Our First Christmas

by Lisa Jackson

  She laughed. “I’ve been here before,” she said.

  “You’re high maintenance,” he said.

  “I am not.”

  “I’m just getting one scoop of chocolate-chip mint in a cup.”

  “Can you not smell their waffle cones? You’re insane,” she said. Soon they were standing outside with her high maintenance order and his boring scoop, just as the horse and carriage came in from a tour. They ate their ice cream in silence. Sawyer finished his first and tossed his empty cup in the nearest bin. Dani realized it was going to take her much longer to finish hers, and ice cream was starting to drip down the side. She was trying to figure out how she was going to finish it when Sawyer snatched it from her and took a gigantic bite.

  “Hey.”

  “You’re right,” he said, diving into it again. “These waffle cones are divine.” He tried to hand her back the last few bites. She glared and tossed it into the trash bin behind her. “What’s the matter? Afraid I have cooties?” Sawyer stepped so close to her he could have kissed her.

  “No,” she said. “I know you have cooties.”

  Sawyer laughed. A few feet away, the horse whinnied. Sawyer turned to it and winked at the horse as if they had been in cahoots. “Is the tour any good?” Sawyer asked.

  “Actually it is. Especially at night, at Christmas.” Two years ago she should have been on it with Nate. With a diamond ring on her finger. Getting married on Christmas Eve! That was ten days from now. Could she stop a wedding in ten days? Sawyer was right, it was a disaster.

  “Do you think it would be wrong to kidnap Nate?” Dani said. “Just until he’s in love with me again?”

  “I think a night in jail would be a great addition to the feature,” Sawyer said. “You might get lucky and get thrown in with a couple of Santas on crack.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Just tell him how you feel,” Sawyer said. “And this time I’m not talking about Santa.”

  “What do you mean?” Dani said.

  Sawyer stepped uncomfortably close again. He gently placed his hand on the side of her face. “I love you,” he said. “Like it or not, and let me tell you, I don’t like it—I’ve loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you, and I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.” Dani could feel the ice cream in her stomach freezing up all over again. Sawyer held eye contact, then smiled and stepped back. “If he’s still in love with you, that’s all it will take.”

  Dani prayed to God that Sawyer couldn’t see that he’d thrown her off balance. For a heart-stopping second she actually thought he was telling her that he loved her. It was a good thing that she absolutely hated him, because otherwise that would have been cruel of him.

  “Except I wouldn’t end my sentence with a preposition,” Dani said.

  “What?”

  “Even if I wanted to. You ended your declaration of love with a preposition.”

  “It’s all about the romance, Ms. Webster. No girl would give a damn if a man said that to them.”

  “It’s not how I would do it at all.”

  “Oh yeah? How would you do it?”

  “Never mind.”

  “Oh, I mind. Show me.”

  Dani walked up to Sawyer, and not to be outdone, she put both hands on his face. She gently rubbed her thumbs along his jawline. They were so still she could hear his heart beating. “You’re mine,” she whispered. “The odds might be against us, and I might be high maintenance, and you might be the most frustrating man I’ve ever met, but I’m telling you right here, right now. You’re mine.” Then, she stood on her tiptoes, slid her hands around his neck, and kissed him like he was going off to war. Then, just as she felt his hands start to wrap around her waist, she pulled back and pushed him off. “That’s how it’s done, cowboy.”

  “Well played, woman. Throw in a kiss like that and you can end your sentences with a hundred prepositions.”

  Dani couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t call me ‘woman’.”

  “Dude. Should I call you dude?”

  “My name is Dani.”

  “Your name is Danielle. Or Bright. I’ll just call you Bright.”

  They had begun to walk again and were standing near the artificial tree. Dani could hardly bring herself to look at it. “Nate hasn’t accepted one phone call from me since that awful night.”

  “Doesn’t that tell you something?”

  “Yes! That’s he’s sensitive.”

  “Or he’s moved on,” Sawyer said.

  “We grew up together. We went steady for three years.” Sawyer was laughing, then coughing, trying to cover it up. “What’s so funny?”

  “Went steady,” Sawyer said. “Never heard anyone of our generation use that term.”

  “You are unbelievably juvenile.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Ma’am. Did he give you his class ring and letter jacket?”

  “We were in love!”

  “If you say so.”

  “He was my first.”

  Sawyer stopped laughing. He put up his hands as if surrendering. “I’m sure, for you, that’s hard to get over.”

  “Not just for me.”

  “Okay.”

  “Why? Who was your first?”

  “I’m not having this conversation.”

  “Too late. Who was your first?”

  “You really want to know?”

  “Yes, I really want to know.”

  “Mrs. Bentley from across the street.” A large grin spread across Sawyer’s face and he raised his eyebrows. “Man, she had stamina.”

  “Disgusting.”

  “How dare you. It was a beautiful, albeit secret love affair.”

  “You were what? Fifteen?”

  “I was sixteen, thank you very much.”

  “Disgusting.”

  “She made the best corn bread I’ve ever had.”

  “Is that a euphemism?”

  “No. She put jalapeños in it. It was sweet and set my mouth on fire at the same time.” He smiled again and arched his eyebrows. For a horrifying second, Dani imagined him kissing his way down her stomach.

  “Are you ever serious?”

  “Sometimes. And believe me. If I was, you’d know it.” He held her gaze, as if trying to tell her something, plant some kind of future seed. Dani headed for the car, not caring whether Sawyer was following or not.

  “Why exactly did you say ‘no’?” Sawyer asked. He had a very loud voice. Dani turned around.

  “What?”

  “You turned down Nate’s proposal. Why?”

  Dani threw her arms open. “Because. I was too young. I wanted to go to New York, try and be a writer.”

  “And now?”

  “Now what?”

  “You’re only two years older, and you are in New York, and you are a writer.”

  “And your point is?”

  “Do you really want to give all that up and come back here and marry Nate?”

  “Why else would I be here?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you heard Beth Green jump on your feature, and the competitive shark in you wasn’t going to let her have it.”

  “First of all, there is no shark in me, competitive or otherwise. Second of all—I love Nate. I want him back.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Don’t say it like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like I don’t love Nate. Like I don’t want him back.”

  “Fine. I will keep my opinion to myself.” Sawyer vocalized the warning ditty from Jaws.

  “Fine!” She unlocked the car door. Sawyer stayed on the sidewalk. “What opinion?”

  “Never mind.”

  “I want to know.”

  Sawyer looked away, then back at Dani. “I think if you had truly been in love with Nate, you would have said yes. I think when we’re in love, we can’t help ourselves. I think you said no because deep down you knew he wasn’t the guy for you.”

  Dani looked out in the distance. She wasn�
�t going to show him how irritated she was with him anymore. Of course that wasn’t why she said no to Nate. She’d always known he was the right guy for her, hadn’t she? “Hogwash. Hogwash, hogwash, hogwash.”

  “Well. I guess I can’t very well argue with hogwash, hogwash, hogwash.”

  Sawyer was even more maddening than she’d ever imagined. “Off I go. Figuratively, and literally. Time to go see the folks.”

  “Hopefully you can squeeze in a nap,” Sawyer said with a wink.

  “And hopefully you won’t sink on your sailboat,” Dani said with extra enthusiasm.

  “I think I might just have a drink first.” God, that sounded good. Not that she wanted to have a drink with Sawyer. But after meeting Anya, finding out that Nate was getting married on Christmas Eve and then moving to London—she certainly wouldn’t mind a cocktail or two. Maybe her parents would have eggnog. “What’s good around here?”

  “It’s a college town, so there are bars all over the place—but I think you might like the Duck and Dive.” Dani gave him the short walking directions to the bar and then got in her car. It felt weird to leave him here. And then it felt weird that it felt weird.

  “I’ll call you in a few hours,” Dani said. “Mom will probably want to have you over for dinner.”

  Sawyer tipped an imaginary hat at her and smiled. “Bright,” he said.

  Chapter 5

  Dani pulled up to her parents’ house. She half-expected to see them sitting out on the screened-in porch, but the rocking chairs were still. There was a new Lexus in the driveway. Either Santa was early and way generous this year, or they had company. Dani still had her key from the last visit, and she loved the idea of just walking in and surprising them. She opened the door and stepped inside. Voices and laughter filtered in from the kitchen. She had just stepped into the living room when something flew at her. She saw only moving limbs, and long dark hair, and before she knew it powerful hands were squeezing her shoulders and someone was straddling her, and screaming, and punching her with bony fists.

  “Intruder, intruder, intruder,” the thing on top of her screamed. It had a British accent.

  Dani grabbed her wrists and tried to push her away. “I live here!” Dani screamed back.

  “Victoria, stop!” a male voice cried out. Soon arms wrapped around Victoria from behind and pulled her kicking and screaming off Dani.

  Then a face appeared from behind the writhing girl. A handsome face. A kind face. A face she hadn’t seen in two years. A face she had really, really missed. Dani’s eyes immediately welled with tears. “Nate?”

  “Dani?” He looked just as shocked as she was.

  “Nate?” He was here, in her house. It was her Christmas miracle. The girl stopped wriggling.

  “Who is she?” Victoria screeched. Now that she had stopped flailing, Dani could see it was a very pretty teenaged girl.

  “This is Danielle. She lives here. Or at least she used to,” Nate said.

  “Oh,” Victoria said. “How do you do?” Nate let the girl down. She stood over Dani with her hand outstretched. The little beast now wanted to shake hands?

  “Give her a minute,” Nate said. He gently pushed Victoria out of the way. Soon an older couple entered the room.

  “What on earth is all the fuss?” the woman said.

  “I thought she was an intruder,” Victoria said. “I tackled her.”

  “Well done,” the man said.

  “Seriously?” Dani said. Nate held his hand out, and Dani took it. When she was on her feet, she swayed a little. Nate’s arm encircled her waist and remained there until she was steady. Then he yanked his arm away as if it had caught fire. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? It was him. Her Nate. It took everything in her power not to turn around in his arms and kiss him.

  He introduced her to Anya’s parents, Margaret and Richard Pennington. Then he crossed his arms and turned to her. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to surprise my parents,” she said.

  “Oh,” Nate said. “They’re in California with your sister.”

  “What?” They didn’t tell her they were spending Christmas with Pauline. Then again she’d missed several calls from her mother. She hadn’t answered them because she was lousy at keeping secrets, and she didn’t want to give her visit away.

  “I still don’t understand what you’re doing here,” Dani said.

  Nate actually turned red. “The Penningtons are renting your parents’ house for a few weeks.”

  “Why?”

  “Hotels are slammed.”

  “In Wilmington? In the winter?”

  “There’s a big action flick filming for Christmas and the tourism board capitalized on it by offering all these great rates. It’s been like the summertime around here lately.”

  “I was just downtown,” Dani said. “It didn’t seem crowded.”

  “Screen Gems is doing a lot of tours during the day. Plus people are going to Airlee Gardens and the beaches. You’ll see the cars return in the evening.” EUE Screen Gems was one of the largest filming lots east of California. Over 340 films, television series, and commercials had been shot on the fifty-acre lot. It attracted a lot of tourists. And Airlee Gardens held stunning light displays every Christmas. Those two destinations alone were enough to keep most tourists happy. Dani couldn’t believe she was just standing here having a normal conversation with Nate about tourists.

  “Are you his ex-girlfriend?” Victoria said. “The one who—”

  “Victoria, why don’t we go into the kitchen and have a nice cup of tea,” Mrs. Pennington said.

  “I hate tea,” Victoria said.

  “Come along anyway,” Mrs. Pennington said. They were so polite. Dani hated them.

  “I’m sorry,” Nate said.

  A sudden rush of anger and pain enveloped Dani. “You should be,” she said. “You haven’t spoken to me in two years.” Nate glanced toward the kitchen. Dani couldn’t help but notice that he was always worried about what other people thought. No wonder he liked Anya. She probably never spoke too loud or impulsively, or even raised her voice. Victoria, on the other hand, broke the mold. Except for giving her a lump on the back of her head, Danielle kind of liked the girl.

  Nate threw his arms open. “I had to move forward,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to deal with the past.”

  “I know I hurt you, Nate. But I didn’t reject you—”

  “Oh, you didn’t?”

  “No. I was just delaying the proposal. Delaying it.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Dani. It all worked out for the best. I actually have some news—”

  “Oh, I know all about your news, Nate. And thank you very much for letting me find out through an iPad.”

  “What?”

  “You should have told me before I read about it online.”

  “It was online?”

  “Everything is online!”

  “I thought your parents would have told you,” he said.

  Another reason she should have answered her mother’s calls. “I can’t believe your grandmother is letting you marry a Brit,” Dani said. She knew how it sounded, but it was true. Whereas some Southerners were still bitter about the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression as they still referred to it in the South, Ruth Hathaway was equally triumphant about the Revolutionary War. To her, it was as if the British had invaded just yesterday. She was not shy about her feelings about those “across the pond.” She delved into Revolutionary victories at every occasion.

  “She’s coming around to the idea,” Nate said. Dani tried to hold in a laugh but ended up snorting. “Please, don’t.”

  “You wouldn’t move to New York for me—”

  “I wasn’t ready for such a big change.”

  “But now you’re moving to London.”

  “Dani.”

  “Funny. Because you said you were a homebody.”

  “I meant it at the time.”

  “So I just wasn’t the right girl,
then, was I?”

  “I really don’t want to do this here.”

  “You don’t want to do it at all or you would have faced up to me like a man and picked up the phone and called me.”

  “Believe it or not, it’s because of you that I’m willing to expand my horizons.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes. I regretted saying no. I should have at least considered New York.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then why didn’t you answer my calls, or e-mails, or letters? I tried everything, Nate. Everything. Why didn’t you get on a plane and come?”

  “Because I spent months planning that proposal, Dani. You don’t know the half of it. The entire town pitied me, looked after me as if I was wounded in war. I couldn’t just go running back to you after all they did for me—”

  Worried about what other people think. Again. Dani knew well enough not to say it. She was already hot under the collar, and getting into things she hadn’t meant to get into. And Anya’s parents and sister were listening from the kitchen. Tea, her ass; she didn’t even hear the kettle. Sawyer’s advice tackled her. Just tell him you love him.

  Dani stepped up, and before she ruined it by thinking it through, she put her hands on the side of his face. “You’re mine,” she said. She didn’t get to finish the rest of it. Nate took her hands off his face and stepped back. He was furious with her.

  “I’m getting married on Christmas Eve,” he said. He glanced toward the kitchen.

  “And I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past. And I’m standing in front of you. And I’m telling you I love you. I’m telling you you’re making a mistake. And I’m telling you it’s not too late for you and me.” Dani hadn’t meant to say any of this, let alone sound so desperate, but somewhere inside this man was the Nate she used to know, and more than anything, she just wanted to get a glimpse of him.

  “Tea for everyone!” Mrs. Pennington sang as she burst through the door with two cups in her hands. Her mother’s best china. Her mother never let anyone touch it. These Brits were ruining everything.

  “Wonderful!” Nate said. He practically lunged for the cups.

  The door opened. “Toodaloo!” It was Anya. In that moment, Dani could envision Nate’s life without her. Instead, this woman would walk in the door every night yelling, “Toodaloo!” They would drink tea, and cuddle, and smooch by the fireplace, and probably eat crumpets. What the heck was a crumpet? And this season they were going to do it in her house with her mother’s finest china. Anya swept into the room. She stopped short when she saw Dani. “You,” she said. “How did you? I know I said you’d better act fast, but this is a bit far—”