Christmas in White Oak

by Aileen Fish

  Christmas in White Oak

  Aileen Fish

  Christmas in White Oak

  Copyright © 2014 Aileen Fish

  All rights reserved.

  Originally Published in the Sweet Christmas Kisses boxed set.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to http://aileenfish.com and purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. With the exception of historical figures, any resemblance it bears to reality is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  The last person Nick Randolph expected to see sitting at his mom’s dining table was Sofia Suarez. Sweet, shy Sofia of the striped jeans and Bohemian hat. But the beautiful young woman hiding behind the sewing machine no longer had chunky highlights in her hair, and he doubted she still had braces. The sight of her made him forget all he planned to do when he got back to Valencia.

  More surprising was the reaction of his four-year-old daughter, Holly, who launched herself into Sofia’s lap, somehow managing to miss the table. “Sofia!”

  “Hi, Holly.” Sofia planted a kiss on top of the little girl’s head while returning her hug.

  Nick set Holly’s backpack on the table as his daughter ran off to the room she stayed in when she visited his parents. His mom was nowhere to be seen. Nodding at Sofia, whose big brown eyes studied him from beneath her thick lashes, he greeted her. “Hey, how are you?”

  “I’m good, thanks. Holly seems to grow an inch every time I see her.”

  Apparently, Sofia saw Holly each time his daughter visited White Oak. Since he never stuck around, preferring to drop Holly off and hit the road as quickly as possible, he wouldn’t know. Mom always gave him the highlights of their visits, but Sofia’s name had never come up in relation to Holly. “Yeah, I think Holly’s taking after me rather than Morgan.”

  Sofia’s brow wrinkled at the mention of Nick’s dead wife, but she quickly smiled. “She’ll like that. Being tall and thin, I mean. When she gets to high school.”

  From where he stood, he could see the full curves filling out Sofia’s jeans and pale pink sweater and wondered how she could prefer thin to her attractive shape. Her straight, dark brown hair hung down her back, as long and thick as he remembered. He’d always thought she was one of the prettiest girls in high school, even with the trendy experimentation she toyed with. “You’re looking good.”

  Her right eyebrow lifted and he realized how that could imply his surprise. “Um, how about ‘even better than I remembered.’”

  She snorted softly. “Like you paid any attention to how I looked.”

  “I did. So did most of the guys.”

  “Well, those Rainbow Brite stripes on my head were hard to miss.”

  He shook his head. Was she really that oblivious to the looks she’d drawn? Apparently she’d seen them but mistook the reaction of the guys watching her. “Now, those were classic.”

  “The school board didn’t think so. I got kicked out until I colored it something a bit more natural.” She laughed and went back to sewing, dismissing him.

  He didn’t want to end the conversation. The more she spoke, the more he realized how big a hole she’d left in his life when he’d graduated and gotten married. “Mom tells me you’re teaching now.”

  “I am. At the new elementary school on the edge of the valley. I have a class of first-graders.”

  He nodded. She’d always been good with kids. “So, where’s Mom? She knew we were coming.”

  “She ran to get more hemming tape.” Sofia held up what Nick recognized to be a Wise Man’s gown. “She’s helping me get the costumes ready for the annual children’s program.”

  Something had shifted in their conversation, and the resulting awkward small talk made them sound like total strangers. He felt every ounce of the weight of that awkwardness as if it was the day after Morgan’s eighteenth birthday party, when he’d run into Sofia at church. Sofia had refused to speak to him then, and for several weeks after the party.

  Come to think of it, they were never really the same again.

  They’d been best friends growing up, and still close when high school had him drawing more toward the guys on the football team who liked talking sports and girls. You can’t talk girls with a girl. Sofia certainly wasn’t the one he felt comfortable turning to when Morgan had announced she was pregnant.

  The front door opened and Mom breezed in, setting bags down on the couch before reaching in and pulling out a small package. “They only had one left,” she said to Sofia. “And hello, Nicky, I see you made it safely. Where’s Holly?”

  He nodded toward the hallway and lifted his daughter’s backpack. “I’ll take this back to her room. I didn’t want to leave before I wished you a Merry Christmas.”

  Mom’s smile sagged. “You aren’t staying?” Her implied “again” rang loudly above the quiet Christmas music playing on the radio.

  “I have a project to finish.” There was no way he was doing Christmas. Ever, if he could get away with it, but as Holly grew older he knew he’d have to start taking part in the holiday. It didn’t matter that four years had passed since Morgan died. He just wasn’t ready. If he had to endure the sympathetic, downright pitying looks of the people here in town he would go insane.

  Mom wasn’t having it. “But your company closes down for two weeks. You should take the time off. Be with Holly.”

  He shrugged. She was right, but it didn’t change the fact he didn’t want to be anywhere near White Oak at this time of year. He hadn’t talked about it with his mom. When he and Holly moved down south, Mom seemed to accept it without complaining, so it was easy to keep his feelings to himself.

  Everywhere he looked while he was in White Oak, he saw things that reminded him of life with Morgan. A life he’d sooner forget. Everyone assumed he missed her, and he was happy to let them continue to think that way.

  Mom and Dad had been so proud of him for stepping up when Morgan got pregnant. They weren’t pleased he was marrying so young, but he was taking responsibility for his stupid choice the night of Morgan’s party. He’d never admitted—not even to his best friend Brandon—how miserable he’d been with Morgan. Never admitted how much he regretted marrying her. To him, that made it sound as if he regretted Holly.

  His little girl was the best thing in his life. How ironic the best part came from the worst. When he was in Valencia with Holly, he could put Morgan out of his thoughts. He and Holly had their own little world there, with no shadows of guilt lurking under the streetlamps.

  Mom was still waiting for him to give in, but he held strong. “That won’t get the project finished. Holly has you guys, and she’ll be busy with the Christmas program, right? She won’t miss me. I’ll come back on Christmas Day to open presents and take her to John and Kathy’s.”

  His former in-laws got Holly the week after Christmas every year, and another week in the summer, and they split the week at Easter with his parents. It was important to him to be sure she had a close relationship with both sets of grandparents.

  Holly must have heard his mother’s voice, and she appeared at the end of the hallway with her mouth pulled downward. “Daddy, I want you to stay.”

  “Baby, we’ve been over this already. I’ll see you on Christmas.” He steeled himself against the tug on his heart that her pout always wrought. He was going to be in so much trouble by the time she hit her t
eens.

  “I agree,” Mom chimed in. “I want you to stay, too.” The sly grin she sent his way said she knew she was playing dirty.

  Nick glanced at Sofia who smiled and held up her hands as if to ward him off. “I know when to stay out of a discussion.”

  He let out a huff of air, realizing he’d half-hoped she would ask him to stay, too. He wanted to get to know her again. She was one part of the “before” in his life that had always been good.

  Holly ran over and wrapped herself around his right leg. “Please, Daddy?”

  He ruffled her wavy mop of golden brown hair. He would do anything for her happiness, but sometimes he and she had different ideas of what would really make her happy. “I didn’t bring any clothes. Maybe I’ll come up Saturday so I can see your play.”

  Mom held up the angel gown she’d been pressing as if examining it for creases. “You have a dresser full of jeans and t-shirts in your room that you never came back for. I’d be happy to buy you anything else you need and call it Christmas.”

  He was outnumbered, and the need to resist was oddly growing weaker. He didn’t need to work and could handle over the phone most anything that came up. Holly was getting old enough to start asking questions about her mom, so it might be time to confront his feelings about Morgan, as much as he would rather not. “If you insist, I’ll stay.”

  “Yay,” Holly yelled and ran back to her room.

  “I’m glad,” Mom said. “I’d better pull out another chicken breast for dinner. Your father had a meeting with the Historical Society but will be home in an hour or so.”

  Nick smiled. It felt nice to be home, for a change. He took Holly’s backpack to her room.

  Chapter Two

  Before Nick could catch her staring at him, Sofia slid the rough burlap fabric under the sewing machine needle and pressed the foot pedal. Having something to do kept her hands from shaking. She hated how her body reacted to seeing Nick for the first time since she’d moved back home after college.

  She would have preferred to feel anger. Let him know she wanted nothing to do with him. That went against her character, though. After Nick and Morgan graduated high school, her life had changed so drastically. No longer seeing Nick every day, Sofia was able to get on with her life without having her nose rubbed in the fact Nick didn’t love her.

  She wouldn’t say she’d gotten over Nick—did anybody ever really forget her first love? She’d gone on to date other guys, and even had a two-year relationship in college, so she was as close to “over” as she could get without completely erasing someone from her life.

  Nick and Morgan had married before the pregnancy was obvious. Nick’s mom Barb said he’d taken college courses online while working two jobs to support Morgan and the baby. It was no wonder Sofia had never seen him around.

  She’d been glad at the time that she hadn’t had to see the two of them all snuggly and cutesy in love. As much as she’d wanted to be happy for Nick, it would have hurt more than she liked to admit.

  Nick came back from Holly’s room and stood with his hands on his hips. He wore his brown hair shorter now, she noticed. He’d taken off his jacket, and his long-sleeved t-shirt accentuated the lines of the muscles in his shoulders and upper arms. He’d filled out since school, in places that showed he exercised.

  Sofia tore her gaze away, chewed her lower lip and focused on the needle bobbing up and down. She loved shoulders. Men’s shoulders. The water polo team. The football team. It didn’t matter the sport. Nick had played football in high school but hadn’t taken his workouts as seriously as some. That appeared to have changed.

  Maybe change could be a good thing. She grinned.

  “What?”

  Nick’s voice made her jump from her reverie, and heat crept up her neck. She wrinkled her nose and pretended she hadn’t been fantasizing about his body. “What, what?”

  He shook his head. “Whatever.”

  She quickly searched for a change of subject. “How do you like L.A.?”

  “It’s okay. Pays well. I found a great preschool for Holly.”

  That hit a nerve. Sofia’s lips pressed together as she tried to hold back what she thought.

  She couldn’t keep quiet. “It’s too bad she can’t go to the schools up here. Where you know the teachers.”

  “My work is down there. We live in Santa Clarita, and they have decent schools, too.”

  “Big schools. Overcrowded schools.”

  Barb came back in and plugged in her hot glue gun. “Would you believe I actually enjoy the sound of you two bickering?”

  For a second, Sofia thought Barb missed the days when Sofia used to hang out there, but one look at Nick told her she’d overlooked the sarcasm. Sofia mumbled, “Sorry.”

  Nick slouched against the corner of the wall. “You were always more like a sister to me than Allie. She never fought with me. It was really irritating.”

  Gnawing the inside of her cheek, she let those words sink in. He thought of her as more like a sister than his real one. Why had she wasted so much emotional energy on him? All that time she could have been looking for something real.

  Sofia rose and sorted her mess to work on the next time. “I have a couple of errands to run before rehearsal starts, Barb. Maybe Monday we can get the last of the repairs done.”

  “All right, honey. Have fun at rehearsals.”

  “Bye, Nick.” Sofia didn’t even look his way as she scurried past him to grab her purse off a chair and get out to her car. Because of that, she didn’t notice he’d followed her until his hand caught the door as she pulled it shut behind her.

  “I’ll walk out with you.”

  Whatever. Her SUV was parked in front of the house, so she didn’t have to pretend the politeness wasn’t wearing thin.

  When she climbed into her car, he planted his leg in the way, preventing her from closing that door, too. “Holly has been looking forward to this play. I guess Mom told her about it at Thanksgiving.”

  “That’s cool. I think she’ll do great as the third angel.” It was the first speaking role they offered the little ones, with just one line to remember in addition to the songs they’d been learning in Sunday school.

  “I just wanted to be sure there wouldn’t be a problem. You know. With us.” He motioned at her, then himself.

  She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head and peered out of the car. “There is no ‘us’, Nick. There never has been.”

  “Yes, there was. Maybe not boyfriend/girlfriend, but we’ve been friends forever.”

  Did he have to be so handsome? Even hunched over her car door he didn’t look like a slacker. His hazel eyes watched her with interest. A slight shadow on his jaw hinted at hi, honey, I’m home. She’d once dreamed she’d be that honey, but Morgan had shown her that dreams were just figments best left on the pillow. “We’re still friends. I won’t make Holly feel any less important than the other kids, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “No, that’s not it at all. I know you better than that. How can you think I’d ever go there?”

  She slumped against her seat. If he would just step back, she could shut the door and be gone. “I thought I knew you once. Obviously I was wrong.”

  His head jerked back as if she’d slapped him. “Well, I’ll let you get going.” He shut the door gently, firmly, and walked toward the house without looking back.

  Sofia blinked at the burn in her eyes, but no tears came. Why did he pick this year to come home for Christmas? This was already going to be a bad time for her. Last Christmas she’d had Devin to do all the little couples things with. He’d even played twelve days of Christmas, giving her ever-increasing boxes to unwrap. When the final box revealed a tiny black velvet box inside, she’d thought her dreams had come true. Thank goodness she opened it before saying anything. Earrings. How lovely.

  They’d gone to Katie’s Royal Oak Bar and Grill on New Year’s Eve, counting down with the crowd as the ball dropped on the big screen
TV in the corner. Devin had kissed her and tweaked her nose the way he always did, then drove her home. As she lay in bed watching When Harry Met Sally, she got to the part where Harry says, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start right away.” She’d lost it.

  In that moment, Sofia burst into tears along with Sally, but not for the same reason. In that moment, Sofia realized Devin was not the man she wanted to share the rest of her life with.

  She fought with herself over it for weeks. There was nothing wrong with him. He was going to dental school, which meant he’d have a nice day job—none of the ships passing in the night like her parents. He was willing to consider moving to White Oak after he finished his schooling. His only aggravating habit was that his food couldn’t touch other food on his plate.

  She broke up with him a week before their college graduation.

  Closing her eyes, Sofia forced herself to let it go. This was supposed to be the first Christmas of the rest of her life. And she wasn’t going to let Nick, or anyone else, ruin it for her.

  Chapter Three

  Sitting in a metal folding chair in the community center, Nick watched his mom, Sofia and Katie Wooten herding kids from toddler to middle school age onto the small stage. He was surprised Katie didn’t have a lasso in hand, since she grew up on a ranch. It took a good fifteen minutes of chatter and scatter before they got the kids to sit across the stage.

  Mom came to sit by him while Sofia led the kids in a song. Leaning close, Mom whispered, “Everyone says such good things about Sofia being a teacher. She is so good with children.”

  “She always wanted to teach. I’m happy she found a job here in town.” She’d always said she wanted to stay on the mountain when she grew up.

  “Kerry Mitchell is doing construction on his own now. They build those bigger houses you passed on your way into town.”