THE NIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

by Vicky Lewis Thompson

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  THE NIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

  Vicki Lewis Thompson

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  Contents:

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

  Epilogue

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  Chapter 1

  ^»

  "Suzanne, you need a rebound guy." Terri Edwards took a swig from her water bottle without breaking stride on the treadmill next to Suzanne's. She was in fabulous shape, which allowed her to converse normally.

  Suzanne definitely could not converse normally, and holding her water bottle was out of the question. She could barely stay upright on the relentless monster, let alone form sentences. "A … rebound … guy?" She'd never have guessed a treadmill could be such a challenge, or that weight-lifting machines could be so … heavy.

  The gym had looked impressive when she walked in, with its bright lights, cheery colors and the aroma of good honest sweat coming from dedicated folks wearing spandex and headbands. Besides, they'd had the cutest Christmas tree sitting on the sign-in desk. Suzanne had no idea where they'd found miniature barbells and jogging shoes for the decorations, but she'd been captivated. To top it off, her favorite Christmas song, "Carol of the Bells," had poured from the sound system, right on cue.

  She'd taken it as a sign, and with Terri's encouragement, she'd put her name and her Visa card on the dotted line. Joining a health club had seemed like a good idea an hour ago. Exercise lifted the spirits, or so she'd heard.

  "A rebound guy," Terri repeated. "Great body, not into commitment, somebody you wouldn't think of dating under normal circumstances. With a guy like that in your life for a few weeks, you'll soon be over Jared."

  "I am … over Jared." She tripped and grabbed onto the rail for dear life. "I just … have … too much … free time."

  Terri glanced at her. "You're walking on a slant there, babe. Pretty soon you'll be horizontal. Better get your feet under you."

  "Right." She gritted her teeth and scrambled to catch up with the moving belt. Then she went too far and had to backpedal so she wouldn't fall on her butt.

  "Let's take five." Terri leaned over and turned off Suzanne's treadmill.

  "Thank you." Suzanne hung on the rail and panted as the sound system belted out "Jingle Bell Rock." The unrelenting cheer was getting on her nerves. "Thank you for saving my life." She gazed over at Terri. "Did I ever tell you I hate escalators, too? And those moving sidewalks at O'Hare give me hives. I'm not cut out for the gym. Terri. Nice thought, but I'm ready to retire my spandex and take up stamp collecting."

  "Nonsense. It's your first day. Besides, you're already paid up for a year. Come on, we'll get something at the juice bar and then take a turn on the stair-climbers."

  The juice bar sounded excellent. A real honest-to-goodness bar sounded even better. Hot coffee laced with Baileys and she'd be a happy woman. She stepped off the treadmill with caution, but even so, the ground seemed to be moving when she tried to walk.

  "You forgot your water bottle and your towel." Terri draped the towel around Suzanne's neck and put the water bottle in her hand before guiding her over to a stool at the juice bar. "I guess you weren't kidding when you said you'd never been in a gym before."

  Suzanne shook her head. "Nope, wasn't kidding."

  "How do you keep from getting fat? No, don't answer that. You're one of those high-metabolism types I love to hate, and I don't even want to hear about it."

  "I guess." Suzanne eased onto the stool. Her whole body still vibrated.

  "I ate two rum balls at the office Christmas party last night, and if I don't put in an extra ten minutes on the stair-climbers, those rum balls will go straight to my hips." Terri hopped on the stool next to Suzanne's. "Get the mango-strawberry madness. It's terrific."

  Suzanne ordered the mango-strawberry madness, and discovered it wasn't bad, but a Baileys and coffee would have been ten times better. She tried not to think of the money she'd shelled out for a year's membership at this torture club. She planned to spend two days downstate with her mother over Christmas, which was three weeks away. She hadn't been looking forward to the visit, but now it gave her a legitimate excuse to skip an evening at the gym.

  Terri patted her arm. "Don't worry. You'll get into the swing of it. And even if you don't need the exercise to lose weight, you'll feel tons better once you're used to moving your body more. Deep breathing does so much for stress and anxiety, believe me. Desk jobs are not good for our health."

  "Being in this gym with all these machines produces stress and anxiety in me," Suzanne said. "Maybe I'll get back into coin collecting. I used to love that as a kid. Somewhere in my storage unit I should still have the—"

  Terri groaned and dropped her head to the counter.

  "What? I'm talking about a perfectly acceptable hobby here. Lots of people are into it these days, with the new quarters coming out In fact, I've even started saving them."

  Raising her head, Terri gazed at Suzanne. "You do not need a hobby. You need a man."

  Sure enough, the concept made her stomach tighten, as it had ever since Jared's departure. "I'll get one of those, too, sooner or later. Right now I'd rather look for quarters."

  "How will you ever get a man at the rate you're going? It's been six months, and you refuse to let anybody fix you up. More than that, you walk around with this do-not-touch attitude that would warn off any guy but the terminally obtuse. I say you're gun-shy."

  Suzanne opened her mouth to object.

  "I don't blame you," Terri continued. "Jared wasn't very sensitive about the breakup."

  "If you're referring to his comment that I'm an anal-retentive ice queen, I guess you could say that." Suzanne had taught herself to repeat the phrase with a smile to show that she wasn't bothered by it anymore. Which, of course, she was.

  "That comment only reveals Jared's insecurities," Terri said.

  "Absolutely." And hers, she thought. In the year she was with Jared she'd never been able to get into his rhythm. Her struggle to keep up with Jared's expectations had been a lot like trying to keep up with the treadmill tonight Jared belonged to a gym like this one. He liked loud parties, action-adventure movies and marathon sex.

  They'd never been right for each other, but he'd convinced her that they would be once she learned to loosen up. She'd never learned. Having him gone was a relief, which told her that she'd never really loved him, just the idea of being in love.

  But she missed little things, like the scent of his aftershave in the bathroom, the rumble of male laughter, the comfort of cuddling on the couch. Jared hadn't been much for that, but he'd managed it on a few rainy afternoons.

  Terri stirred her rosy drink with a straw. When she spoke, her tone was careful. "Have you ever heard anybody in our apartment building mention Greg?"

  "The handyman? What kind of mention?"

  "I mean, like, mention."

  "Uh, no." Whenever she thought of the handyman, she always felt a thrill of forbidden pleasure. Her first glimpse of him shortly after moving in had sent a jolt of sexual awareness through her. She'd never had that kind of reaction to a man before.

  Since then she indulged in a secret fantasy life with Greg, and that was so unlike her. Even when she'd become involved with Jared, she'd sometimes pretended that he was Greg. She'd had more than one X-rated dream about him, and lately they'd become more frequent. But she had no intention of acting on those dreams. She wasn't the type to make the first move.

  "You think I should go out with the handyman?" As if she could work up the nerve to ask him. Not in a million years.

  "Not go out, exactly." Terri studied her. Then she lowered her
voice. "You have to promise to keep what I tell you absolutely confidential Greg's a nice guy, and he'd lose his job if his boss heard about it."

  "Heard about what?" A shiver of anticipation ran through her. Her latest dream had been the hottest one yet. They'd been in the shower…

  "Remember when I had that nasty breakup with Lenny?"

  Suzanne brought her attention back to the conversation. "Look, I agree you bounced back from that faster than I'm recovering from Jared, but it's not the same—"

  "I have Greg to thank for that miraculous rebound," Terri said.

  "You do?" The shiver became a delirious tingle in her belly. She'd assumed that Greg had a girlfriend. Anybody that good-looking was bound to be taken.

  "Keep your voice down." Terri leaned closer. "Jennifer, up in 24C, let me in on the secret. It seems that Greg specializes in mending the broken hearts of the career girls in our building."

  "You mean…?" So he wasn't taken. Instead, he was something of a Casanova, which was disappointing. He looked more like a one-woman kind of guy. In her dreams, he'd vowed to love only her.

  "I certainly do mean," Terri said. "He's great, Suzanne. The perfect rebound man. He's gorgeous and understanding, plus he knows a relationship will never go anywhere considering the big difference in lifestyles. He seems to like it that way."

  "That's totally amazing." She would never have the courage to take advantage of the situation and go to bed with Greg, of course. A man with that much experience would intimidate the heck out of her. But knowing about his extracurricular activities put a whole new spin on her fantasies about him. Obviously he wasn't her secret soul mate, which had been a girlish idea in the first place. "It's like an urban legend or something."

  "I know. There's a kind of sisterhood in the building, and we're all sworn to silence, to protect Greg's job. By telling you, I'm letting you into that sisterhood, and you must never, ever say anything unless you're absolutely sure that you've found another woman in our complex who needs Greg's services, someone you consider to be completely trustworthy."

  "I understand. And thanks for trusting me that much."

  "I do, or I wouldn't have said anything. But you have to approach Greg and make it clear that you won't put his job in jeopardy. He will never make the first move, which is understandable. The usual procedure is to ask him to fix something in your apartment, and while he's there, you begin talking about your break-up. He'll take it from there."

  "I can't imagine."

  "Can't you? Don't tell me you haven't noticed the body on that man."

  Suzanne blushed. "Oh, I can imagine that." Actually, her dreams were very explicit, giving her the shape and size of Greg's considerable endowments. "I can't imagine making the first move with him, I mean. Initiating the contact. That's not my strong suit, anyway, and in this case, I barely know the guy." And he was way different from what she'd thought.

  "That's the beauty of it." Terri shoved her empty drink aside. "We're not talking about anything long-term, anyway. A quick repair, and you're on your way."

  "No, I couldn't." It sounded somewhat shallow, yet thrillingly naughty, too. But sexual flings weren't her style. Fantasies were one thing, but turning them into reality led to heartache, like her parents' divorce.

  "You don't know what you're missing," Terri said. "Think about it. This has been going on for at least two or three years, that means Greg's had an intensive course in how to patch up a girl's ego."

  Not to mention his extensive experience in making the rest of her hum like a top. The concept turned Suzanne on, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

  "You'll never hear Greg saying that someone's an anal-retentive ice queen," Terri continued. "I'll vouch for the fact that he's incredibly romantic. I'm guessing he was before, but after hearing about the crummy things guys say and do, he really knows what makes women happy."

  Suzanne looked at her friend with her perky blond ponytail and her red and purple workout clothes. Terri was a take-charge woman if she'd ever seen one. Suzanne, on the other hand, let things come to her. She had to admit that some of the things that came to her weren't always terrific, like Jared, for example. He'd initiated the relationship, probably because of his egotistic belief that he could change her into a sex kitten.

  "It's a good idea, Suzanne," Terri said.

  "You know, I can picture you following through with this, because you go after what you want. But I'm—I'm not that good at putting myself out there."

  Terri gazed at her. "I know, sweetie. That's partly why I suggested the gym. There's nothing passive about it."

  "You are so right, and look at me! I'm miserable, a fish out of water. I don't think this is a quick fix, Terri. I've been a cautious type for a long, long time, which explains why I'm a financial analyst instead of in the sales division with you. But it was great of you to trust me with the information. I promise the secret is safe with me."

  "Listen, you need to break your pattern and latch onto this. You really—"

  "Let's try the stair-climbers." It was a radical way to end the conversation, considering how much she dreaded the stair-climbers, but another round on one of Terri's beloved exercise machines might be the only way they'd table the discussion of Greg, the rebound man.

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  Suzanne managed to survive the stair-climbers and the rowing machine, although her muscles had a little chat with her and promised to punish her for this craziness later. Terri didn't bring up the subject of Greg again until they walked into the lobby of their apartment building.

  In the past, Suzanne had felt reassured whenever she walked into the redbrick complex. Its sturdy, Midwestern architecture and its location near Northwestern University appealed to her more than some of the glass and steel apartments out by Lake Michigan.

  The lobby contained live plants instead of silk, and this time of year, a fresh Christmas tree filled the small area with the scent of pine. The lobby furniture reminded her of the upholstered pieces her parents used to have when she was a kid, before the divorce, back when life had been safe. She'd rented an apartment here because it felt secure, but now that she knew about Greg, that sense of homey security had vanished. In its place was a disturbing undercurrent of unbridled sensuality.

  The idea of unbridled sensuality had always made her nervous. She always assumed that was what had led her father to take up with his young secretary, thus destroying life as Suzanne and her brother, Bill, had known it.

  "Have you given any more thought to what we talked about?" Terri said as they stepped into the elevator.

  "No," Suzanne said. That was a lie. Whenever she hadn't been reviewing the damage she was doing to her poor body, she'd been thinking about Greg and his fascinating sideline.

  "You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't check him out."

  "I'll think about it," she said, more to keep Terri quiet than anything. She had no intention of following through on this hot tip. She'd love to wipe her brain free of the whole concept, but that didn't seem likely, not when this was the most bizarre factoid she'd been given in quite a while.

  Before Terri could continue her infomercial for Greg, the elevator stopped at the third floor and Suzanne got off, gym bag in hand. "See you in the morning, assuming I can still walk."

  "You'll be fine. Soak in those herbal bath salts I gave you for your birthday."

  "I will." Once the elevator door closed, Suzanne allowed herself to sag a little. That workout had been murder, and she no more wanted to go back to the gym in two days than row around Lake Michigan in a dinghy. Come to think of it, rowing around the lake might be easier, even taking into consideration the iced-over parts. And she'd paid good money for this gym madness, which made no sense at all. But she would go back, because once someone had pushed her into an activity the way Terri had with this gym caper, Suzanne tended to hang in for the duration. She might not be much of a self-starter, but once she got going, she was no quitter.

  Soaking in the herbal bath sal
ts was an excellent suggestion, though. She opened her apartment door and locked it carefully behind her. The apartment was as tidy as she'd left it. During her Jared period that rarely had been the case. Besides tossing his things around in a helter-skelter way, a trait she'd struggled to accept, he'd made fun of her Virgo tendency to want everything neat. Now that he was gone and the effects of his overwhelming personality had faded enough to give her some perspective, she realized that his comments had hurt her. Besides, it was her apartment, and she liked being able to find things.

  Jared, whose parents were still married, didn't understand how order comforted her. Her parents' divorce had been messy, with many terrible arguments. Ten years later, her mother still felt a lot of resentment. Suzanne hadn't been able to tidy up any of that, but she could at least keep her surroundings peaceful. To that end, she'd worked hard to decorate this one-bedroom nest of hers. The white-on-white design scheme worked best when it was uncluttered. Her single accent of color was a red velvet pillow set on a diagonal in the middle of her ivory couch.

  The color scheme also worked with her Christmas decorations. For several years she'd waged a quiet battle to reclaim the joy she used to feel during the holidays. She hadn't quite captured it yet, but she wasn't about to give up.

  A three-foot tree sat in a corner on a skirted table. She'd considered white lights and white decorations to go with her furniture, but in the end she'd used multicolored lights and ornaments, much like the ones her parents used when she was growing up. The carved nativity scene on top of her TV cabinet was new this year. She had no idea what had happened to the one her parents used to have, but because her mother got teary-eyed whenever Suzanne brought it up she'd settled for one that resembled the old version she remembered.

  She'd also won a poinsettia at the office Christmas party, and it looked festive on her coffee table. The room had a holiday feel, although nothing like her parents' house used to be this time of year. These days her mother had to be coaxed to even put up a tree.