Christmas of Love

by Erin Wright

  No, it was best that he dropped Ivy off and drove away. Away from the temptation, away from her, away from a huge mistake.

  Austin was many things, but a player wasn’t one of them. A one-night stand wasn’t his style.

  He put his hand on the gear shift and pushed in the clutch, throwing his truck in reverse.

  It was time to go home.

  Chapter 9

  Ivy

  Ivy settled down further into the couch with a groan, wrapping her hands around her mug of coffee. She was exhausted. Anyone who’d spent two days talking sense into Iris would be exhausted.

  Her sister put the stubborn in McLain.

  Huh. Okay, so that didn’t make much sense. She sighed and took another sip of her coffee. She obviously needed all the help she could get.

  The good news was, after two days of beating on the thick skull that was Iris McLain, Ivy and her mom had finally convinced her that it was best to tell Declan the truth. The whole truth. Even the part about how she didn’t think she could take care of kids. And the part where medical coding from home was slowly making her blind. Dr. Mor, the local optometrist, had told Iris to either stop coding, or get ready to use a cane and a seeing-eye dog for the rest of her life.

  Yeah, all of it.

  Ivy wasn’t always the biggest Declan fan – him leaving her sister for fifteen years without explanation, forcing Ivy to help clean up the mess left behind didn’t exactly endear her to him – but…that night of the accident? He’d come to the hospital, petrified. Upset beyond anything she’d ever seen. Declan was normally the most mellow, laid-back human being on the face of the planet, a peacemaker to an extreme. She’d heard through the grapevine that he’d gotten punched more than once when he’d thrown himself between his two warring brothers, stopping a fight with his face, and she had no problems at all believing that story.

  On a normal day, he made Gandhi look like a warmonger.

  But that night at the hospital? He’d been torn to pieces by what had happened, and by the fact that no one had told him anything. It’d been Iris’ call, of course – she’d been the one to insist that no one say a word to him. In fact, Ivy still didn’t know how he knew, other than the gossip chain that was Long Valley.

  Seeing him in the hospital that night had told Ivy what she needed to know – that he truly did love Iris. Even if they were both too stubborn to admit it, those two were meant to be together.

  So, after two days of arguing with Iris, Ivy had finally convinced her of that fact too, which was nothing short of a Christmas miracle, at least in Ivy’s eyes.

  Speaking of Christmas…

  She pulled her phone out and reread the form email from the airline that they’d sent her after she’d called to cancel her flight back to California. The employee had tried to talk to her at the time and warn her about fees and such, but Ivy had been so upset, she hadn’t paid much attention.

  Any attention, really.

  But now…

  She scrolled down through the email, dread growing in her stomach. When she’d originally booked her flight up to Idaho, she’d skipped the trip insurance option because it was just one more fee that the airlines liked to tack onto flight prices, and she’d barely been able to afford the base ticket price. In hindsight, not the most brilliant choice she could’ve made.

  The cost of moving her return ticket to another date was almost as much as it would cost to simply buy another ticket. The dread becoming thicker by the moment, she flipped over to the airline app and began scrolling through one-way tickets from Boise to Sacramento going out in the next week.

  Thousands. It would cost thousands of dollars.

  She began entering in dates further and further away. After Christmas. After New Year’s. Finally, she hit dates in the second week of January that were more reasonable, comparatively speaking, of course.

  By that point, though, she wouldn’t be able to afford even the cheaper ticket price. Her boss, Barry, had let her take the weekend off for her parent’s wedding anniversary, after she’d pinky sworn that she’d be back before the rush for the holidays really hit. She’d been booked solid on the calendar in the diner’s kitchen until after New Year's.

  When Iris had fallen and hurt herself again, she’d texted Barry and pleaded for another week, and he’d begrudgingly given it to her. As the restaurant manager, his focus was on fully staffing the diner for the holiday rush, not on her personal life. Or anyone’s personal life. He wasn’t exactly well-known for having a heart of gold.

  But now…

  She wouldn’t be able to fly back for a little over a month. Which meant no income that whole time. Which meant no job when she did return, because Barry absolutely wouldn’t forgive her being gone that long. Which meant no apartment to return to, because how on earth would she pay January’s rent without a paycheck from December?

  She stared at her phone, her eyes no longer seeing anything, as the hot tears filled her eyes and then began dripping down her face. Someday, her parents were going to catch onto the fact that their darling younger daughter was not, in fact, going back to California and had, in fact, moved herself right back into their house. They would want to know why. Which means she’d have to fess up to years of white lies and gray lies, and some outright black lies.

  Ivy was pretty sure she’d be willing to do almost anything to keep from having to do that, but what that “anything” consisted of, she couldn’t begin to guess. The easiest thing would be to get a job as a waitress in Sawyer at Betty’s Diner, except:

  a) Tiffany worked at that diner, which automatically made it a no-go; and

  b) Even if Tiffany didn’t work there, her parents would surely notice if Ivy suddenly became a waitress at a local restaurant, and they’d want to know why. Surely their uber-successful, hasn’t-worked-at-a-restaurant-for-years daughter wouldn’t get a job over Christmas simply to pass the time.

  Ivy was stuck in the worst pickle of her life, and she didn’t have a clue of how to get out of the mess she’d created.

  The hot tears trailed ever faster down her face.

  Chapter 10

  Austin

  His hand hovered over his cell phone as he debated with himself. He should call Declan to find out how Iris was doing. It’s only neighborly, right? And if the conversation just happened to drift toward Ivy, well, that would just be a happy coincidence.

  Nothing more than that.

  He snatched the phone up and after unlocking it, tapped #1 in his favorites – the only phone number listed in his favorites section, and didn’t that just say something about him that he didn’t exactly want to think about just then – and listened to the phone ring.

  Just as he thought it was going to go to voicemail, he heard Declan’s deep voice come through.

  “Hey Declan! Just calling to find out how Iris is doing.” Casual. So very casual. The only way he could be more casual was if he put on swim trunks and perched a pair of sunglasses on top of his head.

  “Good, good. She’s back at home finally, and is spending a lot of her time resting up. That girl…” Austin could hear the half laugh, half groan come through loud and clear. “I’ve been thinking about buying her a donkey for Christmas. Just so she knows what it’s like to be around someone as stubborn as her.”

  Austin laughed. That would really only work if Iris bought him a donkey in return. Truly, two people couldn’t be more perfectly suited for each other, at least when it came to the Stubborn Scale.

  “Oh hey, before I forget: Iris has been bugging me to bug you. She wants you to attend the First Annual Miller / McLain Christmas Party. Since Ivy isn’t going back to San Francisco until after the holidays, Iris thought it would be fun to have a big get-together to celebrate. I knew with everything going on with your parents, you probably wouldn’t want to go back home for Christmas.”

  Home. Austin wondered for a moment when North Idaho had stopped feeling like home for him. Was it when he’d first been told his parents were getting
a divorce? Or maybe when Monica had mailed his engagement ring back to him so she could start dating Dane, the second richest guy in the county?

  Somewhere in there.

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’d be good. Christmas Day?”

  “Yup. We’ll meet over at Stetson’s house. He has the biggest house in the family until Wyatt finishes his monstrosity. And anyway, it’s the Miller homestead, you know? But, Carmelita will be cooking, so I plan on wearing sweatpants so I can stuff as much down me as possible.”

  Austin let out a roar of laughter. “Good plan. See you then.” After they hung up, Austin stared at his phone.

  Ivy was still in town. Why was Ivy still in town? She had a studio and art galleries who would probably love to showcase her paintings over the holidays, not to mention a whole life back in California. He’d never expected her to still be here in Long Valley.

  But since she was…

  His mind ran through the possibilities. What was public, fun to do, and as Christmassy as it comes? After all, they still hadn’t seen Tiffany and Ezzy out in public. It was possible that they hadn’t gotten the message yet. It was only smart to go on one more date.

  Just one more. Then he could give Ivy up.

  Chapter 11

  Ivy

  Ivy stood next to Austin, his arm wrapped around her as he belted out God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen with the rest of the caroling group. His singing voice was…awful.

  Atrocious, really.

  He looked down at her and shot her a huge grin and she grinned back, mentally making the note to wear earplugs the next time she went caroling with Austin.

  Not that there would be a next time, of course.

  She pushed that thought away and glanced around the Sawyer Retirement Home with a goofy smile plastered to her face. She felt good. Damn good. When they’d arrived at the retirement home for the annual sing-in to the local residents, she’d spotted Tiffany and Ezzy and had stiffened up, her heart racing even as the rest of her body froze in place. Sure, this was the whole point of going on a public date with Austin, but that didn’t make it any easier to see her high school tormentors.

  But the look on Tiffany’s face when she’d glanced over and then had done a double-take when she saw Austin’s arm wrapped around Ivy…

  Well, that was almost as delicious as when Tiffany and Ezzy marched towards the door, loudly discussing what a lame-ass idea it was to go caroling at a senior citizen’s home as a date.

  Ivy’s grin grew even wider as she remembered their snotty comments. That’s right – she was on a date. With the cutest guy in four counties. Probably four states, actually.

  This was a world she was rather happy to inhabit.

  The caroling group segued into It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and Ivy sang the lyrics lustily, snuggling into Austin’s side. It was coming upon a Christmas Eve soon, and she was thrilled that Austin would be at the First Annual Miller / McLain Christmas Party. Although they wouldn’t be there as each other’s date, of course – that implied a level of seriousness that just wasn’t there after only knowing each other for a couple of weeks – it was still going to be loads of fun.

  After New Year’s would be when reality intruded, but she was happy to ignore that reality until then, thankyouverymuch. In fact, she was reaching epic levels of avoidance when it came to her financial situation, a talent she hadn’t realized she’d possessed until recently.

  It Came Upon a Midnight Clear finished up, and Ivy looked towards the caroling director, waiting to hear the name of the next song to sing, when he instead announced that they were done and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Ivy bit back a twinge of disappointment – she was really starting to enjoy herself. Now she had no excuse to snuggle into Austin’s side, which was really too bad.

  After some clapping and rounds of hugs, the carolers headed for the door, and out into a great big world of white.

  Flakes were falling gently from the sky, blanketing everything as far as the eye could see. To someone else, it might appear magical. To Ivy, it looked evil. Monstrous. This…this shit had been what had almost killed her sister. Not to mention that it was just miserable cold.

  Why? Why would anyone ever intentionally live in a place where it snowed on a regular basis?!

  “Oh wow,” Austin breathed, looking out at the white covering the world. “So pretty. You want to walk home? I can come back and get the truck, but I’d love to walk you home in this.”

  Intentionally…

  Her mind ground to a halt. There was no part of this that made any sense whatsoever. He’d have to walk her home, then walk back, then drive home, all so he could spend more time outside in the cold and the snow?

  Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, doing a fantastic imitation of a goldfish, but nothing came out. He must’ve taken her silence as assent because he tucked her arm under his and they took off down the street towards her parents’ home.

  “That sure was a lot of fun,” Austin said cheerfully, every breath creating a cloud around his head that slowly dissipated. The flakes continued to drift down, endlessly down, wrapping them in a world of silence and white. “Thanks for coming with me.”

  “I really had a blast,” Ivy replied. Except for the part where you’re forcing me to walk home in a snowstorm. But she kept that thought to herself. The flakes swirled around them as they moved slowly down the street, and Ivy had the fleeting thought that it looked like Sawyer had been shoved under the dome of a snow globe, one where God kept shaking it to keep the snow coming.

  It was almost a pretty snow, if such a thing could be true, because of how gently it drifted down.

  Pretty snow…

  Had they slipped alcohol into the hot cocoa they were serving at the retirement home? Ivy couldn’t remember ever thinking that snow was pretty.

  Maybe she was under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug. Maybe she was about to die. Maybe, aliens had taken over her body and she didn’t even—

  “When are you going back to California?” Austin asked, yanking her out of her thoughts and back into the present. He tucked her arm closer to his side. She shoved her other hand into her coat pocket, wishing again that she had gloves. Or something warmer than what amounted to a fall jacket when it came to Idaho weather. It was her winter jacket in the Bay area, but that didn’t mean much up here in the mountains. She tried to hide her teeth-chattering by sheer dint of will.

  “Oh, after the new year,” she said breezily, as if that thought didn’t haunt her every moment of every day. It was more like Never, because I can’t afford to, but she was still hoping for that Christmas miracle – some way to get out of this predicament she’d found herself in. It hadn’t happened yet, but Christmas was still four days away. She was holding out hope. She’d watched It’s a Wonderful Life every year growing up. She totally believed in Christmas miracles. “I’m staying here until then to spend time with my family. I so rarely get to make it up from California, what with the studio and all; it’s fun to spend time with them when I can.”

  She squinted one eye upward, waiting for the lightning strike to hit. She’d heard of snow lightning. It was a thing. Especially when someone was lying their ever lovin’ ass off like she was.

  Nothing.

  Apparently, God was busy tonight. Not a big surprise, considering the biggest holiday of the year was coming up.

  Maybe that was as big of a Christmas miracle as she’d be able to expect this year.

  “Where are your gloves?” he asked, taking the hand he’d tucked underneath his arm and blowing warm air on it. She quickly pulled her other hand out of her pocket so he could blow on both of them at the same time. She felt prickles of pleasure-pain in her fingers at the warmth.

  “I was only supposed to be up here for a few days,” she said with a shrug as he tucked both hands underneath his arm. It was a little awkward to walk that way, but heavenly warmth was spreading through her fingers again, so she wasn’t about to complain. “I packed
light, not thinking I’d be here through multiple snowstorms. Plus, my gloves that I have back at home aren’t exactly made for this kind of weather anyway.”

  Mainly, because California didn’t have this kind of weather. She thought longingly back towards mid-60s December days, biting back a groan. She missed real human weather so very much. No one should ever intentionally live in this…

  This winter wonderland.

  Okay, fine, so it was pretty. It didn’t mean she had to like it.

  “I imagine you don’t have any ski resorts in San Francisco?” Austin said with a gentle laugh.

  “Not too many,” Ivy agreed dryly.

  She spotted her parents’ house through the white haze. Almost there. She was surprised to feel a little sadness at the thought. She’d actually enjoyed walking home in the snow with Austin, something she would’ve bet body parts on never happening.

  Not that she didn’t enjoy walking with Austin, of course. It was this dang-blasted beautiful white freezing awful cold shit coming down from the sky that she could do without.

  “Thank you for going caroling with me,” Austin said after a slight pause. He smiled down at her, joy in his eyes. “I know you’re here because of your sister, but…I can’t help but be glad for it anyway.” They drew to a stop on her parents’ front door step, the porch light casting a weak golden glow in the evening darkness. He paused, looking at her and she looked at him and the world swirled around them and she couldn’t breathe, oh her heart…

  He leaned down and placed his lips on hers, softly, questioningly. Did she want this?

  Yes, yes she did.

  She slipped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. He groaned, pushing his gloved hands into her damp hair and tilting her head to the side for better access. Oh, oh…

  His lips were soft and yet demanding as he pulled her to him. His tongue slipped out and ran along the seam of her lips, seeking entrance, and she moaned as she opened her mouth to him. Her heart was beating so hard, she was sure the neighbors would call the police for the noise disturbance, and her mind went blank as she drank in his presence, and then…