Christmas Eve Love Story

Two

Braden stood by the main entrance at Lawson’s Finest, greeting new arrivals and wishing happy holidays to those departing. He saw Annie powering toward him in those towering white heels of hers. She held a large package in her arms. Likely Christmas tree lights for her display window, since those had gone out. They were LED lights, so that wasn’t supposed to happen. Just like he wasn’t supposed to be on the floor today. Normally, he worked the night shift, but he was filling in for Carlos, who was out sick.

Annie’s voice rose above the hubbub of the crowd as she got closer. “Excuse me!” She scooted past a pair of women holding shopping bags, her long hair bouncing behind her. “Incoming!” she warned a passel of teens, swooping by on the kids’ left side. She was a woman on a mission, and totally in charge. Unlike she’d been this morning while scrambling after her lip gloss in that impossibly bright-red pom-pom hat. When she’d stared up at him with her big brown eyes and professed her belief in Santa, he’d nearly lost his mind over her incredible cuteness.

Not that he was thinking of her in any interested way. She was just a coworker at Lawson’s, and he’d simply been observant. It was pretty impossible not to pay attention to Annie, especially when she was right there in front of him.

“Whoa!” She sprang back, and a younger man in a tweed coat lifted his fancy jewelry bag in the air. The shiny black bag had two gold-embossed letters on it, an L and an F for Lawson’s Finest. “Sorry!”

“No problem.” Annie shot him a flustered look and kept going. “We’re good.”

On the far side of the salesfloor, kids and adults lined up at Santa’s Workshop to see the jolly old elf, but the clock on wish-making was ticking. Lawson’s was closing early today—on account of the brewing storm. People everywhere wore panicked looks, loading up on gifts from tables holding holiday knickknacks and scurrying to checkout counters.

Braden kept a careful eye on his surroundings while two of his colleagues patrolled the floor. more security officers were stationed upstairs. The clothing departments were on the second floor, including Bridal. He saw Annie coming toward him, a vision in white.

No. Braden. Just no.

What was he thinking? Not about holy matrimony. With anyone—much less a coworker he barely knew at all. He wasn’t ready for serious. Not even casual. He’d been on a break from women for a while. Ever since leaving the army. He shook off the scent of smoke and the sound of sirens blaring in his head.

“No, Dylan! Let me!” A young boy raced past Annie, darting through Homewares.

Braden’s senses went on high alert, his muscles tensing.

Another kid yanked on the boy’s arm, scooting in front of him. “No, Marcus! Me first!”

Braden’s hand shot to his mic when he saw their mom wildly chasing after them. “Dylan! Marcus!” she shouted, in hot pursuit of her sons. They appeared to be twins maybe, or at least brothers and born very close together. Both had brown hair like their mom’s and bright-pink faces. They wore puffy coats over holiday sweaters and munchkin jeans.

“But I want my Robo-bot!” Marcus hollered.

“Santa! Santa!” Dylan cried. “Wait for me!”

Braden cut a glance at the workshop, seeing Santa depart for his break. The kids were running amok, darting through swarms of shoppers. If they weren’t stopped soon, somebody was going to get hurt. He took leaping strides toward the boys. He’d head them off at the pass with outstretched arms and a staunch warning.

Their mom got to them first, grabbing for the hood of one boy’s coat. “You won’t get anything ,” she shouted, “if you don’t”—her eyes got huge—“ stop !”

Marcus bumbled into Dylan, tackling him into the retractable belt cordoning off the window. Both kids landed in the fake snow, pulling the belt down with them. One black steel pole anchoring the belt lurched past them with a clatter—hitting the Christmas tree with force! The tall structure teetered this way and that.

Braden broke into a sprint, racing toward it. Annie dropped her package and started running too. The tree keeled over—its star topper smacking against the front window and yanking free a strand of icicle lights—before walloping the faux fireplace and sweeping three singing angels off the mantel. Whoa. It hit a tray holding cookies and milk for Santa on its way down. A china plate shattered, and sugarplums and snowflakes twirled above the wreckage.

Annie groaned under her breath. “What a disaster.”

The mom pulled her kids to their feet. “Boys!” she said with an embarrassed look. “ What were you thinking?” She stared at Annie and Braden, abashed. “I’m so sorry.” She opened her purse and took out her wallet. “Listen, whatever it costs—”

Annie met the woman’s eyes and said graciously, “Oh no, we can’t let you do that. Lawson’s will cover it.” Braden knew that was the store policy for accidents. The customer was always right at Lawson’s Finest, even when their offspring had done really, really wrong .

The boys hung their heads and looked up. They had to know they were in huge trouble. Especially with the guy keeping the list nearby. The store Santa stood a few feet away wearing a frown. “You were coming to see me?”

Marcus nodded.

“He pushed me!” Dylan said.

Santa scratched his snowy-white beard, weighing the situation. Annie’d been right about him. He did seem different. More like the genuine article. If there was such a thing.

The mom nudged her sons. “Apologize.”

“We’re sorry!” they told Santa. The mom turned to Annie and Braden, noting their name tags. “And to them.”

The children frowned and spoke in unison. “Sor-ry.”

Braden set his hands on his duty belt and spoke to the curious onlookers who approached. “It’s okay, folks. Everything’s under control.” His commanding manner caused most of them to back off, thankfully. He put in a quick call to the security office to let them know what had happened and request a replacement on the door. Not that they probably hadn’t already seen it all on CCTV. He’d have to make a full report on this later.

Santa spoke to the mom, glancing at the boys. “Mind if I have a word?”

She blew out a breath. “Be my guest.”

Santa crooked a finger in his white-gloved hand and the boys crept toward him. He motioned the boys closer and bent down to talk with them. They listened wide-eyed, solemnly nodding their heads. Whatever he was saying, this Santa was making a big impression.

Braden sensed it too. Some sort of odd holiday mojo seeping off this older guy. He experienced a joyful lift in his heart, like everything was merry and bright. Just like it had been when he was a kid, all those years ago when Christmas had felt as cozy as a warm woolen blanket on a cold winter’s night. But that was absurd. This Santa was simply an actor. A good one, but still. Nobody was good enough to make Braden believe in fairy tales. Life had dealt him enough hard knocks to keep him fully apprised of reality.

“Remember what I told you,” Santa said to the boys as they walked away.

“Yes, Santa!” they answered together.

Santa winked at their mom, his baby-blue eyes twinkling. He really was very jolly—a great fit for the part. “They’re good lads at heart.”

The mom blew out a breath. “Thanks for being so understanding.” She marched the kids out in front of her, and Santa leaned closer, whispering behind the back of his hand.

“Be sure Marcus gets that Robo-bot, and Dylan wants a rocket drone.”

“What?” She blinked like she couldn’t believe it. “After all—”

Santa chuckled. “They know-ho-ho-ho better now.” He nodded in a self-assured way. “It won’t happen again.”

Braden hoped not. Wow.

The family departed, and Annie turned to Santa. “You were very good with them.”

He laid a finger beside his nose and winked. “All in a day’s work.”

Santa toddled off toward the elevators, and Annie whispered, “Boy, that guy’s good. So into it.”

Braden’s heart thumped. Slow down there, buddy. But then it thumped again. He cleared his throat, willing himself to dwell on the situation at hand, and not on Annie’s incredibly beautiful brown eyes. They were a mixture of caramel and khaki—darker near the center and lighter around the edges of the irises—and unlike any he’d seen. Captivating . Braden knew better than to be captivated by a coworker. Although he’d failed majorly at that when they’d first met this morning.

He waded into the fake snow and picked up a train engine that had been thrown off its track when the tree fell over. Its barred wheels churned up and down. He found the switch and turned it off. It would take Annie forever to clean this up alone, and they had extra security staff here today anyway. “You’ve got an awfully big mess here,” he said, handing her the toy engine. “How about I help you pick up?”

She blushed. “Don’t you have patrolling or something to do?”

He chuckled at her choice of words. “I’ll be all right.” He patted the two-way radio on his duty belt. “If anything comes up where someone needs me, they can reach me here.”

“Well, um, thanks!” Her eyes met his, and his neck warmed.

He righted the holder for the retractable belt, nodding toward the fallen Christmas tree. “So. Should we stand that up first?”

“Good idea.” She crouched down and repositioned the star tree topper, and Braden settled his grasp around the tree’s trunk. She held on from the other side, and they pushed the tree into its upright position, steadying it on its weighted base. Several ornaments dropped off, Christmas balls breaking with sharp pings against the wooden platform in the window.

A circular rug lay between the tree section and the fake fireplace, and heavy bolts of glittery fake snow hugged the window’s perimeter. With the tree skirt bunched up against the disjointed train track, the space directly under the tree was bare. Except now it was littered with colorful pieces of shattered glass.

Braden read Annie’s down look and tried to cheer her up. “Looks like most of this can be salvaged,” he said. He straightened some Christmas tree limbs, which were made of bendable metal and plastic. “This tree’s still in decent shape.” He pointed to the icicle lights dripping from the window. “And those just need to be secured with some nails.”

Annie stooped to examine the train cars and the track that was supposed to run around the base of the tree. She set the toy engine down beside them. “You’re right. I don’t think any of this is broken.” She checked the wooden angels, placing them back on the mantel. “These guys either.” She’d definitely need a new plate for Santa’s cookies. Although those—and the glass of milk—appeared to be fake.

She got down on her knees to plug in the extension cord that ran to the tree, which had gotten jerked from its outlet. Ironically, replacing these lights was now the least of her worries.

Braden frowned. “No good?”

She sat back her haunches. “No good.”

“Looks like we’ll have to start over.”

Annie’s forehead wrinkled sweetly under her long mop of curly brown hair. “Looks like.” If he could help make things better for her, he was determined to do so. With the two of them working together, they’d get this cleanup finished in no time.

hours later, they’d mostly gotten it done. Santa paused on his way out the door as Braden tacked up the icicle lights. “Looking good, you two!” He smiled at Annie. “Just needs a little something.” More? They were just about to call it a night.

Santa stroked his snowy-white beard. “I know. How about a touch of tinsel?”

Somehow, Braden could see it. Tinsel could be nice. Glittery. Judging by her grin, Annie liked the suggestion too. “Got any of that in back?” he asked her.

“I think I do.” She turned away to hide her blush. Maybe it was too much to hope that was about him, but he seemed to have that effect on her. Admittedly, it was mutual. “Thanks for the tip,” she said to Santa. “Have a great night!”

“Going to be a busy one.” Santa adjusted his tunic beneath his open overcoat. “Always is.” Braden glanced at Annie, who held in a giggle.

She peered over her shoulder toward the stockroom. “I’ll be right back.”

Annie returned with two packages of tinsel, and Braden moved his ladder in front of the tree. She climbed its rungs, daintily laying fine silver strands across the Christmas tree’s spindly branches. She was such a natural at this . Of course. She decorates stuff all the time. She smiled down at him. “This is looking great!”

Braden held the second package in his hands, draping tinsel over the tree’s lower branches. “Yeah, things are really shaping up.”

She reached for a top branch and slipped. “Oh!” She grabbed the ladder’s handle and Braden gripped her waist, steadying her with his hands. She smelled all perfumy and light, like wildflowers in a springtime meadow.

“You all right there?” His throat went scratchy, and the words came out rough.

She sounded all breathy. “Yeah, thanks.”

He realized he’d been holding her for too long, and that she’d already found her footing, even in her towering shoes—probably not the best choice for climbing ladders. She wore them nicely though, and her legs were long and trim in those white stretch pants, leading all the way up to her snowman-patterned turtleneck, that cute black vest—and her heart-melting grin. He abruptly let her go. “Careful there.”

“Right. Thanks.” She tucked a lock of her hair behind one ear and climbed back down the ladder as he struggled to get his bearings. What was he doing? Not thinking of becoming involved with a coworker. No. He was more like…rolling the idea around in his mind. Testing it out. The concept intrigued him, honestly. Assuming she’s single.

Braden folded the ladder. “I guess that’s a wrap.” In a way, the display was improved by the addition of that tinsel.

She looked around, smiling happily. “Thanks for your help.”

“My pleasure.” He acknowledged the possibility—no, really, the likelihood— of her being in a relationship. She was beautiful and charming. So the chances of her having a boyfriend were fairly high. Still. That didn’t mean they couldn’t have a friendly cup of coffee together—so he could find out for sure. “Hey, Annie?” He stared out at the blustery evening, deciding to brave it. “Feel like going for a coffee?”

She blinked. “What? Now?”

He raked a hand through his hair. Maybe he’d made a wrong move. “Just a merry Christmas Eve cup? There’s a place near the subway.” She hesitated, and his pulse pounded. For an instant, he thought she might say yes, but she grimaced apologetically.

“I can’t risk missing my train. I mean, if things shut down—”

“Right.” He picked up the ladder, hiding his disappointment. “I gotcha.”

“And honestly—I’ve got errands to do.”

Great. Now she was making excuses. He’d overstepped his bounds. She probably was involved with someone. Either that, or she simply wasn’t interested in him, and now he’d made things uncomfortable for her.

“All righty. No worries.” He studied her one last time, thinking about that potential boyfriend of hers and what a very lucky guy he was. They probably had holiday plans together, which was cool. Braden had his own plans too. “I hope you have a very happy holiday.” His heart thudded in a dull ache as he strolled away, which was highly unnecessary. They’d only spent a few hours together, and he’d just met her today. He barely knew Annie at all.

It’s not like she’s my destiny.

He was already passing through accessories when he heard her lilting voice call after him. “Merry Christmas!” Somewhere high up in the sky, and far above the store, Braden thought he heard sleigh bells. But no, that couldn’t be. His mind had to be playing tricks on him.