Finding Christmas by Jeannie Moon

through more and who did it better. It was a wakeup call. The loss of your leg is not minor by any stretch, but you still have so much, and you can rebuild your life.”
    “Are you a psychologist as well as a teacher and a coach? Anything else I should know about?”
    “No,” he smiled. “I just get people.”
    “I don’t know how you do what you do. The teaching. It’s more than I could imagine taking on, and you don’t break a sweat. About anything.”
    “That’s not true. I sweat the teaching all the time. You never know what a day is going to bring, and the kids deserve my best. But I love it. The work made me see I was more than a basketball.”
    “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I was a pilot. I figured if I ever left the navy, I’d be a pilot.”
    “You’re more than your wings, Maggie.” He gave her a little push. “Now go hit the track.”
    *     *     *
    Maggie was curled up on the couch in his den, dead asleep. After an hour of running, and a carb-heavy breakfast, she’d passed out when he’d gone to change into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Now he was out stringing lights on his boat and thinking about the woman in his house.
    When she’d arrived at the track, he knew she’d been apprehensive, but he admired the way she dug in with the kids, especially Danny, who had a knack for putting things in perspective for people. As much as he liked Maggie—and he did like her—he expected her chat with Danny had been enlightening.
    Now he was staring at the boat and wondering if he needed to do anything special other than string lights since he was not only going to carrying the town’s VIP, but Santa as well. ‘Santa’ was the high school principal, Leo Gaines. Leo had been teaching in town since the 70s and he knew everyone. He looked like Santa with his white hair, generous waistline, and newly grown beard.
    Lifting his head when he heard footsteps, Ethan and Cooper were coming toward the dock. Good, they could help with the damn lights. It had gotten really cold, really fast, and he cringed at the thought of the night on the water. He didn’t think the temperature was supposed to drop like this, making him wonder if he should stash a bottle of brandy on the boat to keep everyone warm.
    “How’s the SS North Pole coming along?” Coop climbed over the gunwale into the bow of the boat and walked toward Will, while Ethan stood on the dock.
    “There’s a woman in your house,” Ethan said. “She’s sleeping.”
    Will nodded. “She is. Busy morning.”
    Cooper and Ethan looked at each other with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. Ethan hopped into the boat and the two of them closed in on Will.
    “You want to explain what you mean by ‘busy morning’?” Ethan asked. “Because if it’s what I think it means…”
    “It doesn’t.” Will could only wish it was more. “She came out early to work with the Paralympic kids and then ate the jumbo stack of pancakes at Lindsey’s.”
    “So she’s in a carb coma.” Cooper laughed. “Only Maggie. Damn.”
    Will folded his arms as he leaned his hip into the pilot’s seat. “I have never seen a woman eat so much in my life. Six pancakes, bacon, juice, coffee… it was incredible.”
    “Where does she put it?” Ethan wondered. “I saw her on the couch and she doesn’t look like a woman who can eat her own weight.”
    Will shrugged. “She works out. I saw her in shorts and a work out top. The woman is in good shape.”
    ‘Good shape’ was an understatement. Maggie was in incredible shape. She wasn’t thin, she was fit—strong, shapely. Every muscle was defined without being bulky. Her body was gorgeous. It was her strength of will, however, her mind, that had Will tied in knots.
    But the amount of food she’d consumed was still impressive.
    “I like her,” Will admitted to his friends. “It’s kind of like you said, no bullshit with her. She’s just, I don’t know, real.”
    “What are you going to do?”