by Beth Andrews
He stuffed his hands into his pocket, not only because it was cold, but because he was trying to keep his hands to himself. It was getting harder and harder to do. Some men might be impressed by a woman who was dressed to the nines and made-up, but he’d never seen anyone as attractive as Maeve had looked, sitting on the bathroom floor, swearing at a toilet bolt. He’d wanted to kiss her with every ounce of his being. But he’d managed to keep his promise. He would wait for her.
Even if it killed him.
They walked in silence through his uncle’s parking lot. Rather than turning toward her house, Maeve turned and went in the other direction.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m too antsy to go home yet. I thought I’d watch the train at MarVee’s. I like watching it at night.”
“You’ve got to be exhausted,” he said.
“Maybe.”
“Listen, if you’re that tired, why aren’t you heading home to bed?”
She didn’t answer him. Instead, she asked, “When is your uncle coming home?”
“He’s been very vague about that.”
She stopped in front of the well-lit window at MarVee’s. The railroad track wound through an elaborate village. She pointed. “Mr. Mento has been adding a new building every year. Look at that one. It’s Mattie’s Park Perks.”
He bent a little closer and saw that it actually said Park Perks on the window of the miniature version. “I hadn’t noticed it.”
“There’s the township offices, and if you look very closely that’s MarVee’s Quarters. There’s even a tiny train in the window. Mr. Mento wanted to make a whole train set, but his eyes wouldn’t cooperate, so he settled for the engine.”
“I’ve walked by this so many times, and I’ve noticed the trains, but I never took the time to look closely.”
Maeve watched the train, but he was no longer looking at old Mr. Mento’s masterpiece. He was looking at her. “Why did you ask about my uncle?”
“I just wondered how much longer you’d be in town.”
“Uncle Jerry hasn’t said specifically, but I’m here for a few more months at least.”
She nodded. “Even if you’re here through March, that’s only three months.”
He did the math in his head and nodded. “Yes, something like that.”
“That’s not very long.”
“No.”
“And you’ve signed the papers. You’re officially divorced.” It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement that seemed to beg for confirmation.
“Yes.”
She continued to stare at the train, though Aaron wondered what the internal monologue in her head sounded like. He sensed that something fragile hung in the balance, but he wasn’t sure what.
“You asked why I’m not heading home to bed if I’m so tired.” She paused.
“Yes,” he prompted.
“I am exhausted, but in a good way. The reason I haven’t hurried home to bed every night is that every night, I dream. Most of those dreams seem to feature you. And I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if you were in the bed next to me. Maybe I’d manage to sleep and really get some rest.”
“If I were in the bed next to you, I don’t think you’d be getting much rest at all.”
She turned from the train and looked at him. The lights from the window cast a beautiful glow on her face. “Maybe we should give it a try.”
He released the breath he hadn’t known he was holding. “Don’t make the offer if you’re not sure.”
“You’re only here a few more months and you’ve recently ended a long, obviously painful relationship. I’ll make the perfect rebound relationship. Something that, by its nature, must be short-lived.”
She took his hand. It was the first time she’d touched him since that kiss on the dance floor.
No, he took that back. She’d let him hold her hand when they’d unscrewed that bolt on the new dual flush toilet. He smiled as he remembered her enthusiasm.
He’d follow her willingly, but he didn’t respond to her rebound comment. He might be a total mess, but he was certain of one thing—Maeve Buchanan was so much more than a rebound.
He looked at the woman holding his hand as they stood in the soft light from the window display. She leaned forward with such agonizing slowness. He wanted to move toward her, but he forced himself to wait, to let her take the lead. Her lips finally touched his and she kissed him.
As they explored one another, he held her at the waist, pulling her close. He knew exactly what Tracey had been talking about.
He knew with absolute certainty who Tracey had been talking about.
When the kiss ended, Maeve said, “Let’s go home.”
And he recognized, without a doubt, where home was. And it wasn’t Florida. It wasn’t the apartment over his uncle’s store.
It wasn’t even the house where Maeve lived.
Home was wherever Maeve was.
She talked about what they were starting tonight as if it were a short-term affair. Something she was willing to begin because she thought he’d be going in the spring.
He had another idea entirely, but he kept it to himself.
For now, the only thing on his mind was giving Maeve Buchanan a night she’d never forget.
* * *
MAEVE WOKE UP at 5:00 a.m.
Despite her late night, she wasn’t tired.
She rolled over and checked out the man sleeping next to her.
He was a blanket hog. He’d pulled at the covers, and then somehow practically cocooned himself in them.
She’d eventually given up any hope of wrestling the covers back from him. She tiptoed to the chest and found a spare quilt.
He looked so peaceful. It took all her willpower not to reach over and run her finger along his unshaven cheek.
“What on earth could you be thinking this hard about at—” He pulled an arm out of the cocoon and peered at the clock. “Five after five in the morning?”
“I was thinking that I can’t believe we waited so long to have sex.”
“Make love,” he corrected.
She ignored his comment and slid closer. “I learned something last night.”
“What?”
“You hog the covers.”
“Really, after last night, all you have to say is, I hog the covers?” He grinned. “I was expecting something more like, Aaron your rocked my world, or—”
“And you snore,” she blatantly lied. She giggled as she made a loud, snoring noise. “I mean you sounded worse than Sebastian’s reciprocating saw.” She snored again.
“Liar,” he said. “Come on, I know I hog the covers, but I don’t snore.”
“Worse than the jackhammer you used to take up that front walk.” She giggled even harder.
“Maeve, you tell fibs.”
“And you snore.”
He moved quickly, despite his purloined blanket cocoon. He pinned her to the bed and said, “Take it back.”
“What will you do to me if I don’t?” she challenged him with a grin.
“Oh, I can think of something.”
She reached up, put her arms around him and very softly said, “You snore.”
And it turned out he did have some very inventive ways to make her pay for her lies.
* * *
MAEVE MANAGED TO shoo Aaron out of the house before the town began to wake up. She got ready for work and went to the RV to check on Josie. She raised her hand to tap softly on the door, as had become her routine, but the door flew open before she was able to. “So, how was he?”
“Huh?”
Josie hustled her into the RV. “I saw Aaron taking his walk of shame. Although, if you ask me, the only shame is that you t
wo waited so long.”
Maeve felt a rush of heat sweep over her face. She didn’t need a mirror to know she was blushing. That was one of the curses that came with her red hair.
Josie laughed. “I swear, I won’t tell. You’re a private soul. I get that.”
“I’m trying to be more open,” she said. “But I don’t ever think I’ll be that open. Maybe I’m a prude?” She thought about her night with Aaron. “Never mind, I’m definitely not a prude. I’m just private.”
Josie cracked up. “Wow, Maeve. Joking about Aaron Holder? Things have changed.”
“Well, he did sign those divorce papers,” she said. It was important to her that Josie knew that.
“That’s a good start. Last night was an even better start. What comes next?”
Maeve didn’t say anything, not because she was private, or because she was a prude, but because she didn’t have a clue.
The Culpepper place was almost done. And in a few months, Aaron’s uncle would come home and Aaron would go back to Florida.
That didn’t leave a lot of options.
Suddenly her bright day didn’t seem quite as bright anymore.
* * *
THE SUNDAY BEFORE Christmas Eve, Maeve stood in the center of the refurbished living room of the house she would soon be presenting to Boyd, Josie and Carl. She was admiring the view when her mother entered the room.
“That’s it. Herm and Aaron have the crib set up. Aaron said you had sheets somewhere?”
“They’re on the table. I’ll get them.” She glanced around her. “I can’t believe we did it.”
“Really? Because I think everyone who knows you knew it would be finished in time.”
“Well, it’s not officially finished until we put up the tree. Aaron offered to let me use the store’s truck. I’ll stop by tomorrow to get the tree.”
“Herm could have brought you one.”
“I really want to pick it out myself.” She’d started this project with Aaron, and it only felt right that she finish it with him. Putting up the tree was the final step. After that, it was up to Josie and Boyd.
Her mom took her hand. “Does it help?”
“What?”
“I know that losing the farm all those years ago hurt you. I saw you change. You’d been such an outgoing little girl. But after that, you became so closed off. You didn’t want people to know about our circumstances, and even after they improved, you couldn’t go back to that girl you’d been. Does giving someone else a fresh start help heal the hurt?”
“Maybe not how you think. Yes, losing our home hurt, but I have learned something. Home isn’t so much a place—it’s the people in your life. Josie taught me that. Right now, her home is the RV because that’s where Boyd and Carl are. As long as I had you, I had a home. Whether it was in the car, or at Hank’s apartmen or later with Herm. I never really lost my home, because I never lost you.”
Her mother teared up. “That is probably the loveliest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
She hugged her mother. “Then that’s something else I’ve been doing wrong. I love you, Mom.”
“And I love you, too, Maeve.”
“We’d better turn around and turn around quick,” Herm said from the doorway. “When women are crying and hugging, it’s best not to be present.”
“Oh, Herm.” Her mother went to her husband and hugged him. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being my home,” her mother managed mid-hiccup.
Aaron came up to Maeve’s side and whispered, “What’s happening?”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get the sheets for the crib.”
“After we put them on, we’re done. It’s time to go home.”
Aaron had spent every night with her since the first time they’d made love. She enjoyed every second she spent with him, but after her talk with her mom, his word choice at that moment meant something more to her.
“Home,” she murmured, thinking about her parents, her friends. It wasn’t so much a place as a person.
She glanced over at Aaron and wondered if she’d found her home.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHRISTMAS EVE HAD arrived. Maeve hung the last of the antique ornaments on the tree and stood back to admire her effort.
That tree was so much more than just a Christmas tree to her. In it, she saw future Christmases. Josie, Boyd and a house full of children.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
She could hardly contain her excitement. She hoped Josie and Boyd would accept the house, but she remembered how she’d had to fight Boyd to get him to park the RV at her house and she worried.
“It certainly is beautiful,” Aaron, aka Santa Claus, said. Instead of staring at the tree, Santa was looking at her as he said the words.
“I’m not sure if I’ve said thank-you enough. We’ll know soon if they want to take the house, or not. But even if they don’t,” she said to remind herself, “this is a positive thing. Families will now have homes because of what we’ve done.”
“Because of everything you’ve done,” he corrected. “The real Santa might have a workroom full of elves building his toys, but they don’t hold a candle to you when it comes to getting things accomplished.”
She hugged Santa, hoping to distract him. “Let’s not start this again.”
He managed to return her hug despite his well-padded stomach getting in the way. “I’ll never stop it, Maeve. You have this ability to see things the way they could be—should be—and then make them happen. That is a rare gift.”
She stepped back. She never knew what to say to compliments like that, so she put her new response into practice, “Thank you.” She couldn’t help but add, “I’m not sure I agree, but thank you, anyway.”
“Before everyone arrives, I want to show you something.” He walked over and dug through his giant Santa sack and pulled out a handful of papers. He handed them to her.
“What’s all this?” She thumbed through the pages. She thought it might be foundation or house stuff, but it wasn’t either. She saw the address for the store.
Aaron tapped the header at the top of the page. “That’s a sale agreement between my uncle and me.”
“What are you selling?” she asked.
“I’m not selling, I’m buying. The store. My uncle has decided to stay in Arizona, and I’m going to own the store. VR Supplies will be its new name.”
She remembered suggesting that as an option. She eyed the stack of papers, then handed them back. “Oh.”
“So, I’m staying here,” he said slowly as if she might not have understood him.
She’d thought that what they had was temporary. Aaron would leave in the spring. But if he was still going to be in Valley Ridge? That changed everything. “What about your home in Orlando?”
“That wasn’t my home. It was never my home. It was a house I lived in for a while. I’ve discovered that my true home is here.”
“Oh.”
“That’s all you want to say?” He seemed annoyed.
Maeve wasn’t sure what he wanted from her. She hadn’t asked him to stay. As a matter of fact, he’d never mentioned it or asked her opinion. “Um. Congratulations? Finding out where you belong is a gift.”
He sighed. “And I want you to know that I offered Boyd a full-time job at VR Supplies. With Boyd’s past experience managing the plastics plant, he’s by far the best candidate for the position. Having someone to handle the day-to-day operations will allow me to work on my next project. I’m going to use my uncle’s old apartment as my office.”
Maeve’s heart felt full. “If Boyd has a job, then they’re more apt to stay.” She hugged him and suddenly she knew what she wanted to say to him. Maybe it was too soon.
But she’d learned that you didn’t get anywhere if you didn’t take chances. “Thank you, Aaron. I l—”
Her words were cut off as Mattie, Lily and Sophie walked in together, kids and husbands in tow. They were the first of a stream of people who were anxious to see Boyd’s and Josie’s reaction to the house.
She might have been frustrated about not finishing what she was going to say to Aaron, but she realized she had all the time in the world.
They had all the time in the world.
She’d been the one to invite everyone here. They’d all agreed that a houseful of people would lend credence to their story that this was the house Santa was visiting in Valley Ridge.
Aaron pulled up his beard before the kids spotted him and went to sit in the big armchair between the tree and fireplace. Mattie and Finn’s kids were the first to sit on his lap. Aaron had a huge stack of presents at his side, and more stuffed into his sack. When Maeve had asked about them, he’d hemmed and hawed, and never answered her question.
Now, he searched through the sack and selected a gift for each child. The kids squealed with joy upon opening their presents. These gifts weren’t simple coloring books or candy canes, instead, there was a doll camper for Abbey, a remote-control car for Mickey, and an iPod dock for Zoe.
More people arrived. Her mom and Herm. Vera and Hank. Mayor Tuznik. The small house was soon crowded with people who’d come to witness Josie’s and Boyd’s reaction.
Sophie put baby Ben in Santa’s arms and snapped a picture. Watching Aaron pose with the tiny baby, cradling him close, Maeve’s heart melted.
Joe and his sisters were next. After the little girls sat on Santa’s lap, Aaron slipped something to Joe.
Maeve wanted to ask what it was, but Tori arrived just then. She stood in the doorway for a moment and then made a beeline to Maeve. “The house looks so awesome,” she said.
Santa called out to her. “Tori, come over here and see good old Santa. He’s got a little something for you in his bag.”
Tori laughed and went over to see Aaron, then the doorbell rang, and a hush came over the room. Boyd poked his head inside. Carl was on his hip and Josie was behind him.
“Come on in,” Maeve said. The crowd parted, leaving the Myers family a clear path to Santa.
