She gazed at his brown hair, perfectly styled as usual. His emerald-green eyes—such a perfect color to complement his strong facial features—stared at the big-screen TV for a moment before turning to stare at her.
“Uh, what did you say?”
She lifted the tray an inch. “Brownie?”
“No thanks. I’m on a diet. Do you have any popcorn? And something to drink would be nice, too.”
Dad motioned to a small table next to his recliner. “We have soda over here, Reed, and a couple empty glasses. Help yourself.”
With a small and hopefully undetected sigh, Tonya set the tray down and stood. “I’ll microwave some popcorn.”
“Light on the butter.” Reed rose to get some soda. “And light on the salt, too.”
Tonya nodded. “Be right back.” She exited to the kitchen.
Mom rinsed a pan in the sink. “How’s the game, Tonya?”
She heaved a huge sigh, which had been trying to get out since Reed arrived. “The game is fine, but Reed is on a diet, so he wants popcorn.”
“We have some.” Mom motioned toward the cupboard.
“Do we have any with no taste?” Tonya rolled her eyes. “I wanted Reed to try my special brownies, but now I made them for nothing.”
“No you didn’t.” Mom chuckled as she wiped the counter with her dish-rag. “Dad and Derek will polish them off. You’d better get one while you can.”
“I don’t want a brownie.” Tonya pulled a microwavable bag from the popcorn box. “I wanted Reed to try one. He’s hardly looked at me since he arrived.” She placed the bag in the microwave and pushed a couple of buttons. “All he’s talked about so far is the game.”
Mom shrugged. “Football’s a guy thing. Maybe you can have a nice conversation with him at halftime.”
“Maybe.” A tiny spark of hope ignited inside. Watching a Broncos game was one of Reed’s favorite things to do, so perhaps he would associate good memories with her sitting next to him. It was a start anyway.
She took the big white bowl from the cupboard with the word POPCORN painted in blue cursive. “Do you think I should get individual bowls for the guys?”
Mom shook her head. “They can just grab a handful from the big bowl. Men are not particular when it comes to food.”
The popping stopped, and Tonya poured the popcorn into the bowl. When she entered the den, the three men shouted out a cheer of victory.
But the cheer was not for her or the popcorn. All three had their eyes glued to the television, although Dad looked up and smiled at her.
Reed fisted the air. “We have ’em now! The Broncos have it in the bag.”
“Here’s your popcorn.” Tonya made what she hoped was a graceful entrance. She handed the bowl to Reed, making sure the word POPCORN faced him before she took her seat between him and Derek.
Reed took the bowl, his eyes still on the game. “Aww! I can’t believe he missed the extra point!”
Derek took a brownie from the tray. “This is only half the game. Even with a twenty-seven-point lead, the Broncos could still lose.”
“No way.” Reed munched on the popcorn, keeping the bowl between his knees. “The Raiders are playing lousy.”
During halftime Reed and Derek talked about stats like they were on a post-game show. Tonya tried to break into the conversation several times, but to no avail.
Finally she leaned a little closer to Reed. “I was a cheerleader for our football team in high school. We had a winning team when I was a senior—state champs.”
Reed didn’t even look at her as he pointed to the TV. “Hey, this is a great commercial—real creative. Nicole loved it. She’d always start laughing when it came on.”
“Is Nicole your sister?” Dad asked.
Reed pulled his attention away from the screen to look at Dad. “My ex-girlfriend. We once attended a Broncos game in Denver. The game went into overtime, and we won by a field goal. It was cool.”
With a sigh, Tonya sat back and folded her arms. It didn’t matter how handsome Reed Dickens was—she was ready to cross him off her list as a potential husband.
The rest of the evening only confirmed Tonya’s decision. When the score narrowed down to six points between the teams, Reed yelled at each loss and whooped at every gain. But finally Denver lost.
Tonya shrugged. “Win a few, lose a few.”
Reed shook his finger at her. “Yeah, but Denver will come back. You’ll see.” He stood. “Guess I’ll be shoving off. Thanks for the invite.” He reached over to shake Dad’s hand.
Tonya bit her lip. She had invited him, not Dad.
“Glad you could come, Reed.” Dad smiled, ever the congenial host. “It was good to make your acquaintance.”
“Same here.” He turned to Derek. “See you on Sunday.”
Derek stood. “Actually, I’ll see you tomorrow night. We’re having the Single Servings Christmas party, remember? The secret pal gift exchange, and all that?”
Reed snapped his fingers. “That’s right. Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“I’ll walk you to your car, Reed.” Tonya followed him from the room, miffed that he had ignored her all evening. Maybe they could have a decent conversation outside.
But before they even made it to the front door, Reed turned to her. “I think the Broncos lost in the third quarter, don’t you? When that long pass was intercepted, it completely turned the game.”
She sighed, tired of football. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“And then when Stokley fumbled the ball …” He opened the front door and exited, not even waiting for her.
She slipped outside, closing the door behind her. The cold air smacked her, and she was thankful she was wearing a sweatshirt. “I must admit, I’m not really that big on football.”
“Some girls are.” He stopped at the door of his car. “Nicole loved it. We could talk football for hours.”
I bet. “You never told me much about your family, Reed. Aren’t you from Casper?”
“Yeah. Lived there all my life. Nicole is from there, too, but she moved to California—right after we broke up. She moved in with her grandmother.”
Forget Nicole, you jerk! “So your parents still live in Casper?”
“Yep. My grandparents settled there after emigrating from England.” He grinned. “Did you know that Charles Dickens was my great-great grandfather?”
Tonya’s eyes widened. “Wow! That’s amazing to be in the direct line of someone so famous.”
“Not!” Bending over, Reed actually slapped his knee as he guffawed. “I really pulled one over on you!” He continued chuckling as he pointed at her. “And you believed me!”
Tonya folded her arms. “Very funny, Reed.”
“I told Nicole the same thing when we first started dating. She believed me so much she asked my dad about it.” He laughed again, big belly laughs, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
Tonya took a step back, willing to make a quick end of this date. “Thanks for coming. See you tomorrow night at the party.” She turned toward the house.
“Uh, yeah. Tomorrow. And thanks, Tonya. I had fun.”
She didn’t even look back.
Chapter 5
On Tuesday evening, Murray stepped inside the Sunday school classroom at church, which had been transformed for the Single Servings Christmas party. Like a wagon train, four sofas circled around a large flowered rug that covered the linoleum, and a few wingback chairs were positioned between the sofas. By the door, a tall Christmas tree guarded several presents that peeked out beneath the branches.
Murray scanned the room. Derek, Tonya, and Cheyenne stood at the food table talking. Several other people stood in small groups or sat on the sofas. Everyone held a plate of food.
Shoving his secret pal gift under the tree, Murray removed his jacket, then found an empty hook along the wall already crowded with coats.
“Hey, Twitch!”
Murray grinned. Derek Brandt was the only person w
ho still called him by his old football nickname. Murray still remembered the euphoric feeling of catching a long pass thrown from Derek’s arm and running down the field for a touchdown.
Derek motioned to him. “Come over and get some food before we start.”
“I’m always game for food.” Murray hadn’t eaten supper, and he was starving. He nodded a greeting to Cheyenne and Tonya as he picked up a red paper plate decorated with jingle bells.
Derek looked around the room. “Who are we still missing?”
Cheyenne laid her plate on the table. “Corey isn’t here yet.”
“Neither is Aggie.” Tonya nibbled on a cookie. “She told me she might be late.”
Murray looked at the array of food, which was mostly in the dessert category. But a tray of small meatballs with a toothpick stuck in each one caught his attention. He grabbed a meatball and popped it into his mouth. “Wow, these are good.” He glanced up at Cheyenne. “Who made them?”
“Tonya.” Cheyenne smiled, and her dimples creased. “Aren’t they wonderful?”
“They really are.” Murray looked at Tonya as he placed another meatball on his plate. “Good job, Tonya.”
“Thank you.” Without smiling, she walked away.
Prickly. Murray took five more meatballs. Why couldn’t Tonya be civil to him? He remembered when she had sneezed on Sunday and blamed his aftershave. Maybe she didn’t like the smell of his aftershave, although he loved the scent. Before attending the party, he had doused himself liberally.
By the time everyone arrived, Murray felt full, having finished his meatballs as well as three brownies and a piece of cake. He chose a comfortable blue chair that he recognized from the Brandts’ living room. Some of the other chairs and sofas were from their home, too, and every seat was occupied. Tonya sat on a sofa between Cheyenne and Aggie, who did indeed arrive late, but that didn’t keep her from scarfing down the food on her mounded plate. Aggie’s hairstyle was tinted green and whipped up like a Christmas tree. Murray leaned forward for a closer look. Little ornaments nestled in her hair, and a tiny gold star crowned the top. Her ears sported huge earrings that resembled Christmas presents.
Presents under the tree. With a shake of his head, Murray sat back.
Derek opened the party in prayer, and then Tonya and Cheyenne led the group in a few party games. Murray thought they were childish, but that’s how these parties always went. After three games, Tonya and Cheyenne took their seats.
“Thanks, girls.” Derek looked relieved that the games were over. “The next thing on the agenda is opening the present from your secret pal.”
Corey fisted the air. “Woo! Presents!”
A tittering of laughter followed his outburst.
Derek smiled. “Since Cheyenne works at the post office, I figured she’d be a natural at passing out the packages.” He nodded to Cheyenne. “The floor is all yours.”
“Thanks, Derek.” Cheyenne walked to the Christmas tree and began pulling out the gifts. “By the way, if anyone wants more food, feel free to get some. There’s plenty left.”
Murray remembered how good the brownies were—chocolate with bits of chocolate chunks and some kind of cream cheese mixture in the center. Approaching the table, he sought out the tray. Only one brownie remained, and he watched in disappointment as Aggie’s bejeweled fingers closed around it.
“Oh, Tonya, hon.” Aggie bit into it and chewed as she talked. “These brownies are just scrumptious. You’ll have to give me the recipe.”
Tonya turned from her place on the sofa. “Sorry, it’s one of my secret recipes. I made it up myself, and I’m not giving it away.” She smiled at Aggie. “But I’m glad you like them.”
“Oh, sugar, they’re simply delicious.” Aggie polished off the brownie and licked two of her fingers.
“They are good, Tonya.” Murray nodded to her, hoping she couldn’t smell his aftershave from this distance. “Just like the meatballs. You’re a good cook.”
“Thanks.” A little smile curved her lips before she turned back.
Grabbing a cookie, Murray grinned with a feeling of triumph. At least Tonya was thawing out toward him. He took his seat.
Cheyenne stood on the rug in the middle of the wagon train with colorful gifts of various sizes surrounding her feet. She picked up a clipboard from among the packages. “Before you open your present, each receiver must answer a question. If you don’t get the answer right, we’ll have to skip you until later.”
Several groans followed this announcement.
Cheyenne selected a gift and looked at the tag. “This one is for Reed Dickens.”
Reed sat next to Laurie Smullens on a love seat, and they seemed rather cozy, in Murray’s opinion. Leaning forward, Reed looked confident. “All right. What’s my question?”
Cheyenne consulted her clipboard. “This question is from the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. What was the name of Ebenezer Scrooge’s employee?”
“Bob Cratchit, of course.” Reed sat back with a chuckle. “You have to know your Dickens like the dickens, and that’s me.” He looked at Laurie and laughed at his own joke. She giggled.
Murray glanced across the room in time to see Tonya roll her eyes.
Cheyenne handed Reed a small rectangular package. He tore off the paper and looked at his gift. “Oh, a Mr. Bean DVD. How cool.”
Grabbing another gift, Cheyenne read Corey’s name. “Here’s your question: What is the translation of Santa Claus?”
Corey frowned. “The translation?”
Cheyenne nodded. “Santa Claus is German. What does it mean in English?”
“Who knows?” He shrugged. “Uh, Merry Christmas?”
“Sorry, Corey. We’ll have to skip you.”
“What?” He raised his hands and dropped them.
Tonya smirked. “The answer is Saint Nicholas. Better luck next time, Corey.”
Cheyenne picked up the gift Murray had brought and looked at the tag. “Tonya Brandt.”
Trying to present a cool demeanor, Murray glanced at Tonya with nonchalant eyes, but his palms began to sweat.
“Okay, Tonya.” Cheyenne looked at her clipboard. “What were the three gifts that the wise men brought to the baby Jesus?”
A beautiful smile lit Tonya’s face as she reached for her gift. “Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
“That’s not fair.” Corey folded his arms. “Everyone else gets easy questions.”
Murray watched Tonya tear off the bright-red and gold Christmas paper he had so meticulously wrapped just an hour ago.
“Ooh, I can’t believe it!” She held up the DVD he had purchased. “Twenty old movies from the ‘40s and ‘50s. I love it! Thank you, secret pal—whoever you are.”
He suppressed a grin as he watched Tonya and Aggie bend their heads together to read the box.
What made Tonya tick? It didn’t take much to make her happy. But then again, it didn’t take much to make her angry.
An old memory, when Murray and Callie were high school seniors, jumped into his mind. Tonya, a ninth grader, wanted to hang out with them, whining that she didn’t have any friends.
“Well …” Callie had stuck her hands on her thin hips and stared at Tonya through her thick glasses. “You’d have more friends if you weren’t so selfish.”
True sibling honesty. Murray watched Tonya and Aggie take the DVDs from the case. Tonya seemed to have some good friends now, but she was still self-centered. On the outside she was beautiful, but what was she really like on the inside? If only he could get to know her—not the Tonya she presented to the world, but the real Tonya deep in her heart.
But how could he do that?
Dating her was out of the question. She’d turn him down flat. Maybe he could correspond with her somehow, but that would only work if she didn’t know who he was. She said she loved secrets. He thought about that for a moment, and a plan formed in his mind.
Murray smiled to himself. It just might work, but only if Tonya n
ever discovered his identity.
Chapter 6
On Christmas morning, Tonya watched her nephews, Peter and Paul, play with the empty boxes on the living room floor. “Why do little kids always like the boxes more than the toys?”
Holly, her sister-in-law, sat cross-legged on the carpet. “Those boxes are big building blocks to one- and two-year-olds.” She pushed a strand of brown hair behind her ear. “When our family goes back to Denver, we’ll leave the boxes here. Then they’ll play with the toys at home.”
Tonya gathered up the wrapping paper that had been tossed aside when the family opened their gifts early that morning. Right now Mom, Molly, Melissa, and Callie were in the kitchen preparing Christmas dinner. Dad, Ryan, Jonathan, and Lane, along with Philip, Melissa’s husband, had already disappeared into the den to watch the football game.
“I wish Derek were here.” Holly stacked her sons’ toys in a pile.
Tonya sat down on the blue chair, thankful all their furniture was back in the living room. “You know how community-oriented Derek is. He had to help out at the soup kitchen in downtown Casper.” Tonya shook her head. “Personally, I think he should have stayed here with the family, but he decided the Lord wanted him to help the homeless on Christmas day.”
“That’s very admirable.”
“I guess.” Tonya leaned her head back and wondered who sat in this chair at the Single Servings Christmas party the other night. A face popped into her mind—a face with a big nose and blue eyes set too close together, framed with reddish-brown hair. Usually she would emit a groan, but she remembered how Murray had complimented her cooking. In that area, he was a lot nicer than Reed Dickens. Murray was probably spending a quiet day with his mom at the nursing home in Douglas. With all the siblings Tonya had, she couldn’t imagine what a quiet Christmas would be like.
“Tonya?” Callie called from the dining room. “Come help me set the table.”
Tonya rose and made her way to the dining table. “How many are we having for dinner?” She glanced at herself in the mirror above the fireplace mantel as she walked by. Holly and Callie hadn’t even bothered to put on makeup this morning, but Tonya paused to make sure hers still looked good.
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