by Charles, Eva
I look around the kitchen. There’s so much to do before tomorrow. I gave Georgie a few days off so they could spend the holiday with Wade’s sister, and two people I was counting on for help have called in sick. The very last thing I need right now is to go to Sweetgrass. “I’ll head over right now.”
“Thanks. Call me from the ER when you know something.”
* * *
As Rafe pulls into the circle at Sweetgrass, I’m surprised to see white lights strung around the porch and trees, and luminaires lining the walkways. None of it was here last week. Lally must insist on decorating for Christmas.
“Just keep it running,” I tell Gus when he opens the car door for me. “I’ll have her out in five minutes.” Even if I have to drag her by her bleached-blond hair.
I run up the porch steps and ring the bell. JD answers the door. “What are you doing here? I thought you were away? I don’t have time for games today.”
“Are you finished?”
“No. Is Lally even hurt?”
He shakes his head, and motions me inside, but I turn around to go back toward the car. JD’s not having it. He grabs my arm and pulls me inside. “I have guests. Find some manners before I take you to meet them.” With a squeeze, he lets go of my arm.
“Guests?” I hiss. “You brought me here under false pretenses to meet your guests?” I stammer. “You know how busy I am today. How short-handed.” For the most part I know what to expect from JD—at least out of bed. Although he still surprises me, and not always in a good way. But this is too much. “It better be the fucking Queen of England you want me to meet.”
“Sweetpea, you givin’ this man a hard time?”
I glance at JD, and then at the man ambling into the foyer. “Daddy.” My voice is muted, almost a whisper.
What’s he doing here? I just spoke to my parents yesterday. “Is everything alright? Where’s Mama?”
He holds me in his arms, and pats my back, reassuring me like he did when I was a child. “Everything’s fine. And if you’re done dressing down JD, you can go say hello to your mama.”
I catch JD’s eye, my mouth still hanging open. He’s smirking. “You mother’s in the living room visiting with Lally,” he says. “We waited on you for lunch.”
I’m having a hard time processing everything. Surprise parties are like that. It’s why I’ve always hated them.
JD helps me with my coat, and nudges me in the direction of the living room. I follow the laughter. My mother’s laughter. Lally’s laughter. I feel JD’s hand on the small of my back, steadying me. He presses his lips to the top of my head. “Merry Christmas, Elle.” Elle. I stop and gaze up at him.
He opens his mouth as if to speak, but he doesn’t, and when he finally does, I’m certain it’s not what had been on his lips a moment before. “Your mom’s been anxious to see you. Go.”
My mother looks great, dressed in deep red velour pants and a beautiful white top with a beaded neckline. “Oh my God!” I run to hug her. “It’s wonderful to see you. I was planning on visiting the day after Christmas, but I’m so happy we’ll be together on the holiday.”
“Me, too, baby. Me too.”
“When did you plan this?” I ask, pulling back. “The doctors let you come home? How did you get here? And you, Miss Lally, your fingers look just fine. Were you in on this too?”
“So many questions, Gabrielle. My goodness.” Mama laughs.
“And still no answers. I’m sure you had something to do with this too, JD.” I crane my neck over my shoulder, but he’s gone.
“JD thought it would make a nice Christmas surprise for you,” my father says.
“The doctors said it’s okay?”
“I’ve been in the treatment for seven weeks, and they weren’t going to do anything over Christmas. I have a three-day reprieve. JD worked out the logistics. Brought his plane and a nurse with him to bring us home.”
“Said he wasn’t leaving anything to chance,” my father pipes in. “Said you’d whip his backside if anything went wrong.” My father seems so happy. And my mother. It must be a relief to be back in Charleston, even for a few days.
“I know Lally’s nephew is living at your house until you get back, and the hotel is full, but you can stay in my room. I’ll have a cot made up in my office. It’ll be perfect.”
“That’s not necessary,” Lally says. “I prepared a room upstairs for your parents. There’s a nurse on duty here all the time. This is the best place for your mother.”
I turn to my mother. “Are you sure you want to stay here? I have to be at the hotel. I won’t be around much.”
“You sleep in your own bed. We’re fine here. More than fine. You do what you need to do. I’m hoping Lally will let me help with Christmas Eve supper.”
“Help with supper? You’re crazy, woman,” Lally says flippantly, dismissing my mother’s offer to help. “You need to rest.”
Mama’s face drops, and Lally doesn’t miss it. “You know how I am about people in my kitchen. Even you, Vivienne.” She wraps her arm around Mama’s shoulders. "But I’m sure I can use the help. We’ll be feeding more people than I’m used to.”
I catch Lally’s eye and wink. “Where did JD go?”
“He’s getting lunch.”
This I have to see. “Maybe I should help him. That man shouldn’t be anywhere near a kitchen.”
“Same goes for you, missy,” Lally says, and everyone laughs.
“I’m better in the kitchen than he is.”
“I’ll be right there. Don’t even think of turning the stove on while you’re in my kitchen.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not that bad of a cook.”
“You are that bad. I’ve eaten your food. Almost killed me.”
“I’m just going to help JD carry things in. Surely I can do that without causing an outbreak of food poisoning.”
What I really want is a few minutes alone with JD.
“It took some effort to do this,” I say, when I get to the kitchen.
JD is rummaging through a cupboard, and doesn’t respond. My chest grows heavy in the silence. And my mind wanders aimlessly. Flitting in and out of the dark shadows—I begin to wonder if this is in some way about the secrets. If this is a manipulation of some sort. I walk over to him and place my hand on his back. “Why JD? Please tell me this isn’t connected in any way to the secrets. Please tell me it’s as my father said, just a Christmas surprise.”
He recoils from my touch.
“Talk to me, JD.”
“It’s not like you’re a normal woman. I couldn’t just send Patrick out to buy you a pair of diamond earrings. You would have been all pissed off.”
It’s a Christmas present. I feel the stress slip away. “If Patrick had picked out my Christmas present for you? Yeah, I would have been annoyed.”
“Even if I picked out a pair of diamond earrings myself—it’s just not something you would have loved. It’s not something I would have been comfortable with either,” he mutters. “When you’ve got money, diamond earrings are the kind of thing you give a woman when you don’t know what to give. When you don’t want to give too much of yourself. I wanted your Christmas present to be special. I wanted you to know that I put thought and effort into it.”
I rake my fingers through his hair, lingering near his temple. God help me, I love this man. “Like the frame you made me in shop class when you were a senior.” He shrugs a shoulder. “Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my suspicious heart.” I try not to cry, but a tear slips out, and then another.
“I want you to be happy, Gabrielle. And safe. That’s all I want.” JD pulls me to him, molding my hips to his, and cups my face while he kisses away the tears. I could stay with him, like this, forever.
I don’t hear the approaching footsteps, and I don’t think JD does, either.
“Have some respect, JD,” Lally admonishes, “before I take a broom to you. Her father’s in the house.” And then she mumbles something to me abo
ut cows and milk that I don’t entirely catch, but I get the drift.
She begins pulling food out of the refrigerator and dishes from the cupboards, chastising and poking at us while she works, but she’s biting back a smile. I can hear it in her voice, and the twinkling in her eyes is unmistakable when she hands me a platter to take to the living room.
As we sit and have lunch, my mind keeps going back to the hotel. There’s so much to do there. I peek at my watch. Twenty minutes, and then I have to leave.
I watch JD with my parents, and with Lally. For the first time, I feel ridiculous for thinking he sent me away when he was tired of being my boyfriend. I’d held onto the childish self-centered idea because it was easy. And because I needed to believe something. I needed answers when there were none. My parents never would have allowed such a thing. And Lally. She would have pitched a fit the size of Texas. I’d like to say it doesn’t matter anymore, but it’s not true. In some ways, it’s never mattered more. I still need closure—I need to close the door on the past, not so I can start fresh with someone else, but so we can start again. So we have a real chance to build something.
I glance at the clock on the mantle. “I have to get back to the hotel. I’m so sorry. I didn’t plan very well for this.”
“Do what you need to do. We’re just fine here,” my mother assures me.
“What time will you be back for supper?” Lally asks.
“I—uh—”
“Wildflower is closed today and tomorrow,” JD says, looking at me. “Gray sent some staff over to The Gatehouse. A few extra sets of hands so you can have dinner with us tonight. They should be there by now.” He nods reassuringly. “Don’t worry. They’ve all had experience with difficult clientele.”
“It’s Christmas. I don’t know how he managed that,” I blurt out much too abruptly. The words sound frazzled and ungrateful.
“Not everyone likes to spend the holidays with their family,” he explains patiently. “We’ll make it a late supper. And then you can go back to the hotel before Santa comes.”
JD always thinks of everything. He pretends he doesn’t like to get into the weeds, but he cares about the details. I turn to my parents. “We’re doing a brunch in the morning with Santa, and we have all sorts of fun planned for guests, but I’m off the hook after brunch. We can spend the rest of the day together.”
“After church,” Lally says, “maybe your parents can go to your fancy brunch. And I’ll make a late Christmas dinner, here. How about four o’clock? Does that work for everybody?”
“Perfectly,” JD answers for all of us.
“Aren’t you going to your cousins?” I ask Lally.
“Good excuse to break that tradition. I can’t stand her husband’s side of the family. Sloppy drunks. Besides your mom can’t do everything, and who are we putting in charge of the kitchen, you?” Everyone laughs, including JD.
“Why don’t you come by for brunch, too, Lally? I’m not cooking.” The thought of having everyone at the hotel for brunch, especially this brunch, makes me happy. And I love the idea of feeding Lally. Fussing over her the way she always fusses over us. “It’s Christmas, Lally.”
“I’ll be spending the day with my stove. I don’t want it to be alone on Christmas,” she says, waving me off.
But I’m stubborn. I go over to her and clasp both her hands in mine. “I would love for you to be with us, even for a short while.”
“Maybe for a very short while,” she says, squeezing my fingertips.
I glance at JD. “You don’t mind us taking over your house when you’re not here?”
“Where am I going?”
I realize I’ve been so wrapped up in my own Christmas plans that we never talked about his. “I—I just assumed you’d be going to Wildwood to be with your father and Shelby, and your brothers.”
“Shelby and my father spend the holiday in Palm Beach. Her family joins them. I never go, and it’s hit or miss with my brothers.” JD is the one speaking, but I can feel all eyes on me. “Gray and Chase are coming here for Christmas dinner tomorrow—or supper, or whatever it ends up being. If there’s food, they’ll come. They’ll be by tonight, too.”
“That sounds wonderful.” I try to sound sincere, because spending Christmas with my family and JD’s brothers is wonderful. Almost too wonderful.
Will I always feel this hesitancy? The need to protect my heart? Will I always be looking over my shoulder, wondering when my happiness will go up in smoke?
27
Gabrielle
When I arrive at Sweetgrass on Christmas Eve, my parents are resting, and Lally is in the kitchen.
“Do you need some help?”
“It’s all done. Gray sent a couple girls over here, too. They set the tables, and will be back later to clean up. I don’t know why he had to do that.”
I smile. Lally doesn’t know how to let anyone take care of her. She and JD have a lot in common in that regard. Come to think of it, they’re both bossy and controlling too. “Gray loves you and wants you to enjoy Christmas, too.” I glance at the time. “Is JD with Zack?”
“Mmhm.”
“I have something for them. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time.”
I make my way to the back of the house and through the big doors, toward Zack’s room. A nurse I haven’t met is seated in an alcove eating a sandwich, with her nose in a book. She looks up when I approach, and I smile and nod hello as I pass.
I’ve visited Zack several times now, and Sumter is used to me, so he doesn’t bother to get up, although he does have one eye trained on me. “Hi,” I say when I walk in. “Let me wash my hands and then I have a Christmas present for Zack.”
“Everything ready for tomorrow?” JD asks.
“More than ready. The extra staff is a game changer. Thank you.”
“Thank Gray,” he says.
“I will. But your hand is all over it, too. Here.” I hand JD two packages. “This one is for tonight, and this one is for tomorrow. I thought you would both enjoy these.”
He fiddles clumsily with the paper for a few seconds, before impatiently ripping it off. The smile spreads slow and warm, melting over his face and seeping into his heart. I know that smile. I haven’t seen it in years, but I recognize it. “The Night Before Christmas,” he says. “Look Zack.” He lifts the book, so his brother can see. My heart breaks for him. For them.
“I wasn’t sure if you had a copy for tonight.” My voice is thick with emotion. And I blink back the tears threatening to spill all over the buffed wood floor.
“No. We don’t.”
“Why don’t you read it to Zack and me,” I say, softly. “Do you mind me homing in on your time together?”
JD shakes his head. “We would love you to stay.”
I lean back against the night table, and close my eyes, lulled by his smooth baritone, visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.
* * *
After supper, we sing some off-tune Christmas Carols, and mostly relax in the living room. JD feeds the fire all night, and it’s toasty and warm in here, and everything I could ever want on Christmas Eve.
Gray is enthralled by something his friend Mae, the hostess at Wildflower, is whispering in his ear. When he walked in with her earlier, he said she didn’t have anywhere to go. “Yeah, sure,” JD murmured, when Gray turned his back. “Have you ever known him to bring home a stray?”
“Shhhh,” I whispered. “She’s nice. I’m happy to see him with someone nice.”
Ten-thirty comes quick, and I need to get back. “I’m sad to say it, but it’s getting late. I need to be at the hotel by the change of shift.”
“I’ll drive you,” JD says, getting up.
Drive me? That’s new. “No security?”
“Going anywhere without security isn’t ever an option for you. I thought we were past that.” He pins me with a gaze, shaking his head disapprovingly. “They’ll follow us.”
I kiss everyone good nig
ht, and wrap my coat around me, but I don’t leave before inviting everyone to brunch the next day, even Mae, who has Gray wrapped around her finger. I think I have a girl crush on her, too.
JD and I chatter on the way to The Gatehouse. Well, mostly I chatter and JD grunts or nods. “Would you like to come in for a drink?”
“It’s still early for me. But you have to be up before dawn. You sure you want me to come in?”
“One drink. It’s Christmas Eve.”
I make myself a Gatehouse special, and mix JD a classic whiskey sour with a single giant cube of ice. When I rub some orange peel around the rim of the glass and then lay it on the ice, he whistles softly. “If you can mix a cocktail like that,” he says, “who cares if you can’t cook?”
“You might want to taste it first.”
He sips the drink, savoring slowly. “It tastes as good as it looks. Maybe better." His eyes are molten and I’m not sure we’re still talking about cocktails.
“Why don’t we go upstairs?” I say. “I have something for you.”
“Do you?” There’s mischief in his eyes.
“It’s a gift.”
“It’s always a gift. The best damn gift. Every time.” He smirks and motions with his hand for me to go first. “I’ll follow you.”
We haven’t had sex here since that first time. I’ve been reluctant to bring him here, to entangle the two parts of my life. I’ve made every effort to keep JD out of hotel business. This is mine. It’s my future, the place I’ll seek refuge if things don’t work between us. I don’t want his face, his smell, his memory, all over the place when it happens.
Besides, JD makes Georgie uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable, which makes me uncomfortable. So far I’ve managed not to have them run into each other, but it hasn’t been easy. I’m never sure when JD’s going to make an appearance. But so far I’ve been lucky. “Stairs or elevator?” I ask.
“Love that back stairwell,” he murmurs in a lecherous voice.