Spirits of the Season: Eight Haunting Holiday Romances

by Amanda DeWees

  Thankfully they’d come to her office and not her home where Gran might have seen them and questioned her mercilessly. Laura had when she’d come by for lunch the previous day. Her interrogation had been almost as uncomfortable.

  Grandmothers and best friends. They were the best and the worst.

  “Alice?”

  “Tell him I’m out for the day.”

  The intern nodded and disappeared.

  Gossip would be running rampant at the water cooler again today.

  * * *

  “No, put that one farther to the left.”

  Alice hovered the bulb over a branch to the left but Gran only shook her head. “No, back to the right. Not so far.”

  “Do you want to get up here and do it?” she asked, climbing down from the step stool.

  “I don’t know what you’re grouching about. You’re the one who decided to put up a tree on Christmas Eve,” the old woman grumbled. “What do you think this is? 1922? Who puts up a tree the day before Christmas anymore?”

  Alice shook her head but didn’t answer. It hadn’t even occurred to her over the past few weeks that she’d completely forgotten to put a tree up. But in the spirit of moving on, she’d come home early from work and bought one of the few straggly trees left down on the corner lot.

  Putting it up, she’d played Christmas carols and pulled out her childhood ornaments. The atmosphere in the small apartment was festive. Nanny was sprawled at the base of the tree, contentedly gnawing on the huge bone she’d planned on giving to the dog in the morning. Still, despite Gran’s fine company, she wished she had someone else to share the moment with.

  One specific someone.

  Over the past week, she’d managed to come across George a half dozen more times despite her refusal to take his calls or see him at the office. He’d never seen her but she’d felt him even before she spotted him. Each time, her skin had prickled with awareness. When she’d turn…there he’d be.

  Everywhere she was compelled to go, she saw him. Whether it was Starbucks or down to Kate Spade to buy herself the Christmas present her parents might have gotten for her if they were still around, she saw him. She saw him crossing the street, passing by in a taxi, or while she was out with one of her friends finishing her Christmas shopping. Uptown, downtown. West side and east.

  Whether it was fate or Hazy giving coincidence a phenomenal push, she didn’t know. But she hadn’t spoken to him even though she longed to hear his voice. She hadn’t reached out to touch him even though she longed to be held in his arms.

  Somehow she desperately missed what she’d never really known.

  Somehow he’d attached himself to her heart.

  Still, she hadn’t told a soul.

  * * *

  Her intercom buzzed and Alice froze before going to the door. She stared at the button for several seconds before pushing the button with open trepidation. “Who is it?”

  “Alice!” Two female voices screamed from the static-filled speaker.

  Alice sagged in relief. Chloe and Laura. Even her most fervent attempts to withdraw from human contact over the past few months hadn’t deterred their friendship. “It’s Christmas Eve,” she said into the intercom. “What are you doing here?”

  “Grab your coat, bitch,” Chloe yelled as if the system were nonfunctional. “We’re going out.”

  “Out?”

  Laura’s laugh filled her small living room. “Don’t pay her any mind. She’s been hitting the eggnog a little early tonight. Come down, we’ve got an extra ticket to ice skate in Rockefeller Center since that wuss Benny stubbed his toe and is whining like a baby.”

  “Uh…”

  Alice darted a glance at her grandmother who was grinning and softly clapping her hands as if she’d just received the best Christmas present of them all. “Go, please! This is just the thing for you tonight. Go, be with your friends.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I insist.”

  “I’ll be right down,” she said into the speaker and went to gather the layers necessary for a late night on the ice. Finding her skates took a moment longer, but she was grinning with anticipation as she pulled on her beanie.

  Blowing a kiss to Gran and patting Nanny’s head, she locked her door and went down the five flights of stairs to find Laura and Chloe waiting by an open taxi door. She hugged them both, feeling the excitement of days gone by race through her veins.

  Bundling into the cab between them, she asked, “So what happened to Benny?”

  “It was the craziest thing,” Laura told her. “We were getting ready to leave when he tripped and stumbled into the radiator.”

  “Tripped on what?”

  “Absolutely nothing.”

  Chapter 7

  Spinning away from Chloe who was revolving dizzily in the center of the ice, Alice skated around the rink again. Their skate session started late, from ten-thirty to midnight. So late in the evening, the air was crisp. Even downright cold. The breeze created by her motion nipped at her cheeks and nose. If she stood still for too long, she’d probably freeze solid. She loved every minute of it.

  It was a magical Christmas Eve.

  Picking up speed so she could catch up with Laura who was half way around, she hugged herself and smiled. She’d missed so much. Not just for the past six months—though she was only beginning to realize just how much she and Justin hadn’t done as a couple—but in the months since her parents had died and then…

  No offense to her Gran, but this was a far better way to spend Christmas Eve than staring at a sad little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. If only…

  No, don’t go there.

  The self-admonishment might have worked a few weeks ago but now a part of Alice wanted to go there. Face it, it wasn’t the break-up with Justin she was regretting any longer and trying to avoid thinking about. It wasn’t even the loss of her family.

  It was George. And she wanted to go there. She stared up at the towering tree dominating Rockefeller Center with its thousands of brilliant lights. What would it be like to skate here with him, hand in hand? To feel the love she knew could be so easy with him, warm her more than any mittens and scarf might?

  Someday, maybe…

  A high-pitched giggle broke into her thoughts and Alice opened her eyes to see Hazy before her, twirling on invisible skates. “Miss Chanler! Look at me!”

  How could she resist such an endearing girl? It was easy to see why George missed her so much. Heart skipping, she glanced around but didn’t see him right away.

  Hazy wrapped herself around Alice’s legs, almost tripping her before she pushed away. “Watch me spin!”

  Alice watched her with a smile. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a little girl like that someday? A little Hazy all her own? Well, not all her own. It would be wonderful to share her with a man who would always steal her breath. “Very nice, honey.”

  “Do you want to come and say ‘hi’ to Daddy?”

  Alice’s heart leapt into her throat. “No, not now. I’m sorry, Hazy.”

  “He misses you.”

  She drew in a deep, trembling breath. “I miss him, too.”

  “But you won’t come see him?”

  “No.”

  Hazy studied her with those pleading blue eyes for a moment, then shrugged. “Will you skate with me then?”

  “Of course I will.”

  Holding hands, they started around rink. They made a few rotations before Alice asked. “What are you doing here, Hazy?”

  “I told you before, I just want Daddy to be happy again. He’s been so sad since last Christmas.”

  “Since you died,” she said softly.

  The engaging smile fled from Hazy’s face. She frowned. “I know. It’s not so awful being gone but Daddy doesn’t know that. He can’t be happy and I can’t let him be until he’s okay again. You can do that, Miss Chanler.”

  Alice’s throat tightened and tears stung at the back of her eyes. “I want to, Hazy. I do. I want
to be happy again, too.”

  “I know.”

  A half sob and half laugh choked her. Of course, she knew. They all knew, didn’t they? “The problem is, as much as I want to make your Daddy happy, I can’t be with him just because of you. He has to want me because of me, not because I can see you and talk to you. Do you understand that?”

  “But he does,” the girl said emphatically. “You made his heart happy from the start. I can tell.”

  “Can you?” Her chest tightened painfully. She only wished she could be as certain. It might break her heart beyond repair if it weren’t true.

  “Don’t be sad,” Hazy said. “It’ll all work. I promise. Come on, let’s skate some more!”

  Hazy tugged on her hand and soon they were flying around the rink. Hazy’s laughter floated through the air and Alice’s chimed in. Then the girl slowed. Grabbing one of Alice’s hands in both of hers, she spun her around. Then around again before she let go.

  Lightheaded, Alice glided to the side with a laugh…

  And slammed right into a hard male body.

  “I’m beginning to think your grandmother was right. You’re a consummate klutz.”

  Thrilled not only to see him but to see the warmth in his blue eyes, Alice laughed as he steadied her with an arm around her waist. “It wasn’t my fault. It was…”

  The words trailed off but he finished them for her. “Hazy?”

  She nodded. “I hate to say it, but your daughter is a precocious matchmaker.”

  Not even a shade of remorse darkened his eyes. In fact, they brightened with humor and he laughed aloud. It really was the sexiest sound in the world but this time it filled her heart with pleasure, too.

  “She’s been like that since her mother and I divorced, though she wasn’t much more than four at the time. She was always trying to find me a new wife and tried to set me up with her teachers, her friends’ single moms.”

  “I guess she still is,” Alice said softly. “She’s been throwing me at you for weeks, I think.”

  “Has she?”

  “I see you everywhere I go.”

  “Yet I never saw you. I wonder why that is?”

  “I don’t know.” She wanted to say she could ask Hazy, but Alice thought she already knew the answer. Some part of George must have been ready to move on—at least romantically—while she’d needed a bit more persuasion. Persistence had paid off. She was convinced. “I do know she wants you to be happy. I’m guessing she needs you to be.”

  “And I am,” he conceded. “It’s been a far better week than most. Just knowing she isn’t suffering, that she still laughs… That is her laughter I’ve been hearing, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. She has a contagious giggle.”

  “She always has. Anyway, it’s brought me some peace. I’ve been able to start looking forward instead of back. I tried to call to tell you but…”

  “I thought you were calling to talk about her.”

  He shrugged. Taking her hand, he pulled her into motion for a slow rotation around the rink. “So my little matchmaker threw you at me again tonight?”

  She nodded.

  “I will admit I envy you,” he said at last. “I’d give anything to see her again.”

  Damn, those tears were stinging her eyes again. “I doubt she’d let you. She wants you to move on.”

  A tinge of sadness was back in his eyes. “Impossible. I could never forget her.”

  “No one expects you to. She’ll always be your daughter.”

  “Yes, she always will be.” His words were heavy with emotion, but as before he didn’t look as if he were weighed down by the sorrow. His shoulders were more squared, his head higher than she’d seen before. His expression lighter as he spun around and skated backwards to look at her. “I’m glad you got to know her. Even a little.”

  She squeezed his hands. “I am, too. She looks like you, you know.”

  He laughed at that. “Me? No, she looks just like her mother.”

  “Do you miss her, too?” Alice dared to ask.

  “Jan?” he said in surprise. “I mean, I’m sorry for her death but we’d been divorced for a long while before they… died. I don’t miss her. Not like I miss my Hazy.”

  He didn’t? Hadn’t Hazy said…? Thinking back over their conversation at the park, Alice realized she’d made that assumption all on her own.

  “And I’m glad she took the initiative to bring us together tonight,” he added. “However forcefully.”

  His dry humor brought a smile to her lips. “Me, too. I wasn’t even planning on being here.”

  “Oh? Who are you here with?”

  “Some friends.” She gestured to Laura and Chloe who were standing at the side of the rink gawking at her, curiosity rampant in their expressions. She waved at them as they went by and they returned the gesture enthusiastically.

  George waved, too. “Not a boyfriend?”

  Alice smiled. “No, I don’t have one of those.”

  He grinned, a roguish tilt of his lips. “Don’t you? You should.”

  Biting her lip to squash a broad grin, she looked away. “Who are you here with?”

  “My sister and her family,” he said, pointing out a couple across the rink towing two small children between them.

  “Looks like fun.”

  “They didn’t want me to be alone on Christmas.”

  Tugging her out of the rotating flow of the other skaters and to the center of the ice, George slowed and pulled her into his arms. “Honestly, I didn’t want to be alone either. I’ve missed you this week, Alice. More than I would have thought possible. I don’t want to go another without seeing you.”

  “Me neither.” She slid her hands up his chest. “But I can’t have you think I can somehow bring Hazy back to you. I can’t be with you just for that.”

  His blue eyes filled with laughter and he bit back a chuckle.

  “What? What is it?”

  “Ah, Alice.” He stroked her rosy cheek with his gloved hand and looked down at her with banked desire smoldering in his eyes. “Believe me, the last thing I think of when I think of you is my daughter. In fact…”

  “What?”

  “I shouldn’t say it. Not yet. But I think much more about making a few more with you,” he admitted in a husky voice. “And how we’d go about it. In great detail.”

  Alice’s feet almost went out from under her, but George was there to steady her… by pulling her tight against him. Even through the thick layers of their coats, she could feel his warmth, his strength. She wanted it, wanted it to be there to hold her for more than just that moment. She wanted it… him forever.

  “For months, all I’ve wanted for this Christmas was to have Hazy back,” he murmured, his Irish lilt rolling the words. “For the first time in a year, I’ve got something else to wish for.”

  “George…”

  His lips grazed her ear, sending a quiver of anticipation down her spine. “Stay with me, Alice. Let’s move on together and put our ghosts behind us.”

  “Yes.” All of them.

  Alice slid her arms around his neck and pulled his head down. Their mouths met, lips parted in a long kiss of promise.

  As the clock struck midnight, the infectious laughter of a jubilant child rang out over Rockefeller Square.

  …And on the Upper West Side, an old woman gave a satisfied nod and happily faded away, leaving an empty chair rocking by the window in the light of a half-decorated Christmas tree.

  About the Author

  Angeline Fortin is the author of historical and time-travel romance offering her readers a fun, sexy and often touching tales of romance. Her most recent release, Taken: A Laird for All Time Novel, was recently awarded the Virginia Romance Writers 2015 Holt Medallion Award for Paranormal Romance. She has a degree in History from UNLV and was once a historical interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg. She lives in Apple Valley outside the Twin Cities with her husband, two children and three dogs.

  She invites y
ou to stop by and see what's new at http://www.angelinefortin.com. Or to send her feedback, email her at fortin.angeline@gmail.com.

  You can find more books by Angeline Fortin on her author page at Amazon.

  Kaidan: Snow Bride

  a WinterJacked Frost Bite

  Athena Grayson

  Copyright © 2015 by:

  Athena Grayson

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  Chapter 1

  Tokyo, Winter 1969-70

  Yukiko stood in front of the three-way mirror and carefully smoothed the fabric of a micro-mini skirt as she examined herself from the front and sides. The sheer fabric floated down in wide sleeves from her shoulders, gathering again at her wrists like the clasp around the stems of a bouquet.

  The rest of the dress—what there was of it—skimmed her slender form and ended just above the tips of her fingers, leaving her legs exposed from mid-thigh to the tops of the white patent leather boots that hugged her calves. Her hair, long and sleek and shiny-black, hung straight down her back, the ends of it coming to tickle the backs of her legs below the dress’s hemline.

  The shopgirl standing behind her held out a large white straw hat. The light material trembled with the shaking of her hand. Yukiko tilted her head, and the girl pressed her lips together tight. In the mirror, Yukiko observed as the hat seemed to float down onto her head. She lifted her chin and the shopgirl gasped, darting back to the far corner of the fitting room.

  Yukiko made a slow pirouette in front of the mirror, mounted on a small dais outside the fitting room, and illuminated from above with electric spotlights. “Does my countenance match that of the bride’s?”