This Holiday Magic

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  “He’s unavailable at the moment.”

  “Just tell him it’s his daughter.”

  “Janelle?” he said.

  “Yes. Who is this?”

  There was a short pause as the man’s voice softened. “I’m sorry. Your father’s unavailable. You might want to call back tomorrow morning.”

  “No, I don’t want to call back tomorrow morning. I need to speak with him tonight, right now.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll tell him you called.”

  “Fine,” she snapped. Annoyed, she disconnected the call and looked across the kitchen. “What’s going on, Mrs. Ivers?”

  Mrs. Ivers shook her head. “Your father ran into some financial trouble a while back. He’s working on fixing it.”

  “What do you mean ‘financial trouble’? What’s going on and who’s the man answering my father’s private line this late at night?”

  “Go to the office, Janelle, and talk to your father. Here, take my car,” Mrs. Ivers said as she grabbed her purse and began digging for her keys. She found them and handed them to Janelle.

  Two minutes later Janelle was out the door and headed to the Truman Building. The usual thirty-minute drive took less than twenty.

  As soon as Janelle drove up to the building, she looked up, seeing that the lights in her father’s office were still on. She parked the car and hurried inside. The security guard she’d known for years greeted and welcomed her back. She signed in and took the elevator to the top floor.

  Her thoughts raced as she hurried down the long hallway. Her father was unavailable and there was a strange man in his office. At this point she had no idea what to expect. She turned the corner and saw that her father’s office door was cracked open. She could see a light shining from inside. She knocked once but didn’t bother to wait for a reply, opening the door wider and peeking inside. “Dad...”

  For the second time that night a shocking sight met her eyes.

  Chapter 2

  When Janelle had called, Tyson Croft had held on to the receiver, forgetting all about hanging it up. As soon as he picked up and she had spoken, his heart had faltered. There was no need to ask who was calling. He had known it was her even before she had said who was speaking. The sound of her sultry voice was unmistakable. He closed his eyes as a slow, easy smile pulled wide across his lips.

  “Janelle,” he had whispered softly and then shaken his head slowly. Hearing her voice again after two long years was like awakening from a long deep slumber. His body stirred just as it had done so many times before.

  He remembered what it was like walking away from her years ago. It had nearly broken him, but he hadn’t had a choice at the time. Now he did have a choice. And nothing—and no one—was going to stand in his way this time.

  “All righty, then. This ought to just about do it.”

  Tyson quickly hung up the phone. Ben Truman bumped the office door wider as he walked through carrying another lidded cardboard box. Tyson nonchalantly cleared his throat and nodded, looking back at the computer monitor. He had no idea how long he’d been holding the phone receiver. Thoughts of Janelle had clouded his mind again. It had been happening more and more lately.

  “There’re a couple more boxes in the storage room, but I doubt they have anything in them that will be useful. Was that my phone I heard ringing?” Ben asked.

  “Uh, yes. It was Janelle.”

  Ben frowned as he set the container down on the small conference table in the center of his office with the other boxes. “Janelle, huh? That’s surprising. I didn’t expect her call.”

  “What do you mean?” Tyson asked, looking more interested.

  “She usually calls me at home, and this isn’t her usual day. She calls on Sundays. I hope everything’s all right over there.”

  Tyson instantly tensed. “I thought you said she’s safe where she is in Africa. Is there a possible problem where she’s assigned?”

  “Well, for the time being, she is safe. But you know as well as I do that my daughter is a dedicated physician. Wherever they need her, she’ll go. She’s almost eight thousand miles away in an unstable region...” Ben said, then stopped, seeing the horrified look on Tyson’s face.

  “But no, I’m sure she’s fine. As you well know, Janelle is a brilliant doctor and a very levelheaded woman. She’d never intentionally put herself in danger. She’s very capable and can certainly take care of herself, even in the middle of Africa. I’m sure she’s fine. I’m just surprised she called me here at the office. She knows I don’t work this late.”

  “When is she coming back stateside?”

  “In a couple more months. She said February or March.”

  Tyson nodded, not feeling at all reassured. “Maybe you should call her back just to make sure everything’s okay,” he suggested eagerly, failing miserably to play down his uneasiness.

  “Yeah, I think I will.” Ben nodded and pulled out his cell phone, only to see that the signal was gone and the phone was turned off. “Damn, no signal. I forgot to charge the battery this afternoon. No wonder she called me here.” He crossed the room to use the phone on the desk.

  Tyson grabbed his cell phone off the desk, stood and quickly handed it to Ben. “Here, use my cell phone,” he offered. “It’s international. It’ll reach anywhere in the world.”

  Ben nodded, took Tyson’s phone and dialed Janelle’s number. The call rang six times, then went to her voice mail. “No answer,” Ben said, looking at his watch.

  “Where exactly is Janelle in Africa?” Tyson asked as he continued working.

  “Tanzania, but she moves around a lot. Three weeks ago she was in Dodoma. Last week she was in Dar es Salaam. But one thing for sure, she calls me every Sunday evening to let me know where she is and that she’s okay.”

  “And is she—” Tyson paused to look up “—okay?”

  “That’s a matter of opinion. She’s lost faith.”

  “Faith? How do you mean?”

  “She lost faith in love, in her ability to love and be loved.”

  “Because of me,” Tyson said flatly, laying his pen on the desk. He walked over to the window, glancing out.

  “Because of a lot of things, son,” Ben said, sitting with a stack of files at his side. “Truthfully, I’m right there with you. Since her mother died, I’ve had three different wives. She’s seen me in and out of love dozens of times. For the past two and a half years she’s thrown herself into work and had time for nothing else. You might have been the last straw, but I was right there, too. If there’s one thing I want more than anything, more than cleaning this mess up, it is to help her love again.”

  Tyson’s heart tightened from the pain that gripped it. Janelle had lost faith in love and he was partially responsible. But at least she was physically safe. He nodded slowly, but he wasn’t at all satisfied.

  Sitting, he absently glanced at his notes and then back at the monitor. All of a sudden the program he had been using for years didn’t make any sense. His notes were a confusing scramble of numbers and notations that made even less sense.

  Tyson looked over at Ben, who had begun talking about his last trip to visit his daughter. The more Ben went on, the edgier Tyson got.

  “I tell you, the moment I stepped off the plane I was amazed,” Ben said. “The country is the perfect duality—both stunningly beautiful and horrendously terrifying. I tell you, every moment I was there I was...”

  Tyson looked back at the monitor again. There was no use—his focus was shot. Everything he’d done in the past three hours meant absolutely nothing. All he could think about now was Janelle’s safety.

  Ben had moved on to a story about shopping in an African marketplace, but Tyson had long since stopped paying attention. Unlike her father, he wasn’t as convinced that everything was all right with
Janelle. He didn’t want to alarm the man, but there’d been something in Janelle’s voice that was definitely stressed. He hadn’t liked the sound of it. But calling her back to make sure she was okay was out of the question. He was the last person she’d want to hear from. He was one of the reasons she’d joined Medics International and left for Africa in the first place—to get away from him.

  Still, two and a half years was a long time. There was a good chance she would have gotten past their relationship’s ending. The nerve in his neck tightened and his jaw tensed. Yeah, he had messed up. He’d let his ego and his ambition overrule his heart. Walking out on Janelle had been the biggest mistake of his life.

  “Okay, here it is. I knew it was packed away in one of these old boxes someplace. This ought to do it.” Ben sighed as he placed an accordion file on the desk. “I believe everything you’re gonna need is in here. Hey, you okay, son?”

  Tyson looked up and nodded. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure? You look a little distracted.”

  “No, I’m good,” Tyson said, picking up his pen and turning back to the monitor. He didn’t want to tell Ben the truth, that he’d been thinking about Janelle. “I’m just a little tired.”

  “I can certainly understand that. You work all day at your business and then you come here in the evenings and work on my mine. You’ve been a godsend. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

  “How about getting us a cup of coffee?” Tyson suggested.

  “Done,” Ben responded, hurrying to the door. “I’ll make a fresh pot. Cream and two sugars. I’ll be right back.”

  “Thanks.”

  Tyson looked at the computer monitor. He was right back where he’d started; nowhere. Moments later he tossed the pen onto the desk and sat back in the chair. Coffee was a ruse. He’d just needed Ben out of the office.

  Restless, edgy, he stood and walked over to the window again. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Hearing her voice had brought it all back.

  “Damn,” he whispered. This wasn’t what he’d expected. But in truth, he didn’t know what he had thought would happen. When he’d agreed to review Ben’s finances and help pull him out of bankruptcy, he had been thinking only about getting Janelle back. It had been a long shot and probably wouldn’t work, but he’d try.

  He looked up at the night sky. He was tired. But that was not what was distracting him and he knew it. She was his own personal drug—just one spark was all it took to reignite his passion. “Janelle,” he said softly, moving back to the desk to force himself to focus on the job.

  The knock on the office door was soft. He didn’t look up, assuming it was Ben coming back with the coffee. It wasn’t until he heard her voice and her gasp that he looked up and saw her standing there. His eyes widened; then, just as quickly, a wave of emotional relief washed through him. She was back, she was safe and she was here with him again.

  Chapter 3

  “Dad! Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas. Surprise!” Janelle called out as she opened the door to her father’s office.

  She stopped, stunned, and shook her head. She could not believe what she was seeing. Her heart lurched. This was impossible. A small gasp escaped her lips.

  As he looked up at her, his eyes narrowed, holding her still. He appeared just as stunned and confused as she was. She stood there for what seemed like forever, her questioning eyes cemented to a face she hadn’t seen in more than two years.

  He was still as handsome as ever. Surprisingly, he was clean-shaven now, without the always perfectly cut goatee he’d had years ago. He was casually attired, having removed his jacket, but even so, he was still perfectly styled. Impressively tall with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he wore a dark dress shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, with a loosened tie. His sleeves were rolled up, baring the strong solid strength of his arms.

  Seeing Tyson Croft sitting at her father’s desk was like pouring salt into a healing wound. For her own sake, she had long ago released the anger and the pain she had felt when he’d left. She had moved on, was over him and had never been happier with her life than she was now.

  But now, for some reason, a sudden rush of emotion she’d long ago set aside began to envelop her. The hurt was still there. Janelle realized that she had never quite sealed that door. She watched as his gaze eased down her body, then came up and steadied on her face.

  “Janelle,” he whispered softly.

  The eerie misplaced feeling of seeing something or someone who didn’t belong in a familiar location stunned her to silence. She swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the impossibly huge lump in her throat. How was this possible? How could the last man on earth she ever wanted to see again be sitting there, staring straight at her?

  Then it hit her. The diagnosis was obvious. Among the plethora of symptoms for extreme exhaustion and jet lag was hallucinations. That had to be it. She smiled at the absurdity of her mind’s twisted sense of humor. She had been thinking about Tyson a lot lately and her subconscious had tuned in, so of course, here he was.

  Then the fabricated image slowly stood. “Hello, Janelle,” it said, smiling cautiously.

  Wow. This specter was amazing. It seemed so real, so much like Tyson, who was exactly the same as she remembered...same deep soul-stirring voice, same knee-buckling smile and same drop-dead-gorgeous body.

  She gazed at the face she knew so well. He was still handsome with keen angular lines and dark sexy bedroom eyes framed with long curly lashes. High cheekbones added to his classic features and his mouth was bowed just right with perfect fullness, his lips soft, firm and always so damn kissable. He was a confident man who had wealth and power. In all respects he was everything any woman could ever want and then some. She shook her head again. Even when he appeared as an illusion, the lean perfection of his body made her stomach flutter. She stared, unable to look away. Why did this vision have to be of him? She watched as his lips moved.

  Then he smiled and suddenly everything seemed all too real. A few seconds passed. It really was Tyson Croft standing there.

  “Janelle, you’re here,” he said happily. “You...you look—”

  “Tyson,” she said quietly, releasing a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

  “Yes, it’s me,” he said softly. “God, it’s so good to see you. Your father and I were so worried about you.” He paused. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

  Speechless, she nodded her head slowly.

  “Good. Well, welcome home. You look exhausted.”

  Fate has a wicked sense of humor, Janelle thought to herself. It had taken her two years to get over the anger and pain of not having him in her life. Now here he was all over again. “What are you doing in my father’s office?” she asked, looking around the room. “Where is my father?”

  “Ben stepped out. He’ll be back in a few minutes.” He smiled, concern still shadowing his face. “Janelle, you have no idea how relieved I am to see you. When you called earlier, we were...” He paused. “I’m just glad you’re home safe,” he said, staring at her. “Are you going to scowl at me all night?”

  “Probably. Answer my question, Tyson. What are you doing here?”

  He looked down. “I’m working.”

  She scoffed. “What do you mean? My father would never agree to have you working here.”

  “I am. I’m working with your father.”

  She shook her head. “No, that’s impossible.” She boldly moved to the center of the room.

  “Nonetheless, here I am,” he said, gesturing around the office. “Your father said you were still in Africa. When did you get back?” Tyson talked as though nothing had ever happened between them, as if he had never walked out on her and their life together. He came from behind the desk toward her, talking, but she didn’t hear what he said.

 
She looked at him, astonished. The audacity of his presumption was mind-boggling. But that was typical Tyson—totally arrogant and completely self-absorbed. The world revolved solely around him. How dare he presume he had the right to comment on her looks, on her life, as though what had happened between them had never happened?

  “No. No,” she said, seething with anger and holding her hand up to silence him. “You don’t get to just come up in here and chat with me like there’s nothing between us.”

  His expression instantly changed. “Janelle, I know you’re probably still angry and upset, and you have every right to be.”

  “I’m not. I got over that a long time ago.”

  He shook his head. “You’re angry, trust me,” he said.

  “How dare you?” She smiled and chuckled.

  “Janelle...” Tyson began.

  “Don’t ‘Janelle’ me!”

  “I understand your feelings. I just need you to know that I...” He paused.

  “That you what?” she said slowly. “Tell me—what could you possibly say to me that would change what happened between us? You see, silly me, I believed you back then. I believed in you, and you turned your back on me. So, no, sorry, I’m not that naive person anymore. You tore my life apart once before, but never again. You walked out on me. You don’t get to just walk back into my life now like it was no big deal. Like I said, I got over you a long time ago.”

  He nodded slowly and lowered his head. “Why don’t you just ask me what you really want to?” he said softly. When he looked back up at her, his eyes were piercing. “How could I leave you?”

  She looked at him, hurt. All of a sudden the old pain became fresh again. With one question, it had all come back. Yes, she’d wondered about the answer to that one question, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of asking what it was. She had vowed a long time ago that he would never affect her again. But right now, just seeing him standing there, brought up feelings she had thought long buried.