Candlelight Christmas

“Night, India. Ski tomorrow morning?” Darcy asked.

“Only if you promise not to lead me over a cliff.”

“I would never.”

Darcy felt so grateful to be where she was tonight, relaxing among friends. But there was also an awkward element. Logan’s presence, just a few feet away, tantalized her. She felt confused by him, and full of questions. Maya’s kids were here, so where was their mother?

None of your business. She turned her attention to the window again and watched the big flakes gently coming down and settling on the pristine yard. An age-old yearning pressed at her chest; she was a kid again, with her nose pressed to the window. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Grab your coat and boots,” said Logan. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“Really? You read my mind.”

“That’s one of my superpowers, didn’t you know?”

They bundled up in the mud room off the kitchen—down jackets, mittens, boots, a lantern and a flashlight.

“You’ll need these.” He handed her a pair of lightweight snowshoes. “Know how to put them on?”

She grinned. “I gear-tested this exact model.”

“Man. You’ll have to tell me more about being a sponsored athlete.”

“Sometimes it feels like turning work into play. Other times it’s more like turning play into work. So I definitely prefer the former.”

He handed her a set of poles and donned a backpack.

“What’s in the pack?” she asked.

“A project. You can help me with it.”

“What kind of project?”

“Come on. I’ll show you.”

They stepped outside together. The cold air and snowflakes touched her face, and she welcomed the freshness, tilting back her head.

“When it’s clear, you can count the stars,” said Logan.

“I feel a million miles away from the city.”

To the right and down a snow-covered track was a cluster of lights, the center of the resort. A couple of vehicles were just leaving the parking lot, their taillights making a cautious red line down the road.

“Last call at the Powder Room is at nine o’clock,” Logan said. “It gets pretty quiet after that. Let’s go this way.” They set off in the opposite direction of the resort. The lantern beam shone on a forest glade of striated birch trees. There was a moon, though it was a weak one, its glow diffused by snowfall.

“I love this,” she said. “I love the silence and the peace.”

“No regrets about not going to my folks’ place in Florida?”

“I’m kind of a fan of winter.” The snowshoes rode atop the featherlight snow. She savored the cold on her cheeks, the pumping of her heart as they hiked through the shadows.

“I noticed. You were fantastic in that video.”

“All in a day’s work.” She looked over at him. “Kidding. I have a day like that once in a blue moon. Most days, I’m stuck in meetings or in my cubicle like anybody else.”

“No cubicles here,” he said.

“You’re living the dream,” she said. “Maybe that’s why your father is so suspicious.”

“Yeah, according to him, it’s only worth doing if it makes you miserable.”

She wondered about his relationship with his father, and why things were strained. She wanted to hear more. She wanted to know everything about him.

The birch grove led to a perfect, unmarked field of white with a tall evergreen. “In the summer,” he said, “this is a bird meadow, and there’s a sports court over there.”

“You’d never know it. This is just beautiful, Logan. It looks like a Christmas card.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said.

A shadow fluttered past. Startled, she clutched his arm. “Hey, look!” It was an owl, swooping through the trees with wings spread wide. She watched, mesmerized, until it disappeared into darkness. “That was amazing,” she said.

He nodded. “An owl in winter. First time I ever saw something like that.”

“Really?”

“The dolphins were a first for me, too. I have really good luck with wildlife when I’m with you.”

For no good reason, she felt ridiculously gratified to hear him say so.

“Warm enough?” he asked her.

“Plenty, thanks.”

“So, here’s my idea for the project. We’re going to string lights all over that big evergreen over there. The one standing all by itself.” He pointed out the tree in the middle of the clearing.

“I like it. There’s electricity?”

“Yes. In the summer, there are lights for the sports court. There’s an outlet at the base of the tree.”

“Cool.”

“Thought I’d surprise the kids. We could tell them it’s Santa’s landing strip.”

“What else would it be?”

They crossed the meadow, making plate-sized tracks across the powder. Logan left his snowshoes at the base of the tree. “Did you bring a ladder?” Darcy asked. “This thing is, like, twenty feet tall.”

“I can climb it.”

“You’re not serious.”

He grinned, unzipping his backpack, and donned a headlamp. “Watch me.”

“You are serious. Also crazy.”

“The good kind of crazy. I’ll climb up and string the lights on the way down. You stand by and keep things untangled and shine the light.”

He cleared the lower branches with ease. The upper ones were closer together, bowing with his weight. “Do me a favor and don’t fall,” she said.

“Not planning on it. Although there’s so much new snow, it would be a soft landing.”

She positioned herself beneath him, aiming the flashlight beam at the top. He disturbed a snow-laden branch, creating an avalanche that fell on her before she could move out of the way.

“Lovely,” she said, rubbing the fresh snow out of her face.

“Sorry,” he replied. “Almost there.” He climbed until the branches thinned, and reached up to clip the light string close to the top. Then he began his descent, paying out the string of lights from his backpack. “This is what’s known as extreme decorating.”

“I must say, stringing lights on a tree in the wilderness was not the first thing I thought of when you invited me for a walk.”

“You don’t mind.” It wasn’t a question.

“You barely know me. How do you know whether or not I mind?”

“Another one of my superpowers.” He worked methodically while she held the beam steady, lighting the way for him. At one point, he went too far out on a limb and it bowed ominously. “Watch it,” she said. “That one won’t hold you.”

There was a loud cracking sound, and he came down like a sack of coal. Her heart leaped to her throat. “Oh my gosh, Logan.” She waded through the snow and dropped to her knees beside him. “Are you okay?”

He was practically drowned in the deep snow of the tree well. She could tell he was assessing himself— back, neck, extremities.

“Not a scratch,” he informed her, lifting his head. “Superpowers did the trick.”

She rose from her knees and held out her hand. “I think there are enough lights on the tree. Let’s plug them in and see if they work.”

“Sure, they work. I tested them before we came out.” He took her hand, but his weight and the soft deep snow unbalanced her, and she fell forward against him, the snow caving in around them.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “Damn. This is not going well.”