by Debbie Mason
Mallory had thrown a red-and-black-plaid blanket over the swing at the end of Gabe’s porch, added a pillow, and right now she was wrapping a swag of evergreen around a pair of old, red cross-country skis and leaning them in a corner. All she had left to do was get the evergreen wreath on the door and put a red lantern on the table.
“Look.” Abby walked across the yard with a wooden deer in her arms. It was identical to the ones Hunter had been carving at the tree farm last weekend. “Hunter just reminded me I had them in the truck. Gabe bought you a family of three, but you have those cute reindeer lights leaping across your yard, so I think these would be overkill. We’ll use them in Gabe’s yard instead.”
“He bought them for me on his own or did you suggest he buy them for me?”
“Well…” Abby grinned. “It doesn’t matter whose suggestion it was. He bought them or, in this case, donated to Aunt Liz’s foundation. And he bought them for you.”
“They’ll look great right there,” she said as Abby placed the deer near the evergreen in the front yard. Mallory wasn’t about to get sucked into a conversation about her nonexistent relationship with Gabe. Or so she thought until she blurted “He’s wearing his wedding ring” when her best friend joined her on the porch.
“It’s the anniversary of his wife’s death this week, isn’t it? I’m sure that’s all it is, sweetie.”
“I don’t know why I said anything or why I let it bother me. He made it pretty clear there’s no future for us.”
“But you want there to be, don’t you?” Abby said, holding the wreath while Mallory centered the nail on the doorframe just above the frosted-glass windowpane and lifted the hammer.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I’m just going to focus on making this the best Christmas the—”
“Mallory, don’t hammer—” Owen began.
She looked over her shoulder as she hit the nail with the hammer, and the frosted windowpane shattered into a million pieces. “It’s not like a mirror, is it? I won’t have seven years of bad luck?”
“I’d say your luck is pretty bad, honey. Gabe’s just turned onto Reindeer Road,” Boyd informed her. Then he jogged across the lawn and onto the porch to remove the hammer from her hand. “I’ll take the rap.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mallory leaned against the kitchen counter watching the snow fall as she sipped her coffee. She wasn’t as excited as she had been last weekend to see the snow. Then again, she didn’t know if she could work up excitement for much these days. Diane Rollins had sucked the joy right out of her.
Since Sunday, she wouldn’t allow Mallory or the boys within ten feet of the Buchanans. Other than when Gabe took Brooks and Oliver out of school Monday afternoon to make up for missing Oliver’s birthday. She had a feeling Diane had no idea what had transpired or she would’ve found a way to put a stop to their outing. It didn’t look like the woman planned on leaving anytime soon either. Mallory wondered what that meant for Teddy’s birthday.
Despite what she’d said to Gabe at church, she and the boys wouldn’t go where they weren’t wanted. It would just upset Teddy on his special day. If worse came to worst, she’d come up with an excuse and do something special with Teddy on his own. If Gabe would let her, she thought, with a soul-deep sigh. This certainly wasn’t how she expected to be feeling with Christmas only eight days away.
So far, her plan to put both the Buchanans and her sons in the holiday spirit was a bust. Every night she looked out to see if Gabe had turned on the Christmas lights, and every night she was as disappointed as the last. So were Oliver and Brooks. Even though they tried to hide it from her, she could tell.
She took another sip of coffee and looked out the window to see Gabe putting out his garbage. She choked on an excited breath, spewing coffee down the front of her. “Son of a nutcracker!” Grabbing a wet cloth to wipe at her long-sleeved white pajama top with DEAR SANTA, I TRIED imprinted on the front in red, she glanced out the window.
Gabe was seconds away from reaching the end of his driveway. She dropped the cloth and ran out the door in her pajamas and slippers. Her red snowflake-covered pajama bottoms were fleece and her fuzzy red slippers were warm so she wasn’t worried about hypothermia. She was more worried about missing the opportunity to speak to Gabe face-to-face.
Except she didn’t want to look desperate so she ran to the garbage bin and pulled out an overstuffed green garbage bag. The bag was heavy, too heavy to carry, so she dragged it after her and called out a casual “Good morning” to Gabe. Hopefully he didn’t notice the breathless quality to her voice. She smiled and waved when he looked her way.
He did a double take and then a slow grin creased his ridiculously handsome face. “Doc, by the time you reach the end of the driveway, you won’t have anything left in your bag.”
She looked over her shoulder to see that she’d left a trail of garbage behind her. “Son of a nutcracker!”
He laughed as he put his garbage bag down at the end of his driveway and then walked across the lawn toward her. “Get another garbage bag, and I’ll give you a hand.”
“No, you’re ready for work. You’ll get your uniform dirty. As you can see, I’m already a mess.” She looked down and realized it was probably not a good idea to draw attention to her top. It was cold out, and she was braless. She let go of the garbage bag to cross her arms over her chest.
“So what did you try?” he asked, his voice huskier than seconds ago.
“A damp cloth but it didn’t work.”
“No. Your top says ‘Dear Santa, I tried.’ I was asking what you’d tried.”
“Everything, but it’s not working.” She wondered if he understood what she meant.
He nodded, looking back at his house before bringing his gaze to hers. “You probably missed the light show the other night. I’d turn them on, and Diane would turn them off. She felt it was disrespectful to Lauren’s memory to have the house lit up like the Fourth of July. And yes, I know it’s our house, not hers. But the twins seem to feel the same way she does. Teddy’s just happy the yard is decorated and the tree is up. He enjoyed your cookies and the dancing snowman.” He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not wrong, am I? You are our secret Santa?”
She nodded. “I’m glad he enjoyed them. I was worried Diane would throw them out if she found them on your front porch.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into her this year. She’s worse than she’s ever been.”
Mallory had a fairly good idea she was the reason Diane was worse. Maybe she should back off. Maybe then Diane wouldn’t feel so threatened and would go home. “Are they planning to stay through the holidays?”
“Her church group has a Christmas tea Friday afternoon, so they’ll be heading home for that. Karl’s going to try to convince her to go to Florida for the holidays like they’d planned. But I can tell he thinks it’s a lost cause.”
She didn’t realize her teeth were chattering until Gabe shrugged out of his jacket and put it over her shoulders. “You’re freezing. Let’s go. I’ll just grab a garbage bag from you and take care of this. No arguing. It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for us.”
She snuggled into his jacket, breathing in his warm, woodsy scent. “You took Oliver out driving, which we both appreciated. A lot. So did Brooks, by the way.”
He smiled. “He told you I let him take a turn behind the wheel, did he? It was on a back road. There was no danger to anyone.”
“I was just teasing. I trust you with the boys, Gabe.”
“Thank you. And it wasn’t a big deal. I felt bad we weren’t here for Oliver’s birthday. Turning sixteen is a big deal. I wanted to make it up to him.”
“You did and then some,” she said as he held open the door for her.
He looked around the kitchen. “You’ve been busy.”
She’d put a red glitter snowflake on each of the cupboard doors, placed garland lit with white lights and decorated with red bows above the cupboar
ds and around the window, and hung a ball of mistletoe from the door frame. He either hadn’t seen it or was pretending that he hadn’t.
“Abby’s coming over tonight to help make cookies for the seniors’ cookie exchange. And you know Abby, she has to put it on her channel so she ordered up a Christmassy-looking kitchen.”
“Yeah, Teddy told me. I’m sure he’ll be tuning in.”
“He can come over and help. We’ll start as soon as I get home from work if you’re worried it’s too late for a school night.”
“It’s probably best if he didn’t, Doc. Diane already thinks he has an unhealthy fixation on Christmas.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You don’t buy that, do you?” At his shrug, she stared at him. “Gabe, he’s five years old.”
“Six in two days. The twins were never as obsessed with the holidays as he is. From what Oliver and Brooks said, neither were they. The only person I know who is as fanatical about Christmas as Teddy is you.”
“Fanatical? We’re hardly fanatical.”
“Really? So the other night when it was freezing cold, what were you doing with your windows wide open playing Christmas carols loud enough that I had to turn up the sound on the television?”
“I like to clean listening to music, and I was airing out the house.” She shrugged at his skeptical look. “Teddy liked it.”
“You’ve proved my point.”
“And you’ve proved Teddy right. You and the twins are as grinchy as your mother-in-law. So you might want to take a good long look at her and see if that’s who you want to be.” She took off his jacket and handed it to him. “And just so you know, it’s been scientifically proven that people who believe in the magic of the holidays are happier than those who don’t.”
“Are you happy, Doc? Because from where I’m standing, you look like you’re wearing yourself out getting into the Christmas spirit.”
“Well, maybe if you, Dylan, Cody, Oliver, and Brooks would get onboard, I wouldn’t have to try so hard.”
“Is that what all this is about? You’re trying to put us in the Christmas spirit?” He searched her face.
“I don’t know why you seem so surprised, Gabe. I told you about my Christmas plan at the Santa Claus parade.”
“You told me you were trying to get Oliver and Brooks in the Christmas spirit, not me and my boys.”
“I know, but poor Teddy can’t do it all on his own. Not when he’s up against your mother-in-law.” She crossed her arms. “Are you canceling our invitation to Teddy’s birthday or not? I need to know. It’s only two days away, and if we’re not allowed to come, I have to get everything organized for you.”
“What do you mean, get everything organized?”
“Teddy’s party. You’ll have to set up the gingerbread house station, the hot chocolate station, and the pizza-making station. Then there’s the games and the scavenger hunt.”
“Just listening to you is making me tired—and nervous.”
“He’s going to be six. Surely you’ve had birthday parties for him before.”
“Not the year Lauren died, and my mom and my brothers’ wives took care of his fourth and fifth birthday parties. We went to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum for one and the New York Hall of Science for the other one.” He sighed. “You sure you don’t mind doing this?”
“No, I’m more than happy to. But I don’t think Diane will be happy to have me there, and I don’t want to ruin Teddy’s special day.”
“You gotta know that, for Teddy, his birthday would be ruined if you weren’t there. So of course you guys are coming.”
She released a heartfelt sigh, and her shoulders sagged. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you, Doc. For everything. Even if you are going overboard on the Christmas thing, I appreciate what you’re trying to do.”
* * *
Later that same night, he wasn’t so appreciative of her efforts. “Doc, this is insane. I could’ve shot you,” he said, the beam from his flashlight nearly blinding her.
“You coming out here with your gun drawn is insane, Gabe. All I was doing was putting out blocks of salted sunflower seeds, corn, and molasses for the deer.”
“How was I supposed to know what you were doing? All I saw was someone wearing a black knitted hat, black hoodie, and dark jeans creeping around in the woods behind my house.”
“I didn’t want Teddy to see me.”
“It’s midnight, Doc. He’s in bed.” He lowered his flashlight from her face and shone it around the forest floor. “I know I’m going to regret this, but I have to ask. Why are you putting out food for the deer?”
“I was hoping that they might come visit for his birthday.” She explained to him what Teddy had said to her the morning after she’d moved in.
“Did you know it’s illegal to bait deer in a wildlife management area at any time of the year?”
“No, I didn’t. But I’m not baiting them to hunt them. I’m trying to attract them to give Teddy a special birthday surprise.”
“What you really mean is that you want him to think Santa paid him a visit on his birthday, right?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You were watching Abby’s YouTube channel, weren’t you?”
“I was.” He stepped closer to her.
So close that she had to tip her head back to look up at him. “Abby said it, not me.”
“But you didn’t deny that you wanted me for Christmas, did you?”
“I’m pretty sure that I did, but one of Abby’s paid advertisements popped up in the middle of my answer and drowned it out. I knew Teddy was watching. I wouldn’t want to get his hopes up. I mean, if he still had hopes of us getting together. He might not anymore.”
“Trust me, he does. He’s just smarter about hiding his wedding planner notebooks. Doc, I—”
“Gabriel, are you all right? Did you find the intruder? Should I send out Karl to help you look?” A beam of light moved back and forth through the woods.
Gabe moved to shield Mallory from Diane’s view. “No, it’s fine. Probably just a deer.”
“It looked awfully tall for a deer.”
He grinned down at her. “Maybe it was Bigfoot.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gabe walked across his front lawn to give Mallory a hand. She was loaded down with boxes and bags. She’d left work early and so had he. Today was Teddy’s birthday. His friends were arriving right after school.
“Here, let me grab the boxes,” Gabe offered.
“I’ve got them, thanks. But if you don’t mind, there are a couple more bags in the kitchen, and the cake is on the counter.” She rested her chin on top of the boxes. “On second thought, leave the cake. I’ll get it.”
“I won’t drop the cake, Doc. But you do know there are only six kids coming, right? You look like you’ve bought enough for a hundred. And whether you want me to or not, I’m paying, so let me know what this set you back.”
“I told you before, this is my gift to Teddy. Besides, it just looks like a lot because of the stuff for the games.”
“Sure it does,” he said as he walked to her place, pulling his wallet from his back pocket.
She wasn’t hurting financially, but he knew she didn’t have a lot left over after she paid her bills. He’d watched a couple of episodes of Christmas on Reindeer Road on Abby’s channel, and Mallory always had tips to share on how to save money on decorating and gift giving. The woman was downright frugal, and from Abby’s followers’ feedback, Mallory’s tips were almost as popular as Bella in her latest Christmas fashions. Granted, Gabe hadn’t been watching because of Mallory’s tips. He’d been watching because he couldn’t get enough of her. He missed her.
As he opened the door into her kitchen, he looked up at the ball of mistletoe. It had taken everything he had not to use the mistletoe as an excuse to take her in his arms earlier in the week and kiss her. He’d wanted to do more than kiss her when she stood shivering in the cold in her pajamas. Same as whe
n he’d discovered her in the woods later that same night.
He might have, if not for Diane calling out to him, reminding him what happened when he followed his heart. He didn’t even bother correcting himself. Deep down, he’d known it was his heart, not his dick, that had gotten him into trouble the day Dylan got hurt at school.
Gabe shut the door and took off his boots. The house smelled like Christmas. Looked like it, too, he thought, as he walked through the living room to get to Mallory’s bedroom. He’d leave the money on her dresser. But as he walked into her room, the memories of that day came back to him, and he sat on the end of her bed to look around. It was just a room: pretty, feminine, and tidy. Nothing special, but it had felt special that afternoon. It had felt almost magical.
For years, he’d been on autopilot, but in those couple of hours with Mallory, something inside of him had shifted. He’d felt alive again. He’d felt like he could move mountains, take on any challenge life threw at him. Even turn around the situation with the Highland Falls seniors. His future had suddenly looked brighter, and that was because she was in it. And then he’d looked at his phone and his hopes and dreams had been snuffed out.
It wasn’t until this morning when the taillights of Diane and Karl’s SUV faded from view that the depressing weight that had suffocated him for the past week started to lift. Dylan, Cody, and Teddy felt it too. Their smiles were bigger and brighter, and it wasn’t just because of Teddy’s party or that Mallory and the boys were coming over. Just as it had for him, the heavy weight of Diane’s sadness had cast a pall over the entire household.
And that was when he knew he couldn’t allow Diane to manipulate him with guilt any longer. No matter how afraid he was of taking the next steps and possibly losing his sons, he knew the time had come to face his fears. Thanks to Mallory, his guilt over Lauren’s accident had lessened, loosening Diane’s hold on him. The fear was harder to shake. Still, he’d taken the first step and set up a call for Monday morning with Marsha Maitland’s high-priced attorney.
