Christmas in Silver Springs

by Brenda Novak

  “There’s nothing on the security app on your phone?” she said.

  “Haven’t checked yet. Thought I’d have a look while I was eating breakfast.” He scooped the eggs he’d made onto a plate and carried it to the table. “You hungry?”

  “No.” Since Tobias had driven off, she’d lost her appetite as well as her energy. “Do you mind if I check to see who left it?”

  He got his phone from the counter, unlocked it and navigated to the security app before handing it to her.

  The camera on the front door was motion activated, so it turned on whenever there was movement. Given the number of times the kids had gone in and out of the house, since they were out of school, she had to scroll back quite a bit. But eventually she found what she was looking for.

  Tobias had brought it, all right. The day after everything had gone bad—at four thirty in the morning, when it was still cold and dark and no one would be around—he’d come to the front doorstep and slipped the watch behind the pillar. Then he’d turned around and left as if he couldn’t get away fast enough.

  Harper felt fresh tears well up watching that short clip but blinked them back as she returned her brother-in-law’s phone.

  “Was it Tobias?” he asked when he saw her reaction.

  She nodded.

  “Thought it might be. Did you give him that watch for Christmas?”

  Again she nodded and, to avoid his sympathetic gaze, went over to get the glass of water that’d driven her to the kitchen in the first place. She didn’t want to see the watch, didn’t want to be reminded of how happy buying it had made her. “I wish he’d kept it,” she mumbled.

  “I’m surprised he didn’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Being such a terrible guy and all. You know, an ex-con.”

  “He probably didn’t want Axel or anyone else to be able to accuse him of using me for my money.”

  Terrance wore a thoughtful expression as he chewed and swallowed. “Which one do you miss more?”

  Harper looked back at him for clarification.

  “Axel or Tobias?”

  “I’m relieved Axel is gone,” she admitted. At least meeting Tobias had helped her get over her ex. Even if she wasn’t going to be with someone else, she didn’t want to go back to Axel. They’d both changed too much. And when she thought of the stress of having Axel on the road and all the women he would encounter and the “mistakes” that would probably occur... She was done with that.

  “And Tobias?” he said.

  “I can’t say the same for him.” She missed Tobias far worse than she should, given how short their relationship had been.

  “Maybe you two should meet up,” Terrance said. “Talk things out. Gain some closure.”

  “What is there to say?” she asked.

  “Has he ever behaved badly when he was with you, given you the impression he might be dangerous?”

  “No. Never. But maybe he’s never been fully provoked.”

  “In the clip from Fatboy Burgers that’s been posted all over the internet, Tobias behaved better than Axel.”

  “He did,” she admitted. “He was the one who defused the situation.”

  “Seems to me that’s exactly what he did when Axel came after him with that bat, too. I mean... Let’s face it. If he’d wanted to cause some damage, I’m sure he could have. He looks physically capable of it.”

  Harper pressed three fingers to her forehead. “Are you trying to soften my heart? Because I can’t let someone who’s been in prison for thirteen years—for attempted murder, no less—be around my children.”

  Finished with his eggs, Terrance got up to carry the plate to the sink. “No, I’m sorry. It’s just... I don’t know. He seemed cool, I guess. I liked him.”

  “Not nearly as much as I did,” she grumbled and shuffled back to bed.

  29

  After Axel had come running up with that bat to announce to Harper and her family what an evil person Tobias was, and Tobias had driven home feeling as though he’d just been kicked in the stomach, he’d decided that he had to get away for a while and immerse himself in nature. Do shit that was so physically demanding it required his full concentration and left him so tired at the end of the day that he drifted off to sleep immediately. After all, he couldn’t allow himself to deaden the pain he felt the way his mother did; he had to use better “coping mechanisms,” or so the psychologist at Soledad had told him. So he’d turned off his phone, because he didn’t want to talk to anyone, and put it in the glove compartment of his truck the second he’d delivered the watch Harper had given him to her front door. Then he’d driven off, left town.

  Although it smacked of avoidance, he’d been staying at a lodge in Yosemite National Park for almost a week, hiking from dawn until dark—rain or shine. But he still couldn’t think of Harper without feeling as though he had a thousand pounds of sand sitting on his chest and couldn’t breathe.

  At least he was giving himself some time to tamp down emotions he shouldn’t have allowed himself to feel in the first place. He’d been an idiot to think what had started between them could end any other way. He’d just gotten so caught up in her he’d begun to hope that she might be able to see beyond his past mistakes.

  It wasn’t until New Year’s Eve that he finally forced himself to go out to his truck and turn on his phone. He knew his brother would be looking for him. Probably Uriah, too. He hadn’t prepared either one of them for the fact that he’d be gone. He’d just packed up and left, and then he’d worked day by day to train his mind, while training his body to climb higher and carry more weight, to believe that Harper was like the drugs his mother took—something toxic and dangerous for him to desire.

  “What’s going on?” Maddox asked as soon as Tobias got him on the phone. “Where the hell have you been?”

  Tobias winced at the anger in his brother’s voice. Maddox didn’t get mad very often. “I just...took a little hiking trip for the holidays. That’s all.”

  “Without telling a soul that you were going?”

  He’d been meaning to check in all along. He’d just kept putting it off, hadn’t been able to make himself face anyone he’d left behind, and that included his brother. He’d known the subject of Harper would inevitably come up and he didn’t want to talk about her. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I had the time off work, so I decided to make the most of it.”

  “Damn it, Tobias! You scared the shit out of me! Uriah’s been trying to reach you. Atticus has been trying to reach you. I’ve been trying to reach you. None of us knew where you were. Even Susan called Jada this morning, wanting to know if there’d been any word.”

  Tobias dropped his head and massaged his temple with his free hand. “Yeah, I bet Susan would be real broken up if I were to leave for good.” He laughed, hoping Maddox would join in and let everything else go—but he didn’t.

  “Where are you?”

  “Yosemite.”

  “Shit,” Maddox said. “If you hadn’t taken your hiking gear I would’ve called the police. I hope you know that.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I thought... God, when I heard what happened with Harper, I thought...”

  “That maybe I’d gone off on a drug binge, like Mom? You know I’d never do that,” Tobias said.

  Maddox didn’t respond right away.

  “Maddox?”

  “When are you coming back?” his brother asked.

  Tobias’s breath misted in the cold air as he stared up at the mountains surrounding him. The beauty here was soothing. But hiking could only do so much. He had to go back to his regular life at some point. He figured it might as well be sooner rather than later. Christmas and staying at the lodge had helped his peace of mind but damaged his bank account. “Tomorrow.”

  “So you’re okay.”

/>   “I’m fine,” he reiterated.

  “You’re not upset about Harper.”

  “No,” he lied. “I knew that wasn’t real in the first place. No big deal.”

  “That bastard Carl. I wish I could put my fist through his face.”

  “What’s happened with Carl?” Tobias asked, feeling a fresh fissure of alarm. “Don’t tell me he hurt Uriah while I was gone—”

  “No. He’s the one who told Axel about your past.”

  Tobias was relieved that Uriah was okay, but he wasn’t surprised about Carl. “He’s a little bastard. I’m going to have to move. I won’t continue to live on the same property with him.”

  “You won’t have to.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Carl is gone.”

  “How’d that happen?”

  “After Carl told Axel about you, he got pretty full of himself. Went back to Uriah and announced that he’d just set Axel straight, that everyone agreed with him you’re dangerous, and tried to insist that Uriah kick you out. Long story short, he forced Uriah to choose between you. And Uriah chose you.”

  Tobias switched his phone to the other ear. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No.”

  Tobias tried to grasp the full impact of this change. “But it can’t last. Where will Carl go?”

  “Uriah gave him a big chunk of his inheritance—enough for him to get an apartment in LA while he works through his legal problems. Then...who knows? Maybe he’ll move back to Maryland, where he’s been for a number of years. But Uriah told him he could never come back to the orchard.”

  “And Carl didn’t get violent with him?”

  “Hell, no. Carl was so glad to get his hands on the money, he took off immediately.”

  “He’ll be back as soon as he blows through it.”

  “Probably. But that’s down the road.”

  “I can’t believe Carl’s gone,” Tobias said.

  “I can,” Maddox responded. “It proves just how much Uriah cares about you.”

  “I’m just his renter.”

  “You’re a lot more than that. You’ve lost Harper. I know she meant a lot to you. But you’ve got the rest of us in your corner, including Uriah. We all know how special you are—prison record or no. Now, come home.”

  Tobias tilted his head back to look up at the stars. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

  * * *

  Harper had told her sister that she was heading to Colorado on Friday, only two days after New Year’s, but she didn’t want to leave Silver Springs until she could return Tobias’s bracelet. After all, he’d probably spent as much on her gift as she had on his, so if he was going to return the watch, she needed to do the same with the bracelet.

  Except she couldn’t catch him at home. She’d driven by Honey Hollow several times since Terrance had discovered the watch only to find Tobias’s truck gone. She would’ve followed his example and left the small box that contained her bracelet on the doorstep, but she didn’t trust Uriah’s son. She was afraid Carl would take it before Tobias could get back and that he’d never even know she returned it.

  It wasn’t until New Year’s Day, late in the evening, that she spotted his truck in the drive. And then she was so nervous she almost couldn’t make herself stop.

  After driving past the orchard twice, she finally pulled in.

  Uriah must’ve heard her engine, because he looked out.

  She bit her lip as she waved at him. When it took a moment for him to wave back, she guessed even he knew her relationship with Tobias had taken a bad turn.

  She could hear a football game playing on the TV as she knocked, but there weren’t any other cars in the drive, so she was pretty sure Tobias was alone.

  Still, he didn’t come right away. She was afraid he’d looked through the peephole and wouldn’t answer because it was her.

  “Tobias?” she called. “Please, open the door. I have something to give you. It won’t take long.”

  At last, he opened up, but he stood back, well away from her.

  He looked good, she thought. Too good. And she could smell that clean scent she associated with him and his house.

  When she didn’t speak right away, he said, “What can I do for you?” His voice was clipped.

  Harper felt that old lump rise in her throat, the one that threatened tears, but she swallowed hard to be able to speak around it. “First of all, I wanted to say...I’m sorry. For...for how things went at the end. That scene wasn’t pleasant for anyone.”

  “No problem,” he said. “I lost sight of the reality of the situation there for a bit, but you and your family did the right thing.”

  “The right thing?” she echoed weakly.

  “Set me straight,” he explained. “So I’m sorry, too. I don’t know why I ever thought I had something to offer you.”

  That he was absorbing the blow without reacting in anger only made Harper feel worse. Once she’d gotten beyond that emotional encounter with Axel, she’d had time to remember a lot of things she hadn’t given enough consideration in that moment. First of all, Tobias had told her the night they met that he was the last person she should ever “get with.” So he had warned her, in a way. Not only that, but she was the one who’d pushed the physical side of the relationship, not him. And then there was that moment in his truck when she was getting out and he’d acted as though he had something important to tell her. She believed it was an attempt to broach the truth. A past like his would be a difficult thing to reveal after all, especially because things were moving so fast between them. They’d already reached a more serious level at that point.

  “It’s—it’s not a matter of having something to offer me,” she said.

  “Well, however you want to frame it. I’m an ex-con. You were the wife of a famous rock star. I get it.” He gestured toward the small box she held. “Is that for me?”

  She wanted to address what he’d just said. She hated the way it sounded, but she couldn’t think of a good way to refute his words so she looked down. “Yes. I—I wish you hadn’t returned the watch. I really wanted you to have it. But since you did, I’m bringing this back.”

  “Of course. Thank you.” He took the box, but when he turned and tossed it into the garbage, Harper felt her stomach drop.

  “I wish you and Axel—and the girls, of course—the best.” He started to shut the door, but she was so stunned that he’d thrown away a gold bracelet—her bracelet—she stopped him.

  “Wait.” She blinked several times while she searched for something to say that might help relieve the terrible pain in her chest. “Did you... Did you just throw away my bracelet?”

  “I can get it out and throw it away after you leave, if you’d rather,” he said, still as polite as ever.

  “I’d rather you not throw it away at all.”

  “I don’t understand why it would matter to you. I don’t have any use for it,” he explained and started to close the door again.

  She caught the panel. “It does matter. If—if you’re only going to throw it away, can I have it back?”

  “Of course.” He walked over, grabbed the trash can and fished it out for her.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled.

  “No problem. I’m sorry for...” He seemed to struggle to find something he owed her an apology for. “For not letting you know what a monster I am, I guess.”

  Harper winced as the door clicked shut. Then she couldn’t move. She stood there, holding her bracelet as tears started to run down her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry,” she called out, feeling the need to repeat that sentiment, but when she got no response, she knew there was nothing she could do but go.

  * * *

  Tobias closed his eyes and leaned against the door, hoping that would be it—that Harper w
ould leave and he’d never have to see her again. The self-talk he gave himself about not needing her or any other woman, about being careful to find someone next time who wouldn’t mind that he’d screwed up in the past—someone who’d made a few mistakes of her own—was far more effective when Harper wasn’t standing in front of him.

  “Just go,” he whispered while waiting for the sound of her engine.

  But that isn’t what he heard. He heard Uriah say, “Ms. Devlin? Can I have a word with you, please?”

  Tobias tensed. What could Uriah possibly have to say to her?

  He crossed to the window over the sink, where he could see what was going on. Uriah stood between Harper and her expensive Range Rover; he’d obviously cut her off as she approached her vehicle.

  Now that Uriah had lowered his voice, however, Tobias couldn’t hear everything the old man said, but he could pick up a few words.

  “Carl was wrong... Tobias is a fine man, not the kind of person you might think... If only you could look deeper than that, form your own opinion... I would be proud to have any daughter of mine marry him...”

  It went on long enough that Tobias felt compelled to intervene. Taking a deep breath, he stalked out of the house and called Uriah’s name.

  Both Uriah and Harper looked over at him. “Let it go,” he said. “Please.”

  Uriah frowned, but when Tobias didn’t relent he threw up his hands and stepped aside, and Tobias supposed Harper went on her way. He wasn’t sure because he went right back in the house and turned the TV up so loud he couldn’t hear anything else.

  * * *

  Harper had been planning to leave on Friday, but Everly and Piper had been invited to a birthday party for a girl they’d met in school, and they’d begged her to stay one more day so they could attend.

  Now that Harper had made the decision to return to Colorado before school started again, it was mentally tough to delay her departure. She had two full days of driving ahead of her, which meant even if they left on Friday they wouldn’t get home until Saturday night. And she’d been planning to use Sunday to get settled in.