by Judy Baer
“For the moment, it means I have to decide if I’m going to stay here tonight or not.”
There was a pregnant pause on the far end of the line. “You’re kidding, right?”
“He’s really sick, Abby.” She didn’t admit a part of her wanted to stay. While a healthy Jack Frost had annoyed her, this Jack was in need of help.
“Go home! He’s in good hands. You won’t do anyone any good if you don’t get some rest.”
Still, Merry hung around awhile longer, until Jack’s sleep grew less restless. Every few minutes she touched his forehead, her fingers brushing his damp curls. If he was such a complete stranger, why did she feel so protective?
* * * * *
The next day Merry went to the administration office at her school to see if a substitute teacher could step in for her until after the Christmas holidays.
“I don’t like to ask this, but I’m so far behind this year . . .”
Her principal waved away her words. “You are an excellent teacher, Merry. Your classroom is always ahead of the others. Having a sub right now isn’t going to slow them down. Besides, my wife was at your store last week and said it was great. I’ll have to visit myself.”
When Merry told her students that she wouldn’t be back until the new year, the reaction was quite different.
“No!” was the chorus when Merry made her announcement to her students. Even talking about all the parties and festivities in the offing didn’t help.
“Teacher . . .” At the end of the morning Merry felt a tug on her sweater. She turned to see Greta standing behind her.
“Yes?” Merry took in the washed-out sweatshirt and high-water jeans the child was wearing.
“Don’t go.”
“I’m glad you’ll miss me, Greta, but I’m afraid I can’t change my mind now.” She bent her knees so she was eye level with the child. “It won’t be for long.”
“But I’ll miss you!” Greta’s lower lip trembled perilously.
Merry gathered the child in her arms. “Maybe you and your parents can come to Frost for the live Nativity. There’ll be real donkeys, sheep, and goats.” Actually there would also be a cow or two, some horses, dogs, and a ferret. It seemed like everyone who had a beloved pet wanted it showcased in the Nativity scene, and she’d never had the heart to turn them away—even though she very much doubted there were ferrets in the manger.
“Really? I can come?”
“Absolutely. Have your mom call me and I’ll invite her.” Wordlessly Greta circled Merry’s legs and hugged her tight. Then she turned and ran from the room.
Greta, Jack, Hildy . . . all people who’d appeared in her life in the recent past. God must have something in mind for her. She’d have to trust that.
Chapter Fourteen
• • • • • • • • • • • •
By the time she got to the hospital, Merry was unaccountably nervous.
What was her part in this? she wondered as she made her way to Jack’s room. Hopefully he’d had a good night and the worst was past.
That seemed unlikely when she walked into his room and saw that he was nearly as pale as the sheet beneath him. The lunch tray on the bedside table was untouched.
His eyes opened when she touched his shoulder.
“How was your night?” she asked, although she already had a good idea.
“Lousy. Can you get me out of here? They poke me with needles every few minutes.”
“You must be a little better. You’re complaining.” She sat down next to the bed where he could see her without moving his head.
At that moment the doctor stepped into the room. “Good morning. I hear your night wasn’t much fun, Mr. Frost.”
“They’re trying to kill me. No one will let me sleep.”
“It should be better tonight. Your white blood count is dropping, which is good. We’ll also do another x-ray to see if your lungs are clearing up. You were a pretty sick fellow when you got here. And that’s not to say you aren’t still sick.”
“I need to get out of here,” Jack said and burst into a fit of coughing.
“Right,” the doctor responded in a tone heavy with sarcasm. “We’ll talk about that as you improve.”
After he’d gone, Merry pulled her chair closer to Jack. “You’ve got to give me a number, someone I can call. A friend? Or don’t you have any . . .” Her voice trailed away. He’d closed off so many parts of his life because of his brother; maybe he’d put up shutters on the social part of his life as well.
“You can let Vince, my VP of operations, know, but he can’t do anything about it. He’s got important things to do.”
“More important than seeing that his boss is alive and well? I don’t think so.” Merry was indignant now. Jack was not only hard on himself, but he kept others from helping him. “You need an attitude adjustment.”
“About Christmas?”
“That too, but mostly about being such an—an . . . island! You want to stand alone and not take any help. It’s not necessary. You can quit punishing yourself over your brother any time now. . . .” Merry immediately regretted her words and bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I had no right to say that.”
Jack studied her. “You think?” he said finally. He didn’t sound angry, just puzzled.
She stayed with him until evening. They spoke very little, but she could tell he drew some sort of comfort from her presence. When he dozed off, she left the hospital and drove home, her mind in a whirl. Jack Frost had managed to tip her world in an entirely new direction.
* * * * *
An island? Jack mulled that over as he rested against the pillow. Is that what he was?
The cell phone on his bedside table began to ring. Jack wasn’t sure he was glad that he’d asked Merry to get it out of his trouser pocket. For one thing, he didn’t have the strength to reach far enough to answer it.
With a sigh, he mustered enough energy to grab it. “Yeah?” He could hardly believe it but he was winded from the exertion.
“Jack, is that you?” Vince sounded worried. “What’s wrong, buddy?”
“I landed in the hospital.” Every word was an effort. It had taken all he had just to get the phone off the table. He was weak as a kitten.
“I’ll get a plane out there.”
“Don’t.”
“What are you going to do when you get out? You can’t lie around in a hotel room till you get better.”
“Why not?” Vince was giving him a headache . . . or at least worsening the headache he already had.
“That’s right, you’ve been staying in that B-and-B. Surely you can’t ask them to take care of you! Why did you give your proprietor my number if you didn’t want me to come?”
Jack thought of Merry’s concerned touch on his forehead and the gentle way she’d brushed back his damp hair and decided that there wouldn’t be a better place to recuperate—if Merry would agree. That was a big “if.”
“Gotta go, Vince. Getting tired.”
“Wait! Wait! I need to know exactly where you’re staying and—”
Jack cut the connection and turned off the phone. Vince would just have to wait.
* * * * *
Merry arrived at the hospital about eleven o’clock in a pair of jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. She wore very little makeup, and her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail.
Jack thought he’d never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
“You look a little better today,” she greeted him, “like you might actually make it.”
“I wouldn’t take bets quite yet, but I finally think it’s a possibility.”
“I called your friend Vince.” Merry pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed. “I took his number from your cell phone. He sounded very upset.”
“He called me already. He wondered where I’d recuperate once I get out.” Jack watched Merry closely for any hint of what she might think of this question.
“What did you tell him?” She
fingered the hem of his blanket absently.
“Well, he thinks I won’t be able to go back to the B-and-B. If I know Vince, he’s ready to charter a plane and whisk me off to California.” Jack shifted in the bed. His muscles had never been so sore. Nor had he ever ached so deeply.
“I told him that if the owner would let me, I’d prefer to be at the B-and-B rather than anywhere else.” His eyes locked momentarily with hers, and then she looked away.
“You’ve been pretty sick. It may take you awhile to recover.”
“The same amount of time here or in California, I suppose.”
“True. But in California you probably have a lot of beautiful women who’d offer to bring you food and sit by your bedside.”
She was scouting for information, Jack thought.
“My secretary would volunteer. She’s pushing retirement age and has been nagging me for years to take care of myself. She’d just love gloating over me saying ‘I told you so.’” He tilted his head appealingly, much as he had as a small child when he was begging for something he wasn’t sure he could have. It had worked then, and he hoped it would work now.
“Don’t make me feel all guilty with those beautiful dark eyes of yours!” Embarrassment registered on Merry’s face. “I mean, don’t . . . too hard to resist . . . oh, forget it! I’m just digging myself a deeper hole.”
“I’ll pay you two hundred dollars a day if you’ll help me stay here instead of having Vince try to kidnap me.”
She looked horrified at his offer. “Oh, I couldn’t take your money.”
“Why not? The pilot would, the plane company would, my housekeeper would. They’d cost much more, actually. You’d be doing me a favor if you accept it. In fact, I’ll pay you three hundred!” He intentionally pleaded with those “beautiful” eyes of his. He could see her weakening.
He didn’t want to go back to California. There was little more for him there than there was here. He’d made himself dispensable at work, and Vince was capable of handling anything that came up. In fact, lately he’d begun to feel that if he disappeared it would take anyone but Vince weeks to notice he was gone.
Of course, if he were honest, he’d started disappearing at the time of his brother’s death. After the accident he’d talked less, avoiding situations where people might ask him questions or look at him with judgment in their eyes. As an adult, he’d become a hard-driving businessman because it focused his mind in constructive directions. Had he not done so, who knows what might have happened to him by now?
He didn’t allow himself the luxury of romance. Jamie never got a chance to fall in love so Jack wouldn’t either was his circuitous, tortured thinking. It didn’t matter that none of it made sense. It was simply another way of punishing himself for what had happened.
Merry studied his face so long that he began to grow uncomfortable.
What was she thinking behind those big green eyes? There was a sharp brain under those fluffy blonde curls. He began to wonder if he’d pressed his luck too far. Why on earth would she accept a stranger into her home and agree to play nursemaid? Jack lay back and closed his eyes. Another misjudgment on his part.
“You wouldn’t go and die on me, would you? You’ve nearly scared the liver out of me more than once already.”
Jack opened his eyes and saw that Merry was serious.
“Not if I can help it,” he said, smiling faintly. “Thanks for your concern.” She was actually thinking about it!
“I’d need to talk to the doctor first.”
“Talk to me about what?”
Jack looked up to see his physician entering the room, chart in hand.
“If I take him back to my bed-and-breakfast, he’s not going to suddenly get worse again, is he? I need to be sure he isn’t going to scare me again.”
The doctor chuckled. “There are no guarantees, but it’s doubtful. We’ve found the right medications, and before he got sick he was basically a very healthy specimen. Besides, I would like him to give himself a few days before he travels anywhere.”
She turned to Jack. “And you promise to listen to me and do as I say?”
“Without a doubt.” He was going to have trouble with that one. He hoped he looked sincere and innocent.
“Well, okay then,” she said, sounding resolved but not overjoyed. “There are only a few days until Christmas, and I have so much to do that it will be better to have him under my roof than for me to keep driving to the hospital. The living Nativity, the lutefisk supper, the Parade of Lights, gifts to wrap, food to cook, last-minute shoppers . . .” She sighed and eyed Jack speculatively. “Oh yes, and you are not going to pay me a ridiculous amount of money. If you feel well enough, you can work it off. I’m going to have you wrap gifts, like it or not.”
Jack suppressed a smile and reminded himself not to get that well until after the holiday was over.
* * * * *
Merry ran into Zeke in the hallway as she was leaving Jack’s room. He was scowling at her with a ferocity she’d never seen before.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, concerned about her friend.
“You’re still here?”
“Where should I be?”
“At your store, for one.” His voice was tight and controlled.
“Hildy and Abby are doing an amazing job there. We’ve already taken in much more than we did last year at this time.” She frowned, perplexed at his behavior. “And why should you be worried about where I am every hour of the day?”
He looked exasperated. “Because you’re my friend and I worry about you, that’s why! I should never have steered Jack Frost toward your B-and-B.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“He was only supposed to stay a couple nights, not move in permanently!”
The light dawned. “Are you jealous of Jack? Is that why you’re upset?”
Zeke shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Merry was dumbfounded. She and Zeke hadn’t dated for years, and yet here he was acting like a betrayed lover!
“Of course not,” he said sternly before adding, “well, maybe a little.” His cheeks reddened. “I can’t figure out why you care this much. After all, he’s none of your business!”
Merry put a hand to his mouth to silence him. Horrified, she suddenly realized that Jack could have overheard everything Zeke said.
Please, she petitioned silently. I don’t know what’s going on, Lord, but don’t let it get more complicated than it already is!
Chapter Fifteen
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Merry was steaming as much as her kettle when she brewed tea.
What business was it of Zeke’s if she befriended Jack? She grabbed a mug from the cupboard and slapped it on the counter so hard that she had to check to see if it had cracked. She had no idea what was compelling Zeke to make a pest of himself right now, but it made her uncharacteristically angry. She didn’t understand her own feelings any more than she did Zeke’s.
There was a knock on the door. Jeff stood in the entry. She hadn’t seen him since the night of the sleigh ride, but he looked as rugged and outdoorsy as ever and smelled of fresh air, pine, and horses.
“Hey, kiddo,” he greeted her and gave her a bear hug.
“Hey, yourself.” She slipped from his embrace to reach for another mug. “Tea?”
“Only if there are cookies with it. I’m more of a java guy myself.”
Cookies were never a problem at this house, Merry thought, especially at Christmas. She piled a plate high with her most recent baking efforts.
Jeff settled back in the chair looking comfortable in her cozy white kitchen. He seemed remarkably at home. But, she realized, he wasn’t the man whose boots she wanted to permanently put beneath her table.
Merry could tell that Jeff was ready to plant himself there for a while, so she was relieved when Abby raced in, her eyes frantic.
“Can
you come out to the store? It’s crazy and I can’t keep up.”
“Be there in a minute.” She turned to her guest. “Sorry, but I have to go.”
Jeff rose reluctantly. “Sometime we need to be together when we aren’t surrounded by people, Merry. I’d like to spend more time with you.”
“It doesn’t look like it will be anytime soon, Jeff.” He reached for her, but she ducked out of his embrace. “So sorry . . .”
She escaped through the door to the shop and sagged against the shop wall, feeling she’d just escaped an embarrassing situation. Jeff wanted them to become a couple, and that was a conversation she wasn’t ready to have.
Thankfully she was swept up in the bustle in the shop and could push the issue to the back of her mind to be revisited another day.
That worked for an hour or two until her cell phone began to ring.
“Merry Christmas! Can I help you?”
“Hey, Merry, it’s me,” a male voice said.
“Who?” The voice wasn’t even familiar to her.
“This is Kip . . . the phone guy. Remember me?”
“Of course.” He was difficult to forget, despite the fact that she barely knew him.
“I’ve got a couple tickets for a basketball game at the Target Center tomorrow night. I was just wondering if . . .”
“That’s very sweet, Kip, but I can’t. This is the week before Christmas, and I keep the store open nights as well until Christmas Eve.”
“Oh.”
She could hear his disappointment, but she couldn’t even let him down easy by promising to go out with him later. She simply wasn’t sure she wanted to. What was happening today? Men were popping up all over the place—and she was turning them down.
All she could think about was Jack Frost!
* * * * *
Jack looked as white as the frost his namesake was purported to create, Merry thought as she helped him into his coat before they left the hospital. He’d lost a few pounds too. His clothing hung loose, and he’d quit combing the curls out of his hair so a dark forelock tumbled over his forehead. He looked unguarded and not completely in charge. Merry found the change oddly appealing.
