Grey, my parents, and I sat in the middle of the church. The cast parents filled the first five rows. Grey and I had never been to church together, other than attending Marin’s wedding, and I didn’t think that counted. His hand felt warm in my hand, and he gave me an extra squeeze when the chorus started singing Silent Night.
If I had tried to picture Grey here, with my family, meeting people I had known my whole life, it would have seemed foreign and out of place. Our life was in South Padre. But now that he was here, it was a seamless blending of our lives. He fit in as if he had been a part of the community as long as I had.
We stood to applaud the performance while the mini actors and actresses bowed. The baby Jesus started screaming and the audience laughed. I saw his mother race to the side of the stage with a bottle, while the shepherds’ crooks became entangled.
“Fun show.” Grey chuckled as we rose to file out of our pew.
“Did you like it?” I wasn’t sure how he would take a bunch of amateur child actors shouting lines, and knocking over half the props.
“Kids are cute.” He smiled as he slid his fingers through mine.
My mom stopped us in the lobby. “I’m going to check in with the cookie drive committee. I’ll meet you all at the car.” She dashed off toward the church social center.
My father turned to face us. “Why don’t I heat up the car and meet you out front?”
“Need any help?” Grey moved in front of me.
“Well, if you want to help me scrape off the snow, that would be great.”
The snow had started up again and the parking lot was coated in powder. It would probably take awhile to create any kind of visibility out of the windshield. I was glad my dad was the one who was driving. I hated trying to navigate the roads in the snow, even if we were only five minutes from the house.
“No problem. See you in a minute.” Grey squeezed my hand before ducking out with my dad.
I watched the two of them pull their collars up and dip their heads as the snow drifted around them. It looked like they were laughing about something. I’ve always heard that you date people like your father, but until this moment, I had never seen the similarities. I smiled as Grey followed my father through the parking lot. I thought I’d keep that little realization to myself.
“Merry Christmas, Eden. Good to see you here.” Mr. Robinson, my high school math teacher appeared from the crowd.
“Merry Christmas to you. It was a nice production this year.” I kept my eye on the parking lot. Mr. Robinson had been my number one crush for the four years I attended high school. Secretly, I had a feeling the reason I went into business was because of him. Who could ignore those dimples and how sexy he looked when he pulled on a pair of glasses at the overhead board?
“So I heard you moved to Texas?” He grinned.
“I did. In the fall, I left for South Padre.”
“That’s pretty far south, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “Almost in Mexico. It’s a small island.”
“I never heard the story. What took you there? New job?” Mr. Robinson leaned in closer, and for the first time in four years, he was looking at me like I wasn’t a student.
“Actually, I met someone.” This was one of the oddest conversations I’d had at church. Trying to tell my one-time off-limits high school math teacher crush that I had fallen in love with someone his age and moved to another state.
“Really?” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know.”
“What about you? How are things going at school?” My dad and Grey must be having a hard time de-icing the windshield. There was no sign of the car.
“I’ve got a few good classes, but no students like you.” He smiled lightly. “Maybe I’ll see you before you head home.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Robinson.”
“It’s Paul. You can call me Paul now.” He waved as he darted out the door.
“No car yet?” My mom looped an arm through mine.
“No, they said they’d bring it up for us.”
“Was that Mr. Robinson you were talking to?” My mother arched one eyebrow higher than the other.
I felt my cheeks turning crimson. “Yes. He didn’t know about my move to Padre. Just filling him in.”
“Uh-huh.” She smiled. “I never had teachers that good-looking in school. Can’t believe he’s still single. But he’s young, only twenty-eight. He’s got plenty of time.” Her grip tightened against my arm.
Was that supposed to be a single? Was she trying to tell me that since I was younger than him I had time to wait and settle down? Before I could ask her what the cryptic signal meant, the car pulled in front of the door and Grey hopped out to hold the doors open for us.
“It’s pretty and all, but I think I’m glad we don’t have to deal with this mess in Padre.” Grey winked as he shuttled me into the car. His breath formed clouds of ice crystals; he looked like he was about to shiver out of his coat.
“All right,” my father announced. “Let’s get this sleigh back to the house for a night cap.”
By the time we finally said goodnight to my parents and Grey locked the guesthouse door, it was well after midnight. His arms wrapped around me and he kissed me lightly on the forehead.