Christmas Wishes
She flipped a switch, and then ran out to the front yard, excited to see what their hard work had created.
When the lights came alive all along the rooftop, Molly shouted with glee. “Yay! We did it!”
“We did it?” Nicholas shook his head and laughed from his spot on the roof. “You mean, I did it! You just watched.”
“And picked out the colors,” Molly reminded Nicholas, with a big smile growing on her face as she gazed up at him.
He smiled down at her, and her heart fluttered just a bit. She was glad when the front door suddenly opened and Mrs. Brownstone hurried out.
“Ooh! Lemme see! Lemme see!” Mrs. Brownstone called as she hurried into the yard. She'd bundled up against the cold so much that Molly could barely see her eyes under her over-sized wool hat. “Reginald! Molly and Nicholas finished!”
Mr. Brownstone slowly came out of the house behind his wife and they both went to stand beside Molly. The trio began to ooh and ahh as the lights cycled through their color changes, each time appearing a bit brighter than the last.
“It’s beautiful, Molly,” Mr. Brownstone said softly. “Thank you so much for doing this for us. You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to,” Molly said quickly. She smiled back at the Brownstones, before looking back up at Nicholas. “And it was no problem at all with Mr. Christmas Lights Expert in my back pocket. He did all the real work.”
“Was that a compliment coming from the Head Elf, herself?” Nicholas raised his hands towards the sky in celebration. “It’s a Christmas miracle.”
Molly chuckled and shook her head at him. “You're hilarious,” she called up to him.
“You know it.” He grinned at her, the lights changing the colors on his face. “Will you hold the ladder for me to come down?”
Molly hurried around to the side of the house to hold the ladder steady. Nicholas didn't really need it as he was steadier on the thing than she was, but she didn't mind.
He hopped off the last step, and suddenly Molly realized just how close they were. She could smell the soft scent of his soap. He smelled amazing. Like a winter's morning.
“Would you two like a few more slices of cake? For the road?” Mrs. Brownstone asked coming around the side of the house. “I can put them on one plate, if you two were planning to share.”
“No, thanks. I just came from Hannah’s place.” Molly ignored Mrs. Brownstone’s comment about she and Nicholas sharing the cake. “I think I’ve had my fill of sweets for the day.”
“I’ll take another slice, actually. If you don’t mind?” Nicholas asked, still holding onto the ladder. “I'm feeling like some cake tonight.”
“Of course, I don’t mind,” Mrs. Brownstone said, smiling at him. “Just give me one minute. I’ll have it wrapped up for you in a jiffy.”
Mrs. Brownstone headed back inside with Mr. Brownstone not too far behind her.
Molly stared up at him, still breathing in the scent of him. “You’re taking another slice of cake?”
“It was good,” he said simply. “What’s so wrong with wanting more of a good thing?”
Molly took a step back to look at him better. “Just doesn’t seem like you.”
“How can you say it doesn’t seem like me when you don’t know me at all?” Nicholas asked while he lowered the ladder to the ground. “First impressions aren’t everything. In fact, first impressions are usually dead wrong.”
“I guess so...” Molly’s words trailed off. She watched, chewing on her bottom lip as he carefully picked up the ladder and headed into the garage to put it away.
Nicholas Kerstman was going to eat a second slice of cake.
The same man who’d turned down the offer of a candy cane just a day before.
Molly wondered if she was somehow already getting to him, her love of Christmas rubbing off on him in some small way.
She smiled to herself as she considered the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to save Christmas Wishes after all.
Chapter 11
Nicholas