Mistletoe Magic (Paradise Place Book 6)

by Natalie Ann

  There was nothing she could say after that, so the three of them ate their pizza, then talked, and then Brian left.

  “No, but he and I were close when I was growing up. I spent a lot of time with them because my grandfather worked nights and he’d watch me after school for years. And because he lived by the high school, even when I was old enough to be home alone, it was easier to just walk there and my mother would come get me after work until I got my license.”

  “So I’ve got one more man to win over?” he asked.

  She reached her hand over and ran it up and down his thigh, then between his legs. “You don’t need to win anyone over but me and you already did.”

  “Stop that,” he said. “We are almost there. I don’t need to walk in the door looking like I’m ready to jump you.”

  “But maybe I want that.”

  “Tonight,” he said. “I promise.”

  “You better keep that promise.”

  “I always keep my promises,” he said seriously. She smiled at him and her eyes started to fill. “What? What did I say? Jesus, don’t walk in the door like you’ve been crying.”

  Then she burst out laughing. “It was just so sweet what you said. I’m sorry. I’m emotional for some reason. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and the last one I had was tense. Until I met you I didn’t even want to think of this holiday. I was dreading it and thought I’d go on vacation alone.”

  “You never said that,” he said.

  “There was no reason to. I’m with you and I want to spend the holidays with you.”

  When she was closing on her house in October, the holidays were right in her mind and how she’d get through them alone. She’d never really been alone for a holiday but knew this year might be the first.

  Then there came Brian and she was hoping she was never alone again.

  “Are you sure you’re good with spending it with my family tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I am. As I said, Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. How many times have you laughed when you walked in the house and found more things I’ve bought and decorated?”

  “I just thought you had an inner child.”

  “I do. I can’t wait to see how crazy my house will be when I’ve got kids someday.”

  He parked in her parents’ driveway. “You want kids, right?”

  “I do,” she said. “You know that.” They talked about it after Meena’s pregnancy announcement a few weeks ago.

  “Just checking.”

  “You said you did too,” she said. “Did you change your mind?”

  “Of course not,” he said.

  “But you’re thinking of my marriage to Alex?” she asked.

  “Not really.”

  “We weren’t meant to stay together. A child between us would have made things so much worse. I would have been tied to him forever. This is a horrible time to talk about this, but I wanted children right away and Alex didn’t. I thought it was odd since he was older and so family oriented. The subject of children always seemed to cause a riff with us too.”

  “Well, now you know why.”

  “That didn’t mean he wouldn’t want kids,” she said. “I just think he doesn’t know what he wants or who he is. He’s trying to be someone his parents want and it’s not working out so well for anyone.”

  “Are you defending him?” he asked.

  “Absolutely not. I’ll never defend him or anyone else that cheats. What I had with Alex wasn’t real. I know that now.” She reached for his hand and threaded their fingers together. “What you and I have. That’s as real as it gets.”

  “Yes, it is,” he said.

  They got out of the car and went to the porch. She didn’t even get to the front door before it was thrown open and her grandmother was standing there with her arms wide. “Robin, sweetie. Oh, I’m so happy to see you. Let me look at you,” she said, pushing her back like she always did, then yanking her in. “You are almost glowing you look so well.”

  “I feel great,” she said. “I’m happy.”

  “You look it.” She pushed Robin out of her hands and almost sent her tumbling. It was funny since her grandmother wasn’t that much bigger than her. “And you must be Brian. I’m Sue. Anyone that puts that shine back in my baby’s eyes has a special place in my heart. Come give me a hug.”

  Robin started to laugh when Brian looked at her, but he was a good sport and gave her grandmother a hug.

  “Grandma,” Rick shouted. “Dad is complaining about the heating bill already because you’ve got the door open.”

  Her grandmother laughed. “My Rick. He’s a joker.”

  “He’s a lot of things,” Robin said, then moved them into the living room. “Grandpa, this is Brian. Brian, my grandfather, Dan.”

  “Nice to meet you,” he said, moving toward her grandfather with his hand out.

  “Same. I was told I can’t grill you. That Rick did it already and if I did it too my daughter and wife said I can’t have any dessert. I have to wait to get cheesecake when I’m here because my wife won’t make it.”

  Robin giggled. “Grandpa. Cheesecake isn’t good for your diabetes or cholesterol.”

  “Don’t you agree with them either, young lady.”

  “Want a beer, Brian?” Rick asked. “You’re going to need it to get through this.”

  “Sure,” he said.

  “I don’t know what my brother was talking about,” she said two hours later. “You didn’t need a beer to get through anything.” They’d all been eating snacks and her mother had dinner in the oven. Once dinner was done, they’d play poker and then open gifts. It was a tradition of sorts she loved to do.

  Brian seemed to be enjoying himself and getting along great with everyone. There were no lapses of conversation on anyone’s part and she couldn’t ask for a better day so far.

  That is until hours later they were getting ready to leave and her mother said, “Randy, you forgot to put the mistletoe up this year.”

  Her father always hung mistletoe up in the house somewhere. Her mother loved it and it was a game of sorts that her father would surprise her with when she least expected it to get a kiss.

  Maybe that was why she always thought it was so magical as a kid. That she wanted what her parents had.

  “I didn’t forget,” her father said. “It’s right here.” He pulled it out of his pocket and tried to fluff it up from where it was squished. “You need to come give me a kiss now.”

  Her mother moved closer and under her father’s arm, his other arm holding the mistletoe over her mother’s head.

  “My turn,” Robin said, moving to get it away from her father.

  “I think it’d be better if I held it up,” Brian said, pulling it out of her hand and putting it over her head.

  “As long as I get to kiss you, I don’t care where you put it.”

  She laid her lips to his and knew it might be the best family Christmas Eve she’d ever had. There was no arguing, no dirty looks or quick conversations and whispers. She wasn’t worried if Brian wanted to leave or was enjoying himself.

  He’d even wanted to stay longer so he could win a few hands of poker against her father.

  Yeah. This was what a holiday felt like when you were in love and she wanted to freeze this moment in time. Hadn’t Brian said before that you had to treasure spontaneous moments? It felt like their relationship was one magical moment after another. Not all spontaneous, but that was fine with her.

  23

  What We Do

  Christmas morning, Brian rolled over and saw Robin sound asleep.

  He wasn’t sure what to expect with her family yesterday and last night, but he’d had a blast.

  He’d dated over the years and spent holidays with other women and never once did he feel like he belonged as he had with Robin’s family.

  They’d gotten home and taken care of the dogs like an old married couple, then gone up to the master bathroom to get ready for bed.


  They climbed under the covers and snuggled a little, then her hands started to wander and they ended up messing up the sheets before they both fell into an exhausted slumber.

  Now she was still sleeping soundly, so he’d get up and take care of the dogs and then start breakfast. He wanted to plug the lights in on the tree too. He always came downstairs as a kid to put the lights on. “So Santa can find where to put the presents,” his mother used to say.

  When he was done with the French toast, he put it in the warmer, made a cup of coffee and called the dogs, “Let’s go wake up your mother.”

  He’d expected her to get up by now but guessed she was more tired than he realized. Then he looked at the clock and saw it was barely seven. She did like to sleep in when she didn’t have to go to work.

  Not him. He was a creature of habit and out of bed before six pretty much daily.

  The dogs followed behind him like they always did and when they realized he was by the stairs they took off as if to race him to the top. They were up here when either he or Robin was moving around but never to sleep. At least not yet.

  The dogs sped ahead of him and into their room. Their room. Hmm, when did he start to think of Robin’s room as his?

  He heard the giggling when he turned the corner to see the dogs on the bed. Oops, he hadn’t realized they might do that. They did jump on everything, but he’d never seen them do that before.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “No worries. Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas to you too,” he said, moving over and sitting on the side of the bed. “I brought you coffee and breakfast is warming now.”

  “You made me breakfast?”

  “I did. I didn’t want to bring it up here. I don’t know about you but breakfast in bed just never appealed to me. I don’t want to eat in bed.”

  “Me neither,” she said. “But I wouldn’t mind a sip of this to wake my butt up. I don’t know why I’m so tired lately.”

  “Maybe you are just worn out from all the excitement of your family visiting, the work at the shelter, and we can’t forget the decorating.”

  She squinted one eye at him. “I like my crazy decorations.”

  “I do too,” he said, leaning down to kiss her one more time. “Santa has been here. The lights are still bright on the tree and the dogs didn’t even notice the loot.”

  “That’s because they are used to the tree being blocked off from them.” She threw the covers back. “But I’ll get up now. Let me run to the bathroom and put something more than this T-shirt on.”

  “I like you in that little T-shirt though,” he said playfully slapping her butt that she swished right by him.

  But he did walk back downstairs and get the dogs to follow him.

  Robin came down a few minutes later in leggings and slippers added to the shirt. He’d turned the fireplace on to make it cozier and moved the gate away from the tree. The dogs were sniffing around but not bothering anything.

  “They are behaving,” she said. “I’m surprised.”

  “I told them they had to or they couldn’t get their gifts.”

  She smiled. “Thankfully their stockings are hanging on the fireplace. And you turned it on so it’s nice and cozy in here.”

  “What’s Christmas morning without a fire?” he said. “Even if it is an electric one.”

  “I agree.” She moved closer to get the dog’s stockings and pulled out big bones for them both. “This should hold them over for now.”

  “I figured as much. We can open their gifts from me later.”

  “You bought the dogs gifts?” she asked.

  “Of course I did. They are your kids.” He almost slipped and said “our kids” and caught himself in the nick of time.

  “Do you want to exchange gifts now or eat breakfast that smells so good. French toast?”

  “You’ve got a good nose,” he said flicking it. “And a cute one. But it won’t take us long to open gifts if you want. Breakfast is fine in the warming oven.”

  “That works for me,” she said. “I’m always excited over Christmas gifts.”

  “You gave your parents enough things last night,” he said.

  He’d gotten Robin’s parents a gift card to a restaurant, which they appreciated. He didn’t know them well enough to do much more. But Robin got her parents gift certificates and clothes and some smaller items for each of them. They’d said she went overboard but it seemed they were used to that with her too.

  He noticed there were a lot of gifts under the tree from her to him and he hoped it wasn’t lopsided. This was one of those awkward things when you were dating someone. Especially only a few months in.

  But in his mind, they just felt so much closer than a few months of dating than he had with anyone else in his past.

  They were alternating gifts back and forth and so far it was a lot of clothes and a few smaller things and that made him feel much better. Her last gift to him was an envelope and he wasn’t sure what that could be.

  “Do I want to know?” he asked, kind of nervous.

  “I would think so,” she said. “I put a lot of thought into this. I even asked your sister.”

  “Now I’m really scared,” he said, smiling, but pulled it out of her hand and opened it up. It was a piece of paper, handwritten with a picture on it of two baseball players saying, “Come watch us play.”

  “Do you understand it?” she said. “I know it’s probably childish but everything is electronic now.”

  “Did you get me tickets to a baseball game? The Mets?”

  “I did. I talked to Meena and Troy and Troy told me what was considered good seats. I know it’s several months away, but thought you might enjoy it. It’s a Saturday game. It’s right by first base, front row. Is that good or bad? Sometimes they say being that close isn’t good.”

  “No,” he said. “That’s great. Wow. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Have you ever been to a game before?”

  “No. I’m not into baseball. I figured you and Troy could go.”

  He’d like her to go too, but he’d wait until they got closer before he pushed it. It’d be nice to do something with his best friend too before the baby came. Just like old times.

  “I’ve got one more for you too,” he said. He gave her a small stocking.

  “I love stockings. I find they are the most fun at the holidays.”

  She was pulling everything out of it, mainly candy, lotions, and soaps. Girly small things. When she got to the bottom she pulled out a small jewelry box.

  “I know you don’t wear a lot of jewelry, but I’m a guy and it’s what we do.”

  “I actually love jewelry,” she said. “I just don’t have a lot. What I had from Alex I refuse to wear.”

  They’d never talked about this before and it wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have right now either.

  She flipped the lid and smiled, her eyes going all soft. “Brian, these are beautiful.”

  “Do you know what they are?”

  “They look like mistletoe. Are they?”

  She was taking her little studs out of her ears and putting in the white gold dangles. “They are. But since they are white gold and pearls, if someone didn’t know, they wouldn’t think they were Christmas earrings.”

  She moved closer to him, put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. “They are Christmas earrings, but I could wear them all year round too.”

  “You could if you wanted to. I never realized Christmas was your favorite holiday until you said it yesterday, but I’d bought these the day before when I was finishing up. Guess it was my lucky day I saw them. I looked around, but I just kept going back to them.”

  “Guess it was meant to be,” she said. “Just like us.”

  “Just like us,” he said back.

  24

  My Eyes Were Opened

  Two weeks later, Robin was home getting dressed for work. Not that it was hard to grab scru
bs and put them on. She actually enjoyed that part of the job. No guesswork or worrying about fashion decisions.

  Alex didn’t like that she even continued to work let alone dressed in scrubs each day.

  He’d told her he wanted her to quit her job and stay home. Or at the very least find another job. It was almost like he was embarrassed by what she did for a living even though that was how they’d met.

  And she had to stop thinking of him at the oddest times.

  She put Brian’s earrings in again. She’d been wearing them daily. She’d gotten a lot of compliments on them from patients and coworkers alike. Since she always tied her hair back, they were easily seen. Especially when she normally wore studs in her ears instead.

  But these would dangle and move around and they’d make her think of the man she loved who gave them to her.

  Her phone rang thirty minutes later when she was sitting at the table eating breakfast and reading the news. No one called her this early so she immediately worried there was a problem.

  Rick was back in California now and by the time he’d left he didn’t look so tired anymore, but she knew he was working his butt off again and they hadn’t spoken much since.

  She was getting worried that he was wearing himself out, but when she picked the phone up it wasn’t a number she recognized though it looked local.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Robin. How are you?”

  “Alex? How did you get this number?”

  There was some silence on the other end. “Does it matter? I can get anything I want when I want it. You know that.”

  “I changed my number because I didn’t want people to contact me,” she said. She had to suspect that Alex’s mother gave him the number and he was smart enough to not call using his own cell phone. She hadn’t wanted to share it even with his parents, but Patrice had reached out to her via email and asked for it.

  It’s not like they talked and they had a mutual understanding at this point. Still, she felt sort of betrayed.