A Match Made at Christmas

by Patty Blount

  * * *

  Lucas counted the floors, not sure if he should confront Elena or kiss the breath out of her. The elevator finally slid to a stop and he shoved out of it while the doors were still opening, her bag of groceries clutched in his arms. She was waiting for him braced for battle, her back straight, her chin up—and misery filling her eyes.

  Ah, hell. Confrontation wasn’t gonna work.

  “Elena, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, avoiding his gaze.

  Oh, sure, and the Brooklyn Bridge just came up for sale. She blocked the door and he concluded kissing her wasn’t the right decision either so he merely walked right past her, into Kara’s kitchen, and began unpacking the bag. His eyebrows shot up when he saw almost a dozen empty Nestle Crunch Bar wrappers and scooped them up. “Did you eat all of these by yourself?”

  She snatched the wrappers from his hands, stuffed them into the tiny trash can Kara kept under her sink. But she didn’t answer him. Instead, she moved beside him to unpack the rest of the bag. Milk, bread, eggs, toilet paper, a whole chicken, flour and sugar.

  And a Queen of Hearts, torn and filthy.

  Her face was pale and her chin quivered. He watched her as she carefully and deliberately put all the perishable food in the refrigerator and all the dry goods in a cabinet. And then she carefully and deliberately folded up the paper bag and tucked it in the cabinet under Kara’s sink.

  She lowered her head to the counter with a sob and he swore he heard his mother’s voice scolding him. Lucas Alexander Adair! Help that girl.

  I’m trying, Mom, he wanted to shout back and wished he had a clue what to do to make it better.

  Just listen.

  He scooped Elena up at the knees and took her into the living room. He sat in the middle of the sofa, cradling Elena in his lap, running his hands down her hair to soothe. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “The signs, Lucas. They’re everywhere.” She clutched him, shaking.

  He swallowed a curse. He would kill Al first chance—abruptly, he refused to finish that thought. Damn. He shook it out of his head and sighed heavily. “Right. You were talking to Al. I’m sorry he upset you.”

  “No. I’m sorry.” She shook her head, wiped her eyes and shifted, moved away from him. He recognized her move to the opposite end of the sofa as an attempt to put distance between them.

  He met her eyes head on, refusing to hide the pain he hoped she could see in them. He needed her to know she could—she was—able to hurt him. “You keep saying that and then keep right on doing the things you’re sorry for.”

  She blinked, surprised, and he knew she hadn’t considered that. That gave him an idea. But first, he needed the details. “Tell me about the candy wrappers. Why did they upset you?”

  Elena covered her face for a second. “They were my mom’s favorite thing. She used to keep bags of them hidden all over the house.” She managed half a laugh over her tears. “When we moved the first time, away from the city, we found a bag stuffed inside the vacuum cleaner attachments case which is funny because we never would have looked there.”

  Lucas listened but didn’t say anything.

  “I saw Al on my way to the market and he told me how he loves to be here because his father sends him signs. He showed me this baseball card and—” she trailed off, shaking her head. “I thought he was nuts and then I went to the market. Nestle Crunch Bars were on sale—two for a dollar. Right at the freakin’ entrance. I walked by them. Coincidence, I tried to tell myself.”

  He nodded, his lips twitching into a smile. “Yeah. Felt the same way when Al did this with me.”

  “I wandered around the store, found the Queen of Hearts stuck to the milk carton.” She demanded with a swish of an arm. “I mean, who delivers milk to the markets of New York City with a deck of cards in his pocket?” She curled her legs under herself, wrapped her arms around them. “I got chills, Luke. I didn’t finish my list—just got the hell out of there. And on the walk home, picked up wrapper after wrapper after wrapper.”

  She looked at him, all enormous frightened eyes and he felt a pull on his heart.

  “What about the Queen of Hearts?”

  Elena managed half a smile. “My mom loved to play cards.”

  He nodded and drew in a deep breath. “You know what my mom loved?” He shifted closer, put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a seashell, dropped it into Elena’s hand. When she sent him a questioning look, he only shrugged. “I don’t get it either, but she loved seashells. Every trip we took, she bought a seashell.” He smiled, rolled his eyes. “Really drove my dad nuts. ‘You can get one for free on the beach! Why do you have to pay for a damn shell?’ She got them from the beach, too. Our house has dozens of seashell projects she made over the years—picture frames, lamp shades. I found this one on the train, right after I walked you home the other night.”

  Elena’s eyes went round. “And you think it’s a sign?”

  He opened his mouth and abruptly clamped his lips together.

  “What?” She pressed, but he only shook his head.

  He’d nearly told her about the snowflake ornament he’d given to a frightened little girl. He would never tell her, not now. Not after learning how much this talk about signs upset her. He moved closer. “Elena, what if Al’s right? What if the baseball cards, the seashells, the candy wrappers—what if they all really are signs? I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” He took the seashell, studied it. “It makes me…warm inside, I guess, knowing she might still be with me.”

  What little color there was in her cheeks fled and her jaw dropped. Slowly, mechanically, she shook her head. “No. Oh, Lucas, no!”

  He wrapped his arms around her to soothe, to comfort. “Shhh, baby, shhhh. Tell me.”

  Elena shuddered and pulled away. “It means she’s still punishing me, Luke. Still mad at me. It means she’s in Hell—and so am I.”

  He thought about that. “Why would she punish you?”

  Because she’d disobeyed. Because she’d done exactly what her mother told her not to do. Because she’d ruined everything. She shifted, turned away. “I…I can’t talk about this, Luke. I’m sorry. You should go.”

  Not gonna happen. He lifted her face to his. “You believe in that? Hell, I mean.”

  “Yes. No. Jeez, I don’t know what I believe anymore.” She scrubbed her hands over her face.

  A new thought arrowed straight through his heart. “You…you think I’m part of this… this punishment? Is that why you sent me that text?”

  Elena leaped to her feet. “You—you really need to leave.”

  He stood, waited for her to face him. “Answer me.”

  “Luke, please,” she whispered.

  “Not going anywhere until you answer me.”

  She shut her eyes and nodded once.

  He stepped closer. “You’re wrong. You’re a gift, Elena.”

  Her eyes snapped open.

  “Elena, from the second I saw you get out of that little Zipcar the other day, I’ve wanted to get to know you. Spending yesterday with you, putting up this tree? That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.” He brushed the hair behind her ear, cradled her face in his hands. “Al is my closest friend but he drives me crazy with all this crap about signs. It makes him happy so I go along with it. But not this, sweetheart. Not you. I can’t walk away from you just because of some—some silly superstitious crap.”

  She stared up at him, at that bright smile, those dark glittery eyes, and felt the pull deep in her gut. He slid his hands into her hair, his thumbs drawing circles along her face.

  “I know you’re leaving soon. But we have the next few weeks to make this the best Christmas either of us has had in years.” He ran his hands down her back, subtly pulling her closer. “I want to get to know you better. I want you, Elena, and I’m pretty damn sure you want me, too.” His hands settled on her hips, stirring up a storm of desire. “Let’s forget all about Al’s signs and just�
�just have some fun together. Spend time with me. We’ll tour the city, watch silly holiday movies—you and me.”

  You and me.

  Luke’s words spun Christmas magic inside her and Elena found herself nodding, pressing closer to him until his mouth was on hers again. Their first kiss nearly melted a hole through her chest but it was nothing but a distant memory—a pale impersonator of the kiss he gave her now. He tasted like candy canes and sugar cookies and when his hand brushed along the sides of her breasts as he banded his arms around her body, she felt like a Christmas gift—wanted and precious and wrapped in bright ribbons.

  * * *

  “You can do this, Elena.” Lucas tugged on her hand.

  She swallowed hard and stepped down to the subway entrance, clutching his hand tightly in hers.

  “The subways are the best way to travel around the city. Sure, they can be dangerous, but you’re not alone, so your odds of getting into trouble just drastically fell.”

  Her hand tightened even more, but she nodded and barely three minutes later, the train arrived and they stepped aboard. She gripped his hand for the entire trip and when the train finally reached Penn Station, only then did she release all the breaths she’d been holding. He took her to Macy’s at Herald Square, where Elena bought gifts for Milk Dud and Kara, and—when Lucas wasn’t looking—for him. After that, he took her to the top of the Empire State Building where the cold and the view were equally breathtaking.

  They walked uptown along Fifth Avenue, stopping to look in store windows from time to time. He wanted to take her skating at Rockefeller Center but the lines were too long so instead, he tugged her into a store that sold nothing but Lego blocks. When his eyes went round at the sight of a Lego replica of the UN building, Elena took out her credit card and bought it for him on the spot. In return, he led her to a bakery and bought her a trio of the biggest cupcakes she’d ever seen.

  Burdened with shopping bags filled to bursting, they walked down Fifth Avenue and Elena’s phone buzzed.

  “It’s Kara. She’s home,” Elena said, reading the text.

  “We should head back.” Lucas put down one of his bags, stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled for a cab. Once they’d climbed inside, their bags safely tucked between their legs on the floor, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “Thank you,” he murmured against her neck, where he kissed her.

  Elena’s pulse leaped and her eyes fluttered shut only to pop wide when he lifted icy cold fingers to her face. “Lucas! You’re practically hypothermic!” She grabbed his hands and rubbed them briskly between hers.

  He grinned. “Cold hands, warm heart.”

  Elena stripped off her gloves and dove into one of her Macy’s bags. “I should have given these to you as soon as I bought them.” She tore the tag off a pair of black leather gloves lined in cashmere and handed them to him.

  “Whoa, fancy.” He slid his hands inside, gave them a flex.

  “Better?”

  “They’re perfect, Elena. Thank you.” He studied his hands in the black leather. “I promise not to give these away.”

  Elena looked at him sideways. “You give away all your gloves?”

  Lucas lifted a shoulder. “Maybe.”

  Elena stared at him for a long moment. He really was too good to be true. And—at least for the moment—he was hers. She shifted, took his face in her hands and kissed him full on the mouth, took the kiss slow and deep. When they pulled apart, the bright and hopeful expression on his face pinched her heart. “I’m sorry.” She moved away.

  “I’m not.”

  She snorted. “I’m serious, Lucas. I’m only here for a few more weeks. I have no business starting something with you.”

  He shifted in his seat, faced her. “I’m a big boy,” he began and his words almost made her blush. “Come on. Let’s go make your sister and Milk Dud some dinner.”

  Something inside her, some chain that weighed her down, broke free at his words.

  She tried not to take that as a sign.

  Chapter Nine

  ‡

  “Hi, guys!” Kara said brightly from her favorite spot on the sofa. The baby name book was now accompanied by a legal pad, on which dozens of names had been scrawled and crossed out.

  Elena rushed across the apartment and folded her sister into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Me, too.” Kara sniffled. “Is that what this is for?” She waved a hand to the huge tree in front of her window.

  Elena shook her head. “This? This is Christmas. The baby’s crib, though? That’s an apology.”

  Kara’s eyes went round. “The crib? I didn’t go in the other room. Oh, Lord, haul me up. I need to see.” She held out both arms. Luke laughed, took one arm while Elena took the other. Together, they helped Kara reach her feet, followed her into the bedroom. “Laney, oh wow, this is adorable.” She brushed a hand over the blanket, the crib bumpers. “It matches the walls perfectly.” She turned, caught Elena’s hands. “Thank you.”

  “I’m so glad you like it.”

  “I love it. And—” She winced, put a hand to her side. “I think Milk Dud does, too.”

  Elena’s hand followed her sister’s. She gasped when she felt the baby kick. “Whoa! Doesn’t that hurt?”

  Kara shrugged. “When the baby hits my kidney or liver, yeah. Otherwise, no. It’s pretty cool.” And then her face crumbled. “Oh, Laney.” She fell into Elena’s arms. “There’s a little human inside me and Mom isn’t here to see it—him—her.”

  Elena swallowed hard, squeezed her eyes shut and held her sister as tightly as she could given the swell of baby between them. She opened her eyes when Luke’s hand squeezed her arm.

  Not your fault, he mouthed.

  But it was.

  “Come on now, no tears. It’s Christmas time.” Lucas rubbed Kara’s back. “Let’s make some dinner. Elena and I got dessert, so I hope you’re hungry.”

  “Like pretty much all the time.” She patted her belly. “Milk Dud is a bit of a pig.”

  “Hmm, well, the little Milk Dud is gonna love these.” He tugged her back to the living room, pulled a container from one of their bags and opened the lid on one of the monster cupcakes he and Elena had purchased earlier. “It may need to thaw out for a while. It’s damn cold out.”

  Kara’s eyes popped and she shuffled to the kitchen for a fork. “I don’t care how cold it is, I’m eating it. So what else did you two do today?”

  “Lucas took me to Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, and a Lego store.”

  Kara’s face softened. “Lucas, you really are a saint for showing my baby sister a fun time.”

  But his face clouded. “No. I’m really not.” He sat down on the sofa on the cushion opposite Kara’s favorite spot and grabbed her TV remote. “What do you ladies say to watching a Christmas movie?”

  “Yes!” Kara clapped. “When we were little, we used to do this all the time—spend an entire weekend watching all the holiday classics. Laney used to love those clay cartoons, remember?” She lowered herself to one of the kitchen stools.

  Elena merely grunted.

  “But I love the comedies.”

  Luke’s eyebrows climbed. “Christmas Vacation?”

  “Yes! Hell yes! That one’s hilarious.”

  While Lucas selected the channel, Elena busied herself in the kitchen, prepping the roast chicken, only half-listening to Kara babble. She slid the chicken into the oven and then switched to mixing hot cocoa.

  “I got your message. How’s Bree doing? Did you see him?”

  “See him?” Kara fanned her face. “I met him. The man is totally P.D. and Bree still gets The Look at the mere mention of his name. But don’t worry, she’ll be fine. Aunt Enza and Uncle Ed are all over him.”

  Elena laughed and quickly shot a glance at Lucas, who was also entirely P.D. – panty-dropping – but she did not want to explain that to him.

  She’d die of embarrassment.

  “Need help?
” His deep voice made her jolt.

  “No, I’m good,” she lied.

  His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t press her. “Let’s watch the movie, okay?”

  Elena breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed two cups. Kara took the third and they rejoined Lucas at the sofa, settling in to watch the movie while the chicken roasted.

  But Elena couldn’t stop thinking about Bree. After all these years, to have to face the father of her child, the man who’d left her and never looked back. Kara was right, though. Aunt Enza would twist the balls right off Jake Killen before she’d let him hurt Sabrina a second time.

  The pang of pain that twisted in her gut made her wince. What would Mom think of Lucas? Would she warn her to be careful, or welcome him to the family? She sipped her cocoa, tried to imagine having a conversation with her mother that didn’t end with raised voices and stomping feet.

  “So what’s P.D. mean?”

  Elena choked on her cocoa and Kara laughed like a hyena.

  “It’s—” Kara started, but Elena slapped a hand over her sister’s mouth.

  “It’s an inside joke. If we tell you, we’d have to kill you and Kara’s in no shape to be disposing of bodies.”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Be serious.”

  Kara bit her hand and Elena yelped. “Hey!”

  “Oh, come on, Laney, tell him! He’s P.D, too, so he should know what it means.”

  “Don’t. You. Dare.”

  “Laney, it’s—”

  “I mean it, Kara. Tell him and I’ll reveal your middle name.”

  Kara’s face dropped. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I totally would.”

  Pouting, Kara let her head fall against the sofa cushion. “You ruin everything, Laney.”

  The words were said in jest, in fun, but they burned like acid. Elena’s entire body tensed and she leaped up, hid her flaming face in the oven, pretending to check the chicken. The opening credits to the movie began and Kara laughed at the part when Santa Claus gets electrocuted by the exterior lights, but Elena stalled.