Merry and Bright

by Debbie Macomber

  “You bought a turkey?” Patrick was thrilled. “I like turkey.”

  “You like everything,” Merry reminded him, kissing him on the top of the head. “What can I do to help, Mom?” she asked, determined not to let her hurting heart dampen the family’s Christmas spirit.

  Her mother locked eyes with Merry, seemingly aware of her daughter’s effort to make the best of the situation. “I’d like to get as much of the food preparation done today so we won’t be spending all our time in the kitchen tomorrow.”

  “Good idea.” The busier Merry was, the less time she’d have to think about Jayson and the mess she’d made. She’d put off thoughts of him until later, when she felt better prepared to deal with the myriad of emotions that churned inside of her.

  Well, she could try.

  Her mother had a list of tasks that kept Merry busy until mid-morning. Her father was out and about, and it wasn’t until noon before she realized her brother had been quiet all morning. He almost always enjoyed helping in the kitchen, too.

  “Where’s Patrick?” Merry asked, her suspicions rising.

  Her mother was busy at the kitchen table, peeling potatoes, and glanced up. “The last time I saw him he was playing computer games.”

  That made sense, seeing that Merry had dominated the family computer for weeks now. The only time Patrick had to play his computer games was right after school.

  “Lunch is ready. I’ll get him.”

  Merry sought out her brother and found him sitting on his bed with the computer on his lap. “Patrick?”

  He glanced up and his eyes widened with a look of surprise and guilt.

  Merry knew that look all too well. “What are you doing, Patrick?” she asked, stepping farther into his bedroom.

  He closed the computer and shook his head adamantly. “Nothing.”

  “It doesn’t look like nothing to me.” A sickening feeling attacked her stomach. “Were you online with Jay?”

  Her brother’s eyes bulged and again he adamantly shook his head. “I promised not to tell.”

  “Patrick.” She groaned and sank onto the bed next to her brother. “What did you do?”

  “He made me promise not to tell.”

  “What did you tell him?” she pleaded. “Please, Patrick, I need to know.”

  He stared at her for a long time. “You promise not to be mad at me?”

  She wasn’t sure she could swear to it. “I’ll do my best.”

  “I told him you were sad. I was mad at him, too, and told him I wanted him to have a crummy Christmas, but then I felt bad and told him I changed my mind and he could have a good Christmas and I was sorry I said all those things to him.”

  Merry sat down on the bed next to her brother. “I’m glad you apologized.”

  “I…I told him what you said,” he added evasively.

  “Which was what? Remember, I said a lot of things.”

  The guilty look returned and he avoided eye contact. “Just that you had no regrets and that you couldn’t be angry with him. You said that, right?”

  Her chest tightened before she nodded. These were words she’d prefer he hadn’t shared. Rather than berate her brother who only meant well, she reminded him it was time for lunch.

  “Did you make toasted cheese sandwiches?” Patrick asked. Those were his favorite, along with peanut butter and jelly.

  “I believe I did,” she said, hugging her brother. She wasn’t entirely sure what Patrick had said to Jayson. “Will you do me a favor?” she asked as she looped an arm over his shoulder. “Don’t write to Jay again, okay?”

  Her brother sighed expressively. “Never?”

  “Please,” she whispered, her throat tight and raw.

  “I’ll do my best,” he said, repeating her own promise to him earlier.

  —

  Her mother tired out easily and laid down to rest following lunch. Merry was cleaning the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Bogie barked and raced across the living room, while Patrick leaped from the kitchen table and rushed to the front door. Bogie raced to the door with him, tail wagging.

  With a dish towel slung over her shoulder, Merry followed her brother.

  Patrick opened the door and Jayson walked into the house. Bogie barked furiously, slapping his tail against his legs in eagerness to greet him. Jayson petted him, which Bogie loved, and then Bogie dutifully returned to his bed.

  Merry gasped, sucking in a deep breath.

  His gaze instantly locked with hers. “Merry Christmas.”

  “What…” She fumbled with words, hardly knowing where to start. She meant to ask him what he was doing. Instead, she stood looking at him, her mouth hanging open and her voice completely lost.

  He looked good, as if he’d slept like a baby, while she’d spent a miserable night staring up at the ceiling, wondering what she could have done, should have done, differently. She wanted to ask him that very question. Instead, she stood rooted to the floor, hardly able to breathe, just looking at him.

  Her mother was in the recliner and woke, opening her eyes. She blinked a couple times and then smiled. “You must be Jayson Bright.”

  “I am.” Jay stepped forward and gently took her mother’s hand.

  “I believe you’re here for my daughter,” her father said, standing to greet him.

  “I am,” he answered, his gaze wavering briefly away from Merry.

  “He’s here for me, too,” Patrick insisted. “I invited him. Mom said I could.”

  “Mom?” Merry asked, unable to hide her surprise.

  “I believe we should give Merry and Mr. Bright a few minutes alone,” her mother told Patrick. “You okay with that?”

  Patrick nodded, but Merry sensed his reluctance.

  She retreated into the kitchen and Jayson followed her. She stood with her back against the counter, fearing her heart was in her eyes for him to read. He simply took her breath away and so she waited for him to speak first.

  “You feel any different this morning?” he asked.

  She swallowed against the lump in her throat. “Different about us, you mean?”

  He shrugged. “I’m here to ask if you’re willing to give us a shot? I want to apologize for the things I said yesterday. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Here you were standing right in front me, doing your best to tell me who you were. Instead of listening, I had my eye on another woman, certain she was the one I’d been longing to meet.”

  “She was beautiful, and sophisticated and graceful—”

  “But she wasn’t you,” he said, cutting her off. “You’re the woman I want, Merry, and you’re beautiful, both inside and out. That event planner might have been attractive, but she isn’t you, and you…you mean the world to me.”

  Merry’s eyes welled, but she refused to let the tears come.

  “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, Merry Knight, and I’m crazy about you and that dimple of yours.”

  “My dimple.”

  “Fell in love with it the first time I saw it.”

  “Oh. And when was that?”

  He grinned. “I saw you eating lunch at your desk, which is…”

  “…against company policy,” she finished for him.

  “I stared you down and you didn’t flinch, but that dimple appeared. Ever since that day I’ve wanted to kiss it in the worst way.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Maybe not then, but it is now.” His grin widened. “It’s out in full force right now.”

  She raised her hand to her cheek as if to confirm what he said.

  He exhaled slowly. “After I left you at the bus stop last night, I went home to an empty, cold condo and realized something important.”

  “Oh.”

  “It was dark there even with the lamp on. Even with the city below in full holiday display. You’re the light in my life, Merry. You have my heart. When my cousin told me he was marrying Maddy, a girl we’d both known years ago, he told me he just knew that she was the one for
him. He wasn’t going to take a chance on losing her. At the time, I had trouble not rolling my eyes.

  “I understand what he meant now. You’re the one for me, Merry. I know if I let pride stand between us that it could possibly be the biggest mistake of my life, and I’m not willing to risk that. So,” he said, and breathed deeply, “I’m asking if you’re willing to give me another chance.”

  Her heart melted at his words, and despite what he said, she had trouble believing it was really her he wanted. “But…you saw the woman in red and you wanted her…”

  “Wanted her? No way. I was a fool not to recognize what was right in front of my eyes. I’m so sorry about that, Merry. My name might be Bright, but until I met you I was lost in a black void. You were the one who showed me the way out of the dark. You’re the one who showed me I was in the dark.”

  He stepped toward her and she met him halfway. He pulled Merry into his arms and hugged her close, as if she were the most precious gift he’d ever received. “I knew the minute I held you we were meant to be together. And those kisses we shared. Tell me you felt it, too?”

  She nodded, because she, too, had experienced that sense of rightness. She felt at home in his arms.

  “I knew it,” he whispered and kissed her again, his mouth warm and eager over hers. Merry wrapped herself around him, holding on to him as if she never wanted to let him go.

  “Mom, Mom,” Patrick cried out from the hallway. “They’re kissing. That’s a good sign, right?”

  “A very good sign,” Merry heard her mother reply. “I’d say the future looks merry and bright,” she said, calling out from the kitchen.

  “That’s funny, Mom,” Patrick said, laughing.

  Jayson Bright broke off the kiss and Merry smiled up at him. Leaning up on her tiptoes, she pressed her forehead against his.

  “I’ll never look at Christmas the same way again,” he whispered close to her ear. “Not as long as I’ve got you in my life.”

  Patrick stuck his head around the corner and whispered back to his mother, “They’re kissing again.”

  “Patrick, please,” Merry warned. “Jay and I would like some privacy.”

  Her brother cast his gaze to the floor. “I wanted to know that Mom and I did the right thing.”

  “You did,” she assured him, smiling up at Jayson. “You couldn’t have chosen better.”

  “I’m the lucky one,” Jayson insisted, wrapping his arms around Merry, holding her close. He kissed her again and then broke away and looked at her brother.

  “Say, Patrick, could you give me a hand.”

  Ever eager to help, Patrick leaped up and followed Jayson outside to where he’d parked his car. Together the two of them carted in beautifully wrapped gifts to set under the tree, and then Jayson returned for a second load while Merry looked on, unable to believe her eyes.

  Merry and her parents watched in stunned disbelief when Jay returned with a large box, which he set on the kitchen counter. Merry glanced inside and noticed a prime rib roast.

  “I was going to invite myself to dinner,” Jayson explained when she cast a curious look in his direction. “It seemed rude not to make a contribution toward the meal.”

  Sorting through the contents of the box, Merry noticed he’d provided an entire four-course dinner fit for royalty. “We were going to order pizza tonight…”

  “Prime rib,” her father broke in. “Merry, we’re having prime rib. I think we can forgo the pizza.”

  “The roast is cooked and ready to eat. All that’s needed is for everything to be heated.”

  “Jayson, oh my,” Robin whispered, seemingly overwhelmed, her hands close to her mouth. “This is too much.”

  “I wanted to thank you and Patrick for signing Merry up on Mix & Mingle, and Bogie, too—”

  “Mom, Dad, look,” Patrick cried out, interrupting Jayson. Her brother sat next to the Christmas tree, crumpled Christmas wrap at his feet, holding a laptop computer. “Jayson got me my own laptop.”

  “Patrick, you’re supposed to wait until Christmas,” his father chastised.

  “I know, I know, but it was a big package and it had my name on it.”

  “Oh Jayson,” Merry whispered, her eyes clouding with tears. She knew how badly her brother wanted his own computer. “That’s perfect.”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist as though being separated from her longer than a few minutes was too long. “The only thing that feels perfect is being with you and your family,” he whispered.

  “We don’t need gifts as long as I’ve got you.”

  “You’ve got me,” Jayson said. “My cousin told me I’d know when I’d found the right woman, and I do.”

  “I know, too,” she whispered back. And she did.

  TO BARBARA AND DON GERVAIS

  Wishing you many happy years

  in your Vero Beach, Florida, home

  BALLANTINE BOOKS BY DEBBIE MACOMBER

  Any Dream Will Do

  If Not for You

  A Girl’s Guide to Moving On

  Last One Home

  ROSE HARBOR INN

  Sweet Tomorrows

  Silver Linings

  Love Letters

  Rose Harbor in Bloom

  The Inn at Rose Harbor

  BLOSSOM STREET

  Blossom Street Brides

  Starting Now

  CHRISTMAS NOVELS

  Merry and Bright

  Twelve Days of Christmas

  Dashing Through the Snow

  Mr. Miracle

  Starry Night

  Angels at the Table

  For a complete list of books by Debbie Macomber,

  visit her website at debbiemacomber.com.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  DEBBIE MACOMBER is a leading voice in women’s fiction, with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Twelve of her novels have hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, with three debuting at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly lists.

  debbiemacomber.com

  Facebook.com/​debbiemacomberworld

  Twitter: @debbiemacomber

  Instagram: @debbiemacomber

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  Savor the magic of the season with

  Debbie Macomber’s Christmas novel

  Twelve Days of Christmas

  Filled with warmth, humor, and the promise of love.

  Continue reading for a preview.

  Available from Ballantine Books.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Cain Maddox stepped into the elevator, and then just as the doors were about to close he heard a woman call out.

  “Hold that for me.”

  Cain thrust out his arm to keep the doors from sliding shut. He inwardly groaned when he saw the woman who lived across the hall come racing toward him. He kept his eyes trained straight ahead, not inviting conversation. He’d run into this particular woman several times in the last few months since he’d moved into the building. She’d stopped several times to pet Schroeder, his Irish setter. The one he’d inherited from his grandfather when Bernie had moved into the assisted-living complex. She’d chattered away, lavishing affection on the dog. Not the talkative type, Cain responded minimally to her questions. He liked her all right, but she was a bit much, over the top with that cutesy smile. Okay, he’d admit it. He found her attractive. He wasn’t sure what it was about her, because usually the chirpy, happy ones didn’t appeal to him. Regardless, nothing would come of it, and that suited him. He knew better. Yet every time he saw her a yellow light started flashing in his head. Warning, warning. Danger ahead. Cain could feel this woman was trouble the first moment he saw her and heard her exuberant “good morning.” Even her name was cheerful: Julia. Looking at her, it was easy to envision the opening scene from The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews twirling around, arms extended, singing, joyful, excited. Even the thought was enough to make Cain cringe. He could do happy, just not first thing in the morning.

/>   To put it simply, he found little good about mornings, and second, he’d learned a long time ago not to trust women, especially the types who were enthusiastic and friendly. Experience had taught him well, and, having been burned once, he wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.

  “Thanks,” she said a bit breathlessly as she floated into the elevator. Yes, floated. Her coat swirled around her as she came to stand beside him. On her coat’s lapel she wore a pretty Christmas-tree pin that sparkled with jewel-tone stones. “I’m running late this morning.”

  Pushing the button to close the door, Cain ignored her. He didn’t mean to be rude, but he wasn’t up for conversation.

  “Didn’t I see you walking Schroeder in the dog park the other day?” she asked.

  “No.” He hadn’t seen her. Maybe he had, but he wasn’t willing to admit it.

  “Really? I’m pretty sure I saw you.”

  He let her comment fall into empty space. Could this elevator move any slower?

  Fortunately, the elevator arrived at the foyer before she could continue the conversation.

  “You aren’t much of a morning person, are you?” she asked as he collected his newspaper, tucked it under his arm, and headed for the door.

  Julia reached for her own and followed him. Would he never shake this woman? They were welcomed by the Seattle drizzle that was part of the winter norm for the Pacific Northwest. Cain’s office at the insurance company where he worked as an actuary was within easy walking distance. Julia matched her steps with his until she reached the bus stop outside the Starbucks, where, thankfully, she stopped.

  “Have a good day,” she called after him.

  Cain would, especially now that he was free of Ms. Sunshine.

  —

  “Excuse me?” Julia Padden stood in the foyer of her apartment building the following morning, astonished that her neighbor would steal her newspaper while she stood directly in front of him. She braced her fist against her hip and raised both her finely shaped eyebrows at him.