The Librarians And the Advent List

Dec 20

Cassandra hadn't been around much that day and Stone was more than a bit confused. As far as anyone knew her clippings book had not gone off, so whatever kept her was not a case. He kept telling himself that she was an adult with her own life and that she'd find him when she was ready. She was probably Christmas shopping or running some sort of routine errand. It was just . . .well he missed her. Now that he knew how he felt about her, it made it harder to go without. Especially since last night had almost felt like a date. Well except for the lack of touching and good night kiss, but still it had been the closest thing to a real date they'd gone on since the whole Christmas thing had started.

He took a deep breath and resolved to go and work on a paper that he'd been neglecting because of the Christmas adventure. She'd find him when she was ready for whatever she had planned.

He'd wandered into the main Annex room about 4pm and she was set up working. She'd smiled and said that today's outing was a surprise.

As it went past 5pm, he noticed Cassandra checking her phone repeatedly. Then she hopped up, looking at him.

"It's time!"

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, but I promise you'll like it. Come on though, we'll miss it!"

They stumbled out a door into what looked like the backstage area of a theater. No one seemed to really pay attention in the flurry of activity. Women were rushing around with what looked like costumes and kids, mostly girls milled around. Cassandra lead him down a hallway a little ways and he saw a group of young girls in dance costumes lined up. He stopped dead, nearly running into Cassandra, when he recognized his niece Jenny among the girls. She was looking forward and didn't see him.

"Cassandra?"

"I talked to Jenny's teacher, we can watch her performance from back here, you can say hello and then we can go so you don't have to deal with your family."

Jacob turned to look at Cassandra and she had to suck in a breath at the intensity of his gaze. She'd gotten very good at reading him and this expression just overwhelmed her in the message that it was sending. There was a lot of gratitude, obviously, but there was so much more, certainly affection but there was something else shining in his eyes that made her heart drop to her stomach in a cloud of butterflies.

The moment was broken by the teacher telling the girls they were on and Cassandra nudged Jacob forward. She gave a little wave to the teacher who nodded to her and Jacob and motioned them to the perfect place to stand. It wasn't quite the same as being in the audience but to Stone, the most important thing would be the look on Jenny's face when she got off the stage.

He was not disappointed, she'd caught a glimpse of him during her performance, but to her credit she'd just beamed excitedly and didn't miss a beat. When she came off stage, she rushed into his arms for a hug.

"Uncle Jake! You made it!"

"Well, the boss lady," Stone nodded to Cassandra, who remembered that his family might still be under the impression that Jake was her assistant. So she just smiled and waved. "Heard that I was gonna miss this and she insisted we come. We can't stay long unfortunately, we gotta get to the next site before we get a Christmas break. But long enough for me to give my best girl a hug, right?"

Jenny nodded. "I'm just happy to see you."

"There's one more thing," Cassandra pulled a small wrapped box out of her pocket. "You left this in the truck, Jake. I think this is for your niece?"

Stone's eyes widened as he looked back at Cassandra but luckily Jenny didn't see it. He'd been delaying sending the gifts ahead, even though now it was actually too late to mail them. He'd left them pretty obviously on his desk, so he probably shouldn't have been surprised.

"It is," he said finally and handed the gift to Jenny. "Okay, well, we need to get out of the way for the next number. Merry Christmas, darlin'. I love you, so much."

Jenny gave him one last hug. "Merry Christmas, Uncle Jake. I love you too. And thank you, uh Uncle Jake's boss."

"You're welcome, Jenny." Cassandra said. Stone was a little overcome, so she tugged his arm as Jenny ran off with her friends. "Ready to go back?"

"Yeah . . . ."

"We don't have to go back just yet," Cassandra said softly. "I know you don't want to see the family, but how about we get some fresh air, huh? When I was here earlier I noticed the square outside looked like it would look lovely at night."

"Yeah, yeah, let's do that."

Stone was quiet as they slipped out the side exit but Cassandra felt like he needed to say something to her. That's why she suggested the walk and not going back to the Annex right away. It was quiet on the square as most of the shops were closed and the performance was still going on.

"Cassie, I don't know what . . .thank you, thank you so much. That meant the world to me."

"You sounded as upset as she did. I know family ain't easy, but that particular member of it . . . .Well anyway, it's what friends do."

"Friends . . . ."

"Yeah, I thought that's what . . . ."Cassandra's words were cut off as Jacob's lips were suddenly on hers. And those butterflies that had appeared earlier were suddenly back in full force. Only this time they were glittery happy Christmas colored butterflies.

She giggled against his lips as the thought occurred to her.

"What?" he murmured, confused because she'd certainly been kissing him back.

"I just saw glittery Christmas butterflies when you kissed me. It's a . . .thing."

"A good thing?"

"A very good thing."

And with a smile, Cassandra put her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. He didn't object.