It had been a week since “toddlergeddon”, as Micah called it, which meant that Christmas was only days away. Fresh snow covered everything outside, but inside George Nichols’ house, a fire was going in the fireplace. Zach, the youngest of the Nichols brothers, had brought his wife Jen home to Frost River from the big city to celebrate, and to Sam, it was officially Christmas.
“No peeking!" Jen scolded as Uncle George tried to stealthily peel back the wrapping on one of the gifts she was arranging under the tree.
“And here I thought Zach was the Scrooge,” George playfully pouted.
“She learned from the best.” Zach joked, putting his arm around his wife’s shoulders. Sam, who had unsurprisingly been put in charge of hot chocolate for the evening, chuckled as he studied his family. It had been too long since they’d all been together.
With a gust of snowy wind, Micah and Stephanie blew in the front door, red-faced and smiling. There were general exclamations of welcome, but Sam’s mind only focused on the face that was missing.
“Didn’t you invite Lucy?” He asked, sidling up beside his older brother and slipping his hand into his pocket to hold the little present he’d hidden there.
“We just dropped her off. She had to get to the train station.”
“The train station?” His heart skipped a beat, though he tried to ignore it.
“Yeah. Her train leaves in like,” Micah glanced at his watch. “Twenty minutes?”
“Twenty minutes?” Now his heart was really starting to panic.
“Is there an echo in here?” Micah looked at him quizzically. “Wait, did you not know?”
Sam forced out a laugh. “What gave it away?”
A sly expression slid onto Micah’s face as he smiled. “Well, I mean, you do still have twenty minutes before her train leaves, and you could take my truck if you wanted…” He hadn’t even finished the sentence before Sam had snatched the keys out of his hand and was out the door. Micah laughed fully as he called after him, “Go get her, tiger!”
-
Lucy shivered a little against the cold on the train platform and hugged her green coat closer around her.
“Are you sure you don’t want to sit inside, Lucy?” Sarah, the platform manager, popped halfway out the station door, her wrinkled face wearing a smile. “It’s nice and warm in here.”
“No thank you, Miss Sarah, I’m good. It’s nice to be out here in the quiet. Just me and God and my thoughts, you know?”
She chuckled as she went back inside. “I do know. Let me know if you need anything, dear. We've got cocoa and marshmallows."
“Will do.”
Evidently it wasn't just Sam who was obsessed with the winter beverage. Or maybe he'd swayed the town's opinions with this joyful insistence on it being the best drink ever.
And now she was thinking about him again. That wasn't a good sign.
Alone on a bench in the brisk wind, which the station mostly blocked, she pondered the almost four weeks she’d spent in Frost River. They had somehow been the among best weeks of her life, which felt cheesy, which made her feel ridiculous.
“This only happens in Christmas movies.” She whispered to herself, pulling her knit cap down further over her ears. There was something in the air here that made her able to breathe deeper than she had in years. Part of her mind added, and Sam is here. That was the cheesiest part, but also the part that made her smile.
She’d been giving her parents updates since she came here, on how the job was going and various other parts of her life. But her mom would be able to see it in her face this week if she wasn’t careful. And since she didn’t really want to discuss how Sam was just her friend, at least for now, she needed to be careful.
The loud clatter of the station door opening broke her out of her thoughts. Lucy, startled, stood up and looked straight into the eyes of Sam. He was disheveled, his coat buttoned wrong and only wearing one glove. He stared at her for a second before recognition lit up his face and he took a step closer to her.
“Don’t go.”
She was so thrown off that it took her a moment to respond.
“What?”
He was completely serious, that she could tell.
“Look, I know we just met, and I shouldn’t ask you to rewrite your life just for me.” He reached forward and took one of her hands in his. “But I want this, Lucy. You and me. Whether it’s for two weeks, or the rest of our lives, I want to try.”
A slow smile started to spread on her face.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Where do you think I’m going?”
He blinked.
“Away forever and I’ll never see you again unless I convince you to stay?”
Now she had to laugh.
“I’m going home to see my parents for Christmas. Your uncle gave me the week off, I’ll be back by New Year’s.”
"Oh." She could practically see his brain stall and restart. "Well… this is awkward. Sorry to interrupt. Have a nice Christmas." He started to back away, his face flushing.
"No, no, Sam!" She followed him. Her boot caught on an icy patch and she skidded into him. He caught her against his chest, his face flushing further. This adorably awkward boy had fallen in love with her. It was almost too perfect.
Lucy rubbed her gloved hands together and put them against his cold face. He hadn’t even put a hat on, and it was freezing out here.
“I want this too.”
She did. She didn’t know why, or how any of this was real. All she knew was that he was in front of her, with his face turned down to hers, and if she didn’t kiss him now, Stephanie would never let her hear the end of it.
Sam beat her to it, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead, his cold fingers brushing against her chin. Warmth rushed through her. This was right. He was right. She’d never been so sure of anything.
A loud train whistle made them step apart a little. Sam gave her a lopsided smile.
“I guess I’ll see you in a week?”
Lucy couldn't hold back her snort of a laugh. "Yeah, I guess you will."
"Okay then." He pushed his hands awkwardly into the pockets of his coat and backed toward the station door. "You should invite your folks here for Easter."
"I'm guessing you go all out for that too?"
"Obviously."
“I would expect nothing less.”
They stared at each other for a moment before Sam gave a little “oh!” and pulled something from his pocket.
“This is for you.” As he passed her the small box, she flushed.
“I don’t have anything for you.”
“Doesn’t matter.” His smile widened and he rocked up on his toes. “Open it."
She returned his grin and pulled off the lid. Resting on a tiny pillow inside was a necklace with a gold reindeer pendant. It was absolutely perfect.
“It’s beautiful, Sam, thank you.” She felt like crying, then felt ridiculous again, but the gesture was so sweet, so completely Sam, that it touched her.
The train rolled into the station with a hiss and the platform began to bustle with people coming home for the holidays. Lucy tucked the little box into her pocket for safekeeping and picked up her suitcase.
“Well… Merry Christmas.” Sam offered. “Safe travels, all that stuff.”
She hesitated for a breath, then cleared the couple of steps between them and pressed her lips to his. He stiffened like she’d startled him, then relaxed, and when she pulled away, he smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Sam.”
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