Clarissa nodded. “Didn’t help. I know that about me now. No matter how much I want something, I need time to process, to plan, even when I get exactly what I want.”
“I should’ve known that. I—”
“Please, it wasn’t you. It was most definitely me being afraid.”
He wrapped his arms around her, knowing he’d never again have to let go. “And now?”
“And now the only thing I’m afraid of is telling my Mother that Julia won’t be home for Christmas.”
“You don’t have to do that alone. Unless you want to.” Norris lifted Clarissa’s chin, tilting her face up toward his. “You don’t have to face anything difficult alone ever again.”
A smile slipped across her face and lit up her eyes. “I think this is the beginning of a magnificent future.”
And indeed it was . . .
Epilogue
12 months later...
“You know, I don’t miss the snow at all, and Lawrence, did you see the lights on the palm trees? Did you see last night, the way they have them going all the way up the trunk?”
Daddy took another long drink of his Mai Tai and nodded at Mother. He stood from the chair on the lanai and grabbed his suit coat. “I’m off. Kevin’s with the Norris, but I’m checking on our young man. Make certain his feet aren’t getting cold.”
“Speaking of feet,” Mother lifted a brow and shifted her gaze toward the floor. “Darling, are you certain barefoot is the way to go?”
“Certain.” Clarissa smiled. Mother pressed her lips together but refrained from saying a word. She even nodded...and smiled. Oh the difference a year could make. With both her daughters, now in Los Angeles, living their own lives, Mother had been forced to examine hers. One meltdown at Easter and six months of therapy later and Mother was actually pleasant to spend time with. She’d even agreed to visit Los Angeles and come to Hawaii for Christmas. Although with the events of today, Clarissa and Norris hadn’t given Mother much of a choice.
Julia darted from the bedroom with the haku lei in her hand. “Ready for this?”
Clarissa nodded. Julia set the crown of flowers onto her head and secured it with hairpins. Then she stepped back and pressed both her hands to her mouth. “I’m going to cry,” Julia said. “You look so beautiful.”
“Don’t cry,” Clarissa said, sniffling. “You’ll ruin my makeup, because if you cry then I’ll cry, and then”—Clarissa dabbed her fingers beneath her eyes—“Damn. Too late.”
Mother handed her a tissue. “Both of you just stop.” She dotted a tissue to the corners of her own eyes. “Stop it now.”
Poor Mother. They’d all been dealing with lots of trapped, unspoken emotions since the Christmas that had changed their family for the better. But, this moment, Clarissa and Norris’s wedding, wasn’t going to be a prim, mannered affair. All of that pent-up love was bound to come pouring out. Clarissa knew all of that messy openness was still hard for Mother. “Where is her bouquet? The maid of honor should have the bride’s bouquet.” Mother shifted into her default of giving orders, instead of emoting.
“Here,” Julia turned to the pair of vases, each holding a bouquet of orchids and plumeria. “Oh!” Julia stopped and pressed her hand to her belly.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine, I mean”—a smile curved over her lips—“I just . . . she kicked. She must be excited for the wedding, too.”
Clarissa reached out her hand. “Can I?’
Julia nodded and grasped Clarissa’s hand, bringing Clarissa’s fingertips to her burgeoning belly. “Feel that?”
Clarissa’s heart bounded through her chest. She nodded. “I did. Wow, I did.” A giant smile spread over her face. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Me either.” Julia said. “Mom, want to feel?”
Mother now stood on the far side of the room, her back to Julia and Clarissa.
“Mother?” Clarissa asked. Her brows creased. “Mother are you—?” Mother’s shoulders shook, and her hands covered her face. “Are you okay?”
Mother turned toward them. Where Clarissa had expected to see tears, instead there was a smile and laughter.
“Mother? You’re laughing?”
“I was just thinking about how I’d planned my life, and how I’d planned your lives, and how I thought everything would turn out.”
Clarissa shot Julia a look. Now, fifteen minutes before she and Norris were meant to say “I do,” was not the best time for a maternal meltdown, even if it was laughter instead of tears.
“Okay, and, that made you laugh because . . . ?” Clarissa let the words roll out slowly.
“Because, your lives have turned out much better than I ever could’ve planned.”
Mother’s eyes were wet now, but her smile remained. A smile that contained a vibrancy that Clarissa couldn’t remember being directed at her before this moment. It made this moment, just before she married Norris and began her life as Mrs. Foggbottom, all the more precious. Finally, after a lifetime of feeling uncertain of Mother’s love, Clarissa was assured that Mother was in fact very happy, very proud, and very much loving every bit of both her daughters’ lives. They’d finally achieved a perfect Christmas Eve, with everything that truly mattered.
The End
Getting in the Spirit
Erin Nicholas
It’s Christmas time in Sapphire Falls!
At least one good thing has come from Levi Spencer’s car accident—it seems to have knocked some sense into him. He’s ready to leave his wild Vegas playboy ways behind and become a new man. And he knows just the place to do it…his brother Joe’s new hometown. He’s never spent time in a place described as quaint or idyllic, and now he intends to revel in every charming, sweet thing he can find. Like the homegrown country girl his brother sets him up with for the Christmas formal.
Kate Leggot wants just one great Christmas. After a childhood without Christmas at all and three failed attempts to find the seasonal magic on her own, she agrees to spend the holiday with her friend Phoebe in Sapphire Falls. The Christmas-crazy town is a far cry from San Francisco and Kate quickly finds herself drawn into everything from the snow to the hot cocoa. And, of course, the sweet country boy Phoebe has set her up with for the formal. Looks like she’s going to get everything she wanted—and more—under the tree this year.
A not-so-little mix-up, a hot kiss under the mistletoe and a candy cane or two later and December in Sapphire Falls has never been so hot.
This is a novella, about half the length of the novels in this series. Read only if you like fun, small town contemporary romances where they talk dirty and act even dirtier.
1
“I fear for my cold, black soul.”
Joe Spencer chuckled as he shifted his daughter to his other hip and pulled a packet of fruit snacks from the cupboard. His computer was on the kitchen table, his brother’s image on screen.
“So dramatic, little brother.”
“I’m serious. I’m fearing some Ghosts of Christmas Future if I fall asleep.”
Joe shook his head. Levi was younger by eleven months and had never suffered from anything like guilt or contrition in all of his thirty two years.
Then again, Levi had also never had his brain banged around inside his skull in a could-have-been-fatal car accident.
“I believe there’s only one Ghost of Christmas Future. There was also past and present,” Joe said, fighting a smile.
“Whatever. Don’t want any ghost visits at all.” Levi sighed and leaned back against the pillows. “My fucking head hurts.”
Joe frowned. “You’re lucky that’s all that hurts.” Levi had driven his car into a ditch and flipped it twice. It was a miracle he was talking on the phone at the moment.
He looked like crap.
He was home now, on strict orders to rest and relax for several days. The headaches were getting better but were far from resolved. The doctors said that was to be expected. Joe had been by his bedside for the two days
he’d been in the hospital and returned home to Sapphire Falls only yesterday.
“At least I’m out of the hospital. You know they gave me male nurses on purpose.”
“Of course they did. They didn’t want any of their female nurses shirking their duties to the other patients to take care of you.”
Levi Spencer was one of the most, if not the most, eligible bachelors in Las Vegas. He was rich, for one thing, and couldn’t help being charming any more than he could help his gorgeous—according to Joe’s own wife—blue eyes, dark hair or I’m-trouble-and-you’ll-love-every-minute-of-it grin.
“You’re mostly bored,” Joe said.
“None of my friends came to visit me in the hospital.”
Joe sighed. He wasn’t sure that Levi actually had any friends. He had a bunch of people who loved that he would always foot the bill.
“Did Juliet ever call you?” Joe asked of Levi’s girlfriend.
“No.” Levi paused. “And I don’t care. See what I mean about the cold-black-soul thing?”
Joe tried not to grin. He couldn’t completely disagree with Levi’s assessment and he was happy that his little brother might have finally had a wakeup call.
“Hey, Levi, hold on a second.” Joe tucked his daughter into her highchair and turned the computer so she could see Levi on the screen. “Kae, you talk to Uncle Levi for a few minutes. Tell him about going to grandma’s house.”
Kaelyn was ten months old and she’d babble long enough that Joe could get the laundry moved from the washing machine to the dryer.
Joe took his time as he heard his daughter’s sweet voice regaling Levi with her big plans for the four-day stay with Phoebe’s mom and dad while Joe and Phoebe headed to DC for some holiday parties. At least, that’s what Joe assumed she was telling Levi. He grinned.
DC and its social life was part of Joe’s job. It had gotten harder to be away from home since having Kaelyn, of course, but he’d been able to balance it all so far. While they loved their daughter to distraction, he and Phoebe were looking forward to the quick getaway. Joe was eternally grateful for his in-laws living right in Sapphire Falls and all of the friends they could count on to give them a hand.
Re-entering the kitchen, Joe swept Kaelyn up into his arms, grabbed her fruit snacks and the laptop and headed for the living room. They got settled on the couch and Joe was finally able to concentrate fully on his brother.
“I know you’re bored, but you’ve got to listen to the doctors. The concussion is serious. You’ve got to lay off the partying, even if you’re bored to death at home.”
“Doc told me the same thing,” Levi said. “The bastard.”
Joe knew his brother didn’t mean it. This accident, and the resulting head injury, had scared Levi. It helped that the doctor had taken Joe’s advice and painted Levi a very grim picture of what could have been and what could still happen if he didn’t take care of himself now. The concussion could have been a much more severe injury, one that could have had permanent consequences. That was no lie and barely an exaggeration.
“I need to turn over a new leaf.” Levi was still leaning back in the bed, his eyes closed. His voice was low enough that Joe reached for the volume on his computer.
“I agree,” Joe said simply.
Joe knew all about Levi’s lifestyle. He’d been living a very similar one less than three years ago. Before he’d come to Sapphire Falls and met Phoebe. He’d had no idea exactly how much his life really was going to change, and he loved every single bit of it.
The scent of fruit hit him and he looked down at Kaelyn, perched in his lap, happily eating her snack. Joe smiled at her and she returned the grin. His heart clenched so hard that he couldn’t breathe for a moment.
Levi could use a huge dose of what Joe had. He didn’t know what he was missing.
And Joe wanted him to know. Levi might squander money, might get easily bored with women and might have a slightly crooked moral compass, but he was Joe’s brother and Joe loved him. He wanted him happy. He wanted him fulfilled. He wanted him not dead in a ditch.
It wasn’t like Joe hadn’t tried giving advice, but Levi had a hard head.
Which was fortunate when he plowed his car into ditches.
“Maybe you should come hang out in Sapphire Falls for a while,” Joe said, still looking at his daughter. She was the spitting image of her mother—bright red curls, huge grin and sparkly personality. Joe had never known he could love anyone as much as he loved his wife and daughter. He would do anything to keep them safe and happy. He always put them before anything he wanted for himself.
Levi needed that—something that was more important to him than himself. Levi was an incredibly intelligent guy. Joe had suspected for a long time that Levi’s problem was mostly that he had no challenges, nothing to keep his attention or engage his mind for longer than about fifteen minutes. Levi was like a big kid who had never been given any rules and had an unlimited allowance at his disposal. He jumped from one thing, one party, one woman, to another like he was flipping channels on a television, unable to find anything worth watching for long.
Levi sat up and looked into the screen. “Seriously? You want me to come to Sapphire Falls?”
“Yes,” Joe said firmly. “It’s the holidays. The last place you need to be is in Vegas with all the parties and stuff.” Levi would never be able to resist all of that. “Come stay with us. Phoebe will fuss over you, you can kick back and eat homemade everything. You can sleep late and relax. It’s exactly what you need.”
The sleepy little town of Sapphire Falls, population twelve hundred and twenty one, was the exact opposite of Levi’s pace. He loved the lights, noise and over-the-top feeling in Vegas. He and Joe had literally been raised amongst the neon and craziness so for years they’d both accepted it as normal. Joe had, fortunately, landed in Sapphire Falls and now couldn’t imagine living anywhere that didn’t have things like the annual town festival and the strawberry festival and the winter festival. They were really into festivals. But the flashiest Sapphire Falls got was with the fireworks at…well, all of the festivals…and the Christmas tree lighting in the town square.
“Are you sure that would be okay?” Levi asked.
It occurred to Joe that he’d never invited Levi to Sapphire Falls. He got a kick out of sending photos and texts or emails about the town because he knew that Levi would laugh and shake his head and think Joe was making half of the stuff up. But the senior citizens really did teach the kindergartners to ballroom dance, and they really did have a pumpkin festival, complete with a pumpkin-pie-eating contest, and they really did have music playing softly overhead in the downtown area at all times. Sometimes it was Frank Sinatra, sometimes it was fifties rock and roll, sometimes it was old country—Johnny Cash and company—sometimes it was instrumental.
Now that it was the holidays, the seemingly constant festive feel in Sapphire Falls had been kicked up another notch. They’d had a cocoa tasting in the square last week. The square had been completely decked out and there was a horse-drawn sleigh driving around town giving people rides. And the music was now twenty-four seven Christmas carols. Of course.
“I want you here for Christmas,” Joe said. Levi needed to get out of Vegas, but it was also because he was Joe’s brother. Joe had never realized all he’d been missing not having a close family. Now that he had Phoebe and Kaelyn and all of Phoebe’s family—more than twenty-five percent of the town—and their friends, Joe couldn’t imagine ever being where Levi was right now.
Joe and Levi’s family wasn’t traditional in really any sense. Their grandfather and father headed up Spencer Enterprises and owned several casinos in the US. Their primary offices were in Vegas and, yes, Joe and Levi had more or less grown up in casinos.
Their childhoods—raised by two parents who were together for seemingly every reason but love—surrounded by scantily clad women, neon and people throwing money around, whether they could afford it or not, had been…interesting.
/> Up until three years ago, Joe had embraced it all. It was fun to live hard with no consequences. Two things that passed through the male genes in the Spencer family was an absolute love for all things excessive and the lack of shame.
They could have been poster children for the seven deadly sins.
Then Joe had awakened in a bed in a hotel room in a city with no recollection of how he’d gotten there or even where there was for several long, frightening minutes. He’d decided then and there to change his life.
Levi had finally hit rock bottom, and Joe knew exactly what his brother needed.
“I could probably come spend a few days,” Levi said.
Joe grinned. He could tell his brother liked the idea but didn’t want to show how much it meant to him.
“Sapphire Falls is the perfect idea,” Joe said. The small town he now considered home had saved him in every way a man could be saved. “Stay all the way through New Year’s. Recover, relax. You won’t believe how real people spend Christmas, man. It’s like every Christmas card, story, song or movie you’ve ever seen or heard.”
Christmas was magical in Sapphire Falls. It was perfect and nothing could heal a black, cold soul like Christmas in the country.
Christmas with his family had consisted of a house full of people that Joe didn’t even know, walking in on his father screwing some lady Joe had never seen before on the couch in the den, his mother kissing some guy he’d never seen before under the mistletoe and everyone getting drunk and stupid.
Real keepsake memories there.
“I think I’ll stay for a year.”
Joe was jerked away from his memories of Christmas past. “What?” He focused on Levi.
His brother was looking more alert than he’d been in days. He was even smiling. Joe blinked.
“Yeah, why not?” Levi said. “The doctor says I need to quit drinking, not stay up all night and generally stop doing everything I do right now. There’s nothing to stay up all night for in Sapphire Falls, is there?”
Home for the Holidays: A Contemporary Romance Anthology Page 39