Christmas in Twinkle Falls, page 5
She was convinced that their perfect dog sensed how her son needed her. Since they brought Shelby home, she didn’t hesitate to rush to Cam’s side whenever he was overwhelmed, and every time it happened, she licked his hand and nudged him with her nose to make him pet her.
“Do you want me to wake him?” Sophie jumped at the unexpected voice next to her.
She turned and pulled Zoey against her. “I’ll do it honey. I was enjoying the moment.”
The first night they brought their sweet dog home, she curled up with Zoey in her bed while she read a book and fell asleep. The next morning they found Shelby laying with Cam. It seemed to be where she felt needed the most.
Kissing her daughter’s hair, she let go and walked to Cam’s bedside. “Cam, it’s time to wake up honey.” She gently shook his shoulder as Shelby jumped up, staring at him while wagging her tail.
“I’m tirrred.” He muttered his usual comment when he was forced to wake up before his body felt like it.
“I know buddy. We have church today. We need to get moving so Pastor Morgan doesn’t give us one of his looks if we’re late.”
Still not moving a muscle, Shelby seemed to know Sophie needed a little help getting him up. She stood over him licking his cheek and whining.
His eyes finally opened with a muffled laugh. “Okay, okay. I’m getting up.” Sitting up, he patted her head, knowing what she wanted. “Do you have to go out, Shelby?”
She barked twice, flicking her snout in the air each time, making them laugh. Her son jumped off the bed smiling as Shelby hopped on the floor. She was on his heels as he left the room heading downstairs to take her out.
“I’m going to get dressed, mom.” Zoey says.
“Alright honey. I’ll get breakfast ready.” Halfway down the stairs, she paused when she heard her daughter singing.
That angelic voice was something she no longer hid from her. Zoey had loved singing since she was a little girl. And now that she was part of the children’s choir at church, she was no longer shy about people hearing her.
When Sophie happily hopped off the last step to the living room, she marveled at the beautiful space before her. The view never got old—the decorations looked so nice hung up. This room was one of the selling points of their cabin by the lake.
With this being their first Christmas here, they looked forward to decorating it for the first time since Jamie died.
Two and a half walls in the room had floor to ceiling windows. On the wall to the right, a brick fireplace took up the middle. The rustic wooden mantle was adorned with red bows and garlands that lit up — all made by her and the kids. Each of their stockings hung in the center of the mantle, including one for Shelby. Poinsettia plants sat on the floor by each side adding a bright splash of color.
Warm wooden beams separated the massive upper glass from the lower ones. Garlands were strung up with twinkle lights along the beams. The empty space in the center of the back windows was being saved for the Christmas tree and train track that would run underneath it, getting the tree was another thing on the list of things to do this week.
Hearing the back door shut, Cam hurried around the banister and ran upstairs as Shelby wandered into Sophie’s bedroom. She grinned at her before continuing her trek to the kitchen. The sound of Shelby scratching at something stopped her in her tracks.
Looking over her shoulder, Sophie twisted around squinting and walked to the door of her room. She noticed Shelby scratching a plastic tub in the bottom of her closet.
“Hey girl.” She wandered closer to the dog. “There’s nothing in that tub for you.” Sophie shut the closet door before patting her on the head. “Come on. Let’s go in the kitchen.”
Shelby refused, still looking between the closet and Sophie, barking twice. She knelt in front of her. “Sweetie, there’s nothing in there except things from our house in Florida. Come on, let’s go.” Shelby followed her to the door, pausing once again to stare at the closet before trailing behind Sophie to the kitchen.
Once they were done, she no sooner put the banana-chocolate chip pancakes on the table when the kids raced down the stairs. “Hey, hey, slow down before you fall.”
Laughter filled the room as they hurried to their chairs. She swung the refrigerator door open and grabbed the pitcher of apple juice filling everyone’s glasses before sitting at the end of the table, passing the pancakes around.
“It’s going to be a fun day at church with the Christmas Social. We get to make all kinds of neat things to decorate the church.” She eyed them for a reaction.
“It sounds pretty cool.” Zoey grinned before stuffing her mouth with a forkful of pancakes.
Cam’s eyes bounced between Sophie and the empty air—it was one of the ways he tried to find the words to express his thoughts. She and Zoey waited patiently for him to say what he wanted to.
From the time Cam was born, Zoey was the perfect big sister. When he had been diagnosed with Asperger’s, not once did she treat him any differently. If anything, watching Cam’s struggle with everyday challenges made her even more empathetic with his uniqueness.
“I don’t know if it will be fun for me. What if I get bored?” His concerns were warranted because of the way he processed things out of the norm.
Looking at her son, she pointed to her eyes. Another one of his quirks was not looking people in the eye—it was something they practiced daily which improved his ability to do it on his own without a reminder. “I’ll have your iPod with your music, headphones and your games in case you need them.” His mom reminding him eased his mind.
“Okay. That’s good.”
Zoey looked at him. “I’ll be with you too, okay?”
He nodded in response.
Her precious girl told her brother autism was his super power, and he didn’t think it was so bad when she reminded him of that fun fact.
Zoey had no idea how right she was. Cam could solve almost any math problem and could recite the name of every song recorded by his favorite pop boybands, his preferred music genre.
Most kids had a fear of bad weather but her son was fascinated by it. He liked looking outside whenever there was a storm. Cam regularly followed the world of astronomy and gazed through his telescope every night, keeping a journal of the changes.
“Mom?” Cam had an unhappy look on his face.
“What is it sweetie?”
He stared at his plate, holding his fork over it as he swung it back and forth. “Do—do I have to go to school tomorrow?”
“Yes, it’s a school day. Why do you ask?” She sensed something was bothering him.
Pushing his food around his plate, he told her, “Well… this boy kept being mean to me at lunch when I was trying to sit down. I don’t like being around mean kids.”
“Where was the lunch monitor for your class?” Sophie knew all too well how it felt to be picked on. It was hard enough for her when she was in school and she could only imagine a child with autism trying to deal with it.
“She—” He looked up from his plate. “She was helping someone who tripped and fell.”
“I see. If it happens again, make sure you tell the monitor as soon as you can, okay?” She saw the concern on his face. “You know what, Cam? When I was thirteen, these kids were mean to me too. I was shy back then and afraid to stick up for myself —one time at lunch they even pulled my hair. Some boy I didn’t know saw them being mean and came up to talk to them. After that, they never bothered me again. He was like my very own knight in shining armor. I actually nicknamed him KSA whenever I told someone about him.”
Zoey laughed.
Cam stared at her intently. “What did he say to them?”
Sophie glanced down and back up again. “He stood tall, looked them in the eye and told them to leave me alone. And after he talked to them, they apologized. Ever since then I decided to stick up for myself. And if they wouldn’t leave me alone, I would tell someone about it even if they got in trouble for picking on me.”
He nodded. “Okay, mom. I’ll try it.” Thankfully, her advice seemed to ease his mind but she decided she would still call the school to make them aware that it happened.
After breakfast, Sophie asked her daughter, “Can you help me clean up, sweetie?”
Zoey carried her dish to the sink. “Sure mom.”
“Thank you. Hey Cam, go relax and watch some of your movie before we leave.” He bobbed his head and got up from the table.
Allowing Cam to watch part of a favorite movie before church kept his mood elevated, since too much noise and crowds sometimes overloaded him. Sophie tried to keep him from getting to the point of no return, as they called it.
Arriving at church, a light snow was falling. She saw the excitement on Zoey and Cam's faces when they climbed out of the car. Cam pointed his chin to the sky with his tongue out trying to catch a snowflake. She smiled at the vision embracing every moment of normalcy he got to enjoy in his quirky life.
"Come on, Cam. We need to get inside." Zoey told him before Sophie had a chance.
As they crossed the parking lot, she watched the two of them trying to collect snow in their gloved hands. Living in Florida, their blood was still thin like hers. She couldn’t believe some locals didn’t even wear gloves, or coats for that matter, unless there was a snow storm.
Sophie heard footsteps approaching from behind. Before she could turn around a familiar voice spoke. "Hi Soph. Hey Zoey and Cam.” The kids waved.
“Hey Bridge. How’s it going?” she greeted, sliding her arm through Bridge’s while they strolled to the door.
Bridge looked at her with a questioning smirk. “Fine. How are you doing? Have you talked any more to the new guy in town?”
She rolled her eyes and spoke in a soft voice. “No, I have not talked to Liam any more. It’s not like we exchanged numbers or anything.”
“Why not? It seems like the logical next step. There’s undeniable chemistry between the two of you despite your objections.”
Sophie scowled. “For gosh sakes, Bridge, we’re barely able to say a few words to each other. Maybe someday we can be in the same room without wishing we were somewhere else—but then again, maybe not.”
Her mouth opened in protest as Sophie continued, “There’s something wrong with that man. It’s like he has a chip on his shoulder or something. I already have my hands full without trying to befriend him. He can find someone else to be his friend.”
“Here, I’ll get that for you lovely ladies.” Kris stepped ahead of them, pulling the door open.
Bridgette smiled. “Thank you, Kris.” They let Zoey and Cam go in front of them.
They moseyed through the door where Pastor Morgan stood greeting everyone. “Good morning, Cam.” He shook her son’s hand as he always did.
“Hi Pastor Morgan.” He managed a grin before walking on.
“Hello Zoey. I think you grow every time I see you.”
She grinned and grabbed his hand. “That’s what mom says too.”
“I must agree with her.” He turned to Sophie and Bridgette. “It’s nice to see you ladies. I hope you will be staying for the Christmas Social?” He looked at each of them.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” they answer as they walked to a pew and took their seats.
When Sophie sat down, she turned to the children. “Hey kids, I have some great news.”
Their eyes perked up as they stared at her, anxious to hear. “Grandma and Grandpa are coming this week to stay with us for the holidays.”
“Really?” Cam asked while Zoey smiled wide.
“Yes sweetie. They are very excited to spend our first Christmas in Twinkle Falls with us. We’re going to have so much fun!” She beamed, hoping she wouldn’t end up eating her words.
Bridge looked at the kids with excitement. “That’s wonderful guys!”
Their smiles grew.
Once they got situated, Sophie handed the iPod and headphones to her son when she whispered to Bridge. “Cam told me this morning about some boy at school being mean to him. It nearly broke my heart.”
“I don’t know why some kids thrive on bullying others. Schools should be stricter with the consequences.”
Smiling, Sophie told her, “It reminded me of my own run-in with some bullies in Middle School. I never told you about my KSA, did I?”
“Your what?”
“My KSA, also known as my knight in shining armor. I was thirteen years old and had been bullied by two boys and a girl. It went on for a few weeks. I was pretty shy at the time, hard to believe, huh? I guess they felt like I was easy prey because they kept messing with me.”
She glanced at the kids before saying, “The last time it happened, they pushed me and pulled my hair while standing in line for lunch. But then this tall, cute boy appeared next to me. When I looked at him, he grinned and turned to them.”
Holding her hands out as Sophie paused, Bridge asked, “What happened?”
Smiling, she revealed, “Towering over them, his eyes moved back and forth between the boys and the girl. KSA said if he saw them anywhere near me or heard that they bothered me again, he would make their lives miserable. And when KSA asked if he made himself clear, they bobbed their heads like basketballs. He made them apologize then told them to get lost. All I could think to say was thanks. He tipped his head at me, smiled, and walked away.”
“Oh my gosh! What happened the next time you saw him?”
She shook her head. “I never, ever saw him again and I have no idea why. It was like I imagined him or something.”
Sophie’s heart warmed at the memory of KSA’s smile and his thoughtfulness for a complete stranger. “After all these years, I still think about him. I wonder what happened to him and where he lives now.”
“That has to be one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard. And speaking of boys…” She leaned into Sophie. “So will you at least try not to be rude to Liam when he’s around? He is going to be in town for the rest of the month you know. And if yesterday was an example of how the town feels, I’d say he could use some friends. You should have heard the town gossipers hating on him before they even get to know him.”
Her brows raised but she tried not to encourage her. “No, I will not avoid him. But I’m not going out of my way to talk either. It might be best if we keep our distance, for both our sakes.”
Bridge leaned in and whispered, “You have grieved long enough darlin’.”
“You are relentless!”
Her words only added fuel to the fire. “Yes, I am and don’t forget it.” She observed Bridge looking around the room before her head whipped back to her with raised brows.
“What?”
“He’s here.” Leaning into her, she whispers, “The tall, handsome stranger is behind us on the right and he’s looking this way.”
Without thought her eyes gravitated to him. As their eyes met, she felt a flutter inside. If he was any closer, she feared he would witness the flushing of her face.
Chapter 7
(Liam)
Liam waited in line near the door to shake Pastor Morgan’s hand. He felt guilty for missing part of his sermon since his gaze kept wandering to Sophie.
She was all dressed up and looking pretty. Not that she didn’t look pretty every time he’d seen her. Heck, the woman was gorgeous. But today her hair was clipped back and kind of messy in a nice way. Loose strands hung down the right side of her face, and her red dress looked great with her fair complexion.
“It’s nice to see you Liam. I’m glad you could make it.” He shook his hand.
“Thank you, sir. It was a nice sermon.”
“I appreciate that, son. You will be staying for the Christmas Social won’t you?”
“I uh—have no idea what that is but no, I think I’ll be heading home.” Realizing how clueless he looked, he shrugged it off and smiled.
Pastor Morgan stated, “Nonsense. Stay and join us. You’ll be in good hands. There are several seasoned participants who will gladly show you the ropes.”
When he started to walk away, Pastor Morgan gripped his shoulder with one hand and beckoned someone else with the other. “Come,” he told the person in line.
Liam turned to see who he was gesturing for. With an intake of breath, his mouth opened but he waited to speak. Sophie, Bridgette and the kids were passing everyone in line, murmuring apologies on the way.
“Ladies, would you do me a favor and take Liam under your wing? He’s never been to a Christmas Social. Bridgette, I’m sure you and Sophie can show him what to do?” Pastor Morgan grinned.
He smiled as Zoey said, “Mom, it’s the guy we saw when we found Shelby.”
She nodded at her daughter.
“Of course, Pastor Morgan. We’d be happy to show him what to do,” Bridgette remarks with a little too much enthusiasm.
Intentionally elbowing her friend’s side, Sophie squinted at Bridgette, clearly unamused.
“Thank you.” The Pastor shook their hands.
Liam followed them out the front door and down the sidewalk leading to the hall behind the Church. “Thank you for taking pity on me. I didn’t realize this was happening today.”
Bridgette answered, “It’s no problem, is it Sophie? Even though she wasn’t here last year, I told her about everything we do. It will be fun, right kids?”
“Yeah,” Zoey and Cam bellowed as the wind blew the snow around them.
Walking near Sophie and the kids, he turned to find her looking ahead. He wondered if she was sending him a hint. “So this is a big deal, huh?”
“It is. From what I’m told most of the congregation joins in. It’s not just about making the decorations for the church and the hall, it’s about making memories, getting to know everyone better and having some laughs.” While speaking she didn’t turn to him once.
“I think you’ll enjoy it, Liam.” Bridgette reassured him.
Holding his hands out, he grinned. “I didn’t have anything else to do.”
