Page 18 of A Gift for her Festive Firefighter

Cade turned and looked at the grinning twerps who were sharing a secretive smile with each other and waited. He arched an eyebrow at them and waved a hand, silently asking them to keep talking.

“They set up a bunch of haybales, a pumpkin patch, got a bunch of food and games in the town square… everyone is out there having a little fun before the kids go trick-or-treating the next day.”

“I don’t know…”

“You should. It’s a free meal; you can see people and get a pumpkin for your apartment.”

It was more like four walls with a bed in the middle of the living room because he hadn’t bothered setting up a place yet. He just needed a safe place to sleep until he bought a place – which would need to be sooner rather than later. He was going to need a tax shelter for the sign-on bonus and slight raise he’d received taking this position. A single man with no bills, no dependents, and no house; he was going to pay through the nose.

“Maybe.”

“It’s a lot of fun – and it’s geared toward the adults, not just the kids. Their fun happens when the little hoodlums are running the streets.”

“Yeah, I’ll go,” he agreed finally, realizing it would give him a chance to talk to the bank or a realtor to see what to do next.

Smiling broadly, with his sunglasses perched on his nose, Cade stepped out into the sunlight, marveling at the change in the town. Sure enough, there was festive fall décor everywhere, making him wonder just how magical Christmastime would be. He loved the holidays, remembering fondly each celebration. They would run around for hours on Halloween with pillowcases full of candy. His mother would let them decorate the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. Every moment from October 31st to New Year’s Eve was an event to be cherished, and now those moments were memories.

“Time to make new ones,” he uttered aloud, stepping into the throng of people. He shook hands, smiled at people, felt guys clap him on the back like he was some celebrity or hero, and he was just himself, nobody special, he thought as someone pressed a cut-up caramel apple in a paper bowl toward him.

This was so weird, so friendly. Nobody was holding out a hand for money; he thought as someone pressed a small cup of apple cider in his other hand.

“Hey! You came!” a voice hollered before nearly upsetting Cade’s drink as a hand landed on his shoulder, shaking him. “Dude! I knew you’d come. How do you like it?”

“This is weird,” he admitted quietly. “Nobody is charging any money?”

“Ah,” Jude laughed openly and then pointed to a barrel in the distance that several people were surrounding. “You drop a donation in the barrel and at the end of the night, they count it up and split it between the vendors, so everyone has fun, gets paid, and we continue into the next year.”

“It’s run off donations?”

“Yup – and everyone ponies up because it gets better every year. Last year, we had chocolate-dipped pumpkin cheesecake on a stick, so I’m looking for the booth that the Becker’s are running. Have you been there yet – the bakery people?”

“Not yet,” he said distractedly, staring at the figure just beyond the barrel… and yanked off his sunglasses in sheer amazement, tucking them blindly into the neck of his T-shirt.

Who was that?

“You going to donate? Cool! I’ll let you know where the Becker booth is at, captain. You’re gonna love this,” Jude was saying, walking at his side as Cade made his way across the grass toward the figure in the distance. “Oh hey! I see it, and ohhh my gosh look at the size of the freakin’ cinnamon rolls?! They are as big as Mayberry’s head.”

Cade blinked and laughed, nodding at the excited guy as he ran off, and his eyes swung around to find the object of his fascination once more.

Chapter 8

HOLLY

“I can do this,” Holly whispered fearfully at her reflection in the mirror. “I just know it. It’s as simple as walking outside. There’s no one out there that doesn’t know me. It’s my chance to change their view, to turn a few eyes my way…”

And she swallowed, staring at herself, petrified. There was such a drastic change between her normal self and this woman before her. The female in the mirror had soft curly blonde hair, large hazel eyes, and the yellow floral dress that fell to her calves seemed to accentuate every shape on her body while still be loose.

The lady at the makeup counter at Sephora had made it a personal mission to show Holly what each item did for her, how to apply it, and even gave suggestions on how to fashion her hair to accentuate her eyes.

“A normal small-town event. We do this every year, remember?” she breathed aloud, looking at herself while trying to swallow back an anxiety attack that was looming on the horizon. By putting herself out there like this, it opened her up to all sorts of gossip and criticism and put her directly on the radar of potentially at least five to ten people within the population, and she only wanted one to notice her or treat her differently.

Trembling, she picked up her wallet and keys, feeling oddly ‘free’ in the dress and nervous that her skirt would fly up or someone would peek. Being in a dress sure wasn’t like being in loose-fitting pants or overalls. No, she felt like a lady… and a charlatan.

“They’re gonna laugh, or point, or…” Holly was muttering each word coming down each step from her apartment above the garage carefully in the delicate leather sandals. Couldn’t exactly wear steel-toe boots with this pretty dress, now could she?

“Ohhhh Beary… you look like a fairy princess,” Krista said from below, her eyes sparkling as her hands were clenched together over her heart – and just hearing those words of affirmation was enough to cause that fragile bubble around her to burst.

“Shuddup… you think? Oh my gosh, I feel like a fool and should just toss on my gear or skip this all together. This was stupid to go to this dressed up. It’s nothing, and I know everyone there. They know me and most of them won’t even recognize me like this. I look like Barbie’s knock-off second cousin…”

---