by Mary Carter
“To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to make of him. But Yvette sure is attached to him.” Hope nodded, unsure of what he meant or what to say. “Are you up for a little tour of the property?”
“Absolutely.” He glanced at her feet. She was wearing sneakers.
“Something wrong?”
“We won’t trudge the entire twenty acres, but there may be muddy spots. Did you bring boots?”
“I’m from Oregon,” Hope said with a grin. She went to her bag in the cab of the truck and dug through it until she found her hiking boots. She sat on the porch and put them on. When she looked up, Austin was staring at her. Their eyes held slightly longer than ever before and she felt a jolt of electricity move through her body. He’s attracted to me, and boy am I attracted to him. He looked away first. Shoot. Maybe she should have looked away first. But he was so easy to look at.
“Where is your place from here?” She kept her voice light, friendly. He didn’t look back at her.
“Thataways,” he said, gesturing to the right. Either he was shy, or he had a girlfriend, because a definite wall had just come down. Get a grip, Hope. You just broke up with Michael. Aren’t you supposed to feel sad or something? All she felt was relief every time she looked at Austin. She had to remind herself that she was here to meet her grandmother and spend Christmas with her sisters. She was not here to pick up the boy next door, no matter how attracted they were to each other.
She gazed at her tennis shoes on the porch, already feeling at home. She stood. “Ready.”
Austin pointed to the tennis shoes. “I’ll put those in the cab.”
“No thanks.” Hope glanced at the rest of the porch. There wasn’t much to make it homey. A severe-looking bench. It could do with some plants, and comfortable chairs, and why on earth wouldn’t you hang a gorgeous wreath above this door? She could already see it strung with Christmas lights, twinkling in the night. She couldn’t wait to decorate. She might even make a wreath for the door. There were certainly tons of pinecones around. She could get Joy and Faith to make it with her. One giant wreath made by the three wise women. They could pose in front of it, smile like the world was nothing but snowflakes and angels, and post it on Facebook. CHRISTMAS WITH MY SISTERS!! Heart emoji, smiley face, thumbs-up, wink. NOWHERE I’D RATHER SPEND THE HOLIDAYS!
Hope couldn’t believe she was in the middle of a winter wonderland and instead of enjoying it she was mentally composing fake posts on Facebook. She took a deep breath and tried to shove the image of the wreath made with sisterly love out of her mind. They probably would have made her stand in the middle anyway, getting squeezed from both sides.
Austin was still staring at her shoes.
“What?” Hope said.
Austin shifted uncomfortably. “Yvette might not like that.”
“We’re in the country. They’re a pair of shoes on a log porch. What’s not to like?”
“She has her ways.”
“Well, so do I. If she wants me to remove them, I’d like to hear it from her.”
“You got it.”
Hope knew she was being silly, but she really wanted her shoes on that porch, wanted a place that felt like home, wanted to be welcomed and loved.
“Shall we start with the pond?” Austin said.
“Love to.” Hope hopped off the porch and followed Austin. “I’ll have to buy some skates in town.” She could already imagine herself skating at night with glittering stars overhead and Christmas music playing. Now that would be romantic. Did Austin skate?
Austin laughed. “No, you won’t. The barn is filled with skates. Rupert rented them out.”
“To whom?”
“The whole town.”
“Really?” Hope liked the sound of that. This place should be shared. Wasn’t that what Christmas was all about?
“He sounds like a character.”
“On one hand he was Mr. Christmas.”
“And the other?” Hope asked.
“Well, he was a shrewd businessman, I’ll tell you that.”
Hope nodded as she gazed at the property. His estate was certainly proof that he was a shrewd businessman. Hope didn’t think wealth was obnoxious if one actually worked for it and gave back at the same time. “My grandmother didn’t want to carry on the tradition?”
“There’s too much to running a business. And a lot of liability. She probably would have done it if she was younger.”
“Or if my father had been around.” Hope hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but it was already out of her mouth. To her relief Austin didn’t comment on it. He seemed good at knowing when to leave things be. As they walked around the back of the house, a large red barn came into view. Next to it was the pond. It was even bigger than Hope had imagined. Perfect for skating! And tearing around the edges was Mr. Jingles.
“Is it frozen?” Hope asked.
“Solid as a rock,” Austin answered. A fantasy of Austin’s abs flashed through her mind.
Hope forced herself to stare at the pond. “Thank God. If Mr. Jingles fell through I was going to send you in after him.”
Austin laughed. “I think he’s even too heavy for me.” To the right of the pond was a free-standing deck with a sunken hot tub. In the other direction thick pine trees lined the perimeter, and the mountains framed the background. It would truly be an effort to feel anything but peaceful out here.
“That’s the basic layout,” Austin said. “Do you want to hike through the woods?”
The cold air whipped Hope’s cheeks. She imagined herself plopped on a cozy sofa with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book. She could gaze at the winter wonderland by the warmth of a fire. “Could I go inside and rest up a bit?”
“Of course,” Austin said.
Hope breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s been a long twenty-four hours.”
“No problem. It’s a big house. Even if she’s still napping you’ll have most of the place to yourself.” They headed back to the house, with Mr. Jingles at their heels. She would have to set him up with food and water right away. That’s when he would know that he was home.
“Can I have him in the house?”
“For now there’s a mudroom. I’m sure that will be fine until you get a chance to ask Yvette about it.”
They headed to the truck. Her bag was gone.
“Roger,” Austin said. They glanced up. Sure enough her bags were sitting next to the front door.
“That’s so sweet.” Hope gazed at the bags. “He doesn’t go inside?”
Austin shook his head. “Never. Although Yvette has certainly tried.”
“He says no?”
“He doesn’t talk at all. She calls to him and he just stands at a distance, staring.”
“Staring?”
“I think he might have some developmental delays.”
“Oh.” Hope glanced around again. She couldn’t see anyone, but there were plenty of places to hide. She wondered if he was behind a tree somewhere, watching and listening. “I’m glad he has a place here then.”
“Please don’t quote me on that. I’m just totally guessing.”
“Of course. I won’t say anything to anyone.” She glanced at her running shoes. Next to them sat a giant pinecone. It hadn’t been there before. It almost looked like a mini Christmas tree. Hope picked it up. “It’s gorgeous.” She inhaled and caught the wonderful scent of the outdoors. She didn’t know how anyone could live anywhere but the Pacific Northwest.
“Roger must like you,” Austin said, eyeing the pinecone.
“That’s sweet.” Hope tucked the pinecone back into her shoe for now. Then she noticed the nutcrackers. They were positioned at either side of the door. They looked fantastic. She beamed. “Roger must like Christmas.”
“Yvette doesn’t.” Austin headed for the nutcrackers.
“Leave them,” Hope said. “If she doesn’t like it, I’ll deal with the fallout.”
“Suit yourself.” He headed back to his truck. “Good luck.”
“You’re leaving?” She didn’t mean to sound so panicked, but the thought of going into the house alone felt like breaking and entering. She’d gotten so used to Austin in such a short period of time.
Austin gave her a reassuring smile. “I live right next door.” He pointed to his left. All Hope could see was a parade of trees.
She smiled. “Thank you. For everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”
“You’ll be all right. The key is under the mat.” She glanced down. A faded mat said: WELCOME. She lifted it up and sure enough there was a key. Iron security gate with a numeric PIN, yet there was still a key under the mat. She laughed at the irony. Austin had his back to her as he headed for his truck.
“I’ll see you later?” Hope called after him.
Austin turned, then stared at her with a grin that was slow to develop, but he nailed the landing. “Going to miss me?”
Heat flushed through Hope and she felt like a child who had just been caught doing something she shouldn’t be doing. As crazy as it sounded to her, she felt like she missed him already. She hadn’t once felt like this with Michael. “No, I just assumed—”
“I’m just teasing. I will definitely see you later.” Their eyes locked and a feeling of joy spread through her. Up until now she’d had limited experience with lust at first sight. At the end of the day, there was this mysterious thing called chemistry, and she’d finally met someone who made her spark just looking at her. He broke eye contact first, gave her a nod, got in his truck, and backed out. The gate slid open as his truck neared. But before the gates closed, Austin began to back up. At first Hope had this crazy thought he was coming back for her, but soon she saw a flash of silver metal. An SUV was pulling in.
Hope was thrown for a second. Faith didn’t have an SUV, did she? Didn’t she say she wasn’t going to be here until closer to Christmas? The SUV had Washington plates. Faith and the kids must have flown into Seattle, picked up Joy, rented the SUV, and then pedal-to-the-metal all the way here. And both of them had been so adamant about not coming. Typical. Reverse psychology was a powerful thing. Hope bounded down the steps as the SUV pulled into the gates. Not only was Faith at the wheel, but Joy was in the passenger seat, her platinum hair shining in the winter sun. Her sisters were here. For the first time in years, the Garland Girls were going to be together for Christmas.
CHAPTER 12
Hope had looked forward to this day for so long, yet there was too much to take in at once. Her grandmother standing on the porch, tall and regal with a look that could only be interpreted as harsh, Joy and Harrison tumbling out of the van, a porcelain hand entwined with one the color of caramel, their laughter ringing out into the mountain air, and Faith frozen in the driver’s seat, gripping the wheel as if she was terrified to let go. Joy and Harrison planted their feet on the ground, smiling and looking around as if they were expecting imaginary paparazzi to jump out from behind the evergreens to snap their photo.
Faith was now on her cell phone. Hope felt the first stab of disappointment. Who was she calling? Couldn’t it wait? She could at least get out and say hello to her sister. Was common courtesy too much to expect? Brittany and Josh jumped out next, loaded down with backpacks and each carrying an iPad. Nobody moved, and Hope didn’t know where to turn first, so she shouted hello and headed for Joy, arms thrown open. Joy let go of Harrison’s hand and looked at Hope, but she didn’t return any signal that she wanted to hug, forcing Hope to throw her arms around her little sister’s stiff body. She smelled slightly musty. Most likely pot, or maybe she hadn’t showered in a few days, or maybe she was still using that natural stone deodorant, or all three, and what had happened to her sweet baby sister? If Hope had taken a different approach with her after Faith fled, would things be different now? The first few months after Faith was gone Joy slept in Hope’s bed. Every night Hope would tell her as many stories as she wanted to hear until she fell asleep. Mostly stories about how soon they would be back with Faith. Or maybe they would go to California to live with her and take care of Faith’s baby too.
“Why doesn’t she come back?” Joy would ask. “The baby can sleep in my room.”
“She’ll come back,” Hope would say. “You’ll see.” But she never did. Maybe Joy blamed Hope. Or maybe it was just life. Life had a way of taking away the people you loved. But they were here now and Hope was determined to make the best of it.
“Why aren’t you hugging me back?” Hope knew she sounded hurt, almost as if she was pouting, and it wasn’t the way she wanted to start things off.
“I only hug trees,” Joy said.
“And me,” Harrison said with a bright grin. His teeth were so white and so straight that Hope found herself staring at them, almost mesmerized.
“My uncle is a dentist,” Harrison said with a wink.
Hope stepped out of the embrace, turned to Harrison, and held out her hand. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too,” Harrison said with enthusiasm. “I forgot to thank you for the pizza.” Joy rolled her eyes. Hope ignored the eye roll and turned to her niece and nephew. Oh, they were growing up so fast. Brittany was a lovely girl with long, shiny chestnut hair, freckles on her nose, and bright hazel eyes, just like Faith. Josh was taller than Hope now, and lanky. He had Stephen’s sandy hair and intense blue eyes. Brittany was ten now and Josh was fifteen—almost all grown up. Where did all the years go? Hope enveloped Brittany in a hug. Thankfully her niece didn’t limit her affection to trees and hugged her back. She smelled wonderful, her hair like strawberries. Then she hugged Josh, who was a little shy, but at least put his unwilling arms around her and halfheartedly patted her back.
“Faith?” Hope called. Faith held up one finger, still talking on the phone. Brittany and Josh exchanged a knowing look. Hardly five minutes had passed and everyone was silently sharing secrets with each other, leaving Hope to feel like the odd man out. That was okay. It had been awhile. They just had to get the cobwebs out. A few weeks in the mountain air would do them all wonders.
Speaking of wonders. She glanced around for Austin, but he was gone. She hadn’t even noticed him leaving. The dog was gone again too. She was pretty sure Austin wouldn’t take Mr. Jingles, especially since he didn’t have his food, so he must have wandered off again. Her sisters were probably giving off a bad mood scent. She wondered if he missed his owner. Probably more than her sisters missed her.
“What’s Granny like?” Joy asked, sidling up to Hope and lowering her voice.
Hope snuck a glance to the porch, where their grandmother was standing like a statue. She hadn’t made one move to greet them. “Haven’t met her yet. She was napping.” They both turned to Yvette, who as they watched bent over to pick up the pinecone next to Hope’s shoes. She held it up, dangling it from her fingers as if she had a rat by the tail. Then she tossed it out into the yard. Hope winced. She loved that pinecone. She’d get it later. Why were all her relatives so surly? She made her way up to the porch and stood at the base of the steps looking up to her grandmother.
“Hello,” she said. “I’m Hope.”
“Are those your shoes?” Yvette pointed to Hope’s sneakers.
“They sure are,” Hope said. Yvette glared at them. Hope was relieved Austin wasn’t here to say I told you so. “I can bring them inside.”
“Shoes go in the mudroom.” Bossy and exacting. Faith definitely got the grandmother gene.
“Got it,” Hope said. “Shoes and dog in the mudroom.”
“Dog?” Yvette looked around, startled.
“Mr. Jingles,” Hope said. “Austin said you were a dog lover.”
“I’m no such thing.” Yvette x-rayed Hope and Joy with her eyes. “The dog can live in the barn.” Hope bit her tongue. The dog wasn’t going to live in the barn, but it was too soon for a fight. Yvette turned to the nutcrackers. “What on God’s green earth are they?”
“They’re nutcrackers,�
� Hope said.
“I know what they are,” Yvette said.
“Then why did you ask?” Joy piped in.
Yvette narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “Why are they here?”
Hope couldn’t believe they were arguing about little wooden men. “They’re a gift. From the shop in town.”
“Why would the shop in town buy me a gift?” Yvette barked.
“No, I bought them. For you.”
“Put them in the mudroom,” Yvette said. Yvette stared at Hope until she picked up the nutcrackers. She held one under each arm, feeling like an idiot. Joy grinned.
Harrison trudged up the steps loaded down with what appeared to be everyone’s luggage.
“You brought your own bellboy?” Yvette said, giving Harrison the eye.
Not only was their grandmother surly, she was a racist. This visit wasn’t going to last. Hope glanced at Harrison, who still sported a grin. “This is Harrison. Joy’s boyfriend.”
“My friend, my business partner, and my lover,” Joy said.
“And sometimes the bellboy,” he said, dropping the bags in his right arm and holding his hand out. Yvette just looked at it.
“Are you a racist, Granny?” Joy asked.
She’s braver than me, Hope thought. She says the things I only dare to think.
“She’s fine,” Harrison said. “Mrs. G and I will work it out.”
“She won’t shake your hand,” Joy said. “Because you’re black.”
“That’s not true.” Yvette stuck her hand out. It trembled violently. “Don’t squeeze too hard,” she said. “I’m dying.” Hope left the porch to see what was taking Brittany and Josh so long. She set the nutcrackers down on the steps.
“No,” Yvette said.
Hope sighed, picked up the nutcrackers, and headed for Faith’s SUV. She yanked open the back door and threw the nutcrackers inside. Faith was still yakking on the phone. Unbelievably rude.
“Get out and say hello,” Hope yelled. Faith gave her the middle finger. Hope slammed the door. And to all a good night.
Hope turned to see her niece and nephew standing stock-still, looking left and right as if expecting an imminent attack. Brittany finally made eye contact. Hope smiled, then gave a head nod toward Faith. “Who is she talking to?” Hope asked, making a concerted effort to sound chipper.