“When were you going to share those plans with me?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
She stared miserably at him. “I’m sorry, Chris, but what choice do I have? I need a job. As much as it’s been fun hanging with you and Jasmine, I need an income. It’s not like I have savings in the bank.”
“But why Vancouver? I’m sure there are plenty of nursing positions in Peterborough. Why can’t you apply closer to home?”
“This one interested me.”
“Why?”
“It’s at a private college. School nurse. I’m perfectly suited with my pediatric background. Plus they offer free accommodation on campus as part of the job.”
He frowned. “Is this because you still think you have to leave?”
She brushed her hair from her forehead. “I can’t stay here forever.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s your parents’ home, not mine. And once you go back to Australia it will be weird staying here.”
“What about your place? Won’t you rebuild? You can stay here until then. I know Mom and Dad would love it.”
“I can’t afford to rebuild. The insurance money will be enough to put up a frame and a roof and that’s about it.”
“I’ll help you.”
She sprang to her feet, hands on hips, eyes flashing. “No. I’m not taking advantage of you.”
He stood too and faced her. “I beg your pardon. How is that taking advantage of me?”
“Well, you know.”
“No, I don’t know.”
She let out a huff of frustration. “You make lots of money as a doctor and your parents are loaded. I know about your trust fund too, don’t forget.”
“Then let me use it.”
“No.”
They glared at one another. Stalemate. He knew from past experience that nothing would change Melissa’s mind and pushing her to do something she didn’t want to do just made her dig her heels in even deeper. His only hope was that she didn’t get the job.
“What if you found a position in Lakefield and rented somewhere locally?” he suggested more gently. “Have you contacted Lakefield College School? They might have a school nurse job going.” It was a long shot but he needed to keep her close. No way would he allow distance to separate them again.
“You know how hard it is to find rentals. They’re all holiday lets.”
“You can stay here, I’ve told you that,” he repeated.
She sank back into the chair. “I can’t. Besides, it’s awkward enough that I’m hanging around and getting in the way of your family Christmas.”
“Mel, you are family. How many times over the years have you spent at least part of Christmas Day with us?”
She dropped her head. She knew he was right. He couldn’t recall a single year when Melissa wasn’t here for either lunch or supper with his family.
He reached over and took her hand in his. “Please reconsider.”
“What’s the point? In a month you won’t be here either.”
Chapter 12
Melissa wanted to run to her room, curl up in a ball and cry like a baby, but when she looked up, Chris was grinning at her.
She frowned. “What?” she asked, her mind clouded with confusion. “What is there to smile about?”
He tugged her from her chair and led her into the lounge room. They sat side by side on the couch and she stared at him, waiting for him to say something instead of grinning inanely at her. What was going on?
“What?” she repeated. She grabbed a pillow and clutched it to her chest as if it might offer protection from whatever he was about to say.
“What if I told you I was going to stay?”
Her heart stalled. Tingles traveled down her spine to her toes. “Stay? In Canada? For a bit longer? Or stay, as in for good?” The last word came out as a whisper.
He beamed. “For good. I didn’t want to tell you until I had a job.”
She frowned. “You have a job?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Will you be able to get work here?”
“Without doubt.”
“Do your folks know?”
“Nope.”
“What about Jasmine?”
“I won’t say anything until it’s all sorted.”
“You’re really going to stay? Forever?” She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“Forever.”
She grinned. Life was suddenly so much brighter. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tight. “That’s the best news ever.”
“So will you reconsider the job in Vancouver?”
She nodded. “Definitely. Maybe we could even get work at the same hospital.”
“That would be kind of cool.” He stroked her cheek. “Mel, I need to be honest with you. There’s something I should have told you years ago.”
She sat back and stared into his eyes. A lump of worry lodged in her throat and her heart slammed into her chest. What bomb was he going to drop now?
“Don’t look so worried. What I have to say is good, I promise.” He patted the seat beside him and she scooted closer.
“Ah, Miss Mellymoo.” He pulled her hair away from the back of her neck and dropped an arm across her shoulders. “Do you know how much I love you?”
She exhaled. It wasn’t the first time he’d told her he loved her. “I love you too, Chris. You know that.”
He smiled as he continued to twist a strand of her hair around one finger. “Not just as a friend. More than that. Much more.”
Her mouth fell open. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.
He laced their fingers together. “I loved you when you were a kid who needed me to help tie your shoelaces on your first day at school. I loved you when you had braces and went through that gangly pimply stage. I loved you all the way through school and right up until we graduated.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Until you met Erin,” she said softly.
“I loved you even then.”
She lowered her gaze. “But you just wanted to be friends. You always said you didn’t want to ruin our friendship. That’s why you dated Erin.”
“Uh, uh. Not true. Those were your words, Mel, not mine. I just went along with you because I didn’t want to lose you.”
She froze as his words filtered through to the part of her heart that she’d kept closed for so long. She forced her brain to backtrack. Was it true? Had she been the one all those years ago to put a stop to their friendship becoming something more? Was it her fault? Had she missed the signs that he wanted more?
She licked her dry lips. “If you’re being honest, then I need to be, too. I always loved you too, Chris. Even after you started dating Erin.”
He took off his glasses and placed them on the coffee table. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“For the same reason as you. You were the most important person in my life and I didn’t want to lose you.”
“Were?”
“Are.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Does that mean you feel the same way about me?” he asked.
She nodded.
“So what does that mean now? Now that I’m staying in Canada?”
“Perhaps we could go out,” she suggested.
“Like on a date?”
“Something like that.”
“Hmm.” He stroked her upper arm, causing goose bumps to explode on her flesh. “I was thinking there’s no point starting right at the dating, get-to-know-you stage because we already know each other inside out. Perhaps we could pick up here instead.”
He leaned over and before she knew what was happening, his lips met hers in a sweet and tender kiss. Without hesitation Melissa looped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply in return. Blood pounded in her veins as heat swept over her in waves. All the years of being his best friend and she had no idea what she was missing out on. Man, could he kiss!
When they eventually broke apart, Chris’s eyes were moist with unshed tears. Melissa melted into the warmth of his embrace, resting her head on his chest and breathing in the smell of his aftershave.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too.”
Chapter 13
The next night, on Christmas Eve, Chris parked his car as close as he could get to the church. When he stepped out, fat fluffy snowflakes spiraled from the night sky.
“Look up, Jaz,” he exclaimed. “Stick out your tongue and see how many you can catch.”
After Jasmine had caught a dozen snowflakes, they crunched their way across the snow, joining the swarm of people heading inside the church for the carols service. Tiny lights decorated the pathway and they flickered and danced like candles in the darkness.
“You look gorgeous,” Chris whispered in Melissa’s ear as he put an arm around her waist and ushered her ahead of him up the path. “The pale blue of that coat suits you perfectly.”
“That was the only good thing about the fire,” she said. “Getting to replace all my old clothes with new ones.”
He reached for her gloved hand and gripped it tight. “Is there anything you haven’t been able to replace?”
Her hand went automatically to her throat. “Photos obviously. And you probably don’t remember that necklace you bought me for my eighteenth birthday.”
“Of course I do. The eternity charm.”
She nodded. “I rarely took it off, but for some reason I’d taken it off the morning of the fire.”
“It wasn’t that expensive,” he said. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be that difficult to replace.”
“It wasn’t about the price. It was because it was the last gift I received from you.” She leaned into him and inhaled his aftershave, marveling at how right it felt to be so close to him.
They walked down the shoveled pathway between snow-topped bushes toward the door to the church. A couple stopped in front of them, pausing for a quick kiss.
“Watch out you two,” one of Chris’s brothers said. “You’re about to stand under the mistletoe.”
Melissa glanced up. Sure enough, the greenery hung above their heads.
A smile tugged at the corners of Chris’s mouth. His eyes searched hers. “You game?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
Anticipation surged through her. He pulled her close, and when he parted his lips and gazed into her eyes she forgot to breathe. Everything around them fell away as he lowered his mouth toward hers. She rose up on her toes to meet him, surprising herself with the intensity and passion in the kiss.
When they pulled apart, the first thing Mel saw was the look on Jasmine’s face. Her breath hitched but she pasted on a smile and followed Chris up the aisle to the seats Linda and Rob had saved for them. She made sure Chris sat between her and Jasmine. Thankfully once the service started and Jasmine recognized the familiar Christmas carols, Melissa sensed her relaxing, but she couldn’t sit still herself. She had no idea what was going on in Jasmine’s head or how to fix it, but she had to try. She couldn’t keep going on like this, worrying what Jasmine was thinking.
Jasmine vacillated almost hourly in her love-hate relationship with Melissa. One moment she was asking Melissa to read her stories and the next she was giving her the cold shoulder. She didn’t know what else to do so she kept smiling and continued to shower Jasmine with love.
When they arrived home from the church service, Chris carried a sleepy Jasmine upstairs. While he was helping Jasmine brush her teeth and get her pajamas on, Melissa made a decision. She needed to get to the bottom of whatever was upsetting the little girl.
“Mind if I go and have a chat with her?” she asked when Chris came back down.
“Be my guest,” he said, taking off his glasses. “I don’t know how to get through to her that I’ll always love her and that you’re not taking me away.”
“Is that what she thinks?”
A weary look crossed Chris’s face. “How would I know? She’s a five-year-old girl.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Melissa climbed the stairs slowly. She was used to working with kids at the hospital, but dealing with Jasmine had been the most difficult thing she’d ever had to do.
She knocked lightly. “It’s Melissa. Can I come in?”
There was silence. Perhaps she was already asleep. Finally a little voice answered. “Okay.”
She turned the knob and gently eased the door open, peering into the darkened room. Jasmine was tucked in bed, the covers up to her chin. Melissa perched on the end of the bed and faced her.
“It’s obvious you’re not happy that your dad and I are friends. Want to tell me why?”
Jasmine shrugged, plucked at the blankets and didn’t reply.
“I’m sorry you were upset when you saw me and your daddy kissing at the church tonight,” she said.
Big gray eyes met hers. “Daddy told me you were just friends.”
“Yes, that’s right. We are friends. Best friends.”
“Daddy doesn’t kiss any of his other friends.”
Melissa bit her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling.
“He told me he kissed you because of the magic mistletoe,” Jasmine said in a hushed, almost reverent tone. “He said one day the magic mistletoe would make me want to kiss a boy like it made him want to kiss you.”
“Is that right?”
Jasmine nodded vigorously. “He said it only happens when the mistletoe is hanging, like it was in the doorway at the church.” She cocked her head and looked at Melissa. “What’s mistletoe?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“Uh-uh.”
“How ’bout I show you tomorrow.”
Jasmine nodded. “Okay.”
There was a long pause. Melissa gazed around the room and caught sight of a small photo of Jasmine and Erin. Jasmine was little, probably only three or four.
“Did you know that I know your mom?” she asked.
Jasmine’s eyes widened. “Do you?”
“Yep. She and your dad started going out when we were all at school together.”
“Did they love each other?”
Melissa licked her lips, hoping her answer was the right one. “Yes, they did. And they loved each other when you were born.”
“Mummy didn’t want me.”
“Oh Jasmine, that’s not true.” Melissa shuffled closer and picked up Jasmine’s hand.
Tears spilled down Jasmine’s cheeks. “I heard Daddy tell Grampy that he had cupsbody of me because Mummy didn’t love me anymore. She loved the new baby in her tummy more.”
Melissa thought her heart would break from the pain in Jasmine’s tear-stained eyes. “You mean custody?” she asked.
Jasmine nodded.
“Do you even know what that means?”
“Not really.”
“It means that your daddy loves you so much that he wants to be with you all the time.”
A deep frown pinched the skin between Jasmine’s eyes. “But if Daddy loves you more than me, he won’t want me either. Then who will have cupsbody of me?”
Melissa pulled her into a hug. “Sweetheart, Daddy is never going to let you go. He will always be your daddy no matter whether or not he falls in love with someone else.”
“What if he falls in love with you?”
Melissa stopped stroking Jasmine’s back.
“If he falls in love with you, will you love me too or will you want to give me away like my mummy did?”
“If you give me a chance, Jaz, I’ll prove how much I love you.”
With a kiss to her forehead, Melissa tucked her in tightly and quietly left the room.
*
On Christmas morning Melissa woke before anyone else. Inside, the house was silent and she padded downstairs quietly and lit the fire Rob had set in the hearth the night before. She then switched on the music player and the soothing sounds of Christ
mas hymns filled the room.
Outside the wind whipped and shrieked as it tore around the house. Blizzard conditions were forecast for later that afternoon and Linda had already decided none of the family were traveling back to their own homes that night. At church the night before she’d instructed everyone to bring inflatable mattresses and extra sleeping bags when they arrived for lunch. The family were going to have one enormous sleepover. Jasmine had been beside herself with excitement.
She heard a shuffling sound and turned to see Jasmine standing at the bottom of the stairs, wiping sleep from her eyes.
“Hi,” Melissa said softly. “You’re up early. Were you hoping to catch Santa?”
Jasmine came and stood near Melissa in front of the fire. “I thought I heard the reindeers on the roof. That’s what woke me up.”
Had Chris remembered what his own dad used to do? Rob would go outside early on Christmas morning and leave tracks in the snow – footprints and sled tracks – to make them think Santa had just visited.
“More likely the wind,” she said. “I’d say Santa’s long gone. After he comes here he has to go visit all the kids in Australia.”
Jasmine shook her head. “Uh-uh. Daddy told me Santa goes to Australia first then comes to Canada on his way back to the North Pole.”
Melissa smiled. “Your dad is right. I’d forgotten Australia is a day ahead of us. Would you like some milk or orange juice?”
“Milk please.”
They headed into the kitchen and Melissa poured two glasses and handed one to Jasmine.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie.”
“Mel?”
Hope surged in her heart. Jasmine had never called her Mel before. She kept her tone casual. “Mm, what?”
“Can you show me the magic mistletoe?”
“Of course. Come on.”
Jasmine jumped down from the stool and placed her hand in Melissa’s, allowing Melissa to lead her back into the lounge room. Melissa pointed to the holly and mistletoe ball suspended by red ribbon from the doorframe that led from the entrance into the lounge room.
“Did you know that every year your gran puts it there and every year your daddy used to try to catch me whenever I came in the front door to visit him?”
Operation Mistletoe Magic Page 7
