A Slice of Christmas Magic

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We must have said his name too many times and summoned him because all of a sudden he walked through the door.

“Hi, Josh,” I said, trying to keep my tone calm, but it came out a little too high-pitched. The whole table’s eyes went from me to him and back to me again.

He froze for a second when he saw me at a table full of people. He quickly regained his composure.

“Hi, Susie. Hi, Mrs. Daniels,” he said, nodding towards my mom. “Hi, everyone else. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Maybe I can come back later.” He backed towards the door so quickly he almost tripped over his own feet.

“Nonsense,” Lena said pulling up another chair to our already crowded table. “There’s plenty of room here, and we could really use some help cutting these snowflakes. I think Erma wants to fill the entire town with them.”

Aunt Erma rolled her eyes. “Oh, quit being a drama queen, Lena. I’ll share some of these with you.”

“I run a hardware store. I can’t have people getting distracted by all these sparkly snowflakes,” she grumbled, but I saw her perk up a little.

Josh sat down on the corner of the chair, his hands folded tightly in his lap. He looked about as awkward as I felt. After five minutes though, he had Mr. Barnes showing him how to do the eagle pose and had Flora glowing when they discussed their favorite books, and he and Lena got into a heated discussion over which brand of drill was the best. That was how Josh was. He was quiet, but had a way of charming everyone around him easily. I had always admired that skill. I had a way of alienating or making people uncomfortable with my failed jokes. He hadn’t fully won over Aunt Erma yet though. She eyed him skeptically when he asked her about the best method for making pie crust. My mother was already in love with him, so he didn’t have to bother with anything more than a little small talk with her. Sometimes I wondered if my mother would rather have him as a child than me.

I was deep in thought about how I would explain this group date to Henry when I heard Josh say, “I’d love to come. Thank you so much for the invitation.”

“You’d love to come where?” I asked.

“He’s going to celebrate Christmas dinner with us,” Flora said.

“What?” I asked. It came out sounding a little more harsh than I intended. This was going to be my first Christmas with Henry, the last thing I needed was Josh hanging around being Josh-like or trying to find the perfect moment to proclaim his undying love to me. I had been looking forward to a day of organized chaos. Adding Josh to the mix completely messed up my plans.

Just then, Henry himself walked through the door. “Henry!” the room greeted him in chorus. I waved a crooked snowflake at him.

“You’re pretty good at that.” He pointed at my pile.

“Don’t patronize me.” I glared at him. He smiled innocently at me and I couldn’t help but smile back.

He noticed Josh and extended his hand. “I’m Henry.”

Josh stood up and shook it, introducing himself.

“Josh is my friend from back home who I told you about,” I said. I saw Henry’s eyes quickly size up Josh, and I could feel the gaze of the group as they studied every nuance of our reactions. I tried to keep a neutral expression, but all the muscles in my face were straining to react. React how, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want my face to reveal to the room what I was feeling before I had a chance to figure it out myself.

“I should really get going,” Josh said. “Thanks for letting me join in the fun.” He puffed up his chest a little as he said goodbye to Henry. I got up to follow him out because we still needed to talk, but a large group walked through the door clamoring for pie.

“Can you help, Susie?” Aunt Erma asked, likely sensing my hesitation about going after Josh. I sighed and turned back to the front counter to serve pie.

***

“We found the perfect patch of snow,” Aunt Erma announced when she and Mitzy got back from their afternoon walk. “We’ll have to go quick and double back a few times. I saw Nancy Harrington eyeing me as though she knew I’d found fresh snow.”

“Great.” I tried to sound enthusiastic. I was enjoying the warmth of the pie-shop kitchen and in no hurry to bury my hands in the snow and lose feeling in my feet.