Mistletoe & Cocoa Kisses

by Stacy Eaton

  “Do you remember anything after that?” he asked as he studied me.

  I thought back on it. “I think I remember someone telling me I was going to be alright, and I remember breathing in warm air, but then nothing.” I glanced around the room, “Wait, did I say something to you last night?”

  “Actually, you did. You opened your eyes long enough to say thank you.”

  “I thought I dreamed that.”

  “No,” he shook his head with a handsome smile on his face, “that was real, but it’s nice to know I could have been part of your dreams.”

  I laughed and glanced away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I heard Geri talking above my head, and I glanced up to see a young man staring down at me. He was a younger replica of the handsome man sitting in front of me. “I guess you would be my knight in shining armor,” I called up to him and was rewarded with a very handsome grin.

  “Oh, please, don’t go making his ego any larger than it is. Do you have any idea the size of a sixteen-year-old’s ego?” Chris joked as he stood up.

  Matt came down the stairs and jokingly said, “I heard that, Dad.”

  “I bet you did.” He clapped Matt on the shoulder, “So, Robin, this is my son Matt. Matt, this is Robin Cove.”

  He reached over and shook my hand.

  “Thank you, Matt. I probably wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you—and I am only assuming these are your clothes that I’m wearing, so thank you for that, too.”

  His cheeks filled with color as I finished, and I wondered if he was thinking about helping his father get me out of my clothes. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that.

  “You’re welcome,” he said softly, without making eye contact.

  “So, Robin,” Chris cleared his throat, “It looks like you’re going to be stuck here for a few days.”

  “Are you sure there isn’t a way for me to get to a hotel or something?”

  He shook his head, “No, after last night, all the roads are impassable. We received another ten inches or so after you got here, and there won’t be a tow truck that can come get your car for a couple days. Is there anything in there, like maybe a suitcase, that we can get for you?”

  I laughed. “My whole life is in that car—well everything that was important to me anyway.”

  He stared at me, but I waved away the question I knew was coming, “It’s a long story. There is one bag I could definitely use, but since my keys are locked inside, there is no use going back to it. I’m going to have to find someone to open it and then take me to a motel until my car is fixed.”

  “Robin, there is no motel for twenty miles, and I told you they can’t get to your car for days. You’re welcome to stay here; it might not be your ideal vacation spot, but the kids and I would love to have some company so we don’t drive each other nuts waiting out the storm.”

  “But I have to figure out how to get some things out of my car.”

  He winked down at me. “Don’t you worry about that. If you can keep an eye on Geri, Matt and I can take care of that.”

  “If you’re sure,” I said quietly and chewed my bottom lip. While they all seemed nice, I didn’t know if I should be staying with them for a few days, especially when no one knew I was here.

  Who was I kidding? There wasn’t anyone who’d care if I lived or died.

  Chris

  I’d woken up early that morning a little stiff from having slept in the chair all night, but not as bad as I suspected the lady on the couch was going to feel.

  I observed her for a few moments in the flickering light of the fireplace. The color appeared to be back in her cheeks, but that could be because it was so damned warm in the room. I got up and turned the fireplace to low.

  I set up the coffeepot and went to change into my swimsuit. Off the back part of my home was a room with glass walls and an endless pool—not one of those long exotic pools, but one that had the current running through the water for swimming in place. Both Matt and I used it on a regular basis, although Matt used the submerged treadmill more than I did to build his leg muscles. I preferred to slip over the wall at the end of the pool and rest in the hot tub section after my workout.

  In high school and college, I’d swum competitively, and now Matt did. Between the two of us, this one room was one of the best investments on my property.

  I put in a good thirty minutes of hard swimming and then took a shower before heading back to the family room to check on our guest. She was still sleeping soundly, so I poured myself some coffee and opened up my laptop to get some work done.

  On the screen was the e-mail from which I had turned away last night. It stared at me accusingly from the screen, and I wanted to put my fist through my computer. Damn that woman. Why the hell did I ever get involved with her in the first place? I clicked the e-mail closed without reading it again. I wasn’t up to dealing with this crap today. I had enough with the beautiful stranger sleeping on my sofa.

  What was I going to do with her? I didn’t really have much choice in the matter. The roads were horrible, and there was no way I was going to attempt them or allow Matt to do so.

  Looks like we’re going to have an uninvited house guest for a few days, I thought.

  I glanced over my shoulder toward the living room. Having a good-looking woman around for a few days couldn’t be too bad—unless she had a possessive boyfriend who was going to come after me when he found out she was here.

  Geri strolled bleary-eyed into the kitchen and climbed up on my lap.

  “Morning, sweetheart, how did you sleep?”

  “Okay.” She snuggled into the crook of my neck. The only time this child was quiet was when she was sick or first thing in the morning. While she easily woke up early, she was not a morning person and kept to herself for a good forty-five minutes to an hour before her personality kicked in.

  I loved these moments in the morning when she didn’t want anything more than to breathe the same air I breathed. It made all the rough patches in life seem more bearable, less overwhelming. I kissed her forehead. “Do you want some juice?”

  She shook her head no against my shoulder.

  “Okay.”

  I cuddled her to my side and went about reading some of the news. The big story was the snowstorm, not that it was big news to those of us that lived in northern Pennsylvania, not too far from the New York state line. Lake Erie was just north of that, and we got snow—lots of it.

  The weather report stated that our area had already received twelve inches and another thirty to thirty-six were expected over the next three days. Hell of a storm to be stuck in, that’s for sure.

  “Is the lady still here?” Geri asked softly.

  “Yep, right where you left her. She will probably wake up soon.”

  Geri climbed down from my lap. “I’m gonna go check on her.”

  “Okay, don’t bother her, but keep an eye on her and tell me when she wakes up.”

  “’Kay,” Geri mumbled as she left the room, her favorite stuffed rabbit tucked under her arm.

  A few minutes later, I heard Geri talking and went to see if our guest was awake. Her bright blue eyes flashed up to mine as she remained reclined on the couch.

  Man, I don’t think I have ever seen such beautiful eyes, I thought as I sat down and listened to Geri and her talk. Yeah, young children said things out of left field, but one could learn things about people from listening to them. I learned that Robin Cove must have recently gone through a breakup because she thought boys were jerks. That answered my question about a possibly lunatic boyfriend or husband.

  She also wasn’t very keen on having unknown men take her clothes off, but hopefully she understood why we had done it. We weren’t trying to be perverts, although this morning in the shower the memory of her long slim legs had given me some ideas.

  When Matt had come down, I’d quickly put things into motion. “Matt, let’s get changed, and we’ll go out to Robin’s car and get some of her things.”

&nb
sp; “Are we taking the truck or the snowmobiles?”

  “Snowmobiles. I want to hook up the carts to them and then we can bring back anything that is in her car. We received almost a foot of snow last night, the truck might have issues.”

  “Awesome.” He grinned as he ran up the stairs two at a time.

  “You have snowmobiles?” Robin asked.

  “Yep, three of them.” She glanced at Geri. “The other one is for guests; she’s a little too small to drive her own.”

  “But I can steer all by myself,” my daughter stressed proudly.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Robin asked as she stood and pooled the blanket in a pile on the sofa. Matt’s pants fit her perfectly, and I had to remind myself not to stare as I remembered what was under them.

  “It’s really not a problem, Robin. You’re welcome here. We have plenty of food, lots to do, and I already told you that it will help us from killing each other out of boredom.” I scooped Geri into my arms and asked her, “Can you behave for Robin while we are gone?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay, it shouldn’t take us too long. Matt said your car was only a couple of miles away.”

  “Daddy, can I have something to eat?” Geri asked as I put her down.

  “I can help her get something,” Robin offered as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I thought about making pancakes when we return. Why don’t you eat a piece of fruit?” I said to Geri and then looked at Robin. “You should rest.”

  “I’m fine, really. I can cook breakfast if you’d like me to.”

  “How about if you see how you feel in about an hour? If you’re still feeling up to it, you can start. Geri can show you where things are, and I’ll help when I get back.”

  “Deal,” she said with a smile that made me pause for a second. I didn’t want to like her smile, and I sure as hell did not want to feel anything when she unleashed it on me. I spun from her before I could say anything further and walked down the hall to my wet room to pull our snowmobile gear from the closet.

  I was coming back down the hallway to yell for Matt when the bathroom door opened and Robin stepped out and right into my arms. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s alright,” I replied as I became mesmerized by her gaze and let my hands slip slowly down her arms and away. “I should have been paying more attention.”

  Neither of us moved as we studied one another. She was probably eight, maybe nine inches shorter than I was, and I loved the way her hair shifted back from her face as she looked up at me.

  Crap! No, I did not love the way it looked. The last thing I needed to be doing was thinking like that around this stranger.

  Matt walked around the corner at that moment and broke the connection we had. He studied us before he smirked my way. Yeah, I definitely didn’t need that.

  “You ready to go?” I asked abruptly as I turned back around to return to the mudroom, slightly flustered at the effect Robin had just had on me.

  “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  He excused himself as he passed Robin and followed me.

  As we put on our gear, I suggested, “After breakfast, I’d like your help shoveling the walkways. I’ll plow the driveway later.”

  “Can I plow it?” Matt asked.

  I threw him a glance. “Sure, if you don’t knock down my mailbox like you did last time.”

  “That was an accident,” he laughed. “You know that.”

  “Yeah, but you have to be more careful. Mistakes waste time and money, I’ve taught you better than that.”

  “I know,” he kind of growled back at me, and I would have called him on it, but I was feeling pretty growly myself at that moment. We finished dressing and then traipsed through the snow to the garage that held the snowmobiles. I punched in the code and the door went up. “She’s hot, isn’t she?”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Matt who was staring back at the house. “Who? Robin?”

  “Yeah,” he turned wide-eyed to me.

  “Keep your eyes to yourself young man; she’s a little too old for you.”

  “But not for you, Dad.”

  “If I was looking for a woman, I’d find one myself.” We bustled into the garage and shut the door so we could keep the snow out while we prepared the snowmobiles.

  “You should be looking, Dad. You’re still young. All men need a good woman in their life.”

  “Says the man who just learned how to shave a year ago,” I threw back at him.

  “Hey, you should get to know her; she seems like a nice person.”

  “I’m sure she is, Matt, but she’s not here for me to get to know. She’s here because she was in trouble, and now she can’t leave. Let’s get the romantic notions out of your head and go do what we need to do.” I pulled out one of the carts, “Besides, I just got out of a relationship with a woman who you said was a nice person and turned out to be a psycho.”

  “Fine,” he grumbled.

  But he’d planted the seed in my mind. Actually, the seed had already been there, but his words had added the fertile soil to help it germinate. The moment I’d looked into Robin’s eyes last night, I knew I wanted to know more about the woman behind them, and that thought alone scared the shit out of me. My winning streak with women was pretty much non-existent.

  Hearing that she was single urged that desire along, and when she’d barreled into me outside the bathroom, I’d momentarily forgotten my vow of no more women in my life. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so enthralled to just look in a woman’s eyes—or had to force myself to step away from one.

  What confused me was the why of it all. One look in Robin’s eyes, and it had sparked something deep inside my soul. A full fireworks display had gone off in my head, something that had never happened before and that I didn’t particularly want—not with the malarkey that Molly was pulling.

  I should have cut my losses earlier instead of telling myself to give it some more time. Giving it more time had only brought out the worst in her when I told her I didn’t want to get married. Been there, done that, not interested in ever doing it again.

  “Matt, go back inside and grab a wire coat hanger. We’re going to need to try and get the car door unlocked.”

  “What if we can’t get them open?” he asked as he prepared to open the garage door.

  “Then we’re going to bust a window. I’ll pay to have it replaced. Grab the duct tape off the shelf in the back room, too. I have some plastic over here that I can use to cover the window if we need to do that as a last resort.”

  A few minutes later, we had the carts hooked up and ready to go. Before I put my goggles over my eyes, I glanced up at the house. Robin was holding Geri up, and they were waving out the window. I waved back.

  Man, I don’t know why, but I sure did love that sight. I sighed and glanced over at Matt, who promptly winked at me.

  We made it out to her car with no problem, and as I stood beside it, I glanced inside and saw how packed it was. “Glad we brought two carts; we’re going to need them both to haul all this stuff back.”

  “Looks like she was moving,” Matt yelled over the wind as I tried to slip the coat hanger inside the door.

  After a few minutes, I realized it was useless. The cold had probably frozen the mechanism. “We’re going to have to break the glass. Let’s do it on the passenger side, so the glass is off to the side.”

  I sure was glad we had the heavy clothes on that we did. I had to wonder how long she’d been exposed to the elements. If Matt hadn’t found her when he had, she might not have made it.

  We made quick work of getting into the car and pulling out all her stuff. I found her purse and cellphone in the front seat and added them to the growing pile. I left the car key under the front visor, and we taped the broken window as best we could and headed back.

  When we returned, I saw Geri in the front window waving to us excitedly, but there was no sign of Robin. The house had four windows alon
g the front above the wooden wraparound porch. I checked each one to make sure I hadn’t missed her. It had taken us almost two hours to get out there and bring the stuff back, and I hoped that everything was alright in the house.

  “Let’s put the stuff in the garage for now, and we can bring it into the house later.”

  Matt nodded over the revving of his engine and pulled his snowmobile into its spot. I followed close behind him.

  When we stepped into the house, the smell of honey, barbeque sauce, and bacon filled my nostrils.

  “Oh, man, she cooks,” Matt said excitedly. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled that.”

  “Yeah, me neither.”

  We rushed to get our gear off and hung up to dry, and I followed Matt down the hall and into the kitchen.

  I stopped at the doorway and stared at the scene in front of me. Geri was wearing an apron, and Robin wore one of my sweatshirts. It came so far down, it covered her butt. They were standing at the stove, flipping pancakes, and my heart thudded strangely in my chest.

  “I hope you don’t mind. I was cold. Geri grabbed me one of your sweatshirts,” Robin said apologetically as she glanced over her shoulder.

  The woman could wear any piece of clothing I owned, I thought silently, and Matt elbowed me before walking over to the counter. Damn, I needed to stop thinking like that.

  “No, not at all,” I replied when my tongue finally obeyed the message from my addled brain.

  “Did you guys have any problems?” she asked as she assisted Geri in flipping another pancake.

  “No, not unless you call breaking one of your car windows a problem,” Matt quipped with a laugh.

  She spun around to me. “You what?”

  Robin