Tidings of Joy

by Shanna Hatfield

  “Mrs. Harris’ mincemeat pie. If she ever offers you a piece, run the other way.” The slightest hint of a grin quirked the corners of Drew’s mouth. “Even Mr. Davis’ dog thought it tasted awful.”

  Joy laughed and started down the hall to the kitchen. “Wash your hands. While you do that, I’ll wash your gloves then pop them in the dryer.”

  “Thanks, Joy.” Drew gave her a look full of gratitude and warmth as he removed his boots then followed her down the hall and ducked into the bathroom.

  Joy squirted dish soap on his gloves, rinsed them out, and tossed them in the dryer. She hoped by the time she fixed his pants and fed him lunch, they’d be dry. She noticed one glove looked like it had been mangled and shredded. Perhaps whatever happened to destroy his glove had something to do with his grumpy attitude today.

  She heard the bathroom door open then Drew appeared in the doorway with his shirt untucked, tails hanging down to hide the torn seam of his pants.

  “If you don’t mind packing me upstairs or waiting while I navigate them with my crutches, I’ll fix your pants.”

  “For the record, I never mind carrying you, Joy. It’s a pleasure, one I greatly enjoy. There’s no one else in the world I’d rather serve as a personal pack mule.” Drew took her crutches and leaned them against the wall then swept her into his arms before he made his way down the hall to the stairs.

  “Maybe I should just chase you out to the backyard with Pete if you’re going to call yourself a mule.” Joy rested her hands on Drew’s shoulders as he easily navigated the stairs with her in his arms. Oh, how she’d missed him, missed being this close to him. She knew it was ridiculous, but she wanted to spend a lifetime with this good, honest, honorable man.

  Only Drew didn’t seem particularly interested. Perhaps the holiday season was just so stressful at work for him, he couldn’t think about anything else. Or maybe he thought it was weird to show interest in a girl who currently couldn’t walk without crutches and was at the mercy of people in town to drive her everywhere she needed to go since the doctor forbade her from climbing behind the wheel of her car until the brace came off her leg.

  Whatever the reason, it frustrated and annoyed Joy that she was obviously far more into Drew than he was her. Regardless, she was glad he was with her now, even if the reason made her bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing again. She glanced over his shoulder, hoping to get a peek at his humorous underwear, but his shirttail blocked her view.

  “Which room?” Drew asked at the top of the stairs.

  “First one on the right,” Joy said. She pushed open the partially closed door to the room her grandmother had used for crafts and sewing projects. Joy liked the idea of having a space dedicated to creative endeavors so she’d left most everything as her grandmother had arranged it. An old sewing machine in a walnut cabinet sat in front of a big picture window that offered a great view of the backyard and plenty of natural light.

  Joy looked down at the yard and saw Pete playing with the hula hoop, rolling it through the snow.

  “That silly hoop has given Pete hours and hours of entertainment. Thank you for bringing it for him,” Joy said as Drew set her down in the chair in front of the sewing machine. She plugged in the power cord and turned it on.

  “Pants, please.” She held out her hand to Drew giving him a teasing smile.

  He glared at her. “I’m not dropping my pants in front of you.”

  “I didn’t expect you to. I promise I won’t turn around, so just hand them over. It will take all of a minute to sew a seam.” She held her hand behind her while she kept her face to the window.

  “Fine.” Drew sighed again, obviously resigned to following her orders. His belt buckle jingled as he undid it followed by the unmistakable sound of a zipper opening before he placed the pants in her hand. “Do not laugh,” he warned in a tone she’d not heard him use before.

  Joy took one look at the staples, many bent and poking through the fabric, and she couldn’t stop a snicker. It turned into two and her shoulders shook while her eyes watered with the effort to contain her mirth.

  “Just let it out. You’ll feel better,” Drew snapped from behind her.

  Peals of laughter rang out of her like Christmas bells. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her sweater and took a cleansing breath before she pulled out the staples and dropped them in a garbage can next to the sewing machine. Where staples had pulled free, it had torn the fabric, but not enough that Joy couldn’t make a larger seam and work past the tears. The pants might be a little tight for Drew, but at least his cute Grinch-clad hiney wouldn’t be hanging out for everyone to ogle.

  She pressed her lips together as she sewed the seam, determined to keep her giggles at bay. But every time she thought of Drew, a man many thought of as serious and gruff, wearing such… colorful underclothes made her wish everyone knew him like she was coming to.

  Drew was a shy, reserved, quiet man with strangers, but around friends, he was witty, clever, and full of fun.

  Unless, of course, he was having a horrible day, which appeared to be the case today.

  “There,” Joy said, snipping a thread and turning around to hand him the pants.

  Drew snatched them from her and yanked them on, but not before she got an eyeful of heavily muscled legs that seemed ten miles long. Beneath the hem of his shirt, she could glimpse the word naughty on the leg of his underwear.

  She choked down another laugh and turned away. “It’s good we’ve established you’re a boxer-style briefs kind of guy, but I wouldn’t have pegged you as one who wears such interesting underwear.”

  Drew muttered something she couldn’t quite hear, but caught the words “stupid” and “gag gift.”

  “What was that?” she asked, feigning complete innocence. Although Drew didn’t seem aware of the fact, she could see him clearly in the reflection of the window. She watched as he stuffed in the tails of his shirt, zipped the pants and threaded his belt through the loops. He glanced behind him, as though checking to make sure the seam held.

  He bent down to ensure the pants didn’t rip. “My mother thinks she’s hilarious because every Christmas she gives Drake and me underwear. We used to whine about getting underwear and socks for Christmas as kids, so she turned it into a joke to buy them for us each year. It wasn’t until I turned eighteen that we started getting the crazy stuff. I think she tries to outdo herself each year.” Drew placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I can’t thank you enough for fixing these, Joy. I really do appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome. Not a big deal at all,” she said, unplugging the sewing machine. She turned around in the chair and smiled at him.

  “Ready to go back downstairs?” he asked, gently lifting her into his arms.

  “I sure am,” she said glancing over his shoulder as he carried her down the stairs, admiring the view. Maybe she needed to ask Drake to bring all of Drew’s work pants over for her to alter because that tighter seam sure showcased one fine rear.

  “Are you sure?” Drew asked as he walked down the hall to the kitchen.

  “Hmm? I missed the question?” she said, pulling her thoughts away from Drew’s physique and back to the present.

  “I asked if you were sure you want me to stay for lunch. I don’t want to be a bother.”

  “You won’t be a bother at all. I have some leftover roasted chicken and I made a salad earlier. All I have to do is heat the chicken and that hardly takes any time at all.”

  “Okay,” Drew said, setting her down by her crutches. “What can I do to help?”

  “If you want to set the table, I’ll warm up the chicken.” Joy took two plates out of the cupboard and held them out to him, but noticed the cuts on his hand. She set the plates on the counter and took his hand between both of hers. “What on earth happened to you?”

  “Occupational hazard.” Drew gave her a lopsided grin that made her heart morph into syrup. “There’s a new cat in town and he does not
like me delivering mail to his house.”

  “You’re kidding? Someone’s cat did that to you?” She held up his hand and pulled off the Band-Aid. Blood crusted the wound and seeped from the center of it. “Are you sure this doesn’t need a stitch or two?”

  “It’ll be fine. I might need a rabies shot, though,” Drew teased, trying to pull his hand away from her, but she held on, ignoring his joke.

  “I’m serious, Drew. This looks bad.” She continued studying his hand. “At least let me make sure it’s cleaned out and put some ointment on it.”

  “After we eat. I overslept and didn’t get breakfast this morning.”

  “Okay. Food then doctoring.” Joy grinned at him over her shoulder as she placed several slices of chicken in the microwave to warm. “I think you better tell me everything, starting at the beginning of this day. It sounds like it’s been a doozy.”

  Drew smirked and took the bowl of salad she handed to him, setting it on the table. “That’s putting it mildly.”

  When they both were seated at the table with plates full, Joy nudged Drew’s arm with her hand. “Tell me all about your day.”

  “This salad is great,” Drew said, forking another bite of the broccoli and cauliflower salad covered in a creamy sauce, accented with sunflower seeds and cranberries. “I’ve never had it before.”

  “Grandma always called it Christmas salad because of the cranberries, I think. It’s super easy to make.”

  “My mom makes broccoli salad but I don’t care for the dressing she puts on it and she adds raisins.” Drew shuddered in revulsion.

  Joy laughed. “Duly noted to never serve you raisins.”

  “It’s because of them people develop trust issues. You think you’re getting a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie, take a bite, and bam! It’s a nasty, mushy raisin.” Drew grinned. “Just sayin’.”

  She laughed again. “I’m glad to see you in a better mood, my friend. When you first arrived, you looked ready to bite nails and spit out…” she started to giggle, “staples.”

  Drew’s brow pinched in a frown, but a grin soon lifted the corners of his generous lips. “Seriously, Joy, it has been the worst day I’ve had in a long time. I overslept, missed breakfast, almost bit it in the parking lot and did the splits on the ice, which is how the pants got torn in the first place. Marlene about busted something laughing at me, so I stapled the tear shut because we have so much mail and I didn’t want to waste time going home to get a different pair of pants. We were out of coffee at work, so Rhett took pity on me and gave me a cup when I dropped off his mail, but Mrs. Burnside ran a stop sign. I had to slam on the brakes and the coffee spilled all over the dash of my rig. There was the rotten cat that clawed me through the mail slot. On top of that, Mr. Davis dressed his dog up like a lion and about gave me a heart attack. I felt a little bad because Mrs. Harris foisted a piece of her pie…” Drew looked like he swallowed back a gag before he continued. “Seriously, mincemeat should not be considered pie. It’s so bad. Anyway, she gave it to me on a paper towel. After one bite, I knew I couldn’t choke down another, but I couldn’t just throw it away. She might have been watching, you know, and I’d never hurt her feelings on purpose. So here I am walking up to Mr. Davis’ mailbox with my bloody, cat-batted glove and a piece of oozing pie in the other when I look up and see what really does appear to be a lion. I shoved the pie at poor Dagwood and he ate it, paper towel and all. Then he started hacking and his tongue was hanging out and…”

  Joy laughed so hard, she struggled to stay upright in her chair. Her eyes streamed and she kept patting her chest trying to catch her breath. “Stop, Drew. Stop! If I laugh any harder…”

  He chuckled and reached for the basket of napkins she kept on the table. He wiped the moisture from her cheeks then handed her another. “It really has been a bad day. The worst, I think, was you seeing my impromptu dance moves on your sidewalk before gravity defied me.”

  “This afternoon will be better. I promise,” she said, reaching across the table and placing a hand on his arm.

  After they finished eating lunch, Joy sent Drew to the guest bathroom for the supplies she needed to treat his cuts.

  They stood at the kitchen sink while she made sure each cut was properly flushed with warm water. With a gentle touch, she dried his hand and rubbed an antibiotic cream over each scratch. She bandaged them then stepped back and looked around him at his back end. “You need any doctoring back there from the staples?”

  He blushed and glared at her. “No, I do not.”

  She shot him a saucy smile. “You were an excellent patient, Drew. A good little boy like you deserves a treat.” Joy handed him a resealable bag full of the snack mix he enjoyed so much and another with assorted cookies. “That should keep you from starving this afternoon.”

  “You really are the best,” Drew said, noisily smacking her cheek. “But I better move along. I’ll never get the mail delivered at this rate. I seriously have to get some laundry done tonight or I’m going to be in big trouble.”

  “You don’t have a washer at your apartment, do you?” Joy asked as Drew stepped into the laundry room and retrieved his gloves from the dryer.

  “No. Drake and I usually take everything over to Mom and Dad’s place. If I’m going to be too late, I might have to beg my brother to take some stuff over there for me.”

  Together, they made their way to the front door. “Why don’t you bring your laundry here, Drew? I’ve got enough food in the freezer to last until spring. I’d love to have you join me for dinner while you do laundry. I’ve really missed seeing you lately.”

  Drew gave her a studying glance. A flicker of something in the depths of his blue eyes made her want to lean forward and kiss him in the worst way. It wasn’t until he nodded his head in agreement that she realized she’d been holding her breath, in hopes he’d say yes.

  “It might be late when I get off,” he said as he pulled on his boots and shrugged into his coat.

  “I don’t care, Drew. You know you’re welcome anytime. Just call or text me when you get off and I’ll start dinner. That way it will be hot when you get here.”

  “Okay, and thank you, again, Joy, for everything. You really saved my bacon today.”

  At the sound of his name, the puppy raced down the hall and pawed at Drew’s leg. He laughed and picked up Bacon, giving him a good rubbing before setting him down. Just before he opened the door, Drew pointed into Joy’s parlor. “Do you plan to put out any Christmas decorations?”

  “I’d love to, but I can’t really carry in anything from the garage where it’s stored and I haven’t had time anyway.”

  Drew didn’t say anything, just kissed her cheek again and disappeared out the door with a wave.

  Joy watched him walk away and started giggling, imagining the Grinch winking at her with each step Drew took.

  Chapter Ten

  Drew practically jogged through his afternoon route to finish as quickly as possible. It was almost five when he returned to the post office, but far earlier than he originally anticipated wrapping up his work for the day.

  After he cleaned out the LLV and did a little end of shift work, he hurried out to his Jeep and rushed home. He took a quick shower, changed into his last set of clean clothes, and stuffed two duffle bags full of dirty laundry. He’d deal with the rest of it later, but for now, he mostly just wanted to see Joy.

  He’d lectured himself all afternoon about keeping their relationship on a friendship level. If that was all he could have with her, he’d take it rather than not see her at all. The past week of hardly speaking to her had been torturous, even worse than being around her and not holding her, refraining from kissing her.

  To spend an evening basking in her warmth and laughter, he could and would keep his hands to himself.

  On his way to Joy’s, he saw a sign that gave him an idea. He turned down a side street and made a quick stop before heading to her house. He parked out front and admired the lights he’d hung
Thanksgiving night. They cast a welcome glow in the evening darkness. The timer he’d set for the lights kept Joy from having to come outside to plug or unplug the lights.

  Drew carried the two bags of laundry up to the door then went back for his surprise. Instead of using his key to go in, he rang the doorbell and waited. Bacon barked with his usual enthusiasm and he heard the steady thump of Joy’s crutches on the hallway floor as she made her way to the door.

  “Hey, Drew, you know you can…” Joy’s voice trailed off as she swung the door open wide then squealed. “Is that a real live Christmas tree? For me?”

  Drew chuckled and looked around the fir tree he held in front of him. “It sure is. It even has a stand on it, all ready to go. Just tell me where you want it.”

  Joy held the door open as he wrangled the bushy tree inside. “The parlor, please. I think it would look lovely in front of the window, so you can see it from the street.”

  “Great idea,” Drew said, carrying the tree into the formal sitting room. He set it down and moved a side chair and table so he could place the tree where she wanted. “How’s that?”

  “Perfect!” she stood close to him, joy radiating from her eyes and filling her smile. “Oh, Drew, I can’t thank you enough for this. I wanted a tree, but had no idea how to get one here since I can’t even drive right now.”

  “You know if you need something, all you have to do is ask,” he said, draping his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad you like it though. Do you have ornaments?”

  “Grandma had a huge collection. I never bothered putting up a full-sized tree before. I just had a little artificial table-sized tree in my apartment in California. This will be awesome!”

  Drew got caught up in her excitement. After he took his laundry to the back of the house and started a load, he carried in all the storage tubs of decorations from the garage. Joy directed where she wanted each container after she looked inside the tubs.

  She followed him as he packed two tubs labeled “tree” to the parlor. He started draping lights on the tree while Joy went to warm up a casserole for dinner. He’d just finished with the lights and plugged them in when she came back to the room.