Sleigh Bells Ring in Romance

by Shanna Hatfield

  “You can’t,” Blayne agreed, “but you don’t need to. Whether Grams admits it or not, she likes you, and I mean much more than as a friend. She really, truly cares about you.”

  Jess shrugged, pleased by the information Blayne shared, but frustrated that Doris refused to acknowledge what was between them. “I still don’t know what I can do to change her mind.”

  Blayne sat quietly for a while, drinking his coffee. Suddenly, he looked over at Jess with a broad grin. “Do you have a red shirt? Some white socks you don’t mind ruining?”

  Jess looked at him like he was crazy. “I do. What have you got in mind?”

  “What if you…”

  Blayne left an hour later while Jess made himself comfortable in his recliner. He opened a book he’d started reading, but was so distracted, listening for the sound of Doris’s car, he’d read the same page five times before he gave up and stared out the window.

  It wasn’t more than twenty minutes after Blayne left that he watched Doris speed up his driveway. He heard the brakes squeal when she slammed on them at the back of the house. He listened as she charged up the back steps and opened the kitchen door.

  “Jess? Jess, where are you?” she called as her footsteps clicked across the kitchen floor.

  “In here,” he said, forcing himself to sound tired, maybe even a little weak.

  Doris breezed into the room, a basket of food in one hand and her gloves in the other. “Are you okay? Blayne made it sound like you were practically dying.”

  She set the basket on the coffee table, stuffed her gloves in her pocket, then reached out to feel his forehead with the back of her hand. “You do feel a little warm. Are you getting sick? What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, nothing. I don’t want to be a bother,” he said, making a concentrated effort to get out of the chair.

  “No, you sit right there. I’ll put your food on a tray and bring it to you. Do you want tea? Milk? Some coffee? Maybe you should have juice if you’re coming down with something. Is your stomach upset? Are you coughing? Should I call the doctor?”

  Jess swallowed down a smile and shook his head. “Milk would be fine and no, I’m not sick, just a little tired.” That part wasn’t a lie. He’d lingered far too long outside this morning, then he and Blayne had spent an hour plotting to bring about this very scenario. It had taken them both digging through Jess’s clothes to find a red shirt that would ruin a whole load of white socks before they stuffed everything in the washing machine together. He could do with a few minutes of sitting down to rest, but not because he was about to start knocking on death’s door.

  He had no idea what Blayne had said to his grandmother, but whatever it was, he’d have to thank him for it later. Right now, he had to convince Doris he still needed her help even if what he wanted was her companionship, friendship, and affection.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said, bustling into the kitchen with the basket. The scent of her, something that had always made him think of cozy winter evenings spent in an English estate library while being tantalized by an exotic woman, lingered in her wake. He sniffed deeply, letting the intoxicating fragrance fill his nose.

  Julia had once said something about Doris being the only woman she’d known who could carry off that particular perfume so perfectly. Too bad he couldn’t recall the name of it. All he knew, at that moment, was how enticing he found it. And Julia was right. It was perfect for Doris. In spite of the scent that was made for a woman, not a girl, it held a classic, elegant appeal in the undertones that continued to waft around him.

  Before he could inhale again, Doris reappeared with a tray she set across his lap. “Blayne said you’ve hardly eaten. Are you not hungry or just having trouble cooking? What can I do to help?”

  “I really don’t want to be a bother to you, Doris. Why don’t you sit down and keep me company while I eat this wonderful meal?” Jess gave her an imploring look that got her to sit on the couch for five whole minutes as he dove into the best thing he’d eaten in a week, since Doris had declared him well enough to take care of himself and stopped coming to see him.

  The roast was so tender it fell apart at the touch of his fork. The dinner roll was soft and light, slathered with butter and homemade blackberry jam. Mashed potatoes, smothered with gravy, and carrots cooked to the exact tenderness he preferred rounded out the meal.

  “Is there any housework you need help with? How about laundry?”

  “Oh, I put a load in earlier. I’ll stick it in the dryer later,” he said, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen. The laundry room was just off the kitchen down a short hallway.

  Doris hopped up and headed that way. Jess cringed when he heard her startled exclamation over his ruined clothes. To make it look like he hadn’t done it on purpose, he’d even thrown in one of his good white shirts.

  “Jess Milne! Do you not have the sense God gave a dead dog? You know better than to put a red shirt in with a load of white clothes. Look at this. Ruined! Your shirt and socks are ruined!”

  She held a handful of wet socks and his once-white shirt out to him. They were streaked various shades of pink. Blayne had added a squirt of red food coloring to the load of laundry from a bottle they’d found in the back of a drawer where Julia had always kept supplies she used for decorating cakes and cookies. Evidently, that squirt had done the job of whatever his red shirt hadn’t accomplished. He’d have to order more socks because there was no way he was running around in pink striped ones.

  “They are pink aren’t they?” he said in a weary tone. “I’m sorry.” For added dramatic flair, he pushed back his plate and sighed dejectedly.

  Doris instantly stopped glaring at him and patted his arm then nudged his plate toward him again. “You eat every bite of that supper, Jess. I’ll take care of the laundry. With a little work, I might be able to get these white again.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it, Doris. The boys can use those for rags out in the shop.”

  When she returned to the laundry room, Jess hurried to finish his meal, gulped his milk, then sat back in the chair, doing his best to look ill. In a flash of inspiration, he turned on a heating pad he sometimes used when his back ached and held it against his forehead.

  By the time he heard Doris’s footsteps coming through the kitchen, he was about to break into a sweat. He turned off the heat pad and dropped it behind his chair then leaned back and did his best to appear sick.

  “Jess, you look terrible. What do you need?” Doris asked, bending over him and pressing her cheek to his forehead. “My gracious! You’re burning up. Come on, I’ll take you to the emergency room.”

  “No. There’s no need for that.” Maybe he’d done too good of a job of giving himself a fever. Having her bend over him like that had certainly increased his temperature more than he’d expected. “I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning. I probably just need to rest a bit.”

  “You lean back and I’ll bring you a glass of water.” She took the tray off his lap and Jess pushed back his recliner, remaining in it while Doris fussed over him. When he thought he couldn’t stand any more of it, she sat down on the couch and began talking about things happening in town.

  She discussed practicing with the church choir for the upcoming performance of A Christmas Carol. He would have laughed at her descriptions of some of the things happening at the rehearsals, but a man on his deathbed wouldn’t be quite as humored as Jess felt.

  After an hour, he thought about confessing the truth to Doris. Suddenly, she got to her feet, walked over to him and kissed him lightly on the mouth. Before Jess could gather his wits enough to pull her into his arms, she straightened and brushed a hand over his stubbly cheek. “You get a good night’s rest and I’ll check on you tomorrow. If you need anything tonight, you just call and we’ll be right over.”

  “Thanks for being such a good friend, Doris,” he said in a weak voice. Maybe he ought to ask Mary McKay if he could audition for the play next year since h
e was doing a good job of acting tonight.

  Guilt pricked at him as Doris gathered her things and left, but not enough he wouldn’t do the same thing tomorrow. If a state of helplessness kept her coming to see him, then so be it. He’d be the most helpless, pathetic man she’d ever encountered.

  Four days later, Jess concluded Blayne was the stupidest human who ever lived. It was his idiotic idea for Jess to pretend to be weak and in need of care so Doris would spend time with him. At first it seemed like a brilliant plan. Then the realization set in that he couldn’t do anything with Doris because she’d basically ordered him to stay quiet and rest until he felt better.

  He couldn’t exactly tell her he felt great. In fact, his knee was almost back to normal. Another week or two, and the doctor told him he could get back to work on the ranch. But forced to spend so much time sitting while faking a weak constitution was setting him back physically in his recovery.

  Frustrated, he drove over to see Blayne when he knew Doris was in town at choir practice.

  “What are you doing here?” Blayne asked when he got out of his pickup near the shop. It appeared Blayne and one of the hired hands had dismantled the old John Deere tractor yet again.

  “You’ve got to help me fix this thing with Doris.”

  “I thought she was back to spending a lot of time with you.” Blayne gave him a confused look as he wiped his greasy hands on a rag. “Isn’t that what you wanted her to do?”

  “Yes. No. I mean…” Jess growled and yanked off his hat, forking his hands through his hair. “That woman’s got me so tied in knots I can’t think straight. But this pretending to be a sick weakling is messing with my knee. I can’t heal if I spend all day sitting in my recliner pretending I’ve got one foot in the grave.”

  When Blayne started chuckling, Jess had to tamp down the urge to pop him in the nose.

  “Let’s go on up to the house and see if we can think of a way to get you out of this mess. Brooke asked me to haul all the tree ornaments out of the garage today. How about you help me with that while we talk?”

  “Okay.” Jess followed him to the house.

  After considering and rejecting any number of ideas, Blayne threw up his hands in exasperation. “I don’t know what you want me to do, Jess. I want Grams to be happy, but you two have got to work through this without anyone else meddling in it going forward. You can’t come on too strong with Grams, but if you can figure out a way to make her think it’s her idea to spend time with you it might work. Pretend you’ve had a miraculous recovery from whatever ailed you and ask her to go do something with you.”

  Jess set the last tub of decorations in the Grundy living room and glanced at the clock on the wall. Doris would be home soon and he needed to leave before she caught him there with Blayne.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind me wanting to court your grandma?” Jess asked as Blayne walked out with him to his pickup.

  “Nope. Not a bit. My main concern is her happiness, but I sure wouldn’t mind having you as an official family member. You’ve always been like an uncle or grandfather to me, Jess. You know that.”

  “I do, son. Thank you.” Jess gave him a bear hug then climbed in his pickup and left.

  By the time he got home, he landed on an idea to get Doris to spend time with him while doing something fun. When she arrived at the house an hour and a half later, he sat at the kitchen table, prepared to put his plan into action.

  “What have you got there?” Doris asked as she stepped inside and set a foil-covered plate in front of him.

  Jess held up a Christmas ornament Janet had made when she was about six or seven. The bedraggled clothespin reindeer was missing one googly eye and half a pipe-cleaner antler looked like it had been gnawed by a mouse. Julia couldn’t bring herself to throw it away but had said the thing was too ugly to hang on the tree. It had taken Jess forty-five minutes to find it, but he hoped it would serve him well in his devious endeavors.

  “Janet made this when she was just a little thing. I remember the day she brought it home from school. She was so proud of her reindeer. Julia made over it so, proclaiming it the finest reindeer she’d ever seen, then together they hung it on the tree right in front where Janet could proudly admire it.” Jess forced himself to sound maudlin and on the verge of breaking down. “It’s been years since I’ve had a tree. I usually spend Christmas with Janet, Steve, and the kids at their place, but this year…” He let his voice trail off. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

  Doris sniffled and yanked a tissue from the pocket of her coat, dabbing at her eyes and nose. “We’ll get you a tree. Tomorrow.”

  “A tree? What would I do with a tree? I’m not sure I could decorate it all by myself, although it sure would be nice to smell that Christmassy scent.” Jess continued staring at the ornament in his hand, shoulders slumped in a pose meant to look careworn.

  “Tomorrow, right after lunch, we’ll go pick out a tree at the lot in town. No arguments,” Doris slipped off her coat, and turned to get Jess a glass of milk.

  He quickly hid his smile and swallowed down the urge to shout out his triumph.

  Chapter Nine

  “Well, look at that,” Jess said, pointing to the marquee at the Esmerelda Theater.

  Doris glanced out the window of Jess’s pickup and smiled. “Oh, Miracle on 34th Street. I’ve always loved that movie.”

  Jess pulled around the corner and parked the pickup. “Let’s go see it.”

  Doris saw something glimmering in his eyes that had been absent for a long time. She couldn’t tell him no, even if she wanted to, which she didn’t. Normally, she was so busy with holiday preparations she hardly had time to blink. This year, though, she was more interested in spending time with people she cared about than making sure every decoration at home was set out just so. Besides, Blayne and Brooke were perfectly capable of seeing to anything she let slide.

  “Come on, slowpoke. I’ll race you inside,” Doris said, hopping down from Jess’s pickup and hurrying around the back to try to reach the ticket booth first.

  In spite of his healing knee, Jess beat her there and purchased two tickets. After buying popcorn, M&Ms, and beverages, they made their way into the theater and found seats far enough back Jess wouldn’t have to crane his neck to see the screen.

  Once they’d removed their coats and settled into the seats, Doris dumped her box of candy into the popcorn.

  “Why are you contaminating my popcorn with your candy?” Jess asked, digging a handful of golden, buttery kernels from the tub he held between them.

  “Because it makes both of them taste better. Try it and you’ll see.”

  Jess gave her a dubious look, but ate the popcorn and quickly filled his hand again.

  Doris sipped her water then picked up a few kernels at a time, randomly finding a piece of candy in her hand.

  The lights dimmed and flickering images began rolling across the screen. An hour into the movie, Doris leaned her head against Jess’s arm and sighed contentedly. She glanced up at him at the same time he looked down at her. He smiled and kissed her nose before looking back at the screen.

  If Doris had been sixteen, she might have batted her eyelashes and vowed to never wash her nose again. As it was, she considered what might happen if she offered Jess a little flirtatious encouragement.

  She grinned, thinking of his efforts the past week to get her to come see him. He no more needed her help than he needed a third eye in the smack dab middle of his forehead. It took her less than five minutes after she arrived at Jess’s house the day Blayne came home claiming their neighbor was nearly on his deathbed to deduce she’d been played.

  The reason why her grandson was conspiring with Jess had crossed her mind multiple times, but she was enjoying herself too much to dig for an answer.

  When Jess had truly needed her help, she’d felt purposeful and needed. Once he could drive himself and no longer required assistance at home, she felt useless. Brooke and Blayne managed quite
well without her, even if they both claimed they couldn’t survive a week without her at the ranch.

  At any rate, she was glad to have someone who needed her, or at least made a grand pretense of needing her. Jess had gone to so much effort to make her feel necessary to his recovery that she tamped down her first inclination to accuse him of faking illness just to get her to visit him.

  Yesterday, when he’d been going on and on about a Christmas tree, she’d decided he may have started out using it as another excuse to keep her close, but she’d seen the emotion in his eyes and heard it in his voice as he held up Janet’s pathetic little clothespin reindeer.

  Doris knew exactly what he meant, how he felt, because she had a whole box of things she’d saved that her son had made and another full of treasures Blayne had created. Brooke would no doubt love to have both of them someday. For now, the boxes were safely tucked in the back of Doris’s closet.

  The final credits were rolling before Doris acknowledged how glorious it felt to have Jess’s arm around her shoulders. He’d slipped it there thirty minutes into the movie. He felt so good and strong, and so comfortable, she didn’t want to move.

  When the theater lights came on, she shifted away from him and gathered their trash then picked up her coat.

  “Thank you for bringing me to this, Jess. I’d forgotten how fun it was to see this old movie on a big screen.”

  “Didn’t you and Glen ever come to see Christmas movies?” Jess asked, taking her coat from her and holding it while she slipped it on.

  “No. We were always so busy with the ranch and other obligations there just wasn’t ever time.” Doris picked up the popcorn tub with their garbage inside while Jess tugged on his coat. “What about you and Julia? Did you ever bring her?”

  Jess nodded. “We used to set aside one day before Christmas just for fun. We’d come to town early, get our shopping done for each other, eat lunch, then wander through some of the stores and buy things for Janet and her family. We’d catch whatever movie was playing, eat dinner out, and then look at lights on our way home.”