No Ordinary Christmas

by Belle Calhoune

  How had she managed to forget the taste of Dante’s lips or the way his kisses made her go weak in the knees? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been kissed in the past eight and a half years, but this was way more than locking lips. This felt like surrendering to something bigger than the both of them combined. It was pure heat and electricity. They didn’t call him Inferno for nothing.

  She felt his hands around her waist right before he pulled her against him so that they were melded together. Lucy could feel his heart thumping in his chest. Her own heart was beating just as wildly. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. Kissing Dante was way better than she remembered. She was floating, soaring, flying into orbit.

  As the kiss ended and they moved away from each other, Lucy wanted to pull him back toward her and continue kissing the life out of him. She looked up at him, marveling at how the years had only intensified his dark good looks. She wasn’t sure if he was aware of his magnetic pull, but he had it in spades.

  She felt a tad guilty about hooking up with Dante while her baby sister was upstairs taking a bath. At ten years old, Tess was old enough to get herself ready for bed, but she wouldn’t put it past her to hear Dante’s voice and make a grand appearance. That’s the last thing Lucy needed or wanted.

  “I really should check on Tess. It’s past her bedtime.”

  “Go take care of your sister. Good night, Lucy,” Dante said. He leaned down and pressed a kiss on her temple, his lips like a gentle breeze as they touched her skin.

  “Night, Dante,” she said in a low voice as he stepped out into the wintry night. She watched for a few minutes as he strode down the walkway and stepped into his vehicle. He zoomed off with his taillights blazing crimson.

  Lucy shut the door behind Dante and placed her back against the wood as she pressed her eyes closed and let out a huff of air. She needed a few minutes to recover from the intensity of what had just occurred. In a million years she never would have imagined the turn this night had taken. Hearing about Dante’s initial experience in California had been shocking and emotional. Her heart ached for all he’d been through. He’d always been so proud, so it must have been devastating to undergo such a hardship all by himself. All this time Lucy had been imagining Dante leaving Mistletoe and instantly living the high life in Hollywood. It hadn’t been true. None of it. Not by a long shot.

  When she finally opened her eyes, Tess was standing a few feet away from her, decked out in her fuzzy reindeer pajamas and matching slippers. Her eyes looked like saucers in her little face. Her brown cheeks were flushed. Uh-oh! Lucy knew that expression. She’d seen it countless times. Had she been spying on them as they kissed?

  “H-how long have you been standing there?” Lucy asked, flabbergasted by the thought of Tess watching her make out with Dante.

  “Only for a few minutes,” Tess said, wiggling her eyebrows. She rubbed her hands together. “I came down just in time to see the good stuff.”

  Lucy sputtered. “Tess! Why didn’t you just go back upstairs…or cough or something?” Perhaps it was time to give Tess a crash course in etiquette.

  “It was so romantic, Lucy. Are you back together? Are you and Dante West falling in love all over again?” Tess crossed her fingers in prayer-like fashion.

  Lucy let out a groan and slapped her hand against her forehead. “Please don’t start any rumors. We are not getting back together. It was just a moment in time when we got caught up in the past. And you are not to tell a single living soul about this.”

  Tess began giggling. “So it’s okay for me to tell dead people?” Her shoulders shook with laughter. She covered her mouth with her hand and continued to chuckle.

  “Don’t tell anyone, dead or alive,” Lucy said through gritted teeth. “Under any circumstances.” The last thing she wanted to deal with were rumors floating around town about the local librarian and the Hollywood action star. The residents of Mistletoe would eat it up and go back for seconds. And well after Dante had skedaddled out of town, Lucy would have to deal with the fallout. Thanks, but no thanks.

  “Sheesh! I promise not to say anything,” Tess said with a slight eye roll.

  “Thank you,” Lucy said, knowing that her baby sister might slip up and spill the beans despite her promise. Being a popular and talkative little girl was a bad combination when it came to town gossip. Lucy hoped Tess would keep her word.

  “What is it? You’re staring at me,” Lucy said, wiping at her mouth in case her lipstick had gotten smeared during her kissing session with Dante.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just in awe! I really want to be you when I grow up. If I was a grown-up lady and a movie star kissed me, I wouldn’t care who knew about it.” Tess winked at her. “Matter of fact, I might even tell a few people.”

  “It’s complicated,” Lucy said, holding back a chuckle. Way more tangled than a ten-year-old could even begin to understand. It was actually nice that Tess still had an innocent outlook. The thought of someone breaking her heart one day was terrifying.

  “It may not be any of my business,” Tess said, “but I think Dante likes you. A lot. I can’t say I blame him either. You’re a babe, Lucy.”

  Against her will, Lucy felt a smile tugging at her lips. Tess’s big heart and endearing personality made her the most loving girl in all of Maine. As much as she’d been an unplanned event in her parents’ lives, Lucy couldn’t imagine a world without her sister in it. She had changed all of them for the better.

  “Let me go tuck you in to bed, little lady. Remember…blueberry waffles await you in the morning,” Lucy said as Tess reached out and slipped her hand in Lucy’s. As they mounted the stairs, Lucy called out to Google to turn off her living room lights. She couldn’t help but notice that the space in front of her living room window was bare. It would look so much better with a festive balsam tree gracing the area. Normally her tree would have been up by this point in the holiday season. For weeks she’d gotten sidetracked with the news of Dante’s return, so much so that finding a tree had gone by the wayside.

  Tess was right. It was high time she purchased a Christmas tree and spread some holiday cheer around her home.

  Chapter Nine

  Dante woke up at the crack of dawn as light swept through his window. The glow from the rising sun was a much better way to say hello to the morning than a blaring alarm clock. He had to admit that sleeping in his childhood home was doing wonders for his REM sleep. He couldn’t think of the last time he’d slept so soundly. There was something magical about being under this roof again, which is why he’d decided to stay on despite the boiler issues being fixed at the Knightsbridge Inn. Nothing compared to home.

  After quickly showering and putting on his clothes, Dante ventured downstairs. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted in the air, causing his stomach to groan in appreciation. It was going to be a long day of filming, and his mother’s cooking would be the perfect thing to sustain him throughout the morning. As he stepped into the kitchen, he stopped short. It wasn’t his mother who was cooking up a storm. Troy stood at the stove whistling as he whipped up breakfast.

  Just as Dante was about to head out of Dodge, Troy turned around and jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen table.

  “Sit down. There’s no harm in us sharing a meal.” His mouth quirked. “I’m sure we can make it through sausage and eggs without killing each other.”

  Dante grabbed a glass from the cabinet and sat down at the butcher block table. He poured himself some orange juice and watched as Troy finished making breakfast. His brother cooked with such elegance and grace that it made Dante think of some of the famous chefs he was acquainted with back in Los Angeles and all over the world. A few seconds later Troy was placing a plate down in front of him with a heaping amount of food—eggs, sausage, bacon, and grits. Troy sat across from him with an identical plate of food. Instead of juice, he had a mug of steaming coffee by his plate.

  For a few minutes they ate in companionable s
ilence. It didn’t feel as strained as Dante would have imagined it might. Was this a sign that things were thawing between them? He wasn’t sure. Troy was nothing if not unpredictable. When their father was sick, it had been Troy who’d cooked for him in order to give Mama a break. Although Dante had stepped in to pay all the medical bills, Troy had been the good son, the one who’d physically been there for their father. Dante couldn’t help but feel as if his being in California while Troy held down the fort in Maine was at the heart of their conflict.

  “So, I heard from Lou that you’re using the tree farm as a shooting location. He’s over-the-moon excited about it,” Troy said as he took a bite of the grits.

  “Yeah,” Dante said. “It’s a special place. It would be perfect for the scene I’ll be shooting.”

  “So what made you want to direct? Did you get tired of those blockbuster paychecks?” Troy asked. The look on his face was a mixture of skepticism and humor. Dante honestly wasn’t sure if his brother knew how badly remarks like this one got under his skin. Each and every time it felt like he was pricking at him with a sharp object. When Troy said it, Dante got the impression his brother didn’t think he was worth the big money.

  For some reason, Troy particularly loved to make comments about Dante’s bank balance. Truthfully, it had gotten old a long time ago. Dante sensed an underlying resentment about their differing incomes, but he wasn’t going to apologize for being successful. He’d earned every penny the old-fashioned way—by working harder than anybody else and making smart investments with his money.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” Dante snapped. “Those ginormous paydays can be a real pain in the butt.” Troy let out a begrudging laugh. It was nice to hear him chuckle since those moments were rare between them. Back in the day there had been nothing but brotherly love between them, and Dante ached to get back to that place in time. He couldn’t expect it to happen overnight.

  “I actually wrote the script for this film, so it’s a labor of love, so to speak. It’s my baby from start to finish. I’m writing, producing, and directing,” Dante said as pride swelled in his chest. Creatively speaking, this was the most important work of his career.

  Troy nodded as he continued to eat. “Sounds like you’re branching out in a new direction. That’s good. You don’t want to be stuck in one lane.”

  Dante nearly fell out of his chair. He’d expected some more snide comments or even a joke or two, but Troy sounded almost supportive. Maybe hell really had frozen over in Mistletoe. They both continued to dig in to their meal until Dante decided to seize the moment and inquire about something that had been on his mind.

  “So, what’s the story with Lucy?” Dante asked. “I’m surprised she’s still single. Has she been in any serious relationships over the years?” Dante tried to toss the question out casually. He’d been dying to ask Lucy some more personal questions, but given their history, he hadn’t been too confident about asking. Since Troy seemed a bit more relaxed this morning, maybe he could fill Dante in.

  Troy glowered at him. “Why are you asking about Lucy?”

  There was a definite tone in Troy’s voice that made Dante want to retract the question. He should have asked Nick instead. Dante stabbed one of the link sausages with his fork and shoved it into his mouth. After swallowing, he shrugged and said, “Just good old-fashioned curiosity. You got a problem with that?”

  Troy’s mouth had settled into a hard line. “Lucy’s a good woman. She held her head up high after you left her in the lurch. Don’t come riding back into town and mess with her head. She doesn’t deserve that.”

  Dante slammed his fork down. “I’m not messing with her head. Chill out, will you? You’re just looking for a fight.” He should have known better than to bring up Lucy. Troy would take the side of a cactus if Dante went up against one.

  “I’m not looking for anything. Lucy’s my friend and I care about her,” Troy said in a heated voice.

  Dante narrowed his gaze as he studied his brother from across the table. “Friends? The two of you haven’t ever gotten together, have you?” Dante asked as jealousy threatened to choke him. He dreaded the answer. Dante couldn’t imagine Troy going that low with his ex-girlfriend, but stranger things had happened. Dante had an actor friend named Raynaldo who had walked in on his wife and one of his costars doing the horizontal tango. Their idyllic marriage had been shattered by her infidelity. The tabloids had run amuck with the sensationalized details and the whole world had tuned in for the details.

  Troy met his gaze across the table. “Never. Not once. She’s like a sister to me. I just don’t want to see her get hurt again. In a few weeks you’ll be heading back to California. And if you get involved with her she’s going to be the one to suffer for it. You’re living completely different lives. She’s a hometown librarian in New England. You’re a megastar living in La-La Land. Those two things don’t compute.”

  Dante didn’t have a good response to Troy’s comment. The scorching kisses he and Lucy had shared the other night had left him wanting more of her. More kisses. More conversations. More Lucy. He’d never completely gotten her out of his bloodstream despite all the distance and the years standing between them. He wasn’t sure he ever would.

  Tension simmered in the air between them. It didn’t take much to set off a firestorm between them, Dante realized.

  “Now this is what I like to see,” Mimi announced as she strolled into the kitchen and stood by the table beaming at her sons. “My two handsome boys getting along like biscuits and gravy.” Dressed in a pink turtleneck sweater and a pair of jeans, she looked radiant. He hoped she was bouncing back a little bit from her deep mourning. After spending more than a year depressed and adrift, she now seemed upbeat and a bit more joyful.

  “I made a plate for you, Mama. It’s sitting on the stove,” Troy said as he motioned in the direction of the covered plate he’d set aside for her. Mimi brought her food over to the table and joined them. A big smile was plastered on her face.

  He had to give it to Troy. It might seem like a small thing, but cooking for their mother was a way to nurture her. Troy had been taking care of their mother for years. He’d moved back into the house in order to give her support and a shoulder to lean on during their father’s illness. He’d never left. Dante felt a stab of guilt once again for being MIA. He’d never told his brother how thankful he was for him taking care of the home front while he’d been building his career in Hollywood. At some point, he needed to put his gratitude into words.

  “Isn’t it nice sitting together like this? I wish your sisters could be here with us,” Mimi said. “I’m trying to get them to come for Christmas. That will be really special. A West family reunion. We can go sleigh riding and trim the tree together.”

  There was something comical about the way she made it sound, as if they were little kids again. Dante grinned and met Troy’s gaze from across the table. Troy also seemed to find it humorous because he couldn’t suppress his chuckle. Pretty soon the two of them were laughing in unison.

  “What’s so funny?” Mimi asked, looking back and forth between them. “On second thought, it doesn’t matter. I’m just happy to hear laughter instead of fighting.”

  The three of them continued to eat breakfast while making small talk about town events.

  “I hate to eat and run, but I need to head over to the set,” Dante said, jumping up from his chair and placing a kiss on his mother’s cheek. “I’ll see you later, Mama. Thanks for breakfast, bro.” He headed toward the sink and began to wash his plate and utensils before his mother called out, “Just leave them in the sink. I’ll take care of them.”

  After grabbing his coat and saddlebag, Dante was out the door. As he settled into the driver’s seat, his mind replayed his conversation with his brother. Troy was right. He didn’t have anything to offer Lucy other than a few weeks of his time. With his focus on making the film, it wouldn’t be much to speak of at all. They’d kissed the other night, and it had been way mo
re than a peck on the cheek. The attraction between them still blazed like an out-of-control fire. Perhaps he should stick to making amends with Lucy rather than stoking the flames of their youthful romance. Maybe from this point forward he could focus on becoming her friend again.

  Friends didn’t have random make-out sessions.

  Who was he kidding? It was stupid of him to think there wasn’t more between them than friendship. When he wasn’t with Lucy, Dante was thinking about her. Her voice ran around in his head. He’d even had a few dreams about her that woke him up in the wee hours of the morning.

  He was headed over to the library this morning to shoot his first scenes there. Although he knew Lucy would be busy working, he was hoping their paths would cross. He still had a long way to go in making up for the past, and it felt like he was running out of time.

  * * *

  Lucy had been trying to shake off her nervousness all morning, to no avail. Dante and his team were filming at the library today and, so far, she’d managed to steer clear of the mayhem. Thankfully, they were shooting in and around the southern wing of the library, which was separated from the main library area where she was working with patrons.

  Although she’d heard noises during the morning hours, it was surprisingly not as much of a disruption as she’d imagined. For the most part it was voices carrying from that area to hers. Considering the big check the library was getting from Dante, Lucy didn’t have a single complaint. The library would be able to greatly enhance its programming and hours. Just thinking about being open an extra day of the week filled Lucy with excitement. Money flowing into the library’s coffers felt like a dream come true. She couldn’t ignore that Dante’s return had been beneficial to Mistletoe.

  Despite her curiosity, she hadn’t ventured over to the set. A part of her didn’t want Dante to think she was overly interested in his project while another part of her wasn’t sure she could withstand seeing her past reflected in the film. Dante being back in town was already unleashing a torrent of memories.