The Fireman's Christmas

by Meg Lacey

  Obviously still off balance from Colin's news, Tessa paid no attention to what he said and gave Danny a little shove toward the kitchen. "Fine, go."

  Danny headed off, but darted through the dining-room arch instead. He didn't feel remotely guilty for listening to their conversation.

  "Would you like to come in?" Tessa asked.

  "No, thank you. Would you come out here…please?"

  The door banged as Tessa stepped outside. "What is this all about? First you show up unannounced to see the kids this week instead of next week after not seeing them for months, and then you're banging on the door at 5:00 a.m."

  "I came to tell the kids about their new stepmother and her desire to have them at the wedding. I'm banging on the door this morning because the mother of my children is not at her condo, but is instead sleeping with some…some…"

  "Watch it, Colin," Tessa warned. "We aren't married anymore. Where I sleep or whom I sleep with is no longer your concern."

  "It is when my children are involved."

  "It's a shame you didn't think about that when we were married."

  "Tessa…" Colin stared at her for a minute. "Look, I don't want to rehash our marriage on the porch, so can we—"

  "Colin, Danny is a firefighter and we have an arrangement. I stay at his house when he's working and in return Josie and Eric stay here when I am."

  Colin sent her a thoughtful look. "So you're living with him?"

  "No, I'm not. But if I was living with Danny it's no longer your concern. You just said you're marrying someone else."

  "My children…"

  "Our children. Our. It takes two, remember? You just couldn't remember whom you were doing it with half the time. I suppose you're marrying Brandy, that perky little blonde assistant you were seeing before our divorce, the one you took to the Bahamas this summer?"

  "No, I'm not marrying Brandy. And Brandy no longer works for me. That's why I was trying to call you a few months ago to tell you." Colin's voice was defensive.

  "Why would you tell me that? It wouldn't have made any difference to me."

  "I don't know why I wanted to tell you." Colin looked almost guilty, but recovered his usual swagger. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I met someone new."

  "Oh? What a surprise," Tessa said, the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

  "I'm marrying Lucia del Reviente."

  "What? You mean that Brazilian model for that lingerie company? Isn't she like twelve or something?"

  Colin scowled. "That's not funny, Tessa. She's twenty, not twelve. We met at a photo shoot."

  "Well, well, haven't you come up in the world. If business is so good that you can afford to pay a model like that, then you can increase my monthly child support, too, since you recently found some extra investments so you could start a trust for each child."

  Colin flushed. "I'll speak to my lawyer about providing a bit more."

  "Good." Tessa folded her arms and leaned back against the door. "Congratulations, Colin. I'll bet Lucia will be a great hit with the men at corporate parties. I can't see her with all the wives, though. How did you convince her to give up her career?"

  "I didn't try. She is going to continue modeling, then plans to start a fashion line. Naturally I'll be involved with that, too."

  "So this Lucia having a career is fine, but my having one was a problem?"

  From the stuffy sound of Colin's answer, Danny figured his nose had stopped up or else he was living dangerously with his response. It made Danny realize again just how arrogant his comments had sounded the day before on the boat. No wonder Tessa was so determined to succeed on her own. The next thing he heard was a car door slam and the creak of the front door as Tessa came back inside. He peered out of the dining room before stepping into the hallway.

  "Tessa? Baby, are you all right?"

  Tessa jumped. "Danny, stop creeping up on me, and don't call me baby. I hate that." She stared at him for a long moment before adding, "I suppose you overheard my conversation?"

  Danny nodded as he strolled over to her. "He's getting married? Are you okay with that?"

  "I have no feelings left for Colin. Haven't for a long time. Colin really wasn't around a great deal. He was working or traveling or amusing himself elsewhere." She heaved an anxious sigh. "I have to talk to my children. I hope they're all right with this."

  "They're good kids, Tessa. You've done a great job with them."

  "Thank you."

  "I mean every word of it. They're really special."

  "You aren't going to distract me by talking about my children." Tessa placed her hands on her hips, drawing Danny's attention back to her lack of clothing. "Why did you try to make Colin think we're involved?"

  "Tessa, we are involved. We're just having problems working out the details." Before Tessa could reply he changed the subject. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you left last night."

  "I did, but…my condo seemed empty all of a sudden, so I drove over here about 2:00 a.m. Since you're on shift today, I would have had to come back anyway. I planned to ask Rhonda to drop off the kids after Colin brought them back."

  "And my shirt?" Danny asked, indicating the flannel covering her luscious body. "Which looks a lot better on you than me, by the way."

  Tessa blushed. "I was cold, and you'd left the shirt in the living room, so I—"

  "Decided to sleep half-nude on my sofa?" He grinned. "Don't misunderstand—I'm not complaining."

  Tessa attempted to be casual. "I'm not half-nude. I'm wearing a T-shirt and leggings underneath."

  "I noticed. You look delicious all sleepy and rumpled."

  "Um…thank you," she ventured, her cheeks flushing again.

  With a laugh he dropped a kiss on her nose. "You look so cute when you're flustered."

  "Stop flirting, Danny. We decided yesterday…"

  Not ready to talk about yesterday, Danny changed the subject. "How did Colin know to come to my house?"

  "Huh? Oh, my kids probably told him. They love it over here. We all think of it as a second home."

  To Danny's delight, Tessa's blush deepened until she was as red as one of his fire engines. He decided to ignore that comment, too, because he didn't have time to deal with it properly either. "I have to get dressed if I'm going to get to work on time. Coffee is in the pot if you want some."

  "Danny…"

  He stopped on the stairs and turned to look at her. "What?"

  "Thank you."

  "For what? I didn't do anything."

  "You stood up for me. I appreciate that, but you can't keep telling people that we are, have—well…" With a self-conscious expression Tessa muttered, "You know what I mean."

  Danny was careful to hide his smile. "Let's table a discussion about us until after your holiday show. Then we can talk about what's next."

  A relieved Tessa stared back at him. "You've got a deal."

  * * *

  BEFORE TESSA KNEW IT she was overseeing her final garden setup in Moonlight Gardens, a partially open pavilion surrounded by half and full walls. She prayed there would be no weather disasters to spoil the turnout at the show, especially since a portion of her display was exposed to the elements. So far there had been no snow to add to the holiday feeling, but the weather was crispy clear and the sky was an intense blue.

  Tessa and her helpers had already erected the basic garden structure. Now she needed to flesh it out. She nodded at Danny and the children, who were bringing in a few final trees and flowers.

  "Tessa, the kids and I have to take off," Danny said. "I've got tons of paperwork to do because the chief is out of town. I have to do my best work, since I'm in charge."

  Tessa smiled. "You'd do your best even if you weren't in charge, Danny."

  "You got me there. Is there anything else you need before I go?"

  Looking around, Tessa replied absently, "I don't think so."

  Danny indicated Alison on her knees in front of the display. "If it's okay, Alison wants t
o stay."

  "Great. I couldn't do without her."

  Danny handed her a paper bag. "Emma made your lunch."

  Tessa grinned. "Peanut-butter sandwiches?"

  Danny managed to answer with a straight face. "With blackberry jelly. How did you guess?"

  "I'm a mind reader."

  With a wink and a smile, Danny commented, "That might come in handy someday, sweetheart."

  "Danny," Tessa warned, knowing he wouldn't pay the slightest bit of attention to her, but would keep flirting with her whenever and wherever he liked.

  His grin expanded. "We'll all see you later. Come on, kids, time to let the gardeners get back to work." With a wave Danny and the kids left. Tessa returned to removing the contents from one of the boxes.

  "Alison, where are the fairies?" she called.

  "I'm right over here, darling," Barrett called.

  Tessa glanced over her shoulder at the slight older gentleman standing in front of his own display across the aisle. She laughed. "Oh, be quiet, Barrett. You know I wasn't talking about you."

  "I must say, Tessa, darling, that I do like what you're doing over there. It's very appealing and wonderfully romantic." Then he added with a sly twinkling smile, "I think it a perfect place for fairies to romp."

  Tessa grinned back at him.

  "I found them, Tessa," Alison called.

  Tessa waved her over. "It was Alison's idea. Alison, this is Barrett. He's a competitor of mine."

  "Nonsense, darling," Barrett said. "I have a floral shop. I don't do landscapes, except a few flower gardens for old friends like Mrs. Deerfield. I'd rather do weddings and party events. They're much more fun." Barrett turned to Alison. "I was just telling Tessa how much I love your idea of making a secret fairy garden. It's delightful, dear."

  Alison blushed and ducked her head. "It was really Tessa, Mr. Barrett."

  Barrett waved his hand. "No Mister is necessary. I only use Barrett."

  "Alison is being shy, Barrett. It was her idea, not mine."

  "Well, darlings, I'll leave you to fight it out. My bird-of-paradise plants have just arrived. You know, Tessa, we should discuss collaborating on a project. I think it would challenge both of us."

  "Say the word, Barrett, and I'm there." Tessa watched him leave to fuss over his flowers.

  "We'll have lunch, darling girl."

  "He's funny," Alison commented, then she asked in a hesitant tone, "Tessa, would it be okay if some friends stopped by tonight to see what we're doing?"

  "I guess so, as long as you're careful and don't disturb anything."

  Alison's expression reverted to the sulky defensive one that Tessa hadn't seen for weeks. "I wouldn't do that."

  After a quick glance at Alison, Tessa smiled, trying to restore the harmonious atmosphere they'd established over the past few weeks. "I know. So who's coming?"

  "Tiffany and a few others."

  "Tiffany? Queen bee Tiffany?"

  Alison nodded. "Mmm-hmm…She's not as bad as I thought, as long as you follow…"

  "Follow what? Her rules?" Tessa stared at Alison when she didn't answer. "So how's it going with that boy you like? Rob, is it?"

  "I'm over Rob."

  Tessa grinned. "Well, that was fast."

  "He's so immature. He's only a freshman."

  "So are you." Tessa went back to unpacking a box. "Is there someone more mature you're thinking about?"

  "Maybe," Alison said in a teasing tone. "But you can't tell Dad."

  "It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

  "See, there's this guy. He's so…so…" The expression on Alison's face told Tessa all she needed to know about Alison's feelings.

  "Pretty hot, huh?" Tessa asked, hiding a smile.

  Alison turned red, but avoided answering. "He's a friend of Tiffany's brother. He might come over tonight, too, if that's okay."

  "Sure. Look…I'm supposed to leave for a while this evening to attend that event for the show participants, but I can stay and finish up here so you can pay more attention to Mr. Hottie if you want."

  "That's dumb. You said you'd meet a lot of people at the event who could help your business."

  "My business won't be worth anything if this display doesn't knock everyone's socks off."

  "It will. Look at it so far." Alison turned and spread her arms. "It's great."

  Tessa stopped pacing and took a good look at what they'd accomplished so far. She felt they'd nabbed the perfect place for their display. They were tucked into a corner of the pavilion not too far from the entrance for good consumer traffic, but they had the forest as a backdrop, which was perfect for the secret and secluded atmosphere she was trying to create.

  The garden was as enclosed as they could make it to replicate a pleasure garden. After entering through the distressed door in an arbor covered with climbing roses, guests were invited to view the curved planting areas tucked next to the winding brick path that wove in and around the taller woodbine or honeysuckle, box shrubs, hawthorn, crabapple and cherry trees.

  The seasons changed from spring bulbs of tulips, daffodils, windflowers and early old-fashioned scented roses to summer and fall plantings of herbs such as lavender, lemon balm, fennel, basil, rosemary and rue, their subtle hues offset by the colors of violets, pansies, myrtle, daisies and geraniums. Fall harvest displays of nuts, minipumpkins, squash, mums, more pansies and black-eyed Susans were followed by an area featuring grasses, red-fruited winterberry, more small trees and ground covers that created an artistic experience defined by texture, shape, outlines and hues. The entire winter section sparkled like a winter fairy tale. The highlight of the display was a small sleigh filled with pine boughs and frosted with a silver snow spray touched with golden sparkles and the brilliant red of poinsettias, plus holly and tiny mistletoe berries. The scent of pine, hot apple pie and hot chocolate wafted out to greet guests as they arrived to celebrate the winter holidays.

  In each of the seasons fairy figures played, hid, smiled and invited guests to discover them as they frolicked beneath the leaves and flowers and hid behind the woody branches before emerging to stage a holiday event of their own on the mirror pond in the center of the winter landscape.

  They worked the rest of the afternoon before Tessa straightened from arranging a bower of sweet petunias, zinnias and hollyhocks that formed another hiding place for the summer fairies. Glancing at her watch, she leaped to her feet. "Oh my God, look at the time. I have to take a shower, get dressed, and we still have things to do before the judging tomorrow evening." She looked around at the display. "Maybe I shouldn't go."

  "Stop that. All the big things are finished. We only have finishing details." Alison handed over Tessa's tote bag and practically pushed her out of the garden. "If you don't hurry up, you'll miss the appetizers."

  Tessa laughed as her stomach suddenly growled. "Well, I don't want to do that. I think I forgot to eat lunch."

  A huge grin from Alison teased as she said, "You still have Emma's PB&J sandwich. The bread is kind of soggy from the jelly, but…"

  Tessa laughed. "I'll pass, thanks. Okay, if you're sure everything is under control, I'll take off and be back later this evening." Tessa tossed her bag over her shoulder. "If you're ready to leave before I—"

  "Go." Alison laughed, giving Tessa another push. "I won't leave before you come back."

  "All right, I'll see you later."

  * * *

  TWO HOURS LATER Danny walked into a disaster. He and the kids had just arrived at the holiday display when he heard someone yell, "Don't let it spread. Put it out, dude!"

  Telling Eric, Josie and the twins to stay by the entrance, Danny raced over to the sound of the panicked voice and the smell of smoke. He found a few teenage girls and boys trying to fade away from the scene of the crime, while his daughter was tackling a small fire in the cardboard boxes piled near the display. Danny pushed Alison out of the way and ordered, "Call it in."

  He pointed at a teenage boy who had been trying to h
elp Alison. "You, find a fire extinguisher."

  "Yes, sir," the boy said, eyeing his fleeing friends. He ran to the nearest exit looking for the distinctive red canister. While he was gone, Danny took off his jacket and began beating the growing flames to smother them. Within minutes he heard the wail of a siren, and the boy reappeared with an extinguisher in his arms. Danny grabbed it and started spraying the fire. A crash indicated that the on-duty firemen had arrived, pushing their way through the double doors. The paramedics who routinely accompanied station calls followed them. Firemen in full uniform converged on the location of the fire, and quickly assessed the situation, which was under control.

  "This the only flame?" Murphy, the first crewman asked, his alert glance sweeping the pavilion, noting the many displays that were making up the show.

  Danny put down the canister and wiped his sweating brow with his forearm. "As far as I know it is. It had just started when I got here, but you'd better check the rest of the area to be certain."

  "Already doing that. Lucky there aren't many people here at the moment. How'd it start?"

  Danny eyed his daughter before answering. "Not sure yet."

  Another voice yelled, "Hey, Santori, can't stay away from work, huh?"

  Danny turned and stared at the tall young fireman. "Hey there, Jake. You're too late for this party."

  Jake Doren laughed. "Things have been hopping tonight. This is our third call already. What the hell happened here?"

  For the first time Danny was able to view his surroundings, and what he saw made his stomach sink to his feet. Flowers were trampled, one part of the fieldstone wall that Tessa had created had fallen down and it looked as if someone had crushed a small fairy cottage tucked under a spray of roses. "Oh, hell, Tessa can't see this display like this. She's been working on this project for over five weeks straight."

  Jake waved to one of the other fireman and turned back to Danny. "We've got the all clear, Danny, but we need some answers for the report."

  Danny took Jake aside. "I'll find out how it went down and let you know, okay?"