Christmas on Main Street (17 page)

“I guess being the youngest with three older brothers played a factor,” Ava answered lightly. In fact, she’d never been self-conscious of her tomboy ways. Ava enjoyed the outdoors and never really wanted to be a girly-girl. The closest she came was lightening her hair for a while, and to this day her brothers would call her Blondie just to get her goat. When Clint, who was big man on campus in high school, had asked Ava out, she’d had to look over her shoulder, thinking that surely there had been some cheerleader standing behind her in the hallway. “I had to learn to hold my own.” She shrugged. “I guess some things really haven’t changed.”

“Yeah, some things sure don’t,” he agreed, giving her a look she wished she could read. How could Clint be so unaffected and playful? Didn’t he remember the painful way they’d parted? It had hurt her to the bone that even after Clint had failed to make it to the major leagues, he’d never seemed to look back at his past in Cricket Creek, at her. Why hadn’t he returned to Cricket Creek, his friends and family?

And come home to me,
slid unwanted into Ava’s brain.

Rattled, Ava turned back to tossing candy, but she remained acutely aware of Clint sitting next to her. Although Ava would never have admitted it out loud, for a long time she’d secretly hoped Clint would come back home to rekindle their relationship. But after a while she’d given up on that fantasy and concentrated on her toy store. As her pain faded, she often smiled at fond memories, sometimes prompted by a song on the radio, a favorite movie they’d laughed at, or simply watching a baseball game. As the years passed, she would think about Clint now and then with a twinge of sadness, sometimes wondering what might have been but mostly because the beauty of their young love had ended with such bitterness.

Ava swallowed a sigh. Evidently, even dressed up in that Santa suit, the man could still get to her. And for some reason that she couldn’t quite explain, it darn well ticked her off! She had given Clint the power to hurt her once, and she wasn’t about to give it to him again. With a quick intake of breath, she tossed a handful of candy canes so hard that a group of onlookers actually ducked.

“Underhanded, Mrs. Claus.” Clint reached down and grabbed a handful of candy from the basket and demonstrated. “Ho, ho ho!” he called, drawing a cheer from the crowd. Ava narrowed her eyes at him over the top of her granny glasses and then made a grand gesture of throwing the candy ever so gently. Clint laughed, and the twinkle in his eyes nearly had her smiling back at him. But she pressed her lips together instead.

Normally an even-keeled kind of person, Ava was mortified that she was behaving peevishly and yet she just couldn’t help herself. “Merry Christmas!” Ava waved at the crowd and started humming along with the band’s lively rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” But her smile faded when they turned down Maple Street and Cricket Creek High School loomed in the background like a giant memory. A new addition had been added since Ava and Clint attended classes, but the original redbrick building remained in front, along with the row of oak trees that had been there as long as she could remember.

She found her gaze drifting to the baseball field where she had watched Clint play countless games. They’d shared their first kiss beneath the stands one night after Clint had knocked in the winning run to clinch the district tournament. Tender, sweet, and full of promise, the kiss haunted her still.

When emotion filled her throat, Ava bent down to get some candy canes. Out of the corner of her eye, Ava caught Clint staring at the stands and she wondered if he was remembering that first kiss too. Flustered, she tried to act as if the memories didn’t bother her. After waving to the crowd, she removed the plastic wrapper from a candy cane, cracked off a bite, and rolled the piece of peppermint around with her tongue. When the silence became uncomfortable, she asked, “How’s your mom doing?”

Clint hesitated slightly and then answered, “She’s enjoying living in Nashville.”

“Is she singing?”

“A little bit at the Bluebird Café, but mostly songwriting.”

“That’s good. I remember that she enjoyed her music.” Ava nodded, but when he didn’t elaborate, she didn’t probe. Clint had taken his parents’ divorce really hard. “So, um, how long are you in town for?”

Clint hesitated for a second and then said, “Haven’t you heard?”

“No.” Ava shook her head. She casually raised her eyebrows, but her heart pounded like she had just had a double shot from Starbucks. “Heard what?”

“I’m moving back to Cricket Creek.”

Sleigh Ride

Clint watched Ava’s mouth open, shut, open, and then shut again. He couldn’t blame her. First he showed up without warning, and now he dropped this little bombshell in her lap.

“That’s . . . good. I mean, I’m sure your dad is happy,” Ava finally responded, but her tight smile and stormy eyes told another story. “And your mom lives only a couple of hours away.”

“Yeah, all of that warm weather and sunshine was just too much to handle any longer,” Clint joked, but if Ava got it, she didn’t laugh.

“I bet.” She popped the rest of the mini candy cane into her mouth and then looked away. Clint had an odd urge to reach over, take her hand, and squeeze it, but he refrained. In truth, he’d come back to Cricket Creek to check up on his father, who’d started having heart issues but had stubbornly refused to go to a specialist. Afraid that his dad might suffer a heart attack if he didn’t change his lifestyle, Clint had decided to come back to help out at the tavern for an extended period.

He’d also contacted Noah Falcon, offering to help coach the Cricket Creek Cougars, but it wasn’t until the float turned up Maple Street that Clint started feeling as if he should consider moving back for reasons other than his father’s health. Plus, after several years of trying to make the major leagues, including a few seasons playing in the Dutch League in Europe, he’d returned to USC to coach instead. As it turned out, he enjoyed working with players. He’d hoped to someday land the head coaching job at USC, but it didn’t appear as if Jake Barnet had any intention of stepping down anytime soon. Everything seemed to be pointing in the direction of Clint coming home. The clincher, though, came when the bleachers came into view and he heard Ava’s soft intake of breath. Clint understood. He remembered that kiss as if it were yesterday.

But it wasn’t yesterday, he reminded himself. That first kiss had occurred nearly seventeen years ago, and for two years Ava Whimsy had been his girl. But soon after graduation day, everything changed.

Of course, at the tender age of eighteen, Clint had thought that everything would work out. Surely his parents would come to their senses and reunite. He would get drafted into the minor leagues and return home after becoming a baseball superstar like everyone had predicted. But Clint soon found out that life wasn’t that easy. He’d been a big fish in a small pond in Cricket Creek, and he wasn’t quite prepared for the intense competition in a Division I school and major-league baseball. Until then, Clint had sailed through life effortlessly, unprepared for the frustration of failure. As Clint continued to try making the majors, one year blended into the next, and now here he was wondering why he’d stayed away so damned long.

Clint sighed. Of course, Ava couldn’t have heard that he was moving home because he hadn’t really fully decided. So why in the world had he just blurted out that he was moving back to Cricket Creek instead of just here for an extended visit? Clint snuck a glance in Ava’s direction. He guessed his unexpected announcement was to see her reaction, and he felt his chest tighten. Over the years, thoughts of Ava would hit him unexpectedly, and he’d sometimes wondered what might have been. He would never ask his father about her, fearing that the answer would be that Ava had married and had three kids or something. But she hadn’t. And now here he was sitting next to her, wondering if he might have a second chance.

“Ho, ho, ho!” Clint shouted before sneaking another look in Ava’s direction. She remained turned toward her side of the street, waving and shouting holiday greetings. They’d both known that he had to take the scholarship, but what Ava didn’t know was that to this day, leaving her remained the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. But on their last night together, emotions had been running high. Looking back, he realized that the anger, the arguing, had been the defense mechanism they both used for masking the pain of separation. Living across the country from each other simply wasn’t going to work and the truth hurt. They’d had to break up. But that didn’t mean he liked leaving her.

“Happy holidays!” Ava shouted before tossing a handful of candy in the air.

Clint closed his eyes. He had missed the sound of her voice, the touch of her skin. He’d lie awake at night in his dorm envisioning her pretty face, her sweet smile. Ava could make him laugh even after a lost game, and she had been his soft place to land while his parents struggled to keep their marriage together beneath the stress of a failing business. And Ava wasn’t prissy like so many of the other girls in his class. They’d gone fishing and four-wheeling, but the best part was that she didn’t just watch his baseball games. . . . She
knew
baseball—and basketball and football, for that matter. He’d never found anyone else like Ava Whimsy and had never really stopped missing her. He just didn’t know how much until now. Clint had dated over the years. He’d even had a couple of serious relationships, but they’d never lasted. Were they both still unattached because even after all these years they were meant to be together?

Ava suddenly turned toward him. “Why move back now?” she asked so softly that Clint barely heard her over the music and revelry. Were her thoughts going in the same direction as his?

“Dad’s having some health issues,” Clint replied. He watched her dark brown eyes widen.

“Oh, I didn’t know! Why didn’t he tell me? Is it something serious?” She put a hand to her chest and waited for his explanation.

“No.” Clint shook his head. “At least not at this point. But Dad needs to get a handle on his heart health, slow down, and lose weight. All of that bar food and beer has taken its toll.”

“I can imagine.”

Clint chuckled and then tugged on the beard that was starting to itch his face. “I’m even trying to convince him to switch up the menu and offer some healthier choices other than wings, fries, and burgers. He balked at the idea, but I’m going to cook for him and show him that healthy food can be tasty too.”

“You can cook?” Ava finally seemed to forget to be guarded and grinned.

“Yes, and very well I might add.” He’d spent a long time on his own and had needed to learn healthy cooking to stay in shape for the game and then later preached the importance of nutrition to the kids he coached. Ava pushed her granny glasses up from where they kept slipping to the tip of her nose. “Wow, I’m surprised.”

“I guess there’s a lot we don’t know about each other,” Clint said.
And a lot I’d like to explain
, he thought with a touch of sadness.

“Yes, it’s been a long time,” Ava agreed. Her guarded expression returned. She remained quiet as the parade headed down Second Street, past a neat row of houses decorated with an abundance of Christmas cheer. The sun was dipping low in the sky and a breeze was kicking up, but colder temperatures didn’t seem to dissuade the citizens of Cricket Creek from watching the parade.

Clint reached into the basket for more candy but instead encountered carved wooden toys. “What are these for?” He held up a cute little rocking horse.

“Oh, those are for Santa to hand out when we reach the big celebration on Main Street.” She pointed to a gold sticker on the bottom. “A bit of self-promotion, I’m afraid. All of the toys in A Touch of Whimsy are handmade. And many of the crafters are local,” she added with a lift of her chin.

Clint examined the toy, leaned closer to her, and whispered, “By local elves, you mean.”

Ava tilted her head back and laughed.

God, Clint loved the sound . . . feminine and throaty. She might be dressed in a silly costume with white stuff sprayed on her hair, but underneath it all was still pure Ava.

Suddenly the parade came to a halt and everyone including the band became silent.

“What’s going on?” Clint asked with a bit of alarm, but Ava put her index finger to her lips. Clint waited a minute but wasn’t satisfied, so he scooted closer and whispered, “Seriously, Ava, what’s happening?” It was then that Clint got a whiff of her perfume . . . the same light floral scent that she wore back in high school.

Ava turned her head slightly toward him and whispered back, “The parade is much better than when we were kids. Just watch. You’ll see. . . . It’s magical.”

“Okay . . .” Clint nodded, but he was reluctant to return to his side of the sleigh. Temperatures were dropping, and when a gust of wind hit them, she shivered. It was all Clint could do not to put his arm around her shoulders and keep her warm. When he stayed close, she didn’t protest, and so he didn’t move.

It finally dawned on Clint that they were waiting for the sun to completely set. A few moments later, the big ball of fire dipped beneath the horizon. Lights . . . hundreds—no, thousands—of them sprang to life all at once, turning Main Street into a shining beacon of Christmas joy. Each shop, all of the trees, and every streetlamp lined along Main Street glittered against the backdrop of the darkening sky. The band started playing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and the crowd, including Ava, started cheering. The next song, “Silent Night,” felt like a sweet breath of peace, played softly so that the town could sing along with their voices sounding as one.

Joy felt like a collective emotion, and for the first time in a very long while, Clint felt the spirit of the holidays grab him. When he started singing, Ava turned to him and smiled. He longed to take her hand and hold it, but he refrained.

“Start handing out toys, Santa! The children know what’s coming and will be clamoring close to the sleigh with outstretched hands.”

“There won’t be enough for every kid,” he said.

Ava patted his leg. “Don’t worry. They know that if they miss out, all they have to do is come by my store to get a toy. It’s the honor system.”

“Generous of you, Mrs. Claus.”

“It’s not much, but all in the spirit of Christmas,” she said brightly. When she noticed that her hand was still resting on his leg, her eyes widened over the glasses, and to his disappointment, she quickly pulled away. It was odd because Clint knew exactly what she was experiencing. In so many ways, it felt like old times, as if the fifteen years apart had never really happened. But on the other hand, he could feel the raw edges of the hurt that he had caused by disappearing so completely from her life when they had meant so much to each other.

When the parade started moving forward, Clint began tossing toys into eager hands. Each little toy was cuter than the next. “I’m looking forward to seeing your toy shop, Ava.”

“It’s located in the old hardware store. Ed moved to a bigger location just outside of town.”

The heart and soul of Main Street remained the same, but the buildings looked fresh and vibrant. Myra’s Diner, the hot spot after high school games, was now called Wine and Diner. While the original building remained, there was an addition and a brick-paved courtyard off to the side. “So Myra sold her diner?” The thought made him a little bit sad.

Ava shook her head. “No. When the diner was struggling to keep up with the chains, Myra’s niece Jessica came back to town.”

Clint thought for a minute and then nodded slowly. “Oh yeah. I remember that Myra took her in when she was a pregnant teenager. Didn’t she become a big-time chef?”

“Yes, at a fancy restaurant in Chicago.”

“Right, Dad told me some of this.”

“Well, she came back with her daughter, Madison, who now teaches at the local college and is a playwright. Jessica married baseball star Ty McKenna, who, I’m sure you know, coaches the Cricket Creek Cougars.”

“Wow . . . This little town has attracted some movers and shakers.” He grinned when he pointed to Grammar’s Bakery. “Still the best butter cookies on the planet?”

Ava groaned. “Yes, and such a temptation since it’s located right across the street from my shop. The smell of baking bread is nearly impossible to resist.”

Clint smiled when he spotted A Touch of Whimsy on the other side of the street. The structure was an original Cricket Creek redbrick building, but she had added some gingerbread trim painted white. The big picture window had a Christmas village display, and a huge wreath adorned the front door. He wanted to hear all about her business and her life, but he decided to go slowly.

“It must be fun owning a toy store.”

Ava turned to face him. “Oh, it is! Everything in the store is pretty simple, requiring imagination rather than batteries. You won’t find a video game in there.” Ava shook her head but then grinned. “Growing up, I wanted all of the latest stuff, not realizing that the homemade toys beneath the Christmas tree were true treasures.”

Clint swung his hand in an arc. “And obviously this is your busiest time of the year.”

Ava nodded. “You’re right. This is the most important season for most shops, but of course, especially for a toy store. There have been some lean years, for sure, but I’ve added arts and crafts, tea parties, and birthday parties. Dad teaches a wood workshop for children interested in making their own toys.” She shrugged. “I’ll never be rich, but I love what I do, and that’s more than some people can say. I feel blessed.”

“True,” Clint said, thinking that he wished he felt the same peace within himself that Ava seemed to have. He wanted to ask her more, but she turned away once again, as if she was opening up and didn’t want to give up more of herself. But he’d made her smile, heard her laughter. It was a beginning.

Here and there were other new shops that Clint didn’t recognize, and although he remembered Cricket Creek as being a quaint river town, there was a fresh vibrancy, an air of excitement that he could see on the faces of the crowd.

And suddenly, to Clint’s delight, it started snowing! Big, fat fluffy flakes swirled in the crisp night air. He couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night to be reunited with Ava, and he didn’t want to waste the opportunity to have her back in his life.

“Oh my!” Ava laughed with pure joy. “It’s beautiful!”

Clint raised his gloved hands skyward. “Ho, ho, ho, cue the snow!”

“I wish it were that easy! We’ve hoped for snow for years, but it’s never happened, at least while I’ve been part of the parade.” She tilted her face upward and laughed again when the cold flakes hit her cheeks. She turned and smiled at him. “I guess you’ve missed snow.”