Pleasures of Christmas Past (A Christmas Carol Book 1)

by Lexi Post

  Holly crossed her arms. “I’m sure I’ll love whatever time he chose because he chose it, but…”

  She looked so sad, that Jessica couldn’t stand it. “What is it? What time did you want to visit?”

  Holly looked at her with tear-filled eyes. “If this is my only chance to revisit my past, I want to see the day Cameron proposed to me. It was the happiest day of my life, even more than the wedding because that day I finally understood our love for each other would last forever.”

  Jessica swallowed hard against the tears that threatened in her own eyes. It was so obvious that the love Cameron and Holly had was truly special, far exceeding most couples. Holly deserved to have her wish granted. What harm could it cause?

  She turned away and tried to remember Duncan’s training. Was there anything in the rules about adding another stop beyond what was prescribed? She pushed her glasses up to sit more firmly on her nose. If she’d had the itinerary from the start, she’d know if Holly’s request was already covered. She so resented the “boys” keeping her out of the loop on her own case. This could serve them right.

  She turned back to look at Holly and found her gazing at her with so much hope that there was no way she could turn down such a simple request. “I think we can do that.”

  “Really?” Holly’s eyes lit with joy.

  “Absolutely! This trip is about you. If it will make you happy then I’ll take you.”

  Holly flew across the room and gave her a hug. Jessica wrapped her arms around the other woman and held her tight, a piece of her connecting with Holly, embracing her like the sister she never had. Finally, she laughed, her heart filled with happiness. “Shall we go?”

  Holly smiled widely. “Yes. Oh wait, what about Duncan?”

  What about him? Why wasn’t he back? Was there a problem? “You’re right. We should probably wait for him.”

  “Can’t he find us?”

  That was a question she couldn’t answer. “I’m not sure.” Her body tingled like it did when she phased through a solid Duncan. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. “I think he would be upset if he came back and found us missing. What time and place did Cameron propose to you?”

  “We were hillwalking.” Holly’s face took on a look of pure bliss as she stared off into her memory. “It was less than a year after we met, but he always said, ‘when you know it’s right, you know’. It was a beautiful day. One of those days when you just feel like everything is right with the world. He hadn’t even planned it, but that’s so Cameron, always acting on the spur of the moment.”

  That surprised her. “He didn’t plan it? So no ring?”

  Holly shook her head. “Nope. It was spontaneous, like it burst out from his soul.”

  The dreamy look on the younger woman had Jessica yearning for something else, but her time had passed. The elaborate proposal in the five-star restaurant in Portland had been all the show and surprise a woman could ask for. Jacob said all the right things, everything said in every romantic movie she’d ever seen. He’d probably studied those movies and bought the two-carat diamond ring to be sure she would say yes. And she had. She fell for it hook, line and sinker.

  She looked down at her hand, the engagement ring wasn’t there. She tried to remember if she’d even noticed it was missing since she’d been in the afterlife. How odd. Did that mean she wasn’t buried with it? She reached up to her ears. She had her earrings, even her jewelry box back at the cottage.

  “How long do we need to wait?” Holly interrupted her thoughts. “I only have tonight, right?”

  Jessica pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She wasn’t sure what to do. Part of her said to do whatever it took to make Holly happy, but a part of her was very aware she hadn’t paid the attention to Duncan’s training she should have. It was his fault for being Mr. Distraction.

  Then again, she knew the number-one rule, which was to stay phased, so she should be able to handle anything else.

  “Come.” She held her hand out to Holly, ignoring the tingle that ran through her again. She was probably just excited. “Let’s go visit that little hill where Cameron proposed to you before he’d even known you for a year.”

  Holly grabbed her hand with enthusiasm.

  Her heart filled, reassuring her she did the right thing. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  She floated them out of the Victorian and toward Scotland.

  * * * * *

  Duncan threw open the door of Cameron’s office, no’ caring that his assistant said he had someone with him. “Cameron, what the blazes is going on?”

  The man in the chair in front of Cameron’s desk rose. “Hey, if you don’t mind, we were having an important conversation here.”

  Duncan glanced at the man, taking in his youth, bulky build and shaved head. “Get out.”

  The young man’s eyes slitted, giving Duncan plenty of warning. As the fist came his way, he grabbed it and pulled, throwing the man across the room to hit the wall hard. Guess he hadn’t passed the phase training yet.

  “Duncan, that’s enough.”

  He returned his attention to Cameron. “I haven’t even started. You need to answer some questions and answer them now before Jessica becomes a lost soul.”

  Cameron’s brow lowered. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Duncan started around the desk, but the young man he’d thrown didn’t seem to understand he wasn’t wanted. He charged.

  Duncan took part of a second to completely phase and watch the new recruit slam headlong into Cameron’s desk. He fell to the floor, unmoving. “No’ very smart.”

  “Neither are you.” Cameron eyes were hard as flint.

  “It’s hard to be smart when my friend is hiding information from me. Tell me why every event you have us visiting with Holly is revealing hard-to-swallow truths to Jessica. I can see the doubt in her eyes. Her life is unraveling before her and her acceptance of being dead is leaving.” He tried to control his anger, but the look in Jessica’s face when she connected her suggestion to Tommy and the foregoing meeting of Holly and Cameron was the last straw.

  Cameron looked away. “That’s why you’re there. You’re her mentor, so mentor her.”

  Duncan shook his head. “Ach, you dinna get away with laying this on me. You chose those episodes in Holly’s life for a reason and the reason had nothing to do with Holly.”

  Cameron stood silent, unmoving.

  “Blast it, man, what have ye done? Is this assignment even approved?”

  Cameron finally faced him. “Yes, it’s approved.” He came out from behind his desk and pointed at him. “It’s your job to keep Jessica in line and Holly safe.”

  Duncan smacked Cameron’s hand aside. “I’ll be happy to do that when you give me all the information about this case. Every episode has a tie to Jessica. You knew that and used it to make Holly comfortable on the first visit to her past, but now you are crossing a line.”

  Cameron’s eyebrow rose. “Really? And what line would that be? I have a new Spirit Guide who thinks she knows everything and an old Spirit Guide trainer who hasn’t used his brain or his heart to solve a client problem in two hundred years! As far as I’m concerned, just talking to you is cutting you slack.”

  Relief washed through Duncan. “So this is about me. Fine, but leave the lass out of it.”

  Cameron laughed. “Oh that’s perfect. Now it’s all about you. Hate to tell you, it’s about getting the job done that you and Jessica were sent to do, which was to bring my wife to a level of happiness she has not been at since I died. It’s really not that hard to do. If you mess up with Jessica and she screws up, then so be it. You just make sure Holly is in a better place when you’re done.”

  Duncan’s gut twisted. He couldn’t just take the case away from Jessica. She’d be devastated if she didn’t help Holly. Cameron was always concerned about his Spirit Guides finding confidence. This assignment was undermining everything Jessica believed. Duncan wouldn�
�t let that happen.

  He’d never seen Cameron like this. The man’s usual calm manner had completely disappeared. What happened to the man he’d had drinks with and laughed over his past mistakes with? The Cameron he faced now was someone else entirely. There was no way Duncan would sacrifice Jessica for Cameron’s wife, bugger the rules. Besides, Cameron could always take care of his wife. Obviously, no one gave three figs for Jessica.

  Duncan forced his fisted hands to remain at his sides. “Fine. Then I’ll bring Jessica back and finish the assignment by myself.”

  “That’s not an option.” Cameron looked him in the eyes. “If you have to hump the woman to focus, then do it and get it over with. Then get back to Holly.”

  The entire room turned red and Duncan lunged for Cameron. He wrapped his hands around the man’s neck and squeezed. No one spoke about Jessica that way. She was everything good at heart, trying as hard as she could to help other people and this man kept throwing her life back in her face.

  Cameron’s hands pried at his fingers, but he wouldn’t let go. Duncan’s rage found release in hurting the man who caused Jessica pain and heartache. He wanted him dead. Huh? He watched as Cameron’s eyes rolled back. But they all were dead already.

  “Duncan. Duncan!”

  He blinked. Cameron had his hand on his arm, his brow furrowed with concern. Duncan stared at his neck, no marks marred it.

  Then a sharp pain seeped into his brain, filling it from the bottom up. He grabbed his head. “Argh.” There was no pain in the afterlife. What was happening?

  Cameron grabbed him by both shoulders and force-phased him.

  The pain eased, only a shadow of what it was, though it still remained in a ball at the base of his head. He looked into Cameron’s concerned gaze. “What was that?”

  “It’s what I feared. You need to finish this assignment sooner rather than later. Only then can I help you.”

  “Help me? What do you mean?”

  Cameron floated away and solidified. “I know what’s causing these episodes, but you have to finish this assignment with Jessica before we can address it.”

  “Why can’t we address it now?”

  Cameron strode back to his desk. “Because how far gone you are will depend upon the outcome of this case.”

  How far gone? What did that mean? He opened his mouth to ask when something inside him shuddered at what the answer would be. Instead, he tried one more time to get some answers for Jessica if no’ for himself.

  Cameron studied him. “Have you been having many of these episodes?”

  Had he? He’d had the one when he thought he was making love to Jessica. Before that he’d had one when he’d finally won a bet on the Rangers game against Cameron for the first time. It had been sweet triumph until the pain started. He shrugged. “A few.”

  Cameron turned away to walk back behind his desk. “Then I suggest you get back to work.”

  “Can you no’ tell me anything about this link between Holly and Jessica?” He hated asking when he wanted to demand the information, but it was clear that wasn’t going to work, especially as he had to remain phased and couldn’t beat it out of Cameron.

  His boss shrugged. “Just focus on Holly and the rest will work itself out.”

  Duncan drifted to the front of the desk, he wanted to solidify, but the vestiges of the head pain still hung at the base of his neck. “There’s more to this case than just your wife. Can you no’ see that?”

  Cameron’s eyes remained cold. “There’s more to this case than just Jessica. Why can’t you see that?”

  Duncan swallowed. He’d never felt the way he did now and he wasn’t even sure what it was he felt. All he knew was he would do anything to protect Jessica from hurt of any kind be it emotional, physical or mental.

  His anger lessened at that realization, but he dared no’ delve into the why and wherefore of it. “But you do admit there is more to this assignment than simply helping your wife?”

  Cameron held his gaze for a good minute before he gave the slightest nod.

  A moan from the floor had Duncan looking beneath him. The young Spirit Guide was coming to. He could either knock him out again or leave.

  Obviously, he wouldn’t get any more answers from Cameron now. He needed to get back to Jessica for whatever else she would be forced to face.

  Giving his friend a final glare, he floated through the floor and toward Holly’s apartment. He flew through time and space much faster than when he had Holly and Jessica with him. As he traveled, he thought to switch his clothing, but the pain at the base of his skull grew stronger, so he stopped and it went back to a dull ache. Guess he’d stay in the tight clothes of the present a little longer.

  He’d hoped to surprise Jessica with his native wear, something to take her mind off her doubts. He’d just have to use something else to distract her.

  He grinned as he floated into the little apartment to find the young Holly and Cameron asleep on the couch. He’d forgotten to go back to the time he’d left the women, but that was fine. They weren’t there so they had to be in the kitchen. The apartment wasn’t that big.

  When he didn’t find them there, he moved into the bedroom. He stared at the empty room in disbelief. Where could they have gone? Outside?

  He’d just go back to when he left them. He floated back to the kitchen, going back in time as he did and found them talking. He grinned. “Did you miss me, ladies?”

  Holly smiled widely. “Yes. Oh wait, what about Duncan?”

  He floated forward. “What about me?”

  Jessica frowned. “You’re right. We should probably wait for him.”

  “I’m right here.” What the blazes was happening? “Jessica. You can see me, lass?”

  “Can’t he find us?” Holly looked right past him.

  “I’m not sure.”

  He phased through Jessica, the pain in his head spiking again. Blast. Surely she could feel that.

  “I think he would be upset if he came back and found us missing. What time and place did Cameron propose to you?”

  Duncan shook his head “Missing, why would I find you missing? What does it matter when he proposed to her? No. Jessica.”

  “We were hillwalking.” Holly’s face softened. “It was less than a year after we met, but he always said, ‘when you know it’s right, you know’. It was a beautiful day. One of those days when you just feel like everything is right with the world. He hadn’t even planned it, but that’s so Cameron, always acting on the spur of the moment.”

  “He didn’t plan it? So no ring?”

  Holly shook her head. “Nope. It was spontaneous, like it burst out from his soul.”

  Jessica looked down at her hand.

  Duncan tried to take that hand, but there was no connection.

  “How long do we need to wait?” Holly’s impatience was clear. “I only have tonight, right?”

  Jessica pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Come.” She held her hand out to Holly.

  Fear sliced through him. “Blast it, Jessica, do no’ do—argh.” He grasped his head in his hands at the pain.

  Jessica smiled. “Let’s go visit that little hill where Cameron proposed to you.”

  Holly grabbed her hand.

  “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  “No!” Duncan threw himself at Jessica, but she floated away.

  Chapter Seven

  Jessica held on to Holly’s hand tight. Without Duncan along, Holly’s well-being was in her hands. This was a good test for her. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling Duncan wouldn’t be happy, but the fact was, Holly would be and that’s what counted.

  As the dark of time dissipated, she guided them over the coast that lined the verdant land of Scotland. The view reminded her of Duncan’s castle and a need to know if it was still there during her lifetime grew.

  She glanced at Holly to see anticipation written in her half smile. Maybe after they watched Cameron propose, they could
look for it together.

  She flew them south of the River Clyde for a bit before turning eastward toward the hill. As they drew closer, it was obvious why it was called Loudon Hill. It had an inviting rounded top and green landscape with trees encircling part of it. Compared to the flat fields surrounding it, which were dotted with sheep, it looked as high as some of the small mountains in New Hampshire she’d hiked. One side was a cliff, but most of it looked like an easy hike through grass.

  Holly pointed. “See that rock face?”

  Jessica nodded. It would be hard not to see it.

  “Cam loved to climb that on the weekends when he had no bigger challenges scheduled. He said it kept him in shape. But I swear he knew where every crack and crevice was on that thing. You’d think he was Spider-Man. But on the day he proposed we took the long way up for my benefit.”

  As they floated over the top of the hill, Holly squealed, “There.”

  From above, Jessica could see what looked to be a small monolith at the very top, probably a monument to somebody historical, surrounded by a grassy area. Not far from the very top was a tree, slightly leaning, its heavy branches providing welcome shade on the sunny day for the couple beneath it.

  All their scheduled visits had been at night. She hoped she wasn’t breaking some spirit rule. She looked at Holly again as they drew close and her anxious face was enough for Jessica. Rules, shmules, Holly needed this.

  They came to a stop just feet away from the shade. The young Holly leaned against the trunk of the tree while Cameron lay with his head in her lap. Both wore shorts and t-shirts and two walking sticks were on the ground nearby.

  Holly released her hand and floated closer to the couple before looking up at Jessica. “Oh, this is perfect timing.”

  She drifted a bit closer as well, her excitement at seeing the proposal heightening.

  Cameron picked a nearby mayweed flower from the ground. “Come here.”