Free That Christmas Feeling by Catherine Palmer, Gail Gaymer Martin

calling Claire all week. Not that he hadn’t thought about her a lot. More than a lot.
    In fact, he had driven past Florence Ross’s home several times hoping to spot Claire, but it seemed she hadn’t found room in her busy schedule to start painting the place.His normal rounds took him down her street, and even though he saw her lights shining on several evenings, he never caught a glimpse of the woman herself. Even when he visited the high school to give one of his regular talks on the dangers of drug and alcohol use, he failed to see Claire.
    Yet their kiss played over and over in his mind, and no matter how hard he tried to convince himself it hadn’t mattered, he knew the truth. She had responded. The moment his lips touched hers, she had softened, melted, gone supple and breathless against him. She had liked it. He had, too. But they both knew better than to make anything of it. Rob didn’t want to date again, and he wasn’t about to get married. And Claire had left no doubt of her own feelings on the subject. She wanted nothing to do with romance.
    Mayor Bloom’s juicy little rumor was about to end right now, Rob decided. He opened his mouth to speak.
    “There she is, her own self,” Bloom said, pointing to the far end of the float. Claire had just walked around it, her auburn curls bright against the green coat. She was headed their way.
    “I invited Claire to ride with us, Chief,” the mayor continued. “Figured you wouldn’t mind. Her on the committee to represent the schools, and all that. Jane Henderson is coming along, too. The shelter can use the community support. A lot of Mrs. Henderson’s funding comes from donations, you know. Everyone’s talking about Florence Ross’s cats and how you all rounded them up, so I thoughtit might be a good idea to have the two ladies along. They can throw bubble gum. I brought a whole bucket full of it.”
    Before Rob could protest, the mayor pushed a plastic pail into his arms and headed for the squad car.
    “Hey, my favorite kind,” Claire said, stepping up to Rob and dipping her hand into the bubble-gum tub. “I didn’t think you remembered.”
    If he could have thought of something quick and witty, he would have shot it back at her. Instead, he stared like some goggle-eyed boy as she unwrapped the chunk of pink gum and popped it into her mouth. An expression of ecstasy suffused her face, turning her cheeks an even brighter pink as her lips went moist with delight.
    “Good, huh?” Rob mumbled. He handed her the tub. “The mayor wants you and Jane Henderson to throw it out the window for the kids. He bought the gum.”
    Her green eyes clouded for a moment. “Should be fun.” She shrugged as they crossed the street toward his car. “Hey, guess what. I have a cat. Remember the first one we caught? The little yellow thing—so scruffy and wild? Turns out he’s actually very quiet, and he loves to snuggle. Opie—that’s his name.”
    Rob opened the car door for her, trying not to think about what it would feel like to cuddle up with Claire and her little cat. Trying to remember this was the Christmas parade, and he was the police chief, and…
    The pink bubble that emerged between Claire’s lips took him by surprise. But there it was, round and shiny and getting larger by the moment. What else could he do but—
    “Robert West!” she squealed as he smacked the bubble with his palm. It popped over the tip of her nose and across the side of her cheek like a big spill of pink paint. “I can’t believe you did that! Oh, great—it’s stuck!”
    “Gotcha, Clarence.” Guffawing as loudly as he always had in high school when he popped Claire’s gum, Rob strutted around to the driver’s side of the squad car and climbed in. Hoo, that felt good! Nothing like busting a great big ol’ bubble to lift a man’s spirits.
    Mayor Bloom, already seated, gaped as Claire attempted to peel the sticky film from her cheek. He gave Rob a frown and shook his head.