Sweet Christmas Kisses (97 page)

In order to forestall any questions from Lucas, he asked, “Do you live here now? What do you do?”

“Family business,” Lucas answered. “The bank. Instead of spending my summers here like I did as a kid, I moved here full time to work with my Uncle Roscoe. When he retired, I took over the bank. Just got married a few months ago. Maggie’s a mining engineer.” He grinned proudly, then gestured toward a brick building up the street. “Hey, listen, Gus left quite a bit of money in a couple of accounts, so whenever you want to drop by, we can look them over.”

Jim nodded. “The school district is waiting for their money. I heard.” 

****

Cecilia scooped up Yvonne’s hand and held it while she watched and wondered about Jim and his hometown. It was obvious he was uncomfortable here. She could tell by the way he jutted out his chin and pressed his lips together. There had been a time when she might have asked him what was wrong, why he was so reluctant to come back here, but she thought maybe filing for divorce had lost her the right to ask.

“Mommy, can we go see Santa Claus?” Yvonne asked. “Ryan wants to go, too.”

“No, I don’t,” Ryan said, but Cecilia noticed the protest wasn’t very strong.

“Sure, we can do that.” She turned with them to cross the street and get in line to speak to Santa.

Jim and his friend Lucas fell into step behind them. “So what’s going on here?” Jim asked.

“The city council’s latest brainstorm to raise money and awareness.”

“Of?”

“The town. A couple of summers ago, the council hired a photographer—Billie Abbott, the girl Cam married—to take pictures for all kinds of calendars featuring the city residents. The council has also become very tech savvy. They put the town on YouTube. I mean, who doesn’t love a town full of crazy people? The video went viral and we were swamped with visitors. Now, we’re going all out with Christmas. We’ve even got reindeer—here in southern Arizona!”

Cecilia glanced back to see Lucas shaking his head as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“We saw one being chased by a kid.”

“They get out all the time. Zoe Franklin found some in her front yard eating her plants. She chased them out with a broom.”

“Oh, as in Franklin’s Emporium? Red Franklin’s wife?”

“Yup. There they are.”

“What? Where?”

“Santa and Mrs. Claus.”

Cecilia looked over the heads of the people in line to where Santa was pulling yet another child onto his lap. He was wearing the most beautiful Santa costume she had ever seen, tailored and richly detailed with gold buttons and white fur. Mrs. Claus’ dress was red velvet with long sleeves and a tightly-fitted bodice. Lace cascaded down the front and gathered around the wrists. The skirt was enormous, no doubt held out by starched petticoats. It must have had a circumference of four yards.

“How did they get roped into that?”

“Red’s the mayor now.” Lucas waved a hand to indicate the whole area. “All of this craziness was his idea. It’s been profitable for the town, especially Franklin’s Emporium. We’ve got people coming all the way from Tucson and Phoenix, New Mexico, too, big tour buses full. It’s good to be known for something besides our eccentric citizens.”

“I guess so,” Jim began uncertainly, “But….”

“Oh, there you are,” a woman’s voice said.

Cecilia looked around to see someone enfolding her husband in a bear hug. She was dressed in leather from neck to heels. Biker Grandma, Cecilia thought as the woman stood back to look at Jim. “You filled out,” she observed. “You were always the skinniest kid. I remember—”

“Mrs. Van Peter. It’s good to see you,” Jim interrupted and shook her hand. “I’d like you to meet Cecilia and our kids. Cecilia, this is Cam’s mom, Doreen.”

Doreen clasped Cecilia’s hand and reeled her in for a hug. “Happy to meet you, Cecilia, kids,” she said. “As soon as you’re finished here, come on out to the house and we’ll get you settled in.” 

She smiled at Lucas, who said, “You’re in good hands now.”  He headed back to directing traffic.

“Your house?” Cecilia asked, glancing at Jim. “We have motel reservations in Sierra Vista….”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. I’m all by myself, rattling around in that big old house by myself until Cam and Billie get back. Besides,” Doreen added, “our place is just up the road from Gus’s house. The kids can stay with me when you two go over there to sort things out. You remember the way, don’t you, Jim?”

“Of course, but—”

“It’s settled, then. I’ll go home and make sure everything is ready. Have you had dinner?”

Jim shook his head. “No, but we can get—”

“I’ll cook,” Doreen said, waving away his objections. She paused, narrowed her eyes and pointed at him. “You were the one who liked my fried chicken, right?”

“Well, um, yes.”

“That’s what I’ll cook for dinner, then.” With a happy wave, she trotted across the street and climbed onto a big Harley motorcycle. She was gone within a couple of minutes. Cecilia looked after her uncertainly. She had reserved two rooms, one for her and Yvonne, the other for Jim and Ryan. Now they would have to share a bed for the first time in months, because there was no way she was going to explain to a woman she had just met that she and her husband were in the process of divorce.

Her gaze shot up to meet Jim’s and she saw his lips quirk. He knew what she was thinking.

“We’re going to be waiting in line for Santa for a long time. Why don’t you go look around town, since everything here appears to be new to you?” she said irritably.

“Trying to get rid of me, Cee?” he asked, calling her by a nickname he hadn’t used since she’d asked him to move out of their house. “No, I’m fine here.”

She turned away without answering, clasping Yvonne’s hand and trying to figure out how things had become so twisted and tossed. She felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole.

Half an hour later, with Yvonne in Jim’s arms because her legs had gotten tired, the family walked up to Santa, aka Red Franklin, mayor of Lucky Break.

Cecilia saw Red nod to Jim, acknowledging that he knew who he was but obviously wanting to stay in character.

Ryan went first, expressing his wish for a Running Rocket train, “like the one the judge has.” Cecilia exchanged a puzzled look with Jim, but he looked as lost as she felt. Neither of them had any idea what their son was talking about.

When it was Yvonne’s turn, she hopped into his lap and pulled his head down so she could whisper in his ear. When she finished what she had to say, Santa sat back, looked at Cecilia and Jim, then whispered back to her. Whatever he said seemed to satisfy her because she jumped down and ran back. “It’s okay. Santa will fix it.”

“Fix what?” Cecilia asked, but her daughter only grinned up at her.

“Let’s go on out to the Van Peter’s,” Jim suggested. “It’s getting late and we’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. I want to go through Gus’s things as fast as possible so we’re not stuck here for too long.”

Cecilia looked up as a group of carolers who had gathered on a street corner nearby launched into “Deck The Halls.”

“I don’t know, Jim,” she mused. “I think this might be a pretty good place to be stuck for a while. Don’t you?”

****

They climbed back into the car and Jim drove through the throng of tourists carefully. His family members were glued to the windows, staring out at the decorations, the food trucks and the popcorn stands and taking in the general air of merriment and joy that swirled through the place. If he hadn’t seen the town sign, the familiar buildings, and the few people he knew, he would have thought he was in the wrong place, maybe even the wrong universe.

Once they were out of town, he picked up speed, driving the few well-remembered miles to the Muleshoe Ranch.

“I don’t know much about ranches,” Cecilia said. “But this looks like a nice place.”

“Cam’s dad died when we were in high school. Cam had to take over. Looks like he’s done well.” Jim felt a flurry of pride for his old friend, who had lost his strong, supportive father at a young age and had gone on to successfully continue the family legacy.

They pulled up before the inviting, brightly-lit house and within moments Doreen was hurrying down the steps to greet them. In a whirlwind of activity, she had them inside and assigned to bedrooms before they knew what was happening, Ryan and Yvonne in a small room with twin beds that Doreen said was soon going to be turned into a nursery for Cam and Billie’s baby and Jim and Cecilia into a guest room with a queen size bed.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” she said, giving Jim a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.” She turned toward the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “Come on, kids, let’s get dinner ready. And are you two any good at frosting Christmas cookies?”

Cecilia was amused to see that Ryan and Yvonne, who disappeared whenever it was time to help her in the kitchen, eagerly scampered after Doreen.

When they were gone, she stood by the bed and folded her arms across her stomach. “I can sleep over there,” she said, nodding toward an overstuffed armchair with a matching ottoman.

Jim frowned at her. “There’s no need. I can sleep there.” He placed both their suitcases on the bed and flipped his open. Efficiently, he began shaking out his clothing and hanging the items up in the closet.

Cecilia watched him for a few seconds, then said, “There’s always the Yvonne issue, though,” she murmured.

“What?”

“You know she always wakes up during the first night in a strange place and cries if she can’t find us. We don’t want her waking up Doreen.”

“No, we don’t, but what’s that got to do with anything?”

“If we aren’t both in bed, Yvonne will tell Doreen, and anyone else who will listen, that one of us was in the chair. I got the impression you’re trying to keep our, uh,
‘Vorce’
quiet here in your home town.”

Jim nodded. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter if we sleep in the same bed. Yvonne will be in between us within a couple of hours, anyway.”

“Right.” But Cecilia felt disgruntled that he sounded so unhappy about sharing a bed. Then, realizing her feelings made absolutely no sense—considering she was the one who had asked him to move out and filed for divorce—she sighed and added, “We’d better go downstairs, then, before Yvonne spills all the family secrets.”

As predicted, Yvonne wandered in to find Jim and Cecilia in the middle of the night and crawled between them, seeking comfort.

Cecilia woke in the morning, though, to find that her daughter had somehow moved during the night and was sleeping with her head in the small of her mother’s back and her feet dangling off the edge of the bed. Cecilia herself was snuggled up against Jim and his arm was around her, his hand resting on her back, warm and possessive.

Cecilia kept her eyes closed, letting the knowledge of her surroundings seep into her consciousness, but not allowing her mind to wander to the unhappiness that had dogged her for so many months now. She decided to simply enjoy this moment of listening to the beat of Jim’s heart, feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in and out. She loved the peace of lying like this with no worries, no responsibilities needing immediate attention, no mistakes needing correction. The feeling lasted only a few minutes until Yvonne began to stir, but it somehow gave Cecilia strength.

She took her daughter and scooted out of bed without waking Jim, but she carried the tenderness of that moment with her as they went.

 Ryan was awake, too, and busy getting dressed. He had never been on a real, working ranch before and was anxious to get outside and see what was happening, in spite of the cold, blustery wind that had kicked up during the night. Cecilia managed to get him to zip up his coat before he dashed out the door, heading for the corrals. Yvonne wasn’t far behind him.

Cecilia knew she would have to call them back in a few minutes for breakfast, but for now they were so excited, she didn’t want to put a damper on their enthusiasm. They had experienced enough sad times lately. Let them see something new.

The tantalizing scent of coffee enticed Cecilia downstairs and into the kitchen. Doreen was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the online news on a laptop computer.

She turned with a smile. “Good morning. Help yourself to coffee. I also have teabags, which I’m almost positive I can locate.”

Cecilia smiled. “Coffee is fine for me.”

They discussed breakfast choices and then Doreen said, “Your children will be fine with me today. There’s plenty to keep them entertained. I’ve got to finish up my Christmas cookies, and I know kids like to help with that. And one of our men can saddle a couple of horses for them and take them for a ride around the ranch.” Seeing Cecilia’s concern, she added, “I promise it will be a gentle, slow ride.”

“Thank you. They would love that.”

“And what about you and Jimmy? I’m guessing you plan to tackle Gus’s house today. What are your plans for what you unearth?” Doreen made a face. “I use that word advisedly because I know what that house is like.”

Cecilia sipped her coffee and considered how to answer. She didn’t want to tell Doreen that she didn’t know exactly what the plan was, that communication between her and her husband was so poor, they’d barely talked about what they planned to do once they reached Gus’s house.

“I guess we’ll play it by ear. We’ll have a better idea once we get there and see it.”

“You’ll have an idea, alright. Kerosene and matches will seem like a wonderful idea,” Doreen said just as Jim walked into the room.

He stopped and looked at them. “You two planning on arson?”

“You’ll want to consider it once you see Gus’s place.”

Jim grimaced and made a noncommittal answer. Cecilia watched him, wondering what he was thinking, but he didn’t look at her, didn’t meet her gaze. She went to call the children back to the house and they came flying in, talking excitedly about the horses they’d seen. When Doreen told them they could ride later, Cecilia thought her children would burst into flames. They calmed down enough to eat breakfast, promised they would do exactly what Doreen said, then rushed off to brush their teeth and get ready for the day’s adventures.