Christmas in Sawyer Falls (6 page)

“Yes, I love Italian. And yes, I’d love to go out to dinner with you.”

“Great! Are you free on Saturday?”

Hannah nodded
her head.

“Then it’s a date! Saturday it is.”

Hannah couldn’t be sure but she could have sworn she heard whispered cheers coming from the nex
t room. She
was pretty sure that they
were bei
ng eavesdropped on.

E
ven being spied on couldn’t diminish her excitement
, though
. She was glad that fate-and Shadow-had brought Ben into her life. The thought of dating, even someone as attractive and kindhearted as B
en, was still a bit unnerving
t
o her. But she
was confident in her decision. She’d
take
it day by day, keeping in mind
that after the dark nights of life, God always makes the sun
rise again
and had that He had wonderful things in store for
her. And in that knowledge, Hannah would always find
hope.

THE  END

Courtney’s Christmas Wish

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And
lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

I was feeling giddy as I carefully treaded the icy sidewalk leading up to Molly’s front door. I had been looking forward to her annual Christmas party for weeks and didn’t want my lighter-than-air feeling right now to make me forget that I was actually heavy enough to wipeout on her front steps if I didn’t stay focused. That would definitely ruin my grand entrance.  I’d spent nearly a whole paycheck on a new outfit, boots, manicure and hair highlights in anticipation of this party. All because I knew that Grant Harris was going to be there.

Molly opened the front door and I was greeted by loud chatter and Christmas music pouring outside. I could smell a mixture of pine and cinnamon, the wonderful smells of Christmas.

“Be careful! I tried to get all the ice chipped off but it’s still a little bit slick!” After her warning, she looked me over from head to toe and nodded in approval.

“Look at you! Courtney, you look gorgeous!” She smiled at me, her auburn curls bouncing off of her shoulders. I worked with her at the town library and she was one of my best friends. She also happened to be Grant’s cousin.

As I met her at the front door, she leaned in close to me and whispered, “He’s here, but you’re not going to be happy. He brought her with him.”

My heart immediately sunk into my stomach.

“What? I thought you said they broke up.” I must have really looked devastated because she smiled again and said, “Cheer up sweetie, there’s a lot of
eligible bachelors here who you’ll have to fight off. Come on in and let me get you some eggnog.”

I went in and hung up my jacket and tried to blink the tears out of my eyes. Don’t ruin your makeup, Courtney, I told myself. He’d never really seen me as more than a friend, anyways, why would I have any reason to expect that tonight would be different. I tried to focus on the positive. I told myself I’d still get to see him; just being in the same room with him gave me the euphoric feeling of a stomach full of fluttering butterflies. And who knows, maybe he just brought her as a friend tonight, maybe they weren’t back together.

The her
that Molly was referring to was Sabrina Hartley. She had been Grant’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. Their apartments were next door to each other, probably a huge factor in the on-again-off-again thing going on. I had no idea what Grant saw in her. Wait, that’s not true. Actually, I did know. She is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. She has dark brown, silky hair that you usually only see in shampoo commercials, crystal blue eyes with the longest lashes humanly possible and is usually dressed, umm -how do I put this politely-to get attention. She knew that she was beautiful and used it to her advantage. 

Unfortunately, her personality didn’t match her physical beauty. Though she was sugary sweet when speaking to anyone of the male gender, to females she was cold, catty and condescending.  She had no qualms about going after any man, regardless of his marital status, giving her the reputation as a home wrecker.

If only Grant could see what most women knew-Sabrina Hartley was trouble. 

I spotted them over by the fireplace and my heart skipped a beat. He was just as handsome as ever. Six feet tall with sandy blond hair and blue eyes, he was a perfection of male form.  It was hard to see those eyes right now, though, as he was looking at Sabrina, who had her arms in a death grip around his, making sure that everyone there knew that he was taken. 

I thought back to the first time I had ever seen Grant. I walked into the first day of chemistry class and was struck dumb by the sight of this gorgeous guy in the front row. I’m sure I didn’t look very pretty with my mouth gaping open but
was disarmed by his smile and warm hello to me. I’m sure he had no idea that I’d hung on to that hello for a long time.

He was a football player and hung out with a group of popular kids that I was not a part of. But I got to sit behind him every day for an hour, my daydreaming costing me the only B I ever got on a report card. It was worth it, though. He would sometimes chat with me about trivial things, but he used my name when he talked to me and hearing my own name roll of his lips made my heart skip a beat every time.

Then came the fateful day when our chemistry teacher, Mr. Carson, announced that we’d be working on a project in pairs of her choosing.  As luck would have it, I was paired with Grant.  I could’ve kissed Mr. Carson, who had no idea that he had just made me the happiest girl at Sawyer Falls High School. We worked on our project in class and met many afternoons after
school  in
the class library and even a couple times at my house. I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven.  It was the highlight of my junior year and I remember every meeting like it happened yesterday, though for the life of me, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what our project was about.

The next year, we didn’t have any classes together, though we remained friends. He even invited me to a lot of parties that he went too, and despite my shyness at the time, I made a lot of new friends. We went to colleges in different cities, so I only saw him occasionally during the summers. After college, he came back home with to take over the Harris Hardware business from his father, a business that had stayed in family hands for almost a century. It was the same time I came back and found a job at the library. I ran into him shortly after that and he asked me, out of the blue, to go out to dinner with him.

We had a wonderful time and I felt like we really connected. We laughed and shared stories of college and the date ended with him asking me to dinner the next weekend.  I felt like he was finally starting to see me as more than a friend, especially during the second date. I felt we connected even more that night. We found out that we shared a lot of the same values and goals for life. He was a committed Christian who valued family and service, one of the reasons he chose to come back home to run the family business. That night, as he walked me to my
front door, he kissed me goodnight. It was a moment I’ll never forget, I can still feel the tingle that traveled from my lips all the way down to my toes.

I thought it was the beginning of my happy ever after but it was not to be. Though he had asked me out on a third date, the next week he had some excuse to cancel. Then every time I’d run into him after that, it was like all traces of the romantic connection were gone. He wasn’t rude to me, he was still very polite and friendly, but nothing more. It’s like he just changed his mind. I’ve been trying to change it back ever since.

I was suddenly whisked away from my daydream by Molly, who handed me a cup of eggnog. She introduced me to a friend of hers that I hadn’t met before, obviously trying to distract me.

“Tony, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Courtney. She works at the library with me.” Then, turning to me, she added, “Tony is in my new Bible study group and he’s new to town so I thought this would be a great place for him to meet some new people. And since you’re one of the friendliest people in Sawyer Falls, I thought you’d be a great person to start with.”

We laughed as I shook Tony’s hand. He was very tall with dark hair and a dimpled smile. He was definitely attractive. I tried to push the image of Grant and Sabrina out of my mind so I could focus my attention on him.

“So, how long have you worked in the library, Courtney?” he asked me.

“Well, I actually started with a part-time job there when I was in high school. I loved reading and was there all the time anyways. And then when I came back home the summer after college to help my parents move, I saw that they were hiring someone full-time. I remembered how much I loved it and thought it would be a great job for me until I go back to grad school. That was a year and a half ago.”

“You know, I’ve been in town three months and I haven’t even been to the library yet. I guess now I have a reason to go.” He smiled at me flirtatiously. “Do you think you could help me get a library card?”

“I think we could arrange that.  Stop by anytime.”

Molly gave my hand a squeeze and then left me alone with Tony to visit with other guests. She has always been a charming hostess and loves to make everyone feel welcome, one of the reasons her Christmas party seems to get bigger every year.

I happened to glance over Tony’s shoulder and saw Grant.
So much for distraction.
Then, suddenly, he looked at me, catching me staring right at him. I quickly looked down, embarrassed. My cheeks were getting hot and I hoped they weren’t too flushed. I looked up again, this time at Tony, who was talking about his new job.

Though I kept my eyes on Tony, I could see in my peripheral vision that a figure was heading closer to us. I felt my breath catch in my chest when I realized it was Grant. He was coming my way and watching us. Soon, he was standing right next to me. I could smell his cologne and wished I could deeply inhale it without being obvious.

“Hi Courtney, it’s nice to see you again,” he said as I felt myself melting in place.

“Hi Grant, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Then, I remembered my manners and added, “I’d like to introduce you to Tony. He’s new to Sawyer Falls. Tony, this is Grant Harris, Molly’s cousin.”

“Nice to meet you,” Tony said, offering his hand. He didn’t seem as excited in meeting Grant as he had been when Molly introduced him to me. His tone of voice revealed a hint of jealousy, like he resented someone moving in on me so soon after we were just getting to know each other. I wish I could have let him know that he had nothing to worry about. Grant would never see me as more than just a friend.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Grant answered, accepting his hand. I could have been imagining it, hoping for it, even, but I thought I detected a hint of the same tone in Grant’s voice. Maybe it was just a guy thing.

“How have you been? Are you still working at the library?” Grant asked me. I know he was just being friendly, but he had no idea that I had been looking forward to an interaction like this for weeks. I wasn’t as nervous in the
conversation with him that I had played out in my imagination as I was now that it was a reality. I could feel my mouth getting dry.

I felt butterflies in my stomach and hoped my voice wasn’t too shaky as I
answered
.“Yep
, still pushing books.”
Stupid answer.
Why did I say that?

“Well, I…” He started to answer but whatever he was going to say, I’ll never know. He was interrupted by a pair of slender, red-tipped hands reaching around his head and covering his eyes. The hands belonged to Sabrina.

“Guess who, sugar bear?”  Her cooing voice grated on my nerves.

“Umm, Santa Claus?”
He laughed while reaching up for her hands.

She giggled as he pulled her hands off and then she hugged him, keeping one eye on me the whole time. “You don’t mind if I steal this guy, here, do you?” she asked Tony and I sweetly.

“Help yourself!” Tony said. He was much more eager than I was to let Grant go.

I just smiled politely, wishing she could have given us
even  just
a minute more. I had hoped they just came together as friends to the party, but the way she was pawing all over him, I figured there must be more going on. She was pouring out the top of the extremely low cut red satin dress she was wearing.

“It was nice to see you Courtney, maybe we can catch up later!” Grant called as Sabrina dragged him away.

“Was that his girlfriend?” Tony asked.

“Um, to tell you the truth, I’m not really sure. But it sure did seem that way, didn’t it?” My eyes followed them as they walked away and she stopped him under the mistletoe for a kiss. And it was much more than just a ‘friend’ kiss. Oddly, when they finished kissing, I noticed that she looked back to make sure that I had seen them. I guess that diminished any remaining doubts I had.

“She doesn’t like you much,
does
she?” Tony asked. He had been watching them too.