Mistletoe and Magic (3 page)

Becoming aware of the numbness in his hands, he realized he wasn’t wearing gloves again. He groaned, but blew his hot breath through each fisted hand trying to warm them before pulling on his gloves. Unaccustomed to this climate, he found he continually neglected to admit it was colder outside than he thought. By the time he remembered to put on his gloves, his hands and ears were already freezing. Stopping to listen to the carolers now walking up and down the aisles, he hoped the Christmas songs would stop his sudden melancholy. This was a time for joy he told himself, not a time for sadness.

A few families passed by dragging their Christmas trees. The excitement from the little kids made him smile. He envied their enthusiasm and wondered if he’d ever have a family to start building traditions that would follow them throughout life.

Releasing a sigh, he trudged his way through the crowded aisles stopping to smell the pine scent emanating from the trees. His aunt hadn’t celebrated Christmas since his uncle had passed away two years ago, but this year, it was going to be different and he wanted to help her regain the excitement of the holidays. She’d be surprised when she came home from work and saw the decorated tree in her living room. He had the surprise all planned out. He’d decorate the tree and maybe hire a chef for the day to bake and prepare a yummy meal for Christmas. His excitement mounted as he made a mental list of everything he had to do.

He hadn’t decorated a tree in years—not since he was a young boy. It had him wondering if it would look like a little boy’s rendition. He shrugged. Either way, his aunt would be delighted. A sudden thought occurred to him. Why not hire Mallory to decorate the tree? Allowing her to pick out the perfect ornaments from her store to decorate the tree would be like a constant reminder of her. Pleased with his idea, he couldn’t wait to put it into motion. He snickered because as his employee, this would be one time she couldn’t run away.

Mallory’s voice filtered through the trees close by. Anxious to see her, he stepped out from behind a tree, but heard her voice laced with anger at her girls who were in the throes of a fight. She pointed toward the parking lot demanding they wait in the car. To avoid embarrassing her, he ducked behind another tree with enough foliage to cover him, but he could still see and hear what was being said. The girls begrudgingly marched away.

He’d been in her store every day since he’d arrived a week ago, and she still hadn’t budged on that coffee date with him. Maybe the tree decorating would work to his advantage. They’d be alone without distractions and she’d really get to know him. He couldn’t help but imagine her very kissable lips and wondered how long it would take before he could convince her to take a chance on him. He didn’t know what her story was, but he hoped she would share it with him. It had been a long time since he’d felt the love sting, but when he looked into her hazel eyes, he saw far beyond her nervousness of being around him. Despite her aloofness, he knew she must have felt something too. She’d damned near knocked his socks off, and until he tried everything possible to convince her, his mind wouldn’t rest. Whatever her hang up was with men, he was going to break through that closely guarded barricade of her’s and show her a life filled with love.

Leaning in closer he listened. Holding his breath he caught the tail end of her conversation.

“…this tree,” she said. “Can you hold it for me for a few days? I’ll come back with a larger vehicle to pick it up.”

He grinned. This was another window of opportunity to be around her. His heart skipped a beat as he watched her leave and he remained there until she was out of sight. He made his way over to the attendant. “Hi, my friend Mallory Gardner, the woman who had you tag this tree,” he pointed.

“Yes, that was Mrs. Gardner.”

“Oh, you know her?”

“For a long time.”

AJ smiled, figuring the young boy couldn’t have been any older than twelve. “I called out to her before she left, but she didn’t hear me.”

“Yeah, she was pretty mad. Jenny and Lacey were fighting again.”

“I guess that’s a pretty regular occurrence then?”

“Yeah. It is. I tried talking to Jenny, but she said they do it to get their mom’s goat.” He covered his mouth with his hand. “I probably shouldn’t have said that to you. You’re not gonna tell on me, are you?”

“No, your secret is safe with me. No offense to you, but teenagers can be a little insensitive at times. Anyway, the reason I called out to her was to tell her I have enough room on the roof of my car to deliver her tree. Is she still in the same place?” he asked hoping the boy would give him the address.

“Yeah. I don’t think they’ll ever move from there. As long as I’ve known Jenny, they’ve lived at 24 Hillside Road—third house on the left. I’m in Jenny’s history class,” he boasted with a prideful expression on his face.

“And you have a huge crush on that pretty little thing, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do. But she doesn’t know it.”

“And I won’t tell her. Must run in the family,” he mumbled without giving it any thought. He quickly changed the subject before the boy could ask, “Jenny’s thirteen, right?”

“Yes,” he said, “we both turned thirteen last month.”

“Glad to hear my memory hasn’t failed me yet. So if you’ll get the tree ready for transport while I pick out my tree, I’ll pay for and deliver them both.”

“Yes sir.” The boy picked up the tree and carried it over to the tree bailer. AJ watched him pull it through the funnel to encase the tree in a sturdy plastic mesh. He continued his search and stopped in front of a tall tree. He turned the tree around to get a look at the backside. Except for a few uneven branches this was the perfect tree. He’d shove it in the corner of the living room and no one would notice the sparse spots.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Shut up, little puke girl,” Jenny shouted at her sister.

Mallory bolted into the living room where Jenny had her sister up against the wall.

“Jenny, that’s it! I’ve had enough of your crap tonight.” She pointed her finger. “You’d better move that fanny of yours into bed this very minute.”

“But it’s too early to go to bed!”

“Tough! You should have thought of that before you started bullying your sister.” Mallory pursed her lips. “I just don’t understand how you can be so mean to your sister. You’re supposed to love one another.” Heat burned in her stomach and she wondered if she had an ulcer. It would be a miracle if she survived this insanity until the time Jenny was old enough to go off to college.

Jenny stomped off to her room and stopped by her bedroom door. “This wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t killed my father,” sailed out of her mouth in a hateful voice before slamming the door so hard the mirror on the wall shifted slightly from the impact.

Mallory sucked in her breath and blew it out. Jenny’s comments had a way of stabbing her in the heart every time she mentioned her father. It was meant to remind Mallory she and Mitch had had an argument when he raced out of the driveway on his motorcycle. What Jenny refused to believe was that Mallory had forbidden him to ride the bike with his young single friends who were smoking weed and doing jumps over all sorts of things. But Mitch refused to grow up and brushed her off deciding smoking pot and jumping with those single guys was more important than being a responsible adult. Anger swelled inside her chest as she remembered the call from Mitch’s girlfriend saying he’d lost control during a jump and the bike fell over top of him crushing his chest on impact. The police had called shortly after. She remembered seeing Mitch laid out on the coroner’s table. She’d felt so much anger, she didn’t know whether to cry or spit in his face. Regardless, Jenny had convinced herself Mitch would never have lost control of his bike if it hadn’t been for Mallory’s nagging.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Lacey asked sitting down on the edge of the sofa. She touched her mother’s arm and watched her. Lacey’s kindness brought tears to Mallory’s eyes, but she held back so her daughter wouldn’t notice. But it was too late; Lacey had noticed and immediately leaned in to hug her. “Just ignore her, Mom. She’s a jerk!”

“I know she’s angry about your father’s death. I am too. But what I don’t understand is why she’s taking it out on both of us.” Lacey’s lips puckered. Mallory continued. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

Lacey hugged her tighter. “I’m sorry, Mom. Don’t cry.” Lacey stroked her mother’s hair. “She’s just mad that Dad died.”

“Me too,” Mallory said, shaking her head in agreement. “I loved your father, Lacey. I begged him not to ride that motorcycle.”

“I know you did, Mom. So does Jenny. But she’s mad anyway.”

“Well, she needs to grow up.” Mallory reached for a tissue and blew her nose. After wiping her tears, she stood and walked to the door deciding Lacey didn’t need to hear anything more. Why put her in the middle of a fight that would never be settled. “You can watch television in my bedroom if you want. You weren’t the one to start the fight. There’s no reason for you to be punished.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Mallory picked up the romance novel sitting on the corner of the table and tried to focus on reading, but she was too upset. She thought of Dina’s push to get her married off again. Yeah, that would work out well. Having a man in her life was a very bad idea. Besides, with Jenny’s attitude, she’d have any man who even came close to being in her life heading for the hills. She forced out an exasperated breath and shook her head. Dwelling on something she couldn’t change did her no good. Maybe once the tree was in the house and decorated, things would feel better.

She turned on the television in the living room and flipped through the channels, settling on a Hallmark movie already in progress but in a commercial break. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the title,
A Boyfriend for Christmas
. AJ and Miriam immediately came to mind. She snickered. This was all too surreal. Were the gods trying to mess with her head? Chalking it up to coincidence, she walked back to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine when she heard Jenny’s voice call out.

“Mom.”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now, Jenny. Shut out your light and go to sleep.”

“Mom,” she repeated sternly, “our Christmas tree is here.”

“What?” Mallory walked to the window and looked out. Indeed it was, but how could that be? She’d only asked Jesse to tag the tree. Placing her wine down on the corner table, she turned on the outside light so the deliveryman wouldn’t trip over the shrubs and wind up suing her. She already had her share of problems; she didn’t need any more. She opened the door to a fierce blizzard.

Stepping outside, she greeted the man. “I didn’t know you were going to deliver the tree, Jess.” She walked down the front steps rubbing her arms to keep warm. “But I’m most appreciative.”

“I’m glad you are,” his deep timbre voice rang out.

Shocked, she couldn’t believe it. She’d recognize that voice anywhere. “AJ?”

“In the frozen flesh,” he said. “Where would you like this tree to go?” he stopped and held onto the tree to prevent it from falling.

“I…I guess, on the porch is okay. I don’t understand,” she said “Why are you delivering my tree? Are you working at the orchard now?”

“No. I was there at the same time you were when I heard you say you’d pick it up in a few days. I did call out to you, but you were already out of earshot, so I offered to deliver the tree.”

“Well, Mr. Miller, that was very nice of you. Thank you so much. Now, come inside, it’s bitter cold out here.”

~~~

“Nah,” he said, “I’m soaking wet and all covered in snow. I’ll only mess up your floors.” He could feel the excitement mounting inside his chest. Maybe he was making progress after all. But if he was going to win this hand, he had to play his cards right and curb his enthusiasm. She seemed friendlier than normal. Maybe the next time he asked, she’d accept his invitation to have coffee.

“Oh, don’t be silly. I can wipe it up.” She watched him lean the tree against the house and rub his hands together to warm them up. “C’mon, I can see that you’re freezing.”

“Thanks, but no. I really need to get back home. Dinner is waiting for me.”

“Well, then wait a minute while I get you a tip.”

He laughed. “Mallory, thank you, but no. Geez, I don’t want a tip.” He began to turn away.

“I can make you a cup of hot chocolate,” she said obviously trying to entice him.

“No. Honestly, I’m good. You have a good evening.” He waved his hand and walked back to his car certain handling her like this was going to pay off. A few seconds later when she called out to him, he was smiling because he knew she was watching him walk back to his car.

“Be careful going home, AJ. You’re not used to driving on these icy roads.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. When he heard her door shut, he wanted to release a loud whoop, but gave an internal one instead. No sense in ruining a good thing. Driving back to his aunt’s, he sang along with the radio, something he never did, but tonight had turned out better than he’d expected.

Pulling into the driveway, AJ exited the car and removed the bungee cords securing the tree. Brushing the snow off the roof, he grabbed the trunk of the tree and pulled it down to lean against the side of the garage. He would have preferred to pull the car inside the garage, but with the snow accumulating as quickly as it was, the driveway was bound to need a second plowing. Planning for tomorrow, he turned the car around and backed it into the driveway so the car was facing out. That would give him more traction and a much better chance of being able to get out in the morning. AJ pushed on the remote to raise the garage door and carried the tree inside, snipped the mesh and inserted the trunk of the tree into a bucket of water he’d prepared ahead of time. Checking the branches, he flattened them with his hands to help the tree relax. Hearing his aunt milling around inside, he shut out the garage light and entered the warm house enjoying the feel of heat hitting his face, and the aroma of something freshly baked.