Christmas Cookies on a Cruise Ship by Parker Fairchild

Author:Parker Fairchild [Fairchild, Parker]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781631122606
Publisher: 5 Prince Publishing

Chapter 26

“Oh my gosh, Jace, you could’ve been permanently blinded!”

She clutched his hand. Everything about him—every part of him—was so precious to her now.

The alarm sounded on his Casio G-Shock Watch. “Time to go, Olivia,” he said tugging her to her feet.

“Where are we going, Jace? I want to know more about what happened to your eyes.”

“We can talk and walk. Your schedule of activities,” he nudged her bag hanging from her shoulder as they exited sports deck, “you marked that you wanted to go make Christmas gingerbread houses. So, we’re going; it’s time.” He clasped her hand tightly in his.

“Oh, we don’t have to do that.” She waved her hand dismissively. “That’s girl stuff. Besides, Jace,” she tried to slow him down, but he was unstoppable, “we didn’t finish our game of H-O-R-S-E… ”

“No, correction,” he held up a finger, “we finished it all right. You hoodwinked me, lady, into believing you didn’t know how to play—acting all innocent and sweet—”

“I am all innocent and sweet,” she purred, “just not on the basketball court.”

“Olivia,” he asked, ignoring her teasing, “how did you learn to make those incredible shots?”

At the amazement in his voice, pinpoints of pleasure tickled her insides.

“Well, growing up, while my mom was busy being stage mom to Jane,” Olivia said, “my dad taught me how to play basketball, which is his favorite sport by the way. For years, he worked with me teaching me the fundamentals and drilling me on technique.”

“I was good,” she grinned, “so good that I played varsity in high school and for UVA.”

“I owned basketball, and I ruled the court.” She stopped. “And aside from academics, which really don’t count in the cruel world of high school popularity, basketball was the one thing I could do that Jane couldn’t touch or best me at. She tried out a couple of times for the team, but she was nowhere near as good as I was, and she was never selected.”

“Olivia, I want… I need to tell you something—”

“Well, there you two lovebirds are.” Sarah Nicholas, a.k.a. Mrs. Claus, rushed to their side enveloping them in her arms. “You two are even cuter than Mr. Claus and I were at your age,” she chortled.

Dressed in her festive red velvet gown again, she was Christmas personified.

“We’re here to build and decorate gingerbread houses,” Olivia chirped.

“Oh, how merry and Christmassy perfect.” Mrs. Claus clasped her hands together in front of her—a look of rapture lighting her face.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Right on cue, Santa appeared at her side giving them a wink and a knowing smile.

The Constellation Dining Room had been transformed into a gingerbread house-making wonderland, and holiday enchantment flooded her senses.

Garland and colored lights encircled the chandeliers and windows, which framed the peaceful azure water outside. Olivia couldn’t help but giggle at the contrast of building gingerbread houses while sailing in the Caribbean. Nothing about this magical Christmas still seemed quite real to her, but she was loving every minute of it.

Christmas music played softly

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