Christmas with Carlie

by Julianna Morris

  “They had to hear it from somewhere. Most of our hosts were friends of my parents from boarding school or college, so maybe they were amused by Mom and Dad. Nicole and I could have been the ones who weren’t welcome.”

  “I understand how difficult it must have been,” Carlie said slowly. “But that was a long time ago. Everybody knows how successful you are today.”

  “My gut reaction is still the same.”

  She nodded, still looking troubled. “All right. Just don’t say anything else in front of our other guests. Poppy Gold doesn’t advertise its policy at the John Muir Cottage. We receive referrals from various commanding officers and make the arrangements that way. In your case, the referral would have been from General Pierson’s office. Other guests shouldn’t know anything about it.”

  Luke released a harsh breath as he watched Carlie walk away, energy seeming to swirl around her. While he’d already noticed she was attractive, this time her appeal was striking a primal chord.

  There was nothing indifferent about Carlie. She was passionate, vital and far more beautiful than he’d recognized at first. She reminded him of the desert after a spring thunderstorm, where everything has been dry and desolate, only to awaken with a roar after a dose of life-giving rain.

  A wry smile curved Luke’s mouth—flash floods through an arroyo weren’t uncommon after a spring storm, either, and they could be lethal. Besides, he wasn’t a desert. He was a man who’d lost his wife.

  But if nothing else, his response to her was proof that his body wasn’t dead. After Erika’s death he’d never expected to look at another woman that way again.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THAT EVENING, THERE was a Christmas cookie party being sponsored by the firemen’s auxiliary at Poppy Gold’s historic fire station, but Carlie decided to forgo it to get an early night. So for the first time since Thanksgiving, she left Poppy Gold by 7:00 p.m. She ran in to check on her dad when she got home. He seemed thinner and more tired than ever.

  “I’m fine,” he insisted when she mentioned it. “I had a long day, that’s all. You look tired, too.”

  Her mom just shook her head. “Are you hungry, dear?”

  “Starved,” Carlie admitted, mostly because she knew it would make Leah feel better to feed her.

  “I’ll make you something.”

  After a hearty salad and sandwich, Carlie climbed the steps to the apartment over her parents’ garage, eager to crawl into bed. But she’d barely closed her eyes when the phone rang.

  Groaning, she pressed the button. “Hello?”

  “Sorry, it’s Greg on the front desk. We have a call from the Forresters.”

  She checked the time. At least it wasn’t 2:00 a.m. “Don’t tell me—they want a cup of tea.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Never mind, Greg. What’s the problem?”

  “Nicole Forrester is on the other line. She’s quite apologetic and says she doesn’t know your work hours, but hoped you were still at Poppy Gold because of the firehouse party. One of her nieces woke up with a nightmare and keeps crying for you. She told me not to call if you’d left, but I thought...”

  “It’s okay. Tell Nicole I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “The girl will probably be asleep again by the time you arrive.”

  True enough, but Carlie wouldn’t be able to sleep herself under the circumstances. Maybe it was because of the horrible dreams she’d had when her father was in intensive care and the doctors didn’t know if he’d pull through. It was awful to think of Annie or Beth going through anything similar.

  She swiftly prepared her mother’s special sleep concoction in the microwave and poured it into a thermos before driving to the parking area closest to the John Muir Cottage.

  Nicole answered the door, her face stressed. “Thank you for coming, Carlie. Luke told me Beth’s nightmares were bad, but I didn’t realize they were like this. I panicked when she kept screaming.”

  Carlie followed her up the stairs and saw Beth pushing her father away as she and Nicole went into the girls’ bedroom.

  “Hey,” Carlie soothed, sitting on the bed. “What’s up?”

  Beth promptly scrambled onto her lap. “Somebody was chasing us.”

  Carlie tucked Beth close and gave Annie an encouraging smile. “It’s okay. Nobody is here.”

  “But he wanted to hurt Papa,” Beth wailed.

  The air seemed to catch in Carlie’s chest. Beth had already lost her mother; now she must be terrified she’d lose her father. But why wouldn’t she want Luke’s reassurance after a nightmare like that?

  Lord, nothing about the Forrester family made much sense.

  “Your papa isn’t going anywhere. Nobody is trying to hurt him.”

  “Are you sure? Promise?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Yet Carlie winced as the words left her mouth, understanding why her mom had once said that promises were the pitfall of parenting. You wanted to promise your children the world, but you knew that sooner or later one of your heartfelt vows would get broken. Not that Carlie had any reason to think anyone was going to hurt Luke...unless one of the Poppy Gold employees decided they’d had enough of his Grinchy behavior and bashed him with a Christmas wreath.

  Annie wiggled closer and leaned against Carlie, as well. “It’s okay, Bethie,” she whispered. She looked worried but composed, and Carlie’s tired brain rambled with the thought that Annie might be more resilient than her outgoing twin.

  “Did your papa tell you about the Christmas trees?” Carlie asked.

  Beth lifted her head an inch. “Christmas trees?”

  “That’s right. You’re each going to have a Christmas tree to decorate right here in your bedroom.”

  “Can we keep the lights on when we go to sleep?”

  Carlie glanced at Luke and he shrugged. “Of course you can. We can set up a timer to turn them off once you’re asleep. I used to sleep on the couch when I was a little girl, just to be near our Christmas tree. The angel on top was like my guardian angel and I felt warm and safe when she was gazing down at me.”

  “Remember, Bethie, Nanny Dacia says Momma is our guardian angel now,” Annie whispered, so softly it was unlikely her father or aunt could hear.

  Carlie kissed both girls. “I’m sure she is,” she whispered in return. It was one thing she wasn’t worried about promising.

  Beth sniffed. “We didn’t get to go to the cookie party ’cause we fell asleep.”

  “There will be other parties. You can also bake cookies right here in the kitchen.”

  “Aunt Nicole and Papa don’t know how.”

  “Will you make them with us, Carlie?” Annie begged.

  “Oh, yes,” Beth agreed, sitting up straight. “That would be splendiferous.”

  Carlie laughed. “Where did you learn that word?”

  “From the gardener. He has splendiferous roses, but we can’t touch them because they have thorns and we might get poked.”

  “Oh. Well, if it’s okay with your papa, I’ll bake cookies with you sometime next week. But right now you both need to sleep. We’re having a Christmas scavenger hunt tomorrow afternoon and you don’t want to be sleepy during it.”

  “Is there a prize, Carlie?” Beth wanted to know, which probably meant she was getting back to normal. She seemed much more competitive than Annie, who appeared to enjoy doing things at her own pace without worrying about what anyone else was doing.

  “Yes, there are prizes. So it’s time to settle down for a long winter’s nap.”

  Beth hesitated. “Maybe me and Annie can sleep together like when we were little.”

  “How about moving your beds together?” Carlie suggested. “Then you’d be close, but still have enough room to stretch your legs.”


  “Okay.”

  Luke was quiet as the three adults rearranged the furniture so the twin beds were pushed against each other.

  Beth still looked tearful and Carlie reached for the small thermos she’d brought. “I made something for you to drink that my mother used to give me when I was a little girl. It’s very special and would help me sleep soundly, all night long.”

  She filled two cups and the girls drank the warm milk, smacking their lips at the faintly sweet flavor. They were asleep by the time the blankets were tucked around them. Luke stayed behind while Carlie tiptoed from the bedroom with Nicole.

  They walked downstairs and Nicole collapsed onto the couch. “I didn’t think warm milk worked,” she muttered.

  “It always did for me.”

  “That’s nice. I’m sorry about the ‘baking cookies’ thing. I never learned how to cook. I’ve looked into taking a class, but they’re too advanced. I need to learn the basics first.”

  “You’ll be here for over a month. My great-aunt Vera used to teach home economics at the high school and she might be able to give you a few lessons.”

  Nicole’s face lit up. “I’d love that. But I’d insist on paying for her time.”

  “She’s out of town for a few days, but I’ll give her a call when she gets back.” Carlie pulled out her smartphone and entered a reminder. It had been a weird evening and she didn’t want to forget.

  “Is Great-Aunt Vera the originator of your mother’s magic sleep elixir?” Nicole asked.

  “I don’t know, but it isn’t complicated—just heat milk and real maple syrup together.”

  “That sounds delicious.”

  “There’s a little left. I’ll pour you a cup,” Carlie offered, taking out the thermos again.

  “I’ll gratefully accept, though I should give it to Luke. I don’t think he slept more than two or three hours last night. He was at the computer working, dealing with emails and contracts or whatever. Not that it’s new—back home I get messages from him at all hours.”

  Nicole was sipping the fragrant concoction when Luke appeared. He looked grim and a stab of sympathy went through Carlie. Much as she longed for a family of her own, parenting had its challenges.

  “I’ll walk you back to your office,” he said.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m headed home and my car isn’t that far away.” There wasn’t any need to explain she’d been in bed when his sister called and was going straight back—he probably wouldn’t care and Nicole would feel bad.

  “It’s getting late. I insist.”

  The small storm had passed and the stars were bright in the moonless sky. The grass crunched beneath their feet and Carlie figured the maintenance crew already had the snowmakers back at work, laying down new snow. Someone would stay out there all night, keeping watch and making sure everything was ready for early-morning fun.

  The Christmas lights on the houses were dark. They went off at 10:00 p.m., while the ones in the park and low bushes in the gardens stayed on all night.

  “I take it my sister is responsible for calling you,” Luke said.

  “Nicole called the front desk, who called me.”

  “Usually Beth wants her nanny, but Dacia has been wanting to visit her family in Ireland, so I gave her a plane ticket and travel funds for Christmas. I guess it was a mistake not to have her come with us.”

  At the lighted parking area, Carlie fumbled in her pocket for her keys. She’d forgotten her purse and hoped she wouldn’t get stopped on the way home. Ever since her great-uncle Milt had retired as police chief and his grandson had taken over, the police force was more diligent about giving tickets, rather than issuing verbal warnings.

  “Um, if Beth is afraid for your safety, why doesn’t she cry for you when she’s had one of her nightmares?” Carlie couldn’t resist asking.

  “I have no idea. The girls don’t even know the details of how their mother died. I didn’t think it was fair to burden them with it.”

  “Maybe their imagination is conjuring something worse.”

  “What could be worse than knowing she was shot in the back by a sniper while trying to rescue another soldier?” Luke said harshly. “There’s so much crap on the internet about us, I dread the day they start looking things up about their mother. Have you ever lost someone to senseless violence?”

  “No,” Carlie admitted. “Though I’ve seen senseless death. It isn’t the same as what you’ve gone through, but one of my aunts died of pneumonia a few years ago. She wasn’t elderly or chronically sick—she was vital and healthy. And when I was a kid, my uncle Tate was killed in a navy jet crash. He left a wife and two sons. They weren’t much older than Annie and Beth at the time.”

  * * *

  IN THE BACK of his mind, Luke noted Carlie wasn’t wearing the same coat as earlier and that her long hair was loosely contained in a French braid. Most likely it meant she’d already gone home, only to be called back to Poppy Gold. He regretted that she’d been inconvenienced, but was too exhausted to deal with anything else at the moment.

  “All death is senseless,” he muttered.

  “I can’t argue with that.” Carlie stuck her key into the lock of a small white sedan and Luke frowned.

  “This is your car?”

  “Yup.” She patted the roof as if patting a loyal dog. “I need new batteries for the electronic keys, but other than that, everything works well.”

  He was astonished. Judging from the styling, the vehicle was at least a decade old and couldn’t have been top-of-the-line when it was new. “I thought everyone in small towns drove trucks and SUVs.”

  “Not quite. Anyhow, while I grew up in Glimmer Creek, I only moved back a year ago in August. Before that, I lived in the San Francisco area. Small cars are best there.”

  “What brought you home?”

  Her expression closed. “Several things, including getting a job with Poppy Gold. It’s late. I’d better go, and I’m sure you want to check on the girls.”

  Her face was softly illuminated by the old-style streetlights and he put his hands in his pockets, fighting the urge to kiss her, which was both insane and inappropriate. “Thank you for coming.”

  “Of course. I hope you can all get some sleep now.”

  She slid behind the steering wheel and Luke stepped back, watching as she closed the door and drove away.

  It was understandable why the twins found Carlie so appealing; she represented the fun things Poppy Gold had to offer. He was drawn to her, too, for purely masculine reasons. Yet acting on that wouldn’t be right. Erika’s loss was too fresh and raw and nobody could ever take her place—for him or his daughters.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING, Luke went back to work on his computer while the girls were studying with their tutor, but for the first time in ages, he found it hard to focus on his business concerns. Maybe the holiday atmosphere was affecting him. Stock quotes and contracts and evaluating prospective acquisitions were dull compared to Christmas caroling and other things to do.

  Nicole had returned from taking a walk and he told her he was going out to stretch his own legs.

  There was energy in the air at Poppy Gold, a suppressed excitement related to all the lights and decorations and activities. Austin was nice at Christmas, but it couldn’t compete with a place that threw itself into the holidays with the passion of Santa’s elves.

  From what Luke had been able to tell, the whole community of Glimmer Creek participated. Some of the activities were in other parts of town, such as the memorial hall and large community church, but a good many were at Poppy Gold, with locals invited to participate along with guests.

  To Luke’s surprise, his restless feet took him to Old City Hall and through the rotunda toward Carlie’s office. It wasn’t a good idea considering his impulse t
o kiss her the night before, but he also wasn’t an adolescent boy, confused by surging hormones. While they were unlikely to become friends, they could probably manage to have a cup of coffee together.

  “How about a break?” he inquired at Carlie’s door. “The girls are studying with their tutor and I needed to get away from the computer. You could introduce me to Sarah’s bakery, or whatever it’s called. My treat.”

  “I’m pretty busy.”

  “Surely you’re entitled to a coffee break. We can go as acquaintances, not activities director and Poppy Gold guest.”

  She regarded him warily. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s an invitation to speak your mind. I appreciate people being honest with me, without worrying about good public relations.”

  Carlie regarded him for a long moment. “How can I turn that down?”

  They went up the pedestrian shopping street and around the corner into an attractive building from which emanated the enticing scents of chocolate, spices and baking bread.

  “I hope they serve Poppy Gold coffee,” Luke said. He’d quickly become addicted to the blend and had discovered it was carried at the town’s general store on the pedestrian shopping street. When he’d learned they took mail orders, he’d promptly arranged for monthly shipments to Texas.

  “I’m sure they do. Hey, Aurelia,” Carlie greeted the girl behind the counter. “This is Luke. He’s a guest at Poppy Gold and wanted to see the source of his breakfasts.”

  The young woman smiled. “What can I get for you, Luke?”

  “A tall cup of Poppy Gold coffee to start. Carlie?”

  “The same. Also an apricot-banana muffin.”

  The bakery cases were filled with creations that looked delicious. Luke didn’t want his daughters eating too many sweets, but it was Christmas, so he ordered a pound of cranberry-chocolate fudge, two boxes of assorted cookies and a second muffin.

  At a café table in the corner, he pushed one of the cookie boxes toward Carlie. “These are for your staff.”

  “I’ll put it in the Old City Hall employee break room. We keep a coffeepot going there 24/7.” She poured cream into her cup and absently stirred the mixture.