Chapter 3
Summer turned into autumn, and autumn into winter. Pretty soon it was Christmas break. Trixie was so excited to see Jim, Brian, and Dan again, but especially Jim. They had kept in touch and communicated quite frequently. Impatiently, she waited to hear the sound of Brian's old Jalopy. Only Brian walked in. As happy as she was to see her eldest brother, she was disappointed not to see Jim. Seeing the look on her face, Brian said, "I dropped him off at the Manor so he could see Honey and his parents first. He wanted to catch them up before coming to see you. Trixie sighed. She was a little upset, but she could understand. After all, she'd want to see Moms and Dad first if it were her. A short while later, there was a knock and it was all Trixie could do to rush to the door. She didn't need any more teasing from her brothers, especially Mart, who liked to confuse her with big words. She forced herself to walk calmly to the door, but when she opened it and saw Jim, she forgot to be calm. "Hey Shamus," he said, with that crooked grin of his. "Do I get a hug?" Trixie blushed. "Of course you do," she laughed and launched herself into his arms. Jim lowered his head and gave her a kiss. Trixie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with all her heart, but something seemed wrong. She opened her eyes, stepped back, and looked at Jim. "Jim, what's wrong?" He blinked and then smiled, a forced smile it seemed to her, and said, "Nothing, just a little distracted by your beauty." He hoped that would take the focus off of his reaction, and thankfully it worked. He didn't want to tell her that it seemed as if the sparks were gone. "Maybe it's because I haven't seen her in 3 months," he thought. "Well, I still have 3 weeks of break to see what's going on. Once I get some sleep and rest up, things will be differently." He hoped.