Sweet Christmas Kisses (151 page)

“What do you mean
a thing?
” Holly asked in a tone a mother bear might use if her cub was being threatened. “What kind of a thing?”

“It doesn’t matter now. He was there, and he offered.”

Holly looked back at Michael. “Well, that was nice of you, but I think the Robinsons are more than capable of looking after one another. We’ll be fine.”

“Who are you kidding?” Noelle asked, her own temper starting to flare. The Robinson-Campbell feud needed to stop. It wasn’t Michael’s fault his brother was a coward. “There’s no way I can handle Christmas on my own, and you know I’ll be on my own for the most part. I need him… er… his body… I mean… an extra hand.”

Oh, Noelle, stop talking.

“Michael has been a good friend to me this year,” Noelle said, trying once more. “It’s time we all moved passed what happened. In any case, I’m in charge, so I get to decide who works with me.”

“Fine, fine,” Holly said with an irritated huff. “Do whatever you want. You’re both adults.” She pointed a finger in Michael’s face. “You just watch yourself.”

Michael’s lips twitched like he was trying not to laugh. “I’ll do that.”

Holly gave him another penetrating stare before turning away. “Girls, we have two more boxes to unpack, and then we’re about done. Customers will be here soon.”

So saying, Holly marched toward the storeroom with her daughters.

“Well, that was awkward,” Noelle murmured as she watched them go.

“She’s being protective,” Michael said. “It’s pretty sweet.”

“And you’re brave to confront her in the lions’ den.”

He glanced down and patted his chest. “I do still have all my flesh, right?”

“Oh it’s all there,” Noelle said. In fact, his flesh was currently scrambling her brainwaves because she couldn’t help but watch the progress of his hand with envy.

“We should go,” she said, shaking her head to clear the dangerous thoughts. “The convoy will be arriving at the storage unit soon, and we still need to figure out who brings what back to town.”

Michael’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Lead on, captain.”

Her stupid, mixed-up hormones grinned right back.

“Stop it,” she muttered to herself.

“What?” Michael eyed her in bemusement as they left the store.

“I’m trying to stop freaking out,” Noelle said, cursing whichever sick, twisted pheromone in her body had decided to start salivating over Michael Campbell. It wasn’t like he was
that
gorgeous.

Liar
, the impish pheromone said.

“You’re going to get through this,” he said. “I’m betting you’ll have more help than you know what to do with.”

“From your lips to God’s ears.”

Noelle tried desperately to maintain some semblance of calm as they crossed the street. Frankly, she was amazed she still had the ability to form complete sentences. What was wrong with her? Why was she so stirred up over Michael now? She’d never gone for dark-haired guys before. All her past boyfriends, including Doug, had been blond, all-American types. Sunny, open, easygoing. Michael was brooding and intense.

And things worked out so well with the easygoing types, didn’t they?

Her inner voice needed to back off.

Michael led the way to his truck, and they headed out to the storage facility. Which meant being stuck in close quarters with him. Stuck with the scent of the forest and musky soap swirling around her senses. Stuck with her thigh only inches from the gearshift. Every time he switched gears, her body twitched, even though he never made contact.

The drive to Store It on the outskirts of town took about ten minutes, but it might as well have been ten days.

Would they never get there? Who knew one trip would turn into torture?

Finally, he turned into a large lot, lined with what looked like rows of attached garages.

“It’s at the end, row five,” Noelle said, grateful to have something mundane to talk about.

“Okay.”

He steered the truck toward the back of the lot and turned. Noelle gasped and leaned forward to stare out the windshield at the veritable army of trucks, SUVs and vans. Dozens of people milled around the area, drinking coffee and rubbing their arms to keep warm.
En masse
, they turned to face the truck. A few waved.

“What in the world—“

“I made a few phone calls last night,” Michael said. “I might have mentioned you needed help.”

Still gaping, she rotated her head toward him. “You called a few people?”

“Your dad is real popular in Covington Falls. When folks heard he was in trouble… well you can see what happened.”

Noelle gazed out the window again. Familiar faces came into focus as she scanned the crowd of magical elves. Julia and Seth stood at the front of the group. Julia’s stepsister and her husband were right beside them. The music director at Seth’s church, Meredith Vining, now Lawson, with her husband Brian. Julia’s assistant, Betsy, from Marry Me. Nate Cooper and the author, Emily Sinclair, along with Nate’s brother. It looked like the entire Thomas clan had descended, including Jake, Matthew, and their wives as well as few older kids. Ethan Thomas was there, too, his arm around fiancée, Addison Covington.

“Addison is out there,” Noelle said in awe.

The famous actress had been living in town off and on for almost a year, but Noelle still became tongue-tied whenever she came across the golden-haired goddess on the street.

Michael gave one of his eye-crinkling smiles. “She is. It’s a pretty good turnout, I’d say.”

For a moment, the figures outside the truck blurred as tears filled her eyes. “You did this for me?”

He shrugged. “Yeah.”

Noelle’s damaged heart flipped and turned, the edges melding together for the first time. “You are unbelievable. Thank you.”

“Doesn’t take much effort to pick up the phone,” Michael said, a hint of color rising in his cheeks.

She squeezed his hand. “Thank you. Really. This might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He glanced down at their entwined fingers. Noelle felt more than heard the swift intake of breath. For the first time, she wondered if it was possible Michael had begun to experience the same stupid, foolish hormonal imbalance.

She didn’t get a chance to explore the question, because the worker elves had approached the truck.

Julia flung the passenger door open. “It’s freezing out here,” she said. “If we don’t start working up a sweat by moving heavy objects, we’re all going to turn into blocks of ice.”

Noelle snatched her traitorous limb back from where it insisted she hold onto Michael. However, she didn’t move fast enough to escape Julia’s notice.

One ginger-colored brow winged nearly to her hairline. Then Julia’s blue eyes narrowed as she gazed from Noelle to Michael and then back again.

“Didn’t you say we needed to get started before Santa’s helpers freeze?” Noelle asked, already climbing out of the truck.

“Noelle…” Julia began.

“Later, Julia, after we’ve brought everything to town.”

Thankfully, the good citizens of Covington Falls provided cover from inquisitive friends. Soon, Noelle was too immersed in transporting Christmas to think about Michael or the strange chemical reaction going on between them.

She soon found another reason to be grateful when it became clear her father had OCD tendencies when it came to organizing the displays. Everything from lights to plastic candy canes to fence posts to giant fiberglass mints that affixed to Santa’s workshop had been boxed up and labeled. The walls of the various buildings were grouped according to kind, and her father had also taped detailed instructions on where each piece went.

“I should hire your dad to help us organize weddings,” Julia said as she gazed around the storage shed in sheer awe. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Seriously, if he ever decides to retire, we’ll find a place for him,” Her sister Sarah echoed.

Noelle sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving for her dad, and for the first time in days, anxiety faded as hope rose inside her. Hope that maybe she
could
play Santa this year. Knowing the entire town of Covington Falls had her back made her feel like she could pull off a miracle.

With all the extra hands, the displays were soon loaded, and the caravan started back toward Rice Circle. Noelle managed to snag a ride with Ethan Thomas and Addison Covington. No way could she climb into a vehicle with Michael again.

Except being in close quarters with the two lovebirds proved to be equally uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever feel warm again,” Addison complained, holding her hands in front of the heating vent. “I wouldn’t be surprised if my fingers and toes turned to hard lumps of coal and fell off.”

“That would be a tragedy,” Ethan said, taking her frozen limbs between his palms and rubbing them briskly. “I’m pretty enamored of your fingers and toes.”

A sultry grin lit up Addison’s face. “You can see why I call him Sir Galahad.” She winked at Noelle and then kissed her fiancé.

“When is your wedding?” Noelle asked, willing to do anything to stop them. There were enough sparks winging around the inside of the SUV to start a bonfire.

A mew of disgust issued from Addison’s perfect lips. “Who knows?” she said. “I’m shooting a new movie this summer, and I start preparations in a couple weeks. I also somehow got talked into helping with the Christmas talent show at the high school. Not to mention Meredith’s Fine Arts Academy has its own show. We may have to make a run to the courthouse one of these days.”

“We’ll get married when the time is right,” Ethan said.

“Well, that time needs to be soon,” Addison teased. “We’ve turned into a couple teenagers, making out in cars and movie theaters and once in the frozen food section of the grocery store. The manager had to separate us. It was humiliating.”

Noelle laughed, forgetting that she was sitting next to one of the most famous women in the country. She’d never realized how warm… and real… Addison was in person.

“So, you seem to have found your own knight in shining armor,” Addison said, eyes twinkling with good humor. “Lucky girl.”

“Excuse me?”

“Michael Campbell. I’ve heard of barn raisings before, but never a Christmas display raising,” Addison said.

“He’s not my knight in shining armor,” Noelle choked out. “We’re friends. I was engaged to his brother.”

“The brother who took off with a bridesmaid?”

She clenched her jaw so hard Noelle thought she might have cracked a tooth. “That’s me. The jilted bride.”

“Hey, my husband dumped me for a co-star half my age.” Addison leaned closer. “You might have heard about it. I think everyone in the western hemisphere heard about it. Maybe the eastern hemisphere, too.”

“Her ex-husband is an idiot,” Ethan said. “But his loss was my gain. I think I’ll write him a thank you note once we tie the knot.”

The comment earned Ethan another kiss. “You can see why I love him.” Addison chuckled. “Did you know he once marshaled up an army for me?”

Noelle shook her head. “Uhh…”

“Painters. He called in the troops to help fix some damaged sets for the spring musical last year. I think that’s probably when I fell in love with him, even though we were supposed to be avoiding each other. But how can you not love a man who will call in the cavalry and save the day like that?”

Then she winked at Noelle.

The thought occurred that she might have been safer in the truck with Michael.

Noelle was saved from further interrogation when the Christmas caravan turned onto Main Street. More people lined the sidewalks, waving and cheering like it was a parade. By the time Ethan pulled to a stop and Noelle hopped out, what looked like a thousand people had descended on Rice Circle.

“Noelle!”

At the sound of her name, she pivoted to see Holly making her way through the crowd.

“Can you believe this?” Holly asked, gazing around. “They’ve been gathering since the store opened.”

“Did you miss the Christmas train?” Noelle gestured to the still-arriving vehicles. Michael’s truck brought up the rear. A moment later, he was ambling across the green toward her. “You can thank him.”

“Michael Campbell?” The name still sounded like a swear word on Holly’s lips.

“He made a few calls last night.”

“Hmmph.”

Even Michael looked shell-shocked at the sheer number of new volunteers. “I think half the town came out.”

“Maybe three-fourths,” Noelle said, unable to stop grinning. She cocked her head in her sister’s direction. “Holly, don’t you have something to say?”

Noelle’s older sister held on to her sneer for another moment, before finally relenting and offering a reluctant smile. “Thank you, Michael. This is overwhelming.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, his tone even as if Holly’s slight thaw was no big deal.

Just like that, a truce was declared between the Campbells and the Robinsons.

Michael shoveled out a plot of dirt and plunged a giant, fiberglass candy cane into the ground. He pushed the soil back around the base and tamped down so the red-and-white-striped decoration didn’t topple over or become a missile. 

One candy cane down, forty-five to go. Not that he minded the manual labor. He welcomed the ache in his back and arms. Welcomed anything that kept his mind off the disturbing new thoughts about Noelle. The entire morning had been torture, especially the trip out to the storage facility. If Noelle knew how hard he’d worked not to kiss her senseless, she’d probably have run a thousand miles in the other direction.

He needed to get a grip. He needed to remember her older sister would probably tear him limb from limb if he ever touched Noelle. Holly might have declared a temporary cease-fire, but the tension hadn’t dissipated one bit. Michael chuckled as he remembered Holly’s muted glare when he’d shown up at St. Nick’s Closet. Or not so muted. She hadn’t exactly tried to hide her antipathy.

The tension between his family and the Robinsons was one more reason not to start anything with Noelle. Now he had to figure out a way to turn off his rampant hormones where she was concerned.