A Chance This Christmas(21)
No effort to extend an olive branch.
Letting up on the sewing machine pedal, she slid the fabric out from under the presser foot and flipped it around to work on the other side. She’d been at the machine all day except for a brief trip to the Merry & Bright Bakery this morning to pick up breakfast for her mother. She’d walked in on a conversation at the counter about a mystery woman who was only in town to break up a wedding. She took a wild guess they’d been referring to her based on how fast the talk turned to the weather.
The chilly reception bothered her in a different way today than it might have earlier in the week. It was one thing for the townspeople to turn their back on Rachel. She expected that. But Gavin’s words last night made her realize just how lacking in Christmas spirit Yuletide felt with people holding grudges and more worried about making money than giving back to the community with charitable opportunities.
At this time of year especially, that upset her.
“Rachel!” her mother called up the stairs, her voice a soft undertone behind the music and the hum of the sewing machine.
Easing her foot off the pedal again, Rachel pressed the volume button down on her phone, silencing the wireless speaker. “Yes?”
“You have a visitor.” Her mother’s voice held a peculiar note—borderline girlish and a little flirtatious.
Rachel’s early detection system warned her this visitor would be male.
“Okay,” she called back belatedly, already hearing a heavy step on the staircase.
Gavin appeared then, his head nearly brushing the ceiling even in the center of the room where the roof wasn’t sloped. The insulated pants and boots he wore with a red sweatshirt layered over a tee made her think he’d spent the day on the mountain. The snow here wasn’t always the same caliber as the Alps and the Rockies, but for a snowboard cross athlete, there were local runs that worked well for training.
“I hope I’m not interrupting.” He glanced down at her work, making her realize she clutched the skirt of Emma’s red satin gown tightly in one hand.
Forcing her fingers to unclasp, she reminded herself she was over Gavin. He didn’t make her nervous anymore. She was older now, and wiser. So the natural, athletic grace in the man’s every movement was just something she noticed on a purely intellectual level.
Yes, she sucked at kidding herself.
“You’re not interrupting.” She straightened from her seat, coming to her feet. “I’ve been hunched over the machine for hours. I’ll wind up with a kinked neck if I don’t take time to look up now and then.”
Standing put her in sudden, close proximity with her guest considering the cramped space and low ceiling.
“You want to go for a walk? Get some fresh air?” He stared down at her from his spot less than a foot away.
She glanced over to the windows looking down on Main Street. The sidewalks were full of tourists, although—she could see now, thanks to Gavin—not as many as in the days when her father was a driving force in the town.
Two days ago, she wouldn’t have wanted to face the snubs. But after making the effort to smooth things over with many of the people she’d been closest with last night, she found she didn’t feel like hiding out in the house today. Also, Gavin Blake’s personal magnetism was way too high when she stood so close to him in this private spot.
“Definitely.” She would have lunged for the stairs if he hadn’t been standing in her path, stirring butterflies she tried hard to ignore. “That would be nice.”
Ten minutes later, they walked away from the town square, toward the Tinsel Trolley station. Rachel hugged her white parka tighter even though it hadn’t been that cold this week. The temperature hovered right around freezing, which wasn’t bad for a city in the mountains that routinely showed up on the weather news as the coldest spot in the nation.
They bought hot cocoa at the kiosk near the skating pond—a man-made addition to the town with a booth to rent ice skates and a canopy of lights strung between the trees overhead. The place was full of teens and young families. The bright lights made for good photo opportunities since the sun set so early this time of year. Holiday music—ever present around here—was piped in over hidden speakers. The choices were more modern though: pop singers interpreting the classics or crooning newer tunes.
Sipping her steaming hot chocolate carefully, Rachel followed Gavin’s progress to the far end of the skating rink where an empty wooden bench sat between two huge oak trees.
“I wanted to apologize for last night.” He waited for her to take a seat and then settled beside her on the bench. His knee brushed hers. “I know it’s not my place to tell you where to live or what to do.”
He laid an arm on the bench behind her, making himself more comfortable in a way that made her entirely too aware of him.
“I know you meant well.” They definitely hadn’t said much of anything on the short ride home. She’d been battling her frustration about Luke’s disappearing act. “This place gets under my skin—even more than I expected it when I came back.”
Although tonight, beside Gavin under the white lights, she didn’t feel quite so much opposition to her hometown. Sipping hot cocoa beside a charming, handsome man bearing an apology was definitely kind of nice.
“So what were you working on at the sewing machine?” he asked, resting one boot on his knee in a way that made his legs sprawl a little more. “Are you filling an order for a custom design through your store?”