Celeste tried to explain, but the girl had already moved back inside, leaving the door open.
“It’s probably simpler just to leave it be,” Mike said. “We won’t be staying here anyway.”
And, when it came down to it, Mike was like a father to Kristina.
They stepped inside. Kristina was there in the next instant, her arms around Celeste. “I’m so glad you came.”
“So am I, hon.”
“But it was so far to drive.”
Mike put his arm around Kristina, making something of a sandwich out of the three of them. “Worth every mile, kiddo.”
“Have you checked in to your hotel?” Kristina asked.
Celeste held her daughter even more tightly. “Not yet. We wanted to see you first.”
“Do you mind if I hang out with you guys tonight?”
“Not at all,” Mike said.
Kristina hurried into a bedroom and came back with a duffle bag. She held it up with a shrug. “Mom said there’s a living room. I’ll crash on the couch.”
All the way to the hotel, a full ten minutes, Kristina talked about Econ boy, whose name was Jim, and how she saw him all over campus. He had asked her out repeatedly, growing more insistent each time. Kristina said she’d been very clear in her refusal and had specifically told him to stop asking, but he hadn’t. While Celeste couldn’t say for certain that it was a dangerous situation, it was clearly a case of harassment, and that warranted addressing.
Mike left them in the car and hopped out to check them in to the hotel.
“How is your holiday bet going?” Kristina asked when they were alone.
“That’s not really important right now.” Celeste hadn’t thought of it since they’d begun planning this last-minute trip the day before. They hadn’t bothered with Home Alone on the projector, focusing instead on finding hotels and trying to make arrangements for some time off.
“Of course it’s important.” Kristina sounded annoyed; the dim parking-lot lighting made seeing her expression difficult at best. “You were going to spend Christmas with Mike.”
“I always spend Christmas with him.”
“I don’t mean having him over for coffee and butter cookies, Mom. Hours and hours together. Dates, maybe.”
Celeste pushed down the bubble of anticipation that created. “We did have a date last night.”
“A real one?” Kristina’s tone couldn’t have been more enthusiastic.
“We had Indian food, at a restaurant at our own table for two.”
“Mom!”
Celeste held her hand up. “Don’t get too excited. It wasn’t romantic, just friendly.”
“You two have always been friendly. When are you going to get on to the kissing part? I’ve been waiting for years.”
Mike was walking back to the car.
“Don’t say that when he’s here,” Celeste said.
“I won’t have to. He’s been thinking about it for years. I guarantee it.”
Celeste hadn’t blushed since she was a teenager, but she was almost certain she was blushing right then.
Mike pulled the door open and leaned inside. “We’re all checked in, ladies. Let’s get our luggage taken up, and then we can go get something to eat.”
“I can stay here if you want,” Kristina said, “then you two can have another dinner date.”
Celeste ought to have known Kristina would jump right on this topic. Any of the kids would have. The only thing they liked more than Mike was giving their mother a hard time.
“Don’t sweat it, kid. You interrupted last night’s date too.” He motioned them out. “Let’s get our stuff in.”
They stepped out of the car and pulled the luggage from the trunk.
“Do I get to go along as chaperone?” Kristina asked. “Maybe sit between you guys in a booth or something?”
If she hadn’t been whole-heartedly relieved to see for herself that Kristina was doing well, Celeste likely would have been very annoyed at her daughter’s teasing. She shot Mike a look of mingled apology and amusement, hoping to mask her own embarrassment. “I’m thinking we should order in.”
Mike walked with her through the hotel doors. “Chinese?” he suggested. “I know you both like it.”
“Sounds good.”
Kristina kept up her teasing as they unpacked, while they waited for the delivery guy, and all through dinner. Celeste was actually relieved when Kristina asked if she could use the desk in the bedroom Celeste had claimed as her own to study for her finals the next day.
The moment she and Mike were alone again, she launched into a much-needed apology. “I shouldn’t have told her we had a date last night. She probably won’t ever let up.”
Mike laughed. “I’m just glad to see she’s her usual, goofy self. If we’d come here and she was somber and anxious, I would be worrying a whole lot more.”
“So would I.” She sat on the sofa next to him. “What do we do now?”
“About what? The creepy guy or Kristina’s offer to chaperone?”
Celeste dropped her head into her upturned hand. “This could be a long trip.”
Mike leaned back, slouching a little. “She’s always been a goofball. I love that about her.”
“Even when her goofiness is directed at you?”
He gave her a knowing look. “I’m just hoping she never hears about the Hammer pants.”
Oh, it felt good to laugh.
Mike put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. She didn’t resist; she didn’t want to. Having him nearby during the difficulties of the last few weeks had reminded her what a source of strength he was.
“After we get her down to campus for her finals, I’ll go talk to the campus police, see what they’ve figured out and what they suggest we do.” Mike adjusted his position and Celeste found that she fit kind of perfectly beside him. “I’m thinking you ought to go talk to the Title IX office, though. Sometimes having an attorney involved, even if that attorney is there as a mother, can get things done faster than anything else.”
He was probably right.
“Is it weird that I’m almost hoping we run into this guy tomorrow?” Celeste said. “Part of me wants to come across him so we can beat the snot out of him. Part of me just wants to get a feel for what kind of a creep he is.”
“Not weird at all,” Mike answered. “I’m hoping the same thing.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thank you again for being here and for caring about us.”
“It is my pleasure.”
By the end of the next day, Mike was exhausted. He and Celeste had spent the time during Kristina’s finals talking with the administration, the campus police, and Kristina’s roommates, getting a better idea of what exactly had been happening the last few weeks.
According to the administration, Kristina was not the first woman on campus to report unwanted attention from this Jim guy. The campus police told them that Jim had been cited more than once in the past for loitering outside of other women’s apartments— women who had reported his behavior to the police just like Kristina had.
Kristina’s roommates said Jim hadn’t made any appearances in their complex or at Kristina’s work. Mike had silently tacked a “yet” on to the end of that. A guy who had harassed more than one woman, who had been approached by the police for more than one incident of border-line stalking, and who was following that same pattern again was likely to repeat the entire scenario. He hadn’t shown up at her apartment or work yet.
Still, there was a small sliver of relief along with these discoveries. The administration and police both reported that Jim was in his final semester and was graduating in only four days, and that he was headed to Florida to start a new job. Florida was multiple states away. That was, at least, a little reassuring.
They shared all they’d learned with Kristina as they walked with her from her last final of the day, across campus to the parking lot. She, they discovered, knew a lot of it already
.
“I hadn’t heard that he was moving to Florida,” Kristina said. “That actually makes me feel a lot better. Except, I feel bad for the women of Florida. He’ll probably harass a lot of them, too.”
“Probably.” Celeste’s tone was more tired than surprised. “Let’s hope the company he’ll be working for has a good HR department.”
“Let’s hope Jim decides to quit being a creep,” Mike said.
Kristina took hold of his coat sleeve with her gloved hand. She motioned ahead of them with her head. “That’s him.”
Mike looked in the direction she’d indicated. A guy about the right age stood a few yards ahead of them. Mike had been picturing a football player, someone enormous. This guy was tall, but slender, the kind of person most other guys probably didn’t give a second thought. If not for a little arthritis in his shoulder, Mike wouldn’t even wonder if he could physically take on this guy. But of course Kristina would have doubts about her ability to defend herself. Size was, after all, relative.
It was a different world for women in so many ways.
He pulled his car keys from his pocket and handed them to Celeste. “You and Kristina head to the car. I’ll meet you there.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m just going to talk to the guy.” As much as he’d like to pound the kid a little, he suspected it wouldn’t actually help. “I think he needs to know she has more allies than he realizes. Allies who are watching him.”
Without warning, Kristina gave him a hug. “I love you, Mike.”
He hugged her fiercely in return. “And I love you, kiddo. Always have.”
“Always will.”
He nudged her over toward her mother. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”
He fully expected them to take up the journey to the parking lot once more, but Celeste stepped up to him. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. Before pulling back, she whispered, “We all love you, Mike.”
He’d imagined many times hearing her say that she loved him, but that seemed the closest she ever got: a general sentiment about her whole family loving him in a general way. While he appreciated that, he wanted something more personal from her. He wanted her to love him.
He watched them a moment longer as they walked away, then turned his attention to the matter of Jim. The guy realized once Mike was almost at his side that he was being approached. A look of worry flitted over his features, replaced very quickly by a pointed show of confidence.
“You’re Jim?” Mike asked, keeping his tone calm but firm.
“Yeah. Who’re you?”
“My name isn’t necessary.” Mike assumed his most steely glare, the one that had sent any number of would-be bullies running away during his school years and had put a few would-be career saboteurs in their places in more recent years. Mike wasn’t the most threatening-looking guy— he knew that about himself— but he also knew how to give people a moment’s pause when need be. “You’ve been making a nuisance of yourself, bothering a young woman who is family to me.”
“I don’t—”
“Don’t play stupid. I know you’ve been contacted recently regarding this matter, and I know you know exactly who I’m talking about.”
Jim didn’t make any more objections, so he must have understood.
“You’ve seen people who’ve been looking out for her: her friends and roommates, the police. But you haven’t seen me, have you?”
That clearly confused him.
“Think about that. There are people watching you who you don’t see.” He stepped in the tiniest bit closer and lowered his voice to what he knew was a sinister whisper. “Cause any further trouble for her, and I’ll know it. I’ll see you, Jim, even though you don’t see me.” He offered a knowing smile. “Enjoy Florida.”
Jim’s eyes pulled wide. “How did you know—”
“I always know.” Mike left it at that.
He glanced back only once and spotted Jim moving very swiftly in the other direction. The implied threat likely wouldn’t be enough in and of itself to send the kid packing for good, but combined with the police’s earlier visits, it might make him think twice before continuing to follow Kristina around campus, or anywhere else.
It wasn’t a guarantee, but it was something.
Chapter Seven
Kristina spent the next four nights at the hotel after her shift at the department store, studying for her last remaining finals, taking advantage of free meals, and, though she only admitted it to Mike, enjoying her mother’s company. On the fifth day, campus police informed them that Jim had left for Florida. That called for a celebration.
Mike found a few cheap Christmas decorations, a tin of Celeste’s favorite butter cookies, and Kristina’s favorite: a carton of eggnog.
He also swung by a print shop.
“What is this?” Celeste said when he handed her the rolled-up print, tied with a ribbon.
“A Christmas gift,” he said. “For you.”
“You’re a few days early.” It couldn’t have been a complaint; she was eagerly untying it.
“What is it?” Kristina asked him while watching her mom.
“Something your mother will appreciate,” he answered quietly. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking about Christmas wishes.”
Kristina tossed him one of her signature grins. “I think you two have enjoyed your holiday, despite having to come up here and sort out my mess.”
Mike gave her an affectionate, fatherly hug. He’d told her again and again the past five days that she’d been anything but a nuisance. Eventually she would believe it.
Celeste unrolled the print. She sucked in a quick, sharp breath before bursting with laughter. “Where did you get this?” She managed to formulate the question between laughs.
“I had it made up. I couldn’t think of anything you’d want more.”
She couldn’t seem to stop laughing, which was exactly the response he’d been hoping for.
“What is it?” Kristina stepped around her mom, getting her first look at his offering. After a moment’s confusion, she looked up at him. “Is that the ‘Ice Ice Baby’ guy?”
Mike nodded.
Celeste quickly rolled the print up again and crossed to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He swore his pulse jumped straight there as well, pounding hard into his head.
“This has been the best Christmas,” she said, smiling at him. “The best.”
“All this over an Ice-guy poster?” Kristina snatched a cookie from the tin. “Old people get excited about the weirdest things.”
Celeste didn’t let go, didn’t back away. She simply kept watching him with what looked like very real happiness. “You know this means I win, right?”
At the moment, Mike was pretty convinced he had won. She was hugging him, smiling at him, being more affectionate than he ever remembered her being.
“We both agreed to count the Home Alone movie viewing even though it was sort of called off. I have my Vanilla Ice souvenir, and I have a babydoll dress at home that I ordered from eBay. Once I show you that, I’ve checked off my entire Holiday Bucket List. I win.”
“Well, then.” He settled his arms comfortably around her, fully aware of the fact that she hadn’t at all pulled away. “It seems like I owe you something off your Christmas present wish list. What’s it to be?”
She didn’t hesitate even a moment. “I want you to ask me on another date.”
That was not remotely what he’d expected her to say. “Really?”
She nodded. “Our last one started out very promising. I’d like to try again.”
“Done.” He’d ask her out a hundred more times without question.
“And—”
“And?” He chuckled at the grin that accompanied her tagging-on of another request.
“— I want us to go roller skating and search the thrift stores for an old NES.”
“You want me to finish my bucket list?”
“
I want to know better the you that you were before I met you. Your Holiday Bucket List is part of that.”
This was more than promising. This was downright amazing.
“Again,” he said, “done.”
“And—” She laughed before he could. “Lastly, I want to know what on your wish list you would have chosen if you’d won.”
He must have turned beet red in that moment. He knew exactly what he’d wanted to ask for, but had assumed he wouldn’t go through with it even if he’d won their bet.
“What is it?” Celeste’s amazed and amused tone told him he had blushed just as embarrassingly deeply as he’d feared.
Her arms were still draped around his neck. She was still standing close to him, looking at him with something very closely resembling love. Maybe his wish list topper wasn’t such a stretch after all.
“The top of my list has looked the same for seven years, Celeste,” he said. “It hasn’t changed. I just never figured it would ever work out.”
He saw her eyes turn a little uncertain. “You didn’t think what would ever work out?”
“I’ve wanted to kiss you.”
Rather than running away in horror, something Mike had imagined often over the past seven years, Celeste smiled slowly, coyly. “Kristina might freak out, but I certainly have no objections.”
For a moment, he was too shocked to say or do anything. But only for a moment.
He pulled her in ever closer and kissed her with seven years of longing and hoping and loving. He kissed her deeply, and he kissed her well.
“Don’t stop on my account.” Kristina pulled out her phone. “I’ll just be over here pretending to ignore you.”
“And we’ll be over here,” Celeste said, “actually ignoring you.”
That was invitation enough. He kissed her again. And again.
Until Kristina started giggling. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s great, you two deciding to give this a go. It’s a little weird, too, though.”
Mike kept an arm around Celeste as they sat on the sofa. “It’s a shame she’ll be away at college for all those dates we’re going on.”
“A real shame.” Celeste set her head on his shoulder. “I have warned you about my terrible dating track record, haven’t I?”
Under the Mistletoe Collection Page 18