Holiday Magic

by Tl Reeve

  “I propose a toast.” Her father lifted his glass of wine.

  Everyone else did the same.

  Eden ground her teeth together. No doubt this would have something to do with Slick, and she gripped the glass hard enough she feared it would shatter.

  “To family and friends, old and new,” her father said. “To opening one’s mind to ideas, old and new.”

  Eden heard the undertone in the toast loud and clear. While everyone said cheers and took a sip of the wine, she polished off her glass, slammed it down on the table, and dug into her dinner, trying to ignore the way their visitor kept peeking over at her. She was simply the nearest available female, and the guy was in obvious perpetual heat.

  “So, Perry, I hear you had quite an eye-opener today. Are you feeling better?” Her father waved his fork at him before piercing a piece of chicken.

  “I’m so used to be connected to everything at the touch of a fingertip. It’s strange.” Slick nodded and put a big butter glob on his roll. “It’s both confining and freeing.”

  A few around the table nodded.

  Eden continued to try to eat as fast as possible. His answer was honest. Earlier, when he’d had his episode, she’d also thought his reaction was honest. Something told her that was the only honest thing about him, which reminded her she needed to get a deposit from him. She didn’t work for free.

  “If you have family you need to contact, we can arrange a telegram sent,” her mother piped up.

  The entire table quieted. Everyone but her. She didn’t need her mother to find out if this man was married or taken.

  “I’ll be leaving tomorrow.” He offered no further information, which only told Eden he was in some sort of relationship. They all were.

  “Doesn’t your wife want to know where you are?” Her mother practically stood.

  Eden shoved an entire potato latke into her mouth.

  “No wife.” He laughed.

  “Then your girlfriend?” one aunt offered.

  “Boyfriend?” another one interrupted.

  “Some sort of significant other?” Her uncle got in on the act.

  “Children?” Little Leah yelled out the word.

  Eden poured herself a full glass of wine and chugged it down with the masticated potato.

  “No, no, and no.” Slick took a civilized drink and patted Leah’s head. “And no. Just my family and a business partner, but he is purely business, I assure you.”

  All the females let out a collective breath.

  “So, what do you and your purely business partner do?” Her father began the potential-suitor-interview process.

  “We are concert promoters.” His tone came out as if he were telling a child a bedtime story. “I organize talent and venues, and we take a cut of the profit.”

  Her mother’s eyes widened, most likely in an attempt to calculate how much money the man made per year.

  “Is there any money in that?” Her aunt asked what they were all thinking.

  Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breaths, waiting for the ultimate answer. All eyes except Eden’s were on Slick.

  “Well, if you know the right people and the right places, there is.” He paused and leaned over the table. “In this case, I do.”

  “Mazel Tov!” Her uncle stood and refilled the wine glasses.

  “Perry.” Her mother put her hands out, quieting everyone down.

  “You get one more question.” When he smiled, a little dimple appeared on his cheek amid the perfect amount of stubble. “Make it a good one.”

  With a bit of drama, her mother glanced around, and everything became still. “Do you celebrate Hanukkah?”

  Lord help her, her mother wanted to know if he was Jewish.

  Slick stood and lifted his glass. “As they say, Mazel Tov!”

  The room went up in cheers and applause. Her father even went as far as to make sure that Slick had an extra helping of chicken breast.

  If she let this go on any longer, they would have the two of them under a huppah, stomping a glass and exchanging rings. Her plate clutched in her hand, she got up from the table.

  “Eden, you barely touched your food.” Ever the food police, her grandmother could practically calculate the amount everyone consumed down to the ounce. “Are you feeling well?”

  “I’m fine. I’m just going to go check on a few things. I’ll be back.” She escaped into the kitchen.

  At the sink, she put her dish down and stared into nothing. All she knew was she had to get Slick out of town first thing tomorrow. Now that her family had vetted this eligible bachelor, they would be relentless. It was so strange her supplier didn’t have the parts—they’d never let her down before.

  “Uncle Perry?” Leah’s voice fluttered into the room.

  Eden shook her head at the title her little cousin graced him with.

  “I thought I said one more question.” Slick’s tone teased her.

  “This one is important,” Leah said. “I wanted to know, would you be my partner for games tonight?”

  Part of Eden wanted to run out there and grab her cousin and protect her.

  “What happened to you wanting me to marry your cousin?” he asked. “Shouldn’t I be partners with her?”

  Eden hid behind the door, peeking out into the dining room through a small crack. Not that his answer mattered—there were several of her cousins at the table. The fact they were all male and in their teen years had nothing to do with it.

  “Sometimes she doesn’t play,” Leah told him. “She loses a lot.”

  Eden wrinkled her nose. Fine, she wasn’t lucky in anything.

  “Maybe she’s tired of game playing,” Slick said.

  His words seemed scripted right for her, and she dug her nails into the doorjamb.

  “Sometimes when you lose enough, you get tired of even trying,” he continued. “I should have realized that today.”

  “What do you mean?” Leah gazed up at him as if he were a king ready to grant her every wish.

  “There are times that adults play games, not realizing that it’s only good when both people win.” His smooth voice filled the boarding house.

  Unsure if he knew she was at the door listening, or if this was simply part of his shtick, Eden had heard enough. Rather than wash her dish, or wait around to hear anything else, she turned and left through the back door.

  Against the chill in the air, she crossed her arms and walked away into the night.

  Sounds of laughter and dishes clanking echoed behind her, causing a warm cozy sensation to wash over her. Once her family realized she could be happy living a simple life by herself and they took the pressure off her, she could have peace and move on. She was fine with her decision, really. There would be no more being taken in by strangers, no more wishing. Still, she wondered if anytime someone new mistakenly tumbled into her town, if deep down inside there would be a little flicker of hope, like a dying Hanukkah candle.

  All this man had done was give her a few innocent seconds of flirting and imparted some knowledge to a ten-year-old. He hadn’t kissed her and held her and told her he would stay.

  “The stars are crazy.” His voice intruded on her interlude.

  She didn’t answer, didn’t look at the stars, didn’t look at him.

  “The city lights are so bright I never see them, but out here, they are insane.” He came up beside her.

  “Back before we got the electric light bulb, you could even see more.” She shrugged. “That was only last week.”

  “I suppose running water came about two weeks ago then.” He stepped in front of her.

  “That’s about right. Don’t even get me started on the wheel.” At her own joke, she wanted to laugh but couldn’t muster the strength.

  He let out a lone chuckle. “You know, I played a game of dreidel, and I won.”

  “Congratulations.” What she really wanted was for him to leave her alone.

  “I should have had such luck in Vegas.” Ag
ain a laugh. The man had laughter and happiness in his voice. He lifted a piece of Hanukkah gelt between his fingers, letting the gold foil sparkle in the bit of light that reached them. With care, he peeled away the wrapping and broke the coin in half. “They always say to share the wealth.” He pressed the chocolate to her lips.

  Only because she wanted him to go, only because she was out of breath, only because she was weak, did she open her mouth and let the creamy sweetness take over.

  He popped his piece in his mouth and smiled. “You are different.”

  “Everyone is different.” She hated the way he echoed her mother’s words of earlier.

  “I only just met you, but there’s something.” His voice lowered, and he inched closer. “Something I’m not used to. I don’t want it, but I need it.”

  “You’ll get what you need tomorrow when you leave.” She held her ground.

  “What if I didn’t leave? What would you do then?”

  Rather than answer, she shrugged.

  “You know, today when I realized that there was no Internet, no cell site, no technology here, I had never felt more ill at ease in my life, but at the same time. it was exhilarating.” He leaned in closer.

  His breath puffed against her lips, and she swallowed.

  “I want you to know what it felt like.” No sooner did he let the words out than he joined their lips and kissed her.

  The chocolate they’d just consumed combined with his taste, something she would only describe as bittersweet. For one second, one, she lost herself, let herself take in the touch, the feel, the sensation of a man.

  Their mouths melded together, their tongues caressing each other, and for that second, everything was in perfect harmony.

  As quick as he’d kissed her, he pulled back.

  She let out a gasp. What had she done? What had she allowed?

  He licked his lips and backed away. “Ill at ease and exhilarating?”

  The man was a game player of the worst kind. She spun on her heel and stormed back to the house. Somehow she always lost, even when she wasn’t playing.

  3

  Night Three

  Fucking hard, horny as hell, and unsatisfied, Perry grazed his hand against his hot, throbbing erection and willed himself to go back to sleep, to reenter his dream where some gorgeous redhead sucked him off until he was spent.

  He lay there with his eyes closed, his fingertips toying with the head of his cock, then grabbing the shaft. Maybe he would yank one out before facing the world, tell Lyle what had happened, try to salvage his career and see what he needed to manipulate to make his next deal take form.

  He tightened his hold and gave a few strong strokes, trying to visualize the redhead, the way she’d moaned as she’d lowered her mouth on him, her hair splayed out on his stomach, her ass in the air. He could come at any second.

  A loud boom broke his fantasy. He shot up and reached for his phone on his nightstand.

  His fingers collided with a piece of furniture instead of his device.

  He found nothing.

  Where was it?

  Chest tightening, hard-on fading, he practically fell out of the bed when that booming happened again.

  Wait, hold on.

  He swallowed and let his mind clear and looked around. This wasn’t his apartment; he had no phone, and the noise was a simple knock on the door. “Hold on!”

  Somehow he managed to get up, then rubbed his face when there was another knock.

  He glanced down at his semi-hard cock. No doubt the redhead in his dream was Eden. Perhaps she’d had a few night visions herself and wanted to act them out. Though they’d shared only a simple kiss—more than a peck, less than what he wanted—his body had reacted to it, to her. In the small amount of time he’d spent with her, all he knew was he wanted more of everything. The mere act of thinking about her made him swell once more.

  Though part of him wanted to throw open the door and show her what she did to him, the better part of him knew that would go over worse than sending her an unwanted dick pic via a phone he threw into the desert. “Coming.” At least, he wished he was coming. He chose to slide on his sweatpants and throw on a T-shirt and at last opened the door.

  “Uncle Perry!” Leah lifted her arms toward him.

  Before hugging the girl, he remembered where his hands had been, where his mind still was, and backed away. “Hold that thought.” Without further explanation, he went straight to the bathroom. After washing his hands, his face, and running his fingers through his hair, he returned to find his little friend folding his clothes. “Good morning, Leah.”

  “Eden said you were most like a slob. She was right.” Leah shook her head.

  Before she dug her way into anything too personal, he herded her away from his clothing. While not fond of Eden’s assessment of him—she might have been right—more importantly, he couldn’t squander the opportunity the mini-human handed him. “Did Eden say anything else?”

  “Just that she was going to work on your damn car until you could drive away today even if it killed her.” Leah put her hand over her mouth. “I’m not supposed to say damn.”

  “I won’t tell anyone.” The kid should hear him speak. Well, probably not. “Was there anything else?”

  Leah shrugged. “She mumbled something about you being too hot for your own good. That’s why I came up here.”

  Rather than high-five the girl, or do that same dance football stars did after they made a touch-down, he played it cool. “Why is that?”

  “If you’re hot, you must have a fever, and I didn’t want you to be sick.” She held her hand up.

  On automatic, he bent down and let her assess the temperature of his forehead.

  “You seem okay to me.” She returned to his luggage. “Do you have to leave today?”

  Considering her words, he rubbed his hand over the stubble on his chin. Did Eden think a bit of a shadow was hotter than clean-shaven? These were things he needed to know. He also needed to figure out his situation. Eventually, he needed to face the music, so to speak. “What if I promise to come back?”

  Leah’s little face wrinkled up. She turned red, and her eyes filled with tears.

  What did he do? How did he turn it off? “Here.” He reached into his suitcase and handed her a T-shirt from Crushed. “Never been worn.”

  She swiped the gift away and buried her face in the shirt.

  “What’s wrong?” He patted her shoulder. “I said I’d be back.” If he could only get Eden to react in such a way to his impending departure.

  With big red eyes she looked up at him, then wiped her face in the forty-dollar T-shirt. “Everyone says that, and they never do.”

  He kneeled down and faced the little girl. “I promise I will be back.”

  “Do you always keep your promises?” she asked.

  Before answering, he paused and took his breath. “I always think I’m going to.”

  “But you don’t.” Her voice fell.

  Unsure how to answer her and not wanting to make any lie worse, he did what he did best. Changed the subject. “How about you and me go on a little treasure hunt?”

  Her frown turned upside down. “For what?”

  “For my cell phone.” He furrowed his brow. “I guess you don’t know what that is.” Too bad he didn’t have a cell phone or he would show her on his cell phone.

  “I may be ten, but I’m not dumb.” She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t live in a hole.”

  “Fair enough.” He motioned for her to exit and once he put on his shoes and shades, followed her.

  Together, they went downstairs, where they were met by yet another female of the Levinson clan in the form of Eden’s mother.

  “Did you sleep well?” She pressed both her hands to his cheeks. “You look invigorated. I see you have no bags for checkout.” The smile on her face could be seen from the moon.

  Perry noticed a trend here. “I haven’t had a chance to pack. Is there a time I need to b
e out?”

  As bright as her smile appeared, her frown turned dark. “No, take your time. We don’t have any other guests right now.”

  Thus far, he had only seen himself there. Everyone else seemed to be related to someone. How did these people make a living? He needed to know. “So is this your off season?” Was there a season for the town of Eden? Who would come here? Maybe a writer or an artist of some sort.

  “I know what you want to know.” The woman laughed. “The town provides what we need. Right now that is you.”

  More than once he had heard people talk about the town providing for them, as if it were some living, breathing entity that could determine such things.

  “We’re going on a treasure hunt for Uncle Perry’s cell phone.” Leah grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the front door.

  “When you come back, I’ll have breakfast!” the kind woman called after them. “No hurry!”

  “Come on.” Leah pulled on him.

  He stopped and took in the town. From his vantage point, he could see the whole thing. “Have you always lived here?” Everything was simple and quiet—how did they survive?

  “Yes, why does everyone always ask that?” Again she tugged on him. “Have you always lived where you live?”

  “Sort of. I used to live with my parents, and now I live in an apartment.” Why he was telling her this he did not know. He let the little girl lead him away, behind the buildings.

  “We can start looking here.” She swiped her hand in front of her.

  Nothing but a flat land with a few trees met his eyes. For miles and miles there was nothing except for some mountains way off in the distance. “I was told Eden is in like a bubble and that’s why you don’t have Internet and such.”

  “Yes.” Leah wandered around. “We are too small for anyone to take notice of us. At least that’s what Eden told me. No one wants to service us ’cause we are too out of the way and there aren’t enough of us to make money. We are just a bother. She says we’re just a pit stop.”

  Interesting. Not only did that reveal a lot about the town, but even more about the speaker of those words. He continued to stare out at the potential here.