“Oh, those are just wonderful,” Aunt Allie said.
“We have an apple-cranberry pie in the oven,” Tabitha told him.
“Then save mine for later,” he said, handing her the pie.
“Only if you come back later and have some with us,” she said, then quickly bit her lip, surprising herself with the spontaneous invitation.
He smiled at Tabitha and her heart gave a little stutter. A sensation she had nearly forgotten existed.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “But only if I can have a piece of that apple pie.”
“It’s a deal,” Aunt Allie agreed. “But since it’s going to be about an hour before it’s ready, why don’t we go downstairs and you can help out with a little project Tabitha and I have going?”
Tabitha shot a glance toward Adam. And shrugged her shoulders. Aunt Allie was the guru of projects. Probably the reason her shop was so successful. She thought of things to do. And she got things done.
“Sure,” Adam said. “Whatever you need.”
They followed Aunt Allie downstairs. There was still a lot of preparation to go. Tabitha squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. There were boxes scattered everywhere – half open with garland and faux snow spilling out everywhere. There were glass ornaments and scented pinecones. Stockings and wrapping paper.
“It’s kind of a mess,” Aunt Allie commented.
“It’s a process,” Tabitha said. “But we do have a lot to do before morning.”
“What can I do?” Adam asked.
Aunt Allie and Tabitha both turned toward the tree – a twelve-foot balsam fir draped with clear lights.
Tabitha went to one of the boxes and carefully pulled out a two-foot-tall angel with glittering silver wings, a shimmering gown with lace and silk, a fur trimmed stole, and trails of silver ribbons.
“She came west with the wagons,” Aunt Allie said.
“I recognize her,” Adam said, studying the top of the tree. He rubbed his chin. “We’re gonna need a ladder,” he said.
“There’s one out in the shed,” Aunt Allie said and Adam promptly went out back to get the ladder.
“She’s beautiful,” Tabitha said, fluffing the angel’s lace and ribbons. “It’s a shame she has to live in a box for all but six weeks of the year.”
“I suppose we could find a place for her up on one of the top shelves,” Aunt Allie mused. “But I think she’s safer in the box. I just want to protect her, you know?”
“I understand. She’s irreplaceable. And it’s special when you take her out each Thanksgiving.”
Aunt Allie beamed as Adam came back inside with an eight-foot step ladder. “Looks like this ladder has seen better days,” he said, opening up the ladder.
“Well, I don’t usually have any use for it.”
“Who put this angel up there last year?”
“You did,” Aunt Allie said.
“Guess I’ve slept since then,” Adam said, holding out his hands for the angel.
Tabitha hesitated. Cradled the fragile ornament in her hand.
“You know what?” she said. “I think I’d like to put her up there.”
Adam shifted his gaze from the ladder to the top of the tree. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be climbing up there on this ladder.”
“I know, but… “she shrugged. “This angel is older than all of us put together.”
Shaking his head, he moved to the side of the ladder. “You won’t mind if I hold the ladder for you?”
She smiled and looked up at him. “I was kind of counting on it.”
“Here,” Aunt Allie said, stepping forward. “Let me hold the angel.”
Tabitha handed the ornament over to Aunt Allie and stepped onto the first rung of the ladder. It felt a little unsteady. “We don’t have another ladder?” She was high enough now to look directly into Adam’s eyes – deep pools of slate blue. Mesmerized, she wobbled the ladder. He immediately placed a hand on the small of her back to steady her.
Aunt Allie shook her head.
“You don’t have a better ladder?” She vaguely heard Aunt Allie ask Adam.
He pulled his gaze away to glance at his watch. “If the hardware store was open, I could be back in thirty minutes with one. But it’s closed today.”
“That’s okay. I can do this,” Tabitha said, shifting her focus to the task at hand.
“I’ll have one next time,” he said.
Tabitha moved to the next step. The ladder wobbled, but Adam kept it steady. She took a deep breath and put a foot on next step. Her fingers dug into the coarse wood of the old ladder. The top of the tree was still too far away. “I have to keep going,” she said, mostly to herself.
She went up two more rungs. Took a deep, steadying breath. Looked down at Adam. His legs were apart, both hands firmly on the ladder.
“You sure you don’t want me to do this?” he asked.
“I’ve got it,” she said and went up the next two levels. Don’t think about it. Don’t look down.
One step away from the top of the ladder now, she was high enough to reach the top of the tree. Unfortunately, it was going to be a stretch to reach the center of the top of the tree. She hadn’t taken that into account.
She looked down at Aunt Allie. Lowered her arm for the angel. Aunt Allie stretched, but she was too far.
“I’ll bring it up,” Aunt Allie said.
Adam groaned.
Aunt Allie went up two rungs until she was high enough to hand Tabitha the delicate ornament.
Now Tabitha had one hand clutching the ladder and the ornament in the other. This had been a really bad idea.
She sighed. She was in it now. Her right hand digging into the wood of the ladder, she used her left hand to place the angel over the top of the tree.
“You did it!” Aunt Allie said. “Come down now.”
“Wait,” Tabitha said, “I have to straighten it up.” With one hand, she fluffed out the skirt of the angel and arranged the flowing white ribbons.
“Got it now?” Adam asked, his voice strained.
“How does it look?”
“It looks perfect,” Aunt Allie said.
Tabitha began to back down the ladder. The wood creaked. “See,” she said. “You were worried for nothing.”
On the third rung from the ground, the wooden step splintered and Tabitha lost her footing. She gasped as the step broke and she slipped.
Before she knew what was happening, she was in Adam’s arms. He kept them both upright and slid her to her feet. The softness of his sweatshirt pressed against her cheek, the abs beneath, surprisingly taut.
Her heart slammed against her chest as she leaned against him, her fingers digging into his arms.
Aunt Allie put a hand on Tabitha’s arm. “Are you alright?”
“I think so,” she said against Adam’s shoulder. “Nice catch,” she said, assured that both feet were safely on the ground. Despite the assurance of safety, her heart raced.
“I didn’t do two tours in Afghanistan for nothing,” he said.
“You were military?” She breathed. Focus.
“Air Force,” he said, “Come on, let’s bandage up your hands.”
Tabitha looked at her hands. She hadn’t realized she’d gotten scratched up and was bleeding now.
“There’s a first aid kit in the break room,” Aunt Allie said.
Tabitha followed Adam to the break room at the back of the store. He took the little first aid box from the cabinet.
She didn’t even ask how he knew where to find it. “Let’s wash your hands,” he said, urging her to the sink.
“Were you an officer?” she asked.
“Para rescue,” he said, taking her right hand and examining it. “No splinters in this one. Let me see the other one.”
“Seriously? How many years?” Except for the surprising firmness of the muscles under his sweatshirt, he didn’t look military.
“Six. No splinters. It’s not as bad as it looks
.”
She swallowed thickly at the feel of his hands on hers. He gently patted her hands dry with a clean paper towel, then applied antibiotic ointment to the scratches.
She lifted her gaze to his and stared into his deep blue eyes. And found herself smiling back at him.
Seconds passed before she realized he held both her hands in his. His thumb grazed her finger and she jumped back, sliding her hands away from his.
“I should, um,” she tore her gaze from his and swallowed thickly. “I should check on the pie.” She turned blindly and dashed up the kitchen stairs.
Aunt Allie was already in the kitchen pulling the pie from the oven. Tabitha thought she had been with Adam only moments.
“There you are,” she said, taking the hot pad mitts from her hands. Perhaps it hadn’t been so very long. “How’s your hand?”
Tabitha had forgotten all about the scratches. She glanced down, felt a flush on her cheeks. “Good,” she said.
Aunt Allie looked at her with an odd expression. “Where’s Adam? The pie is ready.”
“I think he went home,” she said.
“Are you kidding?” He said behind her. “And miss this pie? Not a chance.”
Tabitha bit her lip and kept herself busy gathering plates and forks, then helping Aunt Allie put the pie on the plates.
They sat at the little breakfast table in the glass nook with a view of the courtyard. Aunt Allie and Adam swapped stories about Black Fridays from the past.
“I hope this one goes off without any hitches,” Aunt Allie said.
“I’m sure it will,” Adam said optimistically.
“We still have a lot to do,” Tabitha commented, thinking about the inventory left to put on the shelves.
“As long as we put it somewhere,” Aunt Allie said, “We can rearrange it tomorrow. In fact, I’m sure we’ll be rearranging a lot over the next few weeks.”
When they finished their pie, Tabitha gathered up the plates, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher while Adam brought a box of cat litter upstairs for Aunt Allie. The cat litter turned into moving cartons of bottled water and a few other things upstairs.
Tabitha disappeared downstairs to begin putting inventory on the shelves. She did not want to be up all night.
Chapter Two
Switching on the evening news, Adam was reminded that, yes, tomorrow would be an early day for him as a shop owner, though truth be told, his shop catered toward the masculine shopper and they tended to not get up before the chickens the day after Thanksgiving to seek out a bargain. But alas, some would be dragged along by their women and would seek a haven in his shop. Nonetheless, like the other shops, tomorrow should be a good day.
Rover, his trusty golden retriever, climbed into his lap and watched him watch the news. Adam idly scratched his ears.
Though he knew he’d be getting to bed early tonight, he wasn’t the least bit sleepy. Not with images of Aunt Allie’s niece dancing in his head. And to think she’d been there nearly a week and he hadn’t caught sight of her. He had some making up to do.
She was truly a vision of sugar plums.
He shook his head at the direction of his thoughts. The Christmas season hadn’t even really started yet. And he had yet to get into the eggnog.
That was the plight of the shop owner, he supposed. Preparing for the season before anyone else had given it much thought at all.
Thank goodness he had two college students to take care of the decorating details downstairs in the store. If he had to do it all by himself, he would, indeed, go crazy. However… if he had Tabby to help…
Not that he was interested in getting involved with anyone. Besides, he’d best tread carefully. It wouldn’t do to get involved with Aunt Allie’s niece, of all people. If it didn’t go well, it could strain his relationship with Aunt Allie.
Vulnerable. That was how he would describe Tabitha Black in one word. Vulnerable and fragile if given two. Something had happened to her. He didn’t know what, of course, but whatever it was set off his protective instincts.
With a sigh, he switched off the television and went down the hall to his bedroom. His place was a mirror image of Aunt Allie’s, except for the improvements that had been done over the years. At some point, probably several decades ago, the two apartments had been part of the same house. Then, through the years, it had been divided and transformed into what it was today. Two shops with two living apartments on the second floor. Not a bad deal, really. He didn’t have to commute. He could run down to the shop in the middle of the night in his pajamas if he wanted to. Or he could leave the shop and run upstairs to take a nap. Which had been known to happen on too occasions to speak of. Or maybe to watch a hockey game. Or maybe a hockey game and a nap at the same time.
He actually enjoyed tying his fishing lures and selling them over the Internet more than anything else. He’d sort of gotten saddled with the shop in what he considered an unfair way.
But such was the way of life - his anyway. Nobody ever said life was fair.
His father had given Adam the space to create his own business – as long as he also kept up the family shop – “The Fishing Cove.” Adam liked fishing lures. He merely tolerated the duck decoys and deer stands. He especially didn’t care for the line of hunting outfits. No special clothing required for tossing a lure into the lake – except maybe some waders. And, unfortunately, he didn’t sell enough to stock them.
Right now all he wanted was to fall asleep. Though he fell asleep easily enough, it was almost three in the morning when he woke in a cold sweat from nightmares he, thankfully, couldn’t remember.
Chapter Three
Tabitha woke at 3:00 a.m. in a cold sweat. By now she knew the drill. It was a rare night when she didn’t have a nightmare in one form or another. Tonight’s was different, but typical. She’d been in an elevator - alone - when it started to crash. She’d fallen, crashing to the earth, only to get up and have someone after her. She had run away, hiding behind curtains, boxes, anything, always knowing that he was behind her. That he would find her.
Then, as always, she had awakened, trembling, exhausted. It was no way to sleep.
She was so tired of the dreams. She wanted to just go to sleep and sleep - without the demons.
She jumped when Lucy landed on the bed next to her. The cat meowed and snuggled her face next to Tabitha’s. With the gentle purring from the cat, Tabitha began to relax and her racing hear rate returned to normal.
She was safe here, she reminded herself. Bobby couldn’t get to her here. He’d never cared enough to learn much about her family, so he wouldn’t know where to look for her.
He probably wouldn’t care to look for her anyway, she thought, cynically. He’d made it pretty clear what he thought about her.
She sighed. It was better this way. Truly it was. But how did someone go from making life plans to stay together forever to - she stopped herself. Shook her head.
And got out of bed.
She padded down the hall to the kitchen, Lucy following at her feet, and turned on the coffee pot. Flipping on the little TV that sat on the counter, she made herself some coffee, stirring in creamer until it no longer tasted like coffee.
“Sorry, Lucy, no midnight snack for you,” she said, tucking her feet into the kitchen chair, and switching to the weather channel.
The local forecast was actually predicting below freezing temperatures for this weekend – during the day. It was already below freezing at night, but in the 40’s during the day. Having grown up in Houston, Tabitha had rarely seen snow until she’d moved up here. In fact, just the mention of snow or ice would automatically shut down the city of Houston. She’d been teaching at University of Colorado for four years, but the sight of snow was still magical.
Maybe she should go down and light a fire in the fireplace in the morning. The coziness of the burning wood should bring in a few customers and cause some to linger and perhaps make a purchase. It was a good idea.
She glanced at the kitchen clock. If they were really going to open at six a.m. as advertised, they only had three hours to get ready.
She molded her hand to the coffee mug and considered. If she went ahead and brought in the wood now, she could take a shower and get herself ready to face the day, and still have time to open up the store, all with a fire blazing in the fireplace.
Wearing her dark blue plaid flannel pajamas and gray UGGS booties, she turned on the light to the patio and peeked outside. The firewood was only a few feet away to the left. Lucy threaded herself around her legs and meowed.
Unlocking the door, she eased it open, nudging Lucy back with her foot. She couldn’t leave the door open or Lucy would get out. She stepped outside, shivered, and almost changed her mind. But the thought of a cozy fire motivated her to keep going. Maybe she should go back and grab a coat.
She let the door bump against the frame, not quite closing all the way. She dashed over, loaded her arms with firewood, and headed back. The cold air ignored her flannel pajamas going straight to her bones. Reaching the door, she turned to nudge the door open with her shoulder. Nudged. Then shoved.
Then panicked. When had the door closed? She hadn’t heard it. Her hands were too full to try the doorknob. She shifted the wood to have one hand free. Turned the doorknob.
Then dropped the wood with a loud clamor. Twisted the doorknob again now with both hands. It didn’t move.
Aunt Allie had one of those door locks. Oh Crap! It was about twenty-eight degrees outside according to the weather channel. She would freeze to death out here.
Her mind raced. She didn’t have her keys. Couldn’t get inside. Couldn’t get into her car. Didn’t even have her cell phone.
She stood there for a moment, feeling the cold from the concrete seep past her little house slippers. The wind cut through her flannel pajamas.
This could be considered an emergency.
She pounded on the door. Waited. Heard Lucy meowing. Any other time, this might have actually been amusing - with her locked out and Lucy meowing on the other side of the door.
A Very Merry Christmas Gift (Winter Kisses Book 1) Page 2