Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy

“Dragonflies? Ha,” Isabelle snorted and tossing a piece of plastic packaging toward Sophie. “Well, at least my hypothetical kids will be spared that for as long as they stay hypothetical—which will probably be forever. I’ll die an old maid living in this town.”

“That’s not likely to happen,” Sophie corrected, frowning at her sister’s comment. Did Isabelle regret having moved back to Pine Hill? Did she miss her accounting job in Nashville? She never said so, but sometimes Sophie did wonder. “You’re beautiful and smart. Any guy would be lucky to have you. You just have to learn to say yes to a few of your constant stream of date offers.”

Isabelle wrinkled her nose. “Have you met the guys who’ve asked me out? Thanks, but no thanks. I’m fine staying single and never having children, especially in light of your Aunt Sophie gift threats.”

The doorbell chimed, indicating they had a customer. Giving her sister one last look, because she would really have liked to question her further, Sophie stopped unpacking fabric to go help the newcomer.

Somehow, she even managed to put Cole Aaron out of her head…until a bolt of Christmas fabric with Santa Claus on it caught her eye.

Living right off Pine Hill’s town square had its advantages. For one, Sophie could walk to church and work.

Most days, weather permitting, that was what she did. She spent long hours sitting at a sewing machine and when she was done, she liked to make the most of the fresh air and the chance to stretch her legs.

Sophie had stayed late at The Threaded Needle to use the shop’s longarm quilting machine to stitch a queen-sized Double Wedding Ring pattern Odessa Adams had topped as a Christmas gift for her newlywed granddaughter. The sun had long set by the time Sophie locked up the shop and headed home, but the well-lit streets warded off the darkness.

She made her way up festively lit Main Street with its snow-frosted garlands, each with a bright red ribbon, wrapped around every lamppost. Breathing in a deep breath of crisp night air, Sophie swung her bag over her shoulder.

Despite her pleasure in being outside, enjoying the peaceful setting and the refreshingly brisk breeze, Cole’s journal weighed heavily in her bag, just as her heart weighed heavy with his rejection.

If only—

A yellow, furry streak ran in front of Sophie, stopping her in her tracks as she stared down the now-empty street, wondering where the half-grown cat had disappeared.

Speaking of rejections…

“Here, kitty, kitty.” She knelt and called in the direction the cat had gone, but to no avail as the cat stayed in the shadows.

“You know,” she told the elusive cat, “I’ve been leaving food for you for over a week. Although I’ve seen you peeping in my shop window from time to time, I’d like a closer look. A thank-you meow or two would be nice, too.”

The cat had been hanging around the square and surrounding neighborhood for the past several days, but, as tonight, had been too skittish to do more than watch Sophie from a safe distance. Knowing the poor thing had to be hungry, Sophie put a small bowl of food on her front porch each evening and left an old throw out for the kitty to snuggle up in during the cold winter nights.

“Someday, you’re going to realize that I’m not so bad, and then you’ll want to be my friend,” she told the unseen cat as she stood back up and started walking towards her house again.

Would Cole Aaron ever realize the same thing?

The Twenty-Second Annual Pine Hill Christmas Toy Drive was just starting to get underway.

This was Cole’s first holiday season in Pine Hill, but from the time he’d moved here, he’d learned this town meant business when it came to holidays. And it seemed that the Christmas season was the be-all end-all. For Cole, it was just another day, but even he wasn’t so jaded that he didn’t recall the excitement of Christmas morning as a kid.

Kids needed toys.

When Chief said the fire department was taking on an active role in collecting toys for kids, Cole had signed on to help however he could. He had no wife, kids, or significant other to require his time during the holidays like some of the crew, so he volunteered for whatever came up. No one would miss him if he spent more hours away from home. It made sense that he’d volunteer so others wouldn’t need to.

Assuaging his ever-present guilt was how he found himself sitting in the church community room with about twenty other people, mostly ignoring what was being said.

He spotted Sophie sitting near the front of the room. Her table’s occupants were an odd-looking mix, from Sophie’s sunny presence, to Chief towering over the others, to an almost regal woman in her seventies who looked vaguely familiar, to a cyan blue-haired punk granny with glaringly bold lipstick. Apparently not content with letting her bright colors do the talking for her, she also waved her hands frequently while whispering something to a brunette who appeared to be about the same age as Sophie. Whatever she was saying must have been entertaining—and possibly inappropriate, because the young woman kept suppressing her laughter and shaking her head. Andrew’s grandparents were there, too.

But the one he couldn’t take his eyes off of was Sophie. Sophie Grace Davis. Yep, he knew her full name…because the guys at the firehouse had teased him mercilessly about her appearance yesterday morning. Between that and his bit as Santa, they’d not let up with their Santa Cole jokes. Seriously, couldn’t his parents have named him something that didn’t sound the same as coal?

Hopefully, Ben and Andrew wouldn’t start in again when they spotted him watching Sophie. Because no, he didn’t want to take her for a ride in his sleigh, and no, she wasn’t getting him for Christmas.

Cole had no intentions of ever settling into a relationship. His friends knew that, although they weren’t clued in on his reasons why. As Andrew had also sworn allegiance to permanent bachelorhood, they’d become two peas in a pod, avoiding dates together and openly giving their buddy Ben a hard time as he sought out falling in love and starting a family rather than continuing in their bachelor life.

But lately the teasing had turned to him as his friends seemed to consider it their duty to rag him as much as possible about why Sophie had stopped by the firehall looking for him. He hadn’t told them about the journal, or about his telling Sophie

he never wanted to see her again.

How many times had those words played through his head?