Christmas Kiss is on Her List Page 5

  “Okay.” Penelope watched him leave before she tackled the potatoes. Remembering one of Aunt Edith’s recipes, she glazed the carrots with butter, brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon.

  She dished the food into serving bowls, set them on the counter, and stacked the plates at one end to begin the serving line. She took the pork loin out of the oven and was transferring it to a platter when Mr. Bixby wandered into the kitchen.

  “My, but that smells heavenly, Miss Anders. Who’s the gentleman who has been so helpful today?”

  “Derek Smythe? He lives here.”

  “And where do you live?”

  “Atlanta. I have an apartment downtown.”

  “Yet your blog refers to this place—”

  She turned toward him with the serving knife and fork in her hands. For a split second the idea of carving and serving him as a side dish flashed before her eyes. It would serve him right after showing up unannounced. But she pushed the notion from her mind and took a deep breath.

  “I’m a writer, Mr. Bixby. I write about what I know. I grew up here and even though I left to go to college and stayed away to start my career, in my heart I have longed to return. Is there a problem with my taking a little poetic license and painting a prettier picture of Crater’s Corners than I personally feel?”

  “No, nothing wrong with it. So my contest has forced you to return to your roots?”

  Your contest has forced a lot more than you know. “Yes, but its Christmas and I think once you’ve seen it, you’ll agree that nothing is prettier than Crater’s Corners this time of year. We might be lucky enough to have snow.”

  “And sleigh rides,” Derek said, coming back into the kitchen. He washed his hands, dried them and took the serving knife and fork away from her. “Let me carve.”

  “Thank you.” She went to the refrigerator and removed the coleslaw and one of the pitchers of tea. “I hope you’re hungry, Mr. Bixby.”

  “Famished.”

  Chapter Seven

  After the meal was over and the dishes had been taken care of, Penelope went to her room and settled on the bed with her laptop to work on her blog post. She was almost finished when Derek knocked on her door.

  “I’m going into the woods to find a Christmas tree. Want to come along?”

  “Sure. I brought Aunt Edith’s decorations with me. They’re in the back seat of my car. I hope you don’t mind if we use them.”

  “It’s your Christmas this year.”

  She saved her work and closed down her laptop. She could send the blog later. “I still can’t get over how easy you’ve made this on me. I wasn’t very nice to you back in school. And when you bought this place, I was furious.”

  “Is that why you left?”

  “No.” She stood. “I had planned to leave as soon as the debt was paid.”

  “So my buying the place changed nothing.”

  “At the time no, but now it’s given me the chance to come home again. And to get to know the boy I overlooked back then. If I had given you a chance, we might have been friends.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Anyway, I thank you. Thank you for buying the farm and for keeping it just the way it was. I think Aunt Edith would have appreciated that.”

  Derek nodded. “You’re welcome. I hope you brought a warm jacket. The temperature is dropping.”

  She went to the closet and pulled out her new downy fleece coat and gloves. “I didn’t forget how cold it gets this time of the year.”

  As they went down the stairs, Mr. Bixby came from the kitchen with a glass of tea. “Where are you off to?”

  “To cut down our Christmas tree. You want to join us?” Derek asked.

  “Sounds like fun, but I have some work to do.”

  “Maybe you can help us decorate it when we return?” Penelope suggested.

  “Perhaps.” Mr. Bixby agreed.

  A crisp afternoon air blew as they stepped out of the house and Penelope zipped her jacket. “You weren’t kidding about the temperature dropping. Look at those heavy clouds that rolled in, bringing with them that gray sky. It looks like it could snow. It’s a good thing the roofers finished today.”

  “I know. That’s why I think we’d better take the truck. I already put the chain saw in the back.”

  He opened the passenger side door for her to climb in and hurried around to the driver’s side. He put it in four-wheel drive and drove them toward the hillside at the back of the property. His decision to wait until Penelope arrived to get the tree may have not been such a good one if the weather turned bad. Hopefully they’d be able to select a tree and return home before it set in.

  As he drove, he glanced in her direction. She was as pretty as he remembered, though he’d only observed her from a distance back then. Would things have been different if he’d had the nerve to approach her and asked her out in high school instead of keeping silent? Her comment about them possibly having been friends made him think it could have. But he couldn’t dwell on the past.

  “Do you have a girlfriend?”

  “What?” Her question caught him off guard and he slammed on the brake, jerking the vehicle to a stop. She automatically grabbed hold of the dashboard.

  ”Sorry,” Derek said, gripping the steering wheel.

  “It’s okay. I was just thinking if you did, then my staying at the farm might make for an awkward situation.”

  “No. I’m not seeing anyone. So no problem.”

  “Good, one less thing to worry about then.” She smiled.

  “What about you?” He gave the truck some gas and they moved along the trail again winding further up the hillside. “Should I be worried that some guy is going to show up at my door ready to punch me because he’s jealous?”

  She laughed. “I’d like to see that.”

  His heart sank. “You would?”

  “Yes. No. I mean…see someone jealous on my account.” He found her stumbling over the words cute. “I’m not seeing anyone.”

  Relief swept over him, and he brought the truck to a smoother stop this time. “Okay, I think this is where we should look for our Christmas tree.”

  They got out and after putting on his work gloves, he grabbed the chainsaw from the back. Large fluffy snowflakes began falling and Penelope tilted her head back, stuck out her tongue and caught a few. She laughed again and he found her laughter left a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach and a tightening in his chest. He’d enjoyed having her with him today, and he knew he was going to enjoy her being here through Christmas. He just didn’t want to think about how empty the house would feel when she was gone. He swallowed, dispelling his thoughts.

  “We’d better find a tree.”

  She nodded and led the way through the pine trees, stopping to inspect a few until she found one she liked. “What about this one?”

  Derek studied it for a moment. “It looks like it will fit through the door and isn’t too tall for the living room.”

  She patted the branches. “I think it has just the right fullness too, don’t you agree?”

  “Yeah. Hold it up.” He yanked on the cord, and had the tree down quickly enough. Killing the motor, he handed her the chainsaw, and with her leading the way, dragged the tree back to the truck.

  The snow fell steadily as they drove back singing an off-key rendition of Let It Snow. By the time they reached the house, the ground was covered in a thin layer. Derek noticed an additional car parked beside Penelope’s, both covered in snow. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

  “It’s Dana. She’s here to handle Bixby.”

  He chuckled and parked the truck. “You stay here while I stow the saw in the shed, then we’ll carry in the tree.”

  “Okay, but why don’t I take the decorations to the house?”

  “Sure.” He hurried, not wanting to miss a single
moment with her. When he came back, she was still standing on the front porch holding a large cardboard box. “What’s wrong? Why didn’t you go inside?”

  “They were arguing. Now it’s quiet.”

  Derek opened the door. Penelope gasped and dropped the box as a kissing Dana and Bixby sprang apart.

  “Pardon us,” Derek apologized, grinning.

  “Dana?” Penelope squeaked.

  Dana’s cheeks flushed and she took another step away from Bixby.

  “Where’s the tree?” Mr. Bixby asked.

  “Don’t change the subject.” Penelope planted her gloved hands on her hips. When neither spoke, she took a step toward her friend. “Dana?”

  She shrugged. “We were…and…well, it just happened.”

  An awkward silence filled the room so Derek picked up the box from the floor and put it on a nearby table. “Penelope, let’s get the tree.”

  She slowly turned and followed him back outside. “I can’t believe it.”

  “I told you that man was up to something,” Derek reminded her. “He didn’t just happen to come here to oversee things.”

  Penelope gave him a sideways glance. “You think that’s what all of this is about? Bixby likes Dana so he’s meddling in her affairs?”

  “Possibly.”

  “Doesn’t that seem a little childish?”

  “Sometimes when all else fails you have to take desperate measures or spend the rest of your life wondering ‘what if’. So if that’s what’s happening here, I don’t fault the man for taking action.”

  “You sound like you’ve done the ‘what if’ part.”

  He stopped walking and turned to face her as the snow continued to fall around them. “Yeah I have. And I’ve spent a lot of time questioning why. Praying for an answer and just when I think I have the answer, someone goes and throws a wrench in my thinking and I’m left wondering why again.”

  She blinked. “Is that why you’re thinking about selling the place? Even though it’s obvious you love it?”

  He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “I guess you could say that.”

  They walked the rest of the way to the truck in silence and he lowered the tailgate so they could slide the tree out without breaking any branches. “You get in the middle and I’ll take the trunk.”

  She did as she was told and they went back to the house. When they reached the porch again, raised voices could be heard from inside.

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “No.” Derek lowered his end of the tree. “Let’s prop the tree up out here and give them some privacy. We can go around back and enter through the kitchen. I think some hot chocolate will do nicely right now.”

  “With marshmallows?”

  “Lots of marshmallows.”

  She smiled and nodded.

  He offered her his hand and she placed her gloved one in his.

  The warmth of the house was welcome as they stuffed their gloves into jacket pockets, before taking them off and hanging them in the mudroom off the kitchen.

  Derek turned on the water to let it get warm before he washed his hands. “Why don’t you get mugs out for us while I put on the hot chocolate?”

  Penelope washed her hands, noting the voices in the living room were lowered now. She wanted to sneak into the hallway, but didn’t think it wise to eavesdrop. Instead she forced herself to pay attention to learning how to make the hot chocolate. She glanced at Derek. “Where do you keep the marshmallows?”

  He closed the refrigerator and untwisted the cap on the milk bottle. He measured out four cups, pouring them in the pan. “In the second cabinet with the cocoa powder. Will you hand them and the vanilla to me?”

  “Sure.” She grabbed the items, tossing the bag of miniature marshmallows onto the counter. When she handed him the bottle of vanilla extract their fingers touched and a strange sensation filled her. She glanced up at him.

  He smiled and stared at her for a moment, then glanced down at the pan of milk. “It’s quiet in there.”

  “I know.”

  He opened a drawer and pulled out measuring spoons, scooping out four level tablespoons of cocoa. “I need one and a half cups of those marshmallows.”

  “Right.” She opened the bag and poured it out. When she finished he was watching her. She swallowed, but she didn’t feel self-conscious like she had in high school. Instead she saw he was looking at her kindly. “What now?”

  “Dump them in the pot.”

  She did and he sprinkled eight teaspoons of white sugar over it and stirred with a wooden spoon until it was melted and mixed together. He removed the pot from the burner before he added the vanilla.

  “That smells yummy.” She tilted her head and studied him as he poured the liquid into the mugs. “Where did you learn to cook?”

  “My grandpa. He never remarried after grandma died so he had to do his own cooking. Every summer when I went to visit he taught me to cook, keep house, farm and serve God. He said those were important things in life all men needed to do.”

  “He sounds like a wise man.”

  “He was.”

  She picked up a few marshmallows and dropped them into the mugs. “I like marshmallows.”

  “So do I.”

  “That’s another thing we have in common.” She picked up a mug and blew across the top to cool the cocoa before she took a sip.

  “What’s the first?”

  “We love this farm.”

  His brow rose. “How’s the chocolate?”

  “Excellent.”

  He took the mug from her and set it on the counter. She started to protest, but he shook his head and slowly pulled her into his arms. He brushed his lips against hers.

  He smelled of pine and Penelope smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “What prompted that?”

  “You had a cocoa mustache.”

  “Is that all?”

  Derek smiled. “And I wanted to taste the marshmallows.”

  She laughed. “I think I missed out on a lot leaving Crater’s Corners.”

  “I know you did.” He kissed her again and this time she kissed him back. When they broke apart he smiled, leaning his forehead against hers. Maybe God had other plans for him and this place besides selling. Maybe if this week went right she’d want to come back home.

  “Ahem,” Dana cleared her throat. “Are we going to decorate the tree or what?”

  Derek and Penelope looked in her direction, but Penelope left her arms around his neck. In fact, she leaned a little closer to him.

  “We made hot chocolate,” she said.

  “Is that what they call it now?” Dana grinned. “Care to share a mug of that?”

  Penelope looked at him and shrugged. “Should we?”

  “It might mean she’d have to kiss Bixby again.”

  Penelope laughed. “I could live with that if she could.” She dropped her arms and reached for two of the mugs, handing them to her friend. “It’s potent stuff.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Dana winked at them before leaving the kitchen.

  Derek picked up the remaining mug and offered Penelope his hand before they went to decorate the tree.

  Epilogue

  Penelope put the garnish on the platter with her first roasted turkey and inspected her handiwork. Derek’s lessons had not only taught her to cook, but gave her the confidence to work alone in the kitchen. It was important for her to prepare today’s meal for the most part on her own. Mr. Morton insisted on pitching in. She hesitated, fearing he would guess at her newly acquired skills in the kitchen, but she couldn’t say no to their important guest. So she’d allowed him to peel the sweet potatoes for the casserole and wash dishes.

  “Are we about ready?” Dana asked coming into the kitchen.

  “Yes.” Penelope
looked up and smiled. “We pulled this charade off.”

  “Correction. It stopped being a charade as soon as Derek taught you how to cook. You pulled this off on your own. You got through the cooking show with Mr. Morton like a professional.”

  Penelope shook her head. “Don’t give me the praise, Dana. It was God. I did a lot of praying over this. And He answered my prayers.”

  “And gave you a good man too.”

  Penelope’s cheeks warmed at the mention of Derek. “He has shown me the error of my ways where Derek is concerned. I never imagined…”

  “I know.” Dana smiled. “Who knew Bixby and I—”

  “God did.” Penelope picked up the platter. “Hurry back to the dining room. I want to make my entrance with this wonderful bird before the men get restless.”

  Dana winked and scurried out of the kitchen.

  Penelope took a deep breath and carried the platter into the dining room. Derek rose as she entered, so did Mr. Morton and Mr. Bixby.

  “That smells heavenly, Miss Anders,” Mr. Morton said.

  “Thank you.” She set the platter at the end of the table where Derek was sitting so he could carve before taking her place between him and Mr. Morton.

  “Let’s join hands to say grace.” Derek said, reaching for hers and she smiled. “Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful meal, for the hands that prepared it and for the wonderful gift of your son that you gave on that first Christmas. We are unworthy, but by your grace we strive to be what you want us to be. In your name we pray. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Mr. Morton said. “Can I add that I am thankful to have spent the last week with you fine folks? Winning this contest was an unexpected joy, and it has been an answer to an unspoken prayer. It gave me a loving home where I could spend Christmas this year. My first Christmas stateside without my mother. For this I am truly grateful.”

  “I had no idea, Mr. Morton.” Unwilling to let go of Derek’s hand just yet, Penelope gave it a squeeze. “Then it is we who should be honored to be sharing this first Christmas with you.”

  “We’ve enjoyed you being with us and I hope you will feel welcome here anytime,” Derek added.

  “Thank you,” Mr. Morton said. “Knowing I can return to a place where God is loved and worshipped is a blessing. You and Miss Anders have given me hope of finding someone I too can share my life and faith with.”