by Kathi Daley
“Thank you, thank you,” Halia said after hugging both Kekoa and me. “This is definitely Grandma’s angel.” She turned the angel over. “See this little chip at the bottom? It’s been there since before I was born.”
“I’m so happy we could help you bring some Christmas cheer to your grandmother,” I said with genuine joy in my own heart. “The angel really is special.”
“Yes, she is.” She grabbed her purse. “I’m going to take this to Grandma right now. She’s going to be so happy. Would you like to come with me?”
“We’d love to,” Kekoa jumped in. “I love to meet the brave woman who came to a new country and started a new life when the one she’d known was in the process of being destroyed.”
As it turned out, going with Halia to visit her grandmother was one of the most moving Christmas moments of my life. The look on her face when Halia placed the angel in her hands was priceless. Halia suspected that her grandmother didn’t have long on this earth, but she’d lived a full life, and now that she had her angel back to keep her safe on her journey, Halia was certain she’d face her final journey in life with the same bravery and confidence as she’d faced that journey across the sea all those years ago.
“Wow,” Kekoa said as we walked toward the car. “That was intense.”
I squeezed her hand. “It really was. Until I listened to the woman tell her story, I guess I never really stopped to consider how much courage and determination it must have taken to get on that ship all by herself and start a new life in a new country at such a young age.”
“It does seem that the leap of faith she had to take was more than most would be willing to even contemplate. She had to have known that she’d face hardship, and possibly death, and yet she did it anyway.”
I thought about the angel. “She believed in her grandmother, she believed in the angel, and she had faith it would all work out. She did what was required at that moment and didn’t overthink it. In a way, I feel different after meeting the woman. Better somehow. Focused and centered in a way I haven’t been for a very long time.”
“I know what you mean. I feel the same way. I hope Uncle Keanu isn’t mad about the fact that we decided not to charge the woman for our services.”
“He won’t be mad,” I assured her. “Let’s stop and pick Sandy up on the way home. Maybe we can decorate the naked tree we have sitting in the corner of our living room. I find that I’m suddenly in the Christmas spirit.”
Kekoa smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. I was getting worried about you.” Her smile slipped a bit. “Did you ever talk to Luke?”
“No. I’ll call him later. I think I need to focus my thoughts before I enter into such a serious discussion.”
“Yeah,” Kekoa agreed. “That might be a good idea. I’d hate to see either of you do or say anything that would permanently destroy your relationship.”
“What relationship?” I asked, suddenly feeling my sour mood reappear. “We’ll never have a relationship unless we can figure out a way to live on the same piece of real estate.”
“But if you could figure that out?” Kekoa asked, looking a lot more nervous than was warranted by a theoretical conversation. “If you could find a way to live on the same piece of real estate, would you want to work it out?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess I would.”
After we returned to the condo, I once again changed into my running clothes and shoes. There was something about internal angst that made me want to run. When Luke first left, I was wearing out a pair of shoes a week, but things had become less intense as time went by, and I’d been busy at work, so I’d settled into a less frantic running schedule. As Sandy and I walked along the sidewalk past the front doors of the five condos that share the space with Kekoa and me, he once again became excited. I barely knew what he was doing before my silly dog took off and began jumping against the door of unit four.
“Sandy!” I called as the door to unit four slowly opened. I was about to offer an apology when I froze. “Luke?”
“Surprise,” he said, looking more nervous than happy as he bent down to pet my very excited dog.
“What are you doing here?”
He paused, taking a moment to just look at me, and then he answered in a rush as if he wanted to say what he needed to say all at once. “I decided to move back to the island, and Kekoa told me this unit was available. Since I sold the house on the bluff, I needed a place to stay, at least temporarily. I was going to tell you that I was planning to move back, but Kekoa thought it would be fun to surprise you.” His smile faded to concern. “I guess that might have been a bad idea.”
I looked around, expecting someone to jump out and tell me I was being punked. “You’re moving back? To Hawaii?”
He nodded.
“But how?”
“It’s a long story which I plan to share in detail, but, for now, suffice it to say, that I finally realized that as much as I loved my family and wanted to do right by them, I loved you even more. So I told them I couldn’t stay as they hoped I would, and we worked out a really complex plan which involves combining the herds my siblings already own and selling off part of the land in order to consolidate.”
My lips turned up just a bit. “So you’re really back. For good?”
He nodded. “I’m really back for good.”
I looked behind him. “Where are Duke and Dallas?” I knew if Luke was really moving back, he would have brought his dogs with him.
“They’re in mandatory quarantine, but I should be able to spring them in a few days.” Luke took a step toward me and then froze. “I suppose it might be presumptuous for me to assume that you might be willing to continue our relationship where we left off. We never did discuss the status of our relationship, but Kekoa did say that you weren’t seeing anyone and that you were missing me.”
“Kekoa should mind her own business.”
His smile faded again.
“I’m just kidding,” I said, stepping forward into his arms. “Kekoa was right. I’m not seeing anyone, and I did miss you. And,” I added, “I could use a date for this party Kekoa talked me into going to tomorrow night. As for the rest, let’s just take a few baby steps and see how it goes.”
“Do these baby steps include kissing? I’ve been dying to do that for months now.”
“I think dipping a toe into the relationship pool can include kissing,” I said as I raised my face to his.
As the sadness that had gripped me for months faded away, I felt my heart begin to expand in a way it hadn’t since he’d left. The baby steps I’d mentioned never did come into play. By the end of that long welcoming kiss, I knew we were back together, and by the end of Christmas break, I’d moved in with him. By the following summer, we were married, and by that Christmas, we were expecting the first of the four sons we were destined to have. As the years faded one into the other, I’d look back on this Christmas and remember the angel tree topper and the amazing woman who’d taken control of her life in order to ensure her own happily ever after. I suspect, in part, that it was her happy ending that allowed me to open my heart to my own happy ending, in spite of whatever obstacles Luke and I might face along the way.
The End
Legacy in Paradise
A Tj Jensen Christmas Short Story
Huge flakes of snow drifted on currents of air as they floated gently toward the Harriet Kramer Memorial Courtyard. The festive decorations brightened the seating area, which graced the entrance to the new town offices my husband, Kyle Donovan, had funded after the old town offices had been destroyed. I still felt ill whenever I thought about the explosion that occurred just over a year ago. That explosion had killed Harriet Kramer and a town council member, Lloyd Benson, and wounded four other people.
“A little to the left,” I called out to the men who were here to secure the thirty-foot Christmas tree Kyle had found for the gathering area. The white twinkle lights and fresh green garland had been strung earlier in the week, creating a
warm and welcoming feel. “That’s perfect,” I called back after the men had made the adjustment. I had to admit that Christmas last year had been kind of a blur as the entire Jensen family, along with most of the town, struggled to deal with such a senseless loss of life and property. But this year, my first as a married woman, was turning out to be one of my best Christmases yet.
“I have a delivery for Tj Jensen,” a man in a blue delivery uniform said.
“I’ll take that.”
“Are you Tj Jensen?” he asked.
“I am. Or at least I used to be. I’m Tj Donovan now.” I held out my hand, which had been adorned with a set of rings that couldn’t have been any more perfect if the little girl who used to dream of such things had designed them herself.
The man seemed hesitant, but eventually, he handed me the envelope he’d been tasked to deliver.
“By the way,” I asked him as he turned to leave, “how did you know I’d be here?”
“A lady in the post office pointed me in this direction.”
“Ah. Well, thank you.”
I was about to tear the envelope open when my best friend, Jenna Elston, rounded the corner with her double-wide stroller. I paused to smile as she headed in my direction. “What a nice surprise,” I beamed. “How did you know I was here?”
“The boys had a doctor’s appointment. The main parking area is packed with holiday shoppers, so I had to park on the street. We were on our way back to the van when we saw you standing here.” She glanced toward the tree. “It’s perfect.”
“It should be. Kyle spent hours and hours walking the forest around the property, looking for the perfect tree. When he found it, he marked it and has just been waiting for the opportunity to cut it down and bring it into town.”
Jenna looked around. “So, where is Kyle?”
“Unfortunately, the State Board of Education wanted to meet before they broke for the holidays, so he had to go to Carson City. He’ll be home tomorrow.”
Jenna draped a blanket over the stroller to protect her twin sons, Kaden and Karter, from the snow that had begun to come down even harder than it had been falling before. “I have to say that this little project you and Kyle worked up while you were on your honeymoon has turned out to be quite the undertaking.”
“Tell me about it.” I adjusted the Santa hat on my head. “If we’d known then what we know now, I’m not sure we would have moved forward, but if we can get through the accreditation process, we’ll be in business.”
“Are you still looking to open next fall?”
I nodded. “We are. I know it has been a ton of work, but come hell or high water, Kyle and I are both determined that Collins Academy is going begin classes in September.”
“I hope it all works out,” Jenna said. “After everything the two of you have been through, you deserve to have things go your way for once.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Jenna looked down at the babies, who were both fast asleep. “Dennis is working, and my girls are at the movies with your two. Do you want to get some coffee?”
“I’d love to, but I’m meeting with Grandpa, Doc, and Frannie in just under thirty minutes, and then I have a doctor’s appointment.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just due for my annual check-up.”
“So you’re feeling better? It seemed like you were feeling uggy for a while.”
I smiled. “I’m fine. I probably just had a bug.”
“That’s good. It seems like there has been a flu going around.” She glanced at the tree. “Are you still working on your Christmas gift for Kyle?”
I nodded. “This is a good time to work on it since Kyle’s out of town. Besides, with Christmas just around the corner, I’m running out of time.”
“He’s going to love the scrapbook whether you answer all the questions you set out to answer or not,” Jenna pointed out.
“I know. But I really want to fill in all the blanks. I’m honestly not sure if doing so will be important to Kyle, but it’s important to me.”
“I understand. I hope you find your answers. If you need help, give me a holler. I’m sure Mom and Bookman would love to babysit for a few hours.”
“I will. And thanks.”
“Lunch tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, hugging Jenna. “I’d love to have lunch with you tomorrow.”
After Jenna and the boys left, I sent Kyle a text, asking him to call me when he had the time. The undertaking that had sent him to the state capital for two days was a scheme the two of us had worked up while lying on a beach on Bora Bora. The year preceding our wedding had been a hellacious one that started out with my dad becoming engaged and effectively upsetting the apple cart, as I knew it. This, in my eyes, was a total betrayal, which was closely followed by the death of a man I’d deeply cared about, which led to the breakup of my relationship with my longtime boyfriend, Hunter Hanson. In the end, I found myself fleeing to South Carolina. Living on the East Coast was a new adventure for me and really was just what I needed to move on. Of course, I didn’t run away alone since my two half-sisters, Ashley and Gracie, Kyle, my grandpa, and Grandpa’s best friend, Doc, had come with me.
Unfortunately, just as we were settling in, my father had been critically injured in an auto accident that took the life of his best friend, Mayor Harper. I flew home, and my merry band of runaways followed. The loss of such an important man in our little community had been a serious blow, but to have that followed by an explosion at the town hall that had killed two long time members of the community just a few months later was almost more than our battered hearts could take.
But life had gone on, and we, as individuals and as a community, had prevailed. Kyle had turned his attention to rebuilding the town hall and putting the necessary staff and town council members back into place. Once that was accomplished, Kyle and I had gotten married, but not before my dad had announced that he and Rosalie were moving into one of the cabins located on the resort he owns so that Kyle, Ashley, Gracie, and I could have the big house should we want it. My grandpa, Ben, had already moved into his own cabin on the property after Dad and Rosalie had gotten hitched, so with Dad and Rosalie moving, the dilemma of where to live so as not to upset the equilibrium Ashley and Gracie had settled into seemed to be answered.
While there may be those who would wonder why I would rather live with my entire extended family at the family resort than alone with Kyle in his lakeside mansion, the truth of the matter is that I’d been concerned about upsetting Ashley and Gracie, who’d already been through so much in their short lives. Dad’s plan seemed perfect, and when I’d brought it up to Kyle, he’d assured me that, in his eyes, the plan was perfect as well.
Of course, the question then became what to do with the lakeside mansion Kyle had inherited from a grandfather he’d never met. Jenna had been correct when she mentioned that it was during our honeymoon that one of us, who can really remember which one with all the kissing that was going on, had decided that it might be a worthwhile idea to turn the house into a school for gifted teens who were pursuing a career in the software industry. Kyle was a bit of a computer nerd himself, and I knew he considered technology to be one of his main passions in life, so it seemed to fit.
“So what do you think?” the man who’d been supervising the others as they positioned the tree and hung the lights asked.
“It’s perfect. Thank you for coming out.” I handed the man one of my business cards. “If you take this over to Rob’s Pizza, he’ll give you beer and pizza on me.”
“Thank you, ma’am. That’s greatly appreciated.”
By the time I got to the library, Grandpa, Doc, and Frannie were all waiting for me. The project I was working on was a family history of the Collins family all the way back to Jeremiah Collins, the man who settled the area when he founded the first logging camp. When I started this project, I had a few pieces of information to begin with. Stories my old frie
nd, Zachary Collins, had told about his family, historical accountings found in the library and historical society, and, of course, the books and documents that the Collins family had either left behind in the house or had donated to the library. In the beginning, Frannie had suggested I work up a set of questions to help focus my efforts. With the help of Grandpa and Doc, we’d done just that, and then Frannie had joined the team when it came time to look for the answers.
“I found something that you might find interesting,” Frannie said after I’d arrived at the library.
“Oh, and what’s that?” I asked as I responded to a text from my half-sister, Ashley.
She handed me a photo of a man I recognized as Jeremiah Collins and a beautiful young woman I was pretty sure I’d never seen before.
“Who’s this?” I asked.
“We don’t know,” Doc replied. “We’ve been discussing it, and we’re all fairly certain that this is the first time a photo of this particular woman has shown up.”
I closely looked at the black and white photo. “The woman certainly is gorgeous.” I looked up. “Do you think she might have been a romantic acquaintance?”
Grandpa laughed. “Well, this certainly isn’t Jeremiah’s wife.”
Grandpa was right. I’d seen photos of Jeremiah Collins’ wife. She was a strong and sturdy woman, who I knew from my research, had a reputation as having a strong will and decisive personality, but no one would call her a beauty. Since Jeremiah and his wife had traveled to the States together from England, and this photo was definitely taken here at Paradise Lake, it had to have been taken after Jeremiah had married Zachary’s grandmother.
“They appear to be comfortable with each other,” I said. “Familiar, if you know what I mean.”
“I suppose she could be a mistress,” Doc said.
“If Jeremiah Collins had a mistress, I doubt that he’d have been so blatant about it,” Frannie argued. “If you look at the scene behind the couple, there are all sorts of people milling around.”
