Worst Christmas Ever

by Mallary Mitchell

  6

  Christmas Day dawned gray and cold. Winterville might just get a snowy Christmas, after all.

  Sara Jane pulled her comforter up around her shoulders and sulked. Max had declined her invitation for a movie at her place after the reception. Was it her quick exit from the dance floor or something else that made him give an excuse? And it was an excuse.

  He’d said he had a job he had to finish. She knew all their sites, and all of them were shut down for the holidays. He had done his duty for the wedding and they were firmly back to friend status.

  After all the ridiculousness of yesterday, who could blame him? At least she knew now to keep her thoughts and heart in check.

  She grabbed her phone. A message from her mom read. “Merry Christmas.”

  Jenna and Brendan had sent her a wish as well.

  But nothing from Max. He’d been scared away. Their holiday “romance” had just been a searing kiss under the mistletoe—a good show for those who’d witnessed it. He’d had her back for the wedding. He’d always have her back, and for that she was grateful.

  After her morning bathroom routine she padded in her penguin pajamas to her kitchen for coffee. She could smell it. She didn’t remember making it, but there it was, and the coffee was hot. She poured a cup, lifted it to her lips, and turned to see Max. Coffee dripped down her aqua pajama top.

  “Nice PJ’s.” He reclined in her comfy chair and sipped from his steamy cup. His burning gaze melted her like a marshmallow in hot chocolate. So much for checked hearts.

  “Max? What are you doing here?”

  “Merry Christmas. I hope you don’t mind. I made coffee.”

  “Merry Christmas, and thank you for the coffee.” She crossed her arms. “How long have you been here?”

  “I came here from the job.”

  “Maxwell Dixon, we don’t have a job. So where have you been? You’re still in the clothes you wore yesterday.” She plopped on the couch and crossed her penguin-clad legs.

  “I have a change. Mind if I use your shower?”

  “Not at all.” She kept her eyes wide, still irritated he was giving her that same excuse. “You can use the one off the living room. But you are avoiding my questions.”

  He winked. “I know. Eat something. You have some pastries on your counter. When I get out of the shower, I want to take you to the new site. I left your present there.”

  “How’s your head?” She stood, remembering the long cut.

  “Sore.”

  “And your foot.”

  “Not sore.”

  “I’d like to talk about the past two days.”

  “Me, too,” he said. “Just not here.”

  “What?”

  “Eat your breakfast. Dress warm.” Max drained his coffee cup, rinsed it, and placed it in the sink. He was being infuriatingly cryptic.

  While he took a shower, she’d put on her Georgia Bulldog hoodie and brand new off-white cords which tucked into her comfy suede boots.

  He emerged from the bathroom wearing the same cryptic grin he’d left her with. “Ready to head out?” At least his jeans and NC State hoodie were a change.

  “I still don’t know where we’re going,” she said, hoping he’d elaborate.

  He didn’t.

  In silence, he helped her shrug into her quilted coat, and then he ushered her to his truck.

  “Care to tell me why we couldn’t talk at home?” The cloud cover darkened the day, but held hope of dumping snow. A white Christmas just might help to cheer up this worst Christmas ever.

  Maybe.

  “Max?”

  “It’s a surprise, Sara Jane. You get the concept. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

  She studied him for a few seconds before turning her attention to the passing scenery. Georgia was beautiful in the winter, even without the snow. As quaint homes and yards dusted with dried leaves turned into highway, she let her mind wander through the past week. In hindsight, it hadn’t been so terrible.

  She’d figured out she was so over Brad, she’d discovered that her mother did sometimes stick up for her, and she’d had a mind-blowing, heart-altering kiss under the mistletoe.

  She’d wanted to escape for Christmas, to escape Christmas itself, to whisk herself off to Athens, and instead she’d—

  Athens? Her mind registered the highway sign for Athens, Georgia. She peered at him. He just flashed those smoldering eyes her way and then returned his attention to the road.

  “Max?”

  He didn’t look at her, just shook his head with a sly smile. “Don’t ask, Sara Jane.”

  What? Was she six?

  As he veered onto the off-ramp, her heart beat strangely and adrenaline began to flow. She didn’t know exactly what he had planned, but the sweetness of whatever it was wasn’t lost. He was taking her to Athens for Christmas.

  And she fell in love with him a little more.

  Her heart cracked. How could she survive being just friends?

  He pulled up to a large plot of land with a framed-in house, not too big like her mom’s, and not the tiny one that she rented. This one was just right.

  “Stay right there.” He ran around the truck to get her door. “Welcome to Athens.”

  “You know I am not good with surprises.”

  Without a word, he ushered her across the dirt front lot, helped her up on the plank floor of what would be a front porch and then through an opening for a doorway.

  Only one part of the structure had a roof and inside that area a single room was framed in. Windows had been mounted on each of the four walls and to the back of the windows, different posters of the Athens, Greece skyline had been affixed. A small table was situated in the middle of the room—a lovely Corinthian column with a round, glass top.

  Max pulled out a wrought iron chair and Sara Jane took her place in the proffered seat. This was amazing and more than she ever could imagine. Max had done all this for her.

  Emotion balled in her throat. “How did you get this together?” The words were barely audible.

  “I have my ways.” He walked to a small cart covered with a white tablecloth and removed two plastic-wrapped dinner plates, pecan pie, and a pitcher of tea.

  “Is this where you were last night?”

  He set the table while she looked on, stunned by the beauty of the setting and his thoughtfulness.

  “Yes.” Max sat opposite her. He poured tea into their goblets and reached for her hand. “Shall I say grace?”

  She placed her hand in his, and he put it to his lips.

  “Please.”

  He lowered her hand to the table top but kept hold of it and bowed his head. “Father in heaven, I thank You today for the great sacrifice of Your Son, and the love You showed us all. And I thank You for this meal. I also thank You for this beautiful woman who sits here with me, whom I love more than I can say, and I thank You for Your blessings this past year and humbly ask for Your blessings as we go into a new one. Amen.”

  Sara Jane blinked back tears. She reached for her napkin, not wanting to smudge her mascara. Inadvertently, she nudged her tea glass, and in horror watched as it teetered. She tried to grab it, to steady it, and in doing so made it worse. The glass tipped and landed on the table. The goblet didn’t break, but dark amber liquid spilled on the table and ran in a rivulet onto her new pants.

  She sucked in a deep breath and shot to her feet as the cold shocked her system. “I can’t believe it,” she cried and sank back to her chair.

  Max stood nonchalantly, as if her off-white pants weren’t soaked with a dark stain the length of her thigh. “I have just the thing,” he said.

  He walked to the cart, lifted the folds of the tablecloth and bent to retrieve something. He returned to her side with a bottle of stain remover decorated with a Christmas ribbon and card. “You know I always take good care of you.” He winked and handed her the bottle.

  She took it from him and read aloud. “Merry Christmas. I love you, Max.” Tea
rs threatened again as she fingered the bow. Then, her fingernail hit something cold, metallic, round. Her eyes widened as she pulled the end of the ribbon, untying it to release a diamond ring.

  “I love you, too.” She stood and threw herself into his waiting arms.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked.

  “Yes. Of course, it’s a yes. But you still have to ask the question.”

  He knelt on one knee and gave her a smile that lit his eyes and her heart.

  “Sara Jane Connelly, my friend, my love, will you marry me?”

  “Yes!”

  “So what do you think of this as our next project. It has good structure. It’s all framed in.”

  “I can see it will be beautiful with time.” She looked around tentatively, not sure why he’d segued the subject to a work project before she’d even had the chance to put on the ring. “Um…the house is the perfect size. The basic layout is nice—”

  “It’s in Athens.”

  She giggled at that. “It’s in Athens,” she agreed.

  “This is our house, Sara Jane. I bought the land two years ago, and I’ve been trying to find a way to move from our wonderful friendship to more, but I couldn’t figure it out. How’d I do?”

  “This is perfect.”

  He pulled her back into his arms. “I know you’ve always loved Athens. And I know I’ve always loved you.”

  She held him close. “But there is one thing I feel bad about…you asked me to marry you, you bought me an engagement ring, and you started building a house. I really didn’t get you enough for Christmas.”

  His laugh was a rich baritone that warmed her inside.

  “Didn’t you just agree to marry me?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “What more could I need?”

  “Can I at least tell you what I got you?”

  “Sure.”

  Holding tight to Max’s hand, she walked to the area that could eventually be their living room. “A chair…to go right here.” She held out her hands. “Like the one I have that you’ve always loved.” She turned to hold him “And for the record, I’ve always loved you, too. I just didn’t realize it until recently.”

  “When you left me on the dance floor last night, I was worried.”

  Sara Jane bit her lip. “I left because I was worried, myself. What if it was just a weekend romance thing? I didn’t know if I could go back to how we were, just friends. You and I have a wonderful relationship and partnership. I was afraid I’d messed all that up.”

  He kissed her, then. No mistletoe needed. When he pulled away, she felt the loss.

  “By the way, I have to tell you,” he said. “Brendan Jenna, and Sam helped me set all this up.”

  “So all that talk about kids and stuff.”

  “They knew I was going to ask you to marry me.”

  “Did Brendan know before or after he saw us together in the bathroom?” She laughed at the memory of her uncle’s horrified expression.

  He laughed. “Yeah, he got pretty ticked about that. After. And then he wasn’t quite so mad.”

  She leaned close. “I think he told my mom,” she said as pieces began to fall in place in her mind.

  “I’m pretty sure he did. She had a little talk with me yesterday. She approves of me by the way.” Max leaned over and nuzzled her neck as snow started to fall through the unfinished structure.

  “You want to finish eating in the truck?” he asked. “The turkey is cold and dessert’s not baklava, but we have pecan pie, and your Aunt Jenna swears hers is a prize winner.”

  “I would love to as long as it’s with you.” She took his hand. “Max?”

  “Yeah?”

  She turned to him and he clasped his hands at the small of her back. She put her arms around his neck.

  “Best. Christmas. Ever,” she said and then kissed him.

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