Lucy hopped up on the couch and climbed on to Iona’s lap and she petted the little dog, admitting to herself that she was happy to see her friends.
Hayley took the ice cream to the kitchen and Cici cleaned up the wrappers that littered the floor around her. She was embarrassed by how messy she’d been. Then Cici took Holly from her carrier and sat down on the coach next to Iona.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. I mean we had a fight, but I don’t understand where it came from,” Iona said.
“Tell us about it,” Hayley said. “We’ll help you figure it out.”
“All right, things have been off between us since Tuesday night when we went to the party at the Common. The entire night felt so special and magical. I knew then that I love Mads and there was something about him that made me think he loved me too. But then he didn’t call or answer my texts and so last night I sat by the front door waiting for him to come home.”
“Oh, Iona … what happened?
Iona tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear and realized how greasy it felt. Sure, it had only been one day since she’d showered but her entire body seemed to be getting into it.
“I don’t know. He said that he thought maybe our relationship was for him to show me there was more to life than just work. So I could go on to love someone else,” she said as her voice cracked a little bit. “He can’t love me the way I deserve.”
“That’s crazy,” Hayley said. “Completely bonkers, but a very nice sentiment.”
“I think he’s just afraid to get hurt again,” Cici said. “And he doesn’t want you to get hurt either.”
“Are you guys on my side or not?” Iona asked. She’d already figured all of that out last night at about two a.m., when she’d been sleeping in the guest bedroom because she’d had sex with Mads on the couch and in her bed so she hadn’t been able to sleep in either of those places.
“We’re on your side,” Cici said, as Holly got fussy and Cici undid her blouse to breastfeed.
“You know what I think you should do? Just keep on seeing him like you have been,” Hayley said. “Just as friends. That should make him crack. We already know he cares for you.”
“I wonder if he’s lost the ability to really care or maybe it’s too soon. Blair said that he was complicated and I should have listened to her,” Iona said.
Cici sighed. “I don’t know if you will be able to change his mind. What about Sofia?”
“I don’t know. Of course, I’m still her friend but I don’t know if Mads will discourage her from seeing me,” Iona said.
“Time will tell,” Hayley said. “But for now, let’s get you out of this funk.”
She didn’t want to have to get through anything. She had finally opened her heart to love and somehow she’d thought that would be enough, but of course it wasn’t. But with her friends in her apartment she no longer felt like turning into a hermit and eating until none of her clothes fit her.
Hayley and Cici stayed until lunchtime, making sure that Iona got showered and dressed and went with her to the retirement home, where she was supposed to sing carols and distribute cookies. She appreciated her friends and knew getting out of the apartment would help her but she couldn’t help remembering that Mads and Sofia were supposed to be with her. She had tucked her gifts for both of them in her bag and decided she’d ask the doorman to give them to them both when she returned.
Chapter 21
Sofia wasn’t too happy when he told her that they weren’t going to be going with Iona to sing carols. But Mads had made up his mind. It would be easier for both of them if they just got used to not having her around.
When there was a knock on the door Sofia jumped off the couch and ran for the door. He suspected she was hoping it would be Iona, but he knew she wouldn’t just show up. That wasn’t her way.
Instead it was the doorman, Greg.
“Hello, Greg.”
“Hi, Sofia. These presents were left downstairs for you. I figured you’d want them, so I brought them up.”
Mads, who had followed Sofia to the door, reached around her to take the gaily wrapped packages. “Thank you.”
He saw the disappointment on Sofia’s face as she glanced around him down the hallway, no doubt looking for Iona.
Greg gave her a smile and then turned to leave and Mads closed the door behind him.
They went back into the living room and Mads looked at the packages, realizing he recognized Iona’s handwriting on them.
“Do you want to open your present now?” he asked.
“But it’s not Christmas. I thought we had to wait,” she said.
“I think we could both use some cheering up. And this is our year to do things differently,” he said. Reminding himself that he was supposed to be making this Christmas different, not still feeling so broken and alone.
“Yay. Yes, I want to open it,” she said.
She came over to the large armchair where he usually sat in the living room and climbed up on his lap. The presents were large and there was one for each of them. Sofia took hers. “I have something for Iona too.”
“I know you do. We will ask Greg to deliver it to her.”
“Okay. Or maybe I could go down there,” she said.
Mads didn’t want to isolate his daughter from Iona, so he nodded. “Maybe. Why don’t we see what she got for you?”
Sofia nodded and then tore at the paper the way she always did. She handed him the parts she ripped off and he balled them up, setting them on the side table next to his chair.
The box was plain white and she carefully opened it up. Inside was a paperback of A Visit from St. Nicholas. And when Sofia opened it up, Mads saw that Iona had doctored the book the way that Gill had done for Sofia’s knight book. Mads’ picture had been used for Santa and the sleeping children were Sofia and Holly and the reindeer were all Lucy, the little miniature dachshund. And then at the end of the story was the picture that they had posed for at the Nutcracker and underneath it Iona had written: Santa can deliver special presents, but only love can make a family. Merry Christmas.
“Oh, Papa, I love it,” Sofia said. Then underneath the book was a Christmas ornament of a knight wearing a dress just like in the book that Gill had made for Sofia.
Mads hugged his daughter close, knowing that he couldn’t let Iona go. She was the missing part of their family. Just like they were hers. And it didn’t matter if he tried to protect himself by never seeing her again, he was going to love her for the rest of his life.
Sofia hopped off his lap and walked over to the tree, putting the ornament next to the angel that he and Gill had given her last year for Christmas. “Look, Papa, it’s me and Mommy.”
“It is the both of you,” Mads said.
“What did Iona give you?” Sofia asked. “I love my present, Papa.”
“I know, sweetheart, it’s perfect.”
“It is. I just got her a scarf. I think I better do something else,” Sofia said.
Mads opened his present and saw that it was a photo book. Sofia climbed up on his lap. The front cover said Eriksson Traditions. And when he opened it he saw photos of him and Sofia from this Christmas season. In their ugly sweaters, eating gingerbread at the Common, ice skating with Remy’s family, decorating their tree, baking cookies. She’d written another note, this one slipped inside on a piece of paper.
I know that you and Sofia will continue to find the traditions that define your family and at the heart of them will be the love you share.
Sofia curled up in his arms and he held his daughter, knowing that he had made a mistake when he’d told Iona that he couldn’t love her. These gifts were unconditional and maybe he might end up being a very overprotective husband, but he knew he was going to ask Iona to share the rest of her life with him and Sofia.
But he had to figure out how to do it. He was going to need a big gesture to show her what was in his heart. And to convince her that he loved her, the way she deserved to be loved.
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“Sofia, I need your help,” he said, when the idea came to him.
“With what?”
“Making some Christmas magic for Iona,” Mads said. “Show her how much she means to both of us.”
“I’m in,” she said, with her gap-toothed grin. Together they worked hard on their plan and he had to recruit some outside help with her friends and they were much nicer this time when he texted them than they had been the last time.
Now all he had to do was hope that he hadn’t killed the love she had for him. That she would be willing to take a chance on him.
***
Mads was sweating inside the suit he wore. He wasn’t sure that Hayley and Cici would be able to convince Iona to join them for dinner in the Common’s private dining room. But they both were certain it would happen. His brother was keeping watch at the door that led from the food and beverage hallway into the room. Sofia looked adorable in her Santa’s helper outfit. She had on a pair of striped red and white tights and a red velvet dress trimmed in white faux fur, with a Santa hat on her head that jingled when she moved. And she kept moving around. She’d wanted to wear shoes with bells on them too but they hadn’t been able to find any on such short notice.
“She’s here,” Piers said. “And it looks like they invited about twenty people to dinner.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. I guess they wanted some witnesses to this,” Piers said.
“Great,” Mads said.
“It is great, Papa,” Sofia said.
Well, it would be great if things went well. If they didn’t then … well then, he’d just deal with it. He wasn’t going to change his mind if there were five people in the other room or one hundred. He loved Iona and he’d hurt her; he wanted to make her happy and needed to convince her that he was sincere.
Sofia squeezed between him and Piers, poking her head through the opening to see into the room. They were all sitting down at the long table that had been set up for them.
“Are you ready?” Piers asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Mads said.
“Sof?”
“I am,” she said, smiling up at them both.
The music switched from “Greensleeves” to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. And Sofia skipped into the room, bells jingling as she danced to the head of the table where Iona was seated.
Mads stood in the doorway watching Iona’s face as his daughter stopped right next to her.
“Hello. I’m Santa’s helper and he’s here to bring presents to all the good boys and girls.”
“Hello there. I thought you didn’t believe in Santa,” Iona said, unable to hide her surprise.
“A good friend told me that Santa takes care of special gifts. I think that you deserve one.”
“Is Santa bringing it to me?” she asked.
“He is,” Sofia confirmed.
Mads walked into the room in his red Santa suit, wearing a Santa hat, and stopped when he was a few feet from Iona. She had her chair turned to the side so they were facing each other.
“Santa?”
“Yup. That’s him,” Sofia said.
Suddenly all the words he’d rehearsed and the clever lines he’d practiced just disappeared and all he could think about was Iona. He closed the gap between them. “I wanted to tell you how you brought the magic of Christmas back into my life. How you showed me that love was strong enough to overcome fear, but the truth is I’m still scared. The only difference is that now I’m afraid of what my life will be like if I can’t convince you to take a chance on me …”
“Us,” Sofia added. “Both of us.”
Mads looked at his daughter and then reached out for her, she took his hand and they turned to Iona. “I was wrong when I said I couldn’t be the man for you. That maybe I was trying to heal you for someone else. That’s impossible because no one could love you more than I do. I thought you’d be safer and happier without me by your side, but that’s not true.”
“No it’s not,” Iona said, getting to her feet and coming over to him.
He leaned in until their foreheads touched and then he whispered, “I love you.”
“Are you sure?” she whispered back.
“Yes, I am,” he said, their eyes met and he hoped she could see how much he loved and needed her.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he lifted her off her feet as he kissed her.
Their friends and family all cheered and he set her on her feet, reaching for the red velvet bag that Sofia held. “I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I want you to know that one day I intend to make you my wife. Until then I hope you will wear this ring.”
He took the box from the bag and handed it to her. Inside was a simple band made up of hearts that Sofia had helped him pick out. Iona nodded and put the ring on her finger. “I can’t wait for that day.”
Mads, Piers, and Sofia joined the group for Christmas Eve dinner and when they went home that night and Mads took Iona in his arms and made love to her, he knew he’d found a Christmas gift he hadn’t expected. He’d been lucky to have found love once in his life but twice made him believe in miracles and all sorts of things that he never had before.
Epilogue
Christmas, one year later
Christmas was the most special time of the year. This year, Iona Eriksson knew that no matter how much she loved decorating the Candied Apple Café and designing the windows, coming home to the brownstone that she shared with her family was when she felt the real magic of Christmas.
She opened the door and heard the sound of Sofia singing “Must Be Santa” along with Bob Dylan. Iona hurried down the hall and stood in the doorway watching Sofia dancing around Mads, who was cuddling their three-month-old son, Alexander, in his arms. The baby was cooing as Sofia and Mads sang and danced around the Christmas tree that was partially decorated.
Iona joined in signing and Sofia turned to her. “Mama, you’re home early.”
She ran to Iona, who leaned down to scoop her up. She joined the men to dance and sing, her eyes met Mads and she felt a fullness in her heart that she had never known she’d find. Her father had been a man who’s shown her success came from dividing her personal and business lives, but Iona had found true happiness and success by blending the two.
She’d been touched when Sofia had asked to call her “mama”, telling Iona that her mommy was in heaven but she wanted to have the same mama as Alexander.
“Tonight’s the night we go to visit Santa,” Iona said. Both she and Mads had been surprised when Sofia had expressed an interest in visiting him at the big Macy’s department store, but it had made them happy to hear it. So much had changed in the last year for all of them. Mads and she were still finding their footing together as a couple, but after being married in a small family-only ceremony back in February after Iona had realized she was pregnant, both of them had known they wanted to spend their life together. Though Iona had thought they’d have a little bit longer to get used to being a family.
It turned out that they hadn’t needed the time.
The doorbell rang and Sofia squirmed to get out of Iona’s arms, racing for the front door. Cici, Hoop, and Holly were there. Cici looked a little pale, but that was to be expected as she had just announced she was expecting.
Iona couldn’t be more thrilled for her friend. Hayley so far was resisting the lure of motherhood due to her crazy early morning schedule at the Candied Apple Café but Garrett had taken another promotion at work, which meant a regular schedule as opposed to his days as a beat cop, so Iona suspected they’d be parents soon.
Even Theo and Nico were parents to Kasim and Leo, twin boys who they were fostering but hoped to adopt in the coming year. As her friends came in and the kids laughed and talked, Iona couldn’t help but feel like she’d been given the best gift of all when Mads had surprised her at the Candied Apple Café last year.
He came up behind her, wrapping her in one arm as she took her so
n from him and looked down into those blue eyes that reminded her of Mads.
“Happy?”
“More than I could have ever believed. You?”
“Yes. I’ve been so blessed to know the love of two women and to be able to share my life with you.”
Also by Katherine Garbera
Summer in Manhattan
The Hot Cop Next Door
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Katherine Garbera is a two-time Maggie winner who has written more than 90 books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature dachshund.
www.facebook.com/KatherineGarberaAuthor
@katheringarbera
www.katherinegarbera.com
Read on for Naughty & Nice Truffle recipes inspired by Christmas at the Candied Apple Café, by Katherine Garbera
Naughty Truffle (spicy dark chocolate truffle)
Ingredients
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup of red colored sugar
Directions
In a medium saucepot, heat the cream, cinnamon, chili powder and cayenne pepper over medium-low heat until it comes to a simmer. Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator until it firms up, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Place the red colored sugar onto a small plate.
Remove the chocolate from the refrigerator and let sit for 30 minutes to soften.
Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop out the chocolate into the red colored sugar and roll them around to completely coat. Place on a plate and serve. Truffles can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days in an airtight container.
Nice Truffle (Sweet white chocolate truffle)
Christmas at the Candied Apple Café Page 19