Christmas Eve Love Story

Six

“What happened here?”

Annie jumped up so fast, she nearly fell over, stabilizing herself on the broom. Ms. Lawson! Yikes! Okay, this dream is now officially a nightmare. What had she been thinking? Not about kissing Braden—right here, in the store, in her front window. Gah.

Ms. Lawson surveyed Annie warily like she was wondering about that too. The attractive blond wore a green felt hat with a big black feather on it. She looked like a fashion model in a fitted emerald-colored dress with a wide belt, and high-heeled black boots. She held an animal-print coat in one arm and stood ramrod straight in a position of authority, though she couldn’t have been much older than Braden.

He straightened his knees, springing to attention too. A tiny whisp of fake snow dangled from his watch. “We, uh. Had a minor customer incident with the window, ma’am.” He raked a hand through his hair, appearing as flustered as Annie felt.

“Goodness!” Ms. Lawson cried. “Looks like a major catastrophe to me.” She tamped down her hat, casting a glance at Annie. “No one was hurt. I hope?”

“No,” she said, but her voice squeaked. Why, oh why was Ms. Lawson here now ? She almost never came into the store. “We’re making it better too!” Annie promised her. “Working on improvements.”

“Improvements, that so?” Ms. Lawson grimaced at the totaled display as if she were trying to imagine—unsuccessfully.

“Things will be better than new by the time Lawson’s reopens after Christmas,” Annie assured her. “You might even say—groundbreaking! Fresh!”

Ms. Lawson read her name tag. “You’re—?”

“Annie Jones, Assistant Visual Artist.”

“Ah yes.” Her light eyes glinted dimly. “Now I remember.”

Braden shook her hand. “Braden Tate. Nice meeting you, Ms. Lawson.” He noticed the fake snow stuck to his watch band and plucked it off, dropping it in the waste can.

Ms. Lawson smiled, and the tense vibe eased. “Veronica.” She cocked her head at Braden and Annie. “Both of you, please.”

“All right,” Annie smiled. Good to be on a first-name basis. Maybe that would help? Although the state of her window was not winning bonus points from anyone.

Veronica studied the window one last time. “Well!” she threw up her hands. “I can’t wait to see what you do with it.”

No kidding. Me either.

Veronica walked away, and Annie moaned under her breath, “Today of all days.”

Braden noticed Annie watching Veronica ride the escalator to the second floor. “I’m sure she doesn’t blame you.”

“Maybe not for this.” She swept her hand over the mess. “But for how things looked before?” She shrugged. “I’m afraid so.”

“Hang on. Are you saying she’s not pleased with your display?” He sounded dumbfounded, and Annie was heartened by his support.

She took the lone Christmas stocking that had stuck to the side of the tree and hung it back on the mantel. “She thinks they’re ‘old school.’”

He held open his hands. “Well, old school can mean classic, can’t it?”

“Thanks, Braden.” He was such a nice guy. How come she hadn’t met him before? Oh yeah, she had. Yesterday. But today could still be salvaged, depending on whether or not Braden was dating anyone, and also—on her degree of nerve.

***

Later that evening, Santa paused on his way out the door. “Looking good, you two!” He smiled at Annie as Braden tacked up the icicle lights. “Just needs a little something.”

What? Annie shot him a cheery grin. “We added tinsel!”

“Delightful, yes.” Santa nodded. “I know.” He held up a gloved finger. “More snow.”

“Snow?”

Santa gripped his big belly. “Ho ho ho, fake snow! The window could use a touch more.”

More snow could be nice. Sparkly.

Braden seemed to like the suggestion too. “Got any of that in back?”

“Sure do.” Annie led Braden to the first-floor stockroom. She reached for a box of fake snow, but it was up too high.

“I think I can get it.” Braden extended his arm, tapping at the corner of the box with his hand. It moved slightly, then a bit more. Whoa! Suddenly it came crashing down on top of them. The two of them caught it together, and Braden’s fingers laced over hers.

“Oh!” She bit her lip when his eyes twinkled.

“Close save,” he rasped, and tiny tingles shot up her arm before spreading out all over.

“Good thing this box is light,” she joked.

“Yeah.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Braden?”

“Hmm?”

Do it. Do it now before you lose your nerve. Braden stared at her with his bright-blue eyes, and her heart beat harder. “Er. About Christmas?” she asked above the drumming noise in her ears.

“Yes?” He looked so adorable, so handsome. He had to have a girlfriend.

Still, she had to ask. “Are you planning to spend it with someone?”

“Are you inviting me somewhere, Annie?”

“Gosh, no.” Humiliation swamped through her. “What I mean is—”

He smiled. “I’m spending it with my mom.”

“Nice.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, acting like she’d not been prying.

He grinned, sensing what she’d been getting at. “Just the two of us. No girlfriend.”

“Ha!” She wanted to sink through the floor. “That’s not why I asked.”

His face said he thought it was though. He took the box from her, and she released it. “What are you doing for Christmas?” he asked as they walked back to the window display.

“Me?” she asked meekly. “Erm, plans.”

“Plans?” She couldn’t admit she had no friends. No life. The truth stung a little, even though she only had herself to blame.

“Yeah,” she fibbed. “Loads and loads of ’em.”

“Cooking for a crowd, huh?”

“Er.” She and Leo didn’t exactly qualify. “It will be more intimate.”

“Ah. Gotcha.” His face fell. “You’ve got a boyfriend.”

“No, I don’t!” she said too quickly.

His eyes danced. “Oh great.”

“Great?”

“No. Not great. What I mean is”—he blew out a breath—“good to know.” They were going for most awkward conversation of the century , but she was liking him so much. He was sweet. And kind. And single. Yes. As far as she knew. She didn’t think he was pulling a Roy, but a woman could never be too sure. Proceed with caution.

But, come on, if she was dreaming, maybe she could dream a little more and investigate over coffee by getting to know him? She checked her phone for the time, seeing she had twenty minutes to spare compared to where she’d been at this time yesterday. Their cleanup had seemed to go more quickly, maybe because they’d done it before. Not that she’d anticipated doing this again. She hadn’t.

They arrived at the window, and Braden opened the box. “So,” he said, digging into it. “Snow?”

Annie grinned. This was great. This was all new and hadn’t happened before. This was progress. Her confidence surged. Didn’t matter that those kids had trashed her display again, and forget the fact that Veronica Lawson had showed up unexpectedly. She and Braden had fixed the damage, and in record time too. Despite its redux nature, this day was moving forward in ways that were generally positive.

“Snow!” she said, scooping a batch of the fuzzy white fluff into her hands. She added extra snow along the low backdrop dividing the display area from the salesfloor, and he taped some to the front window beneath the icicle lights.

“I like it!” he said. She did too.

Her heart gave a happy leap just as it had during every other interaction they’d had today. She didn’t know how it was possible, but he somehow seemed even more appealing than he had previously. She was appreciating more about him too. His easygoing nature. How solid and self-assured he seemed. His smile—that called her to him like a beacon on stormy seas. And oh, how she’d wanted to drown in his kisses, so badly. But yeah, most definitely, the moment had not been right.

Still, she didn’t think she’d imagined his attraction to her. Her heart beat harder. Could be that Braden wasn’t after fashion-forward? Maybe snowman-patterned turtlenecks were more his jam? There was only one way to find out, and that was not by chickening out again.

“So, Annie,” he said, folding up the ladder. “I was wondering—”

“Coffee?” She couldn’t miss getting back in time to help Harrington though. “I might have time for a quick cup!”

His grin lit her up from the inside out. “How did you know what I was going to ask?”