Mack: Pixie, I know we don’t know each other well yet, but that’s not an issue.
Chessie: Pixie? WTH?
Mack: You remind me of a pixie.
Chessie: Oh, okay. So, what brought you to Jenkinsburg?
Mack: Honestly? I missed small town living. My folks are gone and my brothers are scattered across the country. I remembered visiting my aunt years ago when I was a kid and decided to make a change.
Chessie: You have family in the area?
Mack: An aunt lived there and when she died, we inherited her property. My brothers had no interest so when the renters moved out, I decided to take over the property since she willed us her hardware store as well. I’ve got some plans for renovations on it so won’t be too hands-on initially especially since she had a good team in place, but will be there frequently.
Ah, so he planned to stay! Interesting.
Chessie: Well, you’ll find small town living is like living in a fishbowl sometimes. Everybody knows your business. Can be annoying, but most of the time, it’s kind of nice, to be honest. I grew up here. My mom and step-dad still live here, but I live with my two best friends.
Mack: Can I ask how old you are, Pixie-girl?
Chessie: I just turned 24. How old are you?
Hearing her phone ring, she looked and he was calling! Holy shit. Well, they needed to get to know one another, she supposed.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Pixie. Figured it would be easier to call and talk. My fingers don’t work on that small text keyboard so good.”
Laughing, because she remembered he had large hands, she said, “I hear you. So, you didn’t answer my question. How old are you?”
“I’m thirty-two. Is that a deal-breaker for you?”
“Um, no. Just to toss it out there, though, I haven’t dated in a long time.” Like, since high school, she thought.
“Why not? A beautiful woman like you?”
“Well, remember what I said about small towns? Being a pregnant, unwed teenager meant that most of the guys who asked me out only wanted one thing from me, and that wasn’t happening. Plus, Jade was sick a lot when she was little, and between finishing high school, getting into college, working and her, there really wasn’t time.”
He thought for a minute and realized that this petite woman had faced some hard times, but she didn’t sound bitter. He also recognized that he would have to move slow, but hoped that he wouldn’t have to move too slow.
“Sounds like it was challenging for you, Pixie-girl.”
“Ah, yeah. If it hadn’t been for my two best friends and their parents, I know I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
“What about your parents? You said they live here?”
“My mom and step-dad? Yeah. Gosh, you ask all the tough stuff. When they found out I was pregnant, my step-dad kicked me out. Pam and Fran’s parents took me in and I lived with them and finished high school and had Jade. They had their hands full! Pam was also pregnant at the same time, so they had two hormonal, crying, puking teens on their hands! They’ve been my family for the past six years. I don’t even see my mom, although she knows about Jade. Honestly, I’m surprised Fran wanted to live with us because we were two hot messes.”
“I saw how the three of you were today at the diner.”
“Ha! Yeah, we were fortunate that their parents own the diner and they put us girls to work early on. The three of us generally work different shifts, but there are times when the three of us work at the same time and it’s rather funny, if I say so myself!”
Mack wondered how he could tell her that he had heard of her from his former friend. He had served a tour with Jason, and while what he said about her was less than complimentary, the pictures he had seen that Jason’s parents sent of the little girl had intrigued him. It was a win-win for him–he had his aunt’s house to move into and he could meet the girl who had captivated him through pictures.
“Pixie-girl, I want to be honest with you. I served with Jason on a tour overseas and saw pictures of you and your little girl. Your smile and eyes captivated me and I knew, when the house became available, that I wanted to move here and get to know you.”
Not knowing what to say, Chessie processed what he had just told her. Shit, if Jason had talked about her, it was probably in less than complimentary terms. They had dated while she was in high school and it wasn’t until she turned eighteen that she had punched her v-card with him and look how that had turned out!
“Pixie-girl? You still there?” he asked cautiously.
“Uh…um, yeah. I’m not sure what to say, quite honestly.”
“I wanted you to know. I know he comes home from time to time on leave to see his folks and didn’t want you finding out that way. I really do want to get to know you and that little girl better.”
“I’d like that, Mack. I’d like that a lot.”
Turning the conversation to lighter subjects, they continued to talk for hours until she heard a soft cry from Jade’s bedroom.
“Mack, I need to go. Jade sometimes has nightmares and I think she’s having one now. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Absolutely, Pixie-girl. You sleep well, okay?”
“You too. See you tomorrow.”
Going into her daughter’s bedroom, she saw her tossing and turning and crying. “Shhh, Mama’s here, honey girl. I’ve got you. Shhh.”
About an hour later, after she calmed her down, she finally made her way to her room where she got ready for bed. Fran wouldn’t be home until morning, and Pam hadn’t gotten home from her date yet. She fell asleep thinking about the handsome man she had met that day with beautiful chocolate eyes.
Chapter Four
Rushing home the next afternoon, she got changed into jeans, a warm sweater, and her boots, then got Jade ready to be out in the cold. This time of year was hard on the little girl-if they weren’t careful, she would pick up everything that was going around. Thankfully, she had found a doctor who was okay using alternative treatment methods and they were slowly building up her immune system. “Are you excited, pumpkin?” she asked her daughter.
“Yes, Mama. Mama? Can we take Sophie with us? Grandma Sadie and Grandpa Sam won’t go until later and Aunt Pam is working.”
“Let me call, okay? I don’t have a problem with taking her early with us and it will give you someone to play with, right?”
Making a quick call, she looked at her daughter and said, “Okay, let’s roll! We need to get Sophie and head on over so we can meet up with Mr. Mack.”
Hearing the excited squeals, she smiled. Jade was such a happy little girl.
Once at the festival, she texted Mack to see where they could meet and was pleasantly surprised when she saw him walking toward her. “Hey Pixie-girl. Who is this little sprite you have with you?” he asked, crouching down so he could look at the little girl eye-to-eye.
Giggling, Jade said, “I’m not a sprite, I’m Jade!”
“Well, hello, Jade, I’m Mack,” he said, as he held out his hand to the little girl who was the spitting image of her mother with her blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Hi Mr. Mack. Mama told me we were meeting you today. This is my friend Sophie,” she said, introducing him to the other little girl standing next to Chessie.
“Hi, Sophie. Are you girls ready to have fun?”
“Yes, sir.”
Standing back up, he reached for Chessie’s hand, drawing her close before he kissed her on the forehead. “Hey, Pixie-girl. You ready to have some fun?”
Looking up at him, she wanted to tell him that the fun she was thinking of didn’t involve two little girls, but him in a bed. Blushing at her thoughts, she said, “Yeah. I am.”
With Jade and Sophie holding hands and skipping a bit in front of them, he held her hand and then said, “Um, where are your gloves?”
“Oh! Well, with getting the girls put together, I guess I forgot them. Again. Bad habit of mine.”
Laughing, he tucked her hand into his and t
hen into his pocket to keep them warm. As they went by different booths on their way to snow mountain, he kept an eye out and when he saw what he was looking for, stopped and, despite her protests, got her a pair of fuzzy gloves and a matching pair of earmuffs. “There, now you really look like a snow pixie!” he said, dropping a kiss on the tip of her nose.
Good grief and gravy! This man was making her insides turn to goo. What had happened to her resolve? No men again. Ever. It had obviously gone by the wayside.
“Thank you, Mack. Does this mean you don’t want to hold my hand anymore?”
Oh for the love of all things gold! Why on earth did she just say that??? Groaning inside, she chanced a look at him and saw him smirking at her, almost as if he could read her mind. “Nope. Just means that I want to make sure the hand I’m not holding stays warm!”
Finally reaching snow mountain, they got the two little girls sleds then trudged up the hill so they could watch them slide down, laughing and squealing. The next time they came up, giggling and covered in snow, she got her phone ready and shot a video of them as they went back down the hill, then sent it in a text to Pam and Fran, who would both get a kick out of how much fun they were having. On the third trip up, she saw that Mack had gotten an adult sled and, giving her a look, said, “I think we need to go down a few times ourselves, Pixie!”
Laughing, because she hadn’t been on a sled in a few years, she made sure the girls were set and then climbed onto the sled in front of him. Oh. my. gosh! His arms wrapped around her making her feel a sense of security she hadn’t felt in her life. “Okay girls, we’ll give you a head start. Ready, set, go!” Mack said, watching the two little girls start down the hill. Leaning into her, he whispered, “You ready, Pixie-girl?”
Um, yeah. She thought it was probable that her ovaries had exploded watching him interact not only with her daughter, but also with the little girl she considered her niece. “Yeah, let’s go and see if we can catch them!”
As they reached the bottom of the hill, just behind the girls, she could hear Jade giggling as she said, “Mama, we beat you and Mr. Mack! Does that mean we can have some hot chocolate now?”
“Sure, pumpkin. Let’s get some hot chocolate and warm up for a few minutes. What else did you two want to do?”
“Can we build a snowman? And see Santa? And go pet the animals?”
Laughing because her daughter had specific ideas about what she wanted to do, she said, “Absolutely. We can do whatever you two want today, okay? Now, don’t forget, when Grandpa Sam and Grandma Sadie get here, you girls will go with them.”
Mack led the trio of girls to the covered tent where food and drinks were being sold. Taking “orders”, he told Chessie to stay with the girls while he went and got their stuff.
“Mama, I’m having fun and I like Mr. Mack, he’s really nice.”
“Yes, he is sweetpea, yes he is.”
They spent the rest of the afternoon on snow mountain and, if she had to say so herself, their snow people were the best out there. Mack had gone back to one of the stalls and bought some hats and scarves so they were all gussied up. Heading back to the food tent for yet another cup of hot chocolate, she saw the Thompsons headed their way, along with Pam and Fran.
“Hey y’all! Glad you caught up with us. These two have been keeping us busy. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, Pam, Fran, this is Mack Corrigan. He just moved to town. Mack, this is my family.”
Reaching his hand out, Mack shook Mr. Thompson’s hand firmly, saying, “Pleasure to meet you, sir. Really enjoyed the meal I had at the diner yesterday, which is where I met Chessie.”
“Corrigan. Are you by any chance kin to Vera Corrigan?”
“She was my aunt, sir. I just moved into her house.”
“She was a wonderful woman, sorry for your loss, but we’re always glad to have new folks in town.”
While Mack talked to the Thompsons about his aunt and the house, Pam and Fran drew Chessie away.
“Girl, he is F-I-N-E!” Fran exclaimed.
Pam chimed in, “If I wasn’t hooked on Derek, I would have stolen your section yesterday. Just saying!”
Chessie grinned. “Oh you two! So, he apparently knows Jason, and saw pictures of Jade and me. Said he was glad he was able to move here so he could meet me!”
“Really? Oh my God that’s fantastic!” they both said.
“It’s about time someone caught your eye, young lady!”
“Yeah, yeah. You both know that the guys around here are only interested in one thing and none of them wanted anything to do with me because of Jade.”
“Doesn’t seem to bother Mack, though,” Pam mused.
“Nope. He’s been great with both the girls this afternoon!”
Seeing the Thompsons and Mack walking toward them, she turned to her friends and grinned before she whispered, “He’s hot! Holy hell, the thoughts that have been running through my head since meeting him yesterday would make a whore blush!”
With that, both of her friends burst into laughter, Fran doubling up.
“What’s got you three cackling like hens?” Mr. Thompson asked.
“Uh…nothing, dad. Nothing at all,” Pam choked out between her giggles.
“Well, we’ve got our area staked out for the lighting so all of you are more than welcome to sit with us, but we’ll go ahead and take the girls now so you young people can wander around some more,” he said.
“Sounds great-they’ve probably had their fill of hot chocolate, but other than that, they’ve been playing pretty hard and were making some noise about being hungry,” Chessie told him.
“We’ll get them fed. Chessie, do you have Jade’s bag in your car?”
“Yes, I’ll bring it to the tent on our way over if that’s okay?”
“Works for us. Alright you little munchkins, let’s let your mamas go play,” he said to the two little girls.
“Okay, Grandpa Sam,” Jade said before running to her mom for hugs and kisses.
“Be a good girl for Grandma and Grandpa, okay pumpkin?”
“Yes Mama. Love you!”
“Love you too, my sweet girl, to the moon and back!”
As the Thompsons walked away from them, she looked at Pam and said, “Is Derek meeting you here?”
“Yeah, he texted me a few minutes ago and said he’d find us. Won’t be hard since I told him to look for the fuzzy-eared blonde!”
“Whatevs. Mack got me these because I forgot my gloves. Again.”
Once again, Pam and Fran broke out in hysterical laughter. “Mack, she probably has a thousand pairs of gloves and we’ve lost count of how many headbands, ear muffs and hats she has misplaced,” Fran said.
“Hey now, I don’t ‘misplace’ them, I just forget to grab them is all!” Chessie said, trying to act indignant but failing as she started laughing.
“Uh, Aaron is meeting us too,” Fran said.
“Aaron? I thought you guys were…” Chessie and Pam both said at the same time.
Interrupting them, Fran said, “We were and now we aren’t. Clear as mud, right? We just had a few things we had to work out is all.”
While they wandered back through the booths, Fran and Pam peppered Mack with questions. He answered them, understanding that their concern was their friend. Derek found them in the pottery booth, resulting in another round of introductions. Pam had only been seeing him for a short time, but she felt a connection and he didn’t care that she was a single mom, something most of the other jerks she had dated eventually cited as their reason for breaking up. Slow and steady, though. She was tired of being burned.
“Fran! Hey Fran!” a voice called out. Turning, they saw a man coming through the crowd. “I wasn’t sure I would find you!”
“Hey Aaron! Let me introduce you to Chessie’s date. Aaron McCoy, this is Mack Corrigan. Mack, this is my boyfriend, Aaron.”
“Nice to meet you, man,” Aaron said, shaking Mack’s hand. “Hey Derek! Good to see you!”
Chessie smiled
inside-this was a good first date, they weren’t alone and she had her besties there to help her get a read on this man.
“So, what do you guys want to do? We still have about two hours before they light the tree.”
Mack looked at Chessie. He had loved holding her when they were sledding. “What about snow mountain? We can sled for a while before we feed these beautiful women we have with us.”
“Oh hell yeah,” Derek exclaimed.
The decision made, the group headed back over to snow mountain where they got the adult sleds and headed up the hill. Chessie was secretly thrilled because she would have his arms around her again. As they got seated on the sled and his arms came around her, he leaned in and whispered, “Pixie-girl, I’m having a great time and I hope you are as well.”
His Christmas Pixie Page 2