Page 6 of Soldier’s Christmas Crush (Trinity Falls: Home for Christmas #4)

WILLOW

W illow awoke the next morning in her little apartment with sunlight flooding through the windows.

She sat up slowly, running a hand through her hair and feeling almost disoriented by the late hour.

I haven’t slept that well in forever .

It was probably the afternoon yesterday with her brother. It had been so long since they’d spent time together that wasn’t fraught with tension. But yesterday had been halfway to old times.

She smiled to herself as she got up and grabbed clothes to put on after her shower, thinking more about her visit with her brother.

Ransom had absolutely annihilated her in Scrabble, and it had put him in an excellent mood. They also ate half the pumpkin pie, drank a pot of coffee, and reminisced about the old times.

And though he hadn’t asked about her service, and she hadn’t wanted to bring up his, he did ask her about her new job. And he told her about his own plans. When he dropped her off back at the apartment before school let out, she’d hugged him on impulse before hopping out of the car.

Things are going to be okay. We might not be back where we were just yet, but we’re going to get there.

Once she was showered and dressed, Willow headed to the door that led down to Carla’s Place.

Back when the house was remodeled to create the senior center, the interior staircase must have been relocated to the back of the house.

It now opened into the kitchen, and as far as Willow was concerned, it was a great adjustment because it allowed the scent of coffee to drift up to her in the mornings.

Though she had her own kitchenette, she enjoyed sharing a cup of morning java with the folks downstairs.

So when she grabbed her groceries at the Co-op last week, she also picked up some coffee and creamer to add to the donations in the downstairs kitchen.

She had even slipped two of the pies she had bought into the fridge the other day when no one was looking.

“Oh, look who decided to join us,” Reggie Webb chuckled teasingly as she entered the downstairs area.

“What is that, your fifth cup?” Mrs. Lennox teased Reggie, taking the heat off Willow.

The two of them were regulars at Carla’s Place. Reggie was a talker, and he was here just about every day to chew the fat and learn all the new gossip around town.

Mrs. Lennox lived in the apartment building behind the little house. But she spent so much time here that Willow suspected her fixed income made it easier for her to spend the winter days here than pay to keep the heat turned up all day at her own place.

In both cases, Carla’s Place was having the impact Natalie and Chris had hoped it might in the seniors’ lives—giving them a warm place to socialize, and a destination where everyone felt welcome.

It was the same way their grandmother’s home had always been when she was alive, but it was official now for her old friends.

And Willow couldn’t think of a better way for them to honor her memory.

“Good morning,” Willow said to them both. “I haven’t slept like that in forever.”

“Well, you deserve it, sweetheart,” Mrs. Lennox said firmly. “Come have a cup of coffee and some of that nice hazelnut creamer you brought us.”

“How did you know?” Willow asked.

“We get standing donations from the businesses in town,” Reggie explained. “So when we saw something new in the fridge, we figured it was from you.”

“The coffee stuff is always the same, but the pastries are different,” Mrs. Lennox amended rapturously. “That Mallory likes to try new things.”

Mal owned the bakery just up the block on Park. Willow smiled at the idea that she donated to Carla’s Place. After spending years away, it was easy to forget the way the people of this community supported each other.

Like Jensen giving me a ride yesterday…

She tried to stop the thought in its tracks, but that was easier said than done. The man was somehow even more crush-worthy now than he had been back when she was a teenager. And that was saying something .

But she was working on things with Ransom right now, and the last thing she needed was to be driven to distraction by his former best friend. Again.

Sam at the new veterans center in town had set her up with a volunteer gig at the Open-Air Market that started this afternoon.

Hopefully, it would keep her busy enough that there would be no time to think about Jensen.

She’d also joined a group chat with some of the other vets, and it was just now occurring to her that Jensen might be in that as well.

But there’s nothing wrong with that, is there?

Reggie poured her a mug of coffee and topped it with a bit of the fancy creamer she’d splurged on before holding it out to her.

“Thank you,” she told him, taking it.

She had just had her first sip when her phone buzzed in her pocket, making her think of that group text and the possibility that it was Jensen, like she might have summoned a text from him just by thinking about it.

Then it buzzed again and again—a call, not a text.

No one called her these days. She slipped the phone out of her pocket with her free hand.

At least if it was a call, it wasn’t going to be…

Jensen Webb

Her heart skipped a beat and she warned herself again not to be silly as she swiped the screen to take the call.

“Hi, Jensen,” she said.

“Hey,” he replied. “How are you? ”

Jensen’s deep, rich voice was practically hypnotic. Willow had always loved hearing him talk, and on the phone it was even more compelling since his good looks couldn’t distract.

“Fine, thanks,” she said. “How are you?”

“Great,” he told her. “Listen, Ryan called me to let us know that your car is ready. He didn’t have your number. It was the alternator, like we thought. I’m headed into town anyway, can I give you a lift to the shop?”

That sounded so good, but…

“I… went to see my brother yesterday,” she said, heading out of the kitchen and into the little hallway.

“Oh, yeah?” Jensen said with interest. “How did that go?”

“It actually went okay,” she told him, grateful to have someone to tell. “Things aren’t exactly back to normal yet. But I think they might be soon.”

“That’s great, Willow,” Jensen said. “I’m really happy for you. For both of you.”

His voice was so sincere, but there was sadness in it too. Willow wasn’t sure what to say and for a moment there was only silence on the line.

“I think it will be okay again for you too,” she said finally. “He just needs to get his head around it in his own time.”

“Sure,” he said, not sounding as hopeful as she’d wanted.

“Anyway,” she said. “I’m thinking it’s better if I don’t hop in your truck again today. Just until things are normal again. ”

“Sure,” he said again. “We can avoid each other for now, if you think it’s best.”

Avoid each other sounded harsh, but she guessed it was what she was asking.

Jensen’s voice had a note of sadness to it, and for a second she wondered what that was about. But any reminder that he and Ransom weren’t close anymore probably hurt.

“Anyway, thank you, Jensen,” she told him. “I really appreciated your help yesterday.”

“It was my pleasure, Willow,” he said, his deep voice sending a tingle through her chest, even over the phone. “I’m here for you, always.”

When she headed back into the kitchen, her two companions were sitting at the little table, eyes big as saucers, like they had been listening in.

“Was that my nephew?” Reggie asked.

Oh heavens, that’s right. All I need is the town’s busybody thinking there’s something going on between Jensen and me…

“Yes,” Willow told him. “He was just letting me know my car is ready at the shop. Ryan Jackson called him since he didn’t have my number.”

“I see,” Reggie said, but his eyes were twinkling. “You want a ride over there?”

“I’m just going to walk,” she said. “It’s pretty out, and I could use a chance to stretch my legs.”

Reggie nodded and she headed over to the sink, quickly finishing off her delicious coffee, and washing out the mug before heading back upstairs to put on her boots and coat.

When she was ready to go, she headed out using the fire escape this time to avoid further conversation. Shivering in the morning cold, she found herself fretting all over again about Ransom.

It’s not a big deal that Reggie knows that Jensen called me, she told herself firmly. There’s no reason for it to get back to my brother, because it’s not exactly hot gossip.

Besides, what was Ransom going to think? It wasn’t like Jensen was going to encourage her to enlist again .

She crunched down the snowy drive and out to the sidewalk, heading down Park past the ballet theater toward Harvard Avenue.

Cars came and went slowly and one or two bundled-up moms with strollers passed her on their way to the morning story hour at the library. She wondered vaguely if Jensen took Henry to those. He probably did. It would be kind of weird not to.

Maybe he has to work though.

She had heard the sad news from her mom when his wife passed a few years ago, and that was when he moved home to Trinity Falls. She figured he wanted to raise his son in the same small town where he had grown up himself, with family nearby to help out.

That made sense. But what could he be doing for work?

She thought she would have heard if he was working at one of the local businesses. Maybe he had some kind of remote job or online gig like so many people did these days. But that didn’t necessarily mean it would be easy for him to pop out to library activities.

Stop thinking about him, she reminded herself, turning her attention to the house she was passing instead .

The Branford place always made her smile.

Trinity Falls might have some new things happening, but plenty of things stayed the same.

Mrs. Branford had always loved the holidays so much.

Every single tree and bush in the yard was hung with lights.

She’d hung those same lights every year when Willow was a little girl, as well as homemade decorations that her children made.

Now it looked like there were even more homemade decorations in the yard, and Willow smiled at the idea that they must be from the Branford grandchildren.

Willow walked on, finally turning right on Harvard and heading toward the corner of Ambler, where the auto shop was located.

It was lucky that Trinity Falls had its own mechanic, and especially nice that she could walk to it from the village. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need it much, but she was driving an older car, so maintenance was going to be key.

“Hey there,” one of the guys at the shop said, waving to her. “How can we help you?”

“I’m here for the old station wagon Ryan brought in,” she said.

“Right,” he replied. “Hang on.”

She headed into the open shop. Once she had her car back, she wouldn’t be cooped up at home. Then maybe she could stop thinking about Jensen.

“Hey, Willow,” Ryan called out to her with a smile. “Jensen got you on the phone, huh? You guys were lucky you caught me when you did.”

So much for my escape.

The rest of the morning passed happily enough. She dropped the car off in front of Carla’s Place, left it there, and walked over to the Co-op to buy a few ornaments and a single string of lights for her tiny tree.

When she got back home, she put on her Christmas pajamas, started soup in the slow cooker, and decorated the little tree while she played a Hallmark movie on her laptop to set the mood.

Before long, the tree was bright and festive, and the whole apartment smelled amazing.

Ransom had the old bins of family decorations at his place, since he had a whole house and kids, and they would all be celebrating over there. But maybe by this time next year Willow would have a few special ornaments too.

By the time she got everything cleaned up, it was time for her volunteer shift at the market. She changed into jeans and a sweater, pulled on her boots and coat, and headed out.

The area at the north end of town where the Trinity Falls Open Air Market was located was on a huge stretch of land.

Soon, there would be a highway coming in, connecting Trinity Falls more directly with Philadelphia.

During their talk yesterday, Ransom told her all about how some local businessman had purchased the land to keep it from being used for commercial purposes.

But then his assistant, who sounded like a very smart woman to Willow, convinced him that the town could really use that land for community events and services .

Back when Willow was a kid, all of this had just been open fields and trees. But as she pulled into the area, she could already see that there was a nice big gravel parking lot, a wide grassy field, and a great big, covered space that was open on three sides, and currently lined with tables.

It was kind of exciting to think of all the cool stuff that could be done with a space like this. Sam, the young woman who was the coordinator at the veterans center, had mentioned that it was great for the farmers market in winter and even in the summertime when it was rainy.

But seeing it, Willow could imagine parties, dances, and fundraisers of all kinds happening here too.

“Hey, Willow,” Sam said, waving to her as she walked up. “I’m so glad you made it. We really appreciate you lending a hand.”

“I’m happy to help,” Willow told her with a smile. She meant it too. Nothing made her feel more like she was part of Trinity Falls again than joining her neighbors for a project.

“Well, follow me,” Sam said. “We’re thinking we’d like the First Aid booth to be set up in back near the bathrooms and the stage.”

Willow followed her toward the one closed wall of the big structure, where there were doors leading to bathrooms on each end of the wall and another that said kitchen . Just in front of those things was a small platform stage.

On one side of the stage, someone was putting together a booth that looked like it would hold coffee and beverages. On the other was a booth that said First Aid .

And squeezed in between the First Aid booth and the stage was a big table with a soundboard on it.

Jensen Webb stood by the soundboard, fishing something through a tangle of cables.

“Hey, Jensen,” Sam said brightly. “This is Willow, our nurse volunteer. Willow, this is Jensen, he’s in charge of setting up the sound, but he can also help with anything you need at your booth.”

Jensen glanced up in surprise and when his gray eyes met hers, Willow felt that familiar tingle rush through her chest.

I’m in so much trouble…