by JoAnn Ross
Placed in a way that created a walking path, were the large lighted Santa, an angel, and all the animated penguins skating, skiing, and leaping over igloos that Donna’s husband, Hank, had made and spent a rainy day setting up.
“I’ve always thought Honeymoon Harbor outshines Stars Hollow at Christmas,” Jolene said. Since Brianna had never missed an episode of Gilmore Girls, Aiden immediately got the connection. “It does,” he agreed. “Especially since Stars Hollow didn’t have a boat parade.” Which he still wasn’t all that enthused about. Especially the Santa bit.
“Damn.” Bodhi appeared at their side. “This place really is Bedford Falls.” Rather than scoff at the small-town celebration, he began to sing along. He was flat, as always, but sang as enthusiastically as he’d done everything in life. Aiden almost felt sorry that he was the only one who could hear him.
The town hall tower clock, viewable from all four sides everywhere in town and spotlighted extra bright for the occasion, ticked its way toward seven o’clock. When there were ten minutes left before the lighting, Aiden spotted Amanda Barrow standing with a young woman holding a child with either hand, and an older woman with a blue streak through her silver hair. Accompanying them were Stephanie and Scott Dunn.
“Would you mind if I run over and talk with someone?” he asked.
“Not at all,” Jolene said. “And if you can do it without embarrassing her, would you tell her I’m so glad she’s safe.” There was no pretending that she didn’t know what had happened. Even if she hadn’t had Thanksgiving at the Mannions, and been there when Aiden had come home to tell the outcome of the story, the search for Amanda’s abusive and possibly dangerous husband had made TV news from Portland to Seattle. “Not that she has anything to be embarrassed about,” she added.
“That’s exactly what I told her.” He kissed her quickly, causing a loud “eww” from the five-year-old boy standing next to them. Followed by a loud “Hush!” from his mother with an apologetic laugh from Jolene.
“Merry almost Christmas,” he said as he reached the group. Amanda’s bruises were now in the process of changing from the green stage to a healing yellow-brown.
“Merry Christmas,” she said, already looking a great less nervous and worried from the emotionally battered woman she’d been only last week. He knew it would take longer and more than a Christmas tree lighting to repair the damage Eric Palmer had done, but he also knew she was in good hands and receiving counseling. She introduced him to the mother and children and the older woman, who, she informed him, had knit her hat.
“Linda does amazing work,” Stephanie told him. “I’ve been suggesting she talk to Dottie and Doris at the Dancing Deer. I’d bet they’d love to feature her sweaters, and this time of year, hats, scarves, and gloves.”
“I’ll bet they would,” Aiden said. “Do you happen to have any?”
“I have quite a few stocked up,” Linda Marvin told him. “Knitting relaxes me.”
And he suspected she’d needed relaxing to have landed up in the Dunns’ home. “Would you mind if I dropped by sometime next week?” he asked. “I’d like to buy some for my mother, grandmother and sister.”
The woman blushed. “Not at all. But I wouldn’t know what to charge you. I always wanted to open a little boutique, or maybe just a booth at some of the local craft fairs, but Wayne, he’s my husband, always said I didn’t have any head for business. So, like I said, I have a lot to choose from.”
“Why don’t you call the Dancing Deer,” he suggested. “Doris and Dorothy would be able to give you some suggestions on pricing. Do you have any small sized women’s sweaters? My gram says her bones get cold during our cold rains.”
“I do.” A light brightened in eyes the same color as the streak in her hair.
“Terrific.” He glanced back up at the clock, which had ticked down to less than five minutes. “Well, it was good meeting you all,” he said to the mother, kids and Linda. “And I’ll also be in for some of those poinsettias,” he told Amanda. “Since this is our busy time, Mom and Gram didn’t get into town to buy any for the house.”
“I’ll put the best ones aside for you,” she said.
With another quick glance at the clock, he mouthed a “thank you” to the Dunns, then returned to Jolene. He’d gotten accustomed to Bodhi’s presence enough to know that he’d taken off to wherever ghosts go when they’re not haunting their former partners.
“How is she doing?” Jolene asked.
“A lot better, I think. I bought three scarves and a sweater from the elderly lady with the blue hair. She knits. But Wayne—that’d be her husband—apparently didn’t want her to earn any of her own money. So, she’s got them stockpiled. Since I need to buy presents for Gram, Mom and Bri, I figured this solved my shopping problem while giving her some income.”
Jolene went up on her toes and kissed his cheek.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Because you’re the nicest man I know... Oh, look!” She pointed toward Mike and Gloria, headed toward them. They were holding hands. “Isn’t that sweet?”
“Seems they clicked,” Aiden said.
“It does.”
Jolene couldn’t ever remember seeing her mother so happy. Her face was glowing as if she’d had a honey, olive oil and baking soda facial. She was laughing up at something he’d said, and in that moment, she could have been starring in her own holiday romance movie.
“She’s happy.”
“She’s not alone.” Mike was gazing down at Gloria as if he was about to lasso the moon for her.
“Darling,” her mother said on a musical lilt as she hugged Jolene as if it had been years, rather than an hour since they’d been together. “Isn’t this the most perfect night?”
“We were lucky with the weather,” Jolene said as Mike and Aiden exchanged a one-armed man hug.
“That, too,” Gloria agreed. She dimpled in a way Jolene couldn’t ever remember seeing. “How was your dinner?” she asked Jolene.
“It was lovely. How about yours?”
“Wonderful. My bucatini carbonara was like being whisked away on a magic carpet to Rome. Luca said his secret is adding lemon to it to balance out the richness. I’d never been there for dinner before. It’s very upscale for Honeymoon Harbor, with white tablecloths and candles on the tables.”
“Sounds romantic.”
“It was.” Her mother glanced up at Michael again, hearts dancing it her eyes.
“The food was great, as always,” he said with a slow smile guaranteed to melt the most guarded heart. “And candles are always a nice touch. But it was the company that made it special.”
For a suspended moment, they could have been the only two people in their world. Aiden lifted a brow as he and Jolene exchanged a look. Jolene loved that he seemed to be enjoying the couple’s obviously shared attraction. Go, Mom!
Then it was time for the event everyone had come out on the chilly winter night to experience. John Mannion, acting in his role of mayor, walked to the dais that had been erected that morning and handed the switch over to a little blonde girl, who looked to be about eight. She was wearing a green parka and an elf hat and was seated in a wheelchair.
She pressed the button, and as the tree burst into bright multicolored flashing lights, the band and choral singers broke into an enthusiastic rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
Diamond bright stars spun in a black velvet sky as Aiden pulled Jolene close. His public kiss was brief, but nevertheless made her feel as if she were floating. As she kissed him back, Jolene wished she could freeze this moment forever.
* * *
“I KNOW THIS is our first date,” Aiden said, when they were back in his car. “So, under typical circumstances, I’d be out of line, but there’s never been anything typical about what we have together. So, I’m going to come straight out and ask
...your place or mine?”
No, Jolene thought, there’d never been anything typical about Aiden and her. “Mom’s going back to work full-time tomorrow,” she said. “And for the prework crowd, she opens at seven. Although there’s probably no one in town who doesn’t know about us this time around, I really don’t want her clients to see the chief of police parked outside my cottage in the morning.”
“My place it is.”
He drove a few blocks through the rain that had fortuitously held off during the lighting, past Mrs. Gunderson’s house. “She has her lights up,” Jolene murmured. “With those projector things making it look as if snow’s falling on her gnomes. She couldn’t have managed it herself. Gee, I wonder who in town might have done it for her?”
“You’ve been reading the Facebook page, haven’t you?”
“Yes, and I thought it was sweet how she posted how lovely it was that Honeymoon Harbor’s prodigal son was back home after having to reform himself.”
“I hate that page,” he muttered.
“I probably would, too, if I were in your place,” she said. “But I was relieved that what happened with Amanda and her husband didn’t show up.”
“Donna, my officer manager and 911 officer, moderates the page,” he said. “But she didn’t have to block anyone because no one said a word. One thing about this town, it’s always cared for its own. And I’d guess a lot of people feel bad about not recognizing the signs right away.”
“You did.”
“Because I’ve seen it before.”
“In your police patrol work, I imagine.”
There was a significant pause, giving her the impression that she’d hit an uncomfortable topic. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I was a Marine sniper scout. When I was getting out, I was contacted by one of my old instructors, who offered me a job on the SWAT team, which sounded like it’d be a good transition.”
“But it wasn’t?”
“No. My first call was a hostage situation. The husband was barricaded inside with his wife.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“She got out alive.” A longer pause. “He didn’t.”
“You saved her.”
“I guess. And can we change the subject, because I may be a little rusty when it comes to seducing a beautiful woman, but I don’t think this counts as the best foreplay conversation.”
“Probably not,” she agreed. “Unless I was a cop groupie.” When he gave her a sharp-eyed glance, she said, “I did makeup on a few episodes of Blue Bloods. One was a bit like Fatal Attraction meets Law & Order. And, to set your mind at ease, I’m not hot for you because you’re a cop. I’m hot for you despite your job. And I promise not to boil your bunny.”
“That’s good to hear. Though I don’t have a bunny. But it looks like I might have a dog.” He told her about the stray he’d rescued.
“Oh!” This time she clutched both hands to her melting heart. “You’re going to keep her?”
“It seems so. She’s not chipped, so there’s no idea who her owner is, and Cam Montgomery, he’s the vet, says she looks and acts like she’s been on the road for a long time. The shelter’s at full capacity, so he was hoping to find her a foster family.”
“And you stepped up to the plate.”
“Someone had to,” he said with a shrug.
Oh, God. Jolene realized that she didn’t just want Aiden Mannion. She could well be falling in love with him all over again. And how much would that complicate her life?
No. She wasn’t going to think about that now. This was simply going to be a holiday affair. Like all those Christmas movies her mother marathon-watched. Without the forever-after ending.
He pulled into the driveway of one of the 1930s bungalows that looked like most of the rest of the houses that she knew had been once been homes for mill workers.
“It’s darling,” she said. “It reminds me of the Gilmore Girls house.”
“Bri says the same thing. She found and rented it for me while I was still at the coast house.”
“She did good. Which is to be expected since she’s perfect.”
“Wait until you see the inside,” he said dryly as he cut the engine. After going around and opening door, he took her hand and they dashed through the rain that had begun falling in earnest.
“I love front porches,” she said. “You don’t see that many in Los Angeles because people seem to prefer the privacy of their backyards, whatever the size.”
“Yeah. I noticed that. I guess when you’re living in a beehive of a big city, privacy becomes more important. A place to decompress from all the noise and craziness around you.”
“I suppose so. I always breathed a sigh of relief when I got home, even though it was an apartment.”
“Mom told me about the fire. I’m sorry about that,” he said as he unlocked the door, reminding her how, when she’d grown up here, no one had locked their doors. Despite Honeymoon Harbor not being the big city, she noticed he did have security cameras set up.
“It was just stuff,” she said what she’d told everyone else. The difference was now, after going through that cancer scare with her mom, she believed it.
The exterior of the bungalow was a typical cute 1930s Arts and Crafts style. She could completely imagine herself living there. Until she walked inside.
“Oh, wow,” she said, staring at the blue carpet and wallpaper printed with huge peonies, as she sat down on a bench by the door to pull off her boots so as not to track water. “You’re living in a grandma’s house.”
“Yeah.” After taking off his own boots, he looked around, as if seeing the pink velvet couch with the gold tassels and room crowded with tables, which in turn were taken up by enough old knickknacks to stock Treasures antiques shop several times over. “I guess I’ve gotten so I don’t notice, because mostly when I’m here, I’m sleeping.”
“If the bedroom is anything like this, I’m surprised you get any sleep.” Clutter had always put her own nerves on edge. She would have guessed that as a Marine, accustomed to traveling light, he’d be much the same way.
“When you’re in the military, especially as a scout sniper, out ahead of your team, you learn how to sleep anywhere, and quick.” He gave her just a hint of a sexy smile. “And hopefully you won’t want to sleep. Or I’ll be doing it wrong.”
She doubted that was possible. He hung her coat on an antique coat tree covered with iron birds and leaves while she tried to find table space for her purse, gave up and put it on the pink Victorian sofa. Like most of the furnishings, it didn’t fit the plain and simple concept of the house. At. All.
“Would you like something to drink?” he asked.
“No, thank you.”
“Is this going to be awkward?”
He definitely got more to the point than the men she was used to. In her world, everyone, even nonactors, seemed to be playing roles. Her agent had explained that her brand was quirky, creative, cheerful, easy to work with and unrelentingly dependable. She’d never miss being on the set on time because she was hungover, overslept from partying too late, or suddenly decided to take off to Cancún for a few days of Me Time.
“It’s a little,” she admitted.
“Because of the wallpaper?”
“No.” She laughed because the question sounded serious. “My eyes are going to be so much on you, I won’t even notice it.”
“You probably will,” he said on a long sigh. “The bedroom is cats. And not the Broadway play kind. The furry ones. Apparently whoever owned this place last must have been a cat lady.”
“I like cats,” she said.
“Good. I just didn’t want to risk you freaking out at them all staring at you.” He frowned. “I should’ve thought of that and booked a room in Port Townsend.”
“It’ll be fine. The only reason I’m feeling a bit awk
ward is that it’s been so long. And we’re such different people now.”
“True.” He ran his hand down her hair, across her shoulder, down her arm and laced their fingers together. Then lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss against the center of her palm, causing her pulse to pick up. When his thumb touched the inside of her wrist, she knew he could feel it jump. “But the chemistry, attraction, connection, is still exactly the same.”
“More so,” she said.
Back then she’d been a virgin who fought against sexual feelings for fear of a pregnancy that could ruin her life. And Aiden’s life, as well, because, despite his bad boy reputation, she’d always known that he’d want to do what he’d consider the right—and only—thing. Marry her. And then they’d be two struggling teen parents trying to raise a child when they weren’t yet adults. She put those thoughts aside because they were far the past.
“And because of that, I have no doubt that tonight is going to be memorable. In all the best ways.” She went up on her toes and kissed him. Lightly, at first, then let it linger.
They walked together, hand in hand, down the hall, lined with overly Romanized Victorian paintings of children she’d always found a bit creepy, into the last of the three bedrooms.
“Okay,” she said, when he turned on the light. “This is a bit weird.”
Ceramic, porcelain and blown glass cats were on the top of the dresser and one of the side tables. The other was bare, save for a normal brass lamp that suggested he one, slept on that side of the bed and two, didn’t bring company home. This wallpaper was covered with cats wearing oversize white feathered wings and halos, floating in a blue sky and sitting on clouds in what she assumed was supposed to be heaven.
