Christmas in Silver Springs

by Brenda Novak

  Besides, she didn’t want to hear Axel’s complaints if she were to delay. He and his mother seemed to be tag-teaming her, calling constantly to double-check that she was heading to Denver as soon as possible.

  But in the end, Harper decided not to make Piper and Everly miss the party. One more day over Christmas break was no big deal. She got the Range Rover packed up so that they wouldn’t have a lot to do when they left in the morning and spent her final day with Karoline and Terrance and the twins.

  After the girls were asleep, Terrance suggested that she and Karoline drive over to the Blue Suede Shoe for a final send-off—just the two of them since it would be a while before they’d see each other again—and Harper agreed to go. She said that she’d only go in if she didn’t see Tobias’s truck in the parking lot, but she was secretly hoping he’d be there. The way things had gone that day at his house still felt terrible. She wanted the chance to say goodbye and hopefully feel a bit better about the whole thing.

  When they arrived, they couldn’t find any evidence that Tobias was there. Harper was slightly disappointed, but she figured a drink would still be nice.

  It was so crowded that Karoline had to park in the back alley. “Have you decided what you’re going to do for work when you get to Colorado?” she asked as they walked in.

  “I’m thinking I’ll give piano lessons.”

  “Something you can do from home. That’s a good idea.”

  “Yeah. I can start slow and build up as I feel stronger. I’ll look around, too, of course, to see if there’s anything better. Before I start all of that, though, I’m going to get a puppy.”

  “Puppies are a lot of work, Harper. Are you sure you want to take that on right now?”

  “Yes. Axel is allergic to pet hair, so it wasn’t an option for us before. But we could all use something cuddly and warm and lovable after what we’ve been through.”

  Karoline shot her a smile. “That means you’re really done with Axel—if you’re getting a pet and he’s allergic.”

  “I’m really done with him,” she acknowledged.

  When they walked in, Harper couldn’t help looking over into the corner, where Tobias had been playing darts when she’d been at the bar last. There were several small groups there and around the pool tables, but Tobias wasn’t among them.

  Harper hated how sad she felt. She had to let him go. But she couldn’t stop herself from wanting him.

  “Harper?” Karoline said.

  Harper blinked and focused. Her sister had ordered; it was her turn. “I’ll have a Sam Adams.”

  They’d grabbed their drinks from the bar and were weaving through the crowd, looking for a seat, when Harper spotted Maddox, Jada and Atticus. They seemed to notice her at the same time and quit talking, and she wondered if she should wave or pretend she hadn’t seen them.

  In the end, she waved. She couldn’t help herself. She really liked them. And they waved back, but she could tell they felt awkward, too.

  “Are you okay to stay?” Karoline murmured when she witnessed the exchange.

  “I don’t really have a choice. It’ll look too weird if we turn around and leave,” she replied.

  “I wonder where Tobias is.”

  “I have no clue.”

  “He could be on his way.”

  “Or in the bathroom.” Her heart thumped harder at the thought that he might be that close, after all.

  “We’d better not stay long.”

  Harper agreed and yet she took her time sipping her beer and watching the hallway that led to the bathrooms as well as the front door.

  Finally, she put the bottle down and stood. She wasn’t going to see him. She’d have to leave town without so much as a final glimpse.

  That was a good thing, she reminded herself as she followed Karoline to the front. But just before they could step out, the door opened—and there he was.

  Her breath caught in her throat. Because he was coming in when they were going out, they were only about an arm’s distance apart.

  He was looking down at his phone, didn’t notice her until she said, “Hello, Tobias.”

  His head snapped up and Harper felt the same zing of sexual energy she always felt when she saw him. She looked up at him hopefully, wishing they could take this opportunity to find a little closure.

  But he stepped back as though coming too close might burn him and, with a polite nod to acknowledge her greeting, walked past her and Karoline as though he barely knew them.

  * * *

  Tobias had thought Harper was gone from Silver Springs. He’d figured, now that she was probably getting back with Axel, she’d leave town as soon as possible. So when Maddox had called and asked him to come to the Blue Suede Shoe for a game of darts with Jada and Atticus, he hadn’t even considered the possibility of running into her.

  Tamping down the emotions he’d been wrestling with ever since he first met her, he forced a smile as he approached Maddox and the others at the table. “Hey,” he said, acting as though that brief encounter hadn’t started his pulse racing.

  “Can you believe Harper was here?” Maddox said. “I swear, I didn’t know that when I called you.”

  “How could you?” he said. “You called me before you even left your house. Anyway, she’s not here anymore.” Continuing to pretend it was no big deal, he jerked his head toward the back corner. “Let’s get a game going.”

  His brother eyed him closely. “It looked like she spoke to you...”

  “She said hi. It’s not as though we’re enemies just because her ex chased me off with a baseball bat before I could destroy her life.” He chuckled, trying to make a joke out of it, but the way Atticus and Maddox exchanged glances told him they knew how he really felt.

  “Stop it,” Tobias said with a scowl. “I knew she was too good for me from the start, so we can’t feel bad that it didn’t work out.”

  “You should try to talk to her,” Atticus said.

  “And say what?” Tobias replied. “‘Hey, now that you’ve seen that the skeletons in my closet are way worse than anyone else’s, how about a second chance?’” He laughed again, probably a little too loudly to be convincing.

  “Tobias—” Jada started, but he waved her off.

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, and please don’t pity me. It only makes matters worse.”

  “It’s not pity,” Atticus said. “It’s—”

  Tobias raised a hand. “Let’s not even talk about it.”

  Atticus sighed loudly. “Okay, but don’t think I’m going to go easy on you tonight just because you’re nursing a broken heart.”

  “I hope you won’t. I could use the challenge.”

  “To keep your mind off someone you don’t really care about, anyway?” Atticus teased.

  “Just for that, I’m finally going to kick your ass at this game,” he said and planned to do his damnedest.

  30

  “I can’t believe it’s time to say goodbye,” Karoline said as Harper finished helping her clean up the breakfast dishes before getting the kids in the car.

  “I know,” Harper said. “Time flew by. But it was wonderful for me to be with people who cared about me. Thanks for all you’ve done.”

  “I haven’t done much,” she said, shrugging off Harper’s thanks.

  “You let me stay here and lean on you when I needed it most. That’s huge. So I’m sorry that...well, that things didn’t go quite as smoothly as you would’ve liked—what with me meeting Tobias and all.”

  “You mean you’re sorry you met someone besides Axel and realized that he wasn’t the only man in the world you could be attracted to? I consider that a good thing,” Karoline said.

  “Maybe it is,” Harper agreed, except she was going home feeling just as hurt and unsatisfied as when she’d arrived. Her mind kept flashing back to t
hat moment when she’d startled Tobias as he walked into the Blue Suede Shoe. She’d wanted to touch him so badly.

  She hadn’t told her sister, but she’d texted him in the middle of the night to ask, Is there any way we could still be friends? He hadn’t responded. She knew because she’d checked her phone something like a hundred times.

  “Where will you stop for the night?” Karoline asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ll find a motel somewhere when I get tired.”

  “Okay, but stay in touch so that I know you’re safe.”

  “I will.” Harper gave her sister a hug before calling for her kids to get in the car. Terrance had said goodbye earlier, since he’d had to go pick up a new battery for his car, which suddenly wasn’t starting.

  “I don’t want to leave,” Piper complained as Harper hugged Amanda and Miranda. “I want to stay with my cousins.”

  “So do I,” Everly joined in, but Harper had already been aware of that. Everly, in particular, had been pouting all morning, and now Piper was beginning to behave the same way. “Why do we have to go back to Colorado?”

  “Because we live there, and we love it,” Harper said. “Besides, Grandma and Grandpa Devlin live there. You want to be able to see them, don’t you?”

  “I guess,” Everly allowed. “But...why can’t we live here and just visit there?”

  “Do we really have to leave our cousins and our new friends?” Piper asked.

  Karoline shot Harper a hopeful look. “If you get back and you realize that you like it better here...”

  “I can’t move,” Harper told her. “It would be too hard.”

  “Why?” Everly asked. “You like this town, don’t you? It’s not as cold as Denver.”

  “I like it,” Harper admitted. “But...”

  “It’s not as though you’d run into Tobias all that often,” Karoline whispered.

  Once or twice would be more than she felt comfortable with. Last night’s encounter had made it difficult to sleep. “Denver is home,” she insisted even though, had things gone differently with Tobias, she would have considered moving here.

  It took some time to get the girls loaded and to squeeze in all the last-minute bags and toys they were taking home with them.

  She’d climbed behind the wheel and rolled down her window so she could say her final goodbyes to her sister and her nieces when a truck pulled in behind her.

  “Who’s that?” Harper asked Karoline. And why wasn’t he parking on the street instead of blocking her in? Her brake lights were on. Couldn’t he see she was about to back up?

  “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I’ve never met him,” Karoline said. “Or...wait. Maybe I have. Isn’t that the guy in the wheelchair who was at the Blue Suede Shoe last night?”

  “Atticus?” What reason would he have to come to Karoline’s house? Karoline and Atticus didn’t even know each other.

  A hum sounded as the wheelchair lift on his vehicle went into motion and Harper got out to see what was going on.

  She and Karoline both watched Atticus load himself into his chair. Then he used his hands to turn the wheels so that he could approach them.

  “Hello,” he said.

  Harper tried to keep her confusion from showing on her face. “Hello.”

  “Looks like you’re heading out.”

  “I was...about to leave.”

  “Then I’m glad I caught you. Any chance you and I could have a minute alone before you go?”

  “Of course.” She glanced at Karoline, who gave her a quick nod, got the girls out of the car and took them into the house.

  When they were gone, Harper said, “Is there something I can do for you?”

  “Actually, I’m here to let you know that you’re making a big mistake.”

  She felt her eyebrows slide up. “By not pursuing a relationship with Tobias?” she guessed.

  “Yes.”

  “You’ve heard about everything he’s done, how he... How he shot an eleven-year-old boy and...and nearly killed someone when he was in prison?”

  “Yes, I know all about it. The man he nearly killed in prison was a bad dude, a bully who made a lot of people miserable, and he attacked Tobias first. If Tobias hadn’t fought back, he wouldn’t be here. It’s a miracle he was able to survive, really. The dude attacked him from behind. Stabbed him in the back, literally.”

  Harper thought of the raised flesh that formed that terrible scar on Tobias’s lower back and remembered him saying, when she asked about it, that he’d gotten it in a fight. “How do you know this?”

  “We have a history, Tobias and I,” he replied.

  “You’re friends.”

  “We are now, but... You see, I was the eleven-year-old boy who he shot.”

  Harper felt her mouth drop open. “No...”

  He gestured at his legs. “Yes.”

  Visions of Tobias laughing with Atticus, drinking with him, playing darts with him flashed through Harper’s mind. “But...how is it that you don’t hate him?”

  “I don’t know how much you know about him, but he’s never had a lot. No father. A drug-addicted mother who didn’t look out for him or Maddox very well. He and Maddox sort of raised themselves. They were young, strong-willed boys who were starting to find trouble when they stole a car and took it for a joyride in LA. So the court sent them to New Horizons, which, as you probably know, is a correctional school not far out of town.”

  “Yes...”

  He combed his dark hair back with one hand, because it kept falling across his forehead into his light brown eyes. “While they were there, Maddox started dating my sister. One night, when my parents were gone and Jada was babysitting, Maddox talked her into coming to a party, so she took me with her. Tobias was there, and he was starting to experiment with drugs, I guess, as a lot of teenagers do. He was tripping on acid when he found a gun in the nightstand of the people who owned the house. Maybe nothing would’ve happened if I hadn’t been hoping to get away from the loud music in the living room so I could watch some TV. I climbed the stairs and walked into the master bedroom right after he’d found the gun and, because he was hallucinating, he thought I was some kind of alien or monster and shot me.”

  Her heart jumped into her throat. “So he didn’t mean to hurt you?”

  “No. He’s apologized a million times. And I know he’s sincere. Sometimes I think the regret he carries would be even more miserable than what I have to deal with. Anyway, they tried him as an adult and put him away, after that one extension, for thirteen years. He just got out last summer.”

  “That’s tragic,” she said. “For everyone involved.”

  “It definitely impacted my life. But Tobias has paid a high price, too—for something that isn’t any reflection on his character, especially now. That’s why I had to come. I hate seeing him continue to suffer because he’s being judged on a past that doesn’t truly represent the kind of man he is.”

  So the first incident had been more of an accident, and the second had been a result of the first, since it had put him in a place where he could be jumped by dangerous men.

  “That’s why he said he wasn’t going to go to Maddox’s for Christmas Eve if your mother was going to be there,” she said, finally understanding.

  “It’s hard for my mother. She struggles to forgive Jada for taking me to that party when she wasn’t supposed to, Maddox for pressuring Jada to come even though she wasn’t allowed and Tobias for ever taking acid and picking up that gun. You can only imagine what she’s been through. But even she can’t deny that Tobias has grown into a good man.” He motioned to her packed vehicle. “Now that you know, you’re free to go. I’m not trying to stop you. I just wanted you to hear the truth, to tell you that if you decide not to be part of his life only because of his past, you’ll be missing out on someone pretty special. Take it fr
om me. I’m the man he shot, the reason he went to prison, and—” he choked up a little “—the simple truth is that I love him like a brother. And I believe he loves me the same way, which is why the regret he feels bites so deeply.”

  With a rueful smile, he gave her a nod and wheeled himself back to his truck, where he used the lift to help him get in the driver’s seat before he drove off.

  Karoline must’ve been watching through the window because she came out as soon as he was gone. “What’d he say?”

  “He told me I’m making a mistake to leave Tobias.”

  There was a slight pause as her sister absorbed this news. Then she asked, “Do you believe him?”

  Harper turned to face her. “Yes, I do.”

  * * *

  Tobias was muddy when he pulled into his driveway. The trail he’d been on this morning had been wet. But he wasn’t as tired as usual. Although he and Maddox were starting to train for Yosemite, Maddox wasn’t quite as strong a hiker as Tobias was—hadn’t done nearly as much of it in the past five months—so Tobias had chosen a fairly easy trail. He hadn’t had the opportunity to push himself as hard as he liked, but having his brother along made up for it. They were already talking about asking Atticus to join them in a few weeks so they could try out the carrier.

  Uriah waved from his window as Tobias got out of his truck, and Tobias smiled. It was so nice not to have Carl around.

  Fortunately, Uriah didn’t seem to feel too bad that his son was gone. Tobias got the impression he was equally relieved.

  “You ready?” Uriah called, coming out of the house.

  “In a few minutes. I’m going to shower,” he called back. They were planning to work on the car they were restoring. Tobias couldn’t wait until, one day, he had enough saved to open his own automotive shop. His share of the profits on the old Buick, and any other cars he and Uriah restored in the future, would go toward that.