by Stacy Eaton
I grabbed her arm. “You mean, they will be out of our way in a few minutes, don’t you?”
Robin
When I walked inside, I paused and looked around. It didn’t look all that different except for the enormous decorated tree on the other side of the family room near the windows. There were swags of greens trailing down the stair railings and clear little lights that would shine invitingly when they were plugged in.
Over the fireplace three stockings hung with their names embroidered on them. I found myself standing in front of Chris’s and let my finger gently glide over the letters of his name while I held a tray of food precariously in my other hand.
“How do you know them?” Monica asked as she walked out of the kitchen to get more stuff from the van.
“They saved my life,” I answered with a smile and carried my tray into the kitchen without any further explanation. I couldn’t help myself after I set the tray down and pulled open the freezer. On the bottom shelf was the container of chili I’d made with Matt the last day I was here. Maybe they had already eaten it and this was another batch.
It didn’t matter; it was here, right where I felt I should be. Of course, this was not how I had planned it, but I’d never planned on almost freezing to death on the side of the road and being rescued by this family either. Life worked in mysterious ways, and I just had to accept that for what it was.
We were busy in the kitchen when I heard the front door open and heavy footsteps came into the house. I peered through the archway and saw Matt.
“No way!” He dropped his bag on the floor and threw his arms around me. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Matt, I can’t believe how much I missed you these last few weeks.”
He looked down at me, so handsome like his father. “It feels longer than a few weeks, and thanks for that note by the way. I did what you said. I didn’t let him forget you.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
He hugged me again tightly and then stepped back.
I heard Geri squeal and bent to pick her up as she ran to me. Tears almost exploded out of my eyes as she clung to me, and when I opened them, they landed on a very shocked and sexy-looking Chris.
I couldn’t tear my gaze from him as we both stood there. I saw the same desire in them that I recalled every night when I lay in bed, and my heart began to thud in my chest. I could not even express how much I wanted to run into his arms.
Monica dragged me into the kitchen, and before I knew it, we were engrossed in getting everything together and ready to serve. People began to show up, and food started flowing through the rooms.
It seemed that every time I looked up, Chris was watching me, and my heart would do a little fairytale waltz in my chest.
Every once in a while, I would walk through the groups of people and make small talk and ask how they liked the food. Everyone was raving, and I ended up passing out quite a few business cards by the time the night was over.
After checking the basement for any dishes left behind, I came up the stairs and bumped into Chris while he stood under the mistletoe. It took every ounce of strength not to throw my arms around his neck and say to hell with everyone in the room when Chris finally kissed me.
There was a promise in his eyes that only grew each time we looked at one another, and I rushed to get things cleaned up as quickly as I could.
I was worried when Geri asked to be tucked in, that Chris would have a problem with it, and I was so thankful when he smiled and told me it was okay, but it was the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes when I’d returned that made my stomach quiver in anticipation. Monica and Stewart couldn’t get out of there fast enough for me.
We loaded everything into the van, and when I turned back to the house, Chris was standing on the porch, his hands tucked into the pockets of his black slacks.
“Monica, can you all take care of this back at the shop?”
Monica eyed me and then glanced up at the porch. “Sure, looks like you have a different kind of cooking to do.”
“What?” I said, surprised.
“Oh, come on, girl, that man has looked like he wanted to eat you alive all night. People were whispering about it all over the place.”
“They were not,” I attempted a futile denial.
She laughed, “Yes, they were.” She turned me by the shoulders and pushed me toward the door. “I’ll see you on Monday. Don’t show your face at work until then!”
Chris was still standing on the porch when I ascended the four steps and he motioned for me to precede him into the house.
I stopped in the entryway and waited while he closed the door. “I have one question first.”
“What’s that?” Chris asked as he faced me.
“Is Molly out of the picture for good?” My heart raced in my chest as I waited for the answer. If he said she was still somehow in the picture, then I didn’t have a choice but to walk back out that door.
“Oh, hell yes! Whatever that woman said to you, don’t you dare believe a thing. She was charged with the wiretapping and is looking to take a plea right now.”
I nodded, “Good, I’m glad you followed through on that. She was crazy.”
“Yes, she was,” he agreed. “Now I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why are you here?”
I decided to play a little hard to get for a moment—just because I could. “I’m here because we were hired to do your catering.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, why are you still here in Pennsylvania?”
Well, it was now or never. “Because this is where my family is.”
His lips parted, and he didn’t move for a second. “What?”
I reached up and put a hand on the side of his face. “You all saved my life, but you did more than that, Chris. You showed me what I was missing, a family, but not just any family, this family. I stayed because I couldn’t leave you all.”
“But why didn’t you contact me? Why didn’t you come back?”
“Well, because first of all, I was afraid to. I thought that maybe you wouldn’t want me, or maybe I was just a fling, or that you might think I would leave you all again, and I couldn’t let you think that. I needed to have something to cement me here so that I had a real reason to stay in case things didn’t work out with us. I could still see the kids. I could still be a part of their lives, if you would let me, that is.”
“What do you mean, ’If things don’t work out with us’?”
I laughed briefly, “We don’t know each other well, Chris, and what if you find out that you don’t care about me like you thought you did?”
He took my face in his hands. “Are you kidding me? Woman, I’m half in love with you already. I realized that the moment I saw you hugging my kids tonight. Do you have any idea how hard I’ve tried to find you since you left? But you ran out of here without even leaving a telephone number.”
“You told me to leave,” I stressed to him.
“Yeah, well now, I’m telling you to stay. I was scared myself. Afraid that you would stay and we would all fall madly in love with you and then you would leave, but the thing was, you were only here a few days and that happened anyway.”
“I love you guys, too.”
He rested his forehead on mine. “Robin, tell me you want me, tell me this is where you want to be.”
“Chris,” I pulled back so I could see his face clearly, “I don’t want to be anywhere else but here, with you, with Matt and Geri.”
Chris finally leaned down and kissed me, and I could have sworn I heard giggling and a shushing sound coming from upstairs.
Chris pulled back with a smile on his face. “She’s staying,” he announced. “Now both of you get back to bed.”
Two sets of feet went scampering back to their bedrooms, and Chris swept me off my feet. “I think we need to go to bed, too.”
“Wait,” I stopped him and pointed up at the mistletoe, “can’t
leave until you kiss me again.”
Chris gave me a gentle and lingering kiss as he held me under that little sprig of greenery. “Why do you taste like cocoa?”
“It’s my lip gloss,” I grinned at him.
“I think my two new favorite things are mistletoe and your cocoa kisses.”
“Let’s go back to the bedroom and see if we can find a few more to add to the list.”
We kissed one more time, and then Chris carried me back to his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him.
Chris
That Christmas was the best one I’d ever had, and I knew that the kids would agree. It wasn’t just because of all the goodies that Robin baked or the food that she cooked. It was because of the laughter in the house. The girlie squeals that she and Geri shared while opening gifts, and the jokes that Matt and Robin played on me.
For the first time in my adult life, my home felt full, and I loved every second of it.
Robin had moved in with us a week before Christmas, and I’d already found a property a little closer to the house where she could set up shop for her catering company. The building was large enough for all her needs and could also house a small café if she decided to expand down the road.
I’d talked her into letting me turn in her lease and bought her a larger SUV with custom racks in the back so she could use it for catering but still use it for family outings.
It was now the end of January, and Matt’s team was preparing for its state championship swim meet. We’d traveled to Harrisburg to watch it, and as we sat in the humid stands, I found my hands sweating more than usual.
If Matt won this bet, I’d have to follow through on a promise to him, and while I was excited about it, I was scared to death, too.
Geri sat between Robin and me on the bleachers, and as Robin stood and screamed for Matt and his teammates, my heart swelled. I never would have thought that I’d find a woman like Robin who could fit so perfectly into our family and make it whole.
Molly’s attorney had rushed the charges through the high courts, and she took a plea deal for three years of probation. Robin said she should have gone to jail, but I was happy that she was out of our lives and that I could put her far behind me, like the other two.
While Matt’s team did incredibly well at the meet, they placed third in the all-around for teams. As Matt pushed his way through the crowd, I knew it wasn’t just because he’d won a first place medal in butterfly and shaved that last second off his time, it was because of our bet.
The grin that he wore made me laugh, and as we all took turns hugging him, he whispered in my ear, “Now, man.”
“I’m not doing that right here.”
“You promised you would if I won.”
I laughed as I looked at the crowd around us. “I’ll do it when we get home.”
“No way, a promise is a promise, and you know that when a Landry makes a promise, he sticks to it,” he reminded me cockily.
“Fine.” I groaned as my stomach flipped.
Geri grinned from ear to ear and hopped up and down; she was totally in on it, but Robin stared at us quizzically.
Matt slapped me on the back, pushing me toward Robin.
“Well, I thought I was going to get to do this someplace quieter,” I said to her and scanned the area looking for a slightly less hectic area. I found one in the corner and took her by the arm.
“What’s going on?” she asked when we stopped.
“I have a question to ask you. Actually, we have a question to ask you.”
“Okay,” she said slowly and looked at all three of us in a glance.
I tried to take a breath so I could get the words out when Geri squealed out loudly, “Will you marry us?”
Robin’s eyes flashed down to Geri and then up to mine. “What?”
I laughed and shook my head, “We, the Landry family, would like to know if you will marry us.”
I thought she might laugh, but she became very serious and studied each one of us. “Well, um, do I have to marry all of you?” Her lips trembled in an unsuccessful attempt to hold back the laughter, and that’s when I realized that she was playing us.
“Yeah, we’re kind of a package deal.”
“But what if I only want the kids?” she asked, pulling them to her sides. Geri looked confused and Matt furrowed his brow.
“No, see, love, it’s an all or nothing package deal here. You can’t have the kids, unless you take the dad, too.”
“Then it’s a good thing that I love all of you,” she finally let her smile shine, “and, yes, I will marry the Landry family.”
Geri jumped up and down, and Matt hugged Robin quickly before he let me pull her close. “I love you, Robin. I can’t wait to make this family whole. With you in it, it’s going to be perfect.”
Robin arched an eyebrow, “And what if I was bringing along someone to add to that family? Would that be okay?”
I paused, replaying her words in my head. Did she mean what I think she meant? “Are you?”
She nodded.
“Oh my god, you’re pregnant!”
“What?” Matt said sharply, and Geri stopped jumping around. “You’re having a baby?”
Robin turned to look at the two kids. Matt’s face was more somber than I would have expected it to be, but then it hit me. He was used to women having babies and then leaving.
Robin saw it too and immediately let go of my arm and pulled Matt to the side while I scooped up Geri, who asked what was going on.
“Matt, stop whatever it is you’re thinking right this second. I love you. Do you hear me? I love you like you’re my own son, and I love Geri like my daughter, and when I have this baby, no when we have this baby, I’m still going to love you both, and I’m not going to leave. I’m going to stay right here, with you. This is my family. This is where I want to stay.”
“You promise?” he asked Robin, and she took his hands in her own.
“I promise, and you know when a Landry makes a promise, she keeps it.”
Matt laughed, the stress immediately leaving his shoulders. “Okay.”
How my life could have gotten any better, I didn’t know, but seven and a half months later, our baby girl was born, and I knew that Abigail Marie Landry was the cement that was going to hold our family together forever—and she did.
THE END
Cocoa recipes courtesy of Cooks.com
Hot “Peppermint” Chocolate
3 c. hot milk
1/8 tsp. salt
8 chocolate peppermint patties
1 c. cream
Combine 1/2 cup hot milk with peppermint patties. Mix well until smooth. Add remaining milk and salt. Heat to simmering, and then add cream. Serve immediately. Serves 6
White Hot Chocolate
2 oz. milk chocolate, for garnish
12 oz. high-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 c. whole milk
2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
peppermint sticks, for garnish
whipped cream, for garnish
(be sure to use a top-quality white chocolate to ensure the best flavor)
Using a vegetable peeler shave milk chocolate into curls; set aside.
Place white chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl; set aside.
Place milk and cream in a medium saucepan set over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around edges of pan, about 4 minutes. Immediately pour mixture over white chocolate.
When chocolate begins to melt, stir to combine. Whisk in vanilla. Continue whisking until a light foam forms.
Serve immediately, garnished with peppermint sticks, whipped cream, and chocolate curls.
Makes 8 cups
Hot Chocolate Mix
1 box (about 14-qt.) powdered milk
1 1-lb. box powdered sugar
1 2-lb. box Nestle's Quik
1 7- or 8-oz. jar Coffee Mate
In a large airtight container, mix ingredients tog
ether well until even colored and no streaks remain
Cover tightly in a snap top container and keep away from humidity. Store a plastic 1/4 or 1/3 measuring cup in the container for convenient measuring.
To prepare, measure out 1/4 or 1/3 cup of the mix and stir into 1 cup boiling water.
Makes many servings and keeps indefinitely.
Variation: For extra rich hot chocolate, add 1/4 cup ground chocolate powder or unsweetened cocoa.
May be prepared by mixing with hot milk instead of water.
Sneak Peek
Love holiday stories? Check out The Celebration Series starting with Tangled in Tinsel.
Here’s a sneak peek at Chapter 1and 2.
“I can’t believe how much stuff you have, Casey. How did you manage to accumulate this much crap while still living at your parents’ house?” Brandy dropped the last cardboard box onto a stack of two more.
“You forget I lived in a ten-thousand-square-foot house. It was easy to collect things.” I scanned the room as I dusted off my hands and plopped down on the floor. I had plenty of furniture, but it was buried at the moment under a mountain of boxes, lamps, and bags of stuff.
Brandy sank down beside me and lay all the way back with a groan. “Yeah, that’s another thing, how are you going to manage going from a sprawling mansion to this little dinky house?”
I smacked her leg. “Hey, it’s not dinky, it’s cozy.”
Brandy snorted, “Cozy like a ten-dollar hotel room.”
“It’s not that bad,” I argued as I critically eyed the dingy yellow wall with a huge water stain down the center of it. “With a little paint and some tender loving care, this place will be great in a few weeks.”
Brandy cackled, “A few weeks!” She laughed so hard she held her stomach. “You’ll be lucky if you get this place in livable shape in a year!” She rolled onto her side and jerked upright, her nose scrunched up. “I just figured out where that odd smell was coming from. You need to either get rid of this carpet or have it cleaned.” She waved a hand in front of her face. “Gross.”