Operation Mistletoe Magic

by Nicki Edwards

  Jasmine returned the hug and this time Chris let the tears flow.

  Finally, he coughed twice. “My turn.”

  Linda released Jasmine and pulled him tight. “Oh, Chris, I’d given up wondering if you’d ever come home.”

  He inhaled the familiar fragrance and allowed his body to relax. He towered over his mom, but the way she held him tight took him back to his childhood. He loved this woman dearly.

  “I’m home.”

  Linda drew Jasmine into another embrace. “And you brought Jasmine. Thank you.” She pressed a kiss to Jasmine’s forehead. “What a beautiful girl you are. Do you know how much your Grampy and I are going to spoil you?”

  “I hope you’re going to spoil me too,” Chris said.

  “How much time do I have?” Linda asked.

  He hesitated. “Six weeks. We’re not due back in Australia until the first week of February.”

  If I go back.

  The same thought he’d been having for the past few weeks hit him hard again but this time he didn’t shove it away so quickly. He had a job, a house and a life Down Under. Surely he couldn’t walk away from it all.

  Linda clapped her hands, interrupting his wayward thoughts. Her eyes shone with excitement and energy. “Let’s not waste time then. Come on, sweetheart, I’m going to make you a hot chocolate then we can get to know each other.” She turned to Chris. “Your dad won’t be home until late tonight. He has a meeting. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees you.”

  Hand in hand Linda and Jasmine skipped up the steps while Chris took his time getting their cases out of the trunk of the hire car. He gazed around him and inhaled the stillness and peace. It never mattered the season, he loved this place so much and now he was back, he realized how much he’d missed it.

  A mix of trees dotted the landscape, from evergreens, their boughs heavy-laden with snow, to gnarled white-trunked birches, their branches devoid of leaves. As he followed his mom and Jasmine inside he caught a glimpse of the frozen plate of ice that was Katchewanooka Lake. Anticipation bubbled. The first thing he would do after buying Jasmine warm clothes tomorrow was teach her to ice skate.

  The lake was the focal point of the house and every season saw massive changes in the scenery. In summer it was the scene of water skiing, rowing, canoeing and swimming and in winter all sorts of winter activities. He’d had an idyllic childhood and understood why his siblings had all migrated home over the years.

  He closed the heavy front door behind him and dumped their suitcases in the wide entry. He could take them upstairs to his room later. The house was toasty warm and he removed his coat and boots and in socked feet padded past the antique rocking horse which had sat at the door for as long as he could remember. He stroked the silky tail and smiled at the memories.

  Entering the lounge room, he took in the spruce tree in the corner, the tip reaching high into the cathedral roof. Its branches were laden with decorations – some old and some new – many made by Chris and his brothers in craft activities at school and church.

  The floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the lake demanded his attention. He went straight to them and gazed out across the wide wraparound deck that provided shade in the hot summer months. Past the deck was an amazing outlook down the incline through snow-capped trees toward the lake.

  Home.

  On the other side of the frozen lake were the smaller cottages where Melissa had lived. In winter they cross-country skied across the lake and in summer they canoed across the wide expanse to visit one another. Where did she live now?

  He still couldn’t believe she was the first person he’d bumped into. If he believed in coincidence, he’d have shrugged it off, but he happened to think there was more to life than random acts of serendipity.

  In the kitchen he heard Jasmine chattering away. She didn’t always make friends easily, and Chris couldn’t be happier with how she had clicked with his mom. He only hoped she wouldn’t be overwhelmed when the rest of the family gathered on Christmas Day. He made a mental note to make sure he took her around to meet each family member individually before Christmas.

  He crossed the large room and headed to the stone fireplace. The central heating kept the house at a constant temperature, but his mom loved her log burning fire. As he expected, it blazed behind the glass screen. Two plush red stockings hung from the wood mantel which Linda had tastefully decorated with holly twisted around fat white candles.

  He skimmed his hand over the dozen family photos that adorned the mantelpiece, various images of him and his brothers over the years. His breath caught in his throat at a photo hidden at the back of him and Melissa. He remembered the night vividly. Their prom. They both had other dates for the night, but Linda had insisted they have a photo taken of the two of them together.

  He picked up the frame and stared at the photo. They stood side by side on the back deck of the cottage, their shoulders touching. The flaming red, yellow and orange fall foliage provided a perfect backdrop to Melissa’s navy blue dress. She’d ended up wearing two corsages that night – one on each wrist – but the one she wore in the photo was the one he’d given her.

  He remembered the surprised look on her face when he’d handed her the small box after her father dropped her off at the house. When he slipped the flowers over her hand, he’d let his knuckles graze across her skin longer than necessary and had been secretly pleased when she hadn’t pulled away. Then his heart had soared and skipped a beat when she’d leaned over and kissed him on the cheek to signal her thanks. Her lips had burned his skin for hours and it had taken all his self-control not to pull her into his arms and kiss her properly.

  If only he’d kissed her that night, maybe things would have worked out differently between them. Instead, he’d kept quiet, hidden his secret infatuation and regretted it for a long time.

  He ran his finger over the glass of the frame, stroking her cheek. By the time he’d noticed how beautiful Melissa was, she was dating someone else and he had Erin. He put the photo back and fought down the swell of emotion and memories. Drawing a deep breath, he headed into the kitchen. He could smell something simmering on the stove and heard the clatter of dishes as his mom prepared homemade hot chocolates.

  Jasmine was peppering her with a flurry of questions which Linda was answering willingly.

  “Did you know Christmas is in the middle of summer in Australia?” Jasmine asked.

  “I did know that,” Linda replied. “Do you think you’ll miss Australia this Christmas?”

  His mom’s words held a hidden question. Would Jasmine miss her mother? Later that night when Jasmine went to bed he’d talk to his parents and explain how Erin had met someone else, was pregnant again, and had barely missed a beat when he’d demanded full custody of their daughter. He hadn’t wanted to have that kind of conversation over the phone or via email.

  “I don’t think I’ll miss it. Daddy says a white Christmas is the only Christmas to have.”

  Linda glanced at Chris as he pulled up a stool beside Jasmine at the bench. “I’ll remind your daddy of that when he’s complaining how cold it is when I send him outside to shovel snow or collect more wood for the fire.”

  Chris chuckled. “It will certainly feel weird not wearing shorts and T-shirts and thongs and not having a barbie lunch on Christmas day.”

  Linda frowned. “Thongs? Barbie?”

  “Flip-flops. Barbeque.”

  She swatted his arm. “You’re back in Canada now, eh, so enough of that Australian lingo.” She smiled and slid a plate of chocolate chip cookies in front of him then turned away to pour the hot milk into three mugs. Not before he caught the gleam of tears in her eyes.

  “It’s good to be home,” he said softly.

  She turned and dabbed at her eyes with the corner of her apron. “You have no idea how happy I am.”

  “Hey, you’ll never guess who I bumped into in town,” he said after he’d taken a sip of his hot chocolate and sighed with
pleasure. He enjoyed the malted taste of Milo drinks in Australia, but nothing beat the taste of his mom’s hot chocolate.

  Gray eyes, so similar to his own, met his gaze with a question mark.

  “Melissa Allen.”

  Linda opened her mouth to say something then closed it again when he kept talking.

  “It was so good to see her. She looks great.”

  “Yes, she does,” Linda agreed.

  “Do you see much of her?” he asked. “We haven’t stayed in touch and I have no idea what she’s up to these days.”

  “Did you ask her?”

  He gave a slight nod in Jasmine’s direction. “I didn’t want to stop and chat. Jaz and I were keen to get up here and see you and Dad.”

  Linda absently stroked Jasmine’s hair. “You two were inseparable from the time you were about the same age as Jasmine. Such a shame you went your separate ways and didn’t stay in touch.”

  He nodded. “Yeah it was.” He took another sip and gazed out the window. The sun was already beginning to set, softening the blue sky as though someone was turning an oil painting into a watercolor.

  “I just spotted the photo of us from the prom on the mantelpiece.”

  “I could never figure out why you two weren’t a couple,” Linda said.

  “It would have ruined our friendship,” he replied automatically.

  He’d used the same excuse for years and although the words slipped right off his tongue, tasting familiar, this time they left a bitter aftertaste.

  After a pause Linda mumbled, “Erin ruined your friendship.”

  He glanced at Jasmine. She didn’t appear to have heard a word of their conversation, her attention caught by the birds at the birdfeeder outside the window, but he didn’t want her to hear him speak negatively about her mother. He’d managed to protect her as much as he could during the divorce and so far she seemed to be bouncing back with a spirit and resilience that both stunned and impressed him.

  He sighed heavily and looked at his mom. “I’m sure Mel’s moved on.”

  The front door slammed, making them all jump. He grinned. His dad was home. He stood and headed toward the door when his mom’s next words stilled his heart and stopped his feet.

  “Why don’t you ask her?”

  Chapter 7

  Melissa pulled up behind Chris’s hire car in the driveway and put a hand to her chest. Her heart was beating so fast it felt as though it would burst out of her ribcage. She’d left enough time for Chris to get home and find out that she was staying there. What would his reaction be? She turned off the car and licked her lips. No time like the present to find out.

  She stepped out of the car and inhaled deeply, breathing in the smell of pine trees and wood smoke. She glanced up at the tendrils of smoke unfurling from the stone chimney against the dusky blue sky. The smell caused her to shudder slightly, bringing back unpleasant memories of the fire. Behind the house was Katchewanooka Lake and across the vast white expanse, out of the line of sight of Chris’s home, was the charred remains of her little cottage.

  When her parents had moved to Florida, they’d sold the house Melissa had grown up in, and for the next few years she’d lived in a boxy little place behind the church in the main street of town. When the tiny cottage came on the market at a reasonable price, she’d snapped it up, even though it was rundown and needed lots of money spent on it. Now she had nothing, and even with insurance, she was realistic enough to know she wouldn’t find another lakeside cottage in her price bracket.

  She pushed tomorrow’s worries from her mind, grabbed her purse and reached into the back seat for the bags of clothes she’d purchased. Rob and Linda had been good enough to loan her money until her insurance came through and she’d spent all day shopping. She was staggered by how much money she’d spent already buying the bare necessities in terms of clothes and toiletries and makeup. Everyone in the village had been generous, donating clothes and offering her furniture, but until she had somewhere to live, she was keeping things to a minimum and living out of a suitcase.

  The Nichollses had promised she could stay as long as she liked, but now Chris and his daughter were home, she didn’t want to get in the way of their family reunion. Especially not at Christmas time. Christmas was for families and she wasn’t part of theirs. One of the ladies from the church had kindly offered her a room in her house. The fact that the lady was legally blind and probably figured offering a room to Melissa guaranteed live-in nursing care was enough to make Melissa want to run in the other direction, but she had no other options. First thing tomorrow, she’d call the lady and arrange to move in.

  Staying at the Nicholls’s was definitely out of the question now. No way could she sleep in the room next door to Chris’s and keep her bubbling hormones under control. Until she’d seen him, she’d had no idea how deeply she still cared for him.

  Melissa inserted the key Linda had given her into the lock, pushed open the glass door and entered the warmth of the big house. The scents of cinnamon and vanilla lingered in the air, combining with the pine scent of the gigantic Christmas tree that took up one corner of the massive lounge room. Linda was baking again. She dropped her shopping bags beside the suitcases at the front door. Seemed like Chris hadn’t made it upstairs yet. Kicking off her boots, she set them neatly beside his and shrugged off her coat, hanging it in the hall cupboard. She headed toward the voices in the kitchen, stopped when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and frowned. She was grateful for the borrowed clothes but they did nothing to flatter her figure. The soft wool sweater was thin and hung from her shoulders rather than molding to her curves. The pastel shade looked awful against her pale complexion and the jeans were a size too big.

  She drew a settling breath and forced herself to relax. Why was she so tied up in knots anyway? This was Chris, for goodness sake. Her former best friend in the whole wide world. Did it matter that she was wearing dowdy, second-hand clothes? He had seen her in everything from a formal ball gown to flannelette pajamas and wouldn’t care what she wore. Nevertheless, she leaned closer into the mirror and pinched her cheeks to add some color. Grabbing a lip gloss from her purse she touched up her lips. There. That was better. Slightly more presentable.

  Taking another deep breath she strode as confidently as she could into the kitchen. The look on Chris’s face said it all. He had no idea what she was doing, uninvited, in his parents’ house. The scowl on his daughter’s face was just as easy to decipher. Melissa wasn’t welcome.

  Linda’s warm smile cut between the odd mix of confusion and tension. “Come in, sweetheart. We were just talking about you.”

  “You were?”

  Linda nodded. “I was just about to tell Chris about the fire.”

  Chris’s gaze flitted from Melissa to Linda and back. He frowned. “What fire?”

  Melissa plonked down at the table, snatched a cookie from the plate and explained what had happened. Chris’s mouth fell open when she explained she’d lost everything.

  “Your mom and dad generously offered for me to stay here. Obviously though I won’t now you’re home. You’ll need the spare room for Jasmine.” She gave Jasmine a small smile. When she received nothing in return she shook off the feeling that Jasmine didn’t like her.

  “Don’t be silly,” Linda said. “Of course you’re staying. This house is more than big enough for all of us. I raised five boys in this home and I won’t listen to another word about you going anywhere else.”

  “Last time I checked, Linda, you turned the other boys’ bedrooms into a sewing room, a library and a storeroom.”

  Linda untied her apron and placed it on the table. “Chris can help me shift things around. We can move things down into the basement and set up a bedroom for Jasmine in the library.”

  Melissa snuck a quick look at Chris. He was nodding furiously in agreement.

  Not trusting herself to stay in the same room as him any longer, she stood. “Sounds like it’s all arranged. In that
case, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go shower and get changed into my new clothes.”

  “Dinner’s at six,” Linda said.

  *

  When Melissa came downstairs just after six, dressed in a brand new pair of dark denim jeans and a marl gray V-neck sweater, the look on Chris’s face was enough to know she’d made the right decision to change clothes. She’d washed and dried her hair too, twisting it up in a knot on top of her head, knowing it accentuated her long neck.

  “Am I late?” she asked breathlessly as she entered the dining room. Everyone was already seated around the table. Tantalizing aromas enveloped her and her mouth watered. A cast iron pot sat in the center of the table, full of Linda’s famous beef bourgeoisie. It had been years since she’d tasted it and yet she still remembered how good it was.

  Chris leaped to his feet and pulled out the chair on his right. Jasmine sat opposite him beside Linda. Rob sat at his usual position at the head of the table.

  “You look nice,” Chris said, smiling broadly. He helped push her chair in. “And you smell nice too,” he whispered in her ear.

  His breath tickled the side of her neck and she felt her face turn red, partially at the compliment and partially at his nearness. She glanced around at the others to see if they’d overheard or noticed, but Rob and Linda were laughing at something Jasmine was telling them.

  After Rob gave thanks for the meal, Linda began serving. Melissa was filled with nostalgia. How many times had she sat around this table and the meal had started in the exact same way? Some nights it was just her and Chris, other nights his brothers and later their partners joined them. Dinners at the Nicholls household were always full of love, laughter and lots of good food.

  During the meal Jasmine was chattier than she’d been earlier. Melissa wondered if Chris had said something to her. But before Linda had even served dessert the poor child had almost dropped off to sleep in the middle of a mouthful. While Chris took her upstairs and tucked her into bed, Melissa helped Linda tidy the kitchen while Rob added more wood to the fire. They were nursing cups of coffee in front of the fire in the lounge when Chris came back downstairs.