by Jenny Hale
“No, but you can see him when he comes to the door. Okay? Why don’t you look out for him?”
“Okay!” Max ran to the living room to watch through the window.
“Max sure does have a fondness for Nick,” her mom said, a cautiousness to her voice.
“I know. Nick has been wonderful with him. Max seems to have connected with him so quickly. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Nick’s a great guy. Maybe Max just senses that. He hasn’t had a lot of great guys in his life.”
The doorbell rang, and she heard Max opening the door. “Hi, Nick!” she heard him say.
“Hello, Max… Oh,” she heard Nick say. She got up to see what was going on.
Abbey entered the room to find that Max had wrapped his arms around Nick and given him a hug, but what surprised her most was the complete adoration on Nick’s face as he looked down at her son. He liked Max—it was clear—and she had to cough to keep the lump out of her throat.
Nick looked up, and as soon as he saw her, he smiled.
“We’ll be back in a few hours,” Abbey said to her mom, trying to keep the butterflies at bay. She grabbed her coat and handbag as Max stepped back and allowed her to exit.
The Mercedes was purring in the drive. It looked out of place against the small homes surrounding it. Nick put his hand on her back to guide her down the icy steps and into the car. She slid inside and waved goodbye to her mother and Max through the window.
Chapter Eighteen
“Let’s start at the sports memorabilia shop,” Abbey said as they walked the open-air mall. A group of carolers was singing “Deck the Halls” at the entrance, their voices like angels as Abbey and Nick walked by. Along the bricked walkways, they passed life-sized nutcrackers, towering Christmas trees, and more white lights than there was snow outside. Abbey took in the large swags of greenery, the lights, the bows on every shop door—it was like a Christmas wonderland. The weather was freezing outside, and she could feel the numbness in her nose and cheeks. There was a slight breeze that felt like an icy stab every time it hit her face.
“You don’t have a scarf,” Nick said. “Aren’t you freezing?”
She was freezing. “I’m fine,” she said. They were there to shop for Max and, since it was the first year she had a sizeable amount of money coming to her, she was eager to get started. She didn’t care in the slightest if she had on a scarf, even if she was shivering.
“I’ll feel better if you’re wearing a scarf. Do you want gloves?”
“No, I’m fine.”
They kept walking. Everywhere she looked the surfaces of the giant Christmas trees and wreaths were still covered in snow and ice. The walks had all been shoveled, but the white snow on the edges of the paths, the grounds, and the branches of the trees gave it all such a festive feel. As she looked at Nick in his tailored coat and scarf, she wished she could remember like he did. She wanted to keep this moment forever.
“I know. Come with me,” he said, warmth in his eyes. She didn’t want to notice it, but she had. Nick placed his hand on her back again and led her to the coffee shop where he opened the door and motioned for her to enter. He found a table, nestled along a dark wood windowsill that was big enough to double as a bench, and pulled out her chair. “Tell me what kind of coffee you like.”
“Just a regular coffee is fine,” she said with a smile. True, it was cold out, and a coffee sounded wonderful, but there was a buzzing energy to him that made her think he wasn’t just there to get coffee. He was grinning at her, his eyes full of some sort of insider knowledge. What was he doing?
“Cream and sugar?”
“Just cream, please.”
“Be right back,” he said with another grin.
As she watched him standing in line, making his order, she wondered why he’d asked to come today. He knew as well as she did that any connection they had wasn’t going anywhere. So why was he doing this? At that moment, as she caught him stealing glances at her, she didn’t care. She didn’t want to think about anything other than him and her right then.
“Here you are,” he said, returning and setting her coffee in front of her. “Sit tight for just one more second. I’ll be right back.”
To her surprise, he left the shop. Where was he going? As she sat by herself, with her thoughts, she wondered if she was being too careful, worrying about how everything would play out. As a young girl, she’d thrown caution to the wind and she’d done whatever she felt in that moment. Should she jump in with both feet and do that now? Max had changed her; he’d made her more careful about things, and now she had her family—Gramps—to think about. She just wasn’t that young, naïve girl that she’d been. But that girl was still there. She could feel the impulsiveness lingering under the surface, telling her to just go for it. The only problem was the grown woman that she’d become was reminding her of how badly all those impulsive acts had turned out. All but one: Max.
Max was that one light in her life, that one good thing that had come in the midst of all her troubles. And when she looked at him, she didn’t mind the money struggles, the job juggling, or the fact that things hadn’t worked out with his father. None of it mattered because she had Max. And she felt so lucky and blessed to have him in her life.
Nick walked past the windows carrying a paper shopping bag. She didn’t recognize the store name. She hadn’t been to this mall very often—most of the stores were out of her price range—but given Max’s Christmas list, it had been the most logical place to come. Nick came inside and sat down, a look of satisfaction on his face. He reached into the bag and pulled out the most gorgeous pearly white scarf Abbey had ever seen. It looked so soft. He stood up again and wrapped it around her, then sat back down.
Abbey ran her hand along the luxurious surface of it. It was soft, softer than anything she could remember feeling. Her fingers slid down to the very end where the price tag still hung. She caught sight of the numbers just as Nick reached across and grabbed it, obscuring it in his fist and pulling it off into his hand.
“Did that say one hundred fifty dollars?” she asked in horror. There was no way she was letting him spend that kind of money on a scarf that, given her lifestyle, would get stuffed in a handbag, dragged on the floor, or lost in a closet.
“No,” he said, but his eyes gave him away. “It said a dollar fifty.”
“It did not.” She reached for his fist.
He squeezed it tighter and then threw the balled paper behind him over his shoulder. She watched it land across the room. He was looking at her playfully, clearly enjoying the fact that he’d just spent a ton of money on her and she couldn’t do anything about it. Then he leaned close to her—too close. His face was right in front of hers. “Let me buy you something, and just enjoy it,” he said softly. “I know you’ll be just fine without it, but I wanted to buy it.”
When he showed her his playful side, he was irresistible, and she knew that if they just had enough time together, she could bring that side out more than his working side. It made her long to try. “Why are you doing this?” she asked suddenly. She couldn’t play these games. She needed to know.
“Doing what? Buying you things?”
“No. Why are you here with me today?”
He leaned away from her, righting himself. “I don’t know, honestly,” he said, looking at the floor as if the answer were there. “I just wanted to see you.”
“I won’t see you once I’m done working on your house. This…” she wagged a finger between them, “will amount to nothing.” She could see disappointment on his face. “I’m just being brutally honest.”
“Let’s not think about the future,” he said. “You and I are both here until Christmas. Why don’t we just enjoy the holiday?”
“I agree,” she said. “Let’s get Max’s presents and have fun.” She smiled. “Thank you for my scarf. It’s beautiful.” She ran her hand down it one more time.
“You’re welcome. So. What is on little Max’s
list?”
“He wants a Willie Mays baseball card,” she said. “I’m not so sure I can get him one, but we could look and see.”
“Shall we take our coffees and have a look?” Nick suggested.
Abbey nodded, standing up, and he followed. As they neared the door, Nick reached around and pulled it open for her. Then, with her new scarf and her coffee to keep her warm, she headed out to the shop to find Max’s present. Nick stepped up beside her and, as she walked along the cobbled pathway to the shop, she noticed that he was walking slowly to keep her pace. She peered up at him, and he was already looking at her, a small smile on his lips.
She worried about shopping for this baseball card. It could cost a lot of money and she might have to leave the shop without buying it. While she wanted to get a good card for Max, she wasn’t going to spend upwards of a thousand dollars on something that small for her six-year-old to lose. Nick would certainly offer to pay for it because, to him, it was probably nothing. But the trouble was, Abbey didn’t want him to buy it. Every time she saw Max look at that baseball card, she wanted to remember how she’d used her own hard-earned money to buy it for him. It would have sentimental value then. She didn’t know if Nick would understand that.
When they reached the shop, Nick opened the door for her, and they walked in. Abbey approached the counter, a glass structure that had every baseball card she could imagine displayed inside it. There were so many.
“May I help you?” a stout man with thinning white hair and round glasses asked from behind the counter.
“We’re looking for a Willie Mays baseball card,” Nick explained.
The clerk pulled out two cards and set them on the counter. Abbey studied them, unsure of what qualities to look for in a collectible baseball card. She wished she had Gramps there with her. He’d know.
“How much is this one?” Abbey asked the clerk as she pointed to one that looked as though it had a portrait on the front.
“That’s a 1952 mint condition Topps card. It’s five hundred.”
She felt her cheeks heating up with the answer. Don’t try to buy it, she thought, hoping that Nick had mindreading skills to match his memory. Surprisingly, he didn’t say a thing.
“What about this one?” She pointed to a green card with three photos side by side of Willie Mays catching a ball.
“That’s also Topps, mint condition. It’s not nearly as rare. It’ll run you fifty dollars.”
“I’ll take it,” she said, digging in her purse for her credit card. Fifty dollars was still a lot of money for a baseball card, but it was a lot less than the other one.
Nick had remained very quiet the whole sale. Whenever she looked at him, he smiled sweetly at her, but he hadn’t said anything more than his original comment to the clerk. She signed the receipt and the clerk put the card into a small handled shopping bag.
As they exited the shop, Abbey turned to Nick. “I was worried you’d offer to pay for it,” she admitted.
“Yes.” He placed his hand on her back to steer her around a couple that had stopped to look in a store window. She was getting used to the feeling of his guiding hand. “I figured that, so I didn’t offer. Although,” he smiled again, sending her heart soaring, “I would have.”
“Why would you have bought it?” she asked.
“Because I make a nice amount of money and I don’t have anyone to spend it on. I like spending money on people I care about.”
For so many years, she’d cared about people, she’d tried to show them what love was, but she never really got that love in return. This time, she felt something for someone, and he cared about her too. Why did he have to go to New York?
She knew what it was like to need a job, and she didn’t want to judge him. Just because he had a lot of money didn’t mean that he didn’t need to keep making that money to make ends meet. But at the same time, couldn’t he downsize a bit and make his life what he wanted?
“Why are you so insistent on making your father’s company profitable?” she asked, feeling like he was making the wrong decision by moving.
“Because he trusted me to do so.”
“Yes, but I doubt he wanted you to do it at the expense of the rest of your life.”
“You don’t understand,” he said as he walked.
She shuffled up in front of him and stopped him. “Then make me understand.”
“I don’t think I can.” He politely moved around her and she walked up beside him. “Let’s work on getting Max’s Christmas presents. I still have to tie up a few loose ends before I get on a plane in the morning.”
Chapter Nineteen
The ride home from shopping was quiet. She hadn’t meant to put a damper on things. She just felt in her heart that the business wasn’t right for Nick. It was holding him back from so much happiness.
She was tired of things being serious. Instead of taking the exit toward home, she asked him to go straight. She wanted to meander through the city instead, taking the long way. Then, she had an idea.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“I know you have a few things to tie up,” she said. “But I want you to buy me something.” He looked over at her. She knew that would get him.
For the first time since they’d left the mall, a real smile spread across his face all the way up to his eyes. He knew she was up to something. “You’re asking me to spend money on you?”
“Yes,” she said, chewing on a smile.
“I’m intrigued. And a little surprised at your forward behavior. I’ve never had someone ask me to spend money. They usually just allow me to.”
“I make it clear what I want,” she teased. “Pull off there.”
Nestled in the skyscrapers of the city was an ice skating rink. She could hear the Christmas music through the windows of the car.
“You want me to buy you an ice skating rink?”
She let out a little giggle. “No. I want you to buy us each a ticket and two skate rentals. I have this new scarf and no reason to wear it. I’d like you to take me ice skating.”
He looked over at the rink and Abbey followed his line of sight. There was hardly anyone there. She noticed the clerk. He seemed so cold—he was hunched over a Styrofoam cup of steaming liquid, looking miserable. Nick had noticed him too.
“He doesn’t have my scarf,” she said with a grin.
“I’ve never been ice skating,” Nick admitted.
“I haven’t either.”
“What if we slip and slide all over the place?”
“Might be fun,” she said with a devious look. She had no problem at all with the thought of falling in a heap on top of him.
He absorbed that comment and immediately opened his door. “Absolutely. You’re right. Let’s skate.”
Nick purchased their tickets and skates from the frozen clerk and they sat on the bench, lacing up.
“What if we break an ankle?” he asked.
She pursed her lips and looked over at him. “You are awfully cautious,” she said. “You won’t break an ankle. I’ll hold you up if you fall.”
“As small as you are, you would never hold me up.”
“Then don’t fall.” She stood up on her skates, wobbling slightly before getting used to standing on the small blades. He stood up beside her, grabbing the bench for balance.
Abbey slid out onto the open rink, and turned around to view Nick. Strings of lights stretched above them, their bulbs yellow against the gray cloud cover. A Christmas tree sat at one end of the rink. She’d only noticed it because Nick had looked at it as he bobbled and wiggled his way onto the ice.
“That’s just waiting for someone to plow into it,” he said as he looked at the tree.
“Please don’t let it be one of us,” she laughed, reaching out to grab his hands.
They skated slowly, holding hands, her going backwards and him in front, leading precariously.
“Why is it that you wanted to do this?” he asked, only half serious. He je
rked, catching himself before he pulled them both down onto the floor.
“It’s romantic!” She let go of his hands and turned around, gliding slowly but balanced across the ice. She turned back around and pushed against the skates until she was skating toward him again.
He stood in front of her, one toe in the ice to steady himself. “What could possibly be romantic about this?” He was asking the question but his eyes were saying something else.
She skated to him, bumping into him slightly and wrapping her arms around his waist for support. She looked up into his eyes as he steadied them both. “This,” she said, and she pushed herself up with one skate to reach his lips. He bent down, putting his arms around her, and kissed her right there in the middle of the rink.
He pulled back to focus on her face. “You didn’t have to put me in these skates for that,” he said with a crooked grin. “I’d have done that in the car.”
“Don’t give me any ideas,” she said as she pulled away from him and skated away.
* * *
When they both felt they should be getting back, Nick drove Abbey to her mother’s. He turned off the engine as they sat in the driveway.
“Thank you for taking me,” Abbey said.
He nodded, a smile on his lips.
“I should have the house nearly finished when you get home on Friday—just a few rooms will be left by then.”
He nodded again. She turned for the car door handle but he stopped her and she faced him. He put his hands on her face and kissed her.
“Thank you for today,” he said. “I had a lot of fun.”
“You’re welcome.” She stepped out, and pulled the presents from the car, setting them down by her feet. “Okay,” she said, wishing there would be some way she could make him stay, but she knew there wasn’t. “I’ll see you next week,” she said.
“I’ll look forward to it,” he said, and his real smile came through again, making her lightheaded with emotion.
She shut the door of the Mercedes, picked up her bags, and gingerly stepped over a pile of shoveled snow to allow Nick room to back out. Feeling very cold, she tightened her new scarf as she watched him drive down the road. She didn’t move until the car was completely out of sight.
