My Kind of Christmas

of coffee into her hands and she turned to see Mike V, Brie’s husband, her uncle Mike. She had forgotten her desire for caffeine. “Thank you,” she said, kissing his cheek.
    “How’s that little cabin working out?” he asked.
    “It’s perfect. I’m going to get some candles from the bar—I sat on the porch last night and just watched the snow. If I’d had some candles…”
    “I’m sure that can be arranged, chica, ” he said, draping an arm around her shoulders.
    As they stood together in the street, watching, chains were tightened, the motor on the lift was pumping away and more and more people who had been forced to park down the street were walking toward the tree-raising. Jack and General Booth stood near Paul Haggerty, talking and pointing and gesturing, but Paul seemed to completely ignore them as he directed his team.
    It took long enough that Angie’s coffee was gone by the time the tree was finally lifted off the bed of the truck. Four men holding four cables maneuvered the airborne tree so that the trunk slipped into the hole that had been dug right in the ground. Then the cables were pulled tight, straightening the tree. There was a loud, collective “A hh” in the crowd of people gathered around to watch. There was a bit of muffled applause thanks to the gloves and mittens worn by most of the spectators.
    Finally Jack and the general had major roles—they were standing across the street from the tree to judge the straightness of it before the cables were secured to the ground. They were gesturing right, then left, then right....
    And Angie saw him. He was standing on the porch of the bar, leaning a shoulder against a post. He was most definitely watching her. When their eyes met he did that smile thing again—half his mouth lifted. His eyes got just a little bit sleepy, but the glittering green was still overwhelming. She wanted a close-up of those eyes.
    Real close.
    Patrick lifted a coffee cup to his lips, but he never took his eyes off her, peering at her over the rim of the cup.
    “You okay, chica? ” Mike asked.
    “That guy,” she said, just taking him in. “Do you know him?”
    Mike followed her eyes. “Patrick? I know his brothers. I’ve only met him once or twice.”
    “How long has he lived around here?”
    “Just visiting, I hear. You okay?”
    “He’s staring at me,” she said in a low voice, trying not to move her lips.
    Mike cleared his throat. “Um, listen, if he’s making you uncomfortable, I could have a word with him.”
    She grinned at Mike. “He’s making me uncomfortable all right, but not exactly in a bad way. Don’t say anything, all right? Don’t make him stop. I don’t think anyone has ever looked at me that way before.”
    Mike turned Angie toward him. His black eyes bore into her with intensity. “Ange, don’t play with fire. I don’t know much about Patrick except that he has some difficult situation going with the military. The Navy just gave him more leave to sit in Virgin River than they typically grant, which usually indicates a problem of some kind. You should at least talk to Jack before you do anything young and foolish.”
    She laughed at him, amused. “Wow, doesn’t that sound fun, a chat with Uncle Jack about an interesting guy. Now I was kind of young at the time, but if I remember correctly Uncle Jack thought you were a bad idea for Aunt Brie. Do I have that right?”
    Mike pursed his lips as he pondered this. “We were both older than you, for one thing. We had been through some real major crises, for another, which left Jack feeling a little on the protective side. And we were careful to take it slow—know what I’m saying? I don’t know any details but I hear Patrick has had some issues—real problems. Hear me?”
    “Absolutely,” she said. “Fortunately, I haven’t been through any crises or had any problems....”
    “Oh, man,” Mike said. “Now you’re scaring me.”
    She patted his arm. “I’ll be just fine, Uncle Mike. I know it’s hard for everyone to accept this, but I’m not a little girl anymore. I can handle this.” She turned to look again at Patrick but he wasn’t there. “Crap,” she muttered. “I hope you didn’t scare him away. I wanted to talk to him.”
    “I was on the verge of suggesting you don’t talk to him.”
    “Yeah, I know,” she said. “I think I need a refill on the coffee. Thanks. By the way, where is Brie?”
    “I think she’s in the bar with Ness, but,