by Di Jones
To her dismay, no sooner had her Dad announced the news that people began to get up from their seats and leave. First it was one or two people, then more stood.
“Darling, get out there,” her mother prodded her. The band she’d managed to find as a stand-in for Emery’s band began to play, much better than they had at rehearsals. She left her shelter at the side of the curtains and walked out on stage with shaking legs, trying not to be overwhelmed by the lights blinding her and the diminishing audience in front of her. Her stomach was a tight, huge knot and even though the air inside the auditorium was cool, she could feel sweat breaking out on the back of her neck, behind her knees and on her upper lip. She opened her mouth to sing, but although words came out, they were thin and reedy.
It was at that exact moment that she became aware of Aiden. He and Eliza-May had just finished performing, and while their duet had gone well, Aiden was at the side in the curtains, sobbing uncontrollably. Not only that, but again she could hear shouting coming from the back of the set. She squinted, trying to see what was happening, but she guessed what it was. Aiden—and the other children—had just been told that Emery hadn’t been there to see them.
What should she do? Her heart was pounding uncontrollably, adrenaline pumping through her system. Aiden needed her help, and she couldn’t sing very well anyway, so it was an easy choice. She turned, stopped singing and moved back toward the curtain and Aiden, when she realized someone had hold of her hand and was squeezing it tight.
“Mom, Aiden needs me,” she whispered then saw that Anita was comforting her son. Of course Aiden didn’t need her…in fact Aiden looked completely changed. Anita had her arm around her son, who was dancing up and down in excitement. But why was the little boy looking so happy?
Harmony turned to her mother, but it wasn’t Gladys that had hold of her hand.
It was Emery. One of his hands was still tightly holding hers, but his other hand held the microphone. As the band continued to play, and not her band, but his—which is why, she realized, they were so much better than at rehearsals—he started singing their song, his voice deep and emotional. At a pause in the song, he let go of her hand, put his fingers over the mic, and whispered to her. “Look at me, baby, and forget about all the people here. You can do it. I know you can.”
As she looked into his eyes, happiness flooded her. He’d come back. Who cared why…he was here and that was all that mattered. Her arms tingled, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she opened her mouth, willing the words to come.
They did, and as she sang, tentatively at first, the applause started, and the people who’d stood to leave sat back down. People re-entered the hall, then as her voice and his rang out in perfect harmony, soaring with power and control, the audience went wild. The townsfolk cheered and whistled, then as she and Emery finished the song, it seemed that every single person in the audience stood in a standing ovation. Harmony shook with emotion, and before she could bow, Emery put his hand on the small of her back and bent her backwards in a dip. He pulled her up again and his lips met hers in a kiss.
“I’m sorry, Harmony. I never should have left you,” he said into the mic. As he spoke the words she knew the townsfolk didn’t understand his meaning, but she did. “I love you, and I don’t want to be apart from you ever again.”
The cheers that rang out in the auditorium masked her reply. “I love you too.”
He led her off stage, and someone stepped out of the shadows. Harmony’s heart beat faster as she saw it was Carmen standing in their path. Something had to ruin this moment, didn’t it?
“Carmen,” she said in a cold voice. “You came back with Emery.”
“I had to. I’m his manager after all. Anyway, Emery told me how good your voice is. I was curious…and hearing you sing together made it worthwhile coming all this way.” Carmen gave her a broad, friendly smile. “Harmony, you have an amazing voice.”
“Thank you,” she said, wondering if Emery’s manager was for real. After all, Harmony had thought Carmen was her enemy, but maybe she had it all wrong.
“Emery, have you two ever considered doing a duet at your show?” Carmen was absolutely fizzing with enthusiasm.”
“I hadn’t before today,” Emery replied, “but you know, Carmen, that’s the best idea you’ve come up with for a long time.”
Harmony’s heart beat faster as Emery turned to her and took her hands. “I think we should do it, as soon as I can convince you to come to LA with me. What do you think, sweetheart?”
He gazed into her eyes and she could see his love. Then when she smiled, he pulled her in to him, and his warm lips met hers. His kiss was at the same time powerful, soft and gentle, speaking of his passion and commitment. And as she kissed him back, Harmony knew—in every fiber of her being—that she and Emery would never be apart again.
Want More from Harmony and Emery?
Did you enjoy this book so much you'd like to know what happens next? I wanted to know too, so I wrote a bonus epilogue, set three years later.
Click here: Send me my bonus epilogue, please!
Then turn the page for the next book in this series.
Copyright © 2019 Di Jones
www.dijoneswrites.com
Christmas Hero is a work of fiction. All characters in the book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. Except for text references by reviewers, no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Kindle Edition
One
Betty
When she heard Mona’s voice on the other end of her cell phone, Betty Haye’s heart sank. Her family was close, but she couldn’t tolerate her entitled, opinionated, and downright mean sister-in-law. There was only one word for her and it rhymed with witch.
Taking a deep breath, Betty tried not to interrupt while Mona rambled on about why she was calling.
“Betty,” Mona said in an ingratiating tone which wasn’t in the least bit authentic, “I’m going to need you to watch the shop over the Christmas vacation.”
Betty raised an eyebrow at the woman’s nerve. “Your bookstore? I’d love to help you, but I can’t. I have plans for Christmas.”
Her sister-in-law spoke as if she was completely unmoved. “This thing is, I have Bill to think of, and little Charlotte. We want to do something really special this year. Who are you going away with?”
Betty frowned, annoyed that she was being interrogated about her Christmas plans. “I’m not going away with anyone. I’m really excited about the opportunity to be alone and do what I want for once in my life.” She shouldn’t have had to justify herself to Mona, but she wasn’t being selfish. Betty spent most of her time pleasing everyone else and this year she wanted to make herself happy. She knew that she wasn’t entirely content with her life, but she wasn’t sure how to fix it either, and hoped she’d find the answer by traveling out of town. Where she’d go, she didn’t know: she planned to get in her car and drive, and stop wherever she wanted to. Why shouldn’t she?
Mona’s annoyance came crackling down the line in the form of a long sigh. “I think that’s very selfish of you but then you don’t understand about being a mother. I’ve got a child with your brother and I think our plans should come first.”
Betty’s grip on her cellphone was so tight that the plastic casing dug painfully into her flesh. She hated arguing and feared she was going to let Mona get away with yet another manipulation. This was a quality she hated about herself…she was the definition of a doormat and was never able to say “no” to anyone.
“Okay,” Betty said in a flat voice. I can go away after the Christmas holiday. I can go away any time at all, can’t I? After all, it’s not as if I have anyone to go with.
“Oh, and before I forget,” Mona continued in an upbeat voice now that she had her way, “My cousin is coming to town for the holida
y. I thought he could stay with you, Betty, and then you could entertain him. We offered to take him with us when we went away, but he said he loved celebrating Christmas here in Lewiston. He didn’t grow up in town but he spent some summer and Christmas holidays with us,” Mona continued. “I haven’t seen Andy for quite a few years. He’s recently been discharged from the Army and he’s looking to recapture some joy post military life and get used to his freedom again.”
“I don’t want to entertain a stranger. This is too much.” Betty’s breath whistled out in a defeated sigh, but Mona didn’t acknowledge her dismay. “Anyway, have I ever met this guy? What’s his name?” Her mind raced, trying to remember if she’d ever come across Mona’s cousin before.
“His name is Andy Levee. No, I don’t think you’ve ever met him. He doesn’t know you.”
Mona had clearly already told Andy Levee that Betty would be looking after him. A sharp retort formed in her mind, but she bit it off. What was the point? Her sister-in-law wouldn’t care anyway.
Years ago her older brother Bill had warned her to never to argue with Mona because, he’d said, it would be a complete and utter waste of energy. At the time, Betty had thought Bill was exaggerating but she’d learned over the years that it was accurate. She wondered how her lovely brother could stand being married to such a woman but she recognized that an extrovert like Bill could effectively handle Mona’s loud, bossy ways.
Betty, an introvert, had organized her life so she could avoid dealing with many people, especially anyone as difficult as her sister-in-law.
Rather than working in an office, Betty opted to work from home as a self-employed medical transcriptionist. The hospital she contracted with was fifty miles from Lewiston, which made working from home perfect in many ways. She could do her work quietly, plowing through doctors’ clinical notes starting early in the morning and finishing mid afternoon. She didn’t have to drive for miles to get to work, or put up with office politics, or stay to socialize on Friday nights. Her life was quiet and confined but she liked her solitude.
But no one else—especially Mona—seemed to respect the fact that she had a job to do. Friends and family seemed to think that as she worked from home, she wasn’t really working. They commented that she was a “lady of leisure”, joked that she was “free all day”, and constantly asked her to run errands for them. The hospital she transcribed for had expectations and there was no way for her to meet their exacting demands if she was constantly walking someone’s dog, picking up someone’s groceries, or babysitting her niece for Mona.
“Okay,” she said again, trying to inject a little enthusiasm into her voice.
“Thank you, Betty,” said Mona brightly. “I knew I could count on you.” Before she could change her mind, Mona rang off.
A long, frustrated sigh escaped from her as she put the phone down. Not only was she giving up her Christmas holiday out of town—with whatever adventures and new opportunities it might have led to—but now she would be taking care of Mona’s bookstore and playing hostess to a stranger.
Could her Christmas holiday get any worse?
Probably…because every year Tricia or Harmony, the stalwarts of the town’s social committee, tried to rope her into volunteering for the Lewiston Christmas concert, the town’s biggest annual event. And of course every year she was too nice to say no. She knew the festival and concert were important to the town, but she hated doing it, and going away had given her a reason to avoid it. Thanks to Mona, now she no longer had that excuse. She’d been looking forward to Christmas, but now she hated the thought of it.
So there was the answer to her question…yes, Christmas could get much, much worse.
Two
Andy
As he exited the plane at Albany Airport in upstate New York, Andy Levee took a deep breath of the unpressurized air and smiled. After spending the past four years at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, he was filled with excitement and anticipation. He’d enjoyed his military career, but since his honorable discharge he was now free to do what he wanted. The closer it came to Christmas, the more determined he was to spend it in Lewiston, the small town where he’d had his best holidays as a kid staying with family. He’d learned that revisiting the past mostly led to disappointment, but nothing was going to dissuade him from spending two weeks reacquainting himself with the place he’d spent long, happy summers.
At the luggage carousel he picked up the two bags that held his worldly possessions. While many of his friends had spent the last few years accumulating stuff, he’d spent them saving and scrimping, planning that after the Army he wanted to take a year out and travel all over the United States, the land he’d worked so hard to protect. His motto, now that he was free of all ties, was ‘lift and shift’. The two weeks he was spending in the charming town of Lewiston was a Christmas gift to himself before traveling south to a milder climate and the start of his journey.
His cousin Mona, who was going to be out of town during his stay, had told him her sister-in-law would be picking him up at the airport. She’d also be putting him up during his stay, and hopefully spending a bit of time with him. Mona hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with any more details than that, just saying dismissively that her sister-in-law had the time, as she had a quiet life. Andy would have liked more information, but he knew better than to press Mona. She was a gossip, and clearly there were no juicy rumors on the sister-in-law, who he imagined was a dull, middle-aged woman.
He was exhausted from the flight but determined to put on a grateful face for whomever had been kind enough to take him in during the Christmas holiday. When the crowd cleared and he was left with his two battered green sea bags, there was one woman remaining. Wearing a coat too big for her, with a maroon beanie pulled low on her head and her hands stuffed in her pockets, she scowled in his direction. He looked around, hoping someone else would turn up, but she was the only one there. He took a deep breath and widened his smile. I’ve just left the military, and I can handle just about anything. I’ll simply treat her like another hostile, and I’ll be constantly on guard and aware.
“Are you Mona’s sister-in-law?” he asked, putting a bag down and thrusting out his hand. “I’m—”
She blew air out loudly from between her clenched teeth. “Come with me,” she snapped, turning on her heel and walking out of the terminal.
Another guy might have been offended or frightened by her impolite demeanor, but Andy was amused. He chuckled to himself as he tried to keep up with her, one weighty bag slung over each shoulder. She might be short, but boy was she fast.
When they reached her vehicle, an old Ford Mustang, she unlocked the car, then leaned in and popped the trunk. He dropped his bags in the back, gently shut the trunk and took a seat beside her up front, admiring the pristine condition of the car’s leather interior and looped pile carpet which looked new. She sighed a few times then started the car and they drove in an uncomfortable silence away from the airport.
“Would you mind if I turned on the radio?” he asked after they’d travelled only three miles but felt like three hundred given the strained silence.
His companion grunted, which he took to be a ‘yes’, so he leaned over and turned on the radio. It was talkback and he tuned the stations until he found one that was playing music. His heart warmed as the strains of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” filled the car.
She flicked her eyes off the road momentarily, shooting him a look that suggested she wasn’t impressed.
What’s with this woman? He leaned over and turned the music up a tad higher as he sang along. He’d always been told he had a good singing voice, and he wasn’t self-conscious.
He hoped the music might lighten her up, but it didn’t. Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, her posture was straight and school-marmish, and she remained cocooned in her own world, shutting him out completely. She might be in a lousy mood, but he was finally free and had plenty to be happy about. In two short weeks he
’d be on the adventure that he’d spent four years dreaming about. He could hardly wait and she wasn’t going to bring his attitude down.
Some time later, they passed through the center of Lewiston, turned right, and a few streets after she slowed and pulled into the driveway of a modest white clapboard house. She turned the car off without a word, and popped the trunk. He grabbed his bags and followed her inside.
She tossed her keys onto a table in the hallway. “This is your room,” she said in a stiff voice, gesturing to a doorway down the hall. While the room was small, it was spotless and the bed was a double with a bright coverlet and a mound of pillows. After the Army, any room he didn’t have to share with a roommate was a good room. He dropped his bags on the floor, tested the firm, comfortable mattress and sighed with contentment.
His hostess left the room, pulling the door shut behind her with a soft click. Andy closed his eyes, thinking he’d rest them for a minute, and ended up sleeping until five the next morning.
Three
Betty
To an outsider, Betty lived a normal life in a nice house in a great little town. She was well-liked by her friends and family, but inside she was filled with self-loathing. Her lack of confidence didn’t make her hard to be around, because she didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable or use people as emotional props. Nonetheless she was angry, disappointed, and completely over her life, yet she did nothing about making things better. She had no idea how to change what had been set into place a long time ago. Instead of attacking the source of her frustration, which in this specific case was Mona, she was being horrid to a perfectly nice guy.