“Oh, it’s beautiful!” Elsbeth exclaimed. She was sitting in front of the open fire, snuggled in a blanket.
“Were you okay by yourself, mom?” Karen said.
“Absolutely, darling. You know what a snuggly bug I am in the winter. I’ve just been reading a nice Christmas romance on my eReader and watching the snow.”
“Let’s decorate the tree!” Abbey butted in.
“Let’s have some mulled wine!” Karen said.
“I think these are both excellent ideas,” Madison said.
“Great! I’ve got a pan-full at home. I’ll just go pick it up,” Karen said, already running out the door.
Abbey took all of the decorations out of the cardboard box and spread them on the floor.
“Wow, you bought fairy lights too!” Madison unwound a long string of lights and wrapped them around the tree, standing on a chair to attach them to the highest branches. She plugged them into the mains and the tree was instantly illuminated with all the colors of the rainbow. Madison’s heart gave a little jump. She hadn’t felt at all Christmassy this year, since it was the first one she’d be spending without her husband, but now she was starting to feel a little tingle of Christmas magic.
Karen burst through the door, carrying what looked like a cauldron. She took it through to the kitchen and put it on the heat. Five minutes later, she was ladling out three mugs of delicious-smelling wine.
“Happy new Christmas tree!” she said, bumping mugs with her mom and sister. Madison grinned at her, loving the way that she was always ready to celebrate something. “Okay, let’s decorate this sucker!”
A lot of decorating later, and the tree was ready, heavily laden with lights, tinsel, baubles, and other knick-knacks that had been collected over the years.
They had more wine and ate dinner together, before Karen went home with Abbey and Madison helped her mom get ready for bed.
Things had changed so much in the past year, but maybe change wasn’t such a bad thing, especially if it brought her closer to her family, Madison thought, as she climbed under a soft comforter in her big, new bed. She sighed as she made herself cozy in the center of the bed. She didn’t miss Digby; all romance and intimacy had long been drained out of their marriage through years of late nights at work and failed attempts to get pregnant. But she missed being with a man. Independent as she was, she yearned for a big strong man who could wrap her in his arms and take care of her. As she stretched out in bed, her thoughts turned to Brock again. His big, muscular body, his strong, gentle way, those intense hazel eyes – like pools you could fall into and get lost forever. He had to be married – or mated. There was no way a guy like that, in his 30s, would be without a lady-bear. But a girl could dream.
Chapter Two
Brock Fletcher’s thoughts had been in a jumble for the past couple of days. His uncle Grayson and cousin Riley kept asking him what was wrong, why he kept giving customers the wrong trees. The truth was, he still couldn’t process what had just happened. The woman he’d dreamed about, yearned for for so many years, ever since he first saw her at high school, had walked into his store and bought a Christmas tree. And told him that she’d just moved back to Misty Hollow.
He replayed their conversation again and again. Madison was even more beautiful than she’d been in her teens, when he’d admired her from afar. She’d grown into a stunning, curvy goddess, so poised and elegant that he’d been practically incapable of speaking to her. Had he been acting weird? He’d thought of her so often, imagined running into her so many times, but when it had actually happened, he’d been so surprised that he’d acted like a moron. All the things he’d dreamed of saying to her, and he’d ended up selling her a tree and letting her walk away again. He thought his ability to speak to women had improved a lot since he was some pimply kid. Women liked him – shifter women anyway – but he hadn’t found a mate. And deep down he’d always known that it was because he couldn’t forget Madison.
She’d been this sweet, lively girl in the year below him at high school. She was always surrounded by her group of giggly friends, but he’d sensed that she was a little different from them – more ambitious and driven. He’d often hung around the library, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, and more often than not, she was there, poring over a stack of textbooks. It was no surprise to him that she’d gone to a good school. And then he heard on the grapevine that she’d gone to law school, and married another lawyer. After that, he knew that he had to forget about her, and he tried his best to put her to the back of his mind. But as the years passed and he failed to find his mate, she’d continued to intrude into his thoughts. Seeing her in the store had been like seeing a ghost, but a beautiful, charming one.
She’d come to the store to buy a big, heavy tree with her sister and a child. Did that mean that she didn’t have a husband any longer? He hardly dared to believe that could be the case. Maybe it just meant that her husband was busy with work. All he knew was that if she was his mate, there was no way he’d ever leave her alone like that.
He tried to ask Grayson and Riley casual questions about the Armstrong family, but came up with nothing. In recent years, the bear shifter community had become increasingly separated from the human one, especially now that they lived on the other side of the mountain, a half hour drive away from Misty Hollow.
Brock had one reason for excitement though – that afternoon it was the town’s annual Christmas parade, where all the local kids dressed up in costumes and walked through the town. He hoped that he’d catch a glimpse of Madison there, or even find an opportunity to speak to her again. Every year he attended the parade hoping to see her, and every year that hope was thwarted. He promised himself that if she was there today, and she wasn’t with her husband, he’d be brave and speak to her, try to find out if she was single, and not allow more years to slip through his fingers. Even if she wasn’t available or interested, at least he’d have closure, and not waste the rest of his life dreaming about something that couldn’t happen.
When Brock arrived at work, he groaned at the list of deliveries for the day. Their business was growing fast, and they now delivered trees to homes all over their mountainous county. There were thirty deliveries for the day, and it had snowed heavily overnight, making the roads slow and treacherous. He and Riley would have to be very efficient to get everything finished in time for the parade.
“Only three stops left for the day, and all in Mayo,” Riley said cheerfully just after 3pm, as they were returning from a drop-off in Oakton.
“Great, and then we can head to Misty Hollow for the Christmas celebration,” Brock replied. Riley frowned over the satnav.
“Dude, I think we’re going to have to forgo that trip. It’s far away from Mayo, and there’s more snow forecast later tonight.”
“But –” Brock faltered. He hadn’t told anyone about his pathetic crush on Madison. “Isn’t there some way we can make it? I really want to go.” Riley stared at him, startled. The procession was for kids, and their proud families.
“Uh, I don’t know, dude? It’s going to be tight, timing-wise.” Brock took a deep breath.
“There’s just someone that I really want to catch up with there.” Riley looked at him sideways.
“Would that somebody be a lady?” he asked. Brock hoped that the sudden heat in his chest wouldn’t reach all the way to his face.
“Maybe.” Riley’s face brightened with delight.
“Why didn’t you say so? That’s awesome, bro. It’s about time you got yourself a mate.” Brock blew out a long breath.
“Look, I don’t even know if she’s single. I just – need to find out.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s a human.”
“Cool.” Brock watched Riley’s face. It wasn’t forbidden to have human mates, but in his clan it was exceptionally rare. “And? Have I seen her before?”
“Um, she was at the store a couple of days ago.”
“The classy, curly-haired
brunette in the boots?”
“Yup. But how did you know?”
“Um, because you were acting weird when you came back from putting the tree in their truck!”
“I was? Shit.” Brock rubbed the back of his head. In that case, he’d probably been acting weird around Madison as well. Fantastic. Just fantastic.
“Her sister’s a real knockout.”
“Yeah?”
“Yup. Great curvy figure, and that long, wild hair you just want to play with.” Brock was aware that he couldn’t have described the sister at all. He’d been so taken with Madison that everything else had melted into insignificance. “You think these girls are single?” Riley continued.
“Well, last I heard, Madison had a husband, and the kid is the daughter of her sister, so you do the math.”
“And yet they were lugging that big ol’ tree by themselves. Nope. They’re single. If I was the mate of either one of them, I’d be out helping them.”
“I’ve heard that humans aren’t as protective as bears.”
“Still, if Madison was yours, would you want her out of your sight?” Brock laughed.
“Madison’s a lawyer. I reckon that makes her a pretty independent woman.”
“All the more reason she’ll love being protected when she’s off the clock!”
“You’ve got all the answers, Riley.”
“I try,” Riley said with a shrug.
“So, we’re almost in Mayo. If we get these deliveries done quick and drive back to Misty Point real fast, we might be able to make it to the Hollow before the snow flies.”
“And if we get stuck there?”
“We get stuck.”
“Who am I to stand in the way of a bear and his passion?”
“Thanks, dude. I owe you one,” Brock said with a grin.
All the ladies who received their deliveries wanted to invite Brock and Riley in and give them Christmas food and drink. They were used to it – humans tended to be very taken with their looks, and seeing women’s eyes widen as they opened their doors to them was commonplace. They usually accepted food as, being bears, they were hungry more often than not, but this time, they politely declined and sped off on their way.
They got back to the store half an hour before the parade was due to start.
“I didn’t expect you fellas back so quick,” Grayson called, coming out to meet them. “Were you driving fast again, Riley?”
“Kinda, but we’ve got an important mission,” Riley replied.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Brock has his eye on a woman. He wants to see if he can find her at the Misty Hollow Christmas parade.”
“Right, then we better lock up and go!”
“You’re coming too, uncle Grayson?” Brock said.
“I sure am,” he replied. “I haven’t been to that parade in years. I used to love going though; it always got me in the Christmas spirit.”
“But what about the store?” Grayson looked at it over his shoulder.
“Folks’ll come back tomorrow if they want a tree bad enough. And no-one’s been in for a half hour anyway. I think they’ve all headed to the parade already.” He locked the door to the office, then opened the passenger side door and climbed in, shunting Riley into the middle. “Let’s go!” he said, tapping the dashboard. “Don’t want to be missing all the fun!”
Chapter Three
Abbey’s makeup was finally done, and she looked suitably pale and ghostlike. She was wearing an old white satin robe of Karen’s which had been tattered and singed at the edges. On her head was an old straw hat covered in foil, with gold fairy lights wrapped around it.
“How do I look?” she demanded, doing a twirl.
“You look great, Abbey. But aren’t you going to freeze?” Karen said. She shrugged.
“Being around the other kids will keep me warm,” she said.
“I don’t ever remember being cold during the procession,” Madison said. “Which is kind of crazy considering how low the thermometer is right now. But I think it’s partly the excitement and partly the insane number of people packed into the town that keeps the heat in.”
“That’s probably it, but give us your coat, Abbey, and we’ll pass it to you if you start to feel the cold later on.”
Madison and Karen took Abbey to Misty Hollow elementary school where all the kids were meeting, and then they went to find a good spot to watch the show.
By 4.30pm it was dark already, but the streetlights kept the town prettily illuminated, with a pale orange glow reflecting from the snow. Madison looked around at all the people gathered together, chatting excitedly. There were lots of faces she recognized from way back, and people kept coming up to her to welcome her back to the town and ask her a million questions about where she’d been and why she’d left Chicago. It wasn’t easy explaining that she’d had a divorce, but everyone was good natured, and she appreciated being among a community of people who genuinely cared about each other.
“Here,” Karen said, pushing her way through the crowds and handing her a steaming cup of mulled wine. “I thought you could do with this to get you through all the questions.”
“Thank you,” Madison said, grateful for her sister’s perceptiveness.
“Merry Christmas, sis!”
“Merry Christmas.” Madison sighed. “I wish mom could see this.”
“Me too. Her knee injury was real bad timing, wasn’t it? Still, I’ll take lots of photos for her.”
A kids’ brass band started up, signaling that the procession was about to begin. Anticipation tingled in Madison’s stomach.
“I used to get so excited and nervous when I was waiting for my turn to walk out into the crowd,” she said.
“Me too! I was always scared that people wouldn’t cheer my costume. But they always did. I don’t think it mattered what anyone was wearing, as long as they’d made even a token effort.”
“Remember how Maisie Clark used to get so nervous that she’d puke right before we went out?”
“Yup!” Karen said, and they both collapsed into giggles.
“Remember that year that Tommy Jenkins forgot his costume or something, and went around with a pair of scissors trying to sabotage everyone else’s, until Jessica Henson took him out with a karate manoeuver?”
“Remember that year some kids from another town started snowballing the procession and we retaliated, and it turned into a huge snowball fight?”
“Yup, and I got grounded for a month after Christmas because I was one of the main perpetrators. Even though I was just acting in self-defense!” They laughed and laughed.
“And isn’t it great that you get to be a mom now, watching your own daughter going through the same thing?”
“It is, sis.” Karen squeezed Madison’s shoulder. “And I’m sure you’ll get your turn as well. Don’t you worry.”
“Thanks for saying that, Karen,” Madison said, turning her head to meet her sister’s eye. “I hope you’re right.” She and Digby had suffered ‘unexplained infertility’. They were both healthy, and there was no medical reason why they couldn’t conceive. But it just hadn’t happened. And that had led to arguments and recriminations, until they’d fallen out of love. With an effort, she pushed those depressing thoughts out of her head, and concentrated on enjoying herself.
“Are they here?” Karen said, craning her neck to get a better look.
“I think so!” At last, a tiny boy dressed as a donkey emerged, with a girl in a blue headdress skipping after him. She looked like she had a balloon under her long dress. Karen and Madison burst out laughing again.
“Oh my God! I forgot how ridiculously cute they are!” Madison exclaimed.
Mary and her donkey were quickly followed by three kids with dish towels on their heads, one of them holding a foil star aloft.
“But where’s Joseph?” Karen said.
“Oops, he’s not having a good day.” Madison pointed to a boy in a headdress who’d wandered off to
the side, wailing and tugging at his costume.
The nativity scene was followed by a Santa with lots of elves. A dozen girls of around Abbey’s age formed a dancing troupe of reindeer. They looked very cute in brown leotards, with black noses and whiskers painted on their faces and big felt antlers on their heads. One of them had a flashing red nose and she was dancing a little ahead of the others.
“That’s so adorable!” Madison exclaimed, her eyes tearing up.
The Santa troupe was followed by snowmen, walking Christmas trees, and several kids wearing cardboard boxes decorated as Christmas gifts.
Madison and Karen clapped and laughed as one ingenious costume after another appeared. Madison felt wistful, wishing she hadn’t missed the parade so many times in the past years. She always wanted to come back to Misty Hollow for the week before Christmas, but she was usually either stuck in court or at tedious client parties. She promised herself that she’d never miss it again.
They waited for a long time for Abbey to appear, and at last, there she was. Karen took her phone out and recorded her. She was a very cool and poised ghost. Her two best friends were wearing similar costumes, and they were all carrying lit candles. Karen made a sound of disapproval.
“Hey, it’s ok, Mrs Thomson is nearby,” Madison said, pointing to their old elementary school teacher. She had white hair now, and she’d become much more frail since Madison had last seen her.
“How is she still teaching? She must be, like, eighty now?” Karen laughed.
“Yeah, about that. Apparently she refused to retire, and she’s still a really good teacher and the kids love her, so she got to stay on.” The two of them yelled and whooped as Abbey went past. She nodded acknowledgement to them, but didn’t wave like most of the kids when they saw their parents. Then she fixed her gaze straight ahead again, and continued to stride along regally.
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