Secret Santa 4U by Paisley Scott

 
     
    S now blew heavy across the highway and covered the windshield of Sophie Mulligan ’ s practical VW Bug. The slap-slap of the wipers droned on with each slow-motion moment as she struggled against the storm. Only a few miles until her exit. She rolled to a stop along with the traffic. Weather like this always made the holiday season less than happy for Sophie. She looked off the highway at the tiny town of Bedford . Even in the fading daylight, it wa s cozy and quaint with its perfect blanket of fresh snow. Christmas lights, colorful, blinking and bright, lit up houses as far as she could see.
    Christmas.
    The time of year that intensified the fact she was alone.
    She sighed and put the VW in gear as traf fic inched forward again.
    It wasn ’ t like she ’ d set out to be the loneliest person in the entire state of North Carolina . Heck, there were sure to be others in her same predicament. Right? She frowned. With her luck in the romance department, probably not.
    She glanced in her rearview mirror. Eyes the color of warm molasses stared back at her. She smiled sadly , remembering . T hat ’ s how her father had always described her boring brown eyes. Sophie pushed her auburn bangs back beneath her gray wool cap and looke d at the road again. Thank goodness her exit was next. She wanted nothing more than to get home and take a nice, hot bath.
    The ride home was a lot easier , once she left the interstate . Whereas the highway had traffic, the roads within town were , for the mo st part, deserted. That ’ s generally what happened each major holiday since this was mostly a college town. Everyone went home to be with their families , and Bedford turned into a ghost town until the semester started up again in January. It was a nice hiat us, she thought.
    At least from work.
    She ’ d been a librarian at Bedford City College for nearly three years. Truth be told, she liked working around the students . It made her feel like she was back in school with them. Even though it had only been eight yea rs since she graduated from the same college, she felt like a dowdy old spinster.
    And at the ripe old age of thirty-three.
    She groaned and downshifted as she reached the turn - in to her apartment complex. The park ing lot was nearly vacant, with the exceptio n of a few snow-covered cars. Either the owners didn ’ t have plans for the holidays or they ’ d opted for other transportation this season. Whichever was fine with Sophie — it meant prime parking smack dab in front of her first floor apartment.
    Balancing two co py paper boxes in her arms, she made her way to the front door, the rubber soles of her boots crunching in the quiet snow as she went.
    “ Hey! Let me help you, Soph. ”
    Startled, Sophie stopped and looked over the top of the boxes, discovering the voice belong ed to her young, upstairs neighbor, Brody Jacobs.
    Two small slashes creased his lean cheeks as he smiled . “ Are you headed h ome for the holidays? ” he asked, taking the boxes easily from her.
    Unlocking her front door, she opened it and escorted Brody inside. He ’ d been in her apartment enough times he should have a key by now. He was her Mr. Fix-it when it came to computer problems and even built the computer she had sitting on her desk in the front room.
    “ Nah. I ’ m going to stay here, ” she told him, pulling of f her cap and tossing it on the kitchen bar. “ Those are ornaments you ’ re holding. I figure I ’ ll set up the tree tonight. ”
    Brody set the copier boxes down against the far wall . “ Need some help? I don ’ t have any plans. ”
    Sophie shook her head . “ You ’ re too swe et for your own good, Brody. You ’ re going to get taken advantage of if you keep offering to help. ”
    “ Being taken advantage of by a woman? ” Dark eyebrows rose above his sapphire blue eyes. “ How c ould that ever be a bad thing? ”
    She grinned at him. “ Hey, did y ou get contacts? ” It was the first time she