Once Upon a Christmas

by Lauraine Snelling

  “I knew it would.”

  He turned, threw down the clippers, marched toward her and pulled her into his arms. Then he kissed her and this time he made sure it left the right impression. He wanted her to know that he loved her, but he also knew that what he’d done was wrong. He’d woven this tangled web and now it was up to him to untangle things. He never should have agreed to this arrangement.

  But when he let go and looked into her eyes, his heart sputtered out of control and went careening off in another direction. “We’re in big trouble,” he said on a winded breath.

  “I know.” She backed away and wiped at the moisture in her eyes. “And I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t want to stop you from getting back together with Maggie.”

  “I said the suit fits, Elise. That doesn’t mean I will ever fit. You have to remember that.”

  She whirled to glare at him. “Because you refuse to fit, Theo. You’ve already judged me and I’m sure that the way I’ve acted—the way I’ve reacted—to you hasn’t helped. You must think the worst of me.”

  He urged her back into his arms, then stroked her hair away from her face. “Non, you know what I find? That I’m thinking the best of you. I’m thinking that I could fall for you.”

  “Stop,” she said, pulling away to lean over the fence. All around them, the ancient oaks held sway like protective sentinels, while the squirrels and birds and other forest creatures went about their normal fussy business. “You can’t fall for me. I won’t allow that to happen.”

  “Because I’m not good enough?”

  “No, because you are good enough. Too good. I won’t allow you to ruin what you want with Maggie—”

  “Leave her out of this.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes full of questions. “How can I? How can I forget that we started this because of her? And I know by the way you don’t like to talk about her that you’re trying to do the right thing. You don’t even want me to be a part of what you share with Maggie. Isn’t that right, Theo? Isn’t that why you don’t talk much about her? You want what you have with Maggie to stay private.”

  It was his turn to walk away, to put some distance between them. To put some distance between himself and his guilt. “There is a lot about Maggie and me that I can’t talk about,” he said, the sick feeling of dread shrouding his soul like a too-warm blanket.

  He heard her hand hitting the fence. “You see, that’s one of the things I appreciate about you. You are a gentleman, Theo. You are a gentleman in all the ways that really count. You’re protecting the woman you love. And that means I have no part in your life.”

  “Does that mean we’re done, finished?”

  “Yes,” she said, the word so soft and final he thought he’d heard her wrong. “I’ve done my job and I’ve seen that you don’t need instructions on etiquette, or manners, or knowing the right thing to do.”

  “So that’s it then?”

  “Yes. That has to be it. I won’t come between you and Maggie. It’s not right and it would cause too much heartache. I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow night.”

  He heard her boots hitting dirt, knew she was walking away from him for good. He wanted to run to her, assure her that he didn’t love Maggie now, tell her the truth, that this had started out as some sort of black joke, his way of getting even with Elise because she was a good girl who brought out the bad in him. But it had turned into something so rich and full of hope that it brought him to his knees with longing. Elise, with all her wholesome goodness, made him want to be good, too.

  But he didn’t tell her any of those things.

  Instead he just turned and watched her walk away.

  The house was glowing with the warmth and charm of the holidays. Outside in an open area of the back gardens, a bonfire that Theo had helped build, burned brightly in the night sky. Some of the relatives were gathered around it, sipping hot apple cider and hot chocolate.

  Elise stood at one of the big windows in the dining room, the scent of cinnamon and mulberry candles mingling with the rich smell of Reginald’s Cajun fried turkey with seafood stuffing. The long mahogany dining table was set with the gold-etched Christmas china. The shimmering light from the antique silver candelabras sitting on each side of the evergreen-and-magnolia leaf centerpiece cast a thousand glistening shadows across the room. The massive sideboard groaned with the weight of three different kinds of bread puddings and pound cakes, pecan pies and decorated sugar cookies. In the great entranceway, the huge tree sparkled with all the ornaments and baubles of her grandmother’s life. Ornaments and baubles Elise had helped collect and hang there. She could see the fire from the parlor’s great big hearth reflected in the shimmering ornaments.

  Everything here is so precious.

  Elise turned from the window, closing her eyes as she listened to the sounds of family and home. Her cousins laughing and running in the other rooms, her aunts and uncles moving about in the kitchen, her grandmother’s gentle instructions carrying throughout the house and Reginald’s reassuring answers, her mother’s shrill complaints said in that endearing Southern voice that brought Elise both pain and comfort.

  I belong here, she thought, her hand reaching out to touch the velvety red blossoms of a poinsettia placed on a side table. I belong here.

  Now, she understood why her grandmother had called them all home. Now, she understood why her grandmother had insisted she help Theo. Now, she understood why her grandmother wanted her to be a real part of Melancon Oil and Gas. It was all about family and home, all about doing the right thing, no matter the sacrifice.

  Just as our Lord did, Elise thought. She said a prayer for peace and hope, a prayer for thanksgiving and salvation.

  I will try, Lord, she promised. I will try to do what I know is right in my heart.

  Except, now that she’d discovered she wanted to be back here at Belle Terre, she’d also discovered that she’d fallen in love with a man she could never have. How did she reconcile the two decisions in her heart? How could she possibly be here every day, knowing Theo would be near?

  I’ll just have to remember my duty to Grand-mère.

  That should keep her in check. That should occupy her thoughts and time. It would have to be enough.

  With that declaration clanging in her mind, Elise smiled and took a deep breath of resolve. She would be all right.

  He’d be all right. Theo stood in the yard of the great house, his gaze taking in the glow of candlelight and bonfire. Belle Terre shined like the great jewel of the bayou it had become. It was a beautiful house, but more so, it was a lovely home. He thanked God and Betty Jean Melancon for allowing him a glimpse of that kind of life, and in the same prayer he thanked God for his own family.

  He thought back on last night when he’d taken his father to the cabin, thought of the tears of joy and pride in his papa’s eyes. His maman had clapped her hands in praise, while his entire slew of brothers and sisters, cousins and kin had applauded his efforts. They had an old-fashioned perlot right there on the bayou. They’d eaten the rice and chicken concoction with cornbread and sausage, they’d laughed and shared tall tales and opened modest but precious Christmas treasures. His papa had read the Cajun version of the night before Christmas, always a favorite among his younger nieces and nephews. And then, his maman had asked Theo to read the second chapter of Luke—the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

  And Theo had understood things at last.

  I belong here, he thought now. But he didn’t belong in that mansion. I belong on the bayou with my family. No sense in hoping for dreams that couldn’t come true. No sense in wishing for something he couldn’t have. He’d just have to let Elise go back to her way of life and he’d continue to fight for his own.

  “I’ll will try to do right by You, Lord,” he promised. “I will try to be a good man.”

  With that resolution, he headed up to the big house, not to gloat and celebrate, but to lay his heart bare.

  He was going to tell El
ise the truth.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  She glanced up as he entered the parlor. Theo Galliano looked every bit the gentleman in his gray wool suit, crisp white shirt and red patterned tie, with his hair shiny and combed, and a soft smile of resolve and restraint on his face. Elise smiled at him, her heart bursting like a tree ornament that had fallen and shattered.

  He saw her the minute he entered the parlor. Elise Melancon looked every bit the lady her grand-mère had taught her to be. She was wearing a green velvet sleeveless dress that favored a wide cummerbund nipped at her waist and a flowing full skirt that accented her pretty shape. She had on the pearls he’d become so familiar with. She sent him a smile full of hope and determination.

  Theo hesitated as everyone began to find their seats. This was the moment he’d both anticipated and dreaded.

  “Theo, where is Maggie?” Betty Jean called down the table. “We don’t want to start without her.”

  Theo cleared his throat and sent up a prayer for courage. “Maggie won’t be coming, Mrs. Melancon. She sends her regrets.”

  “Oh, my.”

  He couldn’t be sure, but he thought Miss Betty Jean was actually relieved. So was he. But he’d be even more relieved when he’d had his say and was out of here.

  “I need to tell y’all something,” he said, waiting as everyone got seated.

  “You don’t need to make a toast,” Cissie said, rolling her eyes at this obvious breach of etiquette.

  “It’s no toast, I guarantee,” Theo told her, his voice sounding decidedly more Cajun than cultured, and sounding far more calm than he actually felt. “It’s a confession.”

  He centered his gaze on Elise. “May I?”

  “Go ahead, Theo,” Betty Jean said, almost as if she were cheering him on.

  He stood at the end of the table, his eyes on Elise. “You know that Maggie and I broke up over two weeks ago. I believe the only reason she wanted to come here tonight, really, was so she could see this great house and tell everyone she’d been here. Or at least that’s what she told me last time we talked.”

  There was an audible gasp among the adults and a rushed whispering among the curious children scattered at various tables throughout the room and adjoining kitchen.

  “What do you mean?” Elise asked, rising up out of her chair. “I thought—”

  “I know what you thought,” Theo said, his heart thrashing with all the force of a mad alligator. “You thought helping me would bring Maggie back. I thought that, too, at first. But I’ve come to see I no longer love Maggie.”

  “You let me think that I was doing all of this for Maggie, for you and Maggie,” Elise said, the tone of her voice showing her hurt and confusion, and maybe a trace of hope.

  “Oui, I wanted to tease you a bit,” Theo said, letting the hurtful look she threw him settle like a much-deserved slap on his face. “And then, I stopped wanting to tease you. I only wanted to impress you, Elise. Only you.”

  “Oh, good grief,” Cissie said, her hands slapping on the table, the lacy cuffs of her white silk blouse fluttering. “This is ridiculous. And totally unacceptable.”

  “Let the man talk,” Betty Jean said, holding up a hand for all to remain quiet.

  Cissie sputtered and spewed, but she shut up.

  “I only wanted to be with you,” Theo admitted, the relief of it lightening his burden as he held Elise’s gaze. “I like being around you.”

  “That is nonsense,” Cissie shouted, looking toward her husband for support. “Darling, tell him it’s nonsense.”

  “Let the man speak,” Quincy responded, a curious light in his eyes as he watched his daughter.

  “I find that…I find that I love you,” Theo said, wondering where his plan for a fast exit had gone wrong. “I find that I fell in love with you, Elise. But I know that you can never return that love. I know that we aren’t right for each other, at all—”

  “You’re as right as rain,” Betty Jean said, her sharp gaze moving from her granddaughter to Theo.

  “Grand-mère!” Elise said, looking in shock at Betty Jean. “You said you hired me for the job because I always run men off. You said there would be no chance that I’d fall for Theo.”

  “So I was wrong,” her grandmother said with a dainty shrug. “It happens.”

  The expression on Elise’s face changed so quickly, it reminded Theo of shadows moving across the swamp. She went from shocked and confused to understanding and amazed, all with the blinking of her beautiful eyes. “Grand-mère?”

  “Yes, Boo?”

  “Did you set me up?”

  “Yes, darling, I surely did.”

  Cissie stood up. “What in the world are you talking about?”

  Betty Jean stood, too, holding her water glass up in a salute. “A fine plan it was, too, if I do say so myself.”

  “What is going on?” Cissie said again, her voicing shrilling with each word.

  “Our daughter is in love,” Elise’s father told his stunned wife, a knowing grin splitting his face.

  “That’s impossible,” Cissie said, throwing her linen napkin down in a huff. “That just can’t be. Elise, tell your father this is just plan silly.”

  Elise wasn’t listening to her mother.

  But Cissie saw very clearly what everyone else in the room had already figured out. “Oh, my,” she said, plopping back down to stare at her plate. “Oh, my. It’s just not possible.”

  Theo’s eyes never left Elise’s face, even though there seemed to be a flutter of activity all around them. He watched as she glanced first at her grandmother, then her mother, then finally back at him. “It’s very possible, Mother. I am in love. I’m in love with Theo.”

  “No, you are not,” Cissie said, her words bordering on hysteria.

  “Yes, she is,” Betty Jean said, grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s eat.”

  Reginald appeared out of nowhere, a wide, joyful grin on his aged face. “We have a feast. I think I’ve outdone myself this time. Hope everyone’s hungry.”

  “I couldn’t possibly eat a bite,” Cissie said. But when her husband gave a slight inclination of his head, she sat up in her chair. “Pass the rolls.”

  “We need to say grace,” Betty Jean said, tears forming in her eyes as she looked from Elise standing at one end of the table to Theo at the other end. “We have so much to be thankful for. Such a joyous holiday.”

  As everyone settled down and closed their eyes, Elise motioned to Theo. He hurriedly followed her out into the hallway and watched as she grabbed a black velvet wrapper from a nearby hall tree. Together, they rushed out the front doors, the frigid night hitting them full force.

  He caught up with her underneath a granddaddy live oak, tugging at her wrap until he had her turned and into his arms. “I do love you,” he said, his words echoing out into the starlit night.

  She gave him that famous pout. “Is that why you kept quiet about everything?”

  “No, I kept quiet because I’m a bad, bad boy who wanted to irritate a good girl.”

  “It worked.”

  “Think we could make it work for the next fifty years or so?”

  She leaned her head against the wool of his jacket. “I had decided to let you go.”

  “Funny, I’d decided the very same thing about you.”

  “We’re supposed to be all wrong for each other.”

  “I know. That’s what I keep telling myself.”

  She looked back up at him, then, her pout turning into a smile. “Mamere tricked both of us.”

  “That she surely did. What a smart woman.”

  “She’s always been so wise.”

  “Oui, too smart for the likes of me.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Well, since we so rudely skipped out on the blessing, I’d say first we send up a prayer.”

  She smiled at that. “Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to find this man.”

  “Amen, and ditto for me with this woman.”
/>   “What now?”

  He held her close then pulled her wrap around her shivering body. “We are going to do the right thing, chère. We are going to spend the rest of our lives together, here on this bayou, in a home we’ll build together. We’re going to try and salvage what is left of this land. And our children will have a solid heritage.”

  “Children?”

  “Oui, how many do you want?”

  “Enough to run Melancon Oil and Gas, of course.”

  He turned serious then. “Do you believe we can make this work—I mean me and you—and your mother, and my family living off the land, and your family living in this big, old house?”

  “I believe we can do anything as long as we trust in God and listen to my grand-mère.”

  “I can live with that.”

  “Me, too.”

  He leaned close, nuzzling at her pearl earrings. “What would a gentleman do in this situation, chère?”

  She reached a hand up to touch his face. “Oh, you mean in a situation where he withheld the truth, teased his manners coach, disrupted a dinner party, caused a girl’s mother to practically swoon, and made the whole family sit up and take notice?”

  “Something like that?”

  “He’d sneak his future wife out underneath a great oak tree and kiss her silly.”

  Theo laughed and swung her around in his arms. “Then you can consider me a gentleman. Your Cajun gentleman.”

  And with that, he kissed the woman he loved.

  While the Christmas bonfire burned brightly beneath a perfect bayou moon.

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  ’Twas the Week Before Christmas

  Why did Elise feel obligated to come home for Christmas? Do you believe family traditions are important and should be honored?

  Do you believe people from two different worlds can live happily with each other? Why was it so important to Betty Jean that Elise get to know Theo?

  What did Elise learn about family and commitment from Theo? How did his family mirror her own, even though they were worlds apart?

  Did this story help you to realize that we stereotype some people? How did Betty Jean help Theo to make his dreams come true? What lessons did they both learn from this experience?