by J L Collins
“Speaking of taking one’s advice…” Erie said, turning on her barstool to face me. “I know it’s almost impossible to get you to listen when it comes to this stuff, but please be careful trying to dig up stuff on Delaney Drakar. I’m with you on the kind of person she is, and no one really knows what she’s capable of yet. Please don’t start your own personal manhunt for her, okay? Because I know that’s what you’re doing.”
My words burned in my throat as I tried to laugh around them. “What? No, I’m not. I’m just making sure she’s not anywhere near Tristan. I don’t trust her to stay away. And like you said, who knows what she’s capable of? The sooner she’s found, the freer he is.”
It was the truth. But guilt sunk in me, even still.
10
The Best Gift Of All
Oisín fought us over going home tooth and nail, quite literally.
“I’m not above swiping at you if you try to snatch me up again, Gwendolyn,” he warned, his yellow eyes in slits. “We can do this the easy way, how I prefer, where I get what I want. Or the hard way, where at the very least I can release some of my pent-up frustrations. You can take your pick.”
In the end, we snagged Jax and left the manor house without Osh. I wasn’t exactly sad about it, but it would make it a tad bit odd to try to explain his disappearance from the house suddenly, when Sully came over.
Speaking of which… if I had my face pressed any closer to the window waiting for him to show up, I might actually crack it.
“What do you think?” Fiona-Leigh had brought back some decorations from the house, at least the ones we could use without making Sully question his own sanity. She had strung up several strands of pine branches covered with lights she’d taken down from inside her bedroom.
The lights were slowly lighting up and fading out again, and with the candles she’d just lit, it looked very pretty. I smiled.
“It looks very nice. Not too much, but just right. Did you want to go ahead and find something to watch on TV?”
Usually we just found a few favorite Christmas movies to watch and stuffed ourselves full of Chinese food and chocolates, which was never a really good idea, honestly, but this year would be different. This year would be something special.
Even though the sky was nearly dark, I could just make out a handful of kids riding their new toys out in the barely cleared-off road. Headlights flickered down the road and my heart leapt. When they drew closer, the kids moved out of the street, eventually heading back inside their houses. The truck ended up stopping right in front of my house instead of where it was usually parked, across the street and down a couple of houses.
“He’s here,” I said a little too loudly. Jax yipped at my heels as I scrambled away from the window. I didn’t want to seem like a crazy girlfriend stalking her boyfriend in wait. Even if I sort of was.
Somehow I tripped and tumbled over backward into the couch cushions, the hair that I’d spent an hour trying to flat-iron with the help of Fi, now all in my face and a frizzy mess.
The knock at the door scared Jax into a barking fit, and Fi nearly choked from laughing so hard.
“Mom, I’ve heard of falling head over heels but come on. That was ridiculous.”
I pushed myself back up to a stand just in time as she threw open the door with a wide grin on her face. “Hey there. Merry Christmas.”
Sully stood in the doorway, beaming right back at her. “Thanks, Fi. Merry Christmas to you, too.” He leaned in to give her a quick hug and looked past her into the house. “Whoa. Look at this place! This was your doing, wasn’t it?” he asked, shuffling inside and knocking his snowy boots against the doorjamb.
His dark eyes found mine and everything in me melted. It was like I’d been away for months, and barely a few minutes all at once. The smile on my face felt like it had never left.
“Hey you,” I said softly, watching him make his way over to me. “I’ll have you know that I found the candles and provided the matches.”
His husky laugh went right through me as he pulled me in closely against his chest. “Oh, is that so? I guess you’re just a regular Martha Stewart then.”
“Did you want something to drink, Sully?” Fi asked from in the kitchen, leaning over so that she could see us. “We made some eggnog. Or really, I made it. It doesn’t have any alcohol or anything in it. But I think it’s pretty good.”
He looked over my head and nodded. “Sure. I’ll take a glass.”
“So. Merry Christmas,” I said when I finally pulled away, still clasping hands with him. “Did you have a good time at your parents’ cabin?”
Dang it, how had I forgotten just how cute his dimples were?
Sully ran his hands through his tangle of curls. “Something like that. My parents were happy to have us all there, but I think they were happy to have us out of their hair so they could spend the last week at the cabin, at the same time. Though I caught a lot of flak for leaving today instead of tomorrow.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? How come?”
He shrugged. “I… hadn’t really told them the truth until I got there. About us,” he said, gesturing between the two of us. “They didn’t know I was dating someone, and even when I did tell them my mom got all mopey about me leaving today. Since it’s Christmas. Usually we all hang out there for a couple of days after before we decide we’ve had enough of each other.” There was that smirk again.
“Yeah. I’d probably get sick of being stuck with you in a nice cabin in the mountains, too. Absolute torture.”
“Hey!” he laughed grabbing me back by the waist, his dark eyes narrowing at me. “Is that a challenge?”
“Only if you’re up for it next time.”
He let go a little reluctantly, his expression shifting into something else. “I could definitely take part in that kind of challenge.”
Fi startled the both of us and we jumped apart as she slipped into the living room, unannounced. “Here you go. I figured maybe you might want something too,” she said, handing both Sully and me glasses.
Fiona-Leigh took the liberty of picking the first on our to-watch list on TV. The three of us sat down, sipping our eggnog and laughing as Clark Griswold tried unsuccessfully to light up his house with about a million strings of Christmas lights.
I was surprised to see that mid-way through the movie, Fiona-Leigh had gotten up when the oven timer went off. Sully and I exchanged glances.
“You got something cooking in there?” I called out over the edge of the couch. She must’ve… it smelled downright good in my kitchen for once.
“Maybe,” she replied, the oven door creaking open as she pulled something out. “It’s nothing fancy.”
“Smells pretty good to me,” Sully said, shrugging. “What is it?”
“Come in here and find out,” she laughed. “Mom, can you please help me set the table?”
Huh. I had to admit that I was pretty darn impressed. And maybe I was feeling a little sheepish. Why hadn’t I thought ahead like she had? Here I was, the mom in the situation, and she was the one putting together dinner while I was too busy worrying about my hair being too poofy.
Sully and I headed into the kitchen and I grabbed some plates and silverware as directed, making sure everyone had what they needed.
Fi put down a Bundt pan that held some kind of fluffy, cinnamon-crusted sizzling something inside it. She drizzled a little of what appeared to be cream cheese icing over it, concentrating very hard.
“Holy cow, Fiona-Leigh. Is this homemade monkey bread?” Sully asked, genuine surprise in his voice.
She nodded, her cheeks pink. “Yep! Hopefully I got the ingredients right like you showed us. I couldn’t remember if I needed one and a half cup of whole wheat flour, or one and a quarter cup. I just went with the half because I figured it would be better to be a little over with it than under with it.”
“Oh! Is this something you taught her to make?” I said, thanking her as she cut a big hunk out of the pan and
plopped it onto my plate.
“Well, I mean I wasn’t actively trying to,” he began, smiling as she scooped some onto his plate. “But it sounds like you were listening anyway, huh? And you were right—it’s a cup and a half. Good ears.”
“Impressive,” I mumbled through a mouthful of food. “This is really good, honey.”
Between the three of us, we managed to devour the rest of it within the next twenty minutes, laughing over Marina’s antics that Sully dutifully reported on to us. My stomach hurt from being so full and from laughing so hard all at once.
“Then she tried to take her skateboard out to this ramshackle building that’s on the property, thinking she’d climb on top of it and skate down the side of it where the roof slanted down.”
Fi snorted while I on the other hand, brought my hand to my mouth. “Oh my god, are you serious? Please tell me she didn’t.”
Sully shook his head slowly. “Can’t.”
“Of course she did. This is Marina we’re talking about, Mom. You know—the same girl who persuaded me to cut my hair so it would all fit under my hood when I dressed up as the grim reaper for Halloween when we were nine.”
I slumped. “Woof. I did not want that brought back up, ever. And I’m not sure I want to hear what happened next from you, either,” I said, pointing to Sully.
He held his hands up, both of them laughing at the distress on my face. “Okay, okay. I don’t want to cause an arrhythmia.”
Pfft, it was truly too late for that when it came to me.
“She was fine. I promise. Just… you know, a broken wrist.”
Me and Fiona-Leigh groaned, and she slowly stood up, stretching her arms overhead. “Why don’t we finish up the movie and then we can get to presents?”
Sully followed suit, taking everyone’s plates with him. “Sounds good to me. I’ll just wash these up really quick.”
“Sully Pritchett! You’re our guest, you do not need to wash the dishes!” I said, pushing my way to the sink first. “I’ll wash them up—you go sit down. I’ll only be a few minutes, I promise.”
Placing the plates down in the sink, he looked at me. “Why don’t we do this? You wash, I dry. And then we can finish the movie.”
“Works for me! I’m going to go check out the presents and see if I can’t make some educated guesses in there,” Fi said happily, glad to finally be rid of her usual dish duties. “I’ll leave you two to it.”
I held my breath as she tore off the ribbon from the last box I’d shoved under the tree. Brand new wireless headphones and a few gift cards littered her lap, but this present was the one I was hoping she’d like the most.
She opened it, her auburn brows knitted together as she picked up the thick piece of paper from the box. “What’s this?”
Sully nudged my knee with his as I smiled at her.
“Read it, silly,” I said.
Her eyes searched the paper for a moment, before widening in surprise. “Is this for real? Mom?”
I grinned. “I thought it might do you some good to get started with all those new art supplies you got at… um, earlier,” I quickly finished, realizing I was about to blab about her gifts from the night of the Solstice. “What do you think?”
She slowly looked at me, her jaw half-dropped. “What do I think? Holy crow, Mom, this is awesome! Thank you!” She flew at me before I had a chance to reply, the certificate for her next year of private art lessons with her school’s renowned art teacher, fluttering to her feet.
“I expect a painting out of this,” Sully said, pushing it out of the way from getting trampled before she sat back on her heels. “I like abstracts, for future reference.”
“You’re welcome, honey,” I laughed, righting myself. “I hope you put those to good use. And I also require an art piece. First dibs, in fact,” I added with a smile as she hopped up.
“You got it. I think I might just do a little playing around with my supplies right now, actually. And I know just the perfect model to start out with.”
Wincing, I stood up. No one ever tells you that the moment you hit forty, your bones all seem to crack whenever you move from sitting too long. “I do not volunteer as tribute this time. All that eggnog and monkey bread has me feeling like a can of busted biscuits.”
“You? More like a bottle of my favorite Moscato,” Sully said, smiling as he stood up too. “Sweet and tangy.”
“Ugh,” Fiona-Leigh groaned, shaking her head. “I was actually talking about this little guy,” she said, picking up Jax who was attempting to eat the big shiny ribbon she’d stuck onto his head from one of her presents. “We’ll be in my room away from whatever this is.”
And with that she left us alone, staring at each other.
“Thank you for the knife set, again. They are the wildest-looking knives I’ve probably ever seen. And sharp as heck, too,” Sully finally said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I was hoping I’d be able to pick some up before too long and you just swoop in and save me from that hellish trip to the store.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled anyway. “You’re very welcome. And I’m glad you like them. They were… a special set I happened to find. We both know I’m never going to use them.”
There was an awkward pause until he reached for something in his pocket, whatever it was, small enough to fit into the palm of his hand. What the…?
“Close your eyes,” he said softly, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “Seriously!”
“Okay, okay,” I said, doing as I was told. My mind flooded with what this could possibly be about. Was this a present? Was it something… else? Was I losing my mind over something totally not worth it?
“Let me see your hand…”
I turned my palm upward expectantly, surprised when I felt something small and hard placed in it. My eyes fluttered open to find a plain silver key sitting in the middle of my hand.
There was an oddly hopeful look in his eyes as he regarded me through his glasses. “I thought maybe it was time. It’s a key to my house. So you can come and go as you’d like. Mi casa es su casa.”
“Oh! Oh, wow. Okay,” I said, catching up with his words. “Thank you. That means a lot to me, Sully.” Truthfully it was a bit of a relief, because I had no idea what he was going to spring on me. Plus, it only made sense, considering how much time I spent bouncing back and forth between our houses as of late. “I’ll go put it on my key ring right now—”
“Actually,” he said, catching at my waist as I went to turn away. “There’s something else.”
This time I froze. I had a hard time meeting his eyes. “There is?”
He nodded, pulling me in closer. “Mmhmm. But it’s not something I can really give you. Not really.”
I winced. “Word to the wise, I’m particularly dreadful with riddles. What is it?”
“And impatient,” he smiled. “And a terrible cook, for now at least. And forgetful, and you embarrass easily.”
I frowned. “Well gee, I didn’t realize it would a list of all my greatest attributes. I would’ve opted out had I known.”
But he shook his head, still smiling. “But you’re also kind, reliable, hilarious, crazy smart, a damn good photographer…” he took my hand it brought it to his lips, kissing my knuckles softly. “And gorgeous. Stunning, really.”
Oh. He could have been speaking another language and I would’ve been putty in his hands either way. “Oh yeah?”
He nodded. “Definitely. And there are a whole bunch of other reasons why I love you, thrown in there, too.”
My heart slam-thunked in my chest. Had he…? Did he just say…?
“I—I, um.”
His lips found mine and I forgot there were words fighting to come out. I leaned into the kiss, pretty much forgetting about everything outside the almost non-existent space between us.
When we pulled apart, my eyes were shining and I couldn’t figure out why. Until those words finally came up, blurting out before I had a chance to give them a good
look-over. “But I love you too.”
A flicker of surprise washed over his features, but he took it in stride. “You do? You say it like you’re challenging me to change your mind.”
I shook my head and clutched onto him harder. “No. I mean… I don’t know what I mean, actually… But I do know I love you. I really do. And I think it kind of hit me just now.”
Standing there with him, it was like everything about Spell Haven and where my mind had been for the past week had all faded into the very background of my mind. It was just us.
“Well, then. Glad we got that straightened out.” He cupped my cheek, and I leaned into his hand.
“We could celebrate—this is the season for it and all. For you trusting me enough to hand me your house key, I mean,” I explained. “I have a bottle of your favorite Moscato, actually. What do you say?”
He looked past me into the kitchen, and then down the hallway. “How about we take the bottle to go? Maybe find one of those ridiculous over-the-top holiday movies where the city girl moves to a small town at Christmastime and ends up falling for the guy who owns a hand-blown ornament shop or something? You have Netflix in your bedroom, right?”
The nervousness I’d worried over with Erie before, it had turned into something else. And I liked it.
Both of us snorted, but I tugged at his hand. “I’ll grab the wine, you pick the cheesiness.”
11
The Green Haze
Christmas would forever be my new favorite holiday. Sully had woken me and Fiona-Leigh up the next morning with the smell of fresh Belgian waffles and crisp bacon. The man was pretty much perfect, in my eyes.
We spent the day after Christmas downtown together. We rented ice skates and gave a good attempt at testing our bravado on the ice with them—Fi was the best on her feet of course. I’d lost count of how many times I’d fallen on my butt, though I was sure it was enough to put a lovely pair of matching bruises on either cheek.
When he offered to cook us dinner at his place, we took him up on it, and the three of us played Monopoly for a solid two-and-a-half hours thanks to Sully’s ‘house rules.’ This time I was the clear winner and literally bankrupted the both of them with my hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place. I… may have lauded my earnings in their face a little.
