1123 Candy Cane Lane (Cherry Falls)

By the time we reach her house, the dark of the night sky had lightened, the first glow of dawn rising from the east.

I broke the silence as we reach the front door. “Are you sure you’re ok? I wanna know if you're okay before I leave you.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just need a cup of tea to calm down. That always works. You want one?”

“Sure,” I say. I don’t want to leave her alone, and she certainly isn’t unpleasant company. She’s sharp, a bit of a smartass, but there’s a sweetness to it. She puts on a hard front. I like her, a lot.

She opens the front door with one hand, and releases Trixie back into the house. I follow her in with O’Malley, careful to keep control of him, but I let go as soon as I see the interior of the house.

“You weren’t kidding when you said it was a doll’s house.”

I hear her laugh from the kitchen. The small living room had beige shag carpet, and bookshelves lined with chotskies of all kinds. Porcelain figurines of little children and puppies with big round blue eyes. The tall lamp in the far right corner had a pinstripe shade. I walk to an old record player sitting on a dark brown dresser. I shuffle through the stack of records next to it, careful not to drop anything.

I found A Charlie Brown Christmas in the middle of the stack, and carefully slide it out. I place it on the player, and move the needle to the edge. Soon, the house is alive with piano tunes from a 1960s Christmas special.

“It still works?” She shouts from the kitchen. I walk in and she smiles up at me. “I hadn’t tried it yet. I assumed it wouldn’t work, and if it did I’d probably break it.” Her eyes are clear now as she leans back against the counter, watching O’Malley and Trixie sniff each other and kiss by pressing their noses together.

“Those two have really taken to each other,” I offer.

“Yeah, what do we do about that?” She turns to watch the kettle on the stove. “Do we just let them get it out of their system?”

“Honestly, I’m starting to think that might be our only opti-”

I grab O’Malley and point my finger at him. “No boy, keep it PG. There’s a lady in the room.” Maybe I wasn’t ready to let them go at it just yet.

Holly watched the kettle, and I watched Holly. She still wore my coat, which went down nearly to her knees. But even wrapped up I could see her gently swaying her hips and wiggling her shoulders, dancing to Linus or Snoopy or whoever jammed out on the keyboard from the record in the living room.

She was a dorky dancer, but I can’t say a word, just watch. She moves in place as if I’m not in the room at all. I tie O’Malley to the pink table leg, but was transfixed on her. The kettle whistles, which builds up to a scream. She turns off the stove and with an oven mit, grabs the handle of the kettle, pouring the hot water into two mugs. She puts the kettle back on the dead stove and soaks the teabags in the mugs, bobbing them in the water to release all the flavor.

She places one mug in front of me shaped like a fox, and sits down next to me. She has both her hands wrapped around the mug, no doubt warming up after a night in the freezing woods. I watch the steam rise and swirl around her face as she takes the first sip.

“Mmm,” she moans. “Hot, but good. It’s a special Christmas blend, try it.” I blew on the tea and took the first sip. Suddenly I felt all warm inside. The tea was sweet, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Holly put her mug down and unzips the coat. She places it over my chair. “I believe that’s yours. Oh, and these.” She slips my shoes off and kicks them over to me.

She’s in her pajamas, a thin, red and white striped cotton shirt with matching shorts. I watch the rise of her chest with every breath she takes. I can see her hard nipples poking out from under her shirt.

I shouldn’t want her, but every single part of me does. Badly.

Without thinking, I slip the pad of my thumb along her hairline and hum. “Heaven help the man that finds himself smitten with you, Holly.”

6

Six - Holly

“You don’t even know the half of it.” I giggle before I can help it.

Charlie pauses to take me in, twinkling eyes so warm and homey I could fall into them. Easily.

I feel him everywhere, my body alive with sparks of energy caused by his close proximity. I suddenly wonder if I made a mistake inviting him inside my tiny house, perfect and safe and quaint and quiet. Since the second Charlie and O’Malley barreled into my life it’s been nothing but chaos. I thought of all the men at the law firm that’d invited me out to dinner or coffee, I couldn’t figure out why they wanted to date me. My curves aren’t appealing to everyone, but even I’ve noticed my figure changing as I grow into my hips and thighs. I feel womanly, but the attention from other men makes me cringe.