Once Upon a Christmas by Lauraine Snelling, Lenora Worth

keys out of her purse and floated up the steps. “Night. And thank you for a marvelous evening.”
    “You’re welcome.” He touched a finger to his forehead and returned to the truck.
    So did his comment mean he now believes in love at first sight or…?
    “I’m coming, Harley, hang on to your collar.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
    I wish he were going to church with me.
    Harley yipped at the back door.
    “I’m coming.” She threw the bedcovers back with a sigh. Staying in her daydreams would have been nicer, but dogs didn’t understand that. She touched her mouth and could still feel the gentle brush of Thane’s lips. And his parting comment, “I used to not believe in love at first sight.” No, that wasn’t exactly the way he said it, but was the upshot that now he did believe in love at first sight?
    Intellectually she knew true love grew over a long period of time, but attraction could double whammy one instant quick. Lord, let him be a believer. I think he is but what do I know? She set the coffee maker to work, let the dog back in and wandered to stand at the front window where sun cast stripes and shadows on the carpet through half-opened slats. It didn’t pack the zest of a summer sun, to be sure, but a blustery winter day was indeed invigorating. And besides, she might see him this afternoon.The coffee machine beeped. She fixed Harley’s breakfast, much to his tail-wagging delight, poured herself a cup of coffee and danced and twirled to her bedroom to dress for church. Much as she preferred the ten o’clock service, today she would do the 8:30. Ah, Lord, I have so much to be thankful for. If this could be the man you meant for me, please make it clear. I don’t want to make a mistake. But, oh, how special he makes me feel.
    Sitting in church some time later, she wished again he were sitting beside her. Would they go to this church or his? Does he have a church? Another major question to ask. So much to learn.
    Keeping her mind on the music was not hard, for she loved to sing. Keeping her mind on the sermon, now that was a different matter. Finally she forced herself to take notes on the border of the bulletin. To love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind. Ah, how I want that. To love my neighbor as myself. Loving my neighbor wouldn’t be hard in Thane’s case. She caught a giggle before it reached her mouth.
    With a sigh of relief she stood for the closing hymn. Now to deliver her folder of camera-ready copy for the singing Christmas tree program. Since this was an event offered to the community, they always needed hundreds of programs. The church would be standing room only for all three performances.
    She slid through the crowd, exchanging greetings but not stopping to chat. If she could get four hours of work in, she wouldn’t feel so guilty being gone for an hour or two.
    A blinking light on the answering machine greeted her return home. Please let it be Thane. She crossed her fingers as she played the messages, after greeting an ecstatic Harley. You’d think she’d been gone for days instead of two hours.
    “Sorry, Blythe, I’m going to have to cancel for today. I’ve got an emergency in the city. I’ll call you later if I can get out of there early enough to do dinner, that is, if you’d like to. I had a great time last night, thank you.”
    Blythe sank onto a chair with a sigh. Rats and double rats. Harley put his paws up on her knees and peered into her face. His droopy eyes made her smile and rub his ears. “Not your fault, Harley, boy. So much for a fun afternoon. Now I’m just going to have to work all day. Which is probably best, but still.” She kissed the top of his head and pushed against his chest. “You get down now, so I can get going.”
    The afternoon slid by with only two phone calls and neither of them from Thane. Her sister Suzanne, apologized for missing her birthday. Blythe mentioned she had met a man, kind of slid the comment in under the general