Noelle's Kiss

by Cindy R. Williams

  “Oh, just that I love you.” He broke out into a full smile. Then he leaned down and kissed me again.

  The sweetest kiss I have ever known. In fact, it would go down in my memory as the honey kiss, it was so sweet.

  His lips gently left mine and he said, “Well?” His eyes shone a dusky green, and his brows rose as he waited.

  “Well, what?” My heart pounded as I paused. I knew what he wanted, but anticipation was half the fun.

  “Do you love me, too?” The look on his face had changed to one of concern.

  I teared up. My heart tried to beat out of my chest. Time had somehow stopped as I reached my hands up to cup both sides of his face. Then I whispered, “Xavier Maximillian Trayce, I love you.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Today was not possible yesterday. Yesterday’s today was dark and lonely, with a smile painted on. But today was a new day, thanks to the outlandish actions in front of the entire world by one man who had changed my universe, Xavier Maximillian Trayce, known to the sporting world as Triple X.

  Zave and I stayed in the Nuggets Team box most of the night talking and kissing, then more talking and more delicious kissing. He dropped me off at the corporate condo a few hours before sunrise. I awoke to autumn sunshine coming through the window, and even more sunshine in my heart. Zave picked me up around nine, and we drove to Joy’s to get Tatum.

  At Joy’s, Tatum ran to the door; ignoring me, she threw herself at Zave. She squealed in delight as he picked her up and swung her around in the air laughing his big belly laugh.

  When they stopped spinning, she scolded him, “Now where have you been? I missed you.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then hugged him tight.

  “You’re a charmer, like your mom, little lady,” he said with a thick voice.

  Tears, this time of happiness, sprinkled from my eyes. I looked over at Joy and saw that she, too, had watched the whole scene with tears in her eyes.

  Before we left, Joy invited Zave to join us at the Frost family Thanksgiving dinner at her house in a few weeks, raving about my incredible pies.

  “Thank you, Joy,” Zave answered humbly. “I would love to come, but I have games on the road the week of Thanksgiving.”

  He turned, still holding Tatum, and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Will you save me one of your pies?” he pleaded.

  “Of course. The way you eat, I’ll save you three or four.” I grinned.

  ****

  Zave and I took Tatum to gymnastics and sat in the parents’ viewing gallery.

  “She really is good for a five-year-old, Elle.” Zave leaned forward with his elbows on his knees as he watched Tatum do a front walkover followed by a back bend into a kick-over. “Crazy limber, too,” he added.

  “She is. She has no fear and will try almost anything.” I put my arm through Zave’s. He sat up and scooted closer to me.

  “She’s that way with everything in life, isn’t she?” Zave traced the lines in the palm of my hand.

  “What did you say?” My hand tingled and burned at the same time.

  He closed my hand in his and grinned. “Got to you, did I?”

  I elbowed him and answered, “You wish.”

  Tatum bounded in with her pink gym bag slung over her shoulder and asked, “Did you see me, Tree? Did you see me do a flipper-doodle?”

  “Oh, yeah, you were great! So that’s a flipper-doodle, huh?” He gave her a high five. I could see he was fighting to keep a straight face.

  “Yes, and I do good ones.” Tatum beamed up at both of us.

  “You sure do. Come on, my two beautiful ladies. It’s time to fly kites.”

  We left the Olympic Training Facility amongst giggles and squeals of delight.

  The rest of the day was remarkably simple and wonderful. Zave continued to be the perfect gentleman, kind and considerate of both Tatum and me. The wind was iffy, so sometimes our kites worked and other times…well, not so much. But it was okay. It was a lovely day, and all seemed right in our little corner of the world. Being all together felt comfortable. Three of us seemed a nice number. I realized it was good to have a man around after all—a nice man that is.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Zave went on a road trip again for the next eight days. We talked every night, and much to my surprise, my nightmares stopped. What an incredible blessing and relief. My soul was truly healing from the abusive former marriage.

  During one of those late and long phone calls, Zave and I finally had the chance to piece together the dreaded mock phone call by Rhonda. The one that had caused me to bolt that day at the jewelers.

  Rhonda had staged it all. There wasn’t anyone on the phone when she first approached me in my car with her over-the-top, sleazy “X, baby” talk. I realized when there was that little pause when she turned away from me and I shut my eyes, sick to death of what I was hearing, she must have used that time to press a pre-programmed button with Zave’s number on it. Then pretended she was placing him on speakerphone from the prior fake call.

  Zave told me he remembered the strange call from her a few weeks ago. After he’d said “Hello,” Rhonda had greeted him with “X, baby, I have someone who wants to talk to you.” He thought that was weird and had told her to hold on, he wanted to talk to her, but she ended the call quickly, telling him she’d call him back. He was going to tell her once again that he didn’t have any feelings for her and to stop bothering him, which he did when she called him back again a few minutes later.

  I told him what Rhonda had said when she was pretending to talk to him. The entire masquerade made sense now.

  We both were stunned by how far she had been willing to go for her own purposes. This led into some great discussions on how to be prepared for odd situations in the future. First and foremost, we promised to always talk to each other and never trust outside situations, no matter how realistic they seemed.

  Several times Zave stepped out while on a break during afternoon practices to call Tatum. I heard lots of giggles as she shared her school day with him. Each time he called, my admiration and appreciation for the man grew. Tatum was my world. No man could be welcome in it without room for her, too.

  Zave had an early game on Thanksgiving. He made sure he called us at Joy’s to wish us all a happy Thanksgiving. Joy and Holly had met him already, and Chrissy was chomping at the bit. I couldn’t wait to introduce him to her when he returned home.

  Each of my sisters brought enough food to feed an army. I’d baked ten pies, the usual ones: pumpkin, apple, cherry, and blueberry, chocolate cream, peach, and even a mincemeat—yuck. I also tried my hand at a praline pie. It was heavenly—now my new favorite.

  Joy had invited Simon, but he had business out of town. I felt a little relieved. I still wasn’t completely at peace with him. I shook it off as the reporter in me. Chrissy and Joy seemed to be ecstatic that he was back in our lives. It was Thanksgiving—time for me to be thankful for family—all my family.

  It seemed that all of my sisters were more settled than they had been for years. We ate, talked, and laughed a lot. Joy had invited Sean and his little boy. He was not only handsome but kind and seemed to truly love her and her boys. He certainly was patient with the craziness of our over-excited children bouncing around us all. I was happy for her.

  Around the dinner table, we talked a lot about the upcoming groundbreaking for the new Nicholas Charles Frost Pediatric Wing at the Colorado Springs Hospital. Our parents had worked so hard for so many years; then after their deaths, we sisters had taken over the Frost Foundation, and the level-three pediatric wing was finally coming to fruition.

  Joy said she had an important announcement. I looked at her finger—nothing. I had been so hopeful for her and Sean. Instead she shared that Mr. Arnett, our attorney for the Frost Foundation, had notified her that Simon had donated a substantial amount to the Frost Foundation.

  Simon was turning out to be a blessing to our family, after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Two />
  November thirtieth arrived with great anticipation. The day was always significant to the Frost sisters because it was our baby brother’s birthday. But today was even more so. Today, we were holding the ground breaking of the Nicholas Charles Frost Pediatric Wing in his honor. I wished Zave could be there, but once again he had away games.

  “Are you ready, sweetie? It’s time to go.” I held up Tatum’s coat and helped her into it. The ground breaking was outside, of course, and although there wasn’t any snow, it was cold and overcast.

  My heart beat fast with excitement. This was a momentous occasion. A moment of sadness flitted through me as I thought of how my parents should have been with us today. They had worked hard for many years to secure the funds to make this day happen. After their car accident, we sisters continued their goal. It became every bit as important to us. A calm settled over me as I drove toward the hospital. My parents were here. They were proud. Somehow, I just knew it.

  I smiled at Tatum in the rearview mirror as I pulled into the hospital parking lot. “We’re here.”

  We hopped out of the warm car and into a cold breeze that blasted us from the top of the surrounding Rocky Mountains. Both Tatum and I pulled the collars of our coats up high around our necks as we made our way to the south side of the hospital, where chairs and an outdoor tent awaited us on the dirt field.

  “Hi, Elle.” Chrissy grinned at me, then added, “Hello, Miss Tatum,” as she swooped her up into a big bear hug.

  Tatum squealed with delight.

  Chrissy gave her another squeeze before setting her down.

  “Our seats are over here.” Chrissy motioned to chairs on the front row, where Joy sat, trying to corral her three rambunctious boys.

  A few moments later, Mr. Arnett, our attorney, who had helped our parents start the Frost Foundation years ago, shook each sister’s hand and sat on the end of the front row to support us, almost like a surrogate father.

  Chairs soon filled with local politicians and hospital administrators. I saw my TV station crew in the center of the mob and asked Chrissy to keep an eye on Tatum for a moment while I stepped back to say “hello” to them.

  Normally, it would have been my story, since it was happening here in Colorado Springs, but because it involved my family, I couldn’t cover it. After a reporter friend did a quick interview with me for a few soundbites, I hurried back to my seat.

  My breath caught as I saw Simon arrive and saunter to the back row. Another cold breeze hit my face. I shivered, brushing aside any uncertain feelings about him. My research into Simon hadn’t brought me any answers, good or bad.

  I glanced at him again. Simon smiled at me. I returned the smile, thinking Chrissy was right. He looked so much like our father. A longing swept through me. I missed my parents, and I wanted Simon to be with us. After all, he did give a big donation to the Frost Foundation.

  The chairman of the hospital board, Olivia Winn, stepped to the makeshift podium with a microphone. She welcomed everyone, spoke for a few minutes about the foundation, our parents’ dedication, and shared a little about our family history, including sweet Nicholas.

  From what I heard between helping keep Tatum and Joy’s boys quiet, she spoke with sincerity and great appreciation.

  There were shovels for each of us, including four small ones for our children. We made our way forward and lined up, facing the audience and the media. Tatum stood next to me, holding her shovel tightly. I got a lump in my throat, wishing my little brother had lived to have a childhood and the opportunity to grow up. He never even reached Tatum’s age, and would have been in his late teens by now.

  My sisters helped with Joy’s boys. I assisted Tatum. Pictures flashed. I glanced up and saw red lights on most of the TV cameras. Cameras didn’t bother me, but I hoped that Tatum and my nephews wouldn’t choose now to become ninja warriors and start sword fighting with the shovels.

  A tall, bald man in a gray coat interrupted our attempts to turn over a bit of frozen earth as he stepped through our line and announced he was looking for Mrs. Joy Frost Burton.

  Joy raised her hand.

  “Ms. Noelle Frost, Ms. Holly Frost, and Ms. Christina Frost?” the man announced.

  Each of us froze, confused, then nodded. After the man looked from one sister to another, he walked over to Joy.

  “You are officially served,” he said in a gravelly voice as he handed a packet of papers to her. Then he turned and scurried away.

  Pandemonium broke out. The harsh wind picked up and swirled around us as we looked at each other, wondering what had just happened. The gray sky turned a darker shade of charcoal.

  Joy shook her head as if to get her bearings, and then looked at the stack of papers in her hands as we circled around her.

  Mr. Arnett joined us. Joy handed him the papers. We watched as he skimmed through the documents. “This looks like a legal stop-action. Ladies, please meet me at my office ASAP.”

  We looked at each other in confusion.

  Mrs. Winn stepped over to us. “Everyone is getting cold. May we proceed?”

  Mr. Arnett addressed the administrator. “May I make an announcement?”

  She looked surprised but nodded.

  Mr. Arnett walked to the podium. Clearing his throat and tugging at his collar, he spoke into the mic. “I’m Richard Arnett, attorney for the Frost Foundation. There has been a minor setback. We will be rescheduling the ground breaking. We are sorry for this inconvenience, folks. Please expect a press release in a day or two.”

  Stunned, everyone cleared out quietly.

  I hurried out of the parking lot, drove away as calmly as possible, and checked Tatum into school, much to her dismay. I promised we would do something fun that evening, since our day together had been interrupted.

  My brain was reeling. This couldn’t be real. There had to be some mistake. Our attorney would look over the documents, and it would all be fine.

  I arrived as the secretary was ushering my sisters into Mr. Arnett’s office. The mood was somber.

  “What it comes down to, ladies, is the Frost Foundation’s assets have been frozen.” He took a moment to make eye contact with each of us before he continued. “Have you heard of Lyonstone, LLC?”

  We all shook our heads.

  “Neither have I. Lyonstone is claiming a share of the Frost Foundation’s money. I’m afraid until we can work through this, construction on the new hospital wing will be delayed.” He shook his head, a sad, hangdog look on his face.

  The room spun as I clasped my hands and sank deeper into my seat. I heard several groans from my sisters. The attorney said something about taking a few minutes to get our thoughts together and stepped out of his office. We immediately formed a group hug, tears streaming. Deep inside, I knew we would make the hospital wing happen, someday, somehow.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When Zave called that evening after his game, I was still shaken up about the ground breaking fiasco and blurted out the whole awful story. It felt good to let it out, tears and all. He listened without interruption.

  When I was finished, he cleared his throat and spoke softly. “I am so sorry, Elle. I think you’re right. Your attorney will sort it out. It sounds like it’s highly unlikely that this Lyonstone company has any rights to the Frost Foundation monies.”

  Then he said a generous “Zave thing.” His financial manager had reviewed the Frost Foundation, and he was going to make a large donation. He also talked to the Nuggets’ team owner and management. They thought it would be a great project to open up to other players and possibly even the team franchise.

  I cut him off with “No, Zave, you can’t ride in like a knight in shining armor and save us. We four sisters have to do this on our own. Plus, that would be taking advantage of our relationship, and I won’t do that.”

  Somehow his offer made me panic. I never wanted to be in a position where I owed anybody, or another man had control over me. And I certainly didn’t want to be rescued. W
e four sisters were strong. We could somehow make this work.

  “Hold on, little lady. That’s not what I meant. First, let me tell you that a donation from me is tax deductible and I’m always looking for tax deductions, so allowing me to donate to such a worthy cause is a win-win situation. Same with the franchise, or any other player. It would also make for good press.”

  “That sounds a bit crass.” I was hurt. Press? Were they thinking of using our hospital wing to get big press?

  “Elle, the Frost Foundation is a business. Hospitals are in the business of helping and healing people, but they are still a business. It’s hard, but you need to take pride and emotions out of the business portion of the equation. Think about it. Those who donate large amounts to a cause usually need the tax break, but remember, they have a choice as to what charities they donate to. People prefer donating to something worthy, and that is how human nature works. Plus, it’s not a bad thing to be recognized for doing something good.”

  When I didn’t answer, Zave added, “I will hold off if it bothers you, but it could be a good back-up plan if you need it.”

  I started crying in earnest. Sobbing, in fact. I even snorted a time or two. Zave waited patiently for me to cry it all out. After a few minutes, I wiped the last of my tears and ended with a few hiccups.

  “I wish I was there so I could hold you. You need some good hugs…and kisses.”

  That did the trick. I actually giggled like a schoolgirl into the phone. “Thanks for hearing me out. A dose of Zave is just what I needed tonight. I will think about what you said. I guess I’m all mixed up. This whole thing was such a shock.” I stretched out on my bed, feeling more hope than I had since the bombshell of those horrible Lyonstone documents landed in our hands.

  We visited for a while more. I must have been emotionally spent because I woke up several hours later with the phone still next to my ear. I had fallen asleep on Zave. I had never done that to anyone. It made me smile. I knew Zave wouldn’t take it personally. In fact, I was sure he would be relieved that he was able to help me work through it enough to find some peace and sleep.