Santa's Secret

“Hi, Mr. Fisher.” Delaney turns away quickly. I step in front of her, blocking her from whoever is at the end of my driveway. From here, I can’t make out their face, but that doesn’t stop me from waving. “Will we see you at church?”

“Sure will,” I say to the woman I’m assuming is my neighbor. I wait until she’s past the snow bank, wondering what she’s doing out this early and walking the streets.

“I should go,” Delaney says as she opens the car door. Turning around, I grip the door, holding it open for her. I’m tempted to ask her if she’s okay, but we both know what’s coming. Whether my neighbor saw it was Delaney I was about to kiss or not, rumors will be rampant this morning because some mystery woman spent the night at my house.

“I’ll see you later?” My statement comes out more like a question. I know I’ll see her, I guess I want to know when.

“At church,” she tells me, pulling the door shut and switching her car into reverse. I wait until she’s on the road before I head back into the house. My discarded snowsuit hangs in the mudroom where it can dry before I have to put it on again. Inside, Holly is sitting at the table, finishing a bowl of cereal.

“Good girl, making your breakfast.”

“I didn’t,” she says with a shrug. “Laney did.”

“Did she do your hair as well?”

Holly turns to show me the French braid, which starts on one side of her head and finishes on the other. It’s not a good feeling, knowing I’ll never be able to do something like that for her. Maybe, what I’m feeling is a sign I’m ready to move on, that Holly needs a mother. Someone who can do her hair, teach her how to put her make-up on and tell girly secrets to.

While Holly continues eating breakfast, I shower and get dressed quickly. The benefit to having short hair is I don’t have to do anything with it. The downfall, my head freezes in the winter and I need to wear a stocking cap or toque every time I have to leave the house. Brain freeze is a real thing and doesn’t just happen when you eat ice cream too fast.

The church parking lot is full when we pull in. In fact, I can’t remember a time when there’s been so many cars. I help Holly out of the truck and when she sees my parents, she goes running. My sister stalks toward me with an angry scowl on her face. As soon as I see her hand rear back, I know she’s going to hit me. I’m prepared though and step out of the way.

“I can’t believe you.”

“What?” I ask her, completely unaware of what her problem is.

“Shelby. You’ve broken her heart. I thought you were a better man than this, Aiden.”

Shelby? Did I make plans with her and forget? I don’t think I did, but I could be wrong. “It started snowing. I’ll make it up to her.”

“What?” Meredith asks.

“What, what?”

“You seriously have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” She crosses her arms over her chest and huffs. I shake my head slowly, unwilling to open my mouth out of fear I’ll say something wrong. Meredith’s hands flail about and she groans. “You spent the night with Delaney Du Luca. Everyone knows about it. People saw you making out this morning. Shelby is heartbroken, Aiden. She really likes you.”

I hold my hands up. “First of all, Delaney spent the night because it started snowing and we had a power outage. She brought a tree stand over from Mr. Steve’s and ended up helping Holly and I decorate. Second, Delaney and I weren’t making out. Third, what I do in my home is my business and fourth, I never led Shelby to believe we were any more than friends.”

“Hey, Aiden.” The voice of Shelby has me looking over my sister’s shoulder.

“Hi, Shelby.”

“I want to know if I can count on you to help set up the park for the festival?” It’s the way she says “count on you” that has me feeling guilty. Every year since I can remember, I’ve always helped out with the festival. Not that she’d know this since it’s her first year taking over. I glimpse quickly at my sister, who’s scowling at me.

“Of course, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks,” Shelby says before she turns toward the church. This time, Meredith’s hand does connect with my shoulder. My big coat mostly blocks her slap, but I still feel it. She points at me, but doesn’t say anything before walking away. I’m left standing in the parking lot with just about every member of the congregation staring at me.

Great!

Twenty-One

Delaney

It’s been a week since Fish and I spent the night together, stranded because of the storm. I wish I could say I haven’t thought about him, but there’s no use in lying to myself. The two almost kisses continue to replay in my mind. I wish I could remember the taste of his lips, but I don’t. I’ve spent the last week pestering Dominic with questions about Aiden, wondering if he’s dated since his wife passed away. I’m curious when I shouldn’t be. Eager to see him and when all we can be is friends. Desperate to run into him again, almost as if it’s a game between us. Yet, I have to remind myself, Aiden and I live completely different lifestyles and thousands of miles away from each other and a winter romance is something neither of us need right now.

My dad and I walk through the park with our boots kicking up the freshly fallen snow. The park is now this magical kingdom of happiness just in time for the winter festival to begin. People from all over the state are here to sell their homemade goods, mingle with people they only see a few times a year and to have fun.

Since my father’s election as mayor, he has really transformed our sleepy, cozy little town into somewhere fairy-tale like, and made the festival into one of the “must-see” events around the state. People from as far as New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Canada flock to take part.