Chapter 5

Josie

Today had been the worst. Between a tense parent-teacher conference and the principal holding an unexpected staff meeting after school, I was mentally exhausted. Thankfully, it was the last day before Christmas break.

I vowed to pick myself up and get ready for tonight’s display. I’d planned to make cookies and pass out cocoa and needed to be able to do it with a smile on my face. But maybe I’d light everything up a little later than usual and take a hot bath first to decompress.

As I pulled onto my street, the craziest sight met my eyes. While my house was dark, since I hadn’t turned on the lights yet, Cole’s was lit up much more brightly than ever before. Well, if this wasn’t an ironic visual.

And it wasn’t just the lights.

Oh my God. What am I looking at?

I abruptly parked on the street, not even bothering to pull into my driveway.

As soon as I exited the car, I noticed the music. Blasting from a speaker was the theme to…Star Wars? Within a few seconds, I realized why he’d chosen that. Cole had set up a nativity scene featuring life-size Stars Wars figures. A rifle-wielding Han Solo stood alone near a cradle. I peeked in and found Yoda inside. Baby Yoda Jesus. Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and Jabba the Hutt were lined up, I guessed as the three wise men. R2-D2 and C-3PO were chilling together on the other side of the lawn as shepherds. And there were palm trees and deer—oh my! He’d put up so many more lights, too.

What in the world?

When the door opened and Cole came outside, I nearly lost it.

“What the heck happened to you?” I asked. “Have you lost your mind?” My eyes traveled from top to bottom over his body. Cole wore a wig with buns on each side and a long white…dress.

“Someone had to be Princess Leia.” He shrugged. “You can’t have a Star Wars scene without her. They didn’t have her at Target, so I found a costume store about thirty miles away. Figured I’d take one for the team.”

I looked around. “And what a team it is…”

“By the way, you hit the nail on the head. I did finally lose my mind—my toxic mind. It needed to go.” He held his arms up. “Because this is what it’s all about, isn’t it?”

“Sure. What’s life without a Star Wars nativity?” I shook my head. “What’s gotten into you?”

“I’ll show you.” Cole disappeared into the house for a moment. Then he handed me a card. I immediately recognized it as a Christmas card from William’s family.

“I got this accidentally,” he said. “I took one look at William’s face and suddenly, I understood on a deeper level why you do what you do every year. His spirit made me reflect on myself. I realized that by living in fear, I wasn’t living at all. And then I also decided, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

“You certainly did. I don’t even know what to say.”

“How about ‘May the Force be with you’?” He winked.

“Sounds appropriate under the circumstances.” I laughed.

He snapped his fingers. “Oh, what are you giving to the spectators tonight, by the way?”

“The usual cookies and cocoa. Why?”

“Send them my way after. I got this bucket of glow-in-the-dark lightsabers.”

“I’m sure the kids will love those.”

“See? I won’t make kids cry anymore. That’s gotta count for something, right? Perhaps it makes up for me being such a dick to you early on?”

“It might take a lot of lightsabers to make up for that,” I teased.

We shared a laugh, and his eyes lingered on mine.

Feeling flustered, I looked back over at my house. “Well, I need to get started on the cookies and stuff. I’ll be sure to send everyone across the street, although they’ll probably come over here first. I don’t know how anyone could resist getting a closer look at all this.”

“Make sure you stop by, too. I’ll save you a lightsaber.”

“Okay.” I laughed.

Later that evening, I thoroughly enjoyed watching from across the street as Cole’s Star Wars display got the attention it deserved. He stayed dressed as Princess Leia the entire time. It was hysterical.

After the neighborhood visitors finally dissipated, I turned off my exterior lights and went inside. I hadn’t gone over to Cole’s. I guess a part of me still felt weird about initiating contact after he’d stood me up for dinner that night. Let him come here if he wants to see me again.

Several minutes later, I was just about to put on some tea when the doorbell rang.

I opened it to find Cole, no longer in costume. Instead, he wore a coat over a fitted black shirt and dark jeans.

“Well, if it isn’t Princess Leia. I see you got tired of your garb.”

“Yeah. I’ve been emasculated enough for one night.” He laughed. “It was fun seeing all those smiling faces, though.”

“You were a hit.”

His breath was visible in the cold air as he asked, “Can I come in?”

“Of course.” I stepped aside, allowing him to enter.

“It’s so nice and warm in here, as always.” He looked around, seeming a little tense. “So…I wanted to talk you…”

My ears perked up. “Okay…”

“That night when I canceled dinner—I wish I had come over.” He looked down at his shoes. “I’ve regretted canceling ever since.”

“Why didn’t you come over?”

He took a deep breath and looked up. “I was hesitant to spend time alone with you because of how strongly attracted to you I am.” He paused. “I mentioned before that you remind me of someone who hurt me. My ex cheated on me, and it’s taken me a long time to learn to trust again. But it wasn’t fair of me to buy into that negative association based on your looks. Not to mention, you’re way more beautiful than she ever was—both inside and out.” He smiled. “Bottom line, I didn’t know how to handle my feelings, and I chickened out. But like I told you earlier, I’m done living in fear.”

My heart raced. “I just assumed you weren’t interested...”

“No. Just the opposite.” He took a few steps closer. “In fact, nothing had interested me in a very long time until you came along. Just being in your house that one night took away my writing block. But it wasn’t the house. It’s you—the way I feel when I’m around you. Your sweet soul and beautiful spirit. You make me feel alive again.”

His words took my breath away. “I never thought my grumpy neighbor would turn out to be the first person to make me feel alive in a long time, too.”

His eyes went to my lips as he leaned in and took my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck and savored his taste as we fell into a deep and passionate kiss. My hands raked through his thick hair as our chests pressed together. It had been forever since I’d felt so turned on by a kiss, and my body buzzed with excitement. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t be returning across the street tonight.

After several minutes, we finally came up for air. I moved back to look at his gorgeous face. Then my eyes travelled down to his crotch and landed on the impressive erection straining through his jeans.

I raised one eyebrow. “Is that a lightsaber in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?”

His eyes sparkled. “That’s no lightsaber.”

Muffled noise registered from outside, drawing our attention to the living room window, which we were standing in front of. It seemed a few spectators had arrived late, probably hoping to see the lights. Instead, they’d watched us kissing.

Cole reached over to the lamp and clicked it off before pulling me back into his arms. “We seem to have lost power again.” He spoke over my lips.

I smiled. “Oh, did we? That’s a shame. Shall I get the generator?”

“No, ma’am. We’re about to make enough electricity of our own to light up the block.”