A Heartwarming Christmas: A Boxed Set of Twelve Sweet Holiday Romances

by Melinda Curtis

  “No, Rex! Stop!”

  The cat certainly didn’t believe Rex had any intention of obeying Julianna’s command and wasn’t about to sit around while she failed reining in the beasts. He hissed before heading straight up the large elm in front of the house. The pack of dogs circled the tree, barking like mad. Rex put his giant paws on the trunk but couldn’t reach high enough to get at the cat.

  Julianna tried to untwist the tangled leashes, but it was next to impossible. She scooped up Chi Chi the Chihuahua, the smallest of the crew. At least one of them could be subdued.

  When had dog walking become more stressful than medical school? What Julianna wouldn’t give to go back in time and make a very different decision when Gavin asked her to quit school and move to New York with him two and a half years ago. Gavin was dashing and edgy. He could recite poetry from memory and played guitar.

  Sweet Dorothy appeared, presumably to find out what was causing such a ruckus on her front lawn this fine Christmas Eve morning. The jacket she had grabbed on her way out was most definitely her husband’s and couldn’t hide the fact that she was still in her nightgown. She wore no makeup and the left side of her hair was matted down. Even in her disheveled state, it didn’t take her long to realize her cat was in mortal danger.

  “Pumpkin!”

  Julianna cringed. She had hoped to get the dogs out of there before either Dorothy or Harold had to come looking. She wanted to get to her next job before all of Christmas Town was in the square, preparing for the pageant.

  “I’m really sorry, Dorothy. Rex spotted Pumpkin before I did or I would have crossed the street.”

  “Well, you have to help me get him out of there. He can climb up, but he can’t climb down.”

  Julianna’s gaze followed the thick trunk up, up, up to where Pumpkin had precariously positioned himself in the crook of two branches. She swallowed hard. Heights were not something she handled well. Her heart began to beat like she had run the hundred-yard dash.

  “You want me to go get him?” Julianna asked, her throat already tight.

  “Well, I can’t climb it. I’m seventy years old and in my husband’s galoshes!”

  “Maybe if I get the dogs out of here, he’ll come down on his own.” She knew that was wishful thinking.

  Dorothy shook her white-haired head. “You have to get him or he’ll be stuck up there forever.” She cupped her mouth with her hand and yelled up to the cat, “We’re going to get you, sweetheart! Hang on!”

  “The dogs are really riled up,” Julianna tried. “I can’t -”

  “Rex, sit!” Dorothy commanded. Without hesitation, Rex sat and stared up at the old woman, waiting for her next instruction. The other three dogs, including Mabel, quickly followed suit. “Stay and be quiet.”

  Julianna rubbed her eyes to be sure what she’d witnessed really happened. She scowled at Mabel for being such a traitor. Dorothy took Chi Chi from her and set him on the ground. He obediently sat like the others.

  “Go on,” Dorothy said. “They’ll behave until you get him down. I really do appreciate this. You’ll be my Christmas hero.”

  Julianna didn’t want to be anyone’s hero. She wanted to finish her walk and get these dogs back home before they got her in any more trouble. The last thing she wanted was to climb a tree, but there didn’t appear to be any way out of this.

  She carefully unwrapped her scarf from her neck—she certainly didn't want that to get tangled in the leafless branches—and handed it to Dorothy. With a deep breath, she began her ascent. Mabel stood up, her head cocked to the side as she watched her owner climb to her possible death. Now she cared.

  “It’s okay, Pumpkin," Dorothy reassured the cat. “Julianna is on her way. She’s going to save you, sweet pea.”

  Pumpkin didn't appear too concerned. He seemed to feel the tree was the safest place for him at the moment unlike Julianna, who feared if she fell, all the money she’d been saving to get her own apartment would be lost on medical bills.

  She reached the highest she could without having a complete panic attack, but still found herself beneath the cat. The sunlight flooded through the branches, causing Julianna to squint and narrowing her field of vision that had already become a little fuzzy as the anxiety settled in. She tried coaxing him to jump down to her.

  “Come here, Pumpkin. I’ll catch you. I promise. Be a good cat. Come on.”

  Dorothy shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand. “You’ve got to go higher and grab him!” she yelled up from the safety of solid ground.

  Julianna didn’t have the luxury of being able to do anything with her hands other than hold on for dear life. Her mittens weren’t the best for gripping, but she didn’t dare take them off. The morning air was cold and the branches were rough.

  “Please, Pumpkin. I'm begging you. Give a girl a break. It’s Christmas.”

  Pumpkin was unmoved by the plea. If he would just meet her halfway… Julianna set her foot a little higher on the large branch to her left and used it to push herself up to the next one.

  As she reached up, her mitten snagged on a broken twig and slipped off. Julianna lost her balance for a second and screamed. The sound must have startled Pumpkin who used Julianna’s body as a scratching post as he scurried down and into Dorothy's waiting arms.

  Julianna hugged the tree like a koala, her heart pounding in her chest. The cat was safe but that did nothing to stop the panic attack from coming. The ground moved as if she was looking through a lens zooming in and out. Julianna clutched the trunk tighter and squeezed her eyes shut. She was never getting down. Her grandfather would have to bring her Christmas presents here because this was where she was going to be spending the rest of her life.

  She could hear voices but not what they were saying. Her body trembled and the temperature rose a thousand degrees. How could it be so hot in the middle of the winter? She would have taken off her jacket if not for the death grip she currently had on the tree.

  A voice broke through her racing thoughts. “Jules, do you need us to call 9-1-1?” It sounded like Mrs. Pennington. “I think we should call 9-1-1.”

  “Oh, nonsense!” Dorothy said. “Julianna, come on down.”

  “I-I-I can’t! I’m going to die up here!” Julianna closed her eyes tighter and tried to breathe. It wasn’t long before she heard sirens. When she finally got the nerve to take a peek, Christmas Town’s fire engine was parked right in front of the Langs’ house. Julianna could see the top of it. She clamped her eyes shut again.

  Was the tree moving? The tree was definitely moving. Every nerve in Julianna’s body was shot.

  “Is this branch taken?”

  Julianna opened one eye and then the other. Rick Fisher had been in Julianna’s graduation class. His family lived down the street from hers. The two of them hadn’t run in the same crowd but had always been friendly to one another.

  “I heard you’re having a little trouble getting down. Maybe I can help you with that?” Rick asked with a reassuring smile.

  “I can’t,” Julianna said.

  “Sure you can. I’ll help you. We’re going to take it real easy. One step at a time.” His voice was so soothing. He also had those trademark Fisher green eyes. They were so pretty she almost forgot she was in a tree.

  Growing up, Julianna had had the biggest crush on the eldest Fisher, Ben. He always had his nose in a book and had this way of talking that made him sound like a college professor even when he was in grade school. All the other girls her age were in love with Rick, which may have been the only reason Julianna wasn’t.

  “I can’t afford to fall,” she said, afraid of what one misstep would cost her.

  “I won’t let you.” Rick had always been the “perfect guy.” He had excellent manners and good hair. He was patient, never lost his cool. It also didn’t hurt that he had the face of an angel and the body of a superhero. Slowly but surely he guided her down the tree. “Just keep your eyes on me, okay? Don’t look down. That’s what will sc
are you.”

  This was probably true, but what frightened her more was how she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from his.

  Chapter 2

  “You did it.” Rick hopped down and placed his hands on Julianna’s hips to support her as she dropped safely to the ground.

  Julianna Kramer was as adorable as ever. Maybe it was the way she always had a little braid or twist in her blonde hair or the fact that she had the cutest nose of anyone in all of Christmas Town. There had always been something about Julianna that made Rick smile. Getting stuck in Mrs. Lang’s elm tree was a new one.

  “With your help,” she said, her gaze falling to her feet.

  He wanted to lift her chin, make her bring those brown eyes back where he could see them, but the crew was all watching and lieutenants who wanted to be captain so they could someday be chief didn’t sweep damsels in distress off their feet. “All I did was offer a little bit of distraction. You were more than capable of getting down.”

  “You’re just being nice,” she said with a heavy sigh. She needed some cheering up and quick.

  “Come on, you think you’re the first person to get stuck in a tree?” Rick asked with a grin. “It happens all the time.”

  “It does?” She looked skeptical and rightly so.

  Rick noticed his buddy Tanner smirking instead of packing up. It was time to get everyone back on track. “No,” he replied honestly, leading her to the truck to sign off on some paperwork. “But exactly one year ago, we had to rescue someone from inside his chimney.”

  “Seriously?”

  He held a hand up like he was taking an oath. “No joke this time, I swear. I won’t name names, but a certain someone wanted to prove to his kids that Santa Claus was real, so his plan was to dress the part, climb up on the roof, and have a neighbor take a picture.”

  “Sounds simple enough.”

  “Should have been,” Gary Kiplin said, butting in. He was the size of a small mountain and drove the truck.

  “He decided it would make for a better picture if he bent over and stuck his head inside the chimney like he was going in,” Tanner added.

  Julianna cringed. “Oh, no.”

  Rick positioned himself between Julianna and the other guys. “Why don’t you two make sure everything is ready to go. We’ve got lots to do today back at the station.” Tanner and Gary took the hint and got back to business.

  “So what happened?” Julianna asked.

  When he faced her, he noticed a small rip on the arm of her jacket and one of her mittens had a snag. He had promised to get her down in one piece. Her clothes were another story.

  “Well, he got a little carried away and ended up slipping in farther than he wanted. He was wedged in there so tight, I’m still amazed we got him out without demolishing the whole chimney. His entire upper body ended up covered in soot. He looked like a Santa who had been trapped in the coal mine for naughty boys and girls.”

  Julianna laughed and the pack of dogs began to bark, pulling her attention away. She thanked Mrs. Pennington as she took the leashes from her and then apologized profusely to Mrs. Lang.

  “I thought we were going, Lieutenant,” Gary said, hanging his giant head out the driver’s side window.

  “Yeah, you keep staring at her like that and she might sic her dogs on you,” Tanner teased.

  Rick pointed at the truck’s jump seats; no words were needed. Tanner got in the truck while Rick made sure all the equipment was secured. His authority rested on the guys seeing his hard work and dedication to the job. He had to be the best of the best so no one questioned why the chief’s son was moving up the ranks so quickly.

  Julianna was interesting, though. She was the kind of woman who knitted her own mittens and listened to alternative music. She had once purposely dyed her hair blue. She dated guys with facial hair who wore beanies and scarves no matter what the weather was like outside. Julianna was a hipster before Rick knew what a hipster was.

  Tanner laughed to himself as Rick strapped himself in next to him. “It’s a good thing you didn’t break a nail up there and need to take the day off like Josh. We know how fragile you Fisher boys are.”

  Rick’s brother was a member of the rescue squad but sprained his wrist yesterday, helping out at the ice skating pond of all things. People didn’t call him Crash for nothing.

  “I’d be careful, Tanner. Giving your lieutenant a hard time is going to land you on Santa’s Naughty List,” Rick warned.

  “Well, not all of us can be at the top of the Good List like you,” Julianna said, approaching the truck with her dogs in tow. “Thanks again for the save. Your eagle scoutmaster would be proud.”

  Everyone liked to give him a hard time for his straight arrow ways. Rick was proud of being an Eagle Scout. He certainly wasn’t ashamed of being someone who played by the rules. Other people should try it before they knocked it.

  “I’m sure he would. Have a merry Christmas, Jules.”

  “Merry Christmas to you, too.”

  The truck lurched forward and headed back to the station. Rick only had to work half the shift today. He was supposed to have the whole day off, but Josh’s accident had left the house shorthanded. Rick and another firefighter were splitting Josh’s shift. The good news was that meant Josh would be at their parents’ house tonight. The bad news was that left Rick with less time to get things done.

  There was still a lot to do before the holiday could really begin. He was in charge of picking up a Christmas tree and getting it set up at his parents’ house before the annual Fisher Family Tree Trimming took place. For the first time in three years, the whole family was going to be there. Ben had arrived home a couple days early and Rick knew his parents were over the moon.

  Every Christmas Eve, the Fishers decorated the family tree before exchanging gifts and heading to midnight mass. They drank eggnog and listened to their mom’s old Christmas albums on a record player that somehow still worked after all these years. His dad would sing along from his chair while the rest of them hung ornaments that each told a story about one of the boys. There was the red bicycle marking the time Josh tried (and failed) to jump his bike over Reindeer River and the telescope ornament representing Ben’s science obsession during middle school. Rick’s favorite was the old-fashioned fire truck.

  Rick had wanted to be a firefighter like his father for as long as he could remember. He wanted to be chief even more, which meant he had to work harder than every other firefighter at the house. Rick didn’t want anyone to doubt that he earned everything he got.

  The truck passed by the town square, already bustling with activity this early in the morning. Soon it would be filled with people there to watch the pageant, to kiss under the mistletoe in the gazebo, and to see Santa and his horse-drawn sleigh. The garland stretching across the road had a dusting of snow that added to the Christmassy atmosphere. If things were quiet at the firehouse, maybe they could take the truck around the square and pass out some candy canes to the kids.

  Captain Peters was waiting for them when they returned. The man was ten years older than Rick’s father and a few months away from retirement. “Your brother sounded a little desperate,” he said, handing Rick a note with Call Ben ASAP scribbled across the paper.

  Rick grabbed his phone from his locker and noticed a bunch of missed calls and a text message from Ben as well.

  I’m not feeling very merry.

  Sometimes his brother could be a little melodramatic. This was the first Christmas Ben had been home for in three years. Los Angeles and California’s year-round warmth and sunshine had lured him away so easily. Rick guessed his sour mood had something to do with the extraordinary gift Ben wanted to give their dad this year. The hunt for Christmas Town’s original firehouse bell had been more challenging than Ben ever expected. It wasn’t something he could pick up at a store like Dockery’s, the local department store.

  Bell or no bell, this Christmas would be everything his mother wanted it to be as lon
g as Rick had anything to say about it. He’d already told Josh he was not allowed to mope around because of his injury. All three boys were home and they were all going to be in filled with the Christmas spirit whether they liked it or not. Ben would find his jolly even if he didn’t find the bell.

  His brother didn’t answer when Rick called back, so he left a message encouraging him to sharpen up his acting skills. He didn’t have to feel merry to act like it.

  “Hey, Fisher,” Tanner popped his head in the locker room. “Can I get a hand? Nobody else around here seems to care that our string of Christmas lights has a bum bulb somewhere in the middle. We can’t be the only building on the block without working lights.”

  Disappointed in himself for not noticing the lights were out, Rick put his phone back in his locker and went to fix what needed fixing. Tanner already had the ladder set up outside. He plugged in the lights so they could see where the burned out bulbs were.

  “I thought we bought the kind that stayed lit even if one went out,” Rick said as he counted twelve unlit bulbs in a row.

  “Maybe they’re all out,” Tanner said. He pulled his navy blue knit hat down over his ears, but it couldn’t contain his curls. They stuck out around the bottom like blond trim. His clean shaven face made him look like he did in high school. Tanner was the house’s reformed ladies’ man. Someone had finally convinced him to take himself off the market and to shave the beard he’d had for the last five years.

  “Only one way to find out. I’ll go up,” Rick offered.

  “That’s my future chief, always willing to go the extra mile.” Tanner handed him a pack of spare bulbs and held the ladder to steady it. “I hope you let me be captain when you take over.”

  “You have to be lieutenant before I can make you a captain,” Rick reminded him. “That means taking the test.” Tanner was scared to death of failing the lieutenant’s exam. He’d put off taking it twice now.

  Tanner was quick to change the subject. “Boy, Julianna Kramer sure looks great.”