This Christmas (8 page)

I stand up and walk to him, trying to decipher what’s under the wrapping. The gift is round and about the size of his palm. I have no clue as to what it is.

I kneel down and find his gift under the tree. “You don’t want to wait until tomorrow?”

He shrugs. “There’s plenty more to open.”

I blush, but against the heat from the fire I don’t think he notices.

I hand him the gift. “Here.”

We exchange presents. His gift is thin yet hard.

“Open it,” Will presses. “I forgot how you like to guess gifts.”

I smile. “The anticipation is the best part. You first.” I’m certain his gift is much better than mine. I wince as he opens the DVD set.

“This is great,” he says, swiping a kiss over my cheek. “We can start our alone time with a Judge & Jury marathon.”

“You really like it?”

His eyebrows knit together. “Of course. I can’t watch any episode without thinking of you. Now yours.”

I flip the gift over in my hands a few times, still trying to guess. I can sense Will’s impatience though so I find the opening in the wrapping paper. I tear it and reveal the smooth back of a piece of wood. It’s not round at all, but in the shape of a heart with a string attached to the top. I turn it over and gasp lightly. The other side isn’t smooth but carved with intricate detailing outlining a smaller heart within and our initials, ‘W&H’.

My vision blurs as I trace the inlay of the smaller heart. “It’s—it’s the most— thank you,” I finish weakly.

“One of Mabel’s friends showed me how to do that.” His mouth twitches. “In typical male fashion I waited until the last minute to shop for you. And with our impromptu trip I never got to the store, so I made it.”

“You made this?” My mind was stuck on the fact that his hands created this gorgeous piece.

“It’s an ornament,” he says, taking it from me and hanging it on the tree.

It swings slowly from the branch and I can’t stop looking at it. My present is even more lame than I thought.

He digs his hands into his pockets and shrugs. “So…” He trails off. It’s one of his nervous tics that I haven’t seen for a while. He did it a lot that last summer before he left, when our relationship teetered between friendship and romance.

Thinking of our childhood gives me an idea. “Do you want to stay up and look for Santa like we used to?”

He kisses me, thoroughly enough that my knees weaken. “I’ll make more hot cocoa.”

Christmas Day

Some things never change, but at least I learn from my mistakes. My phone chirps a few times, waking me from a very deep sleep. The tree lights illuminate the room; the fire died down hours ago.

“Will,” I croak, sitting up. I stretch my stiff neck muscles. I must have fallen asleep sitting up against him.

“What?” he asks, not opening his eyes.

“It’s midnight.”

Will smirks, still half asleep. He sits up and yawns, stretching his hands over his head and letting them come down on my shoulders. “I think we missed Santa.” He points at the gifts.

I laugh while rubbing my face. “We’re going to have to figure out a way to stay up late or we might be kicked out of the twenty-something crowd sooner than we think.”

He yawns. “We can figure that out tomorrow.”

I let out a content sigh. “Merry Christmas.”

His hands lightly squeeze my shoulders. “Merry Christmas, Hadley.”

I lean forward. And when Will kisses me, I’m filled with all of the hope the holidays bring. And hope for a hundred more holidays with the love of my life.

Loved
This Christmas
? Then turn the page for an exclusive look at the first two chapters of Hadley and Will’s summer romance…

This Summer

CHAPTER ONE

Hadley

“There’s the heartbreaker!”

I stop in the middle of my driveway and glare at my best friend, Lily. She’s grinning madly.

I roll my eyes. “Is this going to be a thing?” I shout over the radio blaring from her car. I glance at the houses across the street and hustle to the passenger door.

Lily reaches for the volume and turns the music down to a level just below ear-shattering as I slide into the passenger seat. She snaps her gum, still holding onto her smile. “Probably.” Her hand leans on the horn.

I slap her hand away from the steering wheel.

“What?”

“You know Mrs. Jones hates that.” My neighbor across the street spends most of her day peering between her curtains, taking her self-appointed neighborhood watch duties very seriously.

Lily blows a raspberry and I shake my head.

“You know you love me,” she says.

Ethan, my eager seventeen year old brother, bounds out of the house.

“It’s not every day that Hadley Beauman breaks it off with the most drool-worthy guy in school,” Lily continues.

“That’s the thing,” I say, adjusting the hem of my shorts over my tanned legs. “We aren’t in school anymore. So technically it’s not a big deal.”

Lily hoots. “I see my methods are finally rubbing off on you. It’s about damn time.” She flips her chestnut waves over her shoulder. “It feels good, doesn’t it?” she says in a low, seductive voice.

I roll my eyes. Lily has no experience with a boyfriend but she has plenty with guys. Men, mostly. She finds high school boys too immature.

“Not really,” I say honestly. Carter and I were together for barely a year.

Ethan opens the back door and jumps in.

I sneak a glance at him and I’m blasted with his scent: some cologne that Mom gave him for Christmas. It’s a fight to get him up and showered in the morning, never mind put on scent, but I knew he didn’t do it for me.

Lily turns around in her seat and unleashes a smile at him. He gives her a lopsided grin. I don’t know how she does it, but with just a look she manages to turn even the most confident guys into blithering idiots. My brother never stood a chance. “Looking good, Ethan. A two-week cruise really does the Beauman clan well.” She flicks her finger at a lock of my sun-kissed blonde hair that had lightened even more over the graduation vacation from my parents. Dad was busy with work so it was my mom and her best friend along with Ethan and me.

Lily puts the car in reverse, then brakes so quickly I’m thrown back in my seat. I grab the seatbelt. “Why are you stopping?”

Lily’s head is turned toward the house next door. The two story cape that I’ve avoided looking at over the past two years. “What’s with the sign?”

“Dad told me they are selling the house,” Ethan chimes in.

My breathing constricts as I break the promise to myself and look up at the sharp lines of the house. I can just see the corner of Will Carson’s window from this angle, but I tear my focus away and look over the overgrown lawn to the ‘For Sale’ sign near the curb. A blue car idles in the driveway and I squint to make out who is in the driver’s seat.

As if the person heard the hammering of my heart, the driver’s side opens. A woman in her mid-fifties with a short black bob and black pantsuit exits the car. Her stick-thin legs look as if they are about to crack under the pressure of standing on five-inch heels. I’ve seen this woman’s face all over town on benches and other ‘For Sale’ signs.

My damp hands pull into fists in my lap. My head snaps towards Lily and she nods. There wasn’t an exact moment or time we spent on our mental connection, but it’s strong enough that we can convey entire stories across a crowded room with one look. And sitting in the same car I sent the strongest message I could.

I made a point to be over my neighbor and best friend since childhood leaving my life without a word since. I take a slow breath and exhale, turning my gaze to the glove box, focusing my thoughts away from him.

Lily peels out of the driveway, away from our house.

The further down the street we get, the easier my breathing comes and I unfurl my hands and wipe them on the plush seat.

The car is silent except for the roar of my heartbeat in my ears. Lily reaches for the volume and turns the music up again. I swallow, attempting to dislodge the lump in my throat. It’s not until we reach the main road that I’m able to breathe normally again.

“Ethan!” Lily calls over the music. “Did you meet any hot babes on the cruise?”

“Oh yeah,” he says, dragging the words out. “But none as hot as you.”

Lily cackles and I can’t help but smile. She has no idea how he feels about her, and I would never spill the beans.

“Do you know which pool you’re assigned to?” Lily asks, pushing the subject farther away from the near fatal freakout she just witnessed.

“No way,” Ethan says. “You know Dad doesn’t treat us any differently than the rest of the staff.”

Lily nudges my arm. “Have you talked to Carter since you got back?”

“Seriously?” Ethan groans. “We had a nice two weeks without talking about Carter.”

Lily glances at him in the rearview mirror.

I shake my head. “We just got in last night. I passed out like the second we got home. I don’t see a problem though. We’re still friends. I don’t see why anything will change.” I don’t mention the dozens of angry and sappy texts I returned to, all dated the first week I’d been gone. I know I’m seeing him today and, by the late timestamp on most of them, I’m not sure if he still feels the same way after a week of silence.

Ethan snorts.

I turn in my seat. “What?”

He tilts his head as if I just told him the world was flat. “You can’t be that stupid.”

I sock him in the leg and he wrinkles his nose.

“He’s right,” Lily says. “It’s going to be awkward as hell if you two are working as co-counselors together. You better not get back together.”

I turn in my seat to face her. “That’s not going to happen. He’s going to California for college. It was going to happen eventually. And he agreed to still work at the camp.”

Lily turns the music lower. “What if he hooks up with another girl? Then you have to work with him every day.”

I shrug. “He can hook up with whoever he wants.”

“You say that,” her tone is serious. “But you know you are going to feel like crap.”

“I forgot you wrote the book on boyfriends.” The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them.

I don’t look at her, but I know she’s chewing her lip.

“You’re right. But I’ve dated enough to know that this isn’t going to turn out well.”

We rarely argue and she has to know I didn’t mean it. I don’t do conflict so, in typical best friend fashion, she drops it. Our relationship is strong because we’re able to be honest with each other. She’s dished it out at me a few times but I never faulted her. But that doesn’t make it feel any better.

“Maybe Dad will switch Carter with someone else,” I offer by way of apology.

She points a solitary finger up as if strengthening her point. “As long as I’m not with Umber again.”

Ethan leans over the console. “I don’t think Umber applied this year after you sent him that beauty basket.”

She cracks a smile. “After a summer working with his body odor, it was just a small suggestion.”

I laugh. “I think he got the hint. Especially the amount of soap you put in there.”

She shrugs. “His future wife will thank me.” We arrive at the park in twenty minutes. Walking through the woods across from my house we would have been there in half the time, but it was humid enough for June that we drove. Lily refused to walk, not wanting to arrive sweaty for her first impression at camp orientation. We were all certified for the job earlier that year during spring break, but today we’ll be paired up and strengthening the relationship amongst the staff. Dad’s phrasing. Mostly it’s first impressions and final pairings for the staff that we care about.

Lily pulls into a parking spot at the back of the tan brick building that serves as the office for the Parks Department. Dad is the head of the department that takes care of the local parks and the summer camp program that I’ve been involved with since I was old enough to attend. When I turned sixteen I took the role of counselor. I managed to convince Lily to apply two summers ago. It was the best summer at camp by far. And also the worst.

Ethan jumps out of the car just as Daisy Luster pulls up in the spot next to us. He slams the door and hurries over to her, scooping her up in a bear hug. She squeals and tucks her head into his neck, her black hair coiling around his neck like a snake.

“Who’s the girl?” Lily observes.

I don’t acknowledge the undertone in her voice. “Daisy? She’s a swimmer at Foster’s Academy. Her and Ethan coach the kids at the community center over the winter. I guess she made the cut this year.”

Lily pulls her keys out of the ignition and opens her door without another word. When we reach the sidewalk I sling an arm around her and we walk towards the entrance.

“You’d tell me if you saw who I’m paired with this year right?” Lily asks.

I open the front door and usher her inside. “You know my dad,” I reply. Dad insisted from the start of us working here that Ethan and I go through the same process as the rest of the employees. He didn’t play favorites, which made us proving ourselves to the staff that much harder. But neither of us minded the challenge.

“Hey Rocky,” I beam at the man sitting at the front desk. The corners of his eyes crinkle with his sweet smile. He lifts his worn fishing hat in greeting, revealing a smattering of thin white hair poking up at all angles.

We wave and pass through another door.

“That’s not an answer,” Lily says in a sing-song voice.

“No I have not seen it,” I assure her.

“God, how can you stand it?” she gripes. “
You
know you’re with Carter.”

“Because we were last year,” I say. Dad rarely separated returning co-counselors since the bond is already established.

“Hadley,” a familiar voice calls from behind us.

I turn to see Carter, meeting his ice blue eyes. He swipes a chunk of dark hair away from his face as he pushes away from the wall. Was he waiting for me? I still don’t understand why the Adonis walking towards us came down the high school social ladder to pluck me from the masses, but I never questioned it. Not when he filled the truck-sized void in my heart, at least for a little while. But the tightness at the corners of his eyes makes me pause.