Christmas Present

by Lauren Wood

  Derrick walked out, his hair a mess, no shirt covering his upper body; some tight jeans on his lower half. He was a very nice looking man. “Hey I know you don’t have anything to wear, but here is a shirt that you can wear. Why don’t you go warm up in the shower, after that the fire will be able to full get rid of the chill from the rain.”

  Mac smiled, got up and grabbed the shirt. Her fingers lightly touched his as she grabbed the shirt. She felt a sharp electric jolt. Mac turned red, as the memory of what she had thought about a few minutes ago came back to her mind.

  Turning on the water, she stepped under the warm stream; it washed over her, cleansing her mind and body. Derrick had left his shampoo and body washes in the bathroom for her to use. She inhaled the scents as she washed her body. Mac wished that she could stop falling for men so quickly. But she felt her body react to the thought of the man who was in the other room, probably lying in front of the fire with no shirt on.

  Derrick sat by the fire, the warmth felt much better now that he was clean. He thought back to what Mac had said about moving on, he knew he would have too. But, the pain she had caused with her betrayal. She had been his first and only serious relationship. He had given her everything. Why? He felt so stupid right now. The shame of knowing the whole town had seen her with the other men. The fact he had been blind to it. Worse yet the fact that the accident was something he would have to always live with.

  He heard a noise and looked up, there was Mac. Her brown hair flowing around her shoulders, the shirt coming just above her knees, she looked beautiful. Derrick knew it had been a long time since he had human contact, more than three years now, and his body came alive without much thought.

  He tried to quickly think of anything else but how she looked in his shirt, but his mind wouldn’t let him move past it. His body continued to react; he adjusted himself to make it less obvious that he really enjoyed what he saw. This was not the type of night he wanted to have. Sure sex was just that, but he knew that this girl was fragile, she was off limits.

  Shortly after she got out, he made a quick excuse and went to the bedroom. No better way to avoid a mistake than simply heading to bed. Mac watched him walk away, Derrick saw a bit of disappointment in her eyes, or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part. What guy wouldn’t like a girl to want to make love to them so bad they would throw themselves at him? But Derrick really wasn’t like this; instead he would like to know a female first. Strike that Derrick thought I never want to be in love again. As he tried to force himself to sleep his mind was trying to talk him into going to her and taking what he wanted, even if he had to lie to get it. Derrick instead forced his body to stay, and eventually he slept.

  The next morning his nose was assaulted by the best smell he had had the pleasure to have in quite some time. He sniffed in the air, and then figured he was simply dreaming. After all they didn’t have any ingredients; at least he couldn’t imagine the cabin coming fully stocked. But he swore as his body came more awake that he could hear the bacon sizzling, and smell the fat of the meat that was one of his favorites. There was also the smell of eggs, pancakes, toast, and coffee.

  He walked out to the kitchen to find it wasn’t a dream. “It smells great!” He said, scaring Mac.

  “Oh my goodness.” She screamed and jumped in the air. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “I’m sorry.” He chuckled. “Where did the food come from?”

  “There is a little store around the bend of the road. I walked and got a few things with the bit of money I had left. It’s the least I can do; after all you didn’t need to help me out.” She smiled.

  It was genuine he could tell. Derrick smiled back at her. For some reason he had felt a bit better when he woke up this morning. He wasn’t sure if it was part of the process of getting better, or it was just a good day.

  “I’m sorry I went to bed so quickly last night. I was really tired I had been driving for hours by the time I found you.” Derrick said as he sat down and looked at the delicious plate of food Mac sat down in front of him.

  “It’s okay; really I had a lot of things to think about. You know I had told you to move on, but I’ve been holding on to so many things through the years. So I finally had to let it all go.” Mac sighed.

  “Do you want to talk about them?” Derrick offered. Though again he wasn’t sure if he could help her or not. His wounds after all were only beginning to heal, and he had resisted for so long the healing, would it be quick? He didn’t know, but he really hoped.

  “No, not right now, maybe later.” She smiled. She took a seat across the table from him.

  Derrick inhaled the food, it was delicious. “Wow this is really good!” He complimented her.

  “Thank you.” She turned a bright red color.

  “You’re really beautiful when you smile, or turn red.” Derrick said, the words coming out of him before he knew what he was saying. But it was too late. That loneliness was a killer, his body wanted the human contact, but his mind still fought it.

  Mac just looked at him, not sure what to say. Her heart fluttered, and she wanted to believe the words. But so many times in the past she would read into these types of things and fall for the wrong guy. Mike had been the perfect example. But he had freely taken what she offered, however, he wasn’t willing to give all of himself.

  As she studied him, he looked down at his coffee. The tension was in the room; he had caused it, and had no idea how to stop it. Derrick really hadn’t meant to say it, well he had thought it, and it was true. But he hated to show those inner feelings.

  Mac got up and grabbed his plate, took it to the sink, and brought back the coffee pot, and poured him more coffee.

  “Thanks.” Derrick said.

  After she had finished up the dishes, she went into the other room. Stepping out onto the porch she took a deep breath of the sweet air. The green was all over, and she really wanted to explore. Mac figured after she finished her coffee she would take a short hike. The time with herself in the woods might help to clear her mind, or she hoped it would.

  Walking off towards a trail, Mac went in search of peace of mind. No thought of going inside and telling Derrick she was walking.

  Derrick sat in the kitchen for some time. He was trying to think of why his mind was making him say the things he had. Searching his mind, he had to admit he was sad and lonely; he missed being involved with another person.

  He didn’t know how long she had been gone, hadn’t even realized she had gone off on her own. Derrick didn’t know if she was aware of the dangers of the woods, or anything. His mind went to the fear of something happening to her.

  But should he go and look for her? Which way had she gone? He knew none of this. So he didn’t want to out in the opposite way she might have gone. Instead he tried to think of anything else, but Mac kept coming to his mind. Derrick watched as the time slowly ticked by, soon it was two hours she had been sitting outside, waiting for her to show back up on the porch.

  What if she got lost? He thought panic filled his mind immediately. What if she fell over a cliff? What if she was out there hurt? He couldn’t do anything to help her. Not a single thing and he felt helpless. Derrick paced around the front of the cabin, going in and out of the front door, watching for Mac, and getting more and more nervous as the time slipped by and he watched the sun getting lower in the sky.

  As his agitation got stronger and the sun got lower, he finally considered once again going out to look for Mac. But where would he start?

  Just as he was considering which trial to follow, he heard some movement behind him. He turned to see Mac walking through the woods, there were leaves stuck in her hair. He ran over to her.

  “What happened, are you okay? Where have you been? Are you hurt?” Derrick asked in rapid fire. He pulled some of the leaves out of her hair.

  “I’m sorry; I got out by this beautiful waterfall and just got lost in time. It was so nice, amazing.” Mac said, still seeming to be able to se
e the view in her mind, her eyes were clouded.

  Derrick took a deep breath, letting out a huge sigh.

  “You want to come see it?” Mac asked.

  “I don’t think we have time today, the sun will be going down soon, and I don’t want to get lost in the woods.”

  Mac shrugged her shoulders. She had been shocked when she had walked into the opening by the cabin to see Derrick there. He had been facing away from her, but she could tell he was tense. Mac hadn’t realized he had been worried about her though. All the thoughts she had gotten straight in the afternoon quickly slipped out of her mind.

  She had made some progress and reined in her feelings for Derrick, or those feelings she thought she might have. To be honest, Mac wasn’t sure if she trusted her heart or head anymore when it came to men.

  Instead of staying outside and facing Derrick and her feelings though she went inside, she didn't want to think about it. She had gotten a few other things when shopping and wanted to cook a nice meal for them.

  As he walked her go into the cabin Derrick about kicked himself. What a fool you are, he thought in his mind. Why did you just act like a husband whose wife was missing? Derrick thought about disappearing from the camp, going off into the woods, riding his bike away from her and all these feelings that he didn’t want. But instead he sat down on the front porch and watched as the sun slowly slipped into the sky, and the stars came out.

  “Hey are you hungry?” Mac interrupted his thoughts.

  Derrick looked over at her. His heart started to beat a little quicker as he thought of earlier when he couldn’t find her. He shook his head, knowing this was not what he wanted, but wasn’t sure how to fight it. “Yes.” He said standing up to go inside.

  As he walked into the house he smelled what he guessed was meatloaf. Entering the kitchen he saw a feast on the table. His mouth watered, his stomach growled loudly in appreciation of the smells and waiting for the food to hit it.

  He sat down and looked at the meal. “You did a great job, it smells wonderful.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled. It felt good for a man to say nice things to her.

  Though Derrick wanted to shovel the food into his mouth quickly, he took his time and savored each and every bit. Mac listened to him eat; the noises he made were clearly because he was enjoying the meal. She smiled as she heard the little sighs and moans.

  “This is one of the best meatloaf’s I’ve ever had.” Derrick said as he took another huge piece of it.

  “It’s my grandmother’s recipe. I always loved it when I was growing up.” Mac smiled.

  “My compliments to the chef, your guy was dumb to let you go.” Derrick said as he put another bite into his mouth.

  Mac turned red, not sure how to respond to the comment. Mike had never complimented her on anything she had cooked. Not once in the months they had been together had he even made a sound of pleasure when he put some food she had slaved over into his mouth. But Derrick was loud, and complimented her several times; she continued to hear sighs and moans of pleasure as he ate more and more.

  Finally, Derrick pushed himself away from the table. “I have to stop eating; I’m going to bust open if I don’t!”

  Mac laughed. Derrick started to laugh too.

  “Thank you very much, you didn’t have to cook that all, but I’m sure happy that you did.” Derrick said patting his stomach.

  “It’s the least I could do. Really you have helped me out so much.” Mac admitted.

  “But you said you had very little money. Please don’t spend it all on me.”

  Mac smiled at him. He was so different from anyone in her past, and especially from Mike. They were polar opposites. Derrick was clearly a very caring man, and one who liked to show how much he appreciated other people’s efforts.

  “Would you like me to start a fire again?” Derrick asked.

  “Oh that sounds nice, it was really nice falling asleep and hearing the fire crackling.” Mac stated.

  Derrick went outside to grab some more of the firewood that he had cut that afternoon as he waited for her to show up. As he did that Mac was in the kitchen cleaning up after the meal. She smiled as she worked, and her mind floated into a fantasy of what it would be like to be Derrick’s wife.

  Mac stopped for a second, and knew that all of her talking to herself today about getting attached to him had been worthless. Here she was imagining that she was his wife, and she didn’t even know his last name.

  After she finished the dishes and composing herself she went to the living room to see the fire roaring. She went to sit over on the rug in front of the fire, trying to sit far enough away from him that she wouldn’t be tempted to touch him.

  They sat quietly, both of them stealing looks at the other one. Derrick completely petrified to ever get involved again. Mac afraid she was simply letting herself slip into love much too quickly once again.

  “I’m sorry if I scared you today, I really hadn’t realized how long I had been gone.” Mac finally said.

  “I didn’t know if you had gotten lost or hurt.” Derrick looked at her; Mac could see the truthfulness of the worry in his eyes.

  “Next time I’ll let you know I’m going, or you can go with me. I think you’ll really like this waterfall.” Mac stated.

  “Sure we can go tomorrow.” Derrick answered.

  “I marked the path though; I grew up in the woods. Not these woods, but we always knew how to make sure we would make it home.” Mac told him and explained a bit more about how her brothers had shown her at an early age how to mark her path.

  “That was very smart of them.” Derrick said.

  Derrick listened intently to her stories of growing up near the woods in Maryland, and some of the funniest stories he had ever heard. Soon his eyes were watering he was laughing so hard, his stomach hurt and Mac was also crying tears of laughter.

  “Though I would love to stay up later I think I’ll go to bed. After all we do have a hike to go on tomorrow.” Derrick stood up and headed into the bedroom.

  Mac watched him walk away. This had been the first time in years she had told stories of her childhood. Mike had never been interested to hear them; in fact none of the men she had dated in the past had ever even asked her about growing up. Mac shook her head in wonderment as to how she could ever have let so many men value her so little.

  Falling asleep she listened to the fire and enjoyed the fact that Derrick had seemed so much different from the men of her past, again she wished she could be his wife. But knew it was much too quick to think this way. Again she didn’t even know his last name. It reminded her of the Carrie Underwood song, “Last Name”, that had been so popular at one time, and she swore if a man would go for it that song would be her life.

  The next morning he was up first, and she walked into the kitchen to see him making them both breakfast. Something Mike would never have considered. He was below doing that type of thing.

  Mac walked in from the back of him, and stood watching Derrick. It shocked her quite a bit. This big guy moving around the kitchen like he owned it, he was comfortable, and she could tell he knew what he was doing. She saw chocolate chip pancakes being flipped with a precision she had only seen from seasoned chefs. Mac had to wonder if that was what this man did for a living. She smiled picturing him with the white outfit of chefs, or maybe just an apron with nothing underneath.

  As if he could feel her eyes on him Derrick turned around to see Mac; she was just staring at him, honestly it made him happy, but embarrassed as well.

  “Hey I figured I was up first so I would whip up a little bit of breakfast.” Derrick smiled.

  Mac look at the plate full of pancakes that was already cooked, it was enough to feed a football team of high school boys. “It smells delicious, but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat that much!”

  Derrick laughed, “I didn’t pay enough attention to the measurements I was using.”

  Mac sat down and gladly took the plate that was l
oaded with enough pancakes to feed her for a week! She dug in and was welcomed with the warm chocolate melting in her mouth, mixing with the pancake mix and syrup. “This is delicious, it’s not like any other chocolate chip pancake I’ve ever had.” She said honestly, licking her lips and putting another bit into her mouth.

  Derrick smiled as he watched her eat. “It’s an old family recipe, but my grandma used to make it for about 10 of us at a time. Thus the reason we have so many of them! “

  He sat down with a plate that had a ton of food on it as well. He had poured them both coffees; it was some of his favorite coffee. “I hope you like the coffee, I order this online and this is my last bit until I find a new location to stay for a bit.”

  She took a sip of the hot warm liquid and was surprised at the complexity of flavors she tasted. “Oh my, it goes with the pancakes perfectly. I love the slight hint of chocolate to it.”

  “I know it is Peet’s coffee, the best in the states!” Derrick answered.

  Mac kept eating until she knew that no more food could fit into her body. She looked at her plate shocked to see she had actually finished almost all of it. “I can’t eat like that every day I’ll weigh 300 pounds!” She laughed.

  Derrick looked at her, and smiled. “But you wouldn’t look bad with some extra weight on you either, you are pretty skinny.”

  Mac turned red, and looked down at the floor. Really he had complimented her so many times in the little amount of time they knew each other; she wasn’t sure what to say. Thank you was all she could finally come up with.

  “So after I do the dishes, we’ll go for that hike, okay?” Derrick asked.

  “I can do the dishes if you want.” Mac offered.

  “You can help me if you want. We’ll get it done quicker if both of us do them.”

  “Sure.” Mac agreed.

  They went to cleaning the kitchen up in a peaceful silence. Not a silence that either of them felt was awkward, but it was normal. To both of them it felt as if they had known each other for years. This seemed so natural to be with the other person, the kitchen was done before they realized and they went to get ready for their hike.