<< Go Back

The Hope of Christmas

By Carol James

Order Now!

Kristin Hansen rolled onto her side and pulled the comforter up to her nose. “I hate the cold,” she muttered. Lucy yipped in agreement and burrowed closer. The Channel Eleven weatherman had predicted tonight’s low would be thirty-eight. Thirty-eight…in early November…in Texas. Almost unheard of. Before she climbed into bed last night, she’ d turned on the heat and set the thermostat on sixty, just in case. But in the dark of predawn morning, the temperature felt much lower. She sighed. Time to turn up the heat.
Rolling over, she grabbed her robe from the foot of the bed and pulled it on as she slid her feet into her fuzzy slippers. Then she padded down the hall to the thermostat. She tapped the up-temperature button. Nothing. When she flipped on the hall light, a soft glow warmed the area around her, so the electricity was working. She pressed the temperature buttons on the thermostat. Still nothing, and the display read fifty-one.
She’d gotten the last few moving boxes emptied and thrown away a week ago, and now just as she was beginning to feel settled and at home, this happened. She’d wait until the morning to contact maintenance. Today was Friday…no, now Saturday morning…and she refused to bother anyone in the middle of the night. But, as with most events in her life, her timing was impeccable. Impeccably wrong. Including that one night in Fort Worth. She should have moved back home when she first suspected something. But she hadn’t. And she’d paid the price for her procrastination.
She padded back down the hall to her bedroom. Monday at work, Dad would remind her she should have listened to him and spent the extra few dollars per month to rent a unit with a fireplace.
Tomorrow she’d buy a space heater. Right after she called maintenance.
She turned off the light and made her way back to the bedroom. Lucy greeted her with the I-need-to-go-outside dance. “No, Luce. Please, not now.” Kristin kicked off her slippers, eased under the blankets, and did her best to pretend to be asleep.
Lucy sprung up beside her and whined.
How could such a little dog be such a big problem? Kristin held up the covers, inviting her underneath. “Come on, sweetie. Give me a few more hours. Please.”
A moan followed by a sharp bark emphasized Lucy’s desperation. She and Lucy obviously had different priorities and schedules.
Kristin rolled out of bed…again. And stepped into 1 her slippers…again.
Lucy twirled and danced down the hall, underscoring both her joy that progress was being made and her agony at its slowness. As they entered the kitchen, Lucy added high-pitched whines to her repertoire.
“OK, OK, girl. I’m moving as fast as I can.” Grabbing the leash from the hook beside the pantry, Kristin clamped it onto Lucy’ s collar and opened the back door. Lucy raced down the steps heading out into the backyard while Kristin stumbled behind her, fighting to maintain her footing.
Lucy wasted no time sniffing but ran straight behind her favorite bush. And they were ready to head inside in a matter of minutes. Which was a good thing, because Kristin could no longer feel her toes. As frigid as her apartment was, the Texas wind made the outside feel twice as cold.
As they bounded up the stairs to the back door, a gust of wind sucked the door shut. Kristin grabbed the doorknob, and her heart sank. She’ d been in such a hurry that she’d forgotten to unlock the door. Or grab a key. Or her phone. And she hadn’t gotten around to hiding a key outside like Mom kept suggesting. Plus, she refused to give one to neighbors she barely knew.
Lucy ran up and down the stairs, wagging her tail and squeaking as if this was some fun game or adventure.
“Girl, you know I love you, but I don’t like you very much right now.”
More tail-wagging and springing about illustrated Lucy’s indifference to Kristin’ s statement.
She had only one choice. She would have preferred to wait until tomorrow morning, but by then, she might have morphed into a giant icicle encircled by a dancing dog.
They headed out the gate and down the sidewalk to the next building. Dad had encouraged her to lease an apartment in this complex because, although the rent was higher than other comparable properties, they provided twenty-four-hour on-site security and maintenance. She’d thought he was being ridiculously overprotective. But now she was glad she’ d humored him. And she was even more glad her apartment was close to the maintenance man’s. Steve. His name was Steve. He was nice…helpful. However, she wasn’t sure how nice or helpful he’d be when she rang his doorbell at three in the morning.
She trudged, and Lucy danced, up the sidewalk to Unit 100. What if Steve wasn’t home? No, that wouldn’t possibly be the case. But in the minuscule chance he wasn’t, she’d walk to the security gate and see if they could either let her in or run him down.
She pressed the doorbell, and a muted chiming sounded from inside the apartment. At least one thing in this complex was working right. So she waited. And shivered. And prayed.
Just as she reached to press the bell again, the porch light flashed on, and the door swung inward. An unfamiliar man whose eyes were heavy with sleep and whose blond hair had marched right past messy and straight to explosive leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah?” He yawned.
“Is Steve here?” Struggling to control her shaking, she looked beyond him into the hallway for the maintenance man.
“Nope.” He yawned again. “I’m covering for him. Can I help you?” He opened his eyes wide and seemed to really see her for the first time. “You’re shivering.” He stepped away from the door. “Come in out of the 9 cold.”
She shook her head. “That’s OK. I just…”
He held up a hand and then disappeared down the hall. When he returned, he offered her a blanket. “Here.”
“Th-thank you.” She wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Sure you don’t want to step in for a minute? After all, you have your vicious guard dog with you.” He winked.
As if she understood his words, Lucy bounced toward him. He knelt and scratched behind her ears. “Aren’t you a good dog.” He looked up and grinned.
“Sh-she usually is but not tonight. It’s her f-fault I’m l-locked out of my ap-partment.” He stood. “Sorry. What’s your number?”
She pulled the blanket tighter. “One o t-two.”
“Next building. Let me grab that master. And put some shoes on.”
“Th-thank you.” As he disappeared down the hall, she eased into the entryway and waited. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Although according to the instructor in the self-defense class she took while she was dating Dylan, those were the ones to watch.
But he’d bent down and ruffled Lucy’s ears. What criminal would have done that? Yet, as the instructor had said, people should always be wary around strangers.
She reviewed some of the moves she’d learned. Hammer strike, heel-palm strike, elbow strike, eye strike, and groin kick. She dropped the blanket, fisted her hands, and kicked forward and upward.
“Everything OK?”
She jumped. She hadn’t heard him return. He held a keyring accessorized with a small wooden paddle. He’d added flip-flops to his flannel pants and thermal shirt and had tried to tame, with little success, his hair.
“Me? Some sort of twitch. Nothing to worry about. I’m just freezing.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Might want to get that checked out. OK. Let’s see if we can get you back into your place.”
She pressed her lips together to suppress a nervous giggle and then picked up the blanket and draped it over her shoulders.
They stepped out onto the porch, and he closed the door behind him. As they headed to her apartment, he turned toward her. “You know, you ought to consider hiding a key outside or maybe giving one to a neighbor. What if I hadn’t been here?”
“I know. I know. S-sounds like you’ve been talking with my mother.”
He chuckled. “She must be a smart woman.” He unlocked the door, and she stepped inside.
She turned back. “You know what would eliminate p-problems like this? If y’all would install those d-digital, programmable door locks. Then I wouldn’t have needed a k-key and wouldn’t have had to wake you up to let me in.”
“Good suggestion. I’ll have to pass it along so management can look into it. Though, my guess is the cost might be prohibitive.”
“Yeah, that’s the way it is with a lot of businesses today. Always cutting corners to save a d-dollar or two. Forget about the customers' needs.” She pulled off the blanket and returned it to him. “Thank you. I really appreciate your help.”
He nodded. “Anything else?”
“Not unless you can repair my furnace. It stopped working overnight.”
“I can look at it in the morning. Let me go get you a space heater to use.” He turned to leave.
“That’s OK. I’ll be fine until tomorrow.”
“If you’re sure. Better keep this…just in case.” He handed the blanket back to her, and then he bent down and rubbed Lucy’s ears. “You keep your mom warm. OK?”
Lucy yipped in agreement.
He drew up. “See you in a few hours.” He made his way down the steps and then turned back. “ I’m Cam, by the way.”
She rested a hand on her chest. “Kristin.” Then she pointed to the cause of the whole mess. “Lucy.”
“Well, Kristin and Lucy, see you tomorrow about nine.”

Order Now!

<< Go Back