Their First Noel by Annie Jones Page A

lips then smiled slyly just to tweak his he-man let-me-do-it-my-way-and-it-will-all-be-fine-little-lady ego.
    â€œThanks.” He looked down, shaking his head. “Let me just say, I have a couple ideas for stabilizing your project but, you know, it might work better if I could see it put together. I’m in restoration, after all. Maybe I’d do better working backward from a completed model, flaws and all.”
    â€œOh my goodness, that’s perfect!” He’d just handed her a terrific way to teach the man give and take and also to bolster her hopes of creating a respectable entry in the upcoming contest. She grabbed him by the arm and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you, you won’t regret this.”
    â€œRegret?” Andy took her by the hand and turned her to face him. “What are you talk—”
    â€œAnd here the two of you are again!” Ellie Walker approached them with her arms spread, her smile wide and her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Andy, you are either the world’s best ambassador for our town or Corrie here is—”
    â€œShe’s his girlfriend!” Greer shouted as she practicallyflew across the open space of the park to the sidewalk where they stood.
    â€œNo!” Andy said it before Corrie could. “She’s just…”
    â€œâ€¦a friend,” Corrie finished for him.
    â€œWho’s a girl.” Greer folded her arms and rolled her eyes. “A girlfriend. ”
    Andy started to speak but before he could, a chorus began to sing on the steps of the bandstand/gazebo. The evening came alive around them. People shuffled forward, sheltering steaming cups of hot chocolate in their gloved and mittened hands. A group of small children all dressed in reds and greens began shaking sleigh bells.
    No one seemed interested in Andy’s explanation but that didn’t keep him from moving in close to Corrie and saying, “That came off harsh.”
    â€œIt’s okay.” She didn’t meet his gaze. The man had made it clear he didn’t want people to know about his advising her on the contest. She understood why he’d also not want them to believe the two of them were dating. Especially since she would probably go home in a few days and never return, leaving him looking like she’d dumped him. If Corrie really wanted to get through to Andy, she had to keep her distance from him.
    The crowd began to press in to get a better view of the activities. Corrie followed suit, hoping it would bring an end to the embarrassing topic of her being Andy’s girlfriend. Or rather of him so strenuously not wanting her to be his girlfriend, not even wanting anyone to think she was his girlfriend. Her cheeks grew hot. She folded her coat more tightly around her body and putsome extra distance between herself and Andy, just for safe measure.
    â€œYou see, just before you showed up at the inn, Greer said a prayer that I’d get a girlfriend by Christmas.” Andy maneuvered with her, keeping himself at her side.
    The aroma of hot chocolate drifted across from the cups cradled in the hands of people pressing close around them.
    â€œI think Greer praying that is sweet,” Corrie told him.
    â€œSweet, but I don’t want her to think that’s the way prayer works.” Again he pushed closer to make himself heard, bumping against Greer’s backpack as he did. “That’s why I had to make sure she knew you weren’t my girlfriend.”
    â€œI know. I’m nobody’s girlfriend,” she said softly, not really angry or even hurt, just more than a little annoyed that he felt compelled to go and point it out again. That agitation was probably why she couldn’t just keep her thoughts to herself. “And while I totally get your not wanting to give into Greer’s equating prayer with a virtual wish list, I believe that God does answer prayers.”
    The caroling ended and the mayor