Sweet Christmas Kisses by Ginny Baird, Grace Greene, Donna Fasano, Helen Scott Taylor, Beate Boeker, Melinda Curtis, Denise Devine, Raine English, Aileen Fish, Patricia Forsythe, Mona Risk, Roxanne Rustand, Magdalena Scott, Kristin Wallace Read Free Book Online Page A

ready for the pretend wedding. At first, she brought each item as she found it to ask Aaron if it was okay to cut it apart and shape it into something new. He’d finally given her carte blanche, and she and Izzie had gone wild. She hadn’t played dress-up in years, since the days she and Danielle had donned boas and wide-brimmed hats before strutting around the living room. Christy had forgotten how much fun little girls could be when they were excited about pretty clothes.
    After the “dress” was complete, Christy had shooed Izzie out of the bedroom so she could make a veil.
    “But you might need my help,” Izzie complained.
    Christy insisted. “I want you to be surprised by
something
.”
    “Oh, all right.” Then her face brightened. “I’ll go work on the ceremony. And a certificate! We need an official paper.” And she rushed out the door in search of her art pad and markers. “Hurry up!” Izzie called from the hallway. “It’s almost time!”
    Chuckling, Christy took the small circle she’d cut from the center of the round, damask tablecloth she’d used as the skirt of her gown. She folded the fabric in little pleats and bobby-pinned it at a jaunty angle on her head. Then she pinned some netting she’d found in the kitchen so it draped over her eyes. Too bad it was red, but it did lend her outfit a more Christmassy feel. There. Almost perfect. It wasn’t like the long, traditional veils Izzie had called up on the iPad, but it would do just fine.
    She stood, looked in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. The editors of Bride Magazine would be appalled, but she didn’t think she looked half bad. She’d dressed up the white t-shirt she’d borrowed from Aaron with some gold tinsel. The overhead light softly glinted off the satiny tablecloth secured around her waist with a cord stolen from the living room curtains, the ornate gold tassel positioned in the center.
    “Bride of the year,” Christy murmured, then she laughed.
    Just then Aaron knocked at her door. “I’ve made you a bouquet.”
    She accepted the three poinsettias he’d wrapped together with a leftover piece of ribbon. “Thanks,” she told him.
    “Izzie’s waiting for us,” he said. “I have instructions to escort you to the living room when you’re ready.”
    “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
    He smiled. “You look beautiful.”
    Christy nearly snorted. “Yeah, right.”
    “Wait. What is that?”
    He leaned close enough that she could smell the fresh scent of his soap, and her heart kicked against her ribs. She imagined burying her nose in the curve of his neck, but immediately blinked away the startling thought. Then he pulled something from her long, blond tresses.
    “Is that a piece of onion skin?” he asked.
    She nodded. “Probably. Where do you think I found the netting?”
    “That’s an onion bag?” He laughed right out loud. His dark eyes glittered with humor. “Well, no woman has ever looked as ravishing in an onion bag, I don’t mind saying.”
    Christy flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I’ll bet you say that to all your pretend brides.”
    “No,” he assured her, softly. “No, actually, I don’t. You’re the only pretend bride I’ve met who was wearing onion netting on her head.”
    “That just makes me unique.”
    He nodded, his voice lowering when he said, “That describes you perfectly.”
    She reached up and placed her fingers on his chest, and her brows shot up when she heard a crinkling sound.
    “Your tie.” Her mouth spread wide. “It’s made of newspaper.”
    “I don’t have any suits here at the cottage,” he told her. “I was going to use the comic section, but the black and white newsprint seemed more formal.”
    “It’s perfect.” And she honestly thought it was. What could be more fitting for a pretend wedding than an origami tie?
    Aaron took her hand and placed it in the crook of his arm. “Shall we go get married?”
    Izzie stood by the Christmas tree, and