Christmas Romance Collection

by Melissa Hill

  And today I’d like to thank Gary for making good on that promise, and making my best friend the happiest I’ve seen her in a very long time.” Her voice softened a little as her gaze rested on her friend. “And no-one deserves - or values, happiness more than Rachel. It’s a longstanding joke between us that she’s the daydreamer and I’m the practical one, and that’s so true. And while it’s useful to have a pragmatist like me to help bring a dreamer back down to earth sometimes, it is so much more rewarding to have someone whose head is constantly in the clouds, take you by the hand once in a while and show you that view.”

  A lump came to her throat and tears shone in her eyes, as it came to her then that this is what Rachel, her wonderful sweet-natured friend had been doing for her all these years. The world was so much more interesting, so much happier seen through her eyes.

  “Rachel, it is wonderful seeing you here with Gary - on your most perfect day exactly how you visualised it, and I am so proud to have been a part of it. And while I was, as always,” she added to raised laughter from her audience, “a bit dubious about having to come all the way to New York to do so, I’m also beginning to understand why you love this city so much. Looking around here tonight, there is no question that this place has a certain magic.

  And it seems fitting that as it was a visit to New York that ultimately set you two on the path to happy every after, that it should all come full circle right back where it all started. So tonight, I’d like to raise a glass to Gary, Rachel and their perfect New York wedding.”

  30

  The following morning, having celebrated well into the evening with the newlyweds, a bleary-eyed Terri looked again at the address Ethan had given her last night, a little frustrated that he hadn't thought to include the name of the cafe at which he and Daisy were supposed to meet for breakfast.

  Still surely the taxi driver would know it, she decided, hailing a yellow cab with surprising ease. Huh, maybe she was a natural at this whole New York thing after all.

  The guy smiled at Terri in is rear-view mirror when she asked if he recognised the address.

  “Who doesn’t?” he said cryptically, and she figured this place was obviously a well-trodden tourist hot-spot.

  Well, as long as the coffee was decent …

  She guessed she’d need a good dose of caffeine to get over the after effects of too much champagne the night before.

  Still it had been a wonderful night, and she was so happy Rachel’s dream wedding had in the end, gone off without a hitch.

  Apart from a couple of strange cowboys turning up at the Boathouse during the post-dinner party, that was. Terri couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Linda and Cora make a bee-line for two Stetson-wearing hunks who’d suddenly materialised at the entrance, and she and Rachel could only laugh as they realised the kind of hen-party antics they must have missed.

  Today, the bride and groom were heading to the Caribbean for their honeymoon, and their guests were heading home. Gary’s mum was on the same flight back to Dublin later that day, and Terri didn't relish the thought of the older woman bending her ear for six straight hours.

  The truth was, she didn't relish the idea of going home at all. She was eager to go back to the restaurant and get stuck back in to the normal day to day but for some reason, the prospect wasn't filling her with as much enthusiasm as usual. Though she couldn't deny that being in this big cosmopolitan city had been stimulating, and had re-energised her passion for what should happen next with Stromboli.

  Maybe she and Rachel needed to think about branching out? Opening another venue, and creating a more recognisable brand? After all, if Chef Marco could get away with it …

  She laughed as she thought again about that night out with Ethan. She still wasn't quite sure how to feel about the last few days they’d spent in such close proximity. It had been wonderful spending time alone with him and there was no question they both still had feelings for one another, but ultimately what was the point?

  They’d already been down that road and it still had the very same tricky bends and difficult crossroads. Besides, Ethan and Daisy were a unit - a family - and despite their best intentions, Terri could only ever be the third wheel.

  Not to mention the difficulties being in two different countries presented.

  She was so lost in thought about the last few days that she hardly noticed the city streets fly by until eventually, the driver turned down a side street and pulled up in the midst of a busy shopping area that she hadn't come across before.

  Looked pretty upscale too, Terri thought, taking in some high end retail brand names, all of which were off the scale in terms of her price range.

  Must be a pretty swanky cafe…

  “Here ya go - 727 Fifth Avenue,” the taxi driver said, turning back to her and Terri blinked in confusion.

  She looked out the window. “Where? I don’t see any …” And suddenly, looking up at the sign on the building immediately outside, she spotted something.

  Tiffany & Co.

  What on earth …?

  Distractedly paying the driver, Terri got out of the car and looked up and down the street. After a moment, she understood that this must be a side entrance to the store, just off Fifth Avenue.

  Maybe there was a cafe inside - where they served the famed breakfast? As Terri struggled to figure out where she should go, a glittering display window caught her eye.

  Those gems were beautiful, make no mistake.

  She smiled as she remembered her speech from last night, thinking how strange it was to finally be at the place that had started everything for Gary and Rachel a couple of years before.

  And ultimately for her and Ethan.

  She shook her head, realising she’d had enough drama with diamonds from Tiffany’s to last a lifetime, yet this was the first time she’d ever been anywhere near the store.

  What was it she wondered, drawn irresistibly towards the display, that made this place so special? The so-called ‘magic’ that Rachel had always so passionately espoused?

  Back then, Daisy too was convinced that it was Tiffany’s magic that had brought Terri and her father together, though it had to be said that this had happened in a rather roundabout way.

  Just then, Daisy herself materialised suddenly alongside Terri’s elbow, as if somehow thinking about the little girl had summoned her.

  Closely followed by her father.

  Both were holding disposable coffee cups and Daisy handed one to Terri.

  “I didn't know Tiffany’s did coffee,” she said.

  “They don’t,” Ethan replied, grinning.

  “But imagine what it would be like if they did …” Daisy piped up dreamily.

  Terri was confused. Ethan had said they should meet for breakfast, so what were they doing here — of all places?

  “So this is where it all began…” she joked, a little nervously, immediately sensing that something was off kilter. “Scene of the crime, and all that.”

  “It certainly felt like that at the time,” Ethan agreed. “A crime I mean. But ultimately it was a blessing in disguise.”

  “That’s how it’s supposed to work, Dad,” Daisy said, nodding. “Fate. Things happen for a reason, but they always turn out OK in the end.”

  Terri didn't know what to say, so she just sipped her coffee.

  Good old Daisy and the innocence of youth.

  The younger girl pointed to the jewellery in the window display. “Look at those Terri, aren’t they beautiful? See how they sparkle.”

  “Yes, lovely.” She glanced towards the display but quickly averted her gaze. Terri didn’t want to be admiring diamond rings she would never have, from Tiffany’s or otherwise.

  “Daisy is fascinated by diamonds, especially about how they come to be, aren't you, buttercup?” Ethan said fondly. “The idea that something so simple could end up so dazzling and perfect is a source of wonderment to most of us, I suppose.”

  “I suppose.” Terri was feeling deci
dedly uncomfortable now. She truly didn't know what was going on. Why this sudden lesson in gemstones? And what had happened to breakfast?

  “Right.”

  “At first it seems like a sort of alchemy,” Ethan continued, “but then you realise that it’s not accidental, but the result of hard work, determination and absolute commitment to the craft. Not too unlike baking, actually.”

  “I suppose.”

  Now Ethan was looking directly at her. “So how is it,” he said, “that someone who is so dedicated to one kind of commitment can be so utterly terrified of another?”

  “I don’t understand….”

  “I think you do. You have more in common with the diamond makers in this place than you realise, Terri. You’re also acutely aware of flaws, and seek them out, placing a value judgement accordingly. But as much as I respect that pragmatism, and commitment to perfection, personally I’d take flaws every time. It’s what makes something truly unique after all. And for me at least, worth more than the most perfect diamonds in the world.” He moved closer to Terri, the intensity of his blue eyes mesmerising her even more than the sparkling diamonds nearby. “You’ve pointed out more than once that our relationship was doomed - flawed - from the very beginning; by the distance, my past, the ghost of Jane. But why expect relationships — life even — to be perfect? That’s not how it works, it’s not even how it’s supposed to work, isn’t that right, Daisy?”

  “Yep.” The little girl moved alongside Ethan and he put his arm around her.

  Terri thought father and daughter looked so perfect together, so right… and yet incomplete.

  And taken with his words, it struck her right then that perhaps she had let Ethan and Daisy down, had been so focused on this notion of a perfect family situation, that she had failed to see the beauty in what they actually had.

  Terri looked again at the flawless Tiffany diamonds twinkling under the lights, a beauty that promised perfect romance and happily every after, and suddenly she understood what he was trying to say.

  The magic of Tiffany’s was not in the items themselves, but in the sentiment, the promise - behind the gesture. This was what repeatedly cast a spell on everyone who encountered that little blue box. It wasn't about the diamonds, it was about the promise of a dream. Something she herself had pointed out only the night before in her wedding toast to Gary and Rachel.

  “We weren’t perfect, Terri, I know that,” Ethan was saying. “But we were good together before and I know we can be again — if you just give us a chance.”

  “I don’t…”

  “Please Terri,” Daisy put in. “We both love you, and we never expected you to be perfect. Dad certainly isn’t; he put his socks in the whitewash last week and turned all his work shirts pink.” She giggled. “I think that colour suits him though.”

  A lump came to Terri’s throat then, and she had to smile at the idea of Ethan wearing pink at his lectures.

  But was he right? Was she guilty of perfectionism? She knew she could be like that with the restaurant, and was often frustrated that Rachel couldn't apply the same exacting standards to her work as she had to the wedding preparations.

  Yet for all her friend’s dreaminess and distractedness, she remained the far better chef.

  Had she let such expectations cloud her vision in all aspects of her life? Had Terri’s pragmatism ensured that, unlike her best friend, she never allowed herself to dream, allowed herself to take a chance on nothing more than a possibility?

  Now as she stood in the middle of New York outside one of the most famous romantic locations in the world, and across from the only man she had ever truly loved, Terri realised how wrong she’d been.

  True, happy every after wasn't about expecting perfection — it was about overcoming obstacles and accepting flaws. It was, as Ethan had pointed out all along, just taking each day as it came.

  She smiled as she moved towards Ethan and Daisy, allowing the two to encircle her in their arms, and as she did so, she allowed herself to give herself up to how good that felt.

  Daisy was the first one to break the spell. She looked from Terri to her dad and then over towards the entrance to the Tiffany’s store.

  “So are we going inside now — or what?”

  Ethan’s eyes widened and Terri laughed. “Hold your horses, honey. Like your dad said, one step at a time.”

  There was one important thing diamonds and her feelings for Ethan did have in common though, Terri realised, as finally she gave herself up to what if.

  Both were well and truly, forever.

  Fairytale on Fifth Avenue

  A CHRISTMAS STORY

  1

  Each day, at precisely one p.m. during her lunch break, Charlotte Thatcher goes to Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Ave New York and asks to see the same item; a pearl bracelet with a simple silver toggle that’s just her style.

  Though she hears the sigh the tall, vibrant young salesman releases each time she requests to hold it, she simply can’t allow herself to buy it. The main reason for her hesitation is she knows that had her husband Eric still been alive, he would have bought it as a Christmas present for her. He’d promised her as much only weeks before he died.

  That was two long years ago and the very thought keeps her from following through with the transaction, because in some way, she knows that purchasing the bracelet herself will mean Eric is truly gone.

  Today, Charlotte wakes up to prepare a full breakfast for herself before grabbing a pumpkin-flavored coffee and heading into a stressful but fulfilling day of work, full of dissatisfied clients and long morning meetings.

  At 12:55 p.m., she leaves as she does every day to walk across to Fifth Avenue. She notices the Christmas wreaths, sparkling lights, and pretty snowflakes decorating the shops and streets more than usual today, and she suspects this is due to the fact that Christmas is edging closer.

  As Charlotte examines the bracelet again today, something is different. With a slight shift of her gaze, she notices that someone else seems interested in the piece too. She can feel the man’s eyes on the pearls, though he seems to be keeping a respectful distance. Either way, she knows she must relinquish her hold on the bracelet so that the potential buyer can get a look at it. She places the pearls on the counter carefully, shifting her anxious gaze downwards. She trudges out of the store with a glimpse back at the customer- a tall, attractive, dark-haired man with a somewhat pointy nose and rather toothy grin. He notices her looking so she hurries out.

  The rest of the day at the office goes by at a snail’s pace, with Charlotte fearful about the bracelet’s fate. She tries to take her mind off it by concentrating on what holiday treats she should prepare when she gets home. Usually she doesn’t indulge, but Christmas is a special time of the year. And she needs something to occupy her thoughts other than the bracelet and whether or not it is now lost to her forever.

  2

  The next day again at precisely 12:55 p.m., Charlotte heads out the door for her lunch break, grabbing a pretzel from a street vendor on the way to Tiffany’s. Today she feels even more tense and nervous, and right before she reaches the door to the store, it begins to rain. She hastily reaches into her brown handbag for her umbrella and as she begins to unfold it, she catches a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye. It’s the man from yesterday.

  Charlotte gets a closer look at him this time as her enters the store, and he’s certainly intriguing. She might even consider him to be her type, if she even had a “type” anymore.

  She holds back once she goes inside, contemplating if she should skip looking at the bracelet today. The stranger is already at the display case and examining it, a haunted look in his eyes. She hesitates behind him and turns to walk away, thinking that she’ll just come back later, but as soon as she’s walked back out, releasing a long sigh, the man is by her side. He gives her a complicit smile and says: “I’m done now if you’d like to look.”

  “That’s OK. I can see it another day,” Charlo
tte says, gazing down and shuffling her feet. When she finally glances up, the stranger is looking at her intently.

  “I’m sorry for prying, and you certainly don’t have to answer,” he says, “but what makes you come back here so often? Because I know I’ve seen you here a few times before.”

  Charlotte is taken aback. “I’m not sure … I guess it’s just a way to remember,” she replies truthfully.

  “I know what you mean; it’s the same with me,” the man says, glancing at her. “Look I know this is forward,’ he begins his voice hesitant, ‘but are you doing anything now? Maybe you’d like to grab a coffee or. . .”

  “I’d love to,” Charlotte replies, the words out of her mouth before she realizes it. Coffee with a stranger? This is so unlike me! “Where would you like to go?”

  “There’s a great place right up the street. They have amazing cakes and pastries, if you’re interested. It is lunchtime after all. My name is Vincent by the way.”

  “Charlotte,’ she says returning the introduction. “Sounds good.” Her pretzel seems ages ago.

  They walk slowly to the coffee shop/bakery, a place called The Cookie Jar, sneaking glimpses at each other from time-to-time while making small talk. On the way, Charlotte discovers that Vincent owns a small business, about which he is rather vague. The cashiers at the bakery seem very friendly, and Charlotte notices one giving Vincent somewhat coy glances. They indulge in chocolate chip cookies and drinks comprised of half coffee/half hot chocolate to keep warm.

  Charlotte has stopped in here a few times before to grab a quick mocha to go, but finds she is much more content spending time in the warm, squashy armchairs.

  3

  Charlotte and Vincent begin to chat about their situations and discover that the bracelet from Tiffany’s actually has deep meaning for both of them. Charlotte can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of empathy when he tells her that he lost his wife three years ago to cervical cancer. His wife Ruth had wanted a classic bracelet like this one more than anything, but her illness had been sudden and short and Vincent hadn’t been able to buy it for her before it was too late. Charlotte tells him about Eric, and they exchange mutual stories about how it feels to be so very alone so quickly.