The Fox Who Came For Christmas: A Men's Holiday Romance by Leon West

Author:Leon West [West, Leon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter eleven

The Gift of Giving

It had been a comfortable couple of days since the gingerbread competition. Despite our creation literally crumbling before our eyes, something had solidified between Kimmi and me. We’d had lunch together on Sunday, and I’d spent all day working at the Lucky Fox today, with her supplying me with coffee and playful banter while I handled work emails and code reviews.

Each moment felt like rediscovering an old favorite song—familiar, but with new depth that I’d missed before.

I’d also found myself getting pulled deeper into the fabric of Silver Creek life. This morning, I’d met Bug for coffee at Pete’s and ended up getting roped into doing a remote guest lecture for his AP Computer Science class when school picked back up in January. Then I’d spent a couple of hours helping Tank clean out one of the old storage rooms at the firehouse, unearthing all sorts of ancient equipment and questionable fashion choices immortalized in faded photographs.

It felt good to be here for the people of this town, even if it was interrupted by Jerry demanding my assistance with the big security patch.

With all my work done and the afternoon winding down into evening, I packed up my laptop. Before I could finish standing up out of my comfortable booth, Kimmi appeared at my side, a steaming to-go cup in her hand.

“One for the road?” she asked, her smile warm and inviting.

I accepted the cup gratefully, breathing in the rich aroma of her famous spiced cider. “You’re too good to me.”

Kimmi leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation around here, and I’d like to keep it.”

I laughed, the sound coming easily. It was becoming a habit around her. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

She walked me to the door, and for a moment, we just stood there, neither quite ready to say goodnight. I marveled at how natural this felt, how right.

“So,” Kimmi said, breaking the comfortable silence. “Same time tomorrow?”

I nodded, unable to keep the grin off my face. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

She rose up on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to my cheek. “Good. Now get out of here before I change my mind and keep you all night.”

The warmth of her lips lingered as I stepped out into the crisp December air. It wasn’t until the door closed behind me that I realized that I probably could have turned her little joke into a real invitation if I’d been a little faster on the uptake. I was so caught up in that feeling that I almost missed the commotion down the street.

A small crowd had gathered outside Mrs. Jones’ pharmacy, their excited chatter carrying on the night breeze. Curiosity piqued, I made my way over, sidestepping the sandwich-board sign that read “8 days until Christmas!” on my way past my car and towards the crowd.

As I got closer, I could make out Mrs. Jones herself, looking frazzled as she tried to direct traffic and manage an ever-growing pile of donated toys.

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