by Debbie Mason
If this kept going, her worry journal would be filled by next week. Not that the journal was helping with her insomnia as it was supposed to. Neither was the extra exercise she was getting in at the senior center. Every day she ran a chair exercise program in the morning and a dance class in the afternoon. Last week it had been jazz. This coming week was Zumba.
She turned on the light over the stove—six in the morning. Yawning, she picked up the kettle from the back burner and turned to fill it in the sink, blinking at the sight that greeted her. “It’s snowing!”
She looked around for someone to share the exciting news with, then remembered she was the only one up. Although Oliver and Brooks would probably be too cool to make a fuss anyway.
They’d rarely had snow for Christmas in Atlanta, and it was the one thing she missed about Highland Falls. Seeing it now made her feel like a kid again, and her eyes went to her boots on the mat and her winter jacket hanging by the door. She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking about going outside.
You’re sleep deprived, she told herself with a laugh when she put the kettle on the back burner and went to slip on her boots and coat. But even the thought that she’d look like a fool didn’t stop her from opening the door and stepping outside. She breathed in the cold, crisp air—the smell of wood smoke and pine. Then she walked to the edge of the backyard, tilting her face up to catch the fat flakes on the tip of her tongue.
Snow fell fast and furious from the pink-tinged navy sky, coating her hair and her face. She put out her arms and slowly began to spin like she used to when she was a little girl up on the ridge. And suddenly, for no reason she could think of, tears mingled with the snowflakes on her face.
They weren’t sad tears, they weren’t happy tears, they weren’t tears for long-lost memories of her years in Highland Falls. They were healing tears, cleansing and rejuvenating. As if Mother Nature was telling her it was time to let go of the burdens and the shame, the hurt and the pain that she’d been carrying with her for so long. It was time for her to reclaim the girl she might’ve become had she, her mother, and her father lived up on the mountain together instead of death and the law separating them.
“You look like an angel out here dancing in the snow,” Gabe said from behind her.
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned to face him with a sheepish grin. “You caught me. I should’ve known you’d be up.”
Snow coated his hair and his leather jacket. He had two steaming mugs in his hands and offered her one. “Nothing like the first snowfall,” he said. “I was standing at the back window having my coffee when you appeared.” He cocked his head, searching her face. “You okay?”
“I’m good.” She moved to stand at his side and look into the woods. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Almost magical with the way the snow’s coating the branches and everything’s so quiet and peaceful.”
“Makes it worth getting up early.” He took a sip of his coffee then glanced at her. “You’re up early every morning though. You don’t like sleeping in even on the weekend?”
“I wish I could sleep in. I have insomnia. Every night I wake up at three in the morning, and that’s it. I can’t go back to sleep no matter what I do. And I’ve tried everything. Everything except medication.”
He frowned. “That can’t be healthy.”
“It’s not, which is probably why I’ll try medication if something doesn’t give soon.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Almost two years. Harry basically needed around-the-clock care that last year, and he didn’t want anyone else looking after him but me.” She shrugged. “I guess my body got used to the schedule and decided it liked it even if I don’t.”
“I’m sure the stress you’ve been dealing with over the past year hasn’t helped. Maybe once you and the boys settle in here you’ll start sleeping through the night.”
“That was my hope, but I can’t seem to escape the stress even here.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and tucked her against him. “Give it a chance, and for now, just enjoy the peace and quiet.”
She smiled up at him. He was solid and strong and smelled as wonderful as the nearby woods, and she relaxed against him. “This is nice. Thank you for the coffee and for letting me lean on you.”
“Anytime, and I mean that, Doc.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“I know you do, and I appreciate it. The same goes for you, though, Gabe. If you need someone to look after the boys today, I’m happy to. Unless, um, you don’t think that’s a good idea after last night.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m sorry for how the twins reacted. I don’t know what got into them.”
They’d yelled at Mallory to get off their dad, and Teddy had burst into tears while Oliver and Brooks looked disgusted. “I don’t think any of them believed I was checking your wound.”
“They might have if you didn’t look like you’d just been—” He cleared his throat.
She winced at the memory of her flushed face, puffy lips abraded by denim, and hair that looked like she’d been having a very good time in bed. “Poor Teddy. He was so excited to show his brothers that he’d converted you from a holiday hater into a holiday lover, and instead he gets us, looking like we were making out in your car.”
“Yeah, about, uh—”
“It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it. We’re both adults.”
“And one of us adults had a good laugh at the other’s expense.”
“Trust me, you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.” So nothing to be embarrassed about, she thought with a long, inward sigh. “It was a nervous laugh, not an amused one.” She glanced up at him. His silver-gray eyes were almost black, and she had a fairly good idea the emotion darkening his eyes had nothing to do with embarrassment or nerves; it was heat. Want and need. And she knew this because she felt the same. “Maybe we should just enjoy the peace and quiet together.”
At the sound of the door opening, they both turned to look at Gabe’s back deck.
“Should’ve known it wouldn’t last for long.” Gabe smiled when Teddy let out a shriek of delight, and then he stepped back from her, letting his arm drop to his side.
Funny, she hadn’t realized until just then that she was cold.
* * *
Six hours after she’d offered to take Gabe’s boys for the day, Mallory wanted to take the offer back, but it was too late. “Where are Dylan and Cody?” she asked Teddy, who was kneeling at the coffee table carefully threading the popcorn and cranberries onto the thin strand of red wool with a dull needle.
“They went to cut you down a birch tree for the candleholders.” He smiled up at her. “You know, for the candles in the picture you showed us.”
Her first thought was gratitude at the sign that they must’ve forgiven her for what they’d assumed was her making out with their father. Followed immediately after by the thought that Teddy must’ve misunderstood them. Surely they couldn’t be cutting down a tree. They were probably looking for birch bark on the ground or pulling it off the trees. So much for what she’d thought was her brilliant idea to keep them occupied until six this evening: decorate the house for tomorrow’s appearance on Abby’s YouTube channel.
“Yes, but I told you guys I was going to buy the birch-tree candleholders.” She hurried to the window to look outside.
“But Oliver and Brooks said you’re broke.” A frown creased his forehead, making him look like a miniature version of his father. “Maybe you should write a letter to Santa and tell him you need money.”
“It’s okay, sweetie. I have money. I just don’t like to waste it.” Which is why she’d decided to go with a rustic decorating theme. “I can’t see your brothers anywhere. We better get dressed and go find them. Oliver and Brooks!” she shouted. They’d helped her place the plaid pillows on the couch and chairs, draped a couple of blankets over the backs of them, and considered their job done.
“They can’t hear you. They have their headphones on,” Teddy said as he got up from the floor. “I’ll go get them.”
Her cell phone rang as she was sliding her feet into her boots. Seeing the name, she answered, “Abs, I can’t talk right now. I’ve lost Cody and Dylan.”
“How did you lose two ten-year-olds?”
“Trust me, easily. I saw a couple of old lanterns in the basement the other day and thought I’d spray-paint them and put them on the mantel. I swear I was down there five minutes and then they were gone.”
“I’d come but I’m taking pictures of the Christmas Market to upload on social media. Do you want me to send Hunter?”
Her heart dropped to her feet. “Do you think I need him?” she asked just as Oliver, Brooks, and Teddy appeared. “I’m good. I’ve got the other three boys. We’ll go look.”
“If you don’t find them in the next five minutes, call. You back onto the forest and Hunter’s seen signs the bears haven’t gone into hibernation yet.”
Fighting back a panic attack, Mallory opened the door and was greeted with one of the twins yelling, “Timber!”
“I hear them,” she said, running out the door to follow the sounds of a tree crashing to the ground in the forest.
“Bloody brilliant—they cut down a tree,” Oliver said, pulling on his winter jacket as he ran behind her.
“There’s nothing brilliant about it, and don’t you make them feel that there is. They look up to you and your brother.” She glanced over her shoulder to see Brooks running with Teddy’s hand in his and breathed a sigh of relief. If not for her stepson, she might’ve forgotten him. Oh my gosh, what was she doing? She’d almost forgotten Abby’s warning. “Guys, you stay out of the woods. Hunter said there’ve been bear sightings.”
“Cool,” Oliver said.
“Trust me, it’s far from cool. It’s terrifying.”
“Have you seen one up close before?”
She nodded. “I lived the first twelve years of my life in a cabin in the mountains. We saw plenty of wildlife.”
“Did you see Bigfoot? Cody and Dylan did,” Teddy said.
She left the boys arguing about Bigfoot’s existence while she went in search of the twins. “Dylan! Cody! Where are you?” she called out, making plenty of noise. Most bears didn’t want to run into you as much as you didn’t want to run into them.
The twins didn’t respond but she heard them squabbling about the best way to move the tree. At one of them suggesting they’d cut off the rest of the branches, she ran in the direction of their voices. She arrived in time to see Dylan raise an ax.
“Stop!” she yelled, holding up her hands as she ran toward him.
Frowning, Dylan lowered the ax. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re ten, and you have an ax in your hands.” She looked at the tree on the ground. “And you chopped down a tree.” While she was supposed to be looking after them. Gabe was going to kill her. He’d never trust her to look after his children again. Okay, that might be a positive.
“I chopped down the tree,” Cody said proudly. Despite them being identical twins, Mallory could tell them apart. Cody’s hair was more copper and Dylan’s more auburn, and Dylan had his father’s cleft in his chin. “You wanna help us carry it out? Then we can cut it in pieces for your candleholders. We got a big tree so we can have some too. They’ll look cool in our bedrooms.”
No doubt they’d burn the house down was her immediate thought, quickly followed by affection for them. They might be mischievous, but they were also sweet and thoughtful, which was why, instead of lecturing them, she called for Oliver and Brooks to help them carry out the tree. After she took the ax, of course.
The weight of it felt familiar in her hand. Her father had taught her to chop wood at the same age as the boys. He’d taught her to do a lot of things that most parents wouldn’t teach their children. But it was because she often found herself alone with her mother up in the mountains with no neighbor close by, and her mother was confined to a wheelchair. She had been for as long as Mallory could remember. Her mother had been diagnosed with MS just before Mallory had been born.
Once the tree was lying at the edge of the backyard, Mallory had the boys step back and went about chopping the tree into varying lengths for their rustic candleholders. When she’d finished, she looked up to see the five of them staring at her open-mouthed. Their awe didn’t last long. Not two minutes later, they were engaged in a snowball fight.
“No snowballs above the shoulders!” she called out, trying to protect their eyes. Only to get a snowball to the back of her head seconds later. She turned to see Dylan smirking and was tempted to retaliate but Oliver took care of it for her. Cody, who was as protective of Dylan as Oliver was of Brooks, charged Oliver.
“Okay, that’s enough. No more snowball—Brooks, do not scrub Cody’s face with snow. Or put it down his back! Teddy, come over here. They’re being…No, Teddy, don’t kick snow at Dylan. Dylan, do not—Boys, stop that right now!”
They completely ignored her as the snowball fight turned into a free-for-all. She’d run back to the house to lean the ax against the garbage bin and was turning to race back to break up the fight when a loud whistle rent the air.
“Oh, thank goodness,” she said at the sight of Gabe, looking all big, hot, and authoritative in his uniform.
He grinned. “Having second thoughts about volunteering to babysit, Doc?”
Chapter Twenty
You’ve got some mustard”—Gabe wiped the corner of Mallory’s mouth with his thumb—“right there.”
“Thanks.” She took another bite of her sausage on a bun as she looked around the red barn. They’d set up the vendors selling food and homemade goods inside. “For not having a lot of time, the place looks great,” she said after she’d swallowed, looking up at the white lights draped from the beams.
“So, am I forgiven for suggesting you come here with the boys?” With Boyd putting in his time at Blue Ridge Tree Farm, Gabe knew it was the last place she wanted to be but, considering what he’d come home to at lunch, he’d figured a change of scenery would be good for all of them, especially because he’d assigned himself to work the event. Due to Abby’s ability to get the crowds out through her social media accounts, the Christmas Market ran the risk of being a victim of its own success. Parking had already become an issue. Owen was ferrying people from the main road with his tractor and wagon.
“You were right. It was a good idea.” She looked around and frowned. “Where are the boys?”
“Oliver and Brooks asked if they could go watch Hunter carving a wooden reindeer, and I didn’t think you’d mind.” She’d been in line getting them something to eat and had gotten sidetracked by a group of seniors. Her week as director of the senior center had obviously been a success given her popularity at today’s event.
“Dylan and Cody are with Owen.” The former chief of police might be a pain in his ass, but he was great with the twins and didn’t seem to mind them hanging out with him. Gabe also wasn’t worried about Owen convincing Dylan and Cody to play Santa’s little helpers. The boys had a love-hate relationship with Mallory. As long as they didn’t think he was interested in her romantically, they thought she was great. But the smallest hint that they might be more than friendly neighbors, and she was on their hit list.
“Teddy thinks he’s Abby’s producer,” Gabe said, then sighed. “Here they come.”
“It might be better if he were behind the scenes instead of in front of the camera. Are you sure you don’t mind Abby filming him?”
“As long as it doesn’t become a regular thing, and I don’t get dragged into the action. Abby covers his face with an elf emoji.” He stepped out of Abby’s line of sight but Teddy grabbed his hand and pulled Gabe beside him, and then he grabbed Mallory by the hand. He stood between them swinging their hands and smiling.
“What’s up, buddy?” Gabe asked.
“We’re doing a promo video for tomorrow.” Teddy moved
his head in time with Abby counting down from three with her fingers.
“Well, if it isn’t our favorite chief of police and director of senior services and my official little helper, Teddy. So how’s it going, guys? Are you ready for our visit tomorrow?”
“Yep, this morning we helped Mallory decorate for Christmas,” said Teddy. “It looks really good. I made popcorn and cranberries on a string. I’ll show you how to do it tomorrow. The twins wanted to make candles. Mallory thought she lost them but they were in the woods chopping down a tree with an—”
Gabe was relieved when Abby cut him off.
“Oh wow, okay,” she said. “What other exciting stuff has been happening on Reindeer Road?”
“My dad got shot. But he’s okay. Mallory fixed him up. She’s a doctor. They were playing doctor in my dad’s—”
Both he and Mallory put their hands over Teddy’s mouth. Gabe wondered if his cheeks were as red as Mallory’s. He felt pretty flushed.
Teddy pulled their hands from his mouth. “I can’t breathe.”
“Abby, erase that,” Mallory said.
“Sorry, we’re live. And it sounds like our favorite couple…I mean neighbors”—Abby turned the camera to herself and winked—“are having some exciting times on Reindeer Road. Tomorrow you guys can vote as to whether those exciting times are Christmassy or romantic.”
“Christmassy,” Teddy said, and Gabe nodded. “Definitely Christmassy.”
“Totally Christmassy,” Mallory said, looking at Gabe like she wanted to hide behind the bales of hay in the corner.
“I don’t know. There’s an old saying you guys might know: I think they doth protest too much. What do you think? Do you agree? Let me know as we take another walk around our fabulous Christmas Market. And if you’re in the area, you should totally drop by. You never know who you’ll meet. Look over at the Highland Brew booth. Is it just me or does that look like Jamie Fraser?” She started to walk toward the booth, then looked back. “Teddy, are you coming?”
