Hestood in front of the door just smiling at it for several minutes.Thenhe shook his head and glanced down the hallway in the direction ofKelli’sroom, feeling drawn toward her at the same time he wished he had never seenStephanie’slist.Beforedating his ex, he’d had all the confidence he needed, but he hadn’t gotten his groove back since they had broken up.Maybebecause he feared that everything on her list about him was actually true.
Hehad to remind himself that he was supposed to stop thinking aboutKelliand headed outside.Thesun hadn’t risen yet, so it was still fairly dark.Evenso, it was warmer than it was inDenverat midday this time of year.Itwas more humid here than he ever guessed it would be inDecember, though, and that took a bit of getting used to.
Afterhis run, he showered and even made it down to breakfast a few minutes early.
Oncehe found out that they didn’t need to meet for the group activity until three—serving aChristmasdinner to the homeless—he went for a walk along the boardwalk and explored the town a bit.Notthat it helped to get his mind offKelli, especially since he needed to buy aSecretSantagift for her.Havinghis arm around her while they had danced last night had felt so perfectly, exactly right, that he had been afraid to dance with her a second time.Ithad been hard enough walking away after the first song.
Hegot back just a few minutes before three, afraid that if he came back any earlier, he might run into her, and he was having a hard enough time staying away.Heknew he wasn’t good enough for her and that he wasn’t ready for another relationship.
Whilehe waited in the family room for everyone to show up, he walked to where the points were posted.Everyonehad at least four points since everyone made the ornaments and went to the dinner and dance.Hehad gotten his fifth point on the beach withKelli, but several people had more than five, includingKelli, who was up to eight.
Howhad she gotten so many so quickly?Ifhe didn’t step it up, he was going to have to say goodbye to his parking spot for a full year.
Adriver knocked on the mansion’s front door not long after everyone gathered in the family room, saying he was ready to take them to the soup kitchen.Theyall headed outside and got in the twelve-passenger van.Therewere a couple of empty seats, so apparently not all of them were set on winning the prize.Hepurposely didn’t sit next toKelli, hoping that the distance would help his heart recover.
Butonce the ten of them were inside the building and got their instructions on how to help prepare the meal they would be serving to people who were homeless or otherwise struggling, he realized he wasn’t going to be able to stay as far away from her as he needed.Theywere both put on turkey-slicing duty, working side-by-side, and he knew he couldn’t bring up the dance without his feelings about the night showing as plain as day on his features, so he instead chose a safer subject.
“Isee you’re up to eight points now.”
Shesmiled as she cut the meat. “AndIsee you’re not.Ithink that’s proof that parking spotC-seven really is mine.Youmight even say that it always has been.”
They’dasked them to cut one-fourth inch thick slices of meat, and she cut so carefully that he thought they probably could’ve come along with a ruler and measured all of her slices and they’d each be exactly one-fourth an inch thick, all the way from one side to the other.
“Someone’scounting their chickens.There’sstill a lot of week left.”Hedidn’t know why he was goading her to get more points.Hereally wanted that spot, but there were a lot of things on that list that he didn’t want to do.Andfrom what he’d seen at work and the fact that she was there by seven every day, he knew that she was someone who could set a goal and achieve it.Hewas going to have to step it up.
“Don’tyou worry about me.Thereare a lot of things on that list and a lot of hours in the day.”
Hemoved a group of slices to the platter and turned on the electric knife again. “Whatdid you do to earn points today?”
Herface lit up as she talked about answering letters that kids wrote toSanta, helping as an elf at the shopping center by taking pictures of kids onSanta’slap, and then wrapping gifts at aToysforTotscharity.
Beforethey were finished, one of the volunteers in charge came over and asked them to move to the serving line to help the people who had just started coming in while she finished up the turkey.Becausethey weren’t assigned which items to serve, he purposely chose a spot where there would be someone between him andKelli.
Butas he put a scoop of mashed potatoes on everyone’s plates, he still found himself looking further down the line at whereKelliwas placing a roll on each person’s plate.Shewas smiling and chatting with each person.Shewasn’t acting like they were any less than her just because they had found themselves homeless atChristmas.Thelook on her face was that of zero judgment and genuine care.
Hewondered if it was authentic, or if she was just very good at putting on a front.Fromthe way everyone’s faces were bright and smiley as she talked with them, they thought it was plenty genuine.
ButStephaniewas pretty good at projecting the image she wanted people to see and then complaining about them afterward, and he suddenly needed to know ifKelliwas the same.
Afterthey had finished serving everyone, spent time socializing with all the people who had come to eat, and packed up the extra food in boxes for their guests to take with them, the lead organizer started assigning each of them clean-up duties.Parkertook a subtle step towardKelli, knowing that as the woman in charge reached them, she would be more likely to pair them up on a task.Andshe did.Theyboth were assigned to wash the big pans.
Theday had been long and exhausting—mentally and physically.Knowingthat people tended to show their true colors a bit more when they were worn out, he was curious to seeKelli’s.Asthe sinks were filling with water, she leaned against them, looking so tired.Perfect.Sohe asked what she thought of the people she had met.Theywere mostly gone, and they were far enough in the back that any that remained wouldn’t be able to hear her.
Answeringseemed to give her more energy. “Theyhad so many incredible stories!Didyou talk with the guy in the gray coat?Hewas the one wearing a beanie and mismatched boots.”
“Idid.”
Shestarted putting some dishes in the soapy water and washed them as she talked. “Hehad so many tough things happen in his life.Enoughto make most people go off and be a hermit somewhere.Buthe was so happy and so funny.Didyou see how many people he made laugh?Oh, and there was this woman who had three kids, but she’d lost custody of all of them.Itwas so heartbreaking to hear how sad she was around the holidays.Iwanted to just wrap my arms around her and hug her for days.”
Asthey talked, he rinsed each item as she finished, then put it in the rack, then dried and put it away while she told story after story.Hewas surprised that she had talked to so many people in the time they had.
Okay, all that seemed authentic.Shehad even talked about trying to set up rotating help fromZentCubeemployees at their local homeless shelter once they got back, and he had no doubt she would.Butmaybe that was just her thing—something that spoke to her heart.
Sohe searched for a different subject.Everyonehad complaints about their boss, even if the boss was a great one, so he started asking aboutLiz.IfKellihad complaints, she didn’t voice them, no matter how many opportunities he gave her.
Onthe ride back to the resort, he started a conversation with all ten of them in the van about things that annoyed them.Kellidid join in with her own list of annoying things, but she mentioned things like taking out her contacts at night and putting on glasses, and that the curvature of the lenses always made her question whether she was on the bottom step or still had one to go.Orthinking she had plugged in her phone to charge, then realizing that the cord wasn’t pushed in all the way.Annoyancesaboutthings, never aboutpeople.
Hestill wasn’t convinced, so he decided to check on one of the many things that really annoyedStephanie.Whenthey pulled to a stop light, he saw a man wearing a navy sweater and jeans walking down the street next to a woman.Hehadn’t known it until the end of their relationship, and had probably annoyed her countless times over the nearly two years they had dated, butStephaniethought it was wrong and was personally offended by anyone who wore any shade of a blue shirt with blue jeans.
