Page 16 of Twelve Dates of Christmas

“I thought maybe we’d head to the Christmas Village.”

“Do you ice skate?” I heard the laugh in her breathy voice.

“Not really. You might need to hold me up.”

“That won’t work. This might surprise you, but I’m kind of a klutz. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had extra cleanup at work because I made a mess.” She made a face. “Or tripped over my own feet.”

I squeezed her fingers. “Okay, we’ll stay off the ice.”

“Good plan.”

Seemed like that would give me a good opportunity to hold her hand or have my arm around her while we browsed anyway.

It was busy, but I found a place to park that wasn’t too far away. For a while, we window shopped, checking out the festive window displays that could compete with the Macy’s displays I’d seen when I visited New York during Christmas a few years ago. They weren’t so much about selling as they were about imbuing the Christmas spirit.

After an hour or so, we stopped at the center of the village setup. Standing behind Holly, my arms wrapped around her, we enjoyed carolers performing.

Glancing around, I saw families with small children getting into the holiday festivities, ice skating, making special ornaments, and seeing Santa as he made the rounds much like a character at the Disney parks.

In a few years, that would be us. We’d come down here with our kids and make memories.

Holly glanced up at me over her shoulder. The snow had started to fall around us, wrapping us in a snow globe of holiday bliss, and unable to help myself, I dropped my lips to hers. I kept it light, keeping in mind the children around us. There was nothing light about the joyful intimacy wrapping around us and through us. The perfect glow of it seemed to fill my chest.

After this year, there was no way I could ever again say I hated Christmas.

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