Meeting Mr. Christmas (Collier’s Creek Christmas)

Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Kandi bowed and blew kisses to the crowd that responded with polite applause and a half-hearted cheer.

“She sounds kind of different live… Her voice was a little higher than I was expecting. I thought she’d sound more like Dolly. But she didn’t.” Cora looked confused. And it was no wonder, as Collier’s Creek’s home grown talent had turned out to be not so very talented after all.

To further applause, whipped up by a panicked looking Mayor, Kandi counted down the seconds before pressing hard on a big red button. All around them, the crowd gasped as the tree lit up with softly flickering multi-colored lights, the star at the very top in stark contrast as it pulsed diamond white.

Noel’s heart was heavy and dense as he dragged his gaze from the tree to Jed. He swallowed hard. Jed stood with his arms straight by his sides. Stiff and wooden, his profile still and expressionless, giving away nothing about what he was thinking or feeling. Cora cuddled up to him, but even if he knew she was there, he didn’t show it. The arm that tightened around Noel’s waist felt wrong and constricting, as if it had no right to be there, and without thinking, he pushed it away.

“Noel? Are you okay?” Kent’s question, whispered in his ear, sounded far away. Noel’s insides twisted into a million knots. No, he wasn’t okay, and he never would be, not when the only man he’d ever wanted stood just feet but a million miles away. He forced a smile onto his face as he turned to Kent.

“Of course I am.” He tried to smile some more, but his lips weren’t playing.

Kent stared down at him, before his eyes flickered over to Jed before coming back to rest on Noel. He shrugged and looked away, his lips pursing as his brow creased in a frown.

“Hey, guys, you wanna get some hot spiced cider?” Cora beamed, pointing to the beer garden on the side of the square. “And it means we don’t have to listen to the high school choir,” she added, grimacing as an out of tune rendition of Silent Night wobbled to a start.

“That would be great. Noel, do you—” but it was as far as Kent got as the crowd surged, taking both Kent and Cora with it.

Noel stumbled, but Jed tugged him back hard and he fell against him. Jed, using his size, forged a path through. They got as far as one of the stores, which was closed for the evening, and Jed dragged Noel into the recess by the door.

“Let it thin out first, then we’ll join them.” Jed plunged his hands into his coat pockets and looked out towards the tree.

Noel licked his lips. Something about Jed was off, had been all evening. Jed’s smiles were too bright, too wide. Too forced. There was a brittleness to him that was making Noel feel off kilter and unsteady, as though he were fighting to keep his balance. Whatever it was that was getting to Jed, he couldn’t make it out. Or maybe it just all came down to Jed being more embarrassed about the screw up that, this year, was the tree ceremony and the double dating disaster than he was making out.

“Jed, what’s?—”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Jed said quietly, turning to Noel. A smile twisted his lips, not happy, but not sad… Noel groped for the word. Wistful, maybe. Regretful . It exploded like a bomb in his brain. “I’m sorry. For tonight.” Jed dipped his head towards the beer garden. The crowd had thinned enough for them not to be swept away, but neither of them moved. “This was always our thing. Should have kept it that way, I guess. Plenty of other nights we could have double dated.”

That ’ s right, Jed, this was always our night. Always. The sudden, violent urge to pummel his fists against Jed’s chest made Noel ball his hands and wrap his arms around himself. The tree lighting, the fierce but good natured competition to find the ugliest Christmas sweater to wear, it’s what they’d done since they were kids. But they weren’t kids any longer.

“Cora’s nice. And very pretty. She’s just your type. You look good together.” Noel dragged out the words he only wanted to keep buried.

Jed’s lips twitched in a humorless smile. “She is. She’s real nice. So where did you find Ken? On the dating app?”

“Yes. And it’s Kent, Jed. Kent .”

Jed grinned, and it was the first genuine smile Noel had seen on his face all evening.

“The app’s scattering rainbow colored love sparkles around the Creek, so why not for me?”

Jed’s grin fell away. “He kinda seems okay, I guess.”

“Kinda? You guess?”

Jed shrugged, but that was as far as his answer went. “We need to get together soon. Maybe a movie night? We can get pizza and ice cream. No double dates. Just you and me. I promise.”

Jed’s cheeks glowed red. It was the reflection from the tree lights, Noel told himself. Or it was the cold, that was all, because it was all it could be.

“I’d love that.” Because he so, so would. Him and Jed, and maybe hunkering under a big soft blanket. Nobody but the two of them, the drapes pulled tight against everybody and everything… He wanted to whimper, he wanted to god damn beg for that, he wanted?—

“Cora’s waving at us. We’d better get over there.” Jed’s voice, like his expression, was flat.

Noel glanced across the square. Cora was holding up a large paper cup with one hand, beckoning with the other. They made their way across and squeezed into the small space that Cora had saved for them at the table.

“Thought you two had decided to bail. Here you go, sweetie.” Cora pushed a steaming cup towards Jed.

Next to her, Kent hunched over his drink. “What kept you?” An eyebrow arched as he stared at Noel.

Noel felt Jed stiffen, sitting close to him on the bench. Opening his mouth to answer, Jed cut across him, as breezy and upbeat as ever.

“The crowd, dude. Not seen the ceremony so busy before. Must be all the newcomers who’ve flooded the town in the last few years. And pushed up property prices.” Jed blew on his drink, humming his delight as he took a sip.

Kent’s lips pressed into a thin line. Noel shifted in his seat. Dude… What the hell? Jed never called anybody dude. Or not unless he was seriously pissed. Cora smiled, oblivious to the tension thickening the air.

“So Kent was telling me you two guys met through that new app? Love Hurts?” Her head snapped from side to side, her sunny smile glued in place.

Love Hurts. Noel blew on his drink, unable to resist a quick glance at Jed. Yeah, that just about summed it up.

“Love Heartz, but with a z not an s,” Kent corrected.

“Thought I’d give it a try,” Noel mumbled.

“And I sure am glad you did.” Kent slipped an arm around Noel’s waist, pulling him close. Noel turned his head slightly, and what should have been a touch of lips turned into an awkward nose bump.

“Ouch!” Noel laughed, his attempt to hide his embarrassment as clumsy as the failed kiss had been.

“That’s so cute. Don’t you think, Jed?”

“Hmm. Very.” Jed sipped his drink.

Noel threw a quick glance Jed’s way, but Jed’s expression was so closed down it was like looking at a blank, brick wall.

“We met at Randy’s — the Rodeo Grill and Bar?” Cora looked at Kent as she snuggled closer to Jed. “He brought me flowers for our first date. Can you believe he was so romantic? But then he is a florist.” Cora beamed, bathing them in the warmth of her smile. “We’ve been together for three weeks. Or nearly.”

Three weeks? Noel mis-swallowed his hot cider and started coughing. Three weeks. Or nearly. Jesus. That was just one step away to being married, for Jed.

“A florist? Seriously?” Kent said, laughing.

Ohhh… Jed had taken plenty of shit from some of the dumb jocks he’d been friends with — until he’d fixed them with a look that asked without asking if they wanted to re-evaluate their perceptions of what and who a florist was. Noel’s heart plummeted. Jed was nailing Kent with a particularly fine example of that look .

“What’s so funny, dude? Because the world can do with more flowers, right?”

Oh, no… Now Jed was grinning, not his teasing or even his shit-eating grin. It was that other one, the one that hardly ever made an appearance, the one that, if you were smart, you ran from, as far and as fast as possible.

“Sure. Flowers are nice, I guess. I know a rose when I see one, but wouldn’t recognize too many others. Just wouldn’t have taken you for a flower arranger, though.”

Fuck. Wrong move, Kent. Wrong fucking move.

“It’s floral design, not flower arranging.” Noel winced. Had that strangled squeak really been him? “Jed’s training under a world renowned floral artist.” Was that what Lucian was?

“All credit to you, Jed.” Kent held up his hands, palms out, as though sensing — and backing away from — the danger he was dancing with. Noel’s panic abated. “Just saw you more as a workshop kind of guy. Fixing engines.” Noel’s panic shot to the top of the measure and hit the bell hard.

Jed’s tiny hesitation, so small he doubted either Kent or Cora would have noticed it, rang loud and discordant in Noel’s skull.

“That’s my old man. Just shows that looks can be deceptive. We need some more of these.” Jed turned away from Kent and called over for more hot ciders.

“So what are you guys doing for the holidays?” Cora’s friendly, bubbly chat washed in like a wave to fill the silence, smiling as she looked from Noel to Kent.

Jesus, did this woman never stop grinning? Noel shot the mean spirited thought down before it could get fully airborne. Cora was warm and friendly. She was lovely. She was a ray of sunshine piercing through the gathering storm clouds. Noel could have picked her up and swung her around, as the talk turned to the holidays, and family, and what everybody’s favorite festive dish was.

“You’re coming to us, right?” Jed locked all his attention on Noel.

Noel’s heart skipped one, two, three beats, maybe more. “If you’re sure?”

Jed’s brow furrowed as his lips turned up in a lop-sided smile. It was fond, familiar, and indulgent. He leaned across the table and gently flicked Noel’s nose, just like he’d done a million and one times before, and Noel made a show of batting his hand away, just as he’d done a million and two times, before he returned Jed’s smile.

“Come on, you know it wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t there. And there’s no way I’d let you spend it on your own. You know that.”

“You spend Christmas together?” Cora’s voice cut through, and Noel dragged his gaze from Jed’s. She was still smiling, but it was different now, too rigid, too fixed in place.

Kent wasn’t smiling at all. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be home alone for Christmas?” Kent’s question sounded more like an accusation. “I’m not seeing my folks until the new year. You can spend it with me.”

“No need, Ken. We’ve already got this covered.” Jed’s smile was as cool as his voice. He threw back the last of his hot cider.

“I’ve told you, it’s Kent . With a ‘t’ on the end,” Kent gritted out.

“I’ve spent Christmas with Jed’s family for years.” The words rushed from Noel, tumbling out, one after the other. “Ever since I was a kid. Me, mom, dad, and my sister Carol. But it’s only me this year, because my parents now live in Florida. It was always a tradition we had, and now it’s only me left in the Creek I guess I’m kind of carrying it on.”

“Just one of many rock solid traditions, Kent, just one of many. That’s what comes with being best buds since we were in diapers together. How many dates did you say you and Noel have been on?”

“I didn’t.”

“This is our third.” Noel cast a glance at Kent. The third and last by the look on Kent’s face.

“The third? Hey, you’re practically engaged.”

“What’s that supposed to?—”

“Hey, Cora, I’ll walk you home.” Jed turned away, the dismissal crude as he pushed himself up from the table.

Cora’s eyes widened. “But it’s only just eight-thirty. I thought we could all go on to Randy’s — the Cowboy Combo are playing later.”

“Not for me. I’ve got an early start in the morning — all those festive table displays and bouquets won’t make themselves,” he said, throwing a glance Kent’s way.

Cora shook her head. Her smile had finally given up, her face a picture of both hurt and annoyance at Jed’s high handedness. Noel didn’t blame her one bit. This total fiasco was Jed’s fault and neither Cora nor Kent deserved to be exposed to Jed acting like a dick.

“Well, I’m sorry, Jed, but I haven ’ t got an early start. I stopped being home by 9:00pm years ago. You go if you want to, but I’m not.”

“Cora, stay with us if Jed’s got to go.” Please stay with us…

“Thanks Noel,” she said, dredging up a smile, “but I don’t want two dates to be ruined.” Her smile disappeared as she looked squarely at Jed. Getting up, she nodded to a group of women gathered at another table. “I’m gonna join my friends. See you around, guys.”

“Hey, Cora, I said I couldn’t be too late. I’ll call you, okay?” Jed called out after her.

“Whatever.” A second later, she was gone.

“You’d better make sure you take her an extra big bunch of flowers tomorrow, because that is one pissed lady.” Kent nodded over to the group, who were making room for Cora as they threw across dagger filled glances.

Jed shrugged. “I told her I couldn’t make it a late night, so I don’t know why she’s making a big deal of it. Let’s get that movie night sorted, babe. It’s been too long since we did that. Gotta go.” With no more than a glance at Kent, Jed turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Noel swirled around what was left of his drink as silence joined him and Kent at the table.

“Babe?” Kent raised a brow.

“It’s an old joke, that’s all, can’t remember when it started,” Noel mumbled, avoiding Kent’s gaze. Babe … it always sent a tingle down Noel’s spine.

“Okay,” Kent said, after a moment’s pause. “So, a movie night, huh? Just the two of you, I’m guessing, maybe snuggled up with some beers and a big carton of popcorn.”

Two cartons. Sweet for me, salted for Jed…

“It’s just movies, and only occasionally.” And there might be a blanket involved, and I might end up sitting a bit too close…

“He’s your best friend, right?”

“Yes, I told you so. Since we were little kids. Why?”

Kent looked down at him, a crooked smile on his lips. “Just best friends? Are you sure?”

“What do you mean?”

Ice filled Noel’s stomach. Because he knew exactly what Kent meant. A hard and heavy weight pressed against his chest. He’d always been so careful not to give away how he felt, how he?—

Kent sighed, rolled his eyes. “Come on, Noel. The guy didn’t like me. You’d have to be blind not to have noticed it.”

Noel winced. “He’s not normally?—”

“Such a dick?”

Noel’s shoulders stiffened. “He was out of sorts this evening. I don’t know why, and I’m sorry you met him when he wasn’t at his best. He’s not normally…” Such a dick . Jesus, Kent had hit the nail on the head. “Jed likes everybody, and everybody likes Jed,” he finished, his words as limp as a week old lettuce.

“Then maybe I’m the lucky guy he’s made an exception for. Mr. Popularity didn’t like me because I was here with you. You’re a nice guy Noel, and real cute, but nobody’s going to stand a chance with you all the time you’ve got your jealous best friend hanging around.”