The Christmas Keeper

by Jenn McKinlay

  “I’m working on it,” Archer said. “In fact, I’m taking Sarah out to dinner, and I’m going to see if I can get her to help spring a trap.”

  “Do you think that’s wise?” Savy asked. “Her loyalties might lie with Linda.”

  “After the fifth crying jag, I decided I could turn her toward the light,” he said. “This isn’t just for you. It’s for the company. We can’t have someone this toxic in-house, but I have to catch her at her game first. She’ll just victimize Sarah like she did you if I don’t.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Just be patient and trust me,” he said.

  “I do,” Savy said. “Really, I do. It’s just . . .”

  “You want to come home,” Archer said. “I get it. Hang tough, Savy. We’ll get you home.”

  “Thanks, Archer.”

  “In the meantime, what are you doing to put your friend’s bookstore on the map?” he asked. “It would help me prove your innocence if I could showcase some amazing publicity you’ve managed.”

  “I have all the usual stuff happening,” Savannah said. “But my one big idea is not working.”

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “I’ve been trying to convince Destiny Swann to come to the bookstore and do a signing,” she said.

  “Destiny Swann?” he asked. “The Destiny Swann?”

  “Yes, she actually lives in this area,” Savy said.

  “But she hasn’t gone out in public in over—”

  “Ten years,” Savannah said. “Yes, I know. Apparently, she retired from public life and I can’t find out anything about why so I don’t know how to coax her back into the world.”

  “How are you trying to draw her out?”

  “So far? Not very successfully,” she admitted. “I’ve tried flowers, chocolates, all the usual stuff, and the other day I sent a balloon-o-gram.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “Did.”

  “You’re crazy—in the most delightful way,” he said. “Clearly, we have to move this thing along a lot faster before you lose your mind completely.”

  “I would appreciate that,” she said. “The rejection is getting a bit depressing.”

  Archer promised to be in touch with any news and she ended the call. She stared out the window, feeling restless. If she was in New York, there’d be something to do. When she’d lived in the city her calendar had been jam-packed with book launches, power lunches, signings, restaurant openings, happy hours, gallery shows, concerts—ugh, she missed her life.

  Oh, she loved having Maisy in her day-to-day life, but Maisy was with Ryder now and there was no room for Savy in their coupledom, which was how it was supposed to be. She stared out the window. It looked quiet out there, but what was the alternative? She didn’t want to sit by herself in her apartment. Frankly, it was lonely.

  She pulled on her coat and hat and decided to take a walk. Maybe she would get some promotion inspiration from all of the Christmas decorations in town. She strolled up the street until she reached the town center. The Fairdale green was massive and bordered by enormous maple trees, now barren of leaves but decked in colorful strings of lights. The gazebo that sat on one end of the square was dazzling, its posts done up in spirals of red and gold ribbon with white lights. The lampposts were festooned with garlands of red and green tinsel and with enormous gold bows on top.

  Savy paused at the corner to take it all in. She remembered coming to the green with Maisy during their college years. Maisy would get excited, like a puppy wagging its tail off, about the holidays, but Savy would feel a cold hard knot form in her belly, knowing that she would be going home soon and dreading it.

  She saw a few kids tearing around the open area. They had on coats and mittens and were running to the far end of the square, where she could see a crowd was gathered. She thought about turning around and heading back the way she had come, but curiosity propelled her forward. Well, that and the smell of cinnamon. She didn’t know what was cooking but it had her salivary glands in overdrive.

  When she approached, she noticed hip-high barricades had been erected in the shape of a large rectangle. Inside was a temporary ice skating rink. Christmas carols were playing, natch, and a large Christmas tree, decorated with ornaments of blue and silver, stood outside one end of the rink. Families were laughing and she watched a little girl, who looked to be about six years old, holding on to her father’s hands while he skated backward and she tried to walk on her skates. She wore a pink hat with a pom-pom the size of her head and the sight of her and how she looked at her dad so adoringly made Savy smile even as it made her heart hurt.

  “Almonds?” a voice asked.

  Savy turned her head to see Joaquin, holding out a paper cone full of warm cinnamon-and-sugar-roasted almonds. “Is that what smells so good?”

  “Yep, the food truck parks over there and sells roasted almonds of all flavors every night the rink is open,” he said. He pointed and Savy glanced over at the truck. The side read SACK O’ NUTS. Charming. The line was ten deep. She wasn’t surprised. Despite the unfortunate name, it smelled like heaven.

  He shook the bag, bringing her attention back to him. He held out the cone and she took a couple of almonds. “Thanks.”

  He looked at her with a frown, then he took her free hand and poured a fistful of almonds into her open hand.

  “Whoa, no,” she said. “I don’t want to take all your nuts.” She glanced up at him and he was laughing. “That sounded pervy, didn’t it?”

  “Only if you have a mind in the gutter,” he said. “Which I totally do.”

  She laughed and tried to hand him back some of the almonds. He shook her off.

  “Eat up,” he said. “You’re going to need your strength. We’re going ice skating.”

  He dropped two pairs of skates at her feet. She looked from the skates to him and back at the skates. She didn’t know what to say. She had loved ice skating for so long, but like so many losses in her life, she’d had to let it go.

  “I haven’t skated in years,” she said. “This could be a catastrophe.”

  “It’s like riding a bike,” he said. He upended the paper cone and finished off his almonds. While he chewed he appeared to consider his statement. Then he swallowed and said, “Actually, it’s nothing at all like riding a bike. What a horrible analogy.”

  “Did you rent those skates after you saw me?” she asked. “Or do you just carry around—” She paused to pick up one of the skates and check the size. “A pair of size-nine skates, hoping you’ll get lucky?”

  “That would be a helluva pickup line, wouldn’t it?” he asked. He grinned and said in a smarmy voice, “Hey, baby, your rink or mine?”

  Savy laughed and shoved him playfully. “Tell the truth.”

  “Okay, here is my tale of woe,” he said. “It’s a part of my family’s holiday tradition to be here on the night the rink opens, but my family is off doing other things, so when I saw you standing here I thought maybe you’d want to skate with me.”

  Savy studied him. His expression was suddenly vulnerable and she wondered if he and Desi had had an argument. Given Joaquin’s love of all things Christmas, she wasn’t surprised that the deviation from the tradition was making him low. She surprised herself by using her free hand to grab the smaller pair of skates off the ground. Thankfully, nine was her size.

  “Well, come on, then,” she said.

  She chomped on her almonds while she led the way to one of the park benches. He sat beside her as she kicked off her shoes and began to lace her skates. The muscle memory of exactly how many times she looped them around her ankles and the tightness she preferred in the laces came back to her as if she hadn’t gone years without skates on her feet.

  “Ready?” he asked. He tested the laces on his skates before standing.

  “Yea
h,” she said. The almonds were suddenly sitting in her stomach like stones. What if this outing brought back all the grief? She hadn’t allowed herself onto the ice in years because she was afraid the heartbreak would crush her.

  But there was Joaquin, holding his hand out, and to her surprise she put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. Together they walked to the rink, getting in line to enter. Once on the rubber mat they took off their skate guards and Joaquin stuffed them into a cubbyhole to pick up later when they were done. The frigid air above the ice was so familiar. It made Savy’s heart lift as it welcomed her back into its cold embrace.

  Joaquin stepped onto the ice first. He glided a few feet out and turned to wait for her. Savy took a deep breath and stepped onto the ice. She glided to a stop right beside him. He held out his hand and it was the most natural thing in the world to take it. Together they pushed off and began to skate with the crowd, which moved in a staggered pace around the rink as the new skaters mixed in with the more experienced ones.

  “You’re pretty good,” she said to him.

  “I used to play hockey,” he said. “I lack finesse but I get where I want to go. You’re not so bad yourself.”

  He was making long passes, expertly riding on one blade and then the other with little to no effort. Since they were both tall, they were well matched and Savy was comfortable keeping up with him.

  She wasn’t sure what got into her. Maybe it was the way he looked with his dark hair and eyes gleaming under the overhead lights, or perhaps it was the Nutcracker music that was being piped in over the laughter and chatter of the crowd, but suddenly Savy wanted him to see her, really see her and who she once was. She broke away from him and skated into the center of the rink, which was reserved for the daredevils, the people who wanted to jump and spin and risk crashing onto the hard ice.

  Savannah started to pump her legs in the old familiar rhythm. The crowd around her became a blur as she picked up speed and she spun so that she was skating backward. She heard a gasp as she began to build up more speed, feeling the euphoria she had only ever felt on the ice. It was the closest thing to flying she’d ever known and her heart felt as if it would lift right out of her chest with the joy of it.

  She felt the crowd back up to get out of her way as she sped by. Feeling as if she were a tightly coiled spring, she waited until the ice and her skates felt just right and then she dug in her toe and kicked off the ice up into the air, twining her arms about herself for one spin and then a second before landing on her blade. She bobbled but caught herself without falling and glided right out of the spin and back to Joaquin’s side.

  His eyes were enormous, and he shouted, “That was amazing!”

  He began to clap and the crowded rink began to clap as well. Savy felt her face get hot but she executed a small bow and then waved at everyone just as she had been trained to do during all her years of competition.

  “Hey, lady, do it again,” the little girl she’d seen earlier in the pink hat demanded.

  Savy looked at Joaquin. He waved for her to go, so she did. She danced her way across the ice with some fancy footwork and then she did some jumps and twirls and ended with a spin that left her dizzy and out of breath. She was out of practice. She could feel the muscles she hadn’t used in years begin to protest.

  She gave another bow to the cheers and applause and then rejoined Joaquin, who was lounging on the side of the rink. He was looking at her with pride, as if he was delighted by her performance, and it was a balm to her injured soul.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’m not trying to show off. It’s been a long time since I’ve skated, and I think I got a little carried away.”

  “Don’t say you’re sorry,” he said. He took her hand in his and they joined the crowd as they moved around the ice. “That was the most incredible thing this sad little rink has ever seen. I am in awe.”

  “I’ve missed it,” she said. She glanced around the rink. Why had she stayed away so long? “More than I realized.”

  “Red, if I could do that, I’d be out here every day. Hell, I’d charge people tickets to watch me,” he said. “How did you learn to skate like that?”

  “Nine years of lessons,” she said. “I wanted to be an Olympic athlete, an ice skater, more than anything in the world.”

  He must have heard the note of heartbreak in her voice because he watched her face intently when he asked, “What happened?”

  “When I was thirteen, my father decided it was time for me to quit. At my annual physical, the team doctor told him I was going to be too tall to continue in the sport with any more success than I’d already achieved, so that was it. My father had me take up volleyball instead.”

  “What?” Joaquin looked dumbstruck. Savannah imagined that was exactly how she’d looked when her father fired her coach.

  “It sounds harsh, but he was right. The average height for figure skaters is five feet two inches,” she said. “I’m five-ten. There was no way I was ever going to be able to compete on the national or global stage at this height. It would have been a waste of time and money for me to continue.”

  She tried to keep her tone light so as not to make a big deal out of something that had happened sixteen years ago, but Quino was not having it.

  “That’s total bullshit,” he said. “So what if you were going to be too tall? You loved it and you have no idea what you might have achieved if you’d been allowed to keep pursuing your dream.”

  Savy shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal.” Which was a lie, because to her thirteen-year-old self it had been a very big deal indeed.

  “I disagree,” he said. “A person should be allowed to pursue their dreams no matter—”

  He stopped abruptly and Savannah looked at him. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said. He shook his head as if shaking off his bad mood. He glanced at her and squeezed her fingers with his. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

  “I got over it,” she said. “Eventually.”

  He laughed. It hit her then that she liked this guy, genuinely liked him, even if he did love Christmas more than any other man she’d ever met. They skated in silence for a while, watching the other skaters as they glided by them. They even got fancy a time or two and Joaquin spun her under his arm and pulled her back, tucking her into his side. She tried not to focus on how safe she felt up against him, as if with him beside her, all of the wounds she’d accumulated over the years couldn’t hurt her anymore. But, of course, that was ridiculous.

  When a voice came over the public address that the rink would be closing, Savy realized with a sigh that she could have skated beside him all night. She felt as if he’d given something back to her, something she hadn’t known was missing. They made for the exit of the rink, which was a garland-festooned archway. Savannah gasped when they moved directly underneath it. Joaquin glanced at her as if he thought she’d hurt herself.

  “You all right?”

  She nodded and pointed up. “Mistletoe.”

  He went to look up, but she grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and pulled him down. Then she kissed him. It was supposed to be a thank-you kiss. Swift and sweet, the soft press of her mouth against his, to let him know how grateful she was that tonight had happened, that she’d found a part of herself that she’d thought was lost forever. But the awareness that always snapped between them overrode her good intentions and she kissed him longer than she meant to.

  A nudge to her back as someone tried to scoot around them made her break off the kiss. Joaquin stared at her as if she’d managed to rattle his brain loose with that lip-lock. Savy smiled. Then he looked up and her secret was out.

  He grinned at her and said, “There’s no mistletoe up there.”

  “Really?” she asked. She squinted up at the garland. “Huh, I could have sworn there was.”

  Then she turned and walked over t
o where they had stowed their skate guards. She grabbed hers and handed his to him. She tried to ignore the awareness of him when their hands brushed, but all she could see and feel was Quino.

  “I’m onto you, Red,” he said.

  She bent over and put the guards on her skates. Then she walked over to the bench where they’d left their shoes. She sat down and began to work on the knots of her laces, trying to look casual. If he saw how her fingers were shaking, he’d clue in to how rattled she was. She decided she’d better walk back her impulsive gesture before it got her into more trouble than she wanted to handle right now.

  “I was simply trying to say thank you,” she said. “Don’t read too much into it.”

  He studied her while working on his own laces. They were inches apart when he said, “Well, that’s hard to do when my heart is racing in my chest like someone left the barn door open.”

  She laughed. She was relieved that her excess of emotion hadn’t been misconstrued. She didn’t want to make things awkward between them, especially since he was going to help her come up with ideas to promote the shop. She needed him more than ever, since her big idea, a visit from reclusive author Destiny Swann, was proving to be a bust.

  “How about a cup of hot cider and I’ll drive you home?” he asked.

  Savy stood and her sore muscles protested. “I’d like that, thanks.”

  Together they walked their skates to the rental booth. A quick stop at the food truck for cider and he led her toward his pickup, which was parked in one of the spots beside the green. He opened the door for her and she climbed in, warming her hands with the thick paper cup of hot cider. It had just the right amount of cinnamon and, unless she was crazy, the faint flavor of vanilla. Yum.

  Joaquin climbed into the driver’s seat and they drove the short distance back to the bookstore. As soon as he stopped, Savy opened her door to hop out, thinking he would just drop her off, but he got out on his side, too, and met her on her side of the truck.

  He walked her up to the front porch and Savy dug her keys out of her jacket pocket. He held her cider while she unlocked the door. When she turned back around, he handed her what remained of her cider. It wasn’t much and it had cooled off. She finished it and crumpled the paper cup in her fist.