Christmas in Tinsel Town

by Teagan Brooks

  “If you’re not going to finally make a move on my mother, you should probably stop staring at her like that before someone other than me notices,” Jacob said quietly from somewhere behind me, causing me to flinch since I hadn’t heard him approach.

  Resigned, I didn’t even try to deny it. “How long have you known?”

  “Since the incident with Keegan’s stepfather last year.”

  At that, I did turn around to meet his eyes. “What?”

  He nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. “You fought your way through a sea of bikers to get to my mother. I don’t care how dedicated to your job you are; no one does that unless it’s for someone they love.”

  “Your mother is a special lady,” I murmured.

  “She is. So, what’s the problem?”

  His question caught me off guard. I had no idea what to say to him.

  “If you need my blessing, you have it. You’re a good man, Ronan, and I’d love for Mom to have someone to share her life with.”

  “Thank you, Jacob. Your blessing means a lot to me, but there’s more to it than that.”

  “Oh, because you work for her,” he mused. “You protect her as well as you do because you love her. Your job won’t change one bit if you enter a relationship with her.”

  I shook my head. “Call me old fashioned, but it goes against my principles to date my boss.”

  “How about this? You quit and work for me,” he suggested.

  “I can’t quit and leave Jacquelyn without a head of security.”

  He laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, I’ll talk to Mom’s lawyer and have a few things shuffled around so the security payments come from my inheritance, not from any of her funds.”

  “She would still be my client,” I argued.

  “No, I would be your client. Yes, you would be guarding her, but you wouldn’t be employed by her.” He shrugged. “Yes, it’s a technicality, but like I said, I’ve seen the way you look at her, and the way she looks at you.” I opened my mouth to respond, but he continued, “Just think about it, and know you have my blessing.”

  “I’ll give it some thought,” I told him. And I would, once Jacquelyn’s holiday project was complete.

  My eyes had never strayed from Jacquelyn the entire time I was speaking with her son. She was helping Gabby paint one of the sheds like a gingerbread house. When she started to climb a ladder that was precariously leaning against the shed, I sprang into action. “Please excuse me,” I called over my shoulder as I nearly jogged to Jacquelyn.

  She was halfway up the ladder when it wobbled and started sliding to the right. She lost her balance and fell backward, right into my arms.

  “Ronan!” she gasped.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as I placed her on her feet, leaving my hands on her waist to make sure she was steady.

  “Yes, I think so,” she said with her hand over her heart.

  “Let me help you next time,” I said softly, acutely aware that I was still touching her.

  She visibly swallowed and nodded her head, never once breaking eye contact. “Okay,” she almost whispered.

  “Gigi!” Gabby shouted. “I’m finished!”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful, sweetie! Why don’t you go around and see if anyone needs some water or a snack before we start on the other side?”

  “Okay, Gigi,” Gabby said and darted away.

  “I wish I had her energy,” Jacquelyn said.

  “You seem to be doing just fine,” I murmured through a small grin.

  Her eyes returned to mine and her breath caught. I couldn’t resist any longer and slowly leaned in to finally capture her lips with my own.

  “Mrs. Marks!” Seth called, causing Jacquelyn to break away like a teenager caught in the act. “Another delivery truck just arrived. Looks like it might be the ice-skating rink.”

  Instead of allowing her to escape the charged moment, I took her hand in mine and pulled her along with me. “Let’s show them where it goes.”

  She fell into step beside me, carrying herself with the grace she always did, regardless of the situation. When we strolled past the shed Jacob and Keegan were painting, Jacob didn’t seem to notice us, but I saw his lips turn up in a smile.

  When we reached the truck, I pointed out the markers we’d placed earlier and explained how we wanted the rink set up. The truck driver cocked his head to the side. “I’m just here to make a delivery.”

  “What?” Jacquelyn exclaimed. “I was under the impression it would be delivered and installed.”

  The man held his hand up with his palms out. “I’m sorry, lady. I just do what I’m told. Do you want to accept the delivery?”

  She sighed. “Yes, I do.”

  “Sign here, please,” he said and handed her a clipboard and pen.

  “Is something wrong?” Jacob asked.

  “Not exactly. Your mother thought the rink would be delivered and set up, but that’s not the case,” I explained.

  “I knew a guy that had one of these in his back yard. From what he said, they’re not hard to install.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Keegan walked over and handed her phone to Jacob. “I found a video online that shows how to set it up.”

  We huddled around her phone and watched the short video while the driver unloaded the palette from the truck. “Well, I think we can handle that,” I mused.

  Jacob gave me a pointed look. “Me and some of the guys will take care of the rink if you’ll make sure my mother doesn’t try to climb any more ladders.”

  I turned to see Jacquelyn heading back to the shed she was painting. “I’ll do my best,” I promised and left them to it.

  I wasn’t sure if Jacquelyn was trudging along because there was so much to do or if it was because she was trying to ignore what almost happened between us. Either way, I refused to let things become awkward. Picking up a paint brush, I dipped it in her can and started painting right beside her. “What kind of shop is this one going to be?”

  Jacquelyn glanced at me out of the corner of her eye but continued to paint. “According to Gabby’s plans, this one is going to be the gingerbread cookie shop.”

  “Where is Gabby?” I asked and quickly scanned the area.

  “Ranger walked her back to the house so she could take a nap,” she laughed. “He was quick to volunteer, so I’m guessing he’s going to take one, too.”

  “Speaking of, do you need to take a break? I know there’s still a lot to do, but you don’t want to overdo it on the first day.”

  “Thank you, I’m fine for right now. I want to get this one finished. Then, I’ll take a break to order dinner and get everyone’s sleeping arrangements sorted.”

  Having a houseful of unexpected guests spending the night would normally be a nightmare for the security staff, but I knew Jacob very well and knew that he would never invite anyone into his mother’s home unless he fully trusted them.

  I also knew much more about the members of his club than he or any of them were aware of. Jacquelyn had me run checks on the club members when Jacob first joined to make sure he wasn’t getting involved in something dangerous. I was never able to discern if the club he decided to join was an outlaw club, but they seemed to be on the up and up for the most part. The only exception being that they handled some business in house when it was necessary.

  “Whenever you’re ready one of us will escort you to the house while the others stay here and keep watch.”

  She turned to me and smiled. “Thank you, Ronan, for everything.”

  6

  Jacquelyn

  With the help from Jacob and his friends from the motorcycle club, we had all the buildings painted, the ice-skating rink set up, and more lights than we could count by the end of the second day. I knew they had their own lives to get back to, but I did convince them to stay the night and drive back home after a full night’s rest.

  Gabby, of course, wanted to stay with me for the rest of
the week. “Can I, Gigi? Please?”

  “You’ll have to ask your sister and Shaky Jakey.” The nickname she gave Jacob tickled me to no end. At one time, he’d gone to great lengths to keep his worlds separate, but fate intervened and they collided anyway.

  Gigi ran off and came back with Keegan a few minutes later. “It’s okay with us, as long as you don’t mind,” she said.

  “Oh, I don’t mind at all, but I don’t want to disrupt any of your Thanksgiving plans.” I knew they were planning to come to my house for dinner on Thanksgiving, but I thought they might have lunch with Keegan’s grandfather or with the club members.

  “Well,” Keegan said slowly. “Would it be okay if I invited Ranger to join us?”

  “Of course, dear! You don’t even need to ask. Ranger is always welcome at my house.”

  “Perfect,” she smiled. “That way, Gabby can stay for the week and still spend Thanksgiving with both of her grandparents.”

  “For future reference, please extend an invitation to Ranger to any of our family holiday events. I apologize for not thinking of it sooner.”

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Well, it’s not like you’ve had your hands full or anything.”

  I laughed. “You can say that again.”

  “So, can I stay, Sissy?” Gabby asked excitedly.

  “Yes, you can, as long as you promise to be good for Gigi.”

  “I promise, Sissy,” she vowed and turned her adorable eyes to me. “I promise, Gigi.”

  With that settled, we said our goodbyes, to Jacob and Keegan, as well as the rest of the Blackwings that had come up to help.

  “Be sure to let us know when you’re ready to open. We’d love to bring the little ones up,” Phoenix said.

  “I certainly will. Thank you again. We couldn’t have done it without your help.”

  Jacob chuckled. “Okay, Mom, you’ve thanked everyone at least three times this morning. We need to get on the road before you try to get us to stay for lunch.”

  I hugged my son and his beautiful wife. “I love you. Both of you. Be safe and I’ll see you in a few days for Thanksgiving.”

  We stood on the front steps and watched the two clubs ride away from the house with practiced ease. One right after the other, they fell into a formation as if it was second nature, and I supposed it was for them.

  Once they were out of sight, I clapped my hands together and turned to Gabby. “Well, little miss, let’s make a list of what we need to do today and get to work.”

  “Okay, Gigi. I’ll get my notebook,” she said and took off up the stairs.

  I sat down at the kitchen table and looked to Ronan. “I think we might actually pull this off.”

  Leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest, he looked like he could take on the world and win. “But?”

  I sighed. “But, I need help running the village. And I don’t know where I’m going to find enough people to do that in just a few days.”

  Ronan’s face lit up with a smile. “I do. How many people do you think you’ll need?”

  “Hmm…I’m thinking one for each village house that has an activity, a few to monitor the ice-skating rink, and—” I gasped and slapped my hand over my mouth. “And we need ice skates to rent!”

  “We have time to get those,” he said calmly, confidently, which settled some of my own panic. “What else is on your to-do list?”

  “We need to finalize the activities for each village house and order the supplies for each one,” I said and went down the list. “We have candy canes at the candy cane cottage, gingerbread cookies at the gingerbread house, a mixed variety of small toys at the toy factory, non-breakable ornaments at the ornament shop, small teddy bears at the teddy bear house, bottled water at the penguin cottage, and one for the ice skate rentals. That leaves three houses that need something.”

  “What do you think about using one shed for clothing donations and another for toy donations?” Ronan asked.

  “That’s perfect! What would I ever do without you?”

  He closed the distance between us and cupped my cheek. “I hope you’ll never have to find out,” he said softly.

  I placed my hand over his and leaned into his palm. “Ronan,” I whispered.

  “I’m ready, Gigi!” Gabby exclaimed.

  Ronan chuckled lightly and shook his head. “One day…” he murmured, causing tingles to shoot through my body. I’m not sure what changed or when it did, but somewhere along the way, I subconsciously decided to stop fighting my feelings for the man I’d spent every day with since long before my husband passed away.

  I turned my attention to Gabby. “Okay, sweetie, here’s what we have so far,” I said and went over the list with her. “What do you think?”

  Her little forehead wrinkled and her lips pursed while she thought. After a few minutes, she said, “We need a place for Santa.”

  Her statement caught me completely off guard. I hadn’t even considered having a Santa at the village, and quite frankly, I wasn’t sure if it was even feasible. “That’s a good idea, Gabby, but we’ll have to see if Santa has time to stop by our village once or twice.”

  Gabby looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Not the real Santa, Gigi. One of his helpers.”

  “Oh, well, um,” I stammered. “I’m not sure how that works, but I’ll check into getting one of his helpers.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Then, we’ll need a chair for him to sit in. And a Christmas tree, and a rug, and, um, oh, a camera.”

  While she scribbled notes in her notebook, I created a list on my phone. Just as I finished, Ronan placed my laptop on the table in front of me.

  “Thank you. I just about to go get it.”

  He winked. “I know. While you’re placing orders, I’m going to work on getting some employees for Tinsel Town.”

  I spent the next few hours placing expedited orders for most of the items on our list, as well as a few others that popped into my head as I went along. All the while, Gabby was quietly sketching out the inside of Santa’s house and adding details to her previous drawings.

  “Ladies, ladies, ladies! All work and no play is no fun for anyone. How about some lunch?” Ronan asked and produced a bag of fast food that smelled divine. I didn’t eat it very often, but sometimes you just needed a big, greasy hamburger.

  “You shouldn’t have,” I playfully admonished.

  “Yes, I should have. We all need to eat and you have more than enough things to do right now,” he smiled. “Plus, I know how much you love their burgers.”

  Seth and Ian arrived a few minutes later with their own bags of food. Silence fell over the table while we ate and it was all I could do to contain the moan of pure delight after my first bite.

  “What’s on the agenda today, Mrs. Marks?” Seth asked.

  “Well,” I said slowly and drew it out for effect. “Today, we’re going to put up all the lights!”

  “Yay!” Gabby shouted and crammed the rest of her hamburger into her mouth. “Immm gomma merph erwsh urm unnnds. Thhhnnn shermesh amm corrrt.”

  Using my hand to hide my smile, I reminded her, “Gabby, don’t talk with your mouth full.”

  She swallowed quickly and jumped to her feet. “Sorry, Gigi. I said I’m gonna go upstairs and wash my hands. Then, I’ll get my shoes and coat on.”

  We worked nonstop until dinner time and we were filthy. I helped Gabby take a quick bath before I rinsed off in the shower. I was so tired I couldn’t even formulate a plan for dinner, but I knew Gabby was hungry.

  “No sleeping yet, sweet girl,” I said and gently woke her from where she was dozing on my bed.

  She quickly sat up and rubbed her eyes. “I wasn’t sleeping. I’m ready to do more,” she said through her yawn.

  “No more for tonight. Just dinner and then bed,” I laughed.

  “What are we having?” she asked as we made our way downstairs.

  “I’m not sure. What would you—?” The question died on my lips whe
n the mouth-watering aroma filling the kitchen hit my nose.

  Dressed in a button-down shirt and jeans, Ronan looked as delicious as the food smelled while he stirred something on the stove. He glanced over his shoulder and winked. “I hope you like spaghetti, Gabby.” He knew she did. We’d had it on more than one occasion when she was visiting.

  “I love it,” she beamed. “Can I have sprink, too?”

  “Of course, you can. Let’s set the table while Ronan’s cooking.” Sprink was what Gabby called grated Parmesan cheese. The first time she asked for it, I had to call Keegan to find out what it was.

  I reached for the plates in the cabinet right beside the stove. “I’m so tired and didn’t know how I was going to make something to eat. And here you are, cooking dinner. I could kiss you right now.”

  “When the little one goes to bed, I might let you,” he murmured with a sly grin.

  Unsure of how to respond without making a complete fool of myself, I quickly turned and carried the plates to the table. While Gabby placed the plates and silverware on the table, I started working on the drinks, and seriously considered opening a bottle of wine for a brief moment before I decided against it.

  As soon as everything was done, we sat down to eat. Gabby immediately shoved a huge forkful into her mouth before I could stop her. Correctly reading the panic on my face, Ronan whispered, “I made sure hers had a few minutes to cool.”

  I closed my eyes and exhaled in relief. “Thank you.”

  The rest of the meal was uncharacteristically silent as we all shoveled food into our mouths and didn’t bother to pause long enough to carry on any sort of conversation. I was down to the last few bites on my plate when Ronan nudged me with his elbow and jerked his chin in Gabby’s direction.

  I dropped my fork and reached for my phone. “I have to get a picture and send it to Jacob and Keegan.” After finishing her spaghetti, Gabby had fallen asleep with her forehead on her plate and a garlic breadstick in her hand. “Bless her little heart.”