by Debbie Mason
Gabe stood, his eyes falling on the mountain of pillows on Mallory’s bed. He smiled at the memory of them tangled in the sheets. What he wouldn’t give to be in this bed with her again. He couldn’t think about that now though. He couldn’t give Diane anything to use against him.
“Gabe, where are you?” Mallory called out.
He grabbed the money off the dresser and headed out of her room. The last thing he’d need was to be alone with her in her bedroom. That was a temptation he didn’t think he could withstand.
“You caught me. I was going to leave you money, but I didn’t know where to hide it. Then I was afraid you wouldn’t find it,” Gabe said as he walked through the living room. He rolled his eyes at himself. He really had no game where this woman was concerned.
“I’m not taking your money. I…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah, what are you wearing?” She had on a green sweater with ropes of gold tinsel on the front and miniature Christmas balls hanging off it.
“I’m a Christmas tree.” She bent over to dig in a bag and then straightened with a lime-green sweater in her hands. “And you’re the Grinch.”
“You can’t be serious. I’m not wearing that.”
“Yes, you are.” She pushed the sweater against his chest and then handed him the bags from the floor. “And please tell me you have your decorations hidden somewhere in your house because we can’t have a Christmas-themed party with it looking the way that it does now.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “We have a Christmas tree.”
“No, what you have is a naked evergreen sitting in your living room.”
“We could just stand you up in the corner, add a strand of lights, and we’d be good,” he teased.
She didn’t laugh.
Two hours later, Gabe lay down on the couch in his living room. “You’re a slave driver, Doc. I’m exhausted.”
“Sorry, no rest for the wicked.” She reached for his hand to pull him up.
Instead, he pulled her down on top of him. His eyes locked with hers, and he couldn’t look away. He hadn’t meant to do that. It was like his hand had a mind of its own. So did other parts of his anatomy. He didn’t want to tell her why they couldn’t be more than friends and neighbors. He’d told her before. It didn’t matter how much he cared about her or wanted her in his life—it never came out right. “I called Marsha’s lawyer today.”
“That’s good. You can’t go on like this. It’s not healthy for you or the boys. It’ll be okay, Gabe. No one is going to take them from you.”
Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was a smart woman. She knew what he was trying to say without him coming out and saying it.
She didn’t look at him as she went to stand. “It’s time for you to pick up the boys.”
* * *
Gabe was ready for the kids to leave or at the very least for the games to be over.
The kids weren’t. “This is the best party, Teddy. We really like your mom. She’s fun.”
Teddy beamed and didn’t correct his friend. The little boy wasn’t the first one to mistake Mallory for Teddy’s mom.
Squeals came from across the room, and Gabe glanced to where the twins were being wrapped in toilet paper by Team Two and Team Three. Teddy’s team had already turned Brooks into a snowman using toilet paper, black construction-paper buttons, a pipe, a carrot nose, a scarf, and a hat.
The twins were distracted by something in the kitchen and hadn’t heard what Teddy’s friend had said. Gabe figured that was a good thing. Because as much as they were Mallory’s number-one fans for throwing their baby brother the best birthday party ever, he knew from experience that could change in a heartbeat.
They hadn’t even minded that their house looked like Santa’s elves were color-blind and hyped up on candy canes when they decorated. Still, as much as it gave Gabe a headache, he’d never forget Teddy’s face when he’d walked into the house. His youngest had looked like he’d died and gone to heaven and Mallory was his angel. Gabe didn’t blame him. He just wished that he didn’t feel the same way.
“Gabe,” Mallory whisper-shouted his name, waving him over to the dining room table, where she was placing the miniature gingerbread houses the kids had decorated in their personalized Christmas bags.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Oliver and Ainsley. Get in there and break them up before Cody does.” She nodded at the two teenagers standing in the kitchen feeding each other birthday cake.
“What do Oliver and Ainsley have to do with Cody?” he asked. Then he realized the couple were in the twins’ line of sight. He frowned. “Am I missing something? Why would Cody care about Ainsley and Oliver?”
Ainsley’s arrival had been a surprise. Teddy had invited their babysitter on his own. He’d invited Owen and Boyd too. At the moment, the two older men were cleaning up the hot chocolate station and pizza-making station for Mallory.
“You’re not serious, are you? You didn’t realize Dylan has a crush on Ainsley?”
“No. Jeezus, Doc, he’s ten, and she’s sixteen.”
“As if you weren’t attracted to older girls at that age.” She glanced into the kitchen. “But as much as I don’t want Dylan’s feelings hurt, I’m more concerned that my son is hitting on Dirk McFee’s girlfriend.”
“No worries there,” Abby said from where she sat on the floor with Bella, who was entertaining Teddy and his team. Unbeknownst to Gabe, Teddy had also extended an invite to Abby. “I heard through the grapevine that Ainsley broke up with Dirk last week.”
Mallory gasped. “I knew Oliver wasn’t telling me the truth about his black eye. He said he got it during football practice, and I bet I know exactly who gave it to him.” She looked at Gabe. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“About where he got the black eye? Yeah, but he handled it, Doc. He’s…Oh, hell,” he said as Cody ran toward the kitchen with the toilet paper unraveling and the members of Team Three yelling at him.
Gabe sprinted for the kitchen but he was two seconds too late. Cody had launched himself at Oliver. “Okay, that’s enough. Break it up, boys.”
Oliver did as he asked, dropping his hands to his sides. Which gave Cody the perfect opportunity to punch Oliver in the nose. Gabe suspected that his son was angry not only on his brother’s behalf. Lately, the twins, especially Cody, had been griping about how much time Gabe spent with Mallory’s sons. Of course Diane had latched on to their jealousy and stirred the pot.
“You little brat—you broke my nose!” Oliver said, looking at Gabe as if he’d betrayed him.
All hell broke loose then. Little girls were crying at the sight of blood, Teddy was crying because his brother had hurt Oliver and ruined his party, and Ainsley was crying and saying how it was all her fault. When Oliver went to comfort her, Dylan launched himself across the kitchen in full snowman gear, although he lost the pipe and carrot nose along the way.
“My brother is not a little brat. You’re a big butthead!” Dylan cried as he charged Oliver.
With an arm around Cody’s chest, Gabe made a grab for Dylan and got a fistful of toilet paper instead. “Owen, Boyd, I could use a hand here.”
Boyd stepped between Oliver and Dylan and got a fist in the eye for his troubles. And Owen, who’d grabbed Brooks as he ran by to join in the fray, slipped in a puddle of hot chocolate on the floor and lost his balance, bringing down Brooks, who reached out at the last second and brought down Dylan.
It took an hour to calm everyone down and to clean up the mess. Mallory had put Oliver’s nose back into place, and he was sitting on the couch with an ice pack on his face and Ainsley beside him holding his hand. The twins apologized, but it was clear from their sullen expressions that they hadn’t forgiven Oliver for poaching Dylan’s girlfriend. And it was just as clear from the way Brooks cracked his knuckles every few minutes that he hadn’t forgiven Gabe’s boys. On the other side of Oliver, Boyd sat with an ice pack on his eye and Owen sat with one on his butt.
> Beside Gabe, Mallory said, “Don’t say a word.”
“I was just going to say you throw an entertaining party.” He looked around. “Where’s Teddy?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. I thought he went to play with his presents after he said goodbye to Abby and Bella.”
Gabe leaned back. Half the presents were gone. “He probably took them to his room.” He rubbed her shoulder. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He’s used to his brothers fighting.”
“Not at his birthday party, Gabe.” She wiped up the kitchen counter. “I wanted it to be special for him.”
“Trust me, it was.” She gave him a look. “It was, and one day he’ll look back on this and laugh.”
But not right now, he thought, when he walked into Teddy’s room. “Hey, buddy.” He went to sit on the bed. “I’m sorry your brothers ruined your party.”
His youngest lifted his tear-stained face. “Were they mad because everyone was having fun?”
“No, honey.” He cursed Diane in his head. “I think they’re jealous of Oliver and Brooks.”
Anytime the boys had laughed or were roughhousing or having a good time this week, his mother-in-law had looked mortally wounded. In case they hadn’t made the connection between her offended expression and her week of mourning for their mother, she’d share with them a memory. He wouldn’t have minded her sharing memories of Lauren. In fact, he would’ve encouraged it. But Diane couldn’t share a memory without crying or bemoaning Lauren’s death. Worse, she’d use it as a way to guilt the boys into being good. Your mother would expect…Your mother wouldn’t like…
Teddy nodded, playing with the Lego set Gabe had bought him. “Dylan and Cody are buttheads.”
“Yeah, but they’re your brothers, and they love you. It’s still your birthday, you know. What could they do to make it up to you?”
“Can I ask for anything?”
“Within reason, buddy. What would make you feel better?”
“Is you marrying Mallory within reason?” he asked with a mischievous grin.
Gabe tickled him. “Good try. I asked what do your brothers have to do to make it up to you, not me. I was on my best behavior today and didn’t hit anyone.”
“You yelled at them though. Mallory didn’t. She made my friends feel better, and she fixed Oliver’s nose. Did you see her do it, Dad? It was so cool.”
“I did, and it was pretty cool.” So was she. She didn’t overreact. She took control of the situation and was able to have Teddy’s friends laughing about it before they left. He imagined she’d handled similar situations playing den mother to a bunch of unruly kids in foster care. “So, have you decided what your brothers’ punishment is?”
“Yeah. I want Mallory, Oliver, Brooks, Owen, and Boyd to stay and help us decorate the tree, and I want to play Christmas carols really loud like Mallory does, and I want to have a Christmas movie marathon.” His blue eyes twinkled. “And I want you to kiss Mallory under the mistletoe again.”
“Yes to everything but the last one. Mallory and I aren’t mad at each other, so I don’t have to make it up to her with a mistletoe kiss.” Sometimes, he really had to be more careful with what he said.
A little while later, the Buchanans and Maitlands had pulled together to make Teddy’s birthday wish come true. Christmas carols played in the background while a Mickey Christmas movie played on the big screen, and the colored lights were up and twinkling on the tree. Better yet, the four boys no longer looked like they wanted to kill each other. And to their credit, because they were obviously not into hanging ornaments on the tree; they were playing along for Teddy’s sake.
“Brooks, careful,” Oliver said as his brother reached past him, knocking the ornament he held from his fingers. It fell to the floor, and the twins gasped.
It was the Christmas ball Lauren had made with the twins just days before she’d died, and it now lay in a million pieces on the floor. Gabe’s heart broke a little in that moment, too, for himself and for his sons. Everything he’d carefully locked away, the emotions and the memories, came back to haunt him. As if it was happening right then, he saw himself arriving at the scene of the accident on his way home from work, having no idea it was his wife who lay dead on the side of the road. Hours later, kneeling in front of his little boys, gathering them in his arms as he told them that Mommy wouldn’t be home for Christmas.
And just like that, the memories flipped a switch, releasing the anger he’d kept under lock and key. “What the hell were you thinking? I told you guys to be careful. I told you no horsing around. But did you listen? Do you even care that you broke the last gift my wife gave to my sons?” he yelled at Oliver.
“Gabe, it was an accident. He didn’t mean—” Mallory began.
Gabe looked up from where he knelt on the floor, furious with her. He’d forgotten, and she was the reason that he had. “That’s all you’ve got to say? You don’t tell the kid to apologize. You don’t—”
“I understand you’re upset. But you don’t get to yell at my son, and you don’t get to yell at me.” She ushered her boys from the room. Then she turned. “Dylan, Cody, and Teddy, I’m very sorry about the ornament.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mallory arrived home from the seniors’ cookie exchange with takeout from Zia Maria’s Pizzeria and a new video game. She hoped one or the other would cheer up Oliver and Brooks. If it didn’t, she’d go get something else. She couldn’t stand to see them so sad. She glanced at the Buchanans’ house as she balanced the pizza box, soft drinks, dessert, and video game in her arms.
Christmas lights lit up their house on the outside and inside while hers was in complete and utter darkness. She was happy that Teddy, Dylan, and Cody seemed to have recovered from last night’s ordeal, but she was angry at Gabe for what he’d done to her boys. She still couldn’t believe he’d yelled at them like that or that he’d yelled at her. He’d made everything so much worse than it had to be.
She hip-checked the door to her car closed and walked to the house. It took her a minute to get the kitchen door opened, but as soon as she did, she called out to Oliver and Brooks. She was anxious to see how they were doing. She’d gotten muted responses last night and this morning when she’d tried to make conversation.
“We’re in here,” Oliver called out from the living room.
She looked up to see them both sitting on the couch, and every muscle in her body contracted. She wasn’t exactly sure why, but there was something about their familiar silent exchange that put her on alert. “I’ve got pizza from Zia Maria’s. Come and get a slice,” she said, pushing aside her worries.
“We have something we’d like to talk to you about first,” Oliver said.
This sounded bad, but the sympathetic look Brooks gave her said it was so much worse. She left her coat on and walked into the living room to sit on the edge of the chair across from them. “What is it?”
“I called Marsha. She’ll pay for me and Brooks to go back to boarding school, but only if you give the okay. You won’t have to pay for anything. She said she’ll cover everything. Can we go, Mal?”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she turned to look at the tree, blinking her eyes in an effort not to cry. “Do you want to go?” she asked, her voice so low she wondered if they heard her.
“Yeah, we just mess everything up here anyway.”
“No. No you don’t. You don’t mess up anything. What happened last night wasn’t your fault. Gabe shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“He shouldn’t have yelled at you,” Oliver said, his expression hard. “All you’ve ever done is try to make things nice for his kids.”
She’d thought she’d made things nice for them too. “Brooks, do you want to go?”
He nodded without meeting her eyes. “Yeah. We don’t fit in here.”
“I thought things were getting better,” she said, her brain scrambling for something to change their minds.
“No, it’s just getting worse.”
>
“Maybe after the Christmas break things will get better. Maybe you—”
“I know it’s hard for you to understand, but our mates are there, Mal. They miss us. We miss them.”
But what about me? she wanted to ask. “I see. You’re sure this is what you want? This is what you both want?”
They looked at each other and then nodded. “You can come visit, and we can come here and visit too,” Brooks said.
“Yes, of course.” She forced a smile. “When will you leave?”
“The twenty-eighth.” Oliver searched her face. “You’ll let us go, then? We can tell Marsha you said okay?”
“Yes. If you’re sure this is what you want.”
“Brilliant. Thanks, Mal. Thanks so much,” Oliver said, and came over to give her a quick hug. It took everything she had to let him go. To let them both go.
“I guess we should celebrate,” she said, pushing off the chair. She surreptitiously wiped away tears as she hurried to the kitchen. “I just remembered,” she called to them. “Abby invited me to a special event tonight. Would you guys mind if I went?”
“No, go ahead. We’re going to FaceTime with our mates and let them know the good news.”
* * *
Mallory walked through the woods with Abby.
“I’m glad you changed your mind,” Abby said. She’d left Wolf and Bella at the farm with Hunter. “This will be good for you. It feels kind of serendipitous.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Winter Solstice is sometimes referred to as the dark night of the soul. Or the inner world reflecting our outer world.”
“Dark night of the soul. It pretty much sums up how I feel.”
Abby took her hand. “Just remember, you’re not alone. You have me, and you have Sadie, and you have your dad and Owen. And then there’s all the seniors at the center. You have so many people who love you, Mal.”
Other than Abby and Sadie, it didn’t feel that way. “I know, and I’m very grateful.” Up ahead, she heard the women’s voices, and she hung back. “Are you sure they don’t mind you bringing a guest?”