Wrapped Up In Christmas

Sarah stole a look at Bodie, hoping to see complete enchantment on his face at the parade floats passing by.

Not exactly enchantment, but he didn’t look bored. Keeping a tight rein on Harry, who was distracted due to all the people and noise, he was hunkered down next to the dog.

“Hey, Sarah!” Carrie’s son, Jeff, called as the local high school football float passed by. A handful of candy rained down several feet in front of them onto the paved street.

“He’s obviously not the quarterback,” Bodie mused.

Picking up the candy from the pavement, Sarah laughed. “You’re right. He’s not our quarterback, but he is one fantastic receiver and a great member of our church youth group. An awesome kid.”

Sarah handed the candy she’d picked up to a couple of nearby kids, then she rejoined Bodie.

“Looks like he has a little crush on the special projects director.”

“What?” Sarah frowned, shaking her head. “No. I’m sure he doesn’t.—What about you? Did you have a teenage crush?”

He shrugged. “Not really. My teenaged fantasies all revolved around becoming a soldier.”

“Seriously? No special girl from your past who still holds your heart?”

Now why had she asked that? It wasn’t as if it mattered to he

r whether he did or didn’t have someone special waiting for his return someday.

“I rarely dated, and it was nothing serious when I did. It wouldn’t have been right to try for something more when I knew I’d be leaving with no return planned.” He stroked his hand over Harry’s neck. “So, no, there isn’t anyone special from my past.”

She barely heard the last part as the high school band moved their way, playing an upbeat Christmas tune and making conversation temporarily impossible. Which was just as well, as she might have said something silly, such as that she was glad he didn’t have someone special waiting on him.

How selfish of her to feel that way. She should want Bodie to have someone, to feel love and happiness.

Yet, hearing him say that there wasn’t someone special, that there never had been, pleased her in ways it shouldn’t. In ways that a friend shouldn’t feel about a friend.

Ignoring her tumultuous thoughts, she swayed and sang along with the upbeat band. Later, in the quiet of the night, she’d think over the day, over how much fun she’d had with Bodie, and maybe then she could label the giddiness in her belly when he smiled.

After the group passed, when they could hear each other talk again, Sarah asked, “How about band? Do you play an instrument?”

Bodie straightened from where he’d been squatted with Harry and glanced toward her. “What is this? Twenty questions?”

“Just curious about you.”

“I was a boring kid in high school, Sarah. No sports, no band, no clubs, very few girlfriends. Just school, ROTC, and working for my stepfather. That kept me plenty busy.” Before she could ask another question, he turned the tables. “How about you?”

“Me? I did a few school clubs, no sports or ROTC, and spent all my spare time away from school with my father, with Aunt Jean and the Butterflies, at church, or some combination thereof.”

He adjusted Harry’s leash handle. “You left out the boyfriend part.”

Her cheeks heated. Not from the thought of anyone from the past, but at the way Bodie looked at her, the way he seemed edgy as he waited for her answer. As if her answer mattered. As if she mattered.

“I had a few boyfriends during high school,” she admitted. “Mostly guys I met through our church youth group. Nothing serious.”

“How about since high school?”

Yeah, she didn’t like this table-turned thing. She longed for a relationship like her parents had had, a relationship like Charlie and Ruby still had—but her own relationships had never even come close.

“There were a couple of guys I dated for a short time during junior college, none serious until I met Richard.”

“That’s the last guy?” The corner of Bodie’s jaw gave a visible twitch, as if he’d fought clenching his teeth and his muscles had protested.

She nodded. “I shouldn’t say we were serious, because he never was. Leaving Pine Hill was always his goal, not a life with me.”