Unforgettable Christmas - Gifts of Love (The Unforgettables Book 3)

by Mimi Barbour

  Axelrod crossed his ankles and looked down at his lap. “Thelma’s half brother, that’s me, went to the house where you grew up in Allentown a few days ago. The people who live there shared this address.” He gazed around the room. “This is a nice place, too.”

  Niagara shot Jace a puzzled look, but he shrugged. “How did you know about the house in Allentown?”

  Axelrod wiped his palms back and forth on his thighs. “That’s where my father lived.”

  This just keeps getting better and better, Niagara thought. She guessed her father had brought him there to visit, but she didn’t remember him. Maybe he visited when she was in school.

  “I also asked where you’ve been all this time,” she repeated.

  “Me, that is, your half brother travels with the other umpires during the baseball season, but the season’s over now, so I go to the apartment and stay with a roommate, until spring training.”

  With an incredulous expression, Jace asked, “Are you saying you’re an umpire in major league baseball?”

  A fleeting smile appeared on Axelrod’s lips, and then disappeared. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “I am a first base umpire, because I’m a baseball fan. I don’t miss calling a play correctly. Ever.”

  Niagara and Jace exchanged glances. The shock of discovering this man could be a half brother she didn’t know existed until twenty minutes before was forgotten, in light of this new topic.

  Interest flickered in her eyes at the strange man’s revelations. “Did you go to school to learn how to be an umpire, Axelrod?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he nodded wildly. “Yes, yes, I did. After college, yes, college, then school to learn the base calls. First base umpire training, yes. I’m great at it, and never make a bad call. My calls have never been overturned in review.”

  Once his nodding spree had calmed down, Jace and Niagara breathed easier, although the source of Axelrod’s quirks had yet to be revealed.

  “Thelma, may I see you in the kitchen, please?” her man asked. “Maybe Axelrod would like a soda.”

  “Don’t like bubbles, no bubbles, thanks, man, no,” he said to Jace. “Ice tea would be better. Much better.”

  When the couple was out of earshot, Niagara opened her mouth to speak, but Jace placed a forefinger on her lips. “I think I know what the problem is,” he whispered.

  “The problem is I have a half brother suddenly show up out of nowhere, sitting in our living room,” she whispered back. “He looks too much like my dad to be anyone else.”

  Jace took three glasses from the cabinet and retrieved the iced tea from the fridge. “Yes, I understand that’s freaking you out, but I’m referring to the way Axelrod speaks and conducts himself. I’m pretty sure he has Asperger syndrome.”

  Niagara sighed. “Yes, I think you’re correct, but how am I supposed to get any information from him about his past? Like, did my mother know about him? And what about his mother? Did my dad have an affair, or was he conceived before my parents were married? I have a million unanswered questions.”

  “They might be answered over time, but will require a ton of patience on your part. You’re going to have to dig deep inside yourself for that endurance, if you want to get to know him better and obtain the answers you seek,” he quietly replied as he poured their drinks. “I doubt you’ll find out much more today. Invite him back if you want, before we go on our trip, and see if he agrees.”

  “Do you think he drives?”

  “I didn’t see a car out front, but we can ask how he gets around.”

  Niagara picked up two of the glasses. “Let’s go and find out, then.”

  Axelrod was studying his folded hands.

  She held out the glass. “Here’s your iced tea.”

  He reached out to take the glass, and then changed his mind. “Can you please put it over there?” he asked, pointing to the coffee table.

  She did as he asked, and returned to her seat. “Axelrod, did my mother know I have a half brother?”

  “Yes,” he replied with several enthusiastic nods. “Your mother was nice, and she smelled good, too. Her name was Grace.” He sniffed the air. “You, my half sister, wear nice perfume, too, not strong, but light and fresh, like spring time flowers. Just like Grace. Floral but not too sweet.”

  Niagara’s eyes welled up. That he’d so accurately described her mother’s scent, and hers, almost sent her over the edge.

  Jace sent her an encouraging wink and she cleared her throat. “Why do you refer to yourself as Thelma’s half brother sometimes?” she asked him.

  “Because that’s who he is,” he said, looking at the carpet again.

  A soft smile appeared on Niagara’s mouth at his words. “How did my you, my half brother, get to this house?”

  “I have a car service. I push a button on my pager, and the car picks me up.” He squinted at his watch, pulled out his pager, and hit a button on it. “I need to go home for lunch. My ride will be here soon.”

  A car honked outside and they all rose from their seats.

  Axelrod walked towards the foyer and repeated his two-step cha-cha. Without saying goodbye, he began to open the door.

  “Wait a minute,” Niagara called. “Would you like to come back and visit me, your half sister, again? Can you come on Tuesday?”

  The man paused, his hand on the knob. “I have group on Tuesdays,” he said. “Tuesday’s always group therapy. Every Tuesday. Then I go to the community center and serve food to the homeless at dinnertime.”

  Niagara gulped. “I think you’re a very nice guy to help out,” she told him. “How about Wednesday about five o’clock? Could the car bring you here again?”

  Axelrod nodded vigorously. “Yes, that would be good, on Wednesday. I will come back Wednesday at five o’clock.” With that, he opened the door and walked out to the waiting car.

  The couple watched until the car was out of sight.

  “Holy heavens,” Niagara said. “Do you believe that just happened?”

  Jace put his arm around her shoulders. “Well, yeah, I guess so. What do you think he wants?”

  “I haven’t got the foggiest clue,” she answered. “He doesn’t seem the type to be after my inheritance. Maybe he just wants to get to know me, in his limited way.”

  “How do you suppose he knew about you?”

  She shook her head. “Maybe my parents showed him pictures of me when I was younger. I’ll have to remember to ask him.”

  Jace’s stomach growled. “We’d better go get our running around finished before one of us gets grouchy due to hunger,” he suggested.

  Niagara pinched his cheek playfully. “Never mind the wise cracks. I’ll go grab my purse.”

  Chapter Four

  Techie Troubles

  They completed most of their errands making small talk abut the lovely autumn weather. Except for the “Oh’s and Ah’s” Niagara exclaimed as they selected their harvest decors, Jace found the chitchat lacking, compared to their normal lively discussions, and he knew why.

  With Niagara’s world as she’d formally known it torched, Jace understood why she’d need to process the ramifications. What he did find strange was how she avoided bringing up her half brother’s sudden appearance when they were alone.

  Once they arrived at the restaurant, and Jace had pulled out her chair in the gentlemanly fashion he was wont to do, she said, “Thanks so much for spoiling me with the scarecrow and the other stuff. How about I treat for the eats today?”

  Jace snapped open his menu, although he already knew it by heart. “That’s not necessary,” he replied with a sneaky grin. “But we can go Dutch, if you like.”

  Niagara sent him an obscene gesture, but she demurely requested of the server, “Please bring me a Bloody Mary with three green olives. No Tabasco, but plenty of horseradish.”

  The server turned to Jace. “And you, Sir?” he asked.

  “Bring me what she’s having, but make mine way more potent,” he replied, shutting his menu. “We
’ll also be enjoying your fabulous buffet. Is that okay with you, my love?” he mockingly asked his companion.

  The words, ‘Food fight’, entered Niagara’s mind, but she retained her dignity. She merely followed his lead, not sure what her man was up to.

  When their cocktails arrived, she took a long, unprecedented sip of her Bloody Mary that went on and on, until the glass was empty. Relaxing in her chair, a foolish smile on her face, she said, “I know our morning began a bity screwy, but it did get better, don’t you think? Who knew we’d have a relative we didn’t know was alive, show up out of no where?”

  Jace still wore the dumbfounded expression that had appeared as she’d finished her cocktail in one gulp. “Screwy kind of covers it,” her replied carefully. “Is there anything else pertaining to our day you’d like to share with me?”

  Niagara motioned to the waiter. “May I please have a glass of chardonnay and water with a slice of lemon?” she asked him.

  The server looked at Jace. “I’m fine for now,” he said, pointing to his full Bloody Mary.

  After her drinks were delivered, Niagara folded her hands on the table and sighed. “Remember last night when I told you I’d ordered the new software?”

  “Yes?”

  Her heart pounding she began pleating her linen napkin, searching her mind for the right words. She knew excuses wouldn’t fly, that the truth was the best way to go.

  “Well, I lost my cell phone yesterday, the one with all of our accounts listed in the contact file,” she said fretfully. “That’s why we need to go to the phone store when we’re finished here.”

  Jace’s appetite fled on winged feet, but he managed to keep his features calm, or so he thought.

  Niagara could see her man trying hard to control himself. He’d attempted a smile, but his grimace reminded her of a picture she’d seen of a baboon showing all of its teeth, as it prepared to bite.

  He cleared his throat, but the foot tapping against the table leg continued, making their drinks slosh. “With our accounts in jeopardy of falling into the wrong hands, don’t you think you should’ve told me this immediately?”

  Niagara flushed to the roots of her hair. “Damn, I meant to. I really did, and then got distracted. You remember how our evening began when I got home. Plus you said you didn’t want to discuss business at dinner.”

  Jace reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his cell. “Go ahead and get your lunch, if you want. I have to call the credit card company and have them delete the account. I’ll be right back,” he said, and then strode out of the restaurant.

  “Oh, double damn me,” she muttered. What if their business had already been compromised?

  By the time Jace returned, her wine was gone, and so was most of the lemon water.

  He gave her a brief smile as he sat down, and took a large swallow of his cocktail.

  “So, what happened?” asked the frightened woman before him.

  “We’re okay for now,” he shared. “There hasn’t been any weird activity on our card, but they closed it, and will be sending us a new one. We should have it in five to seven business days, they said.”

  She blew a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry to be so careless,” she said. “I’d put my phone in my bag after the call, and when I got home, it wasn’t there. Maybe it fell out in the parking lot. We should go check now, don’t you think?”

  He signaled for the waiter and asked for the check. “Yes, good idea.”

  Niagara rose. “I have to hit the ladies room first, be right back.”

  After she was gone, Jace contemplated the situation. They’d dodged a bullet for sure – but he just couldn’t wrap his head around Niagara’s carelessness.

  When they first went into business, she’d been so security conscious, she’d kept all the passwords for their enterprises locked in a small safe she had installed in the floor. It had been a week before she’d even share the combination with him.

  He shook his head. She recent behaviors proved to be an enigma to him, and again, he wondered if there was an underlying problem she wasn’t confiding.

  Or, maybe, there wasn’t anything wrong at all. Theirs was a relationship relatively new, and perhaps she was still getting used to their lives together, like he was, too.

  ***

  The couple drove across town to the office in silence, lost in their own concerns, and there were many.

  When Jace pulled his SUV into the parking lot, Niagara saw the sun glinting off a shiny object close to where she’d parked the Mustang the day before.

  “Look! There it is,” she cried, pointing to it.

  As soon as he put the car into park, she hopped out. When she reached the shiny plastic, she picked it up with a sad frown and brought it over for Jace to see.

  He couldn’t help but chuckle, as she handed him the mangled plastic through the driver’s side window. “Holy shit, what the heck happened to it?”

  Niagara crossed her arms. “Apparently, some dumb ass ran it over.”

  “Wonder who could have done that?” he asked with an innocent smile.

  “Must’ve been me. Darn thing probably fell out of my bag when I was looking for my keys. Stop laughing, it’s not funny!” she retorted.

  “No, maybe not, but you sure did mangle that thing,” he replied. “Come on, get in. We’ll head over to the phone store and get you a new one. Aren’t you glad we decided to buy the insurance?”

  Niagara buckled herself into the passenger seat and examined the remains of her demolished cell. Suddenly, she turned and gave him a wide smile.

  “Oh, wow, the sim card’s still intact.” Tears began rolling down her face as she kissed the tiny chip.

  “Why are you crying?” he asked as they pulled away from the scene of the crime.

  “Because I’m so happy,” she sobbed. “All of our pictures, and the business contacts are saved on this chip, which means our little photo history’s not in cyberspace, and I don’t have to manually re-enter the contacts. Thank God!”

  After they left the cellular phone shop, they stopped for a slice of pizza and a soda.

  Jace could see his lady was in sore need of a nap. Between each bite of pie, she yawned – Lord knew she had enough on her plate to make her sleep for a week.

  When they were finally home, Jace unpacked their harvest supplies and left them on the front porch. “Why don’t you go lie down for an hour?” he suggested. “I’ll water the mums after I get back, and plant them in the morning.”

  “Plant the mums? Don’t you just leave them in the containers?” she asked with another wide yawn. “What about the pumpkin? Don’t we need to carve it?”

  Jace simply shook his head. “The mums will die if they’re not planted in the ground, and if we carve the pumpkin now, our Jack-O-Lantern will rot and look like this.” He made a funny face, like an old man without any teeth.

  Niagara laughed. “Oh, I get it, silly man. Seems like I’m on the short side about harvest protocol,” she replied. “So where are you off to now? I think we’ve done enough shopping for one day.”

  “I’ve only got another errand to run. It’ll take about fifteen minutes, and then I’ll be right home. Now, scoot, go take a power nap.” He gave her a wicked leer. “Rest up, so I can take advantage of your sleepy ass later.”

  As Jace pulled out of the driveway, she waved to him, a puzzled expression on her face.

  Niagara plopped onto the couch and sighed, briefly wondering where her man went, but decided she’d know soon enough.

  Then, the image of Axelrod wormed its way into her mind. Not in a horrible way, she decided if she were honest with herself. His being would significantly alter her future and Jace’s, for better or worse - she hoped for the better.

  She slipped off her jacket, kicked her sneakers across the room, and laid down right where she was.

  Too tired to sort out the day’s events, in a minute she was fast asleep.

  ***

  After he left Niagara at the hous
e, Jace headed to the local mall.

  He didn’t dally, because he already knew what he wanted to purchase, and where to find it.

  When he got home, he gathered up his packages and carefully closed the car door, in case his woman was asleep.

  He let himself into the house as quietly as possible, but the moment he’d tippy-toed past Niagara, she sat up wide-awake.

  Her stomach growled with enthusiasm. “What’s that delicious smell?” she asked.

  Jace grinned. For someone who’d been in the throes of deep slumber a minute ago, she was certainly alert, interested, and obviously famished.

  “I picked up some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and slaw from that chicken place, on my way back from the mall,” he said, holding up the bag. “Didn’t feel like cooking tonight. Do you mind?”

  Niagara’s mouth watered. “Absolutely not. Any chance you bought some beer to go along with the food?”

  “Sure. Can’t have fried chicken without a six pack of that Mexican beer you like, and limes to go with it.”

  She tilted her head and pointed to the bag he’d tried to hide behind his back. “How come you went to the mall? What else have you got there?”

  Jace hurriedly grabbed a tiny box from the bag and slipped it into his pocket. “I got you a present,” he told her, as he handed over the bag. “Something you might consider using.”

  She made a face. “Oh poop. What fun’s a gift you have to use?”

  He grinned. “Oh, you won’t have a problem with this one.”

  Niagara pulled a small package from the bag and stared. Stamped across the box was the famous logo for high-end purses. She held it to her nose and breathed in the scent of expensive leather.

  She slipped off the cover and parted the tissue paper to find a purse slightly bigger than Jace’s hand inside.

  “Oh, my God, this is awesome,” she declared, holding it up by the long strap to admire the new purse. “I love the red, tan, and gold pattern, too.” She turned to her man. “Why did you say this would be something I’d consider using? It’s fabulous.”