More and more people glanced at their watches, then stopped what they were doing to head toward the far side of the courthouse yard.

“It’s almost time for the tree lighting.” Yeah, that had been her voice hitting several octaves higher than normal, but she was excited.

Turning toward Bodie, Sarah caught him looking at her and suddenly felt self-conscious. Did he find her excitement childish?

If so, too bad. She loved Christmas and wasn’t ashamed of that fact.

Lifting her chin, she asked, “What?”

A half-grin on his face, he shrugged. “Just you.”

Yeah, like she was going to leave it at that. He should know better.

“What about me?” she pushed as they walked toward where the tree lighting would take place.

“You and your excitement for all this.”

“‘All this’ is a big deal to me and to Pine Hill. Although I love the On-the-Square Christmas Festival for so many reasons, the tourist dollars the event pulls in are vital to local businesses on the square. Not to mention the organizations that set up booths on the courthouse lawn, such as my special projects and the ladies’ class at church. Plus, events like these will bring in guests for Hamilton House, which is a huge added bonus.” Sarah gave a little shrug. “Mostly, though, I love that these events draw us together as a community.”

He nodded as if he understood, but Sarah wasn’t sure he did. He’d told her he was from Houston. Maybe big cities didn’t have the sense of community she enjoyed in Pine Hill.

Or maybe it wasn’t big cities lacking a sense of community, but Bodie himself who lacked it.

If that was the case, then certainly, that would make it easier for him to never stay in one place for too long. A sense of community meant strings, attachments to a place or to a group, meant being a part of something that was bigger than oneself.

A sense of community was important. At least, to Sarah it was.

She supposed to Bodie, his sense of community came from being in the military, his brotherhood there—although she couldn’t say for sure, since he never talked about it.

“Come on,” she encouraged as the crowd of people grew thicker the closer they got to the tree. “Let’s get as close as we can to watch the tree lighting. If it’s like years past, my dad will be leading a prayer prior to the lighting and I don’t want to miss it.”

Watching the tree lighting wasn’t nearly as interesting as watching Sarah’s face as Pine Hill’s mayor spoke, read a short Bible passage, then called on Sarah’s father to come up to say a prayer for their community and to bless their holiday season.