“So what are you two going to do without us for so long?” Holly asked from on top of my desk.
Jax looked at me, smiling brilliantly. “We’re going to Aunt Linda and Reign’s. It’s going to be so great. We’re going to bake cookies and play board games and decorate a tree.” Her eyes grew wider with each new idea. “I just can’t wait!”
Alba groaned. “Christmas really isn’t as great as all that.”
Jax shrugged. “I think it will be.” She turned to me. “Mercy, what time are we going over there tomorrow?”
I looked up at her. “I don’t know. Whenever Mom and Reign get back from Dubbsburg. She said she’d call me.”
“Your mom and your brother went back to Illinois? How come?” Sweets asked as she rummaged through our mini-fridge for snacks.
“Well, Mom hadn’t planned on staying when she came out here two months ago. So she really didn’t bring much with her. She wanted to get some more of her clothes and her favorite Christmas decorations. Plus she needed to check on the house and get the mail and stuff. Reign went with because he didn’t want her driving that far alone in that old beater car, so he volunteered to drive.”
“What about the b&b and the restaurant?” Holly asked.
“They closed it this week for Christmas. It’ll reopen next Monday,” I told her.
Jax stopped moving and looked around. “Can we all have breakfast together? Before you all leave? I’m going to miss you!”
I nodded. “I agree. I think we should have one last meeting of the Witch Squad before everyone takes off – breakfast tomorrow in the quad?”
“Yeah, I’m in,” Alba agreed.
Holly groaned. “Ugh, tomorrow morning just keeps getting earlier and earlier,” she said with a sigh. “But I’ll be there.”
3
My chin fit snugly in the crook of Hugh’s neck as I hugged him tightly. With his arms wrapped around me, he lifted me off the ground and buried his face into my neck as well.
“Have a safe trip,” I whispered into his ear.
Gently he set me down on my tip toes.
I pulled myself away from him and looked up into his hazel eyes. It was hard for me to put into words what I was feeling. This whole relationship thing was all new to me. I swallowed hard as my heart pounded wildly in my chest. “I’m really going to miss you.”
“Not as much as I’m going to miss you,” he assured me. Gingerly he tucked a stray strand of auburn hair behind my ear and leaned his head towards mine. With his mouth lingering just inches away, I gave him a tiny smile. It was only the slightest hint of encouragement. He smiled back, and then his warm, soft lips covered my own. My breath caught in my throat as I reveled in our very last kiss before the new year.
When our kiss ended, he let his forehead fall against mine. We stood nose to nose for what seemed like an eternity before finally, he rubbed both of my shoulders and chastely kissed my forehead. “I better go,” he whispered. “Or else I’ll never leave.”
“You could always stay,” I said with a coy smile. “Spend Christmas at the b&b with Jax and me.”
“And Reign?”
I shrugged. “Maybe it would bring the two of you closer.”
He chuckled. “Maybe I’ll make that my New Year’s resolution, to get to know your brother better.”
“Ha, that’s one of my resolutions, too!”
“We’ll work on it together then,” he said. “I gotta go, darlin’. I don’t want to miss my plane.”
The sun had barely lifted above the horizon. The morning air was brisk, yet still considerably above normal for December in the Appalachian Mountains. I swallowed hard again, trying to push back the lump that just wouldn’t seem to go down. Tears dotted the sides of my eyes.
Hugh squeezed my hand. “I’ll be back soon, don’t worry.”
I nodded and squeezed back. “I’ll be ok. Text me before your plane takes off?”
He climbed into the cab of his big black truck before turning back to give me one last smile. “Will do. Bye darlin’!”
“Ugh,” I groaned, smashing one fist into my cheek as I leaned my elbow on the cafeteria table in the courtyard. I poked at my scrambled eggs unambitiously. “This totally sucks.”
“He’s coming back, Red. It’s not like you to be so melodramatic. I don’t think I like this side of you,” Alba informed me as she took a big bite of her biscuits and gravy.
I shot her a venomous look. “I’m not being melodramatic. I can’t miss my boyfriend?”
“He’s been gone for two hours. You didn’t even see each other every day when he lived in the next building over.”
I cast my green eyes downwards and sighed heavily. Maybe I should have spent more time with Hugh while he was here. I just didn’t want to be one of those clingy girlfriends that could only focus on their man and nothing else. I wanted to keep being me, and I wanted him to keep being him.
“Whatever, we should talk about something else. Be good friends and distract me.”
“My mom called me this morning,” Sweets informed us.
“Why? You’re going to see her in like eight hours,” Alba pointed out.
“She wanted to tell me that all of my brothers and sisters are coming home for Christmas,” Sweets shared excitedly.
“All of them? How many do you have?” I asked.
“There are five of us. I’m the youngest. My brother Arnold is in the military. He’s the oldest. Claudette is married. She lives out in Seattle. I have another brother Benjamin. He’s single and in construction. And then Peach is between Benjamin and I. She’s a stewardess.”
“Peach? Is that her real name?” Holly asked.
Sweets shook her head as she took a sip of her chocolate milk. “Her real name is Patricia. Peach is just a nickname.”
“I didn’t know you had so many sibs,” I said. “I guess I didn’t even realize you had brothers and sisters.”
She shrugged. “I was kind of a ‘late in life baby.’ Arnold was fifteen when I was born, and Peach was five. This is the first time I’ve been away from home, but before that, I’d had Mom and Dad all to myself for years. Sometimes it felt like I was an only child.”
“But you’re excited about everyone coming home?” Holly asked. “That sounds like a lot of family chaos to me.”
Sweets smiled broadly, her chubby cheeks pinched into her eyes, causing her to squint. “I’m beyond excited! I haven’t seen Arnold in a couple of years, and Claudette has a new baby. He’s eight months old. I can’t wait to meet him. I’ve never had a nephew before. And I really miss Peach and Mom and Dad.”
Jax reached across the table and squeezed Sweets’ hand. “I’m happy for you, Sweets. It sounds like you’re going to have a really good time.”
“I am. Thanks, Jax,” she said with a nod. “What are your plans in California, Holly?”
Holly ran a hand through the blonde beach waves she’d labored over all morning. “I told you. I’m going to be poolside most of the time. I ordered the perfect Christmas bikini. The bottom is red with a black belt and a Santa buckle. The bikini top is red, and it has a hood with white fur around the edges. It makes my boobs look amazing.”
Alba rolled her eyes and palmed her forehead. “Seriously Cosmo? You’re flaunting your boobs for Christmas?”
Holly ignored the tone in Alba’s voice. “It’s what you do in Cali.”
“Flaunt your boobs at Christmas?”
“Flaunt your boobs. Listen. I have amazing boobs, and I have an amazing butt. Why would I not show them off?”
“I don’t know. Because you want to have respect for yourself and you want others to respect you?” Alba suggested.
Holly furrowed her eyebrows. “I have respect for myself.”
“What you need to have is respect for those around you. Not everyone wants to look at your ta-tas twenty-four-seven.”
Sweets sighed. “Guys, can we not do this? It’s our last meal together before we all go our separate directions.”
/> Alba and Holly glared at each other but kept their mouths shut. I had a feeling a nice long break would do the two of them some good. Practically living on top of each other these last few months was a lot for that odd couple.
My phone in my pocket made a noise. I pulled it out and looked down at the notification on my screen. I let out a ragged breath. “It’s Hugh,” I said sadly.
Sweets reached across the table and pulled the phone out of my hands. “You’re not supposed to be thinking about Hugh. I’ll read it.”
“Is he on the plane yet?” Jax asked.
Sweets swiped through to the message and quickly read it. “He just boarded.” She typed something and handed the phone back to me. “There. I told him to have a safe flight and to text when he lands. Now, put it on silent, so you don’t have to go back and forth with him anymore before he takes off. It’ll only drive you nuts,” Sweets advised.
I took the phone from her and switched the button on the side to mute and shoved it in my back pocket. “Thanks,” I grumbled.
“Have you heard from Aunt Linda today?” Jax asked.
“They are about an hour outside of Akron,” I told Jax. “Then they have about another three hours to go.”
Jax let out a high pitched squeal, clapping her hands excitedly. “Eeee! I’m so excited!”
I pinched one eye shut and squinted through the other at Jax. “You can’t keep squealing like that if you’re going to come with me. I can’t handle it.”
“Don’t worry. You just need to be cheered up. I promise. I’m going to cheer you up as soon as we get th….” She stopped talking and looked up at the sky. “I think I just felt a raindrop. Did anyone else feel that?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t feel anything.”
“Me either,” said Sweets.
Holly looked up into the sky nervously. “I hope it’s not trying to rain. Hurry up and finish your breakfast, girls. I don’t want my hair to get messed up. I slept with curlers in last night and spent two hours on my hair and makeup this morning, and I don’t want to have to re-do everything.”
Suddenly Alba looked up into the sky. “I just felt something.”
Holly stood up and grabbed her tray. “Pack it up, girls. I’m not risking it.”
“I can’t eat anyway,” I grumbled and stood up, grabbing my tray as well.
Sweets stuffed the last few bites of her cinnamon roll in her mouth and then stood up too.
I felt a sudden gust of cool air circle around me, sending my long hair swirling around my shoulders and goosebumps rippling across my arms and legs. “The wind is coming up, too.” Then something caught my eye. “Did you guys see that? I think I just saw a snowflake!”
Jax leapt off of her seat and looked around excitedly. “Snow for Christmas? Really? Yay!”
“Not yay,” Alba grumbled. “We don’t want snow. Snow’s a bad thing. We have a two-hour drive ahead of us.”
Sweets looked at Alba and Holly nervously. “Maybe we should leave now?”
I rolled my eyes. “It was just a few flakes. They probably just blew off the roof from last night.”
Holly nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s just a few flakes. Besides, I’m not packed yet.”
Sweets tilted her head sideways and put a hand on her hip. “You were supposed to pack last night when you went back to your room!”
“I wanted to put my curlers in,” Holly said, pouting. “We said we weren’t leaving until ten thirty.”
“We changed it to ten,” Alba grumbled. “Hurry up and go finish packing. As soon as you’re done, we’re leaving.”
4
“Have you guys looked out the window lately?” I asked as I threw open the door to Holly and Alba’s room.
Sweets was already inside with a floppy knitted hat pulled over her brown curls, and a raspberry colored puffer jacket zipped up tight. Her suitcase was by her side. “Yeah, we see it. We just can’t believe it.”
Jax followed me into their room, and together the five of us all peered out the window which was already getting frosty around the outer edges. What had begun as a few solitary white flakes had amassed into an onslaught of white fury. In less than an hour of that first flake, the wind had picked up, and the snow had begun to fly.
“It looks like it’s blizzarding out there,” Jax noted uneasily.
“No kidding, Captain Obvious,” Alba grumbled. Then she turned to Holly. “We need to leave immediately, or we might not make it to the airport. You’ve had an hour. Whatever is in that bag is what you’re taking with you, Cosmo. We don’t have time for you to pack more, we’re leaving now.”
Holly looked down at her bag and stuck out her bottom lip. “But I’m not done packing,” she said more to herself than to Alba.
Alba wagged a finger at her. “I warned you yesterday. You should have packed last night. It’s your own fault.”
“Fine,” she said sadly, dragging out the word while hanging her head.
Alba zipped up her black winter coat and pulled the strap of her Adidas duffle bag around her shoulders. “I’ll meet you two downstairs. Don’t be long. If I have to come back up here and get you, I’m not going to be a happy camper.”
“Are you ever a happy camper?” Holly mumbled under her breath.
Alba either didn’t hear the comment or pretended not to as she disappeared out their door.
Sweets pulled a pair of mittens out of her pocket and tugged them on. “I’m coming with you. Let’s go, Holl.”
Holly nodded. “Just let me put a coat on. I’ll be right down.”
“I’ll zip up your bag for you and carry it down,” Jax offered.
“Thanks, Jaxie. That’d be great. I’ll meet you down there,” she said as she opened her closet to find the winter coat she had brought with her but hadn’t had to use yet.
Jax zipped up the bag, set it on the floor, extended the handle, and headed for the door.
“Need me to carry anything else, Holly?” I asked.
As she pulled a plum colored coat out of the closet, she pointed at a small makeup bag on the bed. “You can grab that?”
I nodded and grabbed the small bag. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Downstairs we found the rest of the girls at the front door of our dormitory looking out at the parking lot and the blowing snow. There was already a big drift piling up against the front door.
“Finally,” Alba grumbled when she saw Holly behind me. “Let’s go.” She pulled the hood of her coat over her head then heaved her weight against the door, shoving the drift back. With our heads down, the five of us began pushing against the wind towards Sweets’ small car.
The wind howled around us, whipping our faces with cold, biting, torrents of snow. My feet sank into the snow that covered the pavement, and it filled my shoes as I walked. I could barely make out Alba’s thick form, trudging along at the head of the pack.
When we finally reached the side of Sweets’ car, Alba motioned for us to put the luggage in the trunk. “Hurry!” she hollered over the wind. The five of us quickly threw everything we were carrying in the trunk and then scrambled into the car.
“That was nuts! It’s crazy out there!” Sweets cried.
“Sweets, get the car started, we need to get some heat in here!” Holly cried, with her arms wrapped around herself.
“Okay,” Sweets nodded nervously. She turned the key in the ignition, and the car sprung to life. The heavy beat of a song from the local radio station blared through the speakers. She reached down and cranked up the heat, sending cold air blowing through the vents.
“Brr, that’s cold air!” Holly hollered over the music.
Alba turned around and shot her an annoyed glance. “It needs to warm up. Have you never been anywhere cold before?”
Holly’s teeth chattered as she and Jax huddled together for warmth. “No, I don’t think so. It’s always warm in California. This feels like the North Pole.”
Al
ba turned towards Sweets again. “Come on. Let’s take off.”
“You guys can’t drive in this,” I said sternly. I rubbed my hands together and blew in them. I’d made the mistake of coming outside without my winter coat or mittens.
Jax nodded, furrowing her eyebrows together with concern. “Yeah, Mercy’s right. You have to wait until this calms down. You’ll get into an accident.”
In the passenger’s seat, Alba shook her head. “We don’t have time to wait. If we don’t leave now, the roads could drift shut and then we’ll never make it. It’s probably not even snowing in Pittsburgh.” She turned to look at Sweets. “We need to go. Let’s drop these two off at the sidewalk, and then we’re out of here.”
I reached a hand out to touch Alba’s shoulder. “Alba. You can’t be serious. This is a blizzard. You can’t drive all the way to Pittsburgh in a blizzard!”
Sweets ducked her head and peered out her window and up into the sky nervously. “Yeah, Alba. I don’t know about this.”
“We have to try. I’m getting on that plane. I finally reconnected with Tony. I’m not about to miss Christmas with him,” she grumbled. “Drive, Sweets.”
“Ok, ok. Seatbelts on. Here we go,” Sweets instructed as she shifted the car into drive.
Alba and Holly put on their seatbelts. The car lurched forward, rolling over the lump of snow that had blown under the tires. Sweets pulled the car up to the sidewalk and came to a halt. As if on cue, the music on the radio stopped, and the sound of an announcer’s deep voice replaced it.
“Wow, Pittsburgh area listeners, in case you haven’t looked out the window lately, we are getting dumped on by snow! After record breaking high temperatures this fall and winter season in much of the area with not an inch of snow to date – we’re finally going to get our white Christmas! No one, not a single forecaster in the biz, predicted this snow storm. Mother Nature must have been saving up for this cataclysmic system. I’m looking at the radar right now. It looks like the heaviest brunt of the storm is circling the Aspen Falls area and spiraling out from there in all directions. I’ve never seen anything like this. Anyone in the listening area trying to get home for the holidays should get to a safe spot and wait out the storm. There is a no travel advisory in effect for the rest of the day.”
A Very Mercy Christmas: A Witch Squad Holiday Special (A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 2
