Joy of the Season by Heather Scarlett

Author:Heather Scarlett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heather Scarlett

Why did he agree to this nonsense? Because he needed to as a condition of his inheritance. Stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep warm, he bounced on his heels waiting for Joy to lock her shop for the evening. Tonight was the judging for the holiday lights contest. She had a clipboard in hand with the addresses and rating sheets. Very official. Her blond hair was long and wavy tonight, contrasting with the cheery red of her coat.

“Ready?”

Luke gestured to the sidewalk and she took the lead to the first house. They stood in front of the small home, which was bedecked with multicolor lights, complete with a Santa’s workshop in the front yard. The animated figures moved to a holiday tune and Luke once again questioned his life choices. How was he qualified to judge this?

“How cute!” Joy’s eyes lit up as she watched the show. She paused to take a few notes on her clipboard before moving down the street. They walked several blocks, seeing countless holiday displays, before circling back to Main St.

“I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but that was enjoyable,” Luke surprised himself at how much fun he had taking in all the festive lights.

“Oh, we’re not done yet! We have at least four more blocks to judge.”

“Four blocks?!” Holiday light contests were not for the faint of heart. Luke glanced towards the tents set up to serve visitors to the holiday lights display. “We need sustenance if we have so much left to see.” He steered Joy towards the tent serving hot chocolate. He ordered two, with all the fixings, and passed one to Joy.

“Thank you, Luke.” Was that a blush? He was struck once again by her beauty in the crisp winter air. This climate suited her. They spent a few minutes around the bonfire drinking their hot chocolate before resuming their task.

The last street of the contest had created an archway of white lights, with a sprig of mistletoe in the center. “Oh, how delightful!” Joy stepped into the center and twirled around.

A passerby stopped. “Let me take a picture of you two under the mistletoe. It will make such a pretty picture.”

Joy froze and started to decline. Luke looked between the older man and Joy. What was the harm of a quick picture? The older gentleman looked so excited.

“Sure, thanks," Luke answered for them and moved to step next to Joy. He took her clipboard and handed it off to the passerby along with his phone. Putting his arm around Joy, he set his face next to hers as the camera snapped a pic.

“Ok, now a kiss. You are under the mistletoe after all.”

Luke turned to kiss Joy on the cheek.

“C’mon now. You can do better than that. Give your girl a proper kiss. It’s a holiday tradition.”

Joy started to correct the older gentleman that they were not a couple. Before she could get the words out, Luke leaned in close. “One quick kiss? For tradition.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.