Baby, Let It Snow: I'll Be Home for ChristmasSecond Chance Christmas

by Beverly Jenkins

  They were riding west on Jefferson toward downtown. They’d grown up in the Jefferson Chalmers area and the east-side streets were as familiar as their names. He reached up to the visor and unclipped a sleeve of CDs and handed it to her. “Your choice.”

  The overhead lamp came on so she could see, and once her decision was made he plunged them back into half-lit darkness. The mellow sounds of a sweet saxophone soon filled the silence and he told her, “Great choice.”

  While he drove and the music played, she split her attention between the view out her window of Detroit at night, and Morgan.

  “I saw Freeman Jones today,” he told her.

  “Did you punch him in the face?”

  He laughed softly. “No. Told me to tell you, ‘hi.’ He has his own construction company.”

  “The nine-year-old in me still hates his guts. That day he stole my glasses I wanted to fillet him like a piece of salmon. Everybody knew I couldn’t see past my nose without those ugly old specs, and he had the nerve to snatch them off my face and run away laughing.”

  “I think he liked you.”

  “I think I wanted him killed, but you saved the day.”

  “Yep. Ran him down. Kicked his butt and got them back.”

  Dina thought that might have been when her feelings for him began to blossom. Even though he hadn’t seen her as anything other than his godsister until they were both in their twenties, she’d been in love with him most of her life.

  When they made the left onto the bridge that led to Belle Isle she smiled inwardly. The Isle, as the locals called it, was a large island in the middle of the Detroit River. The grounds had been designed by the same man who plotted out New York City’s Central Park. It was a favorite spot for picnicking, watching the annual summer fireworks and for couples. With the headlights illuminating the way, he drove slowly and she silently looked across the black strip of the river at the lights of the city of Windsor, Ontario on the other side.

  “When was the last time you were out here?” he asked.

  “Years, for sure.”

  “We came out here a lot back in the day.”

  She nodded. Dark clouds raced across the moon. She concentrated on the views to keep from remembering all the kissing and other sensual activities they’d engaged in back then.

  “Are you warm enough?”

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  Morgan looked over at her by the low glow of the lights from the dash and wanted to take her in his arms and slowly sample the taste and scents of her, but he had no intention of rushing this. He’d let her call the tune.

  Dina wanted to get this kiss challenge over with because the longer she was with him the more she feared she’d enjoy being in his arms. His presence had been working on her senses all day and no matter how hard she tried to keep it at bay, thoughts of him whispered and her body wanted to answer. “Okay. Let’s stop and do this so I can go home and go to bed.”

  “Sure.”

  She thought he flashed a knowing smile but the shadows made it difficult for her to see him clearly. He found a spot and eased the car onto the grass near the shore. They were risking a ticket if the police drove by and saw them parked on the riverbank, but it offered a clear view of the water. He left the engine running so they wouldn’t get cold and set the brake.

  “So,” he said. The jazz played softly in the dark.

  “Lean over.”

  He complied slowly, but before she could say or do anything he brushed his lips invitingly against her jaw, then her chin, and Dina remembered just how good he was at this. The soft opening moves continued as he greeted the plane of her cheek, the expanse of her forehead and then the shell of her ear. “I’ve missed you…?.”

  She dissolved. Way too good.

  His hand came up to cup the back of her head and gently moved her mouth to his. She responded instantly and without thought to the intensity that shot through her like a flame. She’d wanted to be distant and controlled, but he was melting her barriers like an ice cube on a hot stove and all she could do was moan. Next thing she knew he was dragging her across the seat; the steering wheel dug into her back until it magically tilted up and she was on his lap kissing him back passionately. Her arms snaked around his neck and his tongue tasted hers. A fever seemed to grab her and all she wanted was more.

  While they continued to drown themselves in kissing, his hand began a slow tour inside of her black coat. Her nipples blossomed and called and his expert fingers answered, leaving them taut with wanting, and her breathless.

  “More?” he asked against her lips.

  “Damn you, yes,” she whispered back hotly.

  He kissed her hard and pushed up her sweater so his hand could take command of her breasts through the lacy covering of her bra. He pulled the cups down and his mouth helped itself to bare nipples, and Dina almost orgasmed there and then. He was every bit as scandalous as he’d been four years ago, if not more. Holding her nipples between his fingers he tugged erotically then flattened them against his palms. She was hot, no getting around it, and all she wanted was him.

  “Backseat,” he whispered.

  It was a tight fit but neither cared. Lust, longing and passion ruled, and Dina couldn’t undo her jeans fast enough. He dragged his own jeans down, sat and placed her atop his lap so she could ride and he could watch her eyes close as he filled her.

  She came almost instantly. It had been so long since she’d been loved so well, and the force of it rocked her so hard she cried out and moved on him like a woman possessed.

  He wasn’t much better. The reality of having her hot little body moving on him with such uninhibited abandon made him want to take her this way until the sun came up, but her sheath was too hot and her hips in his hands too soft so he surrendered with a shout and came with an orgasm that left him shuddering.

  Afterward, the only sound in the car was the harshness of their breathing. They clung to each other in the silence and then Dina lifted her head and looked into his eyes.

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said softly.

  Using a finger he traced her kiss-swollen mouth with the gentleness of a lover. “I know but it’s too late now, so where do we go from here?”

  “I don’t know.” Even as she responded, she could feel him lustily hardening inside her again, and her greedy body wanted another round.

  As if reading her mind, he began to stroke her slowly. “You were saying?”

  The silent lure of him invited her to join in. “No fair. I can’t think.”

  “Good.” He moved her sweater out of the way and helped himself again to her breasts held up for his pleasure by the cups of her pulled-aside bra. Teasing and playing until she drew in a halting breath, he slid a hand down her bare back and hips and moved her to his rhythm. This time it was slower but no less intense. He eased a hand down between their bodies to make sure she stayed ripe, and all she could do was close her eyes from the spreading bliss and ride. She reminded herself again that this wasn’t what she’d been after, but he had her so hot and bothered, wanting to be loved by him this way until the end of time was what her body craved.

  By the time the second orgasm rose and exploded, they were going at each other like two teenagers too far gone to stop.

  They did stop, however, in response to the headlights flooding the backseat from a car parked behind them, and the insistent sound of someone knocking at the fogged-over windows. Panicked, Dina left his lap in a flash. They quickly did up their clothes.

  “Detroit Police!” they heard and the absurdity of the situation made them both grab their mouths to keep from laughing aloud.

  Morgan reached over and hit the button to partially lower the window. A white cop wearing Detroit blue stuck his head into the opening. He shined his big flashlight inside and Dina instantly averted her face. Morgan got the same treatment but met the cop’s smiling eyes with a smile of his own.

  “We’re legal, sir,” Morgan said.

  The p
oliceman grinned. “I thought you were teenagers.”

  “We used to be.”

  The cop flashed the light on the highly embarrassed Dina again and paused. “Aren’t you Dina Caldwell, the actress?”

  And before she could decide whether to tell the truth or not, he put Morgan under the light again and exclaimed, “I’ll be damned. Morgan Todd and Dina Caldwell out here necking like two kids. Are you two back together?” Dina sighed.

  Morgan said, “We’re working on it, so how about a little privacy?”

  “Only if I can get an autograph first. The wife’s not going to believe this! Let me go get something to write on.”

  He left them alone for a moment and Dina said, “Good grief. By the time he gets done with his shift, everybody in the city’s going to know we were out here.”

  “Could be worse. He could’ve hauled us in for indecent exposure and lewd behavior, and you were guilty of both.”

  “Me?” she laughed.

  The cop came back and stuck a piece of paper and pen in the window. “Can you make it out to, ‘Mike Jeffers, my biggest fan’?” he asked Dina.

  She shook her head with amusement but wrote out what he wanted and signed her name. Morgan was next and when he was done he handed the paper and pen back to the officer.

  “Thanks. Now, you two should probably head home. The Isle’s not as safe as it used to be at night.” Morgan nodded.

  Jeffers touched his cap. “Nice meeting you. Especially you, Ms. Caldwell.”

  “Nice meeting you, too.”

  He drove off. Morgan looked over at Dina and an instant later they burst out laughing.

  Later, he pulled up into her driveway. She didn’t regret their lovemaking. On one hand she wanted this to be a first step to reconciliation, but on the other hand she was still wary. She decided not to think about it until later. “I’ll see you, tomorrow.”

  “Do you want to go to the parade in the morning?”

  She smiled. “No.” Detroit’s annual Thanksgiving parade was one of the largest in the Midwest. “I’m hoping to sleep in and you’re doing the dinner, remember?”

  “Then do I get a good-night’s kiss?”

  “I think you’ve had plenty of kisses for one night, Morgan.”

  “Party pooper.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and so you’ll know. Arthur called to say he won’t be coming. Some kind of monetary crisis is going to keep him in Copenhagen until next week.”

  That said, she got out of the car. He waited until she was safely inside before he grinned and backed down the driveway.

  Lying in bed, Morgan thought back on the evening. Dina had been hot as an oven, and her first orgasm had happened so quickly it’d made him wonder how long it had been since she’d made love. The memory of their backseat interlude made him hard all over again and was a testament to how strong his feelings for her still were. Whatever he had to do to prove he could be trusted with her love again, he’d do. He didn’t want to go through the rest of his life without being by her side, but in a few days she’d be flying back to New York. Once she did there was no telling what might happen to the fragile bridge he was trying to build. If he just had more time he was sure he could solidify the connection, but as it stood, time was running out.

  Chapter 7

  As planned, Thanksgiving dinner was held at the Todd house, and Morgan’s menu was so spectacular his mother laughingly announced that it would be his job to cook the dinner from then on. It was a fun-filled day, even if the Lions did lose the traditional Thanksgiving NFL game, again. They played cards, ate dessert and talked about Rick and Jas’s wedding due to jump off in two days.

  Dina spent the day trying to keep her body from calling out to Morgan and failed. That one hot taste last night had been so memorable it wanted more. Her mind didn’t think it was a good idea, but her body didn’t care. As she observed him over the course of the day, it got worse. She found herself watching the way he moved, observing his interactions with his mom and hers and being captured by the heat in his gaze whenever it met hers. He hadn’t gloated over her sensual downfall or boasted about it, not that he’d ever been that way, and she kept replaying his declaration that he wanted to be the man for her that he should have been when they were engaged. There wasn’t a woman alive who could shrug off such a powerful statement, and last night’s backseat whirlwind proved that she was definitely alive and well.

  By day’s end, she decided to stop fighting the inevitable and take a closer look at the new-and-improved Morgan Todd. They’d meant the world to each other at one time, and in the face of him pointing the finger at himself as the cause of their breakup and offering her such heartfelt apologies and regrets, she owed him at least that.

  Jas, Rick and the bridesmaids left for a concert downtown at the Fox Theater, and the parents rode out for cards and fun with their friends. The wedding was only two days away and Dina planned on spending the evening catching up on her rest in preparation for the marathon of activities that would begin in the morning. She stuck her head into the kitchen where Morgan was cutting himself a piece of pie. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “If I bribe you with pie and coffee, will you stay?”

  They assessed each other in the silence. In spite of her earlier thoughts on needing rest, she knew she wanted to say yes to his offer so she took off her coat and sat down at the kitchen table. “So where are you heading after the wedding and the cake contest?”

  “Oakland. There’s a piece of property out there that I have my eye on. I’m probably going to relocate so I can be closer to my school and the kids.”

  “Don’t you tape in Florida?”

  He brought pie and mugs to the table and set them down. “Yeah, but I’m letting the show go. I taped the last few episodes a few months back.”

  “Why stop now?”

  He poured hot coffee into her cup and took a seat across from her. “It’s not like I need the money, and working with the kids is a lot more fulfilling. I’m touching lives and it feels good.”

  Her respect rose. “That’s good to hear.”

  “Just trying to give a little back. I’d really like for you to fly out and see the place sometime.”

  “I may take you up on that. I’m cutting back, too. I’ll be leaving the show in the spring.”

  “Why?”

  “Want to adopt a child.”

  He nodded approvingly. “That’s nice. How far along are you in the process?”

  So she told him and when she was done he smiled. “You’ll make a good mom.”

  “I’m hoping so.”

  “Are you going to do the biological kids later?”

  “Can’t have any.”

  He went still. “Did I know this before?”

  She shook her head. “No. I had surgery three years ago for the fibroids that were giving me all those problems.”

  “That I remember. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say, I’m sorry, or what.”

  “You’re fine. I made peace with it a while ago. Besides, there are way too many children in the world without the family and love we grew up with, so adoption’s really a no-brainer.”

  “If I can help, ever, just let me know.”

  “I will. Thanks.” She’d wondered how he’d react to her plan. His acceptance and offer of support put another gold star in his column.

  “Do you regret last night?” he asked.

  The honest question deserved an equally honest answer, so she told the truth. “No. How about you?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Loved it.”

  Amused, she picked up her coffee. “Did you now?”

  “You’re just as hot and sweet as ever.”

  The intensity of his words rocked her a bit. “Good to know.”

  “Or shouldn’t I have said that?”

  She knew he was teasing but the parts of her that he’d hurt before wondered why hot and sweet hadn’t been enough for him to be faithful in their relationship.


  He interrupted her thoughts by asking softly, “Where are you, Dee?”

  She shrugged in response.

  “Tell me, please. We need to talk about all of it.”

  “You really want to know?”

  “I do.”

  “If I was so hot and sweet, why wasn’t it enough to keep you from cheating on me?” She knew the question would probably put an end to the pleasant time they’d been having, but it was something she’d wanted to ask him for years.

  He stood and walked over to where she sat. Gently taking her hands, he silently coaxed her to her feet and said in a tortured voice, “I was arrogant, selfish and stupid, and you didn’t deserve it.”

  When he eased her into his arms and held her tight against his heart, tears stung her eyes as she clung to him.

  “I thought I’d have my cake and eat it, too, and it cost me you. I’ll understand if you can’t forgive me, but I’ll love you for as long as I’m breathing.”

  He raised her chin and she saw the serious set of his features. In the space of that moment, time seemed to lengthen and stand still. He lowered his mouth to hers and the kiss that followed held such passion and remorse she ached from its sweetness and from what they’d lost.

  “Come downstairs with me…?.”

  In the privacy of his quiet bedroom, he undressed her slowly and then made love to her at the same unhurried pace. She orgasmed twice in response to his scandalous mouth and expert hands and then a third time twisting and rising beneath him on the big king-size bed. For a woman who claimed to need rest, she got none.

  Everyone gathered at the church for the rehearsal Friday evening. First Rick introduced his best man, Jerry, a colleague from the university where Rick taught, and the other groomsman, a frat brother named Bernard. The lady reverend had them walk through the ceremony a couple of times just to make sure everyone knew where to stand and the order of the service. Jas was one of the church’s Sunday-school teachers and had chosen two children from her class to be the ring bearer and flower girl. They were six-year-old twins, a boy and a girl named Micha and Malia. Watching them made Dina smile because they were so polite and appeared to be paying very close attention to the reverend as she gave them their instructions.