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  Even at a distance Ashley could see Mark’s smile glinting. “I got it from Shawn weeks ago.”

  “You did? Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I never got up the nerve,” he admitted, turning back towards his house.

  Ashley caught up to Kayla who asked with a grin, “What would you have done if he’d called you before you came home and saw him again?”

  “I would have had a heart attack.”

  “It’s probably a good thing he didn’t then. It’s pretty cool that he wanted your number though, huh?”

  “Yeah it is.”

  “I told you.”

  “Told me what?”

  “That you were the reason he moved down here.”

  “Taking a job and moving hundreds of miles away from home for a girl he didn’t know would show a singular lack of good judgment.”

  “That’s true – unless she’s the right one for him. Then it shows a brilliance of perception.”

  Thinking of Kari, Ashley said doggedly, “I still don’t think I am the reason he moved here though.”

  “But you are thrilled that he did.”

  “Of course.”

  Chapter 8

  On a Cold Winter’s Night

  It only took about 15 minutes for them to walk down to Kayla’s house, put the gifts under her tree, and replenish Andrew’s diaper bag for the evening. As they were walking back up the street, they saw a rental car in the driveway and a big crowd of people on the porch. As they got closer, Ashley was able to pick out her brother Keith and his very pregnant wife, Jessica. Their daughter Chloe was harder to find, but she finally spotted her clinging to her Grandma’s neck.

  Kayla and Ashley joined in the hugging and kissing as everyone moved inside. The living room was soon packed with people. Few things are as merry as a house full of family members that haven’t seen each other for a while. Everyone was talking at once, telling stories and catching up on each other’s lives in a way no phone conversation can compare with.

  Soon Ashley went to the kitchen with her mom and two sisters in law. The two young mothers were talking about their kids while her mom bustled about getting a meal ready for the crowd. Ashley helped her by setting out sandwich stuff and paper plates. There was a large pot of chicken noodle soup on the stove as well, so there was no doubt that everyone would soon be pleasantly full.

  Ashley was very happy to have all of her family there, but she also felt a little out of place being single and having no kids of her own. It gave her an odd feeling of loneliness, even surrounded by so many people she loved. She wondered if Shawn felt like this. She could hear him laughing in the living room though, so she doubted that anything was bothering him.

  Eventually the adults were all eating, but Kayla and Jessica were having a hard time getting their kids to settle down and eat. They were way too excited to sit at the table and focus on food. Ashley decided to try to help them out. The kitchen was chaotic, but no one was in the dining room so she went to the living room and got a throw blanket. After she had spread it out in an empty corner of the dining room, she went and asked Daniel, Becca, and Chloe if they wanted to have a picnic with her.

  They all looked at her with big eyes, but it was clear they didn’t quite know what to think. She explained, “I’ve got a picnic blanket in the dining room all ready if you’ll come and eat with me.”

  Daniel and Becca jumped up with a whoop and ran with their plates to the dining room. Thankfully, none of them had been given soup to eat. Chloe hung back, though it was obvious that she wanted to go too. Chloe was a somewhat reserved and proper little girl, even at four, so she looked at her mom for guidance.

  Jessica smiled down at her gently and said brightly, “Wow. What a great idea. You’ve never eaten a picnic inside before. Why don’t you take your sandwich and go eat with your cousins and Aunt Ashley?”

  “Ok,” Chloe agreed happily, now that she knew it was an acceptable thing to do.

  Ashley had a lot of fun with her nieces and nephew. She loved them, but because they’d always lived so far apart, she didn’t see them often. Ashley especially enjoyed getting to know Chloe a little better because she’d seen her less often than the other two. The amazing thing was that they were actually able to sit and eat their food. Of course, before they ate they had to change places back and forth for a few minutes, often spilling their chips. These were easily picked up however. Ashley sat calmly eating her bowl of soup while they talked and moved around, undisturbed by their wiggles.

  After the kids were done eating, Daniel talked the girls into going upstairs so he could show Chloe the car model he was making for his dad. Ashley took their paper plates to the trash and shook the crumbs off the blanket. She’d vacuum the dining room tomorrow. After putting the blanket away in the living room, she settled onto the couch next to Shawn, who was on his phone.

  Keith came in and started talking to her, asking her about her plans now that she was done with college. She was trying to answer him when Shawn interrupted her by saying “Hey, Ashley, do you want to drive around and look at Christmas lights with the YSA’s?”

  “But Keith just got here.”

  “I know, but they’re probably going to cancel the dance tomorrow night because of the weather, so everyone wanted to get together and do something tonight.”

  “What dance? I didn’t hear anything about it.”

  “There was supposed to be a Christmas dance for the Young Single Adults tomorrow night. I didn’t tell you because it probably won’t happen. Anyway, do you want to go, or not?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, it would be fun, but it would be pretty rude of us to leave.”

  “Don’t worry about us,” Keith assured her. “We’re going to put Chloe to bed soon, and Jessica will probably be right behind her. She gets tired easily when she’s pregnant so the trip hasn’t been easy on her. You guys go out and have fun. We’ll see plenty of you while we’re here. Especially if we get iced in.”

  “Well, ok. If you’re sure?” Ashley asked Keith. When he nodded at her, she asked Shawn, “Who all is going?”

  “Well, we’re still calling people. Why don’t you call Mark?”

  “Ok. I’ll go get my phone, and you can give me his number.”

  As she hurried upstairs, she heard Keith ask, “Who’s Mark?” She was relieved to hear that Shawn’s only answer was, “Our neighbor.”

  A few minutes later, she had called Mark and he’d agreed to go. He was going to come over and ride with her and Shawn to the church where everyone was meeting. She was so excited that she was going to see him again that night that she ran back upstairs immediately to touch up her makeup and brush her hair.

  Her excitement was such a complete swing from the loneliness she had been feeling earlier that she went a little loopy. Anyway, that’s the only way she could explain her reaction to Mark coming back over. When the doorbell rang, she practically ran to the door and flung it open, anxious to see him. When she saw Mark standing there in glow of the Christmas lights with his crazily gorgeous smile, she didn’t even think before she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him.

  After staring down at her in shock for a second, Mark grinned and said, “Well, this is great and all, but I don’t think your brother is appreciating it as much as I am.”

  “What?” Ashley spun around and saw that Keith had come into the foyer. He was watching them with his eyebrows up, looking very taken aback. Of all her brothers, Keith had always been the most protective, maybe because he was the oldest. She felt her face turn every shade of red as she realized what it must have looked like to see her fling herself into a strange guy’s arms. She was also anxious about what Mark must be thinking about it and wished she hadn’t been so impulsive.

  “Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met,” her brother said formally, reaching out to shake Mark’s hand. “I’m Keith.”

  Ashley winced, knowing that her brother could be intimidating when he wanted to be.

  �
�I’m Mark Ellison. It’s nice to meet you.” Apparently Mark wasn’t going to be intimidated. Of course, he was bigger than Keith, but still. She was relieved when he continued in a friendly voice, “I hope you had a good trip.”

  Keith told him politely that they had. It was obvious that he was about to ask Mark a question when Shawn came flying by them, pulling his coat on and calling for them to hurry so they wouldn’t keep everyone waiting.

  Mark nodded to Keith and said goodbye.

  “We’ll see you later, Keefy,” Ashley told him, using her old nickname for him to bring him down a level. He was looking a little stern.

  “I’ll still be up when you get back. We can have a good talk.”

  “You bet, brother dear,” she replied, relieved to be going. She grabbed her coat from the coat rack and joined Mark, who was waiting for her on the porch.

  Shawn had his car running by the time they got there, but there was a brief confusion before they could get in. Ashley and Mark both urged the other to take the front passenger seat, but Ashley decided the issue by jumping into the back seat before he could. Her victory was short lived, however, because Mark walked around the car and also sat down on the back seat. It was a miracle that he was able to get in the cramped space, but he didn’t seem to mind.

  Shawn looked in the rear view mirror and said sarcastically as he backed out of the driveway. “I feel like your chauffeur.”

  “You wanted to drive,” Ashley reminded him.

  “I’m sure someone will sit up front with you once we get to the church,” Mark assured him. “Maybe someone with dark curly hair.”

  Ashley raised her eyebrows and asked, “Oh yeah? That sounds pretty specific to be a general anybody.”

  “Well, speaking even more specifically, her name is Erin.”

  “Really? So, Shawn, tell me about Erin. Is she your girlfriend?” Ashley asked, her voice teasing.

  “He’s working on it,” Mark told her.

  “Ok, ok,” Shawn said grumpily. “Lay off. She probably won’t be there any way.”

  “I hope she is so that I can meet her,” Ashley told him.

  “Well if she is, don’t say anything to embarrass me.”

  “Yeah, because you never embarrass me,” Ashley told him, sarcasm dripping from every word.

  “That’s different,” Shawn answered, smiling despite himself.”

  “Of course it is.”

  A few minutes later, they pulled into the church parking lot and saw that they were the first to arrive. Ashley was getting tired of Shawn dragging her around early for everything. But it wasn’t so bad waiting in the back seat with Mark.

  Shawn immediately got out of the car and paced around the parking lot as he talked on his cell phone. Mark turned sideways and leaned close to her with his arm on the back of the seat. He asked, “So, am I going to get the third degree from big brother later?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure I will.”

  “What are you going to tell him?”

  “It depends on what he asks me,” she answered evasively.

  “Well, try to convince him that I’m not a threat to his little sister, will you? You’ve probably endangered my life by throwing your arms around me like that, you know.”

  “Well, I won’t do it again,” she said hotly, totally embarrassed.

  “That’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t mind if you did it again right now.”

  “Well too bad. We’ve got company,” Ashley said, pointing out the window behind Mark.

  He turned to look and groaned quietly. Ashley was surprised at his reaction because it was Kari Allen, the blond bombshell of the Forest View 1st Ward.

  Kari opened the door and asked, “Can I ride with you guys?” Ashley knew, however, that she was really only asking Mark.

  “Sure,” Mark said with a friendly smile.

  “Courtney’s going to ride with us too and she gets car sick if she doesn’t ride up front, so I need to sit in the back with you.”

  “No problem. We can squeeze you in.”

  “I don’t take up much room,” Kari pointed out brightly.

  Ashley had to hand it to her, she didn’t. Mark had barely moved across the seat before Kari sat down beside him and shut the door. Ashley could see that Kari’s leg was practically glued to Mark’s. Of course, so was hers, but that wasn’t the point.

  “This is cozy,” Kari said.

  Ashley thought dark thoughts. She decided to be polite however and leaned around Mark to smile at her and say, “Hi. I’m Ashley Wright.”

  “Oh, you’re Shawn’s sister. I thought you were one of Mark’s sisters down for a visit. You look a lot like his little sister Valerie. Or didn’t you know that?”

  “No, Mark hasn’t mentioned it,” she answered looking up at Mark questioningly.

  He was looking at her with his eyebrows drawn slightly together. “I guess you do a little bit. You’re both small and her hair is dark like yours, but that’s about it.”

  “Well anyway,” Kari interrupted, “I guess I haven’t introduced myself.”

  “That’s all right. Shawn told me who you were on Sunday.”

  “Oh he did? Well, are you home for Christmas?”

  “No, I’m home for good. I’m finished with school.”

  “Oh,” Kari said with a definite lack of enthusiasm. “Hey Mark, I have a great idea. It’s kind of crowded in here. Why don’t you and I go in my car?”

  “Here. Maybe this will help,” Mark said putting his arm behind Kari on the backseat. It certainly made more room for Kari, who was smiling like a cat with a bowl of cream. “Sorry I take up so much room,” he apologized.

  “Oh I don’t mind, really,” Kari assured him. “Maybe you should scoot closer to me now that there’s some extra space. Ashley takes up more room than I do. Oh, I know, maybe Ashley could ride in the front seat. I’m sure Courtney could ride somewhere else.”

  “Maybe I could,” Ashley said, by now thoroughly upset at the other girl. Kari was oozing confidence and Ashley felt herself shrinking into a protective shell. Mark’s cheerful acceptance of Kari’s flirting was painful to watch. She reached to open the door, but Mark immediately grabbed her hand, stopping her.

  “No, don’t leave. I’ll make more room for you if you want.” he said moving slightly closer to Kari.

  Ashley wished fervently that she hadn’t agreed to this activity. Being forced to watch Mark’s interactions with Kari, she began to doubt that his interest in herself was anything special. He seemed to be on the same friendly terms with the other girl.

  Kari talked on and on about something, but Ashley didn’t really listen to her. Mark was responding enough for the two of them. Pretty soon Shawn came back to the car with a girl. She didn’t have dark curly hair, so Ashley knew it must be Courtney and not Erin.

  Shawn introduced her to Ashley and said, “We’re all here. We only have three car loads full, so we should be able to stick together pretty good. We’re going to drive up to the Heights first, in case the roads gets slick later. Oh hey - Mark, can we come over to your house afterwards? Some of the girls want to have hot chocolate.”

  “I don’t care, but I don’t have any.”

  “They brought everything with them, of course.”

  It was bitterly cold outside, but the car was warm from the heater and Ashley began to be uncomfortably hot in her coat. She leaned forward and tried to take it off.

  “Are you too warm?” Mark asked.

  “Way too warm,” she replied, struggling to get her arm out of the coat sleeve without elbowing him in the side.

  “Here, let me help.” He did so very efficiently so she was soon able to lean back again, cooler, and fold her coat on her lap.

  “Now you know why I didn’t wear one.”

  “I haven’t seen you wear a coat since Saturday morning when you went for the Christmas tree.”

  “Oh good.” Kari interjected. “Did you get a tree like I told you to?”

  “It
wasn’t for me. I got the Wright’s tree for them because Ashley’s Dad has a bad back.”

  “How nice of you,” Kari told him, practically gushing. “Though, you should get one for yourself too. It will help keep you from getting homesick. I know what it’s like to miss Idaho, you know. The trees don’t smell as good out here, but they’re ok.”

  Mark replied, “I’m not homesick at all.”

  “You will be,” Kari told him knowingly.

  “I doubt it. There are plenty of people here to keep me from getting lonely,” Mark answered, smiling at Kari.

  Ashley felt like she was going to be sick.

  Up front, Courtney spoke up. “Hey Shawn, let’s get some Christmas music going.”

  “We’ll have to find some on the radio,” he said turning it on and scanning the stations. Luckily one of the local stations was playing Christmas music around the clock.

  Ashley was thankful for the lift it gave her mood. She felt like depression was hovering in the wings, ready to descend on her at the least provocation. She knew that it was ridiculous to be struggling with her emotions while driving around looking at Christmas lights and listening to festive music, but she couldn’t help it.

  Forest View Heights was a newly developed community with large, beautiful homes and most of them had amazing light displays. As they drove around, Kari continually pointed things out to Mark, encouraging him to lean towards her to look out her window. Ashley realized that Kari simply considered her an insignificant hurdle in her pursuit of Mark, if she considered her at all. Ashley wouldn’t have been surprised if it was the latter; she considered herself to be pretty insignificant.

  Courtney was friendly and enthusiastic about everything so she kept Shawn engaged in conversation throughout their drive around town. Kari did her best to monopolize Mark’s attention, and Ashley did little to compete for it. She sat quietly in her seat, staring rather vacantly at the lights passing her window, often seeing them through the faint blur of misty eyes.

  Mark made a few attempts to bring her into the conversation with Kari. Ashley responded, trying to sound happier than she was so that Mark wouldn’t notice there was anything wrong. She didn’t feel capable of forcing it too much however, so she hoped that Mark would think that she was fascinated by the light displays. Several times she felt his eyes on her and she wondered what he was thinking.