All I Want for Christmas: A Contemporary Romance Holiday Collection

by S. L. Sterling

* * *

  "It's from the charity. It’s for the work you've done."

  * * *

  "Addie, it’s a non-profit charity. I agreed to do the work for free. I can't take this. I won't," I said, shoving the check back at her.

  * * *

  "You can and you will. Honestly, I don't know why you don't open up your own business. You have great talent, and I am sure local businesses would love to support you."

  * * *

  I looked down at the check and thought about what she had just said. It was something that I could think about, I guess. Yet I had no clients, and it would take time to build. I would need something to do until I built things up.

  * * *

  "I don't know, Addie."

  * * *

  "I do. I know Austin has mentioned that the annual fireman's calendar could use a lot of work. Perhaps you could work with them. Austin said they fired the last girl they had. The photographs are being done now. You’d be just in time."

  * * *

  "I don't want to talk about your brother, Addie. So if that is what you came over here for, just save it," I bit out.

  * * *

  "No, I won't. Listen to me, I am the one who set you up because I think the two of you are perfect together."

  * * *

  "Please, we are not perfect for one another. How could you even begin to think that when he betrayed my trust? You, of all people, know how important that is to me. You know how hurt I was when Tom did what he did."

  * * *

  "Austin isn't Tom, and he didn't betray your trust. I'm the one who confronted him. I knew it was him here the other night when I stopped by because I saw his jacket hanging on the hook. You think I didn't know, but from the time he returned from the lake, he has been acting weird. I know something happened between the two of you that weekend. I'm not an idiot."

  * * *

  "Addie, I don't want to hear anymore. He isn't perfect for me in the slightest. He is just like the rest of them."

  * * *

  "Dammit, you are so stubborn."

  * * *

  "I'm not! Why would you say that?"

  * * *

  "Dammit, open your eyes. He has crushed on you forever."

  * * *

  I looked over at Addie, not believing a word she was saying. When I saw the serious look on her face, I began to second guess what she was telling me.

  * * *

  "He has not, Addie."

  * * *

  "He has, and you have crushed on him for the same length of time."

  * * *

  "You only say that because you know that about me, because I told you that. Believe me, he hasn't crushed on me that long. He never showed any interest in me when we were younger. In fact, he treated me worse than he treated you when we were younger. If he liked me so much, he would have invited me to his damn wedding."

  * * *

  She bent over and pulled out what looked like a photo album and set it on the living room table. The she turned to me.

  * * *

  "You didn't get a wedding invite because there was no way he would have been able to look out in the crowd and see your face staring back at him. He has been in love with you since we were teens. He married Laura because they made sense. He himself said those words to me numerous times. There was never true love there. They fell into a routine because that was what was expected of them. He has never been truly happy, Kristy, unless he is looking at you. I have an entire album that you can look through to prove it to yourself."

  * * *

  I sat there staring at her. The images that she was after were long ago saved on the jump drive. I glanced to the album that she flipped through.

  * * *

  "Every time he looks at you, this look comes over his face," she said, flipping through the photos.

  * * *

  I turned and took the jump drive out of my computer and walked over to where Addie stood. I, too, began looking down at the photos she was looking at.

  * * *

  "Look, here we are at your eighteenth birthday. Look at how happy he is here."

  * * *

  "So what? We were all happy in case you don't notice the other five people in the picture smiling."

  * * *

  "Kristy, you can't tell me that you don't look at that and see a different look in his eyes."

  * * *

  "I just can't do this, Addie," I said, taking the album and closing it. "He's a risk I don't think I can handle taking right now."

  * * *

  "Kristy, it’s time you get over all the other shit that happened with your other relationships. Tom was a dick who couldn't keep it in his pants. The others were just trial and error, something we all go through. Austin isn't a risk, Kristy. The others were. He has always been yours. He has always been truly, madly, and deeply in love with you. Just open your eyes and look." She said pointing to the photographs in front of her.

  * * *

  She flipped open the album to the day he had gotten engaged. Laura stood in the center of the group, looking freaking gorgeous in his arms. "Look at who he is looking at."

  * * *

  "He's looking at Laura."

  * * *

  "No, he isn't. He is looking at you. You were standing beside Laura when this image was taken, in case you forgot. You need to open your eyes and take a good long damn look. You need to call him, Kristy. Call him and work things out. If you don't believe it from photos, I have about ten years of video evidence from when we were teens that I can bring over so that you can watch."

  * * *

  I took the album and sat down, flipping through the pages. The more I looked, the more I saw exactly what she was talking about. Every picture of us together there was a look in his eyes, a happiness that I hadn't seen since the other night when he was here for dinner.

  * * *

  "Can I borrow these?" I whispered.

  * * *

  "Yes, of course, as long as you promise me you aren't going to burn them," Addie said, looking down at her watch. "Look, I have to go."

  * * *

  I walked her to the door, saying good-bye. "Call him," she whispered in my ear as she hugged me.

  * * *

  Once Addie had left, I wandered back into the living room and slid down onto the floor. I pulled the albums out that Addie had brought and flipped through each of the books. I pulled the last book out, opening the cover, and was surprised to find an entire album that contained nothing but pictures of Austin and me from vacations when we were younger. I smiled as I silently flipped through the albums.

  * * *

  I glanced to the perfectly wrapped present that Austin had given me the other day. It still sat on the corner of the coffee table where I’d left it. I reached for it. With trembling hands, I began to unwrap the gift. Once the paper had been peeled away, I sat staring at a little black velvet box. I swallowed hard as I opened it, and there inside sat a white gold heart-shaped locket.

  Tears flooded my eyes. I had one of these when I had been in my teens, and I had lost it up at Serenity Lake. I remembered the day so vividly. My father had given me that locket. He had just passed away the previous summer, and when I had found out it had slipped off my neck while we had been swimming, I had spent the night in tears. Austin had sat with me the entire night, promising me that he would help me look for it in the morning.

  I wiped the tears from my cheeks. How the hell he had remembered that, I didn't know. I opened the little locket and engraved inside were the words “I love you.”

  * * *

  Hours later, by the lights of the Christmas tree that was now decorated in the corner, I sat scanning some of my favorite images of us into the computer, compiling them into a book of memories. I knew what I needed to do, and I knew I needed to do it now or risk losing him forever.

  22

  Austin

  It had been amost three weeks since I had heard from Kristy. There were only a couple days u
ntil Christmas, and I had debated calling her to make sure she was okay but figured if she had wanted to talk to me she would have called. She had probably shacked up with Tom, I could imagine them all cozied up on the couch. The thought pissed me off so instead of dwelling on something I had no control over, I buried myself in work and packing to move.

  It had been a long day at work. We’d spent the morning delivering gifts to the less fortunate families in the area and then spent the rest of the day doing drills at our training center. Carrying one hundred pounds of hose in a seventy-eight-pound suit up twenty flights of stairs was not what I called fun. I called it punishment, and I took that punishment like a man, trying to deal with all that happened over the past few weeks.

  "Jesus, Austin, you kicked our asses!" Greg said, dropping down on the floor beside me, huffing and puffing.

  I picked up my water bottle and squirted some into my mouth. Then I took another couple of mouthfuls before lying back on the mat.

  "Yeah, well, you need to work out more," I murmured, slapping him on his back. "Too many wing nights," I said, laughing.

  "Yeah, yeah, watch it, would you." Greg laughed as he took his water bottle and sprayed his face.

  We sat there in silence watching the last of the guys come running back down the stairs, dropping the gear onto the ground and collapsing beside us.

  "Whose turn to cook tonight?" I questioned.

  "Mine. Did you want to do it?" Greg asked.

  "Nah, I am gonna take a hot shower and enjoy someone else making dinner for once." I laughed, even though my stomach turned at the threat of food. I barely had an appetite the past couple of weeks, and the more I thought about food, the sicker I felt.

  "Well, we should get back. Come on, boys, get up. Let’s get the gear loaded up," Scott barked.

  We got up and began gathering our training gear and loading it neatly back onto the truck. Once back at the station, we hung everything back up and then headed for the showers. I was one of the last guys out, and I walked across our shower rooms and threw the towel into the hamper. I glanced into the laundry hamper and decided to throw a load of towels into the washer before heading towards the bunk room. It was my way of taking my time, so I could have some time to myself.

  I was never so happy to see an empty room, and I dropped down on my bunk, putting my hands behind my head. I'd pushed through all the training today, and now I just wanted to rest.

  I could already smell the start of dinner, and my stomach still flopped at the idea, even though, normally, by now I could eat my own arm after a day like today. I prayed that it was a slow night. I wasn't in the mood for needing to be on my game. I was tired, my head hurt, and so did my heart.

  "Steak or chicken?" Greg questioned, poking his head around the corner.

  "Whatever you decide on is fine. I probably won't eat. Not all that hungry."

  "You feeling okay? Did you overdo it today trying to be a show-off?" he questioned.

  "I'm fine," I said, rolling onto my side. "Tired I guess."

  Greg had seen me at my worst, and I knew he was now looking at me with the same growing concern he had the weeks after Laura had died.

  "All right get some rest. I will let you know when we are going to eat, and if you want, you can join us."

  "Thanks, man."

  "Oh, and when you're ready to talk, I'll be around," he said, tapping his fingers on the doorframe.

  I watched as Greg left the room, leaving me in silence. I had no idea how I was going to get out of this funk I was in. Only weeks ago, my life had felt so complete. I had everything I needed, and now, once again, I was alone. Not only had I lost Kristy, but I had pushed my sister away as well.

  I heard the roar of laughter followed by some whistles, followed by one of our new hires I barely knew shout out some comment of “Go get him, girl.” I heard heels clicking across the floor, and I rolled to the opposite side, reaching for my headphones, and rolled back over in time to see Kristy standing awkwardly inside the bunk room door looking around.

  My heart rate increased at the sight of her. I had to blink twice to make sure she was truly standing there.

  "Kristy?"

  She looked perfect standing there, her cheeks deeply flushed as she smiled in my direction.

  "So, this is where you sleep when you are working huh?" she questioned, looking around.

  I had totally forgotten she had never been inside the firehouse. I stood. "Yeah, this is it."

  "Can I come in?" she questioned, continuing to look around, almost as if she was afraid of what she might see.

  "Sure," I said, sitting back down on my bunk, making room for her to sit as well. "It's just me in here."

  She carried with her a package wrapped in bright Christmas paper. She set the gift on her lap once she sat down and ran her hands over the blanket on my bunk and then smiled up at me.

  "How are you doing?" she asked quietly.

  "I've been better." I wasn't about to lie to her. "What about you?"

  She shrugged, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes. "I've had better days," she muttered. Her hand reached up to the locket I now saw hanging around her neck.

  "You opened it?"

  "I did, and I love it. It reminds me of the one I lost when we were at Serenity Lake when we were kids, like the one my dad gave me."

  "I know, I remembered."

  Her eyes were rimmed with tears. I thought she was going to start crying any second, but instead, she wiped her eyes and smiled at me. "I came to show you something."

  "Okay."

  I wasn't going to try to win her back. I was going to let her lead this conversation. She cleared her throat and then placed the package in my lap.

  "What is this?" I asked.

  "Open it."

  I ripped the ribbon off and took the paper off as neatly as I could. I flipped it over, and there on the front of the book was a picture of us from when we were kids. I was holding the garden hose so she could take a drink. I remembered exactly when that picture had been taken. I smiled at the memory and ran my hand over the image. I opened the book and began flipping through the pages—all pictures from when we were younger. Each and every memory I remembered as if it were yesterday.

  "You know, Austin, I've always wanted you, but part of me always thought you were a risk. With you being Addie's older brother always scared me because, if we didn't work, I feared I wouldn’t have been able to stay friends with her. So, I lived my life and dated all these losers and watched the one man I really wanted, marry someone else. Well, I am done. I have never been one to take risks. That is… until now. I feel that we have been blessed with the option of a second chance.”

  I couldn't help but stop looking at the images in the book to look at her. Her cheeks were flushed more now than they were when she first arrived.

  She reached over and took my hand in hers. "But I realized something. You were never a risk. You are the real deal. You always were."

  “What about Tom?”

  “Tom?”

  “Yeah the day at the tree lot, he came over and wanted to have coffee with you. I thought you guys got back together.”

  Kristy shook her head, “No Austin, after you left I was very quick at telling him where he could go.”

  I couldn't help but wrap my arm around her and pull her into me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close to her.

  "I've given it some thought. I'm going to open up my own design company. It's going to take a lot of work, but you know what? You taught me not to be afraid to take risks."

  I put the book aside and picked her up from where she sat and placed her on my lap. "I swear to you I would never betray your trust."

  "I know, Austin. I was upset at many things. It wasn't just the fact that you had told Addie. I think because I feel so close to you and you were there at the time, I decided to take everything out on you. It wasn't right, and I didn't mean what I said. I realized that after I got home, but I couldn't call you. I was
too embarrassed. I hurt you, and it killed me inside."

  "It's okay, Kristy," I said, brushing the hair from her face. I placed both hands on her cheeks and kissed her. As soon as our lips touched, it was like my entire soul lit on fire. I felt whole again.

  As soon as we parted, she looked at me as if there were still an unanswered question between us. "What is it?" I questioned.

  "You looked through the book, but I think you may have missed the last page, which is the most important part," she said, picking the book up and opening it to the last page.

  I flipped to the last page in the book and read the words. A wave of emotion came over me at first, and then I looked up at her, a smile coming to my lips. "Yes. The answer is yes. Of course, I'll forgive you." I wrapped my arms around her tighter, pulling her into me and kissing her deeply.

  "Take me home," she moaned in my ear as I kissed her neck. The sound of her voice went straight to my cock. I was just about to bust as she ground down on my lap when she met my lips again. "Let’s go," I said in between kisses.

  At this point, the only thing that would take my attention from making the most beautiful girl in the world mine would be the fire alarm. We got up off my bunk and were just about to the door when the alarm sounded. Kristy stopped in her tracks, and I looked to her.