keep shouting that he was making a wrong choice. He was usually so good at self- discipline. How had he let himself get into a situation with such considerable consequences to his heart?

And now that he was looking back, he realized he had been brushing over that line and redrawing it for a couple of weeks. Opening himself up more and more to Noelle.

He sank into the chair behind his desk and couldn’t stop thinking about the way Noelle’s face had lit up when she walked into the break room. And what it did to his stomach to see the woman he’d been falling in love with for the past year and a half having such a joyful response at seeing him.

Which made him think about the look she’d had on her face right before she had kissed him. He wanted to experience seeing that look on her face every day.

But then, like all the emotions had been standing in line to see him, the moment that one stepped away, the next one he’d experienced that night stepped forward. After their kiss, he and Noelle had joined the rest of her big family to see the results of everyone’s Mystery Santa Hat offerings.

And as he stood, surrounded by all of them, he thought about how much he’d been falling for Noelle’s family, too. They were everything he had grown up without. Rachel and Aiden meant everything to him. He never would’ve guessed that his heart had room for a family that big, but then they went and surprised him, too, and showed him how much he actually needed them. He saw it in Rachel’s face during the hayride and Aiden’s every time they did anything at Noelle’s parents’ house.

And all of that scared him. Because he was still Noelle’s boss, which meant that he couldn’t have a relationship with her.

All through that night, the emotions within him battled. He sat at Noelle’s side as Becca, Corbin, and their four little kids performed a sweet version of the first Christmas, with Joseph wearing a colander as a hat, Mary wearing a Superman cape, a shepherd wearing a bedazzled scarf instead of robes and holding a stuffed bear instead of a sheep, a wise man wearing a suit coat that was so long on her that it dragged on the floor, a second wise man wearing swim goggles and arm floaties, and baby Jesus constantly climbing out of the giant mixing bowl that was supposed to be the manger. The wise men placed gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh at baby Jesus’s manger, but were actually a mixing cup, a microphone from a preschooler’s karaoke machine, and a lint roller that baby Jesus kept trying to put in his mouth.

And then they watched as Katie and her date reenacted the scene from the movie Elf when he sang, “I’m singing! I’m in a store, and I’m singing!” Her date played the part of Buddy the Elf, and Katie played the roles of Jovie, the store manager, and several people in the store, hurrying to change costumes and props with each line.

Laughter had filled him as they watched both skits, loving sitting next to Noelle and being with all her family. Yet, sadness that it all was going to go away had quickly fought with that laughter.

He’d been so proud of their tree when they presented it. With as overwhelmed as he’d felt by the task, it had turned out well. Of course, Hope’s family had turned theirs into a “family tree,” with each family member hand-drawn by their kids, and had taken home the trophy. Still, though, he’d been impressed by the tree he and Noelle had made.

There had been a lot more laughter—and plenty of "Eww! " and “Gross!” and even a few people said “Yum!” as they ate the creations from the two teams who had pulled “Dinner” from Santa’s hat.

Julianne, along with her husband and two kids, had made chicken tortilla soup that definitely had chicken in it, and he guessed some taco seasoning, but the rest of the soup looked like it was maybe four different kinds of canned soup mixed together. Their dessert was an Oreo cookie topped with a dollop of Cool Whip, topped with a single blueberry. It was kind of weird, but not too bad.

Noelle’s parents had made a stir fry with a strange collection of vegetables and a meat that was definitely not chicken. His guess was canned tuna. They’d made an apple crisp that was pretty impressive, especially considering that the topping seemed to be made out of a mix of crushed potato chips, Fritos, and Doritos.

And he’d experienced it all with Noelle by his side. During it all, things were slightly awkward between them and didn’t have the same easiness they had gained during their previous activities. He knew it was all coming from him because grief at the impending loss battled with contented happiness all night long. Yet, he still longed to spend every moment with her. Even knowing that every minute spent with her was going to make calling it all off even more difficult.

He stood up and paced in his office, trying to come to terms with what he needed to do, especially when such a large part of him was fighting every bit of it.

But if Saturday night hadn’t let him know that he needed to end things, Sunday night did. He’d gone over to Rachel’s for dinner and to check on them, and Aiden couldn’t stop talking about how Noelle had come over and played with him and how much fun he had.

Somehow, he hadn’t thought through how much hiring Noelle would affect his nephew. Of course he’d get attached to her. Who wouldn’t? How could he not have realized that?

He was in deep. They all were. He needed to end things before it got any worse.