A Home for Christmas (3 page)

She laughed.  “OK, bud, we’ll get lots of
lights.

“Let’s go take a look at the outside and talk
about what y’all want and then we can hit the stores.”

“Cool!” Cam said, high-fiving Riley as he hopped
up from the floor.

“Are you sure about this?” Jenna asked Riley when
he stood. “I know you didn’t plan on hanging Christmas lights today.”

“It’s fine, Jenna,” he assured her.  “Like I
said, hanging lights is fun.  I don’t mind.”

They went outside and Riley took a few pictures
of the front of her house with his phone, then they loaded up in his brother’s
truck, which Cam thought was the coolest thing ever, and they headed into
town.  To Jenna’s surprise, they didn’t go to a big box store.  He
took them again into the heart of Old Town, to a small storefront that Jenna
had never been into before. 

“Riley Stanton!” an elderly man said when they
stepped inside.  “I heard you were back in town.”

“Yes, sir.  How are you, Mr. Murray?”

“I’m good, I’m good.  Who is this?  I
hadn’t heard you got married.”

Riley chuckled.  “No, sir, not me! 
This is my friend, Jenna Blackwell and her son, Cameron.”

“Nice to meet you, young lady.  This here is
a really good young man,” he said, placing his hand on Riley’s shoulder. 
“Best worker I ever had.”

“You used to work here?” Cam asked, looking up at
Riley.

“I did, when I was in high school.  Mr.
Murray, we’re looking to put some Christmas lights on Jenna’s house.  We
want to go all out, ain’t that right, Cam?”

“Heck yeah!” Cam laughed.

Mr. Murray chuckled.  “Well, come on back to
the Christmas room and let's see what we can find.”

“Christmas room?” Jenna whispered.

“Trust me, it’s worth it,” Riley said with a
wink.

They followed the elderly man to the back of the
store and then literally stepped inside a Christmas Wonderland.  The
entire back room was packed full of commercial grade Christmas displays. 
For a moment, Jenna and Cam just stood inside the doorway, eyes wide as they
took in the room.

Riley laughed, his green eyes alight with so much
genuine joy it gave Jenna a thrill just to see them.

“Everyone has that reaction when they come back
here.  Mr. Murray is one of the top suppliers of Christmas light displays
in the State.  This is where Dad always buys all his stuff.”

“I’ve lived in Springfield all my life,” Jenna
said, looking around, “how did I not know about this place?”

“Well, he pretty much only sells to commercial
accounts.”

“And Brody Stanton,” Mr. Murray said.

“Yeah, and Pop.  Here’s what the front of
Jenna’s house looks like,” he said, showing Mr. Murray the pictures he
took.  “What do you think?”

Jenna’s head began to spin with all the talk of
LED vs. traditional lights and all the different bulb sizes.  Riley told
Cam to go grab a basket from the front of the store and she watched him add
roll after roll of lights.  She was a little worried about the price, but
decided the excited look on Cam’s face was well worth whatever expense it would
be. 

“Mom!  Check out this display, it’s so cool!”
Cam called.  She followed the sound of his voice to an enormous wire
display that was meant to go over a driveway.  It depicted Santa and a
reindeer riding a dirt bike and jumping over the driveway to land on the
opposite side.  It was a wire archway and the animation was achieved by
moving lights.  “Take a video, Mom…that’s too cool.”

Jenna took her phone out and took a video of the
display, echoing Cam’s sentiments.  It was really cool.

“You like that one, little man?” Mr. Murray
asked.

“Yes, sir!  I race dirt bikes.  This is
awesome!”

“Well, now, I tell you what.  If your Mom
will agree to display a sign in her yard, I’d be willing to let you take that
home and display it.  Riley can set it up.”

“Are you serious?” Cam asked.

“Oh, Mr. Murray, I couldn’t…what if it got
damaged?”

“Honestly, it was a special order and then when
it was three-fourths finished, the customer backed out.  I’ve had it for
two years now, just back here not getting seen by anyone.  The only
expense to you would be the added cost to your electric bill, which isn’t as
bad as it used to be because it’s all LED lights.”

Jenna looked over her shoulder to Riley. 
“What do you say?”

He winked at Cam before looking over at
her.  “It would be really cool.  And that kind of display is easy to
set up.  Do you have an HOA that would prohibit displays like that?”

“No HOA, thank goodness,” she replied.

“Then go for it.  I can have that up in less
than thirty minutes.”

“Well, OK, if you don’t mind.”

“Woohoo!!!!” Cam hollered, causing Mr. Murray to
laugh. 

“That’s what it’s all about right there,” Mr.
Murray said.  “Go load that stuff up, Riley then come back and help me
tear this down.”

“Yes, sir,” Riley said, pushing the basket
towards the front.

“Load up, but…”

“Come unlock the truck for me, Jenna,” Riley
said, cutting her off.

“But don’t we…” she began but the look Riley gave
her made her stop.  She was just wondering how she was supposed to pay for
everything.  She held her tongue until they got outside.  Before she
could ask, Riley leaned down.

“I have an account with Mr. Murray.  We deal
on trade.  I work for him when I can; he lets me take what Christmas items
I want.  I’ve never abused the system so he knows he’ll get his money’s
worth.”

She looked at him with awe.  “You are
something else, Riley Stanton,” she said, standing on her toes to kiss his
cheek.  “Thank you.”

By the end of the night, Jenna didn’t even
recognize her house.  The dirt bike Santa and reindeer arch was over her
driveway, close to the house.  The eaves and windows and roof lines were
all adorned with bright, multicolored LED lights that Cam absolutely loved and
Jenna had to admit looked really good.  More than that, though, Jenna knew
she would never ever forget how much Cam laughed, how patient and understanding
Riley was with him, and how well they worked together and got along.  Even
now, they were in the living room playing a video game while she was in the
kitchen making Cam’s favorite, her homemade lasagna.

“Dude, you are going down!” Cam told Riley when
she walked in.

“Dinner’s ready, bud, your rematch will have to
wait,” Jenna told Cam.  “Go wash up.”

“Cool.  But after dinner, it’s on, man!” Cam
told Riley as he rushed down the hall to wash up.

“Thank you for indulging him,” she told Riley,
watching him stand and stretch.

“No indulging.  I’ve had fun.  He’s a
good kid.”

“Thanks.  I sometimes worry that he doesn’t
get many chances to just be a kid.”

Riley was about to ask what she meant when Cam
came back in.  Jenna insisted he sit and had Cam set the table.  She
carried the lasagna in and placed it on the center of the table, then picked up
the plate that was before him and scooped out a serving for him.

“Thank you,” he said when she put the plate back
down before him.  “This smells really good.”

“It is awesome, dude, trust me,” Cam told him
when Jenna placed a filled plate before him.

“Cam, can you cool it with the ‘dudes’, please?”
Jenna said, “He has a name.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cam laughed.

She smiled and fixed her own plate then took her
seat across from Riley and next to Cam.  To Riley’s surprise, Cam said a
blessing before they ate.  They were a good little unit, Jenna and
Cam.  They got along well together, played off each other’s
strengths.  He could tell, though, that Cam was starved for male attention. 
In his short conversations with the boy, he knew that Cam missed his father and
wanted desperately to draw his attention with his racing.  He took a bite
of the lasagna and had to close his eyes a moment to savor it; it was that
good.

“Wow, Jenna, this is amazing,” he said, making
her smile.

“Told you it was good,” Cam said.

“Thank you,” she replied.

“Will you come to my race tomorrow, Riley?” Cam
asked, “It’s the last one of the season.”

“Yeah, sure, I can come,” Riley told him.

“Awesome.  It starts at ten and if I make it
through to the finals, they’re at one.”

“In other words, it’s an all day affair,” Jenna
told him.

“Awesome,” Riley said with a wink to Cam, “didn’t
have any plans for tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Jenna asked.

“It’ll be fun.”

Jenna felt a small thrill run through her at the
thought of spending the day with Riley again tomorrow.  His smile was so
infectious she found herself smiling all the time as well.  She got up to
clear the table, needing a few moments away from him to clear her head. 
He surprised her, though, by joining her in the kitchen.

“Why don’t you go finish decorating the tree,” he
said, “I can clean up.”

“No, that’s OK, you go…” He stopped her by
placing his hand over hers.

“Let someone else take care of things for a change,
Jenna,” he said, his voice soft.

She looked up into his eyes, eyes that had gone
soft as he looked down at her.  She felt her breath catch in her throat,
extremely aware of his nearness, and just how big he really was compared to
her.

“OK…thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he said, smiling.

She backed away then went back into the living
room, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart.  For a few moments,
she stood just staring at the tree, trying to pull herself back together. 
There was a definite attraction between her and Riley, not only because he was
quite simply gorgeous, but because he was so good with Cam.  He was
dangerous, she decided, as far as her heart went, anyway.  After just a
few hours knowing him, she felt that she could easily see herself falling for
him.

“Mom?  You OK?” Cam asked, noticing that she
was just standing there.

“Um, yeah, I’m fine.  Want to help me finish
the tree?”

“Nah, you got it covered.  I gotta brush up
on my skills for my rematch with Riley,” he said, turning back to his video
game.

She shook her head but it was like this with Cam
every year as he got older.  He’d decorate up to a point and then leave it
all to her.  She supposed this year with all the outdoor stuff, Cam had
more than his fill of decorating for one day. 

Riley emerged from the kitchen just as she was
getting ready to place the star on the top.  She was on her step-ladder
and having a hard time reaching the top of the tree.  The ladder she
usually used had broken last year and she’d yet to replace it.  The one
she was on now was not quite tall enough.

“I can do that,” Riley said after watching her
struggle to reach for a moment.

“Would you? My ladder isn’t quite tall enough.”

He held his hand out for the star and to help her
down from the ladder.  He stepped up and easily placed it on top, then
handed her the plug.  She waited until he stepped down and stepped back to
be able to see, then plugged the star in.

“That’s really something,” he said, looking at
her tree.  “I think you could give my mom a run for her money in the tree
decorating department.”

Jenna smiled at him.  “Thanks.  I’ve
always loved decorating for Christmas.”

He looked around the living room, at her snow
villages, Nativities, garlands and wreaths.  She had a collection of
gingerbread men, snowmen, Santas and reindeer.  Every surface that could
be covered, was, but it all flowed together well. 

“You’ve got a real Christmas home.  All
that’s missing is a fire.”

“We do fires every once in a while.  Still a
little warm for one right now though, unfortunately.”

“True…this all really is nice.”

Jenna studied him a minute.  “Did you miss a
lot of Christmases at home when you were in the Navy?”

“Too many,” he said, a sad look crossing his face
briefly.  “I spent many a Christmas under the stars in the desert. 
We did go to Bethlehem one year, though, when we were between missions. 
That was really something.  Just to be in the same place where it all
started,” he said, a smile returning to his face.

“Oh, wow, that gives me chills just thinking
about it.”

“It was surreal.”

Cam paused his game and was listening to Riley
talk.  Jenna noted the almost star-struck look on her son’s face while he
listened.  Not even a full day together and Cam already had a bit of hero
worship going on.

“Riley?” Cam asked.

“Yeah?”

“I guess, since you were a SEAL, that you’ve…you
know, killed people before?”

“Cam, I don’t think-“ Jenna began but Riley held
a hand up to stop her.

“No, it’s OK, it’s only natural for him to be
curious.  And yeah, Cam, I’ve had to kill people, that’s what you do when
you’re in the military and fighting.”

Cam’s eyes were huge.  “A lot of people?”

“Even one is a lot,” Riley answered.

Cam nodded.  “Have you ever been shot?”

“Yes.”

“You have?” Jenna asked, shocked.

Riley’s green gaze shifted to her.  “Yes. 
Four times.”

Jenna gasped and involuntarily reached out to
place her hand on Riley’s forearm.

“Don’t you guys were body armor?” Cam asked.

“Usually, but there are times, like when we had
to swim, that you can’t wear Kevlar.”

“Were any life-threatening?”

“Only one, and really only because it took so
long to get treated.  The other times I was hit, I was able to get
treatment soon afterward.  The last time I was hit, though, was a pretty
bad fight.  We lost one of our own.  My team leader and I went to retrieve
his body and we were ambushed.  The others got me and the body of our
friend when our team leader allowed himself to be taken prisoner.  We took
Zig’s body somewhere safe, then went back to get our commander.  It took
twelve hours.  By the time we got him, I’d lost a lot of blood.”

“Oh, my God!” Jenna cried softly, 
“Riley!  How…I don’t,” she took a deep breath, “what you guys go through,
what you sacrifice.  I just can’t imagine.”

He shrugged.  “Just part of the job. 
We lost Zig, but we weren’t going to lose Mike.”

“And you got him back?” Cam pressed, “He
survived?”

“They tortured him.  He was in pretty bad
shape, but yeah, we got him back and he did survive.  Too stubborn to
die.”

“Sounds like you were, too,” Jenna said.

“Wasn’t going to let them get me.”

They were quiet a moment.  Jenna had to
fight an overwhelming urge to pull him into her arms, as much to comfort
herself as to offer comfort to him. 

“Do you have a lot of scars?” Cam asked.

“Cameron,” Jenna said, “he just said he was shot
four times.  What do you think?  He could have bullet wounds with no
scars?”

Cam flashed a cheesy grin.  “Well, can I see
some of them?”

“Cameron!”

Riley laughed.  “That’s OK, Jenna. 
Yeah, you can see the ones on my back.”

Jenna’s eyes widened and Cam froze. 

“You got shot in the back?” Cam cried.

Riley pulled his shirt over his head and turned
so Cam could see.

“Whoa…” Cam said, standing on the couch so that
he was close enough to Riley’s back to see.  “Mom!  You gotta see
this!”

Jenna was having a hard time pulling her gaze
from Riley’s perfect washboard abs and the dusting of slightly darker blonde
hair on his chest.  Once she got over looking at his muscles, she noticed
that his chest and side was covered with scars. 

“Oh, Riley,” she gasped, raising trembling
fingers to touch one really long, jagged, nasty looking scar that ran along his
ribs.

“Got tangled up in a razor wire fence,” he said,
watching her touch him.

“Wow, sick!” Cam exclaimed, clearly impressed by
Riley’s battle scars. 

Jenna could see another scar that disappeared
into the waistline of his pants, likely from the same razor wire.  He had
a tattoo on his left upper bicep, a sort of tribal looking design that, while
she wasn’t much of a tattoo fan, she had to admit looked really cool on him.

“So many,” she whispered.  She noticed one
on his jawline she hadn’t seen before because it ran right along the
underside.  Overcome with emotion, she rocked up on her toes and placed a
brief, but tender and heartfelt kiss there.  “Thank you, Riley, for your service.”

“Yeah, dude,” Cam said, “thanks!  It’s cool
that, you know, you didn’t die from any of these.”

Jenna laughed.  She couldn’t help it. 
Leave it to her son to say something so ridiculously crazy.  Riley was
chuckling, too as he pulled his shirt back on.

“I’m glad I didn’t die from any of these,
either.  Then I wouldn’t have been there to get your mom’s purse back this
morning.”

“I’m really glad you were there,” Cam told him,
suddenly solemn.  “I worry about her sometimes.”

“Cam,” Jenna began but stopped when Riley spoke.

“That’s good.  You should always look out
for your mom.”

She watched Cameron beam under the praise. 
Another reason why she wanted to strangle Wade Blackwell: Cameron missed having
a male influence in his life.  That was obvious to her today, watching him
work with Riley to hang the Christmas lights and put together the archway.

“Cam, you need to get in bed now.  You’ve
got a big day tomorrow.”

“But, Mom, Riley and I need a rematch.”

“I’ll be here tomorrow, too,” Riley told
him.  “You want to be rested for your race, right?”

Cam sighed, “Yeah, all right.  Thanks for
everything today, Riley.  Getting my mom’s purse back and the Christmas
lights and stuff.”

“You’re welcome.”

“’Night, Mom.”

“Goodnight, Cam.”

“’Night, Riley.”

“Goodnight.  See you tomorrow.”

Riley watched the boy walk down the hall and
disappear into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.  Turning his
gaze back to Jenna, he was painfully aware that they were now alone.  In
just a few short hours spent with her, he found himself just as drawn to her as
he’d been when he first saw her this morning.

“You’re very good with him,” Jenna said, breaking
his thoughts.

“He’s a good kid,” he said, studying her. 
She looked a little nervous now that Cam was gone, but he didn’t think she was
going to ask him to go just yet, which was good, because he really didn’t want
to go.