Home for Love (An Adult Contemporary Romance)

by Price, Aneesa

  “The only other plans I have are probably the same as yours so I don’t see why we can’t do it together. I have to do some Christmas shopping and I want to decorate the house with Amber and my grandparents. They’ve been putting it off until we got here so she could be part of it. It will be her first family Christmas with more than just her and me. In fact, why don’t you join in? She can have both her parents with her and her great-grandparents.” He nodded, wrote it down on the makeshift itinerary he’d created, so she carried on, “I also want to get her some warm clothes. Gran sent me some basics, but it’s not enough.”

  “You might want to get some for yourself as well, I imagine,” Todd stated, as he scribbled.

  “Some what?” She looked at him questioningly.

  “Clothes. You probably need some too?” Except for a change in shirt, she was wearing the same things she’d worn the day before. He ignored her gaping expression and spoke as he wrote, “Clothes for Amber and Bree. Okay, what’s next?”

  She flushed with embarrassment. “Todd, that’s very sweet of you, but I can’t afford that. I’ll get some things for Amber. I’ve got what I need for myself. I’m good, thank you.”

  He waved away her protest. “With all due respect, Bree, you’re the mother of my daughter and I’ll be paying for Amber’s clothes, so I can certainly spring for some stuff for you too.” He cut off her counter-argument. “No, don’t argue, you owe me, so indulge me please?” Geez, he remembered the Bree he used to go out with and how much time she’d spent grooming and primping with makeup, clothes, and shoes. She’d been just like the other girls and had spoken to him of clothes while he’d nodded, trying to score points while not understanding a word she’d said. That Bree was miles apart from the one sitting across from him who felt that one outfit and a few changes of a shirt was enough. Guilt tugged at him, but he shoved it away, focusing on wooing instead.

  “You have a say in Amber’s life, Todd, not mine. Don’t play dirty.” Her eyes were narrowed and a pink glow of irritation stained her beautiful face. She never could hide what she felt.

  “Okay. Sorry. That was out of line.” He deliberately reached out for her hand and ignored the frisson of excitement that the contact ignited. He offered an explanation. “You’ve been the sole provider for the last seven years. I should’ve been helping with that. So, to me, buying you some clothes and some other things you might need is self-indulgence. My way of making up for lost time and it helps with the guilt, knowing that I haven’t contributed at all so far. So, please may I buy you some things?”

  He put on the works. She’d never been able to resist him when he pleaded with her so reasonably in the past and it looked like she still couldn’t resist. “Okay, fine. I’ll accept the offer as long as it doesn’t become a regular occurrence. That’s sweet of you. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” he grinned, thinking that he planned to make the upkeep of his family a very regular occurrence in his life. “Now, before we go wake up our sleeping beauty,” he relished the feel of the word, our, on his tongue, “let’s put some activities together on this list.” He pointed to the piece of paper he’d been writing on.

  xxx

  The next few days went by in an activity-filled blur. They completed their shopping for Christmas, clothes, and school supplies by the second day on the infamous itinerary. This afforded the perfect opportunity for Amber and Bree to see the variety of new stores that had sprung up in the booming tourist town. Bree remembered having to fly to Fairbanks when she was growing up to go on a shopping spree. Although Fairbanks, being the closest metropolis to Devil’s Peak, was not far in distance, the terrain between the town and the city constituted a web of rivers, mountains, forests, and vast, lonely expanses of uninhabited, wild land, so the most efficient way to get to the city was to fly. Fortunately, coordinated flights out of town, such as those provided by courier services, Todd’s business being one of the providers, and the economic growth in Devil’s Peak made that a superfluous exercise now. Bree, for one, was glad of that. The short daylight hours in winter meant that you crammed as much as you could in the little time provided and things done quickly and conveniently was a bonus.

  Shopping in town also allowed them to fuel the rumors enough so that everyone could have a good yack about the ready-made family and get it out of their systems. The gossip was inevitable and putting it off would’ve only drawn it out. She wasn’t naïve though. She knew that they’d soon expect a wedding invitation and the idea was sweet, but completely impractical. As much as she had loved him before, she was not going to jeopardize the hard-earned equilibrium in her life with romance.

  Currently, things with Todd seemed to be going well, if a bit tentative. He spent every moment of his time with Amber and by default her too. When he wasn’t showing them the sites in and around town, he spent time with Amber on the farm. Todd had even joined in the Christmas decorating activities, respectfully taking over the climbing and physically demanding tasks from Daniel. At Amber’s insistence, his home had also becoming a kitsch, tinsel-twinkling zone of red, green, and gold.

  Bree loved his home. It was a modest, ranch-style house on a good five acres of land, situated in a family-oriented neighborhood that skirted the edges of town. The house had enough room to build on or to just enjoy some of the outdoors in his backyard. Todd hadn’t seen the point of decorating his house, not really being the Christmas celebrating type, but Amber had managed to manipulate him nicely. Bree let that one go, admittedly finding an immature sense of satisfaction in his grumpiness as he paid for a horde of unnecessary knick-knacks.

  Bree was making rosemary and bread stuffing for the turkey when she heard Amber chattering as she ran into the kitchen, Todd and Daniel following her closely behind. “Gran, mom,” Amber exclaimed, bobbing up and down in excitement. “I saw Santa and his house and these huge ice cupltures.”

  “Ice sculptures,” Bree corrected. Amber had been treated with a trip to the North Pole, a town recreated in Alaska in honor of the Christmas spirit.

  Amber nodded, “Uh-huh, and they were in all these really cool shapes. I saw Bambi, animals, and even elves. Then Dad and grandpa took me to have hot chocolate and waffles at Santa’s shop. He's got his own restaurant and I saw Santa go past us in his sled with the reindeer and everything.” Amber took a breath and then carried right on, “Santa’s town, it’s called North Pole, you know?” She shared knowledgably. “It’s got lights and lots of Christmas trees and this huge toy store.” Grabbing Bree by the hand, Amber didn’t even notice the amused laughter of the adults. “Come see.”

  “Wow,” Bree exclaimed, enchanted by her little one’s glee. The toy certainly was impressive, taking up a huge portion of the living area. “It’s really cool. You could play for ages with it.”

  “Uh-huh,” Amber’s head bobbed up and down vigorously. “Dad bought it for me. He said that it’s my pre-Christmas present. I like Alaska, there’s lots of presents here.” Bree bent down and gave the miniature Santa Land the attention that Amber expected. It was a replica of Santa’s house and the surrounding street and homes found in North Pole. Todd and Daniel had taken Amber there for the day so that Bree and Moira could finish the preparation for Christmas lunch the next day.

  “It’s really pretty, Amber.” She kissed her daughter’s cheek, happy to see the sparkle in her eyes. “Did you say thank you to your dad?”

  “Uh-huh.” Amber replied. The expression was becoming a favorite of hers. “Mom, you’ve got to say thank you too. You’ll have to play with me, like you promised, because I don’t have friends here yet, so you have to say thank you too.”

  “Of course,” Bree turned to look at Todd who was watching the spectacle indulgently from his spot on the sofa. “Thank you, Todd. This is a lovely gift.”

  Amber cut off the response that Todd was about to give, “No mom! You have to say thank you properly. And, Daddy is family so you have to give him a hug and a kiss like I do.”

  Cursing the rul
e Amber and she had made up about how to say thanks to family, Bree made her way over to Todd with chagrin. If she refused to do so, it would indicate to Amber that Todd was not part of the family. “Thank you, Todd.” She perched to give Todd a kiss on his cheek as he moved his face towards hers. In the living room, with their daughter keenly watching to see that they family rule was obeyed, their lips touched for the first time in seven years. It was such an innocent kiss, but it didn’t explain the sudden heat she was feeling. Stunned, they both jumped apart after just a few seconds, although it felt like ages, they stared at each other with naked lust.

  Amber’s giggles broke through Bree’s whirlwind thoughts and she quickly completed the ritual with a hug, avoiding frontal bodily contact as far as possible, making it swift and evading his eyes. To make light of the incident and to distract her from the pull of desire, she asked Amber, “Amber, honey, I think your dad will be playing with that too, so he should say thank you too, don’t you think?”

  Amber rolled her eyes and giggled, “Mom, don’t be silly!” She exclaimed with such drama, making Bree and Todd giggle too and breaking the tension, “He can’t hug and kiss himself.”

  “Clever girl,” Todd praised. “I guess I’ll just have to give you a hug and kiss instead.”

  Bree left the room while father and daughter, besotted with each other, exchanged hugs, kisses and smiles.

  xxx

  They were all in the kitchen, cleaning up after the feast that Bree and Moira had prepared. Todd enjoyed this Christmas more than any other in his memory. All the adults exerted extra effort to make Amber feel cherished and to give her a real family celebration. He lightly fingered the woolen neck-scarf, dominated by reindeers that his daughter had given him. It was the best Christmas gift he’d ever gotten. All he needed to top it off now was a kiss under the mistletoe with Bree, which she was determinately avoiding.

  After stacking the last plate in the cupboard, Todd, the quintessential planner, pointed to his itinerary that was stuck against the fridge with Christmas-themed magnets. “So, what are we doing for New Year’s? That’s about the only gap on our schedule.”

  “On New Year’s Eve, mom and I make popcorn and watch the countdown in Time Square. We have a disco in the lounge and I get to stay up late!” Amber suggested, “We can do that.”

  “We certainly could,” Todd replied, “if you promise to save me a dance, young lady.”

  “I have a better idea,” Moira announced. “I admit that I’ve been jealous of the time that you two,” she waved a hand at Todd and Bree, “have been spending with my great-granddaughter. We’d like some time alone with her. So, how about you let Daniel and I spend some special New Year’s Eve time with Amber and the two of you can have our tickets to the annual dance in town?”

  Seeing the speculation in Bree’s expression, she smoothly persisted, “Amber, honey, what do you say? Grandpa and I can sort through the attic with you and I’m sure we can find some costumes that will just need a bit of sprucing up. If I remember correctly, there’s a disco ball up there too!”

  “You’re right Gran. I’ve been egglecting you.” Amber’s reply was so contrite that no one had the heart to correct her vocabulary.

  “That’s okay,” Moira smiled at her sunshine girl. “You can make it up to us with our very own grandma, grandpa and Amber New Year’s Eve dance and then your mom and dad can go out and have some fun on their own and not bother us. What do you say, honey?”

  “I think that’s a great idea.” Daniel caught on to what Moira was doing; raising an eyebrow at her behind Bree’s back, which she pointedly ignored. “I haven’t been to a disco in decades.” Daniel broke out into a dance resembling a chicken having a seizure that had them all hooting. Catching his breath at the end of his act, he looked at Bree and Todd. “Indulge us old folk, will you? Your Gran’s also right in saying that you kids need to have some adult time and it would be good for the folk in town to see you two having fun together. Put to bed some of the nastier gossip that’s probably going around.”

  Todd wanted to grin like he’d just hit the jackpot, but forced his expression to look thoughtful. “You’re right. We could do with some good PR and a bit of fun in the mix, an opportunity to get to know each other again.” He looked at Bree, quickly correcting, “It will help cement the good footing we’ve begun on as parents. Are you game, Bree?”

  She’d been cornered and could only acquiesce, albeit grudgingly. “Okay, if that's what works for everyone, I don’t see the harm in it.” Spending time in Todd’s company, alone, wasn’t going to assist her in battling the itch being with him was giving her. What’s more, she didn’t have anything to wear. Thankfully with the money she’d saved from Todd paying for Amber’s school things and clothes, not to mention quite a few items for her, she could splurge on a dress and some heels. “I'll have to go buy a dress, though. Are there any new places in town that I can shop for something?”

  Bingo, thought Moira. “Honey, I’m the wrong person to ask that type of thing. I have my few standards from way back. But, Shelly’s still in town. You remember Shelly from high school, don’t you?”

  “She was my best friend through high school Gran,” Bree offered a droll response. “I haven’t forgotten her; I just haven’t been in touch.”

  “Well she’s the same sweet girl she always was,” Moira countered. “In fact, she’s opened up a swanky boutique to cater to both the tourists and the locals; you’ll see that we have quite a few events here now. It’s still new, but she’s already quite busy so she must know what she’s doing. Emma…you remember her?” At Bree’s affirmative nod she carried on with the tale, “Well, she needed an urgent dress for some do for her son at the University. A cocktail thing. She found out about it last minute and gave Shelly’s a try. She was quite impressed by what was in store. So, I’m sure Shelly will be able to help you out.”

  “Okay, it can’t hurt. Amber and I can pop by the shop on Tuesday.” Then she looked at Todd, thinking that she saw a self-satisfying smirk but it was replaced so quickly by nonchalance that she shook her head – she must have imagined it. It was probably her hormones going on over-drive being so close to him. It filled her with trepidation about a whole evening in his company without Amber to monopolize his attention.

  Thinking quickly, Bree said, smacking her forehead forlornly, “I forgot, we’re supposed to go snow-machining on Tuesday.” She looked at Todd seeing an out. “And, your itinerary is still quite full for the rest week, so I guess we’ll have to can it. I can’t exactly go dressed in what I’ve got. Sorry Gran, Granddad, it was a sweet thought, but I guess it’s a bit late notice to get a dress.” It was hard not to look smug.

  “Oh, that’s not a problem at all.” Todd wasn’t going to let this little thing get in the way of the bigger plan. “I also haven’t spent much time alone with Amber, so it can be our little adventure. I’ll take her on the snow-machine and you can meet up with some of your old friends. Have some girl time.” He didn’t think she’d had much of that over the last six years. She obviously seemed so used to being around Amber twenty-four, seven.

  Outmaneuvered, Bree nodded, feeling as though she’d just been played. “Thanks. It seems that it’s worked out well then. I’ll go to town on Tuesday and hook up with Shelly.”

  Chapter 4

  Days filled were with continued sight-seeing, flight-seeing, and orientating Amber to Devil’s Peak and the farm made the time to the dreaded New Year’s Eve dance speed by. Bree focused her thoughts on Amber’s face when she got to collect eggs from the chicken coop for the first time or her excitement when she went up in the plane alone with her daddy. Although Bree’s heart had shot up to her larynx when her daughter flew above her, she’d been less anxious then than now, as she got ready to go to the dance with Todd.

  Her palms were sweaty, face flushed, and eyes a bit brighter than normal. She had never been this grateful before for makeup – maybe someone would assume that her blushing cheeks was due to e
xcitement rather than the unease that she actually felt. Bree gave herself a good once over in the full length mirror on her closet door. Her hair was loose and she'd kept her makeup to the bare essentials. Shelly had helped her choose a cerulean blue cocktail dress that ended just above the knee. Except for the color, the style of it was elegant in its simplicity, allowing her to wear the dress rather than the other way around. She wore no jewelry other than dangling diamante earrings that matched the only flashy thing on the dress, a lovely diamante adornment strategically positioned just before her waist to create the illusion of a completely flat tummy. The halter-neck satisfyingly emphasized the increase in cleavage courtesy of having carried and born a child. She carried matching silver and diamante strappy sandals and a silver clutch purse in her hands. Because it was Alaska and it was winter, she’d go in bunny boots and multiple layers of outer-garments, then change into her formal shoes and shed the extra layers when she got to the hotel. Alaskan women never let the weather stop them from looking good.

  It reminded her of different times, different circumstances when she did just that in preparation for a date with Todd. Junior Prom, Valentines Dances, Spring Dances, and Senior Prom… what she’d give to have that back at that moment! Not at the expense of Amber of course. No matter what had happened, she was glad for her daughter - being a mom was the one thing she was most satisfied with. That and her studies.

  Regardless of everything that had happened in her life, Bree allowed her to appreciate that she’d done well. Standing a bit taller, squaring her shoulders, and sucking in her tiny mummy tummy, she resolved to go with the flow that night. She was an adult. She’d been through worse, a lot worse. With that mantra complete, she headed downstairs to the living room where she heard Todd’s occasional response to Amber’s incessant chatter. Here goes…