The Christmas Letter by Loree Lough

Author:Loree Lough [Lough, Loree]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon.com
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“No need to apologize. And you’re right. My family is wonderful. Crazy, but wonderful.”

He noticed that she was shivering. And no wonder. The thermometer attached to the porch post read ten degrees. In her hurry to hide her tears, she’d forgotten her jacket.

Ben slipped out of his sweater and draped it across her shoulders.

“Oh, it’s so warm and soft,” she said, gathering it tightly around herself. “But what about you? You’ll catch a chill for sure.”

“I have more meat on my bones than you do, so it will take a good long while before I catch a chill.”

“Well, thank you. I’m sorry for blubbering like a baby.”

“One,” he said, holding up a forefinger, “you are not blubbering.” The index finger joined it. He aimed a thumb over one shoulder. “Two, they are in there, eating pie. With ice cream. I doubt anyone even noticed.”

She laughed a little, and that pleased him. Ben searched his mind for something else to say, something that would encourage more of it.

“You are still shivering. How about going back in with me? You can warm yourself near the woodstove.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “You must be freezing out here in that thin cotton shirt.”

Beth started to remove the sweater, but he placed both hands on her shoulders and stopped her. “We will go in when you are ready.”

She exhaled a ragged sigh. “My mother has been gone nearly five years. You’d think by now I would’ve adjusted to life without her. As my father so often reminds me, her passing was God’s will, and I’m showing a lack of faith, and weakness, wishing she was with us still.”

“You are many things, Beth, but weak is not one of them.” Hands still resting on her shoulders, he used his chin as a pointer. “Everyone around that table would feel exactly as you do if we lost my mother.” Beth nodded. “You’re such an understanding friend.”

And there it was. The dreaded friend word. Should he tell her, right now, he wanted more than friendship? A lot more?

He pulled her close, so close he could feel her heart beating against his chest. It felt good, felt right, to hold her this way.

Ben cupped her chin in a palm and used his thumb to wipe away the tears that had clumped her thick lashes. “Beth,” he whispered. “Dear, sweet Beth…”

He leaned in to kiss her, but footsteps and the twins’ voices stopped him. As the doorknob turned, her eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect O. And when the interior door’s hinges squealed, she whipped off the sweater and tossed it in his direction. It landed on his head, and as he struggled to uncover his face, the boys exploded onto the porch.

The first one said, “Grossmammi wants to know what you’re doing out here.”

His brother added, “And Daed said, ‘Are those dunderheads trying to freeze to death?’”

Neither Ben nor Beth could answer, because his attempts to escape the sweater had left them both doubled over with laughter.

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