Marrying Miss Kringle: Frost

by McConnell, Lucy

  Mary laughed. “You don’t have to rush it. Unpacking is part of the fun.”

  “Okay.” Frost couldn’t help herself; working quickly was in her blood. She made two more quick trips to Mary’s one and they had all the front room boxes.

  The cream walls with white trim screamed for some color—red and green, to be exact. The creamy leather couches and black side tables were the perfect backdrop for a Christmas masterpiece. And that front window screamed for an eight-foot tree. Frost cocked her head. Eight feet at least. Ten would be better. She hadn’t seen an artificial tree box. That meant they’d have to go pick one out. Her heart clapped with excitement.

  Mary opened the first box. “This is the garland for the fireplace mantel. Do you want to get it up?”

  “Of course.” Frost took the box over to the fireplace. The garland was one of those pre-strung with white lights. Her heart lurched. If all the decorations were white and cream, this was going to be a dull Christmas room indeed. She plugged in the lights to make sure they worked. Then she laid out and fluffed the garland.

  When Mary wasn’t looking, Frost retrieved red lights from her bag and wove them expertly through the greenery. She then added gold bows and red and gold baubles. Golden candlesticks topped with cream candles adorned the mantel. She added a small Santa figurine, his coat red and white and with gold trim. Next to that, she placed a sleigh full of Kisses in gold foil. On the other side of the mantel, she added three tall, skinny trees in complementary heights to the candlesticks on the other end. They had red-and-gold ribbon spiraling up to gold stars on the top. She stepped back and nodded once. “What do you think?” she asked Mary.

  Mary straightened. “Where did that come from?”

  “What?” Frost asked innocently.

  “The candlesticks? I don’t remember those.” She tapped her chin with her finger. “They must have been last year’s addition.” She laughed and cupped her hand around one side of her mouth. “Don’t tell Donald, but I buy a lot of this online and just put it up. He has no idea how much money I spend on decorations, and half the time I forget where I ordered them from.” She put her hands on her hips. “I must have thought this room needed an update and purchased the red ribbons at the end of the season last year. They look brand-new.”

  “You’re a true Christmas elf.” Frost giggled. Mary had just given her a free card to take the decorations up a notch and not get caught. She attacked the side tables next, adding snow globes in all sizes and sprigs of holly. In the time it took Mary to do the coffee table, Frost had the rest of the room ready. She pulled a deep red tree skirt from her purse and laid it on the floor in front of the window now framed in white lights. She could see how the white and cream had been elegant, but the red added something special and she was glad she’d trusted her instincts.

  Tannon ambled in, a plate in one hand and a mug in the other. “Wow. Mom, this looks great.”

  “Don’t tell me, tell Frost. She’s a bundle of energy.”

  He moaned. “Tell me about it. She accomplishes more in a day than anyone else does in a week.” He lifted his mug to her in salute.

  Frost felt her face heat. Funny, she’d never noticed changes in temperature before, but when Tannon complimented her, she felt warm and fuzzy all over. He looked good this morning, all freshly shaven and smelling of soap. His broad shoulders were accented by the bird’s-eye pullover sweater. The collar coming up around his neck as it did made him look classy and a little dangerous. The forest-green color made his eyes pop, and she had a hard time looking away even as her tongue glued itself to the top of her mouth.

  “Well.” Mary brushed off her hands. “Since we have such a good start, why don’t you two take Brody and Donald and go get us a tree?”

  Frost clasped her hands together. She didn’t want to appear too eager, but this was exactly the opportunity she was looking for to bring Christmas cheer into Tannon’s life. “That would be fun.”

  Tannon chewed his lip. “I thought just Brody and I could go.”

  Frost’s hands fell limp at her side. “Yeah. That’s, that’s … fine.”

  “Nonsense.” Mary stacked several now-empty boxes. “You’ll need the extra set of hands to get the tree on the sled.”

  “I can cut down a tree on my own, Mom.”

  “But loading it—” She cut off when she saw the set to Tannon’s jaw. Pressing her lips together so tightly a white line formed around them, Mary turned her back to the group and hung the stockings from tiny hooks in the mantel.

  Frost saw Tannon’s fierceness too. It said, Don’t push me—quite loudly. Louder than bells on Christmas day.

  Brody barreled into the room, wearing a hot chocolate mustache and a smear of frosting across the front of his shirt. Frost grinned, pleased that he’d enjoyed breakfast. He slammed into her stomach and smeared his mustache across her white sweater. Frost hugged him back, not caring about the stain. A child’s hug was so much more important that laundry. “Good morning, little man. How’d you sleep?”

  “Good.” He kept his arms wrapped around her, and she did the same.

  She grinned down at him. “Good.” The trust and joy that twinkled in his eyes lit something inside of her, a need to protect and nurture. She wondered if this was how Ginger felt about every child in the world, or if this was specific between her and Brody. She read millions of letters from children each year, but she hadn’t hugged any of them. She wrapped him up and squeezed tight. Hugs were powerful.

  “Brody.” Tannon stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll ruin her sweater.”

  “It’s okay,” Frost insisted before they got a look at the smear. “I don’t mind.” She kissed the top of Brody’s head.

  “You smell like breakfast,” he blurted.

  Frost giggled and relaxed her hold on him. “I supposed I do.”

  Tannon pulled Brody closer to him. “Let’s get our snow clothes on and we’ll go look for a tree.”

  Brody galloped out of the room with a “Yay!”

  Frost stared after him wistfully. “Are you taking the car?” If they were able to drive to a tree lot, then they’d be able to take her home. She wasn’t ready to go yet, hadn’t done half the Christmasing up Tannon’s life that she’d had planned. She needed more time. Although time wasn’t exactly on her side here.

  Tannon shook his head. “We’re still snowed under. It’ll be late this afternoon before they get the roads cleared. We’ll take the snowmobiles.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t suppose you know how to drive one?”

  She bit back her smile. “Doesn’t every girl?”

  Tannon’s lips twitched like he was fighting a smile of his own. “I thought not.”

  “Then you thought wrong.”

  “I have been duly corrected. And since I made such a blunder, I’d like to make it up to you.”

  “I’m not sure you can.” She lifted her chin, feigning insult.

  “What if I let you pick out the tree?”

  She turned quickly and stuck out her hand. “Deal.”

  This time, he didn’t fight the smile but let it warm his face and his eyes. “Deal.” He took her hand, and Frost’s world tipped, making it difficult to retain her footing. “I’ll meet you in the mudroom.”

  “Bl-yeah,” she blurted like a fool. Why did he have to have such an effect on her? Why couldn’t she shake his hand or look into his eyes or almost kiss him without crumbling like a Christmas cookie? Frost watched him leave, enjoying the way his body moved. She pressed her hands to her warm cheeks, hoping to cool them down only to find that her hands were just as hot. Turning, she found Mary watching her curiously.

  Frost brushed self-consciously at the hot chocolate smear on her stomach.

  After a moment, Mary’s lips outlined in white again. “Thank you for your help.” Though they were kind words, they were delivered with a Jack Frost nip.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “You’d better g
o. They won’t wait all day.”

  Frost knew when she was being dismissed. She just wasn’t sure why. There was a sense of disappointment inside Mary—one that ran an ocean deep. And she was lashing out at Frost because of it. There was also a fear, fear of losing her family, that drove her to plant her feet and stab at others. Frost wasn’t a threat to her. Portraying that was hard without coming right out and saying, I know you’re afraid I’ll take your son and grandson. She had no intention of breaking up the Cebu clan. In her experience, marriage increased family, not diminished it.

  Mary lifted the stack of empty boxes. “Have fun on your outing today—picking my tree.”

  “If you’d rather—” Frost began to offer her spot.

  “I would not.” Mary brushed past her, headed for the attic.

  Frost shifted her weight, unsure what she was supposed to do now. “I’d be happy to help you bring down the rest of the boxes,” she called up the stairs.

  “I can manage.”

  Frost shuddered. Where she’d been warm with Tannon’s touch, his mom’s change from happy decorator to angry elf sent a shiver down her spine. Confused, she found the mudroom and put on the same pink jumpsuit she’d worn yesterday. Gag! She hated wearing the same thing two days in a row.

  Feeling grumpy and muddled, she added her gloves and hat to the outfit. Tannon and Brody appeared a moment later, and in a flurry of coats and scarves they were on their way out to the garage, where two shiny snowmobiles, a sled, and a day of adventure awaited.

  Chapter 17

  “Where are we headed?”

  Tannon couldn’t get over how downright hot Frost looked sitting on the snowmobile in her pink snowsuit, with her white hair hanging over one shoulder and her big eyes twinkling with a sense of adventure. She’d started the machine up and driven it out of the garage and down the driveway without any help from him. He’d often wondered what type of woman he liked best, and then and there he decided tough, thoughtful, smart, independent women were the best kind.

  The engines made it hard to communicate, so he pointed to the right and they went that direction. Brody sat in the sled that trailed behind him. As if she could read his mind, Frost slowed down so she was far enough back to keep an eye on the kid. Brody waved at her, his goggles speckled with snow, and he smiled wider than the trail they traveled. It wasn’t long before they were in the pine trees and spruces.

  He braked and then killed the engine, the sound echoing away like a flock of birds through the trees. Frost pulled alongside him and turned off her machine as well. Small droplets of water glistened on her hair like thousands of tiny diamonds. It took a second for him to realize it was melted snow. “You look like a snow princess,” he said before he ran the words through his filter.

  Frost giggled. “I feel like one today.” She threw a leg over the snowmobile and hopped down. “Choosing the tree is an honor. Although I think your mom was a little upset that I came along.”

  Tannon waved his arm as if he could brush away his parents. Some days he wished he could. For a while there, things were good between them all. But this latest attack, the attempt to get Brody all to themselves, was too much. He’d promised them Christmas—not for their sake, but for Brody’s. After that, who knew where they’d end up? “She’ll get over it.”

  Frost’s brows lowered, but she didn’t contradict him.

  Brody scrambled off the sled. “Can I chop the tree down?”

  Tannon laughed. “I think I’d better hang on to the chainsaw for today.”

  “Aw.” Brody kicked up a mound of snow. “Grandpa said I could do it this year.”

  Tannon bit back his irritation. He didn’t want Brody to think he had to take sides. “Grandpa’s not here.”

  Frost held out her hand. “Come on, I need your expert opinion. Spruce or pine?”

  Brody took her hand, and they headed off into the woods. “Pine,” Brody answered. “They smell more like Christmas.”

  “You think?” Frost asked.

  Tannon busied himself getting the chainsaw out of the sled and checking the oil and gas levels. Once he was sure it was ready to go, he secured it back in the case and followed their tracks.

  After he’d hiked for five minutes, he began to sweat. His prosthetic was secured inside a winter boot, but it still slipped around every few steps. And the snow was deep enough that he struggled to pull his foot out of it. His under layers gathered moisture. He wouldn’t be able to stay out long if he worked this hard. It just wasn’t safe. Cursing himself, he continued on. Another hundred yards and he was hit with a snowball from the right.

  Brody threw his arms in the air. “She got ya, Dad.”

  Frost was standing behind a snow fort, grinning. She tossed a snowball in the air and caught it again. “What’s the matter, Tannon? You afraid to take on a girl?” She threw the ball at him. This time, he was ready and dodged it easily.

  Where only a few moments before he’d been worried about his body temperature and survival, he was suddenly more aware that Frost was flirting with him. He slowly set the chainsaw behind a tree. “I’m not afraid of nothin’.”

  Brody squealed and dove behind a smaller fort that was between him and Frost. Tannon made a snowball and lobbed it over the edge of Brody’s fort.

  Brody popped up like a groundhog. “Missed me.”

  Frost threw one at him and it whizzed by his ear. He yelped and disappeared again. While Tannon was laughing, he was pelted in the chest. “Oh, is that how it’s going to be?”

  “That’s how it is,” Frost countered, her arm cocked to throw another snowball.

  They spent the next fifteen minutes trying to cover one another with snow. Though they each took hits, no one did anything more than laugh and try to retaliate. If there was a score, Tannon had lost track long ago. He laughed so hard his stomach muscles hurt. Suddenly, Brody rounded the tree Tannon had marked as his fort. It was as big around as he was and provided the right amount of protection for him to stand and throw. Brody had to stand behind Tannon to avoid Frost’s amazingly accurate aim.

  “Dad, we need to rush her fort.” Brody’s cheeks were red and his eyes bright.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because we can’t beat her like this—she’s a snowball ninja.”

  Tannon chuckled. A snowball hit the front of the tree and exploded, showering the two of them. “I’m game if you are.”

  “I’ll go right. You go right in front.”

  “That means I’ll get hit the most.”

  “It’s a sacrifice you have to make, Dad.”

  Tannon nodded along, sagely. “I see your point.”

  Brody counted down, and they burst from their hiding spots. Frost saw them coming and threw two snowballs at once. Brody ducked; Tannon took his and kept running. He threw himself over the top of the fort and felt his prosthetic bump against the top of the hard-packed snow. The release valve hissed. He twisted, trying to keep his prosthetic from coming all the way off, and the foot hooked on the ledge as he fell, landing on his left shoulder and face in a pile of fresh powder.

  “Tannon!” Frost yelled.

  Tannon’s face boiled with humiliation.

  Brody jumped behind Frost, pelting her with several snowballs before he noticed Tannon on the ground. At that point, his mouth fell open and his arms dropped to his side. “Dad?”

  Tannon struggled to right himself and yanked when he shouldn’t have, dislodging his leg. With a groan, he flopped back onto his elbows.

  Frost knelt on one side of him and Brody on the other. “Dad!” Brody looked him up and down.

  Tannon had spent most of Brody’s life keeping his son from seeing his amputated leg. But there was no way to fix it without baring all. He closed his eyes. “Go away,” he whispered.

  “What?” Frost leaned forward, holding her hair away from her ear and keeping it from tickling his face. It was a shame, because if anything good was going to come out of this moment, it would be burying his face in her ha
ir. But he couldn’t indulge in a moment like that when he was sprawled out like this.

  “Go away. Leave me alone for a few minutes and I can get this fixed.” Hopefully. “Take Brody with you.”

  Frost rocked back on her heels. “I will not.”

  “Frost.” He threw out her name. Grabbing her collar, he pulled her down so he could whisper. “I don’t want to frighten Brody.”

  “Oh,” she whispered back. “That’s dumb.”

  “What?”

  Sitting up again, and leaving him feeling all that much colder as he lay in the snow, she asked Brody, “Are you afraid of your dad’s leg?”

  He looked at her like she was crazy. “No.”

  “You know he has a prosthetic, right?”

  This time he looked at her like she was stupid. “Yeah.”

  “But he’s never seen it,” protested Tannon.

  Brody shrugged. “I’ve watched tons of videos, though.”

  Tannon twisted so he wasn’t looking at Brody upside down. “You have?”

  “Yeah. I did a class report on it last year too.”

  “You did?”

  He nodded. “You never said anything and I wondered …”

  Tannon grabbed Brody behind the neck and crushed him to his chest, rubbing his hat right off his head. “You little stink. If you wanted to know, you should have asked.”

  Brody batted Tannon’s hands away but stayed on his chest to talk to him. “We don’t talk about it. Nobody does.”

  Tannon met Frost’s disapproving look, and he knew he wasn’t getting out of baring himself to the both of them. Brody he might be able to handle. But Frost … “You go.” He jerked his chin away.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. If I go, you’ll freeze.” She flipped her hair away from her face.

  He moaned. “Frost, I really need some privacy.”

  She moaned too, mocking his concern. “Tannon, I’ve seen legs before.”

  Fine. If that was the way she wanted it, then fine. His hands began to shake inside his gloves and his thigh muscles trembled with worry, making him look like he was freezing to death when what was really after him was fear.