Page 27 of Christmas Past
Bella’s heart was so full she could hardly contain it. She started to cry.
And wanted…no needed…Chad’s arms around her. Needed a man who looked at her the way Geoff looked at Gabrielle. No…she needed Chad to look at her that way. But instead, she turned so he couldn’t see her tears.
He was smacking his keys against the palm of his hand. “You ready to go? I came to give you a ride home.”
Because she’d left her car at home and he was a man who didn’t quit until the job was done.
Nodding, and with one last glance to the family she’d probably never see again, she followed him out.
~*~
Chad didn’t do anything without careful consideration. Without a well thought out plan. Unless…well, he was working and had to rely on his instincts in a dire situation.
His current situation, needing to get home to bed, wasn’t dire.
As the town square neared, he signaled his turn.
“I’m up two more roads,” Bella said to him.
He meant to nod. Thought about coming up with an excuse to make his currently signaled turn. Like needing to do something at his office. Turn in some kind of document as closure to the case. He couldn’t lie to her.
But he turned.
And she didn’t speak again. She just sat there. Letting him wonder about what she was thinking. Wondering if she was trying to figure him out. Tofeelhim. He didn’t want her to try to intuit his feelings. He wanted her to know him. The past two days…the things that had happened…it wasn’t just all about Camille.
He’d thought it had been.
But he hadn’t known everything.
He wondered if she had.
If there was really any way she could read what was deep inside him. And then help him to understand, too.
He didn’t believe in Christmas magic. But he knew that Christmas Town had her traditions. Ones that seemed to prove themselves out year after year.
There was something about the gazebo on the square. People who kissed there ended up married.
He wasn’t even going to consider the likelihood of that happening. He just figured, if ever he needed some magic it was that night. And if he had any hope at all of finding it, he better get his butt to the most magical spot in town.
As luck would have it…he had the thought with total irony…he was able to find a parking spot right in front of the gazebo. And didn’t have to wait to be able to walk Bella beneath the latticed ceiling. It was four in the morning. Who else would be fool enough to be out in the cold?
Once he had her there, he had no idea what to do. No sparkle drifted over him. Nothing came to him. He was his same old self. Standing in the cold with a woman who thought he was her ride home.
One who was probably extremely tired of him by now.
Extremely tired period.
He was being a selfish jerk. Not thinking of her at all.
Not even sure what he was thinking in terms of himself.
“You haven’t asked why we’re here,” he said. He was over-fatigued. That was it. His first thought, to get home and get some rest, had been the right one.
“I’m afraid to ask.”
Her words surprised him. Fear of him was not something he’d ever considered her for. He was the sheriff of Christmas Town for goodness sake. “Why?”
“Because I’m afraid to believe what my heart is telling me.”
