Free That Christmas Feeling by Catherine Palmer, Gail Gaymer Martin Page A
Authors: Catherine Palmer, Gail Gaymer Martin
Clearly this did not fit his mental image of two lovebirds—which pleased Rob no end. Claire was peering into the passenger’s side mirror when Jane Henderson trotted up, took one look at the predicament and burst out laughing.
“Well, I’ll be. You a history teacher and so sophisticated and all. Get on in, girl. I’ll help you.” Chuckling, she followed Claire into the back seat. “I’d have thought the gum was for the kids, but you never can tell what a grownup’ll do. Every now and then I’ll take it into my head to climb a tree or go wading in the creek. As a matter of fact, three girlfriends and I once ate an entire pan of brownies by ourselves. It’s just one of those things.”
“An entire pan?” Claire asked.
“Yep, and I’ll tell you what, my husband could have throttled me the day I did that. He came into the house after work—he has a good job over at the gas station on the highway, you know—and he smelled those brownies, but therewasn’t even a crumb left in the pan. Boy, he sulked about that for a week, but anyhow…girl, you have got that gum stuck all over the tip of your nose. Lean over here, and let me see if I can…well, Chief, if you’d quit jerking the car around, that sure would help.”
Rob glanced in the rearview mirror as he led the parade slowly out into the street toward the downtown square. As Jane Henderson tossed a handful of bubble gum to a group of children standing on the sidewalk, Claire fastened her focus directly on him. They eyed each other for a moment, then a slow grin tiptoed across her mouth. Rolling her eyes at him, she looked away, dug her fingers into the bucket of gum and threw a bunch out the window.
“Nothing like the Christmas parade to put a body into a good mood,” Jane commented. “Let me tell you what. I’ve been at every parade Buffalo’s had since the day I was born, and that’s saying something. I’m talking about homecoming parades and Easter parades—all of ’em. Yessir. It’s just one of those things. But this is the first time I ever got to ride in the lead car with the mayor. Kind of puts a different perspective on things, you know, riding in the front. I’ve been on more than one float where you’re out there in the fresh air and you can near see the whole parade one end to the other if you’re up high enough. But inside this car and leading all the floats and the marching bands…well, it’s just a little different is all. Not that I don’t like it. I do, but you just don’t quite get the whole experience….”
Unable to concentrate on Jane’s running monologue despite his top speed of two miles per hour, Rob drove withone hand and waved with the other and tried to keep from glancing at Claire in the rearview mirror. Occasionally he obliged the crowd by whooping the squad car’s siren in little bursts that made the kids cover their ears and shriek in delight. The mayor called out the names of friends, neighbors and colleagues as the car rolled past. And Claire, in the back seat, threw gum and attempted to blot the sticky residue on the end of her nose. And she tried her best not to look in the mirror at Rob.
Like Jane Henderson, he had been at most of Buffalo’s parades, Rob realized as they approached the square with its brick courthouse and festive storefronts. The Christmas celebrations were his favorites—with the marching bands playing carols, floats depicting Christ’s birth or a family reading the Bible around a living-room fireplace, and the watching crowd bundled up to their necks in coats and mufflers. But this particular parade might take first place as the all-time, number one best of show.
The reason, of course, was the red-haired, green-eyed, sticky-nosed woman in the back seat. Despite everything sensible, and every good intention in his head, Rob knew he was going to have to find a way to kiss her again. As Jane Henderson would say, it was just one of those things.
Chapter Four
“N o, don’t open
“Well, I’ll be. You a history teacher and so sophisticated and all. Get on in, girl. I’ll help you.” Chuckling, she followed Claire into the back seat. “I’d have thought the gum was for the kids, but you never can tell what a grownup’ll do. Every now and then I’ll take it into my head to climb a tree or go wading in the creek. As a matter of fact, three girlfriends and I once ate an entire pan of brownies by ourselves. It’s just one of those things.”
“An entire pan?” Claire asked.
“Yep, and I’ll tell you what, my husband could have throttled me the day I did that. He came into the house after work—he has a good job over at the gas station on the highway, you know—and he smelled those brownies, but therewasn’t even a crumb left in the pan. Boy, he sulked about that for a week, but anyhow…girl, you have got that gum stuck all over the tip of your nose. Lean over here, and let me see if I can…well, Chief, if you’d quit jerking the car around, that sure would help.”
Rob glanced in the rearview mirror as he led the parade slowly out into the street toward the downtown square. As Jane Henderson tossed a handful of bubble gum to a group of children standing on the sidewalk, Claire fastened her focus directly on him. They eyed each other for a moment, then a slow grin tiptoed across her mouth. Rolling her eyes at him, she looked away, dug her fingers into the bucket of gum and threw a bunch out the window.
“Nothing like the Christmas parade to put a body into a good mood,” Jane commented. “Let me tell you what. I’ve been at every parade Buffalo’s had since the day I was born, and that’s saying something. I’m talking about homecoming parades and Easter parades—all of ’em. Yessir. It’s just one of those things. But this is the first time I ever got to ride in the lead car with the mayor. Kind of puts a different perspective on things, you know, riding in the front. I’ve been on more than one float where you’re out there in the fresh air and you can near see the whole parade one end to the other if you’re up high enough. But inside this car and leading all the floats and the marching bands…well, it’s just a little different is all. Not that I don’t like it. I do, but you just don’t quite get the whole experience….”
Unable to concentrate on Jane’s running monologue despite his top speed of two miles per hour, Rob drove withone hand and waved with the other and tried to keep from glancing at Claire in the rearview mirror. Occasionally he obliged the crowd by whooping the squad car’s siren in little bursts that made the kids cover their ears and shriek in delight. The mayor called out the names of friends, neighbors and colleagues as the car rolled past. And Claire, in the back seat, threw gum and attempted to blot the sticky residue on the end of her nose. And she tried her best not to look in the mirror at Rob.
Like Jane Henderson, he had been at most of Buffalo’s parades, Rob realized as they approached the square with its brick courthouse and festive storefronts. The Christmas celebrations were his favorites—with the marching bands playing carols, floats depicting Christ’s birth or a family reading the Bible around a living-room fireplace, and the watching crowd bundled up to their necks in coats and mufflers. But this particular parade might take first place as the all-time, number one best of show.
The reason, of course, was the red-haired, green-eyed, sticky-nosed woman in the back seat. Despite everything sensible, and every good intention in his head, Rob knew he was going to have to find a way to kiss her again. As Jane Henderson would say, it was just one of those things.
Chapter Four
“N o, don’t open