Winter Hearts

by A. E. Radley

  I groaned. “It’s been a really long drive, Wendy.”

  “I know it has and I’m sorry. I swear, it’ll be worth it. I’ll have the mulled wine waiting for when you arrive.”

  Back inside my truck, I plugged the new address into my GPS and tried not to cry when the ETA was almost two hours away. Mulled wine was starting to sound pretty good.

  Despite the extra drive and traffic, I managed to stay in the Christmas spirit. When I pulled up to the address Wendy had given me, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. The place was huge, modern, and smack in the middle of a gorgeous stretch of beach. Whoever my sister’s boyfriend was, he’d definitely splurged. I parked my truck inside the gate and stepped out. I stretched my back a few times before walking around back to get my bag. Then, the front door opened.

  “You made it!” My sister shouted.

  “I made it,” I said. “You’re right, this place is super nice.”

  She came over and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before taking my bag from my hand. “Let me carry that for you. I heard you were in an accident.”

  It took a few seconds before I realized what she’d said and then suddenly, Mimi was standing at the front door, smiling at me.

  “Mimi, what are you doing here?”

  Mimi laughed. “Well, um… apparently, your sister and my brother have been dating.”

  I stared back at my sister in disbelief.

  “I know right?” Wendy squealed. “We’ve been freaking out about it since I got off the phone with you. Mimi told us what happened to her on the highway. She mentioned your name and then we put it all together.”

  Mimi ran up to me and gave me a big hug. “It’s so good to see you again.”

  I was so shocked that I couldn’t say anything, but I wrapped my arms around Mimi and gave her a hug back.

  Mimi was laughing. “What are the chances, right? But…” she pulled back and smiled at me again, her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. “We were meant to run into each other again.”

  “Yeah, it seems that way,” I said.

  “Come in,” my sister said. “Micheal is down on the beach with the girls. They know you’re coming now, I spilled the beans.” She led the way up the stairs into the huge open living room.

  Mimi turned to me. “I really missed you after we said goodbye this morning.”

  “I missed you too,” I said.

  My sister turned and looked back at me.

  “So, um… did you find out anything about your car?” I asked Mimi.

  “It’s been towed to a yard in Yreka,” she replied. “It’ll get put on a flatbed and taken to my Porche guy in Nob Hill after Christmas.”

  “You have such a good attitude about it, Mimi,” my sister said. “I’m not sure I’d be as relaxed if I were in your shoes.”

  I already knew the answer to that one.

  “Cars can be replaced,” Mimi said and then gave me another smile. “So… we’re all going to Disneyland.”

  “That’s good news. I thought maybe that plan got canceled too,” I said.

  My sister shot me a look.

  “Did you ever… make your phone call?” Mimi asked quietly.

  “No, I never did,” I said, smiling. “Disaster averted.”

  She smiled back at me, then slid her hand briefly down my back. “Good for you.”

  I felt my sister’s eyes on us again.

  “So… was this place a surprise for you, too?” I asked Mimi.

  She nodded. “I knew we were doing Christmas in Malibu but I definitely wasn’t expecting a luxury home on the beach.” We both paused a moment and took the whole modern expanse of it in.

  “Isn’t it fantastic!” my sister said gleefully. “I can’t believe Michael has been keeping this to himself.”

  “It sure is big,” I said, looking out the front windows. “The beach is pretty great.”

  Wendy slid open the glass doors. “It’s almost warm enough to keep these open.” She walked out onto the deck. Mimi stepped out ahead of me, and then waved down to the girls who were building a sand castle with a man I assumed was Michael. The kids waved back.

  My sister pulled her phone from her back pocket. “This deserves a picture.” She snapped a few from the rail and then sighed happily as she flipped back through them.

  “The girls seem to be getting along well,” Mimi said.

  “Yes, they play well together,” Wendy replied.

  “Have they spent much time together before this?” I asked, curious just how long my sister and Michael had been dating.

  “Well, Michael only has Jenny on weekends,” my sister replied. “But the girls have known each other since the summer.”

  “Ohh,” both Mimi and I replied in unison.

  I heard voices behind me. Mimi turned and said something in Mandarin. Her mother and father gave me a quick look.

  “Pa, ma, this is Brooke,” Mimi said. “The woman that helped me on the highway last night.”

  Both of them gave me a warm smile. Her mother reached for my hand. “Thank you for helping Mimi. Were you hurt?”

  “No. My truck is pretty tough.”

  Her father pointed toward the back of the house. “Your truck is here?”

  “Yes, it’s parked in the back,” I replied.

  He nodded approvingly and then said something to Mimi again in Mandarin. She laughed. “Next time, I will buy a truck just like it, I promise.”

  “Auntie Brooke, look what I found,” my niece Hailey called from the beach below. She held a shell in her hand.

  “Beautiful,” I called down to her. “Where are my hugs?”

  “Can you come and play with us?” her sister Shelby called.

  “Auntie Mimi, can you come too?”

  Mimi smiled over at me. “Want to take the girls for a walk on the beach?”

  My sister shot me another one of her looks. I smiled back at her. “We’ll be back in a bit,” I said.

  I followed Mimi down the steps that led to the beach. My nieces ran to give me a hug. Mimi’s brother stood and brushed sand off his jeans.

  “You haven’t met Michael yet?” Mimi asked quietly.

  “Nope. I didn’t even know they were dating until a couple of hours ago,” I replied.

  “So interesting. He’s never mentioned Wendy to me either,” Mimi said.

  Michael was handsome but he didn’t seem all that friendly. “You must be Wendy’s sister,” he said without a hint of a smile.

  “Brooke, Michael,” Mimi said.

  I held out my hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” But he had already moved on from me and was speaking to his daughter.

  “I know,” she moaned.

  “She won’t run in the water,” Mimi said to him as she offered her hand to her niece. “Should we race them?” They all started running down toward the water. I didn’t see any point in lingering with Michael so I chased after them. When we were halfway, Mimi slowed her pace, waiting for me. The girls kept going. “Don’t worry about my brother, he always comes off as laconic at first.”

  “Hmm, I didn’t notice,” I said.

  Mimi laughed. “I still can’t believe that you’re here.”

  “I know. It’s pretty crazy,” I said.

  “I crash in the snow, you save me, then we both turn up at the same house in Malibu. Seems to me like there’s something happening here, doesn’t it?”

  “It kinda does seem that way,” I agreed.

  I heard her take a deep breath. “Maybe I’m way off base here, but I promised myself I wouldn’t end the year with unfinished business. I’ve been kicking myself for not being honest with you last night. I’ve been regretting it all afternoon.” She looked back at me. “I feel… attracted to you, Brooke. There, I said it.”

  It wasn’t like it had come completely out of left field, but it still hit me like a snow bank. “Wow,” was all I could say.

  “I knew there was something special about you when I first saw you at the gas station in Medford and
that’s why I talked to you. Then you followed me and that was nice because you were so shy after I caught you staring at my… you know. And then, well, you saved my life and I think that pretty much sealed it for me. Then there was your incredible Swiss Army Truck and the fact that you love pu-erh tea.”

  “Wow,” I mumbled again.

  “I didn’t say anything about it on the drive to Berkeley because you still seemed a little undecided about calling your ex. But then we got back to my place, and I was like - forget her! She let you go. So I had an extra glass of wine because I thought it would give me the strength to say what I wanted to say which was that I was pretty sure I had felt something from you, too, and if that was true, maybe we should see each other again.”

  Again, all I could say was, “wow.”

  Mimi rolled her eyes. “Will you stop with the wow? What do you think about all that?”

  I swallowed and took a deep breath. “I… don’t know. I mean, yes, I definitely felt something, and now you’re here and it’s all…” I stared out at the rolling waves. “Wow.”

  Mimi sighed and looked out over the water, too. “I know, it’s a lot isn’t it?” She turned and looked over my shoulder. “Do you know those people?”

  Just then my nieces shouted. “Grandma and Grandpa are here!!”

  CHAPTER 5

  For years, my parents had made charity their mission. After raising us in a cushy, upper-middle-class household, my sister and I watched them pare down to the basics, swapping their five-bedroom house in Laurel Heights for a simpler, two-bedroom condo in Richmond; trading in their luxury sedan for a much smaller electric car. They’d even liquidated their second home in Palm Springs to help fund their yearly projects. My sister always said they would regret it one day, but, in fact, it had brought them unparalleled happiness.

  Christmas was a time to give back. Even my five-year-old nieces didn’t expect the seasonal rain of toys to happen until some time in January when the grandparents came home. Since they had left my sister and me to make our own Christmas traditions, the holiday had stopped bringing us together. So it was a surprise to everyone that my parents had left Nicaragua early and accepted Michael’s secret invitation to join us in Malibu instead. With the two families complete, we all settled into the living room for a little Christmas cheer.

  The big Christmas tree had been left undecorated at Michael’s request. It was waiting for us to adorn it with bulbs and Christmas lights. My sister had brought along enough craft supplies for the girls to leave their personal touch. With the mulled wine stewing in the crock, the house began to feel festive. Mrs. Ling and my mother disappeared into the kitchen to peruse the food delivery. There were boxes of ice-packed seafood and vegetables, fruit, and fresh-baked sweet and savory breads and pastries. Mrs. Ling had brought along some of her own cookware, but when she opened the cardboard box they had been packed in for the flight, she discovered a serious problem.

  “We have an emergency,” Mimi said, holding the wok handle in her hand. “Ma’s wok got damaged on the flight. Can you…?”

  A few minutes later, the whole family was out back. I pulled my MIG welder from under the platform in my truck and plucked my mask, gloves, and apron from their bin. “Are you all going to watch?”

  Mimi’s father and mother stood right behind me, watching everything I did with rapt attention. I rummaged through my tool bin, found some old safety glasses, and handed a pair to each of them. “You’ll need these. Everyone else, look away.” My sister took the kids back inside and Michael followed. Mimi snapped a picture of her parents standing behind me with their dark safety glasses on.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll just watch you,” she said with her ever-present smile.

  I flipped my mask down and got to work welding the handle back onto the bell of the wok. It only took a few minutes, but Mrs. Ling was overjoyed. “I can’t believe it!”

  “This should do it,” I said. “Actually, I was thinking…” After showing her a quick sketch of an improved design—and making a promise that I could actually make it—Mimi’s mother gave me a hug. Then, we all went back inside and resumed our merry-making.

  “That’s twice you’ve saved Christmas now,” Mimi whispered. “My mother likes you.”

  “The welding part was easy,” I said.

  “But fun to watch. What else can you do?”

  “Oh, lots of things.”

  “I need a new car. Can you make me one?” She laughed and took another sip from her mug. My sister was circulating with the jug of mulled wine. She eyed us and came over. “Need a refill?”

  “I’ll have a little more,” Mimi said and held out her cup.

  Wendy filled her mug and then offered the jug to me. “And you?”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  My sister looked back and forth between us, giving me a strange smile. I could tell she had an opinion about something—one that I probably wouldn’t like. She turned to Mimi. “Your mother has taken over the kitchen. I offered to help but…”

  Mimi took the cue and put her mug down. “I’ll go see if she needs me.”

  “What are you doing?” My sister hissed as soon as she was gone.

  “What do you mean, what am I doing?”

  “She’s straight.”

  I watched Mimi walk away. “And?”

  “You’ve been stuck to her since you showed up. Give the woman a chance to spend some time with her family.”

  I looked over into the dining room; there was Michael, scowling at me again. “Is this coming from you or your new boyfriend?”

  “He’s not new; we’ve been seeing each other for six months.”

  “Well, he seems like a great guy, hang on to him,” I said and put my mug down.

  She stepped in front of me. “There are enough differences between our tribes without throwing a lesbian hook-up into the mix. Michael and I have an announcement to make and we need Christmas to go smoothly.”

  Suddenly, everything became clear. “You’re going to marry him.”

  “Yes!” she hissed.

  “Congratulations. You seem very happy about it.”

  “Stop being so judgmental.”

  “I’m being judgmental?”

  Mimi was walking back toward us with a plate in her hand. She was smiling, unaware of the conversation that was going on behind her back. She handed me a napkin and a small fork with a spot prawn stuck on the end of it. “You have got to try this.”

  I glanced at my sister before shifting my attention back to Mimi. “I would love to.”

  My sister put on her fake smile again. “My goodness, that smells delicious! Did your mother make those?”

  “She did, and there’s a platter full of them coming up any minute,” Mimi said cheerfully.

  “Yum!” my sister said and left us.

  We both watched her go and then Mimi leaned in. “Is it just me or do my brother and your sister seem a little… uptight tonight?”

  “It’s definitely not you,” I said before biting into the prawn. “Wow, this is really good.”

  “I’ll tell my mother you said so,” Mimi smiled. “Man, I hope they make their announcement soon.”

  I looked at her. “You knew about it?”

  She shook her head. “No, but I figured it out as soon as I saw this place. Michael only splurges when he’s trying to impress people.”

  “What do you think about it?”

  “I’m happy if they’re happy, but from what I can see…”

  We both looked across the room. Michael and my sister were talking quietly to each other; not in a cozy, loving way, but in a fretful, angsty way. No, happiness wouldn’t have been my first impression. I looked at my nieces who were coloring with Micheal’s daughter. “The girls are having fun, at least.”

  My father was sitting in front of the TV with his feet up on the recliner. Mimi’s father was sitting in the armchair next to him with his feet planted on the floor. They weren’t talking but that didn’t seem to matter. �
��Our dads are getting along like dads,” I said, nodding toward them.

  “And your mother is in the kitchen with my mother,” Mimi added.

  “All signs of happiness,” I said.

  “I’m happy,” Mimi laughed. “Are you happy?”

  I smiled with her. “I’m very happy.”

  She picked up both of our mugs and handed me mine. “Then maybe some of our good cheer will rub off on them.” She nodded back toward our siblings.

  I looked at my sister and sighed. As impossible as she’d always been, she deserved happiness and love in her life. I really hoped things were better for her and Michael than they appeared to be. “Cheers to that,” I said.

  “We should eat. My mother will think we don’t like her food.”

  We stood at the dining room table in front of the feast. A big pot of savory broth steamed away in the center of the table. A huge platter of Alaskan King crab, scallops, shellfish, and squid was set to the side waiting to be cooked in the broth, fondue style. Prepared plates of mushrooms, tofu, bok choy, and suey choy, along with the platter of spot prawns were waiting to be served.

  “I told my mother to go easy on the spice,” Mimi said. “I thought your parents might prefer something milder.”

  “She has nothing to worry about. My parents took a trip to Beijing about ten years ago; Dad still hasn’t stopped talking about how amazing the food was.”

  Mimi smiled. “This might be easier than she thought.”

  We both filled plates for our fathers, neither of which had peeled their eyes away from the TV despite the feast steaming away on the table. I walked into the TV room and handed my dad his plate. “Here you go, dad.”

  “Thanks,” he said. He glanced over at my sister before stuffing a prawn into his mouth. “Is Wendy okay?”

  I shrugged. “She’s getting there.”

  Mimi’s father swiveled his head slowly and looked over at his son, letting out a low grumble of displeasure. He turned again and watched my father as he unsuccessfully tried to remove the shell from the body of a prawn. Mr. Ling held up one of his own and demonstrated a quicker method.

  “Ah, thanks,” my father said, bowing his head a few more times than necessary.