Page 14 of Christmas with the Boy Next Door

Jack chuckled as Robin flared her eyes at him to suggest that she didn’t particularly like the scent, but she wore it because Abby’s enthusiasm was hard to contend with. He got that. The kid had the kind of energy and smile that made you want to say yes to anything, and he had a feeling he knew where she’d gotten it from.

“Here, why don’t you go inside and start fiddling with your snowmen, and I’ll be right in.” Robin handed Abby her keys.

Abby’s mouth dropped open. “My snowmen! I totally forgot!”

Then she bolted so fast she was practically a blur of red and blue as her superhero backpack jostled on her back.

“She’s into superheroes, huh?” Jack asked, nodding toward their house that Abby had just disappeared into. “Is that a new thing?”

“Pretty new, yeah. She has a wide range of interests. It started because she loves to read, and they just got a bunch of graphic novels about them in the school library.”

“Cool. Well, I guess I’ll head over to the inn and see what’s up for dinner. Do you and Abby… uh, I don’t know. Do you guys still go there for dinner now and then?”

“Yeah, a couple times a week.”

“Oh. Cool,” Jack said again. He shoved his hands in his pockets, knowing he should leave and let her get on with her evening, but also desperately searching his mind for something else to talk about.

“When do you move in?” she asked.

It was a perfectly reasonable question, but Jack couldn’t help but hope that her rushed tone meant she was doing the same thing he was.

Stalling.

“Hopefully next week,” he replied. “She said it was ready to go and the owners were eager to have it off their hands.”

Robin shifted from foot to foot, looking from her house to Jack’s and back again. Then her gaze swung to his, and her lips pulled up in the slightest hint of a smile. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later,neighbor.”

CHAPTER6

Robin

The followingweek flew by in a flurry of meetings, appointments, and putting the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations at home and the office. Abby had finally arranged her snowmen in what she’d decided was the perfect setup, and she’d invited several friends over after school this evening for hot chocolate to show it off.

Robin smiled fondly at the group of girls as they enjoyed their holiday drinks on a plaid blanket in front of the fireplace. She didn’t mind hosting something like this on a Friday night, even if the girls’ parents always dropped off their daughters and left rather than hanging out with her in the kitchen for adult conversation.

She knew she couldn’t blame the entirety of her social solitude on Matthew’s absence, however. It wasn’t as if she invited the parents to stay and hang out with her. But as she watched the girls giggling by the fire, an overwhelming sense of loneliness crept through her limbs and settled into her chest like a heavy snow.

Something caught her eye from outside the bay window in the living room, and she glanced over, tilting her head when she saw the telltale glow of colorful Christmas lights on Jack’s front lawn.

He’d only moved in the day before, and since he hated Christmas for reasons she’d never felt comfortable asking him about, it struck her as strange that hanging lights would be one of his first priorities.

“Girls, I’m stepping out front, but I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

Robin smirked when the girls shot distracted acknowledgments to her. Though, at least she’d gotten that much out of them. They were so wrapped up in their conversation about the new gym teacher they all loathed, they hadn’t even noticed when she’d put a bowl of snacks on the table. This teacher was apparently very strict and never played music while they ran their laps in the gym. Thenerve.

Robin grabbed her coat and started to head outside, then stopped short. Was this weird of her? Going to see if Jack was still hanging lights so she could ask him why he was doing it if he truly hated Christmas seemed like the busybody neighbor behavior that he likely wouldn’t welcome.

But then she caught sight of him stepping farther into his yard and gazing up at his house with his hands on his hips. The colorful glow made his chiseled face even more attractive than it normally was, and her belly flipped.

Okay, yes. Going outside to chat with him was probably ill-advised. But at that moment, she didn’t care. With one last look at the girls to make sure they were still engrossed in their conversation and wouldn’t miss her, she stepped into her boots and pulled open the door. She was immediately met with a blast of frosty air, so she wrapped her coat tighter around her with a shiver.

Jack looked over at the sound of the door closing behind her, and the warmth in his eyes was visible even from her porch. She hustled over to him, rubbing her hands together as she went. She’d forgotten gloves, and while it wasn’t below freezing or anything, it was darn close.

“What’s up,neighbor?” he asked as she joined him on his lawn.

They stood shoulder to shoulder and looked up at the house, and her jaw dropped in disbelief. “Wow. That looks fantastic.”

He’d hung a row of lights across the top edges of the roof and along the porch below it. He’d framed his windows, including the circular one that she presumed was for the attic, and he’d even wrapped additional strands of lights around the porch’s wooden railing.

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