Page 73 of Christmas Wishes

Maybe if I added my wish to Nico’s, it would amplify the power so it came true. While Riggs focused on his paper, I subtly kissed the words, folded the note, and tried to infuse it with all the positive energy I could.

“Shall we?” he asked after he folded his.

We walked over to the wish box together and dropped them in. A camera flash startled me. I turned and found someone with a badge hanging from their neck holding up their camera.

“Hello. I’m Jaime with the Juniper Ridge Gazette. I’m taking photos for our next issue. Are you both local? I’d like to add your names to the caption if you’re comfortable with that.”

“My name’s Keaton. I’m in town on vacation. Riggs is local though.” We gave him our full names, and Riggs wisely used it as an opportunity to mention his business. He was better at the business side of things than he gave himself credit for.

“What brings you to Juniper Ridge?” the reporter asked with his pen poised over his narrow notepad.

Instead of explaining the silly circumstances, I shared one word. “Serendipity.”

The reporter didn’t press further and moved on to taking photos of more people dropping off their wishes. Riggs placed his hand on the small of my back and steered me toward a sidewalk where there was space for us to line up for the parade.

I hadn’t been to a parade in years. I hadn’t enjoyed them much when I was younger because the weather was usually so miserable, but I was nowhere near miserable at the Juniper Ridge parade while standing close to Riggs. I was actually having fun, and the parade hadn’t even started yet.

“Is Doris going to join us?”

Riggs grinned. “The senior center has a float. You’ll love it.”

That’s right. I’d forgotten that Riggs had been helping the senior center folks with their float. “I can’t wait to see it.”

A police car drove slowly down the street with its lights on and siren off, leading a string of seriously lit-up vehicles. Each one was more decorated than the last. A truck with a sign for a local Christmas tree farm had a bed full of lit Christmas trees. A trailer passed advertising the local animal shelter and was covered in white fabric that looked like snow with white twinkling lights lining it. A pole wrapped in red-and-white lights held a sign readingNorth Pole. Cutest of all were the dogs wearing reindeer antlers.

“There’s Doris,” Riggs said into my ear. I shivered at his warm breath.

A truck passed pulling a flatbed that had bundles of greenery hanging from it and a large painted sign that readSanta’s Workshop. There were about a dozen people on the float dressed as elves and a few more elves riding on motorized scooters alongside the truck. Doris was decked out head-to-toe in green and red.

Doris spotted us and waved, then got Esther’s and Judith’s attention too. I enthusiastically waved back and caught a piece of candy Doris tossed at me.

“She must be freezing in that elf costume.”

“I’m sure she has a few layers on underneath. I set up a battery pack to run a space heater for them too.”

Jesus Christ, this man was thoughtful. It was getting harder and harder to imagine walking away from him.

* * *

RIGGS

I turned the truck’s ignition off once I parked in the driveway but made no movement to get out. Neither did Keaton. Light snowflakes fell onto the windshield, melting a path down the glass.

“Tonight was fun,” Keaton said after a few moments.

“It was.” I placed my hand on his thigh and squeezed. I missed him already, and he wasn’t gone yet.

Keaton let out a rough sigh like he’d had the same thought. “Shall we check on Joule?”

“Yup.”

I unlocked the front door and gestured for Keaton to go ahead. My asshole brain chimed in withfor the last time. The fucker. I didn’t want Keaton to leave, but I couldn’t ask him to stay. That wasn’t fair. We barely knew each other, but damn, I wanted to know him. I wanted him to know me. Why couldn’t he be from Phoenix or somewhere within driving distance?

We shed our winter gear in silence. It wasn’t time for bed yet, but I didn’t know what to do. The pressure of our last night together weighed on me, but I also didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

“Do you need to pack?”

“I’ll do it while you’re working tomorrow. I’d rather hang out the rest of the night if that works for you.” Keaton wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his cheek against my shoulder.

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