Winter Dreams

by Robyn Neeley

  “I have a little gift for you,” she blurted out and handed him a blue box with silver ribbons around it.

  Tate set the thermos off to his side. “Amanda?” He took the box. “You got me a present? I don’t have anything for you.”

  “It’s nothing really,” she said. “It was actually yours to begin with. I just thought you might—”

  “Thank you,” he interrupted her. This was the second Christmas box this woman had given him in her lifetime, and she didn’t even realize it. He untied the silver ribbons and removed the lid. His shiny lucky charm poked out from silver tissue paper.

  “Well, hello, old friend.” He picked up the familiar rock and squeezed it in his hand.

  “I just thought that maybe given the day you had . . .” She paused. “Well, I thought you should have it back.”

  Her thoughtfulness sent his heart racing again. He needed her to know everything, but he didn’t have a clue where he should start. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “You know, my mom gave this to me when I was thirteen. She picked it up in a gift shop on a road trip on this very night. My dad had just died. She told me our luck was going to change.”

  He could feel her hand touch his shoulder. “I’m so sorry that you lost your parents at such a young age. That’s why you carry this rock, isn’t it?” she asked. “I know you put it in your pocket before we go on air. I’ve watched you do it. Why did you give away something that is so personal and sentimental to you?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I got carried away in the moment. I thought you could use it this weekend.” He pointed to his ankle. “I guess the joke’s on me.”

  Amanda took the rock from his hand. “It’s a little different now. I hope that’s okay.” She switched on the flashlight. “See.”

  He leaned in and peered down. “Is something inscribed on it? I can’t quite make it out.

  Xmas something?”

  “It says, ‘Xmas Dinner.’” She sighed. “For tonight. I mean, I know it’s Christmas Eve dinner, but that would have been too long for Brenda to etch. I thought this could remind you of the special surprise you orchestrated for Kristen and the girls tonight. I know that Chloe invited you to dinner. That must have touched you somehow to do what you did.” She tugged his beard playfully. “That and you did promise if I brought you home, you would make sure Christmas dinner would be memorable. This is just a little reminder that I’m holding you to it.”

  “Xmas dinner.” Tate recited the words as he flipped the rock over and over in his hand. All of the feelings he had for Amanda were rushing to the surface. He wasn’t sure when it happened, or even how it happened for that matter, but he had finally gotten into Amanda’s heart the way she did his so long ago. Without another word, he reached over and cupped her face, pulling her chin up. He leaned forward until his lips met hers.

  His mouth gently explored hers, thanking her for this gift and the one she’d given him when he was thirteen. It was that silly box of eggnog sugar cookies that gave him the distinct and familiar holiday scent that brought his parents back to him each year, at the time he needed to hold on to their memory the most.

  Amanda broke away and giggled. She buried her face in his chest.

  “Really, Ace.” He moved his hands up and down her back. “Not the reaction I was hoping for.”

  She gently tugged on the white beard. “It’s just that . . . I can’t believe I’m kissing Santa.”

  He yanked off the fake beard and pulled out the pillow, flinging both over the sleigh onto the snow. “Not if I can help it.” He pulled her into a long kiss.

  • • •

  Amanda threaded her fingers through Tate’s as they headed inside. Her lips were still tingling. “I bet someone is going to be insanely jealous of this public display of affection.”

  “Who? Alex?”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of my grandmother, but your bromance really did blossom after he ran you over, didn’t it?”

  “It sure did.” He nodded to the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. “Quick. What do I play again? Was it golf or tennis?”

  “Very funny. Maybe we can start telling the truth?”

  “I’d like that. I’m more of a soccer player.” He squeezed her hand and headed toward the kitchen.

  “Not so fast.” She tugged him backward and nodded toward the stairs.

  “Won’t we be missed?” he teased.

  “I think we have a few more minutes before they form a search party. I thought you might like to take a quick shower. How’s your ankle?”

  “Never better.”

  From the smile on his face, she guessed he’d endure as much pain as he could stand for a few more minutes alone with her. Good.

  She turned on the light to her old room and headed into the adjacent bathroom, emerging moments later with two white towels. “Here.” She tossed them to Tate.

  “Two towels?”

  “Don’t get any ideas.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He smiled mischievously and yanked his sweater over his head.

  His bare arms were around hers before she could reply. “I do have one idea,” he whispered into her ear and then pressed his mouth hard on hers.

  She reluctantly pulled away. There was no way this was going to happen in her parents’ house. “We should probably stop.”

  Tate let out a groan. “All right. You win.” He headed for the bathroom but turned around. “For now.”

  Amanda flung herself onto the bed and reached for his sweater, bringing it to her face. It smelled of pine needles and his cologne. He was still her boyfriend for the next twenty-four hours. It would be a shame if they didn’t . . .

  “Oh, why not.” She jumped off the bed and unzipped her boots. Her jeans and sweater came off just as quickly. She opened the door, creeping into the bathroom. The room had a walk in shower and a tub. She turned on the tub faucet so that the water ran slowly and would take a few minutes to fill up. She quietly slipped off the rest of her clothes and pulled open the handle to the shower’s steamy door.

  Tate turned around and grinned down at her. He pulled her in and cupped her face with his wet hands, longing in his eyes. “I was hoping I’d get my Christmas wish.”

  • • •

  A few steamy minutes later, they moved from the shower to the bathtub and were surrounded in bubbles. “You know . . .” He rubbed her legs. “I’m pretty sure that last move in the shower puts you on the naughty list.”

  She kissed his neck and swirled the foam around with her hands. “And with only a couple of hours to go. What was I thinking? I guess there’s always next year.” She started to rub his shoulders. “I think you also had some moves of your own in there that would warrant listing your name right under mine.” She rested her head on his back. “Doesn’t matter anyway. I stopped believing in Santa a long time ago.”

  “When did you stop believing?”

  “I don’t know. When I was ten maybe. Some boy told me I was stupid for still believing in Santa. I think I stopped that night.”

  Tate turned back and kissed her lightly on the lips. “What a jerk.”

  “You know what’s strange? Sometimes I think about that boy. I was even talking about him earlier today with my dad. I guess I just wonder if everything turned out okay for him. He was having a bad day, and I tried to help. I had never seen a kid so sad on Christmas Eve. It broke my heart.”

  Tate opened his mouth to tell her that he had turned out just fine but was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

  “Hey, you two in there?” Alex asked from the other side.

  Amanda covered Tate’s mouth with her hands. He gently nibbled on a finger.

  “Stop it.” She giggled.

  “Guess you’re not in there.” Alex continued to talk through the door. “Maybe I should help Mom out and take these dirty clothes to the laundry.”

  “He would,” she said to Tate. “We’ll be right out,” she shouted, sinking b
ack into the water. “He’s never going to let me live this down.”

  Alex continued to goad his sister. “Well, the spiked eggnog won’t last if you don’t come down soon. Grandma is on her third cup.”

  “I said we’ll be right out,” Amanda said through gritted teeth. “Alex, get out of here.” She pulled herself out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her body. “I bet it’s almost eleven anyway. I’ll go see if we can stream the Internet on the TV in the living room so we can watch our news show.”

  “Why would we want to do that?” Tate watched her move around. He was in no hurry to stand on his ankle. He also had no interest in watching the news. He really didn’t want to leave the guest room tonight for that matter.

  “Oh, right. You don’t know. Lacy called me this afternoon and said they’re airing a taped segment on our toy drive tonight. The producers asked her to see if it was okay with us if they ran the story. I told them it was fine. I guess they had a bunch of kids in the studio earlier today. Lacy said she was going to be on camera.”

  “Lacy’s going to be on TV?”

  “That’s what she said. Jeff’s letting them all say ‘Merry Christmas’ after the final segment.” Her hands moved swiftly as she wrapped a towel around her head and tucked it around her face. She bent down and kissed his cheek. He grabbed her head and kissed her hard, trying to coax her back into the water.

  “You’re bad.” She pulled away. “I’ll see you downstairs,” she said and disappeared into the bedroom.

  Tate threw his arms over each side of the tub and looked up at the ceiling. This weekend was going better than he’d dreamed. Tomorrow he’d tell Amanda everything. Then at Christmas dinner, he’d lean over and whisper in her ear that she was his first kiss and that he loved her.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Amanda, dear, where is Nate?” Grandma Turner asked from her rocking chair, waving her empty eggnog glass.

  “Yeah, where is Nate?” Alex said, provoking Amanda from the sofa. “Looking for something to wear?”

  Amanda had joined her family who had all gathered in the living room. “Shut up,” she mouthed and turned to her grandmother. “Grandma, his name is Tate. Not Nate. Tate.”

  “Oh that’s right. Sorry. I once knew a Nate.”

  Amanda’s mother came in with a tray of eggnog. “We know, Ma.” She grabbed the empty glass of eggnog and handed her a new one. “This one’s a virgin.”

  Alex burst out laughing.

  Amanda narrowed her eyes and sat down, giving him a hard poke. “It’s not like you’ve never had sex in this house,” she whispered.

  “Well, if it isn’t my favorite family.” Tate strolled over to the couch and Alex stood, letting him sit next to Amanda.

  Tate had changed into khaki pants and a red sweater. No Christmas trees and no reindeer. Just red and just perfect. He draped his arm around her and she leaned in. What a perfect ending to a wonderful night.

  Tate kissed her on the cheek and turned to her grandmother. “Good evening, Mrs. Turner.”

  Her grandmother’s face lit up. “Why, Tate. I’ve been waiting for you all night. How was your day?”

  Alex burst out laughing again. He had moved to the floor with Brenda. Brenda jabbed his ribs.

  Amanda took a sip of her eggnog. “Mom, where are Brad and Melanie?”

  “They are upstairs with Max. He’s been fussy tonight.”

  She turned her attention to her dad who was playing with the TV’s remote control. He was trying to stream the Internet. “I think we’ve got it. Amanda, let me show you how to key in the website.”

  Her mom reappeared with a tray full of eggnog sugar cookies. “Okay, eat up. Last batch of the season!” She stood in front of Tate and pointed at his ankle. “How is your ankle, Tate?”

  “Much better,” Tate replied. “Thank you.”

  “Well, can I get you anything?”

  “Just these delicious cookies.” He reached over and grabbed a cookie from the tray.

  Amanda pulled up the live feed of the station’s eleven o’clock news. “Here it is! There’s our studio. Okay, everyone. Quiet.”

  “Mom, you’re not seriously going to make us watch this since she’s here this year, are you?” Alex quipped.

  Amanda shot Alex a smug look. “Shut up. It’s tradition.” She returned to her seat next to Tate. His arm immediately went around her, and she leaned back. She smiled up at him. Hopefully they were on the path to starting new traditions of their own. Although hot shower sex every Christmas Eve might not be the most conventional.

  She glanced at the television. “Oh, my goodness. Tate, how cute does the station look?” Toys were strewn all over their anchor desk. At least a dozen kids were on the studio’s floor playing with them. “Look how much fun the crew is having.”

  “They never have this much fun when we’re anchoring,” Tate said to everyone.

  “Look, there’s Lacy standing over there with the kids. Wow. What a dress. I told her to wear something pretty but that’s—”

  “Quite the hot pink number.” Tate finished her sentence. “She also wore that to the office Christmas party that you missed.” He grabbed another cookie from the tray and took a bite. “Want one?”

  Amanda ignored his question. “Hot pink,” she repeated in a trance. Her gaze zoomed in on Lacy’s hot pink outfit. Her smile faded.

  Tate’s words from the heated exchange they had two days ago in his office replayed in her head.

  “She wore pink, hot pink.”

  “Everything okay, Ace?”

  The concerned look on his face could not ease the fury that raged inside her.

  “Her dress is hot pink.” She pointed to the TV. “She’s wearing hot pink. She’s the one you we’re talking about the other day. Oh my God. Lacy’s the bimbo in the hot pink dress,” she blurted out.

  “What are you talking about?” Tate reached for hand.

  “Don’t touch me.” She stood, threw her hands in the air, and stormed through the living room out the front door.

  • • •

  “Amanda, please stop,” Tate begged as he scrambled down the hill. His ankle was starting to hurt again, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his chest. “Amanda, don’t do this.”

  “Don’t do this? You did this,” she screamed back.

  “No I didn’t. I just made that hot pink dress comment to get a rise out of you.” He grabbed her arm. “Would you stop?”

  “Why should I believe you?” She yanked her arm free. “I knew you two were hiding something.”

  “We’re not hiding anything.”

  “Oh, no? Then why were you both so cozy on the stairs outside her apartment building yesterday? Probably talking about how much fun you had at the Christmas party.”

  “That—” he stammered. “That is not true. Nothing happened at the Christmas party. I made the hot pink dress comment up to push your buttons. Besides, even if it were true, you can’t possibly be mad. We’re not even a real couple.” He instantly regretted saying that last sentence because from the look on her face, he could tell it struck a chord.

  “You got that right,” she yelled. “This weekend was a mistake. Huge one.”

  He grabbed both of her hands, covering them with his. “Amanda,” he pleaded. “Ace, I didn’t mean that. You and me—this is what I want. The sleigh. Just now upstairs. It’s all very real to me. It’s what I’ve wanted for so long.”

  He raked his hands through his hair. It was time to tell her the truth—all of it.

  “Listen to me. The moment I met you, I felt something.”

  “What are you talking about?” She rolled her eyes. “We met on a bus. Oh, right, you were half dressed then. I should have known.”

  “No, no before that.” He grabbed her hand.

  “Let go of me.” She broke his hold. “What? Did you see me on the news and then start stalking me in hopes I’d be one of your conquests? Well, that’s just terrific. It appears you got exactly what y
ou wanted,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “That’s not what I mean. Just let me explain.”

  She stared at him in silence.

  He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember every moment of the night they first met.

  “Amanda, you irritated me so much. All I wanted was to be left alone, but you wouldn’t go away. Then you kissed me. It . . .” He stopped. Words went dead in his throat. “It just surprised me.”

  “What?” Amanda threw her hands up in the air. “Are you trying to say that you’ve been an unwilling participant? Because that’s not how I saw it! Do you already regret what happened upstairs?”

  “Of course not. Let’s go inside and talk.”

  She ignored him. “You know, everyone this weekend has been telling me to open my eyes. Everybody! Lacy, my grandmother, random strangers . . . But you know what? My eyes were open this entire time, and they see standing right here what they saw from the moment we met on that bus—an arrogant, womanizing ass.”

  “That wasn’t our first meeting,” he said flatly.

  “Yes it was.”

  “No it wasn’t, and you’re wrong. I’m not either of those things. And you know it. And you also know deep down in that damaged heart of yours—” Frustrated, he spun around but turned back. “I didn’t realize it until this weekend, but I’m probably the best thing that has happened to you in a long time . . . if ever.”

  She shot him one last repulsed look and tore down the hill. He tried to run after her, but his limp hindered his speed. She had reached the bottom and now stood in the middle of the dirt road.

  “Never again, Tate Ryan. I will not be fooled by the likes of you. My eyes are wide open as far as you’re concerned.”

  “Amanda, let’s go back to the house,” he pleaded. Car lights were quickly approaching. “We can go upstairs and talk. Please, just get out of the road—”

  A loud screech muffled his pleas.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN