CHAPTER ONE
Zemia
“Single line please, my friends.”Mrs. Howland, also known as my older sister Alana, said to her preschool class. The children ambled about as if they were unsure even though I was certain they rehearsed a thousand times knowing my sister. “Listening ears on, friends! Form a single line!”
Alana shot me aplease help me or I’m going to kill you laterlook, and I quickly snapped into action, hurdling the kids together into one semi single line while suppressing my laughter. How my sister dealt with this regularly, I’d never understand.
Remind me again why I let her rope me into this?
Cute kids, your adorable niece, and Christmas cookies galore, remember?
“Good job friends! Who’s ready to sing?” Alana said as the kids cheered.
I moved to the back of the line, with my sister leading the front, as the children clapped. A moment later we walked them out to the stage, placing them in their spots, all while wranglingthe ones who tried to run off and fixing the Santa hat each child wore because they all started slipping off.
“Auntie Z! My hat!” Jill, my adorable four-year-old niece, appeared beside me, visibly upset. Her hat no longer sat atop her head. Instead, she shoved it at me, the felt fabric crumbling easily. “Fix it, please!” Jill whined underneath all her adorable ringlets. Ringlets I styled in her hair.
I quickly re-pinned it into place and got her back in line before joining my sister off to the side.
Here goes nothing…
The music started.
And somehow, by the luck of a Christmas miracle, the children remembered the words and sang the song.
I looked out at the audience from the sidelines, my eyes sweeping over the crowd in search of our parents. Next to them sat my brother-in-law, Marc. They were front and center and couldn’t take their eyes off our Jilly.
Just as I looked away, my eyes caught those of a tall guy next to my father on the other side.
It was as if his eyes undressed me, the way he looked me up and down, intensity and amusement at the same time.
The very obvious sexual tension caused me to flush, and I looked away quickly.
Who is he?
I snuck one more look, and his fervent stare hadn’t budged an inch.
Shivers ran down my spine. I lost myself in him, only him, the music, the noise, the chaos all around us melting away.
Until suddenly, children ran straight at me like a stampede of animals and the moment was gone.
“Me! Do me next!”
“No! Me!”
“No! I waited here first.”
“Okay, one at a time. I’ll get all of your hats switched, don’t worry.” Alana said as the children lined up in between performances, switching from Santa hats to elf ones. I helped her, moving the kids through quickly, until the last one who had tears in her eyes. Her hair was messy and loose, and I wanted to help her.
“I’ve got this one.” I smiled at Alana, who smiled back gratefully before turning to wrangle the herd once more.
Dropping to my knee, I smiled warmly. “Hey you. Need some help with your hair?”
The little girl looked away while swatting at her tears. Then she turned and nodded her head once before covering her mouth with her arm and twisting back and forth at her hips.
“Don’t be nervous, love. I’ll fix you right up.” I finger brushed her hair as best I could and pulled it back into a neater, tighter ponytail. Then I secured the elf hat in front of the ponytail. “What’s your name? I’m Zemia. But you can call me Z. It’s a lot easier.”
The little girl giggled as I finished the rest of her hair, her tears a distant memory. “Livvie.” She whispered.
