Buying her the dollhouse she’d always wanted was the most impulsive thing he’d ever done, but it felt right somehow. Closing down his computer, Nick shut off the light and lay back down. Lacing his fingers behind his head, he closed his eyes and let out a contented sigh.
For the first time in years, he found himself looking forward to Christmas.
*
When she’d finished tidying up, Julia looked over to find Shakespeare watching her closely. “How did I do?”
Cocking his head, he studied her for a moment before saying, “It is the east, and Julia is the sun.”
“I’ll take that as a thumbs-up.” The sound of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” chimed in from the arm of her chair, and she picked up her phone. When she saw the caller ID, she smiled and answered the call. “Hello, you two. What a wonderful surprise.”
“It’s not too late there, is it?” her mother asked.
“Not a bit, but it must be four in the morning there.”
“You know how these holiday events are. No one wants to be the first to leave.”
Gisele Stanton was the epitome of a social butterfly, so Julia knew the long night didn’t concern her in the least. Her father had been raised on a large dairy farm in Wisconsin and was more the early-to-bed-early-to-rise type. “Is Dad there, too?”
“Oh, he’s lost in an argument over which version of Don Giovanni was better last season.”
“It’s always best at the Opera House in Vienna.”
Mom chortled as if that should be obvious to everyone. “Of course it is, but you know how people can be when they think they’re right.”
“Men, you mean.” Another giggle, and Julia pictured her petite mother sitting on an elegant settee in some posh ladies’ salon, chattering away like a giddy teenager. “What else have you been doing?”
“Some of this, some of that. Yesterday, your father averted a crisis with the Russian ambassador’s children. They wanted some special toy or other, and he gave the ambassador your card. You won’t mind shipping to Moscow, will you, pétite?”
“Of course not. I’m happy to help.”
“That’s my girl. Now, tell me what you’ve been up to.”
“Business is good, considering Toyland is still new to people. I should have that first payment to you and Dad just after the holidays.”
“That’s not important to us,” she reminded Julia breezily. “We only want you to be happy.”
“Paying you back will make me happy,” Julia insisted. “You and Dad have given me more than I could ever need, and it’s time for me to make my own way.”
Her mother sighed but let the subject drop. “As you wish. Let’s talk about something other than money.”
Julia had been debating whether to tell her parents about the biography Nick was publishing, and now seemed like the time to clue them in. While she did, her mother asked several questions, most of which weren’t about her, but the reporter covering the story.
“He’s from Holiday Harbor, then?” she commented. “How interesting.”
“And then today,” Julia said as she curled up on the sofa, “you’ll never guess.”
After a few tries, Mom gave up with a laugh. “Enough! Tell me.”
“We went sledding, then out to dinner with friends. It’s the first time since I moved here that I felt like a local, like I really fit in here.”
The add-on surprised her—she hadn’t been aware of feeling that way until just now. It was as if talking with her cheery mother had opened up the bubbly part of Julia that had been in hiding for the past year.
“There’s something else, Julia. I can hear it in your voice.”
Even from thousands of miles away, her mother’s intuition was infallible, and Julia laughed. “How do you always know?”
“I know my girl, that’s how. This Nick McHenry is important to you, isn’t he?”
“Maybe,” she hedged, unwilling to go completely over the edge. “We’re getting acquainted, and right now we’re friends.”
“Good friends.”
“Yes,” Julia relented with a sigh. “But please don’t tell Dad. He’ll call Nick and interrogate him or have him investigated by some private detective. I know he means well, but I’d rather he didn’t know, at least for now.”
“All right, I’ll put your secret in the safe.” After a moment, she giggled. “I mean, your secret is safe with me. I still get that one wrong sometimes.”
In Julia’s imagination, she pictured her mother, dressed to the nines, laughing out loud as if no one else could hear her. Of all the things Julia adored about the woman who’d raised her, it was the ability to simply be herself that Julia cherished the most. Someday, she vowed, she’d regain the confidence Bernard had stolen from her and enjoy who she was again.
“The ambassador’s wife just waved me over, so I should go. Bon nuit, ma pétite.”
Julia smiled at the familiar nighttime phrase. “Bon nuit, Maman. Sleep well.”
After hanging up, she leaned back into the sofa cushions with a smile. This was the first time she’d told anyone about Nick, and it felt wonderful. Today had been the best day she’d had in months, and she knew it was mostly because she’d spent so much of it with him.
She’d seen a side of him instinct told her most people never got even a glimpse of. His initial wariness seemed to be fading, while his trust in her was getting stronger. That faith was crucial to her being able to reconcile him with his father, she realized. The fact that it was growing was a very good sign, but she wasn’t sure it was developing fast enough.
Two weeks until Christmas Eve, she mused while she surfed through TV channels. Not much time to undo sixteen years’ worth of bitterness, but she wasn’t giving up just yet.
Chapter Eight
Lainie had to be at the church early Wednesday night, something about one of the wise men needing a bigger turban. Feeling generous, Nick offered to keep an eye on Hannah until rehearsal started. Fortunately, that was easy. All he had to do was sit down at the piano.
Skipping up behind him, she stopped and gazed longingly at the old upright. “I really love the way you play, Uncle Nick. It’s so pretty.”
Beginning the simple warm-up his mother had taught him as a child, he grinned. “It’s not hard. Wanna try?”
Frowning, she held up her hands. “Aren’t they too small?”
“Actually, they’re just the right size.” To prove it, he took them in his and placed them over the keys. She couldn’t span as many notes as he did, but he showed her how to glide along and do a basic scale.
“I did it!” Clearly delighted, she gave him a gap-toothed grin. “Can you teach me a song?”
“Depends on which one you want to learn. Some are harder than others.”
“‘Silent Night,’” she replied instantly. “It’s Mommy’s favorite Christmas song.”
That one I can manage, Nick thought with a grin of his own. “Sure, munchkin. Just do what I do.”
Concentrating intently, she mimicked him more closely than he’d expected. She missed a couple of black keys, but when they went through it again she played it flawlessly. When he heard her humming along, he suggested, “Let’s sing it, just for fun.”
She was a natural with music, he thought, like Lainie. Because she wasn’t wrapped up in deciphering the written notes and trying to get them right, Hannah played with an ease that amazed him. Nick was a decent pianist, and he had a fair voice, but his talent paled in comparison to his niece’s.
“You’re fantastic all on your own.” He complimented her without reservation. “If you got some lessons with Gramma, you’d be awesome.”
“Really?”
“Definitely. How ’bout we play it again?” he suggested. “This time, I’ll add in the chords while you do the melody, and we’ll see how it sounds.”
Partway in, another voice picked up the alto harmony line, and Nick glanced back to find his mother standing behind them. When they reached
the end, she spread her arms to hug them both. “Very pretty, you two. It does this Irish heart good to hear such fine music in my family.”
“Uncle Nick taught me, Gramma,” Hannah informed her proudly. “He’s really good.”
“I had a great teacher,” he added, smiling up at his mother. “Turns out, I remember more than I thought.”
Beaming, she patted his shoulder in a fond gesture. “I’m so glad.”
“How’s Dad feeling?”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Well enough to ignore the doctor’s orders. When I left, he was outside knocking icicles off the gutters. Todd offered to do it, but your father wouldn’t let him.”
Nick felt a stab of guilt as his mother headed for the choir box. With the frigid weather settling in, he should’ve thought to help out at their place. He’d been so busy with Kaleidoscope’s usual work and Julia’s bio, it hadn’t even occurred to him that his parents could use a hand. Then again, if the pastor had refused help from someone he liked, he definitely wouldn’t accept it from the son he’d barely spoken to for years.
Feeling a small hand on his arm, he looked down at Hannah. “Are you okay, Uncle Nick? You look sad.”
“Sometimes I wish things were different, that’s all.”
He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but she took it in stride. “They will be.”
“You’re so sure?”
“I asked God to bring you home, and you came. Tonight when you say your prayers, just ask Him for what you want.”
It didn’t work that way for him, but Nick wasn’t about to ruin her belief in the Almighty, especially not at this time of year. Because he couldn’t agree with her honestly, he went with something upbeat. “Why don’t you go see if your mom’s got your halo ready?”
“Okay.”
After a quick hug, she hopscotched down the center aisle, completely at home in the place he’d rejected so long ago. As he watched her go, he hoped she never lost her faith.
Because once you did, it was almost impossible to get it back.
*
It started snowing around midnight on Wednesday.
The weather station had been issuing dire predictions all week long, but even the worst estimates proved to be optimistic compared to the reality. By Saturday afternoon, they had more than five feet of snow, with no end in sight. What had started out as a couple of snow days for the schools became a mounting crisis for the town. With temperatures in the teens and howling, relentless winds, the small fishing village was effectively cut off from the rest of the world.
But that didn’t faze these sturdy folks, Julia thought as she looked down onto Main Street from her apartment. Once the plow went through, local business owners bundled against the frigid air came out with shovels, keeping the sidewalks clear and salted. Farther out, she noticed a small army shoveling out driveways for those who’d been overwhelmed by the record snowfall.
One figure in particular caught her eye, and she recognized the outfit Nick had worn when they went sledding. She was so proud of him for pitching in, she decided she needed to do something, too. Before she could decide how to help, she heard someone knocking on the outer door. Going downstairs, she was surprised to see Ben and his father, Craig, framed in the frosted-over glass.
Opening the door, she stood back to let them in. “Would you like to come in and warm up?”
“Actually, we noticed the snow on these roofs is getting pretty deep,” Ben told her. “We’re gonna go up and clear ’em off so they don’t cave in under the snow load. Just didn’t want to scare you when you hear us clomping around up there.”
Frowning, she said, “Isn’t that dangerous? It must be slippery.”
In answer, he held up some kind of harness. “We use these when we’re roofing, so we’ll be fine. Don’t worry—we do this whenever it snows this much. It’s just our way of helping out.”
That was how they did things here, she thought with a little smile. No whimpering or waiting for someone else to take care of whatever needed doing. Self-sufficient by necessity, they simply pulled on their boots and got to work. Just another quality she admired in the residents of her adopted home.
“It’d be easier to go up on this end and work our way down,” Ben added. “As long as you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” She laughed at the very idea. “I’m grateful to you both. When you’re done, stop back in and I’ll have something hot for you to eat.”
“Thanks very much, Miss Stanton,” Craig said respectfully. “We’ll do that.”
“You’re welcome, and it’s Julia.” Opening the door for them to leave, she was struck with the urge to join in some of the hard work going on. “Before you go, do you have a spare shovel? I should really get my section of the walk cleared.”
“I’ll do it,” Ben offered.
For too long, she’d accepted that kind of help, and it had spoiled her terribly. Firmly, she shook her head. “If I’m going to be a real New Englander, I have to learn how to deal with snow.”
“Good for you.” Grinning, he handed her the shovel he was holding. “I’ve got a spare in the truck.”
“Thank you.” Taking it from him, she said, “I know you’re pros, but please be careful up there.”
When they were gone, she flipped all the lights on and turned up the gas fireplace. Normally meant for providing atmosphere, at a higher setting it put out quite a bit of heat, quickly warming the large space. Using two large poster boards, in large letters she wrote Hot coffee and food—FREE and hung one in each of her display windows.
She ran upstairs and brought down the trays of Christmas goodies she’d been trying to pawn off on customers. Then she started a pot of her best coffee. After that, she pulled on her boots and ski coat and started in on the portion of sidewalk that ran in front of Toyland.
Her store, she thought with pride as she tossed the first shovelful aside. In her town, where she was finally making a home for herself. After all she’d been through the past year, it felt wonderful to be settled here, in this town filled with down-to-earth people who took care of themselves—and their neighbors.
Not everyone had immediately accepted her as part of the town, of course, but she’d anticipated that. It took a while for a close-knit community to open up and accept someone new. She understood that some never would, but she’d made several good friends and had begun creeping out of her self-imposed shell.
Nick’s skillful interviews had helped her with that, and it hit her that she’d benefited from them as much as he had. Pausing, she rested her hands on the shovel handle as something occurred to her.
She’d proposed the biography series as a way to keep Nick in town long enough to reconcile with his father. When she’d concocted the plan as a gift for Lainie and her family, Julia had had no idea that it would end up being good for her, too.
Looking up into the falling snow, she smiled. “Thank you.”
The quiet moment passed as a trio of snowmobiles flew down the middle of Main Street. The teenagers riding them circled the square, parking next to a huge puddle that had formed during the last melt and then froze when the temperature plummeted.
Hollering and laughing, they met up with a guy in a pickup loaded down with two nets and all manner of hockey equipment. Through the open cab windows, she heard something that sounded like a fusion of classic rock and rap. She didn’t recognize the song, but they all sang along while they set up their hockey rink and chose teams. It was the kind of small-town scene any movie director would envy, and Julia watched them play for a few minutes.
Eventually she got back to work because she knew if the walk wasn’t clear when Ben returned, he’d finish it for her. And from here on out, she was determined to be the kind of girl who took care of herself.
*
Ugly as they were, Nick was happy to be wearing Todd’s knee-high waterproof boots and Eskimo outfit. The only part of him that wasn’t covered was his eyes, and he discovered a bonus effect of the conceali
ng wardrobe: no one knew who he was. If he didn’t speak, anyone who’d written him off years ago had no clue he was one of the crew shoveling out driveways and clearing paths leading to houses that were pretty well socked in. As the six-man group he was with slowly worked their way up one side of Main Street and down the other, he couldn’t help grinning. If only these grateful folks knew…
When they reached the Safe Harbor Church, though, he quit feeling so smug. What he saw there got his temper simmering.
Front loaders had cleared the worst of the buildup, lifting it into piles over six feet high around the parking lot. The driveway of the small rectory was also clear, but that was as far as they’d gotten. Nick had no doubt that his father had sent them off to help elsewhere, assuring them he could manage the footpaths on his own.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Nick demanded as he jumped from the back of Todd’s old SUV and pushed his way through snow up to his waist. “Are you trying to give yourself an actual heart attack?”
“My home, my responsibility,” the pastor shot back, sounding a little winded. “You boys head to the next stop. I’ll be fine.”
That was when Nick noticed their windows were dark. “When did your power go out?”
“Half hour ago,” Dad grunted, tossing aside half a shovelful of the heavy, wet snow. “Your mother’s rounding up the candles and lanterns.”
“Dad, staying here doesn’t make any sense. Lainie’s got a gas stove and fireplace, so you’d be a lot more comfortable there. Why don’t you go help Mom pack up a few things, then come home with Todd and me?”
“My parishioners—”
“Are staying put, if they’re smart,” Nick interrupted firmly. “But if it’ll make you feel better, leave a note on the door with Lainie’s phone number. Folks can call there if they need you.”
Because it had come from him, Nick feared the suggestion would be thrown back in his face, and he waited to see how his pragmatic solution would fare. The two of them stared at each other, the father belligerent, the son confident he was right.
Love Inspired December 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2: Cozy ChristmasHer Holiday HeroJingle Bell Romance Page 52
