Mistletoe Kisses

by Marnie Blue

  Chapter Nine

  “Where are we going?” She reached out to put her hand on his knee, a little thrill jolting up her arm at the contact. “We need to untie the tree and let it rest a while.” Their prize lay in the back of the truck, along with some real wreaths Lilly had convinced him to buy.

  “We won’t be long, I don’t think. While you were inside the shed haggling over the price of the tree, I put the address of that family we met yesterday into my map app. They live close to me. I want to stop by their house and introduce myself.” He put his hand on hers and squeezed. “Thought it would be better and less stressful for their mom if you were there, too.”

  That made sense. The harried woman might be wary of opening her door to a man she didn’t know. Lilly nodded, then paused. “How did you know I haggled over the price of the tree?”

  He gave her a duh face. “I’m onto you, Menace. I know your tricks. You were looking for a scam to make a story about. Overpriced trees or some such.”

  He did know her tricks! Lilly nodded. There was nothing Justin didn’t know about her.

  In a few moments, they pulled up outside a small house that looked cared for, but somehow tired. The walk hadn’t been shoveled, and neither had the driveway. A minivan parked in the driveway in front of the garage appeared to have not been used since the snow had started; it was covered by a white blanket a few inches thick. Justin turned off his truck and got out. “Come on.”

  Lilly climbed down from the passenger side, then met Justin in front of the pickup. Together, they made their way up the walk to the front door.

  Behind the door, Lilly heard the kind of noise that only two small children could create—whooping, shouting, banging, and the sounds of a television playing much too loudly. Justin rang the doorbell, and she hoped it could be heard over Aidan and Grace’s chaos.

  A dog started a rapid-fire, high-pitched barking, and she remembered—they had a Pomeranian. “What’s their dog’s name again?”

  “Max,” Justin answered. “Fifi is the cat.”

  “Of course. As it should be.” She shifted on the snowy steps.

  Suddenly, the door opened a crack, then wider, then both children were standing there, dressed in Ninja Turtle pajamas. Grace had a football helmet on, her silky blond hair spilling out from underneath it. Aidan’s hair stood up in aggressive uncombed spikes on his head. Before Lilly could notice any more about them, their tiny dog scampered between them and made a break for it.

  Justin was ready and scooped him up before he escaped. Max responded by wiggling in his hands, trying to lick his chin while simultaneously barking. He tucked the dog against his side like a football. “Hi kids, is your mother here?” he asked.

  “Are you going to make her cry?” asked Grace.

  Beside her, Aidan crossed his arms over his chest and glowered fiercely. “You better not make Mommy cry.”

  Lilly’s heart clenched.

  “No. We’re not.” Justin paused, then looked over at Lilly and gave her a tense, tight-lipped smile. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet to show them his police shield. “My name is Officer Justin. I’m here because Santa sent me.”

  The children’s eyes widened. Even Max stilled. Then they turned and raced off, leaving the door wide open; she and Justin could hear them yelling. “Mommy! There’s a police officer here, and he’s from Santa!”

  “He might ’rrest you!”

  “He’s got Max!”

  “Why would they think you were going to arrest her?” Lilly asked him.

  Justin shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t checked to see if she has a history. I probably should have. But I have a feeling it’s something they think the police do.” He gave her another grim smile. “We’ll have to teach them differently. Isn’t that what your Channel 10 piece is all about? That cops are the good guys?”

  “It is,” she said. “I should have Cisco with me. We should—”

  “No,” he said sternly. “This is for us, not for the public. Later, if she wants, you can do something with her and the kids, but right now, it’s a private matter.”

  Lilly didn’t agree, but she had no choice. She’d even left her phone in the truck, so she couldn’t record a thing. Instead, she reached up to let the little, fluffy dog he held sniff her fingers. It wagged its tail and wiggled with excitement at her.

  “If he pees on me, Menace…” Justin muttered.

  Lilly smiled.

  Just then, the children’s mother appeared in the doorway. She had a full basket of laundry on her hip. There were dark circles under her eyes. She looked frightened, and Lilly suddenly realized this woman was someone who had once received very bad news from a stranger wearing a uniform. A stranger bearing a badge could also bring bad news… Justin seemed to realize that, too. He put on a smile. “Hi. Mrs. Crosby?”

  “Yes,” she answered, her eyes on her little dog. The children came to stand behind her. Now they were both wearing football helmets. Aidan sported a cape and had a plastic lightsaber in his hands as well.

  Justin held out his free hand. “I’m Officer Justin Weaver. I—wait a sec.” He bent and put the dog down on the floor; it scurried into the house, bravely barking once more. “We met yesterday. At city hall. In the tax assessor’s office?” He looked down at his faded jeans, black sweater, and jacket and gestured. “I was dressed differently. You know. Ho ho ho…”

  The clouds of concern swept from her face, and she sagged on a release of held breath. “Oh! Yes. Thank you so much for that. It helped.” A smile lit her face.

  “No problem. Glad it did.” Justin held out his hand once again for her to shake; he introduced Lilly, too. “This is my…well. This is Lilly. Anyway, I got your name and address from the clerk after you’d left, and I wanted to know if there was anything special that—um…” He flickered a look at the children. “Could we come in and talk a minute?”

  The smart lady caught on immediately. “Yes, of course. Kids, this is Officer Weaver. He’s here to…um…”

  “Shovel your driveway, but I need some help. If you go get dressed, you guys, you can come out in the snow with me.” He used his no-nonsense command voice. Lilly was surprised to see the kids take off, pushing each other out of the way as they hurried to get dressed.

  “You don’t have to do that,” she said. “Shovel my driveway, I mean.”

  “I know. But I want to.”

  There was a bang and a crashing noise from somewhere in the house. The woman shifted the basket to her other hip and sighed, then led them into the living room. The small house was cluttered with toys and piles of papers and magazines. “I’ve got coffee if you’d like.”

  “No thanks.” Justin stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

  Mrs. Crosby put the laundry basket down onto the coffee table, then moved about the living room scooping up toys and tossing them into a bin. “I’m so sorry about the mess. We don’t get many visitors. My family lives in Washington and my husband’s parents don’t…” She trailed off, clearly at a loss.

  “We need to know where we can find your shovels,” Justin answered.

  “I know where they are!” Aidan came out of his room wearing boots on the wrong feet and his winter coat, inside out. Mrs. Crosby set about helping him get dressed properly; in moments, Grace appeared with her coat on upside down—something Lilly had never considered possible.

  “I think we’re going to be here awhile,” Justin said to Lilly, and as he knelt to help the girl ready herself for the outdoors, her heart expanded until it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest at how adorable the two of them—Justin and Grace—were together.

  Once Aidan joined them, it was even better.

  They took the children outside to play in the yard, building a snowman as tall as Justin. He had pieces of wood mulch for eyes and a carrot nose, and he wore an old hat Mrs. Crosby had found in a closet. By the time Justin and Lilly were ready to leave the little family, the kids were wiped out
from all the fun and their mother had finished the laundry and cleaned the house, too.

  “We came to see if there’s anything special you need or want for Christmas,” Lilly told her when they went in to say goodbye.

  She shook her head. “Nothing earthly possible, I’m afraid. But it was nice that they got to spend some time with Justin. They need a man’s influence, you know? If only…” Mrs. Crosby trailed off as she looked at her children, for once settled quiet and still, lying side by side on the couch watching a movie. Aidan was sucking his thumb, and both of them were half asleep. “Well, it was nice of you both to help out today. I really appreciate it. More than I can say.” She walked them to the door. As they stepped out onto the top stair, Lilly turned back to say goodbye once more. Mrs. Crosby gave her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Merry Christmas to you both,” she said.

  Lilly’s throat tightened. How merry could the little family’s Christmas be? No toys could replace what they’d lost. Justin was right. He was Santa, but even that wasn’t good enough.

  …

  Together, she and Justin carried the tree into the garage. He sawed off a little from the trunk and a branch or two, then they set it into the stand she’d bought. His grandparents’ tree stand wouldn’t work with a real tree, she was sure. They left it standing there to rest and drip off the snow and ice from its branches, and together they made their way into the house so she could get her car keys. She’d left them on the kitchen counter, along with a tin box filled with most of the cookies.

  “Lilly,” Justin said as she reached for the cookies. “Wait. Don’t leave yet. We need—”

  “I know. We need to talk.” She picked up the box, then turned to face him. He stood still, tall, and kind of uncomfortable with his hands shoved down deep into the pockets of his faded jeans.

  She bit her lip, and her heart gave a funny beat as her eyes met his. Then his gaze moved down to her mouth.

  “That—that kiss,” he said.

  “I know. It was nothing, really. Right?” A lump rose in her throat. I’m lying. That kiss wasn’t nothing. Not to me.

  “Right,” he said. “It was just—just for the guys. To prove I wasn’t—I’m not…”

  “Right. They were busting you up, and it was bad enough you were in that Santa suit.” She swallowed.

  “Exactly! Yes. That was it. And your piece. You know. People like that stuff. Kissing under the mistletoe.” He shrugged his shoulders, his hands still tucked deep in his pockets. “It was…”

  “It was nice, but…” She swallowed again. The lump was larger than before and didn’t appear to want to go away.

  “Yeah. It was okay. I mean, as kisses go. You know.” His ears reddened. “It wasn’t weird or anything.”

  Weird? She frowned. “Well, no. I wouldn’t expect it to be. I don’t think.” She wasn’t even sure what he meant. “Did you expect it to be weird?”

  “Me? No!” He shrugged again. “I—well. Okay then. I’ll walk you outside?”

  “You don’t have to. I mean, it’s not like we’re…” Going to kiss again or something weird like that. “I can show myself out.” Lilly blinked. Was she crying? No, of course not. That would be ridiculous. Justin was just Justin, and she should have known he wasn’t going to be interested in her in any way, except as a friend. Or even, not a friend, but the friend of his sister.

  Of course.

  She pulled her gaze from his face and turned her face to take in the painfully pink kitchen. She had a strange urge to say goodbye to it. No, maybe she just needed to say goodbye to what it represented—some kind of rosy domesticity with the man she loved, had always loved—and get over it. And him. If she could.

  Another swallow, another deep breath, and she was ready. Or as ready as she could be.

  “All right then. Have fun decorating your tree. Don’t forget to bring it up from the garage.”

  “Sure. Thanks,” Justin said in a quiet voice. His dark eyes were inscrutable, as usual. “I…yes. Okay.” His phone started to ring. “I—wait. I’ll walk you out, I just need to—”

  “No! I don’t mind. I can—” Lilly started to say, but then her phone started ringing, too.

  Her heart cracked as they shared a smile, then both reached into their pockets for their phones.

  “It’s Mom,” Justin told her, reading the screen.

  “It’s Hannah,” Lilly read to him.

  Together, they shrugged and answered their calls.

  “Hello?”

  Hannah pounced. “Spill! What happened?”

  “Nothing happened. What are you talking about?” Lilly realized Justin was answering the same question from his mother. Too funny. She smiled at him and pointed at her phone; he made a “right?” face and shook his head.

  “You saw Justin last night. So?”

  “So? So nothing,” Lilly answered.

  “I drove past his house this morning and your car was there!”

  “His truck wasn’t, though. Was it?” Lilly shook her head.

  “No. But that…well. So? Where was he? Why was your car there?” Hannah paused, then squeaked. “He drove you to your hotel in the storm and spent the night in your room!”

  “No.” Lilly had to laugh. “I stayed here.”

  Hannah repeated, “You stayed there? At his house? Where was…” then her voice grew muffled; Hannah was talking to someone else in the room.

  Her mother. Justin’s mother.

  On the other side of the kitchen, she heard Justin yelp, “Mom! You don’t hear wedding bells. For crying out loud. It was snowing. She stayed here. On the couch. What do you…I’m not going to discuss that. Not with you.”

  See? If she needed to know how awkward “hooking up” or whatever with Justin would be, this was a perfect example. She could feel a hot blush beginning to glow on her cheeks and neck; her whole body was probably scarlet.

  On the other side of the kitchen, Justin sighed loudly; one look showed her sparks in his eyes and bright red ears. Good grief. “Mom. We’re just friends. Yeah, I know we kissed. I was there. But it was just for the camera.” He looked at her, pointed at his phone, mouthed What the…? at her.

  “So you’re telling me you and Justin are only friends?” Hannah returned to the phone. Lilly could hear Mary speaking to Justin, her voice indistinct. Sort of.

  “Am I on speaker? Is Justin?” Lilly asked.

  Across the kitchen, Justin said, “Yes!” just as Hannah said, “No…not really…well…yeah, kind of,” and their answers were repeated in her ear, on her phone.

  He shook his head. “I’m going to hang up. This is crazy.”

  “No. Don’t,” Mary warned. “Wait. I wanted to ask you—both of you—for dinner tomorrow.”

  There was a pause. Lilly opened her mouth to say “No, thank you,” but Justin beat her to it.

  “If we come to dinner, will you stop asking questions?”

  She stared at him. Are you sure? she mouthed.

  He nodded.

  She shook her head, then lowered her phone, placing it against her chest. “Are you sure this is a good idea? We might give them the wrong impression.”

  Justin opened his mouth to answer, then his brows lowered and he made his disgusted face. “Hannah says she can still hear you when you do that.” He rolled his eyes. “And yes, I’m sure. We can’t communicate with them this way. Not effectively, anyway.”

  Lilly shrugged. “Okay then. I guess we’ll go to your mom’s for dinner tomorrow.”

  She lifted the phone back to her ear. “All right?”

  “Yay!” Hannah said. “Get here for three. Wait.” There was a rustle. “Okay. You’re off speaker…so…be ready to dish.”

  “There’s no dish,” Lilly told her.

  Hannah made a pfft noise, then said, “See you at three,” and hung up. Lilly looked across at Justin just as he touched his screen to end his own call.

  “Three o’clock,” he told her. “Or else, Mom said. Whatever that means.” />
  “I have no idea.” Lilly shrugged.

  “See? This is why kissing was a bad idea.” He shook his head.

  “Right. I know.” She nodded. “We won’t do it again.”

  “Right.”

  And so they’d decided. They wouldn’t kiss again.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning, Lilly called Justin about how they’d get to Mary’s.

  “Why don’t I just pick you up on the way to your mom’s house before dinner. I have an errand or two to run,” she said.

  The idea of a whole day all by himself was a bleak one. Justin stared out the window at the snowy ground. The snow had started to melt and looked icy instead of soft; what had been white and marshmallow-fluffy yesterday was rimmed with a black line of grit and dirt today. It reminded Justin, somehow, of himself.

  He was losing his mind. He turned away from the window and moved into the kitchen.

  It didn’t help his mood. All he could picture was Lilly, futzing around with her cookies and looking adorable and delighted even as he pretended to complain. He grabbed one of Lilly’s cookies off the foil-covered platter she’d left for him on the kitchen island, and shoved it into his mouth. Sweet and spicy. Just like Lilly.

  Pathetic. He really was losing his mind.

  “Justin? Are you still there?” Lilly asked.

  “Sorry. I’m eating a cookie. You can just come get me. I don’t mind running some errands,” Justin heard himself say. “I’m all dressed and ready to go.” Good Lord, he needed some kind of intervention.

  Even Lilly seemed to think so. “Are you sure? I’m going to The Body Shoppe for more candy cane-scented products. They’re having a sale!” Doubt filled her voice. And hesitation. “It’s Sunday. Football is on…”

  “I can check the highlights later. On my phone.” It sounded so wrong, but felt so right… “Besides. The Body Shoppe? I must be there. Someone has to stop you from making a regretful olfactory decision.” What was he even saying? Who talked that way? He felt himself flush. As he grabbed another cookie, he wondered if all this lunacy was the result of overloading on carbs.