Page 14 of Soldier’s Christmas Crush (Trinity Falls: Home for Christmas #4)

JENSEN

J ensen pulled up in front of Carla’s Place just before eight o’clock the next morning.

He had Elvis Presley’s Christmas hits streaming from his phone onto the car speakers instead of just listening to the radio, but he knew he couldn’t avoid his commercial forever.

He’d gotten so many texts about it last night, and even more this morning. Some of them were congratulating him, some were gently teasing him, and a few were just emojis or pictures of oranges.

His cousin Lucy, an up-and-coming local artist who had worked for the Co-op for years and designed their holiday window display, sent him a really nice message, telling him that she was proud of him for using his skills to promote a local business.

But mostly he felt like the target of a very elaborate prank.

How did this happen?

He hesitated after parking. On the one hand, he wanted to get Henry out of the car and go up the fire escape to knock on her door like a gentleman.

On the other, if there was any chance that she was the only person in Trinity Falls who hadn’t heard his radio spot yet, he couldn’t risk walking past Joe Cassidy and Uncle Reggie, who were out on the porch sipping their coffee, in spite of the cold weather.

The two of them would definitely give him a good ribbing—which he normally wouldn’t mind at all.

But on his first outing with Willow, it just didn’t feel right.

My first outing with her?

He’d told himself over and over last night that today didn’t mean anything because they were just going to a daytime activity with Henry, something any pair of friends might do.

But of course he’d also spent the whole evening desperately trying and mostly failing to avoid dreaming up elaborate dates to invite her on.

Just as he was about to turn off the truck and head up to get her, Willow appeared on the fire escape with a backpack, practically sprinting his way.

Maybe she’s excited to see me, too.

He watched her wave to the two older gentlemen on the front porch and prayed that what they yelled back had nothing to do with him.

When she had almost reached the car, he hopped out and ran around to open the door for her.

“Good morning,” she said brightly.

It honestly felt like sunlight was glowing from those blue eyes of hers, like a burst of vitamin D on a cold winter day.

“Good morning,” he replied .

She hopped into the truck, and he closed the door gently behind her.

“Morning, Tropicana,” Joe Cassidy called out to him, chuckling and giving him a wave from the porch.

“ Orange you a lucky guy?” Uncle Reggie asked, waggling his bushy eyebrows.

Jensen waved back, pretending not to understand their jokes, and hopped back into the truck. He wondered if Willow had overheard, but predictably, she was turned around to face Henry, who was already grinning at her.

“More knock-knock jokes?” Jensen guessed.

“Are you getting tired of them?” she asked.

“Never,” he told her.

“ Knock, knock,” she said in a singsong way that made Henry chuckle.

Jensen waited a beat, in case Henry decided to answer, then joined in when the little one stayed silent.

“Who’s there?” Jensen asked.

“ Boo, ” Willow said.

“Boo who?” he asked.

“ Don’t cry,” she said. “I’ve got plenty more knock-knock jokes.”

Jensen groaned and she chuckled.

“Nah, nah,” Henry piped up suddenly, his little voice much louder and more certain than usual.

Jensen was so amazed that he just turned and blinked at his son in wonder.

“Who’s there?” Willow asked.

But Henry was so tickled that he melted into helpless laughter without saying another word. It was the happiest sound Jensen had ever heard, and it made his heart feel like it was going to burst right out of his chest.

“You’re such a funny boy, Henry,” Willow told him approvingly. “Good job.”

Jensen looked between the two of them and felt a wave of gratitude that his son had found someone who got him, even though he didn’t say much yet.

Willow turned back to face the front and placed her backpack at her feet.

“Ready?” Jensen asked.

“Very ready,” she told him. “I can’t wait to see this place.”

He pulled out, humming along with “Blue Christmas” as he did. There was still snow on the ground, but the sun was rising into a clear, blue sky, at least for now. And the old sense of adventure he used to get as a kid on a fresh adventure shivered happily down his spine.

“Wow, WCCR is playing a lot of Elvis today,” Willow said approvingly.

“Oh, it’s streaming from my phone,” Jensen said. “Henry really likes it.”

She smiled and he felt a little pang of guilt for the fib.

They made it out of the village and onto the long ribbon of Route One in no time. Once they were under way, Willow peeled off her coat and set it on the backpack that was already at her feet.

“Want to put all that in back with Henry?” Jensen asked.

“It’s fine,” she told him. “Besides, I’ve got some road trip snacks in there. ”

“What snacks?” he asked automatically, then smiled, feeling like a ravenous teenager all over again.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she teased. “Are you hungry already?”

“Always,” he joked. “But let’s save it until we get closer. If someone drifts off they might wake up unhappy and then a snack will be great.”

“Good thinking,” she told him. “So do you do this kind of stuff all the time?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Like just taking off at a moment’s notice to do something cool you just heard about?” she asked.

He could have joked back, but something told him to be honest.

“Henry was really excited to tell me about the trains yesterday,” he told her, keeping his eyes on the road. “When he uses his words, I always listen.”

Willow was quiet, but when he glanced over she smiled at him and nodded.

“That’s really nice,” she said softly.

He was relieved that she understood what he didn’t want to elaborate on in front of the boy. Henry had mostly made train noises and muttered train, train and choo choo to himself yesterday. But it really meant something that he had been inspired enough to speak.

The pediatrician said Henry would meet his milestones in his own time.

And Jensen definitely didn’t want to push the little guy.

He had passed the hearing test with flying colors already, and they had an appointment coming up with a speech pathologist, just to be sure.

But Jensen figured it couldn’t hurt to give his boy more of the things that got him excited enough to want to talk.

If nothing else, Henry would enjoy himself today, and that was worth taking a day off.

“You’re an amazing dad,” Willow said. “He’s a lucky boy.”

“I’m the lucky one,” Jensen said without a thought. “He’s… my everything.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the most important person in his life was blissed out watching the snowy trees blur past out the window.

“He loves car rides,” Jensen said.

“Smart boy,” Willow said approvingly. “And what a sense of humor.”

Jensen looked over at her, but she looked like she was dead serious.

He knew Henry had a great sense of humor, and he could always see the workings of the boy’s mind, even when he didn’t choose to speak.

But sometimes it scared him that maybe other people would think there was something wrong with Henry, or that they might feel sorry for him as a dad, just because his son didn’t like to talk, or was doing things at his own pace.

“How many toddlers would try to tell a knock-knock joke?” she asked, turning to Jensen. “Your little boy is definitely paying attention.”

“Thank you,” Jensen replied, surprised to feel a little overcome.

He was used to his parents saying positive things about Henry, but it was so good to hear all his own feelings confirmed by someone who had no reason to know he was worrying.

Willow probably didn’t even know what the benchmarks were for a kid Henry’s age.

Jensen certainly hadn’t before becoming a father himself.

“I guess we got lucky with the weather today,” she said, mercifully changing the subject. “We won’t have to worry about getting snowed in on a train or anything.”

They chatted as he drove on, about old friends, plans for the holidays, and other light topics. Jensen wasn’t normally a huge talker, another reason he felt okay about his son being on the quiet side, but it was surprisingly easy to share an upbeat conversation with Willow.

The more they talked, the more he appreciated how much she had grown over the years since they had spent time together. It wasn’t just her insights on Henry, it was her perspective on the world and her role in it. And when he asked her about her new job, she had so many good things to say.

“Anyway, I know I’m the one who asked them to let me start in January,” she laughed after listing out half a dozen reasons why she thought Tarker County General was a wonderful place to work. “But the more I talk about it, the more I realize it’s going to be kind of hard to wait.”

“You’re going to be an amazing addition over there,” he told her honestly.

“Well, the Army experience definitely keeps us cool under pressure,” she said, nodding.

“That too,” he said. “But I meant your enthusiasm. If you believe they’re in such a great position to grow their services for the community, how can they say no?”

“I’ll definitely give it all I’ve got,” she said with a smile. “Hey, are you ready for a snack? ”

“Sure,” he said, glancing at the dash clock and realizing they were probably almost there. “Thank you.”

“Excellent,” she told him as she pulled a white box with a cellophane top out of her bag. “I didn’t have time to make cookies, but I stopped by the Co-op and grabbed some banana muffins.”

“They smell amazing,” he groaned in appreciation. “Much better than the snack I brought.”

“What did you bring?” she asked.

“Goldfish crackers,” he replied, shrugging.

“Don’t you dare say a word against goldfish crackers,” she retorted. “They’re the best.”

“I’ll probably think so again as soon as Henry’s a little older,” Jensen chuckled. “Right now, we eat way too many of them. You’ve probably never found them in your pockets when you were doing laundry.”

She laughed and set a muffin in his cupholder, before reaching into her bag for something else.

“And I picked this up for you,” she told him, setting a bottle of fresh-squeezed orange juice in the other cupholder.

She knows.

“Why OJ?” he asked, his stomach sinking.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said lightly. “I just had a craving for it for some reason, and it can’t hurt to have a little extra vitamin C during flu season.”

He glanced over, but her expression was completely innocent. Except maybe the usual sparkle in her blue eyes was a little extra sparkly?

He was getting ready to ask when Henry whimpered in the backseat .

“Hi, Henry,” Willow said in a soft, cheerful voice. “We almost made it to see the Christmas trains. Would you like a snack?”

Jensen watched in the rearview mirror as the furrow in Henry’s brow smoothed and he nodded his little head up and down.

“Great,” Willow told him. “I brought some muffins. Do you like banana muffins, Henry?”

“I think he will,” Jensen said. “Would you mind breaking him off a piece of mine?”

“I’d be glad to,” Willow said, grabbing the muffin and peeling a chunk from the top. “Here you go, Henry.”

He took it without hesitation then looked at it for a moment before taking a bite.

“Mmm,” he hummed quietly after a moment.

“Oh, I’m so glad you like it,” Willow told him. “These are my favorite.”

Henry took another bite, his eyes twinkling right back at Willow’s, and Jensen suddenly felt really good about the trip.

Nothing’s going to go wrong today, right?