Free Last Chance Christmas by Joanne Rock Page B

crutches would have been bad enough.
    Shopping in Cloud Spin with a hometown hero proved ten times worse.
    Shea hobbled around a repurposed barn that had become one of the town’s most visited holiday stores. Oozing Vermont charm, the place was full of decorated pine trees theme-matched to the wares in various rooms. Downstairs, a Nutcracker themed play area for kids had charmed her until the mommy-set recognized J.C. and used his fame as license to hang all over him.
    Fine.
    She’d left him to the adoring fans and made some purchases in the ornament department since J.C. had absolutely nothing to decorate with, a fact that was a telling statement on what he’d gotten out of his divorce. Had his wife truly never decorated for the holidays? Or had she simply kept every nativity piece and jingle bell in their storage closet?
    That bugged her far more than the adoring fans. Even though one had coyly suggested J.C. autograph her neck.
    She was sizing up the wall of holiday ribbons for Christmas bows when the sound of children caroling caught her attention. Moving to a window at the front of the store along with a few other shoppers, she caught sight of the small children’s parade that preceded the Wassail Weekend festivities the whole town was gearing up for. Led by a top hat-wearing Father Christmas, the parade ended with a sled dragging a big vat designed to look like Santa’s holiday sack. Residents could toss in donations of money or toys for a variety of children’s charities in the area.
    Moments like this made her miss Vermont. Especially Christmas in Vermont.
    She sensed J.C.’s presence behind her before she saw him. Her heart had softened since their exchange out by the ice rink. Hearing children caroling probably had something to do with that. Peering up at him, she saw his focus was on the parade, too.
    “Hard to believe those are the same boys who were trying to take each other’s heads off in a snowball fight earlier.” He pointed to a trio of peewee players who’d spent time helping their parents shovel a path to the ice. “They clean up nice.”
    “Back in our day, we dressed up,” she reminisced. “I loved being an angel for those thirty minutes each year.”
    “Being a shepherd was definitely cooler than the year we had to be elves.”
    A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Maybe that was before my time.”
    “Because I’m so much older than you.” He stroked a hand down her back in a light touch that would definitely get the local rumor mill churning.
    She wondered if he even realized he was doing it. She remembered that one of the reasons he handled the pressures of sports better than her was the way he let things roll off him. Public perception had never been able to mess with his head. He could focus in on his game while she’d gnaw on her mistakes for days afterward.
    “You realize my parents are going to be getting texts about this in Hawaii if you’re not careful?” She tipped her head in the direction of the rest of the store’s shoppers.
    His hand fell away.
    “Would that bother you?” He picked up the shopping bags near her feet and carried them for her as she started toward the closest exit.
    “Not by itself. But if anyone mentioned me being on crutches, I’d hate for my mom to turn around and come home in some attempt to be here for me.” As much as she’d craved a hug from her mom—to soothe her heart more than her hurts in light of her lost job—Shea didn’t want to distract her parents from enjoying themselves.
    Her mother had been asking for that Hawaii trip for many years.
    “I saw people taking pictures today while we were working on the rink. I have the feeling they’ll all wind up on those social media pages for town happenings.”
    She laughed. “I know I’ve lost touch with my parents a bit, but I’d be surprised if they’re spending even ten seconds of this once in a lifetime trip checking their social media apps.”
    “Right.” J.C. juggled