At the front of his house, she stopped for a moment to admire the winter wonderland he’d created in his yard. She’d never seen ice castles or light displays like the ones in Edmonton. Back in her native Sydney, some people put up Christmas lights but it was sweltering hot and humid and didn’t get dark until 9:00. So, they weren’t as dramatic as they were in the land of snow and ice. Snowmen didn’t make sense in a city that never even saw frost.
As a high school teacher with a long summer break unfolding in front of her, she had wanted to do something different this year. Then she got Aunt Nell’s email asking her if she’d like a cold Christmas for a change. Nell and Nick were heading home for the Australian summer and their house would be empty. The invitation was too perfect to refuse. She didn’t know there would be a perfect next-door neighbor thrown into the bargain – an athletic, dark, and handsome, but rather bossy, next-door neighbor.
She’d arrived mid-December and Will’s yard was already decorated. A family of silver deer grazed his front lawn, arranged in front of a small forest of brightly lit trees. A snowman perched on his front porch and strings of lights lined the driveway, the outside of the house and all the windows. Big evergreen garlands were wrapped around the porch railings. Recently he’d added a laser projector that wrapped the whole house in a kaleidoscope of swirling stars. It wasn’t the most elaborate light display around, but he was probably one of the few bachelors who decorated his house so extensively. She didn’t know any single guys in Australia who owned any Christmas decorations, let alone put up a tree.
The day she’d arrived, her aunt and uncle had invited Will over for coffee so she could meet him. Will was a prairie boy, born and bred, and could help her with anything she needed to know. Plus he was a builder and if she had problems with the house, Will could fix anything – maybe even climate change.
Kylie had looked up at the broad-shouldered man and tried not to gawk at his elegant face. He had cheekbones like granite and wide blue eyes that seemed to be always smiling, long dark hair curled around his ears and over his forehead. He could fix me she thought but smiled politely and said, “G’day.”
Will had handed her a business card with his cell number on the front and landline number scribbled on the back. “Call me anytime,” he said, tipping his forehead so close to hers she could smell the cold, outdoorsy scent of him. “I’m always available to help a damsel in distress.”
She’d blushed furiously at his open flirting.
Will laughed and straightened up. “Some of my friends are coming over tomorrow night for a tree-trimming party. Want to join us?”
Kylie had never heard of a tree-trimming party but she had no plans after driving her aunt and uncle to the airport and dreaded being on her own in that frozen city.
“Love to,” she’d said.
As she and her aunt hugged goodbye at the airport, Nell whispered, “Will’s a great guy, perfect for you. Much better than that surf bum you left behind. But be careful, he’s had his heart broken recently and, like you, his wounds are still fresh. Don’t become his rebound love and don’t let him become yours.”
Kylie assured her aunt that she knew exactly what she was doing. What could happen in six weeks anyway? She drove home, took a long soak in the big clawfoot tub in the renovated Craftsman house, and thought about the way Will’s eyes had drilled into her when he invited her over. At the memory of his beautiful smile and gravelly voice, the heat of the bathwater rose five degrees.
She pulled on leggings and a close-fitting tunic that showed off her toned figure and meandered over to Will’s place, a little earlier than the appointed hour. The smile that lit up his face when he greeted her made her happier than she’d felt in months. She followed him into a house that was even more beautiful on the inside than it was outside. It looked like a magazine spread with a huge fireplace in the living room, surrounded by three comfy sofas arranged in a horseshoe. Soft lighting from rows of wrought iron light fittings made the room cozy and welcoming.
“I’m a builder and this is my showroom,” Will explained. “When people ask for references or want to see my work, I often invite them over. When we’ve got more time, I’ll show you the before, during, and after pictures, if you like. I have hundreds of them.”
“I’d love to see them,” Kylie said with genuine enthusiasm. She’d always wanted to renovate a house, but didn’t know where to start. Maybe she’d learn something.
“This place was built in 1912. When I got it, it was falling down. I jacked it up to put in a basement, shored up the outside walls, gutted it and rebuilt it from the inside out. It was a part time project that consumed my life for about two years. This is my favorite room…” He led her into the kitchen. “There used to be a separate kitchen and dining room, but I’ve combined them into one big space.”
The work area had a big central island, built extra high to accommodate his towering build. There was a six-burner gas cooktop and twin wall ovens. Kylie imagined herself cooking over the top end appliances, which was strange because she was a woeful cook and avoided the job whenever she could. The large dining room table sat in front of the window that looked over a backyard, lit up with fairy lights.
Will went to the stove and poured them both a glass of mulled wine. Everything was so beautiful, so neat and perfectly presented, Kylie decided Aunt Nell had gotten it wrong. This guy had to be gay. No straight man on his own kept his home shining like this.
Kylie was catching her first lungful of the enticing scent of oranges, lemons, and cinnamon from her warmed wine when Will’s mates arrived, the same people who were invited for Christmas dinner. Introductions were made. One couple had brought a box of beautifully decorated cookies. The other put a platter of butter tarts and mince pies on the kitchen island and everybody adjourned to the living room with a glass of wine and a plate of sweets.
While they were opening the boxes of carefully packed keepsakes, Will’s friend Amanda asked if he had any idea what the gorgeous Georgia was doing for Christmas this year. She said gorgeous Georgia with enough of a sneer that Kylie knew Georgia wasn’t much liked. Still, a spasm of pain distorted Will’s face for a moment and he ducked his head, busying himself with a box of glass ornaments. Amanda’s partner, Joseph, quickly changed the subject.
Not gay at all then, Kylie thought. But obviously hung up on someone.
Since then, no further mention had been made of Georgia, and Will had taken it on himself to be Kylie’s official tour guide to Edmonton. He’d taken her shopping and made her buy runners that had enough traction for the icy streets. She hadn’t wanted to spend the money on the wind-protective active pants from Helly Hansen, but when an Arctic front blew through the first day she went for a run, she drove back to the mall and put another notch on her credit card.
“My duty, as a good neighbor,” Will said, “is to teach you some cold weather smarts. I can put up with a lot in a person, but not stupidity. And it’s stupid to step into prairie cold without being prepared for it.”
And she was prepared for it, most of the time. Only, some days she forgot things. One day it was her phone when he was trying to call her to invite her to a movie. A couple of times it was her keys. When he saw her out running without a hat, he’d stopped his truck and made her get in.
He said in a low growl, “You can lose fifty percent of your body heat without a hat. If you start to go hypothermic, you might not even notice.” He’d driven her home and she’d stomped inside, furious, and slightly thrilled at his overprotective nature.
That night she’d googled heat loss through the head and found out his statistic was based on a flawed US Army field manual and it had since been disproved. She hadn’t thrown that back at him, yet, but she would if he nagged her again about being hatless.
This time it was her keys – again. She braced herself for the telling off that was coming. With a ‘don’t be mad at me’ smile plastered on her face, Kylie bounced up the steps to his porch, took a deep breath and knock
ed twice. Music reached her from inside, Coldplay singing mournfully about Christmas lights. It was a song of a broken heart and missing someone. Kylie wondered if Will was pining for the gorgeous Georgia. It was loud and she worried she was intruding on Will’s moment of private longing by being here now, a full hour before the Christmas dinner party was due to start. She knocked again because she was sure to be late if she didn’t get into her house.
Will threw the door open and greeted her with a cheery hug. His strong arms enfolded her and she breathed deeply the scent of sage and thyme that wreathed around him. She wished he’d just hold her and never let go. She had her own heartache that she’d love to bury in the comfort of those arms.
She told herself not to think about Tyler, not to see him doing a righteous rodeo flip, he and his board riding a wave together like a magical sea creature. It was already Boxing Day in Australia and he’d be off work until the middle of January. He was probably down at Manly Beach with his skanky new girlfriend, Madison.
Kylie hugged Will back just a bit harder than she meant to.
“Merry Christmas,” Will said and stepped back to let her inside.
Kylie shook her head. “I didn’t stop to visit. It’s just, I’ve locked myself out again.”
Will’s sunny countenance darkened and his mouth tightened in a frown. “What if I wasn’t here? How would you get into the house?”
“I guess I’d break a window or something.” She hung her head, pretending more remorse than she actually felt, and feeling like a right idiot for faking it. The only thing she genuinely regretted was the lecture that was coming.
Will opened the coat cupboard and hooked a key off the holder. He held it above his head, just out of her reach. “This is the third and final time you get this without payment. The next time you forget it, I’m going to turn you over my knee and spank you as a reminder to take more care.”
Kylie’s jaw dropped. “Yeah, right. You and whose army?”
“I’m not kidding, surfer girl. You put yourself at risk like that one more time and you’ll be getting smart, starting with your backside. In fact, if you forget your key one more time, I’ll take that as your clear and deliberate request for a spanking, understood?”
Kylie tried to grab the key, but Will caught her wrist. “I said, understood?”
“Understood.” She yanked her hand free, folded her arms over her chest, and glared up at him. She was tall but he was much taller.
Finally, he dangled the key in front of her. She held out her hand and he placed the key on her palm and curled her fingers around it. “You’re not in Kansas any longer, Dorothy. Time to start doing what the locals do and that means taking care of yourself.”
“Thanks for the lecture, Dad.” She spat the word dad with as much vitriol and sarcasm as person could pack into a single syllable. Then she spun on her toes to walk away. Before she took one step, he smacked her bottom – hard.
“Ouch!” she said, staring back at him wide-eyed.
“A taste of things to come.” Will grinned. “Because, so far, you seem to be ignoring my advice. I’m not talking to exercise my vocal chords here, so the next time you forget, I will take great pleasure in turning your cheeks a nice Christmas red.”
Kylie had no answer for that. Struggling to steady her heart rate, she walked quickly back to her house, hoping he didn’t see the blush crawling over her body. The heat surged from her crotch all the way to her neck. Her hand trembled as she poked the key at the door and it took her three attempts to open it. Inside the deserted house, she felt lonelier than she had in weeks. A small part of her wished that Will had spanked her and then held her as she cried away all the heartache she’d been carrying around since the first time she’d seen Tyler with his barely-legal new love. She shook off that idea. Hooking up with Will would be a major mistake. Their friendship was too important to risk.
From the moment Will stepped into Nell and Nick’s living room and clapped eyes on the shapely Kylie Sandford, his heart lifted. Other parts of him stirred, too, but he told himself to settle down. The girl was just off a twenty-four flight and she might need some breathing space.
“What do you think of Edmonton so far?” he’d asked and then wanted to kick himself for such a trite, obvious question.
“The view just got a whole lot better,” she’d said, sweeping her eyes over him before looking at her aunt with a low bell-like laugh. He loved the way she said the word better, pronouncing er like ah – bettah.
He blushed slightly and his mouth tightened at her light teasing, but when she gave him a megawatt smile he relaxed. She was bold and a bit fearless. It was an appealing combination as though she needed someone to take her in hand, settle her down a bit.
“I’ve never seen snow before,” she said, nevah for never. “And now I’ve seen nothing but snow from the plane for the last hour. Talk about a winter wonderland! I hope I’ve got warm enough clothes.” Pline for plane, the accent alone was enough to seduce him.
Nell handed Will a cup of black espresso and Kylie an espresso con panna, (espresso with cream) and joined Kylie at the window where she was looking out at the snowdrifts in the front yard. “Kylie, you and I are about the same size. Wear anything of mine that you like. Don’t go spending a lot of money on clothes you’ll never wear again.”
Will looked over the two women as they stood side by side. Nell had been in Canada for twenty years and had lost most of her accent, but the family resemblance was strong. They were both tall and blonde, curvaceous and muscular at the same time. Helen, Nell to family and friends, stayed in shape by cross country skiing and spinning all winter long. Kylie, he knew, was a surfing champion and she spent hours at the beach every day, winter and summer. The Australian sun had tanned her skin golden and seemed to have filled her with a happiness and light that he didn’t see much in the depth of Canadian winter.
“If you need anything,” Will said, “I can show you around. Nell said you’re planning taking up running here. I can take you to the place where I get my gear if you like. Maybe we could run together once I’m on my break? I’m not working between Christmas and January 7th, this year, that’s Orthodox Christmas. There’re a lot of Ukrainians and Russians in Edmonton and no one wants a builder in their house during the biggest holiday of the year. I’ve tried working in the past, but I just got in everyone’s way. I’m smarter now. I just stop working on December 23rd and everyone’s happier that way.”
Shut up, a small voice inside him was saying. She doesn’t want your life story. You sound anxious. But he couldn’t stop talking. “Maybe you’d like to see our ice castle? It’s made by icicle farming where icicles are grown and then stacked by hand. I go to it every year and it’s never boring.” Shut up, shut up, shut up.
“That’s so nice of you,” Kylie said, her bright smile lighting the room even more. She was so pretty, he had to force himself not to stare at her. But at least he’d stopped talking.
Was she just saying the right things? Making polite responses to please her aunt and uncle? When she accepted the invitation to his tree-trimming party, he exhaled for the first time since he’d walked into the room. Once he had her on his turf it would be so much easier to get to know her.
Will hadn’t expected Kylie to ask his help with buying running gear, so when she phoned him the morning after the tree-trimming party to ask if he had time to take her around that evening, he said yes, definitely, and cancelled his squash game with an old high school buddy.
He took her to Fit to Thrill, the outdoor shop where he bought all his gear. When the two of them walked in, his friend Joseph’s face lit up. Joseph and Kylie had met the night before, but she’d been cool when he said he’d give her a good deal on running gear if she wanted.
Joseph’s offer had shocked Will. With three shops in Edmonton, Joseph sold only top end sports equipment, but he wasn’t known for his low prices. Joseph ignored all his other customers until he had fitted Kylie with proper running shoes with agg
ressive traction for the snow and ice and a good jacket. Even though he deeply discounted his prices, to cost plus ten percent, she wouldn’t buy anything more than that.
“I’ll have to see how I go with this lot,” she said before treating him to an ice-melting smile.
As the two of them walked out, Will could feel Joseph’s envious glance. The woman was a knock out, true pinup material. Will hadn’t been certain if he was the only one to see her that way, but both Thomas and Joseph had reacted to her with such teasing friendliness the night before, he knew she was a prize. More importantly, their partners, Megan and Amanda had liked her too.
He wasn’t going to make the Georgia mistake twice. None of his female friends had liked Georgia and they’d been right. They’d seen in her what he couldn’t, that she was out for number one – not in a small narcissistic way, but in a way that made everything she wanted come to her at a cost to someone else. It was never enough that she looked good or he brought her flowers; she had to compare herself favorably to someone else. He’d tried to spank her selfishness out of her, but the spankings had only turned her on. She’d let him warm her bottom, but her icy cold heart was untouchable.
That’s why he watched Kylie carefully, waiting for signs of the self-serving vanity that he’d missed in Georgia, but he didn’t see it, because it wasn’t there to see. The more time he spent with Kylie, the more he realized her sunny, bright personality was genuine. She was bold and truthful and didn’t care much what other people thought of her or her opinions. The main thing she was not was a lure trying to trap him into doing months of unpaid renovations to her house so that she could blow him off once the work was finished.
Still, Kylie wasn’t perfect, he’d noticed. She swore like a trooper, laughed at inappropriate moments and either ignored or forgot all his advice about safety in the frozen north. Well, that was going to change – very soon.
A Spanking Good New Year: Short Story Collection Page 10
