Free Blessings of the Season by Annie Jones

He’d always been a kid person. He had taken enough courses in psychology to know that stemmed from his own feelings of vulnerability and loneliness in childhood. He also knew that identifying it wouldn’t change who he was or lessen the way he felt when he saw how open and loving Addie was to this kid who needed a little kindness and warmth in his life.
    â€œFinally, I want to issue an invitation.” Maimie launched into her concluding remarks.
    Addie’s spine went rigid. She whipped her head around and angled her shoulders back so that she could say, unnoticed by those around them, “This is it. Don’t panic. I know just what to do.”
    In Nate’s experience a sentence like that never led to anything good.
    â€œNext Saturday the Goodlifes are holding a Christmas Open House.”
    Addie cocked her head, and Nate figured that wasn’t what she had expected to hear. Once again Maimie had gone off on her own, he guessed, leaving Addie feeling foolish and frustrated.
    â€œPlease feel free to drop by anytime, all day. There will be door prizes, and everyone who comes in 1950s-style costume will be entered in a drawing for a grand prize. I hope to see you all there.”
    â€œWhew. Got through the whole thing and not even a hint of panic,” he teased her.
    â€œShe’s got so much going she even glosses over herown ideas.” She folded her arms. “How can I ever expect her to listen to me and take me seriously?”
    â€œOh, I almost forgot.” Maimie turned back toward the group for just a moment. “One last change that involves our couple that you all might find interesting.” She looked right at Addie, winked, then nailed Nate with a steely glare. “Mr. Goodlife is going to get a haircut.”
    â€œA what?” Nate asked.
    The crowd applauded again.
    â€œAnd Mrs. Goodlife is the one who is going to give it to him,” Maimie added. “Ten minutes from now, front of the store. Have a good day!”
    â€œMrs. Goodlife? Front of the store?” No wonder Addie had told him to stay cool. She knew this was just the kind of thing that would get him hot under the collar. He turned to her.
    â€œTrust me,” she pleaded before he could get his protest out.
    He hadn’t planned on getting his hair cut until his job interview. But then he hadn’t planned any of this so far, and he’d been having a pretty good time. A much better time than he’d have had alone in L.A., he realized, looking into Addie’s sweet face as her expression told him how much this meant to her and the future she had always dreamed of. “I didn’t plan on getting my hair cut until someone as lovely as Mrs. Goodlife could do it for me.”
    She smiled and mouthed a silent thank-you.
    He offered her his arm. “My display case or yours?”
    With a good many of the people who had stopped to listen to Maimie’s announcements watching, Nate took a seat at the kitchen table and awaited his fate.
    â€œThis won’t hurt a bit,” Addie teased as she pulled a green and pink and white 1950s-style Christmas tablecloth from a drawer.
    He clenched his jaw and tried not to sound too concerned as he asked, “You do have some experience giving haircuts, don’t you, dear?”
    â€œOf course I do, darling.” She gave the tablecloth a flick, and it unfurled with a pop. As she began to drape it around his upper body like a barber’s cape, she mugged to the crowd and said, “I’ve been practicing on the neighbor’s poodle!”
    The crowd laughed.
    He started to get up out of the chair, but she pushed him down again, and as she tied the tablecloth around his neck, she nonchalantly put her lips near his ear and whispered, “I’ve got this all figured out. I’ll cut some of the curly part that hangs over your ears and collar, then slick it back with water so it looks fifties-ish.”
    â€œIf you use