Peering out over the icy water, she remembered the first time she had stood on that very spot on the afternoon of the move to Scotland. Sam had been on his way, but tragedy had struck and he’d never made it. Instead her life had taken a whole new path. Josie had called Sam her guardian angel once, and now Mallory believed it to be true.
She opened her eyes and inhaled deeply once more. Movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye, and she turned to face the bridge over the Atlantic. Her breath caught as she thought she saw a familiar figure standing in the centre. She raised her hand and the figure on the bridge raised his hand too. He smiled and locked eyes with her for a moment before turning away. Closing her eyes, she shook her head to rouse herself from what felt like a daydream; and when she opened them again, Sam was gone.
The thing that surprised her the most was that the urge to chase him had gone too. A sense of contentment washed over her and she smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Sam. I’ll never forget what you did for me,” she whispered, her breath clouding before her.
Hearing the front door to the cottage open, she turned as Greg appeared in the doorway. “Hey, sweetheart are you coming in? Mairi’ll be awake soon and I think our hungry little Sylvie is ready for breakfast.”
Mallory smiled at the ruggedly handsome man before her. His ruffled dark hair was swept back from his forehead, but strands had fallen forward. His melted-chocolate-brown eyes were filled with love, as always, and his smile made her heart skip. He wore a tatty old A Perfect Circle T-shirt that once was black but had faded long ago to grey. His bare feet poked out from beneath his tartan pyjama pants, and he hugged his muscular arms around his body.
He stepped toward her and she held her hands out. “Whoa, stop! You’ve got nothing on your feet! It’s freezing out here.”
Ignoring her protests, he completed the short walk to reach her and encircled her in his embrace. “Is it? I can’t really feel it when you’re wrapped in my arms.” He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and rubbed his nose down the length of hers. “Come on inside. I’ve opened a bottle of Buck’s Fizz. Let’s go get our girls and make some Christmas memories, eh?”
She nodded and lifted her hand to run it through his silky, soft hair. Pulling herself up on her tiptoes, she took his mouth in a kiss that she hoped would express just how she felt for him. That the connection they had went way beyond lust… far beyond love. They were soulmates—inextricably linked to one another for all eternity.
She would never doubt that again.
And ironically… it was all thanks to the man she had once thought she was destined to be with forever. It was all because that man had given her the best Christmas gift she could’ve hoped for.
Sam had given her the strength to look forward without fear.
Epilogue
Five years later—Christmas morning
“Daddy! Get up! He’s been!” Greg opened his eyes to find two very lively, dark-haired little girls bouncing on the bed.
He yawned and stretched. Reaching out briefly, he stroked the empty pillow to his right. Peering up at his bright-eyed daughters, he tugged them down into a bear hug. “Oh. No, I think I will just stay in bed all day and catch up on my rest.” Closing his eyes, he feigned sleep and pretended to snore, but the girls weren’t giving up without a fight.
“Daddy,” Mairi commanded.
“Yes, come on, Daddy.” Sylvie lifted his arm and waved it around like a rag doll, determined to get his full attention.
Greg sat up and huffed. “Okay, okay. I give in. Go on downstairs and I’ll be with you in a minute.” When the girls still sat there, stock still, looking expectantly at him, he lifted his hands and wiggled his fingers. “You’d better go, or the tickle monster might attack.” That did the trick, and the girls squealed before dashing off the bed and down the stairs.
He pulled on his lounge pants and an old faded T-shirt and went to the bathroom. The reflection in the mirror looked like it needed more sleep, and when he walked back to the bedroom and glanced at the bedside clock, he discovered the reason.
It was six o’clock.
Awww, fudge. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head, and walked toward the stairs. As he approached the living room, he paused to listen to the giggles and rustles of paper coupled with the sound of “When Santa Got Stuck up the Chimney” playing in the background. His heart swelled.
He quietly stepped around the door into the room and took in the scene before him. Mairi and Sylvie sat there sharing the brightly wrapped gifts into piles.
“This one’s for you, Mairi, but this big one with the shiny pink bow is mine.” Sylvie’s sweet little voice melted his heart. She was five and a half going on twenty-five, that one. Quite bossy for such a young girl.
Mairi rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ve got a big one too. Just you wait and see when I open mine.” She might as well have accompanied her words with neener, neener.
Both girls turned at once and spotted him standing in the doorway. “Come on, Daddy! Come on!”
He made his way over and plonked himself down on the floor beside the smallest pile of gifts. “I’m guessing these are mine, then, eh?”
“Well, Daddy, you are a growed-up, so you can’t have as many presents ’cause it wouldn’t be fair if you gotted more than us,” Sylvie informed him. A wide grin spread across his face.
As he sat there, he felt a shiver down his spine and turned. There standing in the doorway was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her face lit up with a heart-melting smile as she gazed lovingly down at him.
“Good morning, handsome.”
Clambering to his feet, his walked over and cupped her cheek in his hand. “Good morning, gorgeous. Wow… you really do get more beautiful each day.”
She blushed and reached up on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. McBradden,” she told him in a husky whisper.
“Oh, I sincerely hope you’re wrong.” He glanced at the little bundle in her arms. “And who is this fine fellow?” he asked playfully.
“Daddy, you know who that is, silly,” Mairi called from where she sat in front of the tree.
Greg scrunched his brow, and Mairi and Sylvie giggled. “Nope… nope, never seen him before in my life.”
“Daddy, you’re such a big silly. That’s baby Sam.”
Greg wagged his finger and grinned. “Ooooh, I remember now. He’s the one who makes quite a lot of mess and noise and wakes us up at two o’clock in the morning.”
Mallory rolled her eyes and joined in with the giggles. “Yes, and someone didn’t wake up this morning even though it was his turn,” she chastised.
“Hey, I needed my beauty sleep,” Greg protested.
Mallory laughed, and the sound warmed him. “Come on. Let’s get this show on the road.” She kissed Greg once again and made her way to the floor to join the girls. She placed baby Sam in his bouncy chair. His scruffy dark hair stuck out at all angles as he chewed on his fist.
“Can we build a snowman later, Daddy?” Sylvie asked, clapping her hands.
“Oooh, yes,” Mairi chimed in, “but it has to be bigger than the last one. Angus peed on it and made it go all yellow.” She shivered. “Eeeeugh! And then Ruby dug a big hole in it.”
Mallory and Greg burst into laughter, and Greg ruffled the dark curls of his older daughter’s head. “Angus and Ruby are getting on a bit, sweetie pie. We’ll not let them near the next one, eh?”
Sylvie folded her arms and huffed. “I want to open my presents now.”
Mairi began to pass the gifts out, and Sylvie began to rip the paper off with fervour. Shreds of red, green, and gold confetti fluttered around and fell to the rug as Frank Sinatra sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
Greg slipped his arm around his wife and kissed the side of her head. He gazed down at the sleeping baby boy where he lay in his chair next to Mallory. Baby Sam. It was only right that he was given that name, just as Mairi had been given the na
me of the woman Greg had loved before Mallory. Mairi and Sam had been the two people who inadvertently gave Mallory and Greg the common ground to build their relationship from. And looking at his family there before him, all smiles and giggles as they discovered what Santa had brought for them, he decided he was the luckiest man on earth. It had been a rocky road to get there, but so many years on, he was deeper in love than he ever could’ve imagined. And Mallory had given him the best gifts he had ever received, better even than their three beautiful children.
An unlimited supply of unconditional love.
The End
About the Author:
Lisa is a happily married mum of one with two crazy dogs and a passion for writing. After relocating to Scotland from England and writing her first novel she gave up on running a craft business to do what she loves full time and is now putting the finishing touches to books four and five so watch this space.
5 Prince Publishing is proud to present The Christmas Tree Guy by Railyn Stone. Please enjoy this excerpt. You can find this book and many more on the 5 Prince Publishing site at www.5princebooks.com
The Christmas Tree Guy
By
Railyn Stone
CHAPTER 1
Those children need their father...
Click. Deleting her mother’s message before it could finish, Sydnee closed her eyes and inhaled as if she were about to jump into the deep end of a pool. If she heard that phrase one more time, she would scream. One, one thousand. Two, one thousand. Three, one thousand.
Opening her eyes, she started to call her mother and tell her exactly just what she thought of Matt Garrett, her children’s absentee father, until she heard the unmistakable giggles of her rambunctious twins and their boots crunching against the snow. She sighed, realizing it was a conversation best suited for when she was home and not so tired, and definitely when the kids were asleep. Plus, it was a futile argument. Regardless of what she said, Sydnee’s mother seemed to think Matt walked on water.
“C’mon, Mommy.”
“Guys, slow down.” Sydnee watched her spirited boys run through the lot, wishing she had half the energy they exerted on a daily basis. It was the day after Thanksgiving, their usual day to get a Christmas tree and she was having a hard time getting into the spirit of the season. She could feel the weight of all of the things she needed to get done bearing down on her and she wasn’t sure how she would manage before the Christmas vacation she was sorely in need of. And now that one of her co-workers had gone out on early maternity leave, she’d been given one more project to handle, and she hadn’t even begun her Christmas shopping. Not to mention, the father that her children so ‘badly needed’ in their life, hadn’t so much as made a phone call to them in months, and she was just about through with him and anyone else who continually ‘preached’ to her about the merits of his presence in their life.
“C’mon, Mommy.” She could hear Travis yelling through the rows of trees. She smiled at the two running in and out of the evergreens dusted with the icy flakes of an early Louisville snowfall and she stopped for a moment to admire her two precious cherubs. Even though their appearance was identical, they had totally different personalities and mannerisms. Travis was a lot more outgoing and never met a stranger, while Charlie took his time to get to know someone, but once he did, they had a friend for life. Pulling the peppermint colored scarf tighter around her neck, she weaved through the trees and found the boys trying to decide on which one they wanted.
“I want this one.”
“Travis that one is nice, but look at the branches. Those are pretty low at the bottom.” She pointed to a few hanging dangerously low to the ground.
“What about this one?” He quickly pointed to the one beside it and grinned. She shook her head at his impetuous decision-making. Turning, she looked to see where Charlie was and noticed him moving slowly past each tree, taking in the branches and how they looked. He was definitely the more thoughtful and more introspective of the two.
“What do you think Charlie?”
“I like this one.” Looking up at her with big brown sparkling eyes, he smiled and pointed to a fairly medium sized tree. It was full, and the branches seemed to be perfectly proportional.
“That one is pretty.”
“I like that one too, Mommy.” Travis, not to be outdone by his brother, said, running over to stand beside the tree Charlie had picked.
“You do, huh? You think this is the one?”
“Yeah.” Their little voices rang in unison as she pulled them into her sides and they looked at her with hopeful eyes. Looking in their perfect little faces, the long list of things she had to do fell by the wayside and she smiled.
“May I help you?” She heard a deep voice rumble behind her and she turned to meet the pearly white smile of a gorgeous young man working in the lot. He had eyelashes most women would kill for, and a deep set of steel grey eyes beneath them. His dark wavy hair was short and neatly mussed, and he wore one tiny silver hoop earring in each ear. His strong square jaw was covered by a barely-there shadow of dark stubble. She was taken aback at how attractive he was and just how instantly attracted she was to him.
“Um, I think we’ve decided on this one, even though, sweethearts, now that I look at it, this may be a little bigger than what we can handle.”
“But, Mommy,” Travis pleaded, looking at her with his innocent eyes.
“I know, but somehow we have to get it home and in the house and-”
“Mommy, please.” Charlie tugged at her hand as he and Travis took turns asking ‘please’.
“I don’t know.”
“You know, we can deliver it.” She heard the baritone voice behind her and she turned back to the man who was smiling at her sons and their exuberance over his last statement. She was having a hard time taking her eyes off of him and his hypnotic smile was slowly convincing her she wanted, no, she needed to buy the tree. She continued to hear a chorus of ‘Mommy please’ and she grinned at him.
“You really aren’t helping any.”
“Sorry, but I can see this is the tree they have their hearts set on.” She followed his gaze over to the twins who were now dancing their way around the tree.
“I know, but it’s a little bigger than I really planned, and getting it home is going to be a bigger deal than I thought.” She’d been so focused on getting a tree, she hadn’t really put much thought into how her 5 foot 6 inch diminutive frame was going to get it to the car, much less haul it in the house.
“I’m sure their dad will be okay with it knowing they’re happy, right?”
“Honestly, he doesn’t even care. I’m divorced.” Sydnee shrugged at the thought of Matt and his absenteeism in the boys’ lives, and she felt a stabbing pain of loneliness she just didn’t have the strength to revisit at the moment.
“Oh wow, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” She put her hands up to keep him from apologizing.
“Oh, well, we’re about to close for the night and I can deliver it for you if you need me too.” There was that smile again. Did he know how unbelievably sexy he was? Focus Sydnee.
“I don’t know. I-”
“Oh wait, here’s our business card and if you need me to, I can give you a copy of my driver’s license. I can sense the hesitation, but I promise I’m not a serial killer or anything.” She watched him grin at her with maddeningly perfect teeth as he handed her the card.
“Well, I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as a serial killer, but you really must want to sell this tree.” Taking the festive card, she was grateful for something else to focus on rather than his beautiful face.
“Well, the quicker I can get it sold, the quicker we get out of the cold.”
“Is that your motto? Pretty catchy.”
“I just made it up. And well, I got to see that beautiful smile of yours, so maybe I’m making progress. So, how about it? You want this one?” She was
n’t sure if he was flirting or just trying to make a sale, but whatever it was, with his playful personality and those luminous eyes, he was persuading her to make the purchase.
Glancing at her boys she nodded slowly, giving in. “Yeah, I guess we’ll take this one.” Well, now that’s off of my to-do list.
“Yay, we got a tree.” She smiled and shook her head as the boys jumped up and down and gave each other high-fives.
They followed the young man as he picked up the tree and carried it to an area where he put a net over it to keep the branches from getting broken. The boys watched in awe while he worked and he even invited them to help him tie the net at the top to keep the branches from escaping.
Sydnee observed the genuine way he engaged the boys, explaining each step, inciting even more excitement in each of them. Once she paid for the tree, he took it and placed it on the top of her SUV and tied it down for her. She admired the way his body moved so fluidly and she caught herself staring at his broad shoulders as he hoisted the tree onto her vehicle. His voice shook her from her daydream and she felt a sudden flash of heat sear through her cheeks when he turned to smile at her.
“I can just close up everything here and follow you so I can help you guys get it in the house.”
“Oh, okay, thanks.” She piled the boys in the SUV and they waited for him to finish locking up. As they pulled out of the lot, she listened to the chatter from the boys and how they seemed so happy with buying just the right tree. Even if she wasn’t doing everything her mother said, she’d at least taken her advice and tried to keep the same family traditions in order to keep a sense of normalcy around the house for them, no matter how hard it had been.
They arrived at her house and she pulled into the driveway. Once she turned off the ignition, the boys piled out and started jabbering away as the young man walked from the curb to her car and untied the tree. He took it down and followed them into the house.
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