Page 38 of The Christmas Letters
I raise my eyebrows. “Something work-related?”
“Sort of? It’s just this toy drive thing. The fire chief called over and asked if we could send a couple of volunteers over to help out. The fire station is hosting, and some volunteer organization charity thing is running it. They just need manpower. And it looks good in the community when that manpower comes from civil servants such as ourselves.”
“When?”
“Tonight for a few hours, doing prep work, and then tomorrow all day. We have to take the rig with us tomorrow. And dress in uniform. So we can meet and greet with kids, let them look around, answer questions. We’re the sideshow while they’re waiting to meet with Santa. They’re expecting a pretty big turnout, I guess. The firefighters will be doing the same thing.”
“We have to compete with the fire trucks? That’s not fair.”
“True, but with our good looks, it’ll all balance out,” Ben says through a grin.
I roll my eyes. “Whatever, man. I’m game.”
A few hours later, Ben rides with me, and we drive over to the fire station. It’s only a few blocks west, so we probably could have walked it, but I figure we’ll be glad to have my truck when the night’s over.
A couple dozen people are milling around the parking lot, slowly making their way toward the picnic pavilion behind the fire station.
I park and lock my truck and start heading that way, but then Ben grabs my arm. “Dude. Is that Tess?” He shoots me a worried look. “I swear I didn’t realize she’d be here, or I never would have roped you into this.”
I follow Ben’s gaze, immediately picking Tess out of the crowd. Something catches in my chest, a familiar buzz racing through my veins.
I wish I could explain my physical reaction to seeing her. It’s like there’s some sort of cellular recognition that makes my blood run hot and a sheen of sweat break out across my skin. But…look at her.I can’t even wrap my head around how beautiful she looks.
I wave away Ben’s concern, hoping my voice sounds normal.Chill.“Actually, I ran into her on the beach a while back. We talked. We’re cool.”
Ben’s eyebrows go up. “Cool as in…friends?”
I shrug. “I mean, I haven’t seen her since then. But yeah, I guess. You could call us friends.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Ben says as we follow a couple of firefighters to the pavilion. “You saw her, and you didn’t think it was worth mentioning?”
“We had one conversation,” I say. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
Though, the way my nerves are rioting, it feels like avery bigdeal that I’m seeing Tess right now. It’s an uncomfortable feeling because it almost feels like a betrayal.
I’m not interested in Tess.
Iaminterested in my Christmas pen pal.
I don’t want to have doubts about that, but the reality is, I haven’t met my pen pal in person so comparing her to Tess, who is real and beautiful in front of me…it’s hardnotto doubt.
Tess turns and looks in my direction, and we make eye contact. A huge smile breaks out on her face, and my heart flops onto the ground at her feet. “Drew!” she says as she walks toward us. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re here to volunteer,” I say. “Our chief sent us over.”
“Perfect,” she says. “We need all the help we can get.”
“You remember Ben?” I say, motioning next to me.
“I do. Good to see you again,” Tess says as she shakes Ben’s hand.
Together, we step into the pavilion where the picnic tables have been split in half. On one side, piles and piles of unwrapped toys, books and other presents cover every available surface. The other half of the tables are mostly empty, dotted with stacks of labels, pens, and tape.
“So we’re wrapping presents?” I ask.
“That’s the plan,” Tess says. “I know it looks like a lot, but hopefully we’ll have enough people here to get everything wrapped by tomorrow.”
“Tess!” a voice calls from behind us, and Tess turns, then runs over to greet a couple walking toward the pavilion hand in hand. She beams when she greets them, then hugs them both. When Tess grips the woman’s hand, she glances briefly over her shoulder in my direction, and I get the distinct impression she’s talking about me.
