A California Christmas

by Brenda Novak

  “That woman drives me nuts,” Eli confided.

  “She comes off pretty militant,” Dallas said.

  “She is.”

  “So why did Mom hire her?”

  “Because, for all her inflexibility and focus on the letter of the law, Mrs. Seamus cares about her students. She works hard, is completely devoted to them.”

  “But she’s crossing a line here. Mom should be able to open her home to whomever she wants.”

  He expected Eli to agree, so he was surprised when Eli said nothing.

  “You don’t think so?” Dallas challenged.

  Although they’d reached the girls’ gymnasium, and basketball practice was supposed to start any minute, Eli paused before opening the door. “If Mom didn’t live on a school campus, especially a school campus like this one, I’d say yes—for sure. But Mrs. Seamus has a point. Taking care of our students is our number one goal.”

  “Having Emery here isn’t hurting anyone!”

  “Dallas, I like Emery, too. And I’m eager to help her. But I don’t know that I can completely buy into the statement that having her here won’t hurt anyone. What’s going on with her really isn’t something we want our students to be aware of or focus on. They’re too young for that video.”

  “Like you told Mrs. Seamus, it’s already out there, in the media.”

  “But like she said, seeing her around campus draws their attention to a scandal they probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to if not for that.”

  Dallas scowled. “They’re more streetwise than the students who go to almost any other school.”

  “Which is part of the problem, right? They would be more drawn to stuff that’s too old for them than other students of the same age.”

  “So what are you saying?” Dallas asked.

  Eli appeared to be torn. “Probably nothing. Mom’s already invited her. It’s not as if she’d ever ask her to leave. But it could get uncomfortable for a bit. Mrs. Seamus won’t be the only one to criticize this move, and I don’t want anyone saying anything about Mom that might upset her before the wedding.”

  “They’d better not,” Dallas said.

  “And yet they will, and they will feel as though they have the right. All it will take is for Mrs. Seamus to start complaining to the other teachers, and those who agree with her will rally behind her and make their opinions known.”

  “After all the good Mom has done?”

  “Everyone has their detractors, Dallas,” he said, and swung the door wide.

  * * *

  The house smelled of garlic, onion and cilantro when Dallas walked in after helping with the climbing wall, as promised, once he finished basketball practice. Someone had been cooking. He hoped whoever it was had made enough for everyone. The spaghetti he’d eaten at lunch was now a distant memory.

  “Hello?” he said as he ducked his head into the kitchen.

  Emery was at the stove. “Hi.”

  Judging by her smile, she was in a stronger, more confident mood. She was bouncing back, he thought, and cringed inside as he remembered his conversation with Eli. What her fellow anchor had done wasn’t going to fade away fast. “Where is everyone?”

  “No one else is home yet,” she said. “But I hope they get here soon. I made some chicken enchiladas. They’ll be out of the oven in ten minutes.”

  “Smells amazing.”

  “There’s homemade salsa.” She indicated a bowl on the table. “Come taste it.”

  He helped himself to the chips she’d put out, too. The salsa contained just the right amount of cilantro and hot pepper, and she’d made a bowl of guacamole that was topped with crumbly, salty cotija cheese—a particular favorite of his. “Delicious. But where did you get the groceries? I can’t imagine we had ingredients like cotija and cilantro in the fridge.”

  “No.” She lifted her chin proudly. “I braved going to the store.”

  She obviously considered it an accomplishment, and it was. She was afraid to show her face in public, which was why he’d gone to the trouble of walking her home after they ate in the cafeteria earlier. “And? How’d it go?”

  “There were a few people who stared at me, but I ignored them, grabbed what I needed and got out of there.”

  “Good job. Don’t let anyone or anything hold you back.” He swallowed the food in his mouth. “It was nice of you to make dinner, by the way. I’m starving.”

  “I wanted to make myself useful. I don’t want to be a burden.”

  “Don’t worry about that. We have no expectations. Everyone hits a rough patch now and then.” He scooped up another bite of salsa. “Did you message Ethan?”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “I said what you told me to.”

  “How’d he respond?”

  She checked her phone, which was sitting on the counter while she cooked. “He hasn’t, yet.”

  “Hmm.”

  “It’s been five hours.” She was stirring something in a saucepan on the front burner but turned to face him. “Why do you think he hasn’t messaged me back?”

  “I have no clue. But don’t give in to the temptation to text him again. Not yet. Let’s wait and see what he does.”

  “What if he just lets it go?”

  “Then we’ll come up with a different strategy to draw him out, but we shouldn’t give up on this one too soon. He might’ve had a busy day.”

  “He’s probably out spending all the money he’s making because, unlike me, he still has a job,” she grumbled sarcastically. “If he doesn’t go to the gym after work, he has his teeth bleached, gets Botox injections or goes to the tanning salon—and that’s if he’s already had a facial, a manicure and a pedicure.”

  Dallas chuckled as his mother came into the house.

  “Smells like heaven in here,” she said. Aiyana looked tired but she had good color in her face. Dallas knew she worked too hard, but there was no getting her to slow down, so he’d stopped trying. He hoped, once she married Cal, that Cal would be able to persuade her to take it a little easier. “Emery made dinner,” he told her. “Mexican food. And what I’ve tasted so far is incredible.”

  “That’s wonderful. I’m hungry.”

  “Me, too. Where’re Liam and Bentley?” he asked. “The food’s almost ready.”

  “Liam’s with a friend, so he’ll miss dinner. Bentley went over to Eli’s to play with the kids. I’m sure he assumed it would take me an hour or so to get a meal together. This will be a pleasant surprise. I’ll text him to let him know we don’t have to wait tonight—thanks to Emery.”

  A timer went off, and Emery donned a pair of oven mitts so she could pull out a pan of enchiladas that were bubbling in a cheesy sauce with green chilies.

  “Look at that,” Dallas said.

  “I’m going to run upstairs and change,” Aiyana said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Dallas pulled some plates from the cupboard. “I’ll set the table.”

  After starting toward the stairs, Aiyana doubled back. “By the way, thanks for helping out this afternoon. I don’t know if Eli told you, but Susan is sick again. Otherwise, I could’ve had Tobias Richardson step in. He’s usually the one who substitutes on the afterschool stuff, if we need him, but today he had to go over to the cookie store.”

  “Jada couldn’t do it? Susan’s her mother.”

  “No. With the baby and her social media business, Jada can no longer take that on, too,” she said. “Maya goes over when she can, of course. She loves to help her grandmother. But a fourteen-year-old can’t manage the store all by herself. And you know that Maddox is too busy here.”

  “Why doesn’t Susan hire someone?”

  “It’s hard to hire an employee for such a short time. Business will die down again in just a few weeks.”

  “True,�
� he allowed, and Aiyana went upstairs.

  “Who’s Tobias?” Emery asked when she was gone.

  “He helps with the grounds and maintenance here at New Horizons—and, apparently, the coaching, if necessary.”

  “How is he related to Susan?”

  “He’s not, technically. He’s Maddox’s brother—Maddox is the principal of the girls’ side of New Horizons—so there is that connection, I guess. She owns Sugar Mama, a cookie shop in town.”

  “I’m familiar with it.”

  “Sounds like, with Christmas coming up, she’s extra busy. So it’s a bad time for her to be sick.”

  Emery poured the refried bean mixture she’d been making into a bowl and carried it to the table. “I hate to ask, but...she doesn’t have cancer or anything serious, does she?”

  “Not cancer, no. Lupus. And she lost her husband a couple of years ago, if I remember right, so she’s on her own with the store. She has a son who helps out when he can, too, but Atticus has his own job and his own life, and I’m sure he can’t be there whenever she needs him. He’s in a wheelchair besides, so it’s hard for him to reach into the cooler to dish up the ice cream for the cookie sandwiches and other stuff she sells.”

  Aiyana’s voice came down to them from upstairs. “Emery, would you mind if I asked Cal over to dinner?”

  “Of course not! I would love to see him.”

  “Great.”

  As Emery dished up the Spanish rice she had waiting on a back burner, she lowered her voice. “I expected Aiyana and Cal to get married years ago. Why do you think they’ve waited so long?”

  “That’s a mystery to me, too.” Dallas was so loyal to Aiyana that he almost left it at that, but he thought it might be encouraging for Emery to know the truth. “She’s hinted that, like me and the other boys she’s tried to help, she has a past and that past informs the present,” he added.

  “Are you saying something happened in her childhood to make her reluctant to marry?”

  “That’s my guess. But she won’t open up about it, so I don’t really know.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be too nosy. My curiosity got the best of me, I guess.”

  “No worries. I’m curious about it, too. She seems to have everything figured out, so it’s hard to imagine that she ever lost her way. But as she often says, anyone can make a tragic mistake.”

  “That’s true.” Emery seemed thoughtful as she brought the rice and beans to the table. “How often do you think Susan needs help?”

  “I couldn’t tell you.” He looked closer at her. “Why? You’re not considering offering to step in, are you?”

  She lifted her hands palms up. “I’m available, right? I doubt I can get another job so close to Christmas, and I wouldn’t want to get one here, anyway, since I don’t plan on staying long-term. But I could help this Susan get through the Christmas rush.”

  “That’s really nice of you,” he said. “But...it would mean facing the public on a daily basis.”

  She suddenly seemed less certain. “I realize that. But someone told me I can’t let anyone or anything hold me back.” She offered him a half smile. “I have to get back out there at some point. And I would hate hiding here while someone is too sick to run their business, especially so close to the holidays.”

  Lying low for a little longer would probably be more advisable. After running into the likes of Mrs. Seamus, Dallas understood that. But it was nice of Emery to care. “Maybe she’ll get back on her feet.”

  “If she doesn’t, and she’s open to having me step in, at least I’ll be working in my hometown—a small community and one that’s slightly removed from LA. That wouldn’t be a bad place to start.”

  “True...”

  “And if she can afford to pay me, even if it’s only minimum wage, a paycheck would help shore up my dwindling savings. My mother’s going through a hard time, so it would be a boon to her, too.”

  For all of his encouragement, Dallas wasn’t overly anxious to see Emery put herself out there when he wouldn’t be there to act as a buffer. “Well, take some time to think about it. Make sure it’s something you really want to do.”

  “Okay,” she said, but he knew she was going to do it. She wanted to help Susan—and he could tell she needed the money.

  8

  Ethan’s answer came that night. Emery couldn’t help but wonder if he’d purposely waited until it was late in hopes of getting her to come over and, possibly, stay the night. But if that was his intention, if he imagined she’d ever sleep with him again, he was even more delusional than she’d thought.

  As soon as the text pinged her phone, she hurried downstairs to tell Dallas. They’d finished a movie only a few minutes ago, which they’d watched together after everyone else went to bed. But she was fairly certain he was still awake and would want to hear the news. After all, he’d asked her a couple of different times if she’d heard anything.

  “Dallas?” She knocked softly on his door.

  When he opened it, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. It was no big deal. He was in his own bedroom, getting ready for bed. But the fact that he was only half-dressed gave her enough of a shock that she almost wished she hadn’t come down. He was so firmly in the friend category that the last thing she wanted was to find him sexually desirable, especially after all she’d been through. She didn’t think she’d be capable of trusting a man for years to come. She also didn’t want things to get awkward between them, and knew it would be easier not to think about sex if Dallas wasn’t so attractive.

  She told herself not to let her mind drift in that direction, but it was difficult to stop it. Climbing had made his shoulders, arms and torso into a work of art. At a minimum, she had to appreciate the sheer beauty of his body.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  She blinked several times before remembering why she’d come down. “Um, Ethan.”

  He stepped aside to let her in. “You’ve heard from him?”

  “Yeah.” As she slipped past him, she could smell the scent she already associated with him. Although it was subtle to begin with, something she could detect only when she got close enough to him, it was slightly stronger in his room, with both him and his belongings in such a confined space. It wasn’t cologne she noticed; nothing that contrived. She couldn’t name it, but it was earthy and appealing—definitely all male.

  The room suddenly felt too small for the both of them, and the fact that a bed took up most of the space made her self-conscious.

  He shut the door—probably to give them some privacy, so they wouldn’t wake the others or just out of habit—but it made the room shrink even smaller. “Did he call you?”

  “No. He’s still testing the waters. He sent another text.”

  “What a coward,” he said in disgust. “What’d the message say?”

  There was a chair at the desk in the corner, but there were clothes draped over the back of it. She didn’t feel comfortable sitting there or on the bed, so she stood in the middle of the room, gripping her phone tighter than was necessary. “He said that he regrets what happened between us and hopes I’ll be able to forgive him one day.”

  “That’s sort of an admission of guilt,” he said, as though weighing it in his mind. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “It’s not specific enough. If I took it to Heidi, she’d just say he could be referring to the breakup.”

  He rubbed the beard growth on his chin. “Is there any chance he could be sincerely sorry?”

  This question caught her off guard. She’d been so busy hating Ethan she hadn’t even considered the possibility that he could be experiencing genuine regret. “I guess there’s a chance,” she allowed, but she didn’t find it very likely. Anyone who could do what he did couldn’t have a diligent conscience to begin with.

  “If you decided he was, could you ever forgive
him?” Dallas asked.

  “No. What he did was too personal. It cut me so deeply I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it.”

  When he sat on the bed, she noticed his bare feet. He was completely relaxed, totally casual. They were friends, so he had no reason not to be.

  She needed to calm down, but her heart was pounding for no reason.

  “He’s a dumbass if he thinks a woman ever could get over that,” he said. “To abuse your trust in that way...” He shook his head. “Every woman he dates from now on will have to wonder if there’s a hidden camera somewhere.”

  “I hope his future girlfriends protect themselves better than I did.” She sat on the corner of the bed so she wouldn’t look as uncomfortable as she felt. They’d both been on the couch earlier, hadn’t they? Why was this any different? “What do you think I should say back?”

  “Tell him you appreciate the apology.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Less is more,” he explained. “You want him to be the one who’s talking.”

  “True.” Once she typed the words and sent the message, she could tell Ethan was writing back. “He’s on right now,” she told Dallas.

  The smooth, tanned skin of Dallas’s arm touched hers as he scooted over to see for himself.

  She read:

  Is there any chance we can get together and talk? I feel like things got so out of control there in the end.

  She knew Dallas had read it, too, when he said, “It’s working.”

  Emery wrote:

  I saw you on TV. You got your job back, huh?

  Dallas nodded. “Yeah, lead him there. That should be good.”

  I went in and pled my case to Heidi. You could do the same. I’ll put in a good word for you.

  “After getting me fired he’s trying to play the hero?” she muttered. “Unbelievable.”

  “Bastard,” Dallas concurred.

  I doubt it will help. There has to be a scapegoat, right? Some casualty to appease viewers who were angered by that video. So if the station has already rehired you, they can’t rehire me.