His Holiday Family

by Margaret Daley

  “Ah, Amanda, the one who decorated his card with glitter and hearts.”

  “I thought that might be her.”

  Her mother climbed up on the coffee table, nodding to Gideon. He gave a loud whistle and the room quieted, except for a few whispers and giggles. “Mayor Thomas has a few words to say before we cut the cakes.”

  Kathleen leaned toward Gideon again, taking in a whiff of his lime aftershave lotion. She immediately thought of her favorite pie—key lime. “I thought there was only one.”

  “When your mother saw all the people showing up, she had me go buy a couple more, along with some drinks and ice cream.”

  “You’d think this was a birthday party.”

  “The ice cream was Jared’s idea. He went with me. Guess what kind I have.”

  “Vanilla.”

  “Yep. I tried to talk him into chocolate, but he told me he didn’t like chocolate. What kid doesn’t?”

  “My son. He’s never been a big fan of it. But give him a bowl of ice cream, so long as it isn’t chocolate, and it will be gone in no time. Takes after his mother.”

  “What flavor do you like?”

  “Cookie dough. I never got many cookies baked because I ate half of the dough. Got sick a couple of times when I ate too much. My mother didn’t take pity on me. How about you?”

  “Chocolate. I do like chocolate in any form.”

  One side of his mouth quirked into a grin that flipped her stomach. He was totally focused on her, and her knees went weak. She gripped his arm to steady herself. “Sorry. I haven’t slept much the past week. You know it isn’t easy sleeping in a hospital unless they knock you out. Too much noise and people.”

  “Yeah, you would have thought you had that figured out since you work in one.”

  “Didn’t think about it until I had to stay five nights. When my husband was in the hospital, he didn’t want me to, and I needed to be home with the kids.”

  The mayor made his way to the sturdy coffee table and joined her mother. “This is a great time for me to ask Ruth if she will run for my office. Don’t y’all think she should?”

  Her mother blushed beet red. “When you said you had a few words to share with the crowd, I didn’t think it was about me running.”

  “I’ve been hearing rumors and I thought it was time I tried to talk you into running for mayor.”

  Everyone cheered, Kip and Jared the loudest with Gideon whistling.

  “See. They all want you to be our next mayor.”

  “I have no experience.”

  “Have you lived in Hope all your life?” the mayor asked her mother.

  She nodded.

  “You know everything about Hope and probably just about everyone in town. C’mon, let’s hear it for Ruth as our next mayor.”

  Ruth raised her hands to calm the roar of approval. “Why don’t you run again?”

  “Because I’ve been mayor for eight years, and it’s my time to step down. I’m retiring.”

  “I’ve already retired from one job. I don’t need a second one.”

  “You might not, but the town needs someone who cares. That’s you, Ruth. Look at the Thanksgiving feast you organized.”

  “We had to postpone it because of the accident.”

  “Just the celebration part. The food was distributed to the people who needed it.” Mayor Robert Thomas took her mother’s hand. “We’ve been friends for a long time. Since elementary school. You’re what this town needs now. Promise me you’ll think about it.”

  “I—I—” Her mother stared down at their clasped hands. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “All I’m asking is you think about it.” The mayor’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.

  “He knows he’s got my mom,” Kathleen whispered to Gideon in the silence that enveloped the room. She lowered her voice even more and bent close to Gideon, saying, “I heard that once they were an item before my dad came on the scene. You would think he had proposed to Mom in front of the neighborhood the way she is acting.”

  Gideon laughed, breaking the quiet. Suddenly, the room was filled with chatter and cheers.

  Her mother extracted her hand from the mayor’s and stepped down from the table.

  Robert Thomas raised his arms and signaled for silence. “My other reason for being here is to welcome Kip Hart home from the hospital. His accident only reinforces how cautious we need to be. We’re still discovering all the effects of the hurricane on Hope. We don’t want any more children hurt.”

  Jared took Kip’s arm and tugged him through the crowd toward the dining room. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starved. Time for cake and ice cream.”

  A sprinkle of laughter rippled through the group, neighbors parting to allow Jared and Kip through.

  “They know it’s dangerous to get in the way of a child and cake and ice cream.” Practically plastered against Gideon, Kathleen moved away from him. She released a long, slow breath. “I’d better go rescue Miss Alice and Mom.”

  “Those ladies don’t need rescuing.” He grasped her hand and drew her toward the front door. “You need to rest.”

  Before she could say anything, Gideon had her on the porch and sitting in a white wicker chair. “What just happened?”

  “I’m rescuing you. You’re tired. The past week has worn you down.”

  She cupped her face. “I look that bad?”

  “No, but I can tell something is wrong. Did the doctor say something today?”

  She shook her head, wishing that she didn’t always have a hard time hiding her feelings. “Kip will be fine in time. By Christmas he’ll probably be chasing Jared around the house.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “Quit being so perceptive.”

  “I haven’t been accused of that before.”

  “It’s really nothing. There is just so much to do. I can’t believe Christmas is weeks away. I started thinking of all I need to do, and I got tired.”

  He scrutinized her for a long moment, his eyes boring into her as if he were trying to read her thoughts.

  She stiffened, determined not to squirm under his probing.

  “As you know, I have a fairly normal schedule until after I see the doctor on December 15th, so what can I do to help you?”

  “You’ve already done enough.”

  “That’s not the point. The point is you need help. How can I help you?”

  Don’t press me about what’s wrong. She couldn’t tell him she was even more in debt than before in spite of having health insurance. Twenty percent of thousands was still a lot of money—money she didn’t have. She would have to figure out something when she wasn’t so exhausted.

  She had to say something to Gideon. The expectant look on his face told her he wouldn’t let it go until she did. “You could come tonight and help us decorate the tree. I don’t think Jared will rest until the tree is fully up. We usually do it Thanksgiving weekend. One of our long-standing traditions.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Well, it’s a start. If I can think of anything else, I’ll be sure to say something. Truthfully, you being here is nice.”

  “Nice?” His smile grew. “I guess that is better than okay.”

  His infectious grin spread through her. “That’s all you’re gonna get. We’d better get back inside. I want some of that ice cream. I know where my mom’s stash of caramel sauce is. That goes great with vanilla ice cream.” As she pushed to her feet, she prayed that Gideon dropped the subject of what was wrong. Her problems were hers—not his.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Mom, where’s the hot chocolate?” Kip sat on the couch putting hooks on the ornaments.

  “Hot chocolate? You want that? It’s fifty-eight degrees outside.” Kathleen took another Christmas ball from her son and found a space on the eight-foot artificial tree.

  “Yeah, it’s a tradition. We’ve done it forever.”

  “That was in Denver where it’s cold.”

&nbs
p; “Please.”

  “I don’t have the ingredients for hot chocolate.” Her mother handed a homemade decoration, one Kathleen had made in grade school, to Jared to place near the top of the tree.

  He climbed the stepladder and reached up to hang the ornament on the fake pine. “You can go get some. I’m with Kip. We can’t decorate the tree without hot chocolate.”

  Kathleen peered at the nearly finished work of chaos standing in front of the picture window in the living room.

  “I’ll go get it. What do you need?” Gideon asked.

  “Tell you what. We’ll take a break. You need to rest, Kip. Gideon and I will go to the store and get the ingredients. Then after we’ve had our hot chocolate, we’ll finish the tree.”

  “I’m on a roll. I don’t need to rest.” Jared hooked another ball on the same limb as two others. The artificial limb drooped.

  Ruth sat in a chair near the tree. “Tell you what, Jared. Why don’t you go see if Miss Alice would like to share some hot chocolate and leftover cake with us?”

  Kip laid his head on a sofa pillow and closed his eyes. “Hurry back.”

  Jared went out the front door with Gideon and Kathleen and raced across the lawn to Miss Alice’s.

  “Let’s take my car. It’s right here.” Kathleen dug into her purse and retrieved her keys, then tossed them to Gideon. “I’ll even let you drive.”

  When he tried to start the vehicle, a loud cranking sound echoed through the interior, grating on her already frazzled nerves. She held her breath when he attempted it a second time. Dead. Now what?

  “I don’t think it’s going to turn over this time.” Still, Gideon turned the key in the ignition again.

  She heard nothing but the choking noise of a dying car. She didn’t have any extra money—not for Christmas, not for the hospital and certainly not for car repairs.

  “Let me get my Jeep and use that. Pete knows about cars, and I’ll have him come over and take a look. It could be something simple he can fix.” He opened the door. With the interior light shining in the darkness, he angled toward her. “Don’t worry about it tonight. We’ll make hot chocolate and sit around and pretend we are in front of a fire.”

  Tears tightened her throat. Don’t cry. Don’t ruin this evening. It wouldn’t change the fact that the car would need an infusion of cash to get running.

  Gideon sat there, his gaze fixed on her. “Are you okay?”

  Her emotions screamed for release. She wanted to rile, to yell, to cry. “Fine,” she said. Averting her face, she fumbled with the handle to open her door.

  His hand on her shoulder compelled her to shift toward him. “I thought so earlier. Something is wrong. Sometimes talking about it helps.”

  “No, it won’t. I’m tired. That’s all. Don’t make it out to be something it isn’t. Lately a few things have gone wrong. Haven’t you had one thing too many happen to you and you just want to give up?”

  “Sure, but Kip is on the mend and the town will recover.”

  Tears crowded her eyes. Why couldn’t her body do what she wanted? Frustrated, she balled her hands, fingernails digging into her palms. “I’ll be much better tomorrow after a good night sleeping in my own bed. Hospital cots aren’t the best place to sleep.” She hurriedly thrust open the passenger door and exited before he asked any more probing questions. The money was her problem, and she’d never been comfortable sharing her problems with others. She’d learned in her marriage to keep them to herself.

  Standing back in the dining room doorway, Gideon finished the last sip of his delicious second cup of hot chocolate, watching the last of the decorations being put on the tree by Kip, Kathleen, Jared and Ruth.

  “I declare that is the most unusual Christmas tree I’ve seen in a long time. There is a pine tree under all those ornaments, isn’t there?” Miss Alice staked her claim on the chair with the stool in the living room.

  “Somewhere under there,” Ruth said with a laugh, moving back to get a good look at the overall picture. “We do have a lot of decorations, an accumulation of many years of collecting Christmas memories.”

  “Jared, you might go a little to the left then reach up a few inches. There’s one blank space left without anything on it.” Miss Alice pointed toward an area on the tree.

  “Oh, yeah, I see. Thanks.” On the stepladder, Jared glanced over his shoulder at Miss Alice at the same time he leaned to the side.

  The child wobbled. Jared flapped his arms to get his balance. The sequined ball went flying across the room as he finally grabbed hold of the nearest object—the Christmas pine—to steady himself on the ladder. But instead, he kept plunging downward to the floor with the tree tumbling with him.

  Gideon shot forward but all he caught was air. He looked down. Jared lay in the middle of a mountain of ornaments, some broken, with some green pine poking out. The look of confusion on the child’s face evolved into horror as he took in what happened. His eyes became round like perfectly drawn circles.

  There was nothing but complete silence for a few seconds until Jared struggled to get up and crushed several more decorations under him. Gideon offered the child his hand, which he took. Gideon lifted him free of the mess and set him a couple of feet away.

  Jared opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. He snapped it closed.

  Finally, Ruth began laughing. “Well, that is one way to weed out some of the ornaments.”

  Kip chuckled, followed by Miss Alice.

  Gideon’s attention riveted to Kathleen, who stood frozen, shock on her face.

  “Are you all right, Jared?” she finally asked, a taut thread woven through her words.

  The child nodded.

  Kathleen’s stunned expression melted into relief, and she sagged back against the windowsill.

  “I think we can salvage this.” Gideon stooped and grasped the trunk then hoisted the tree to an upright position.

  Some of the loose ornaments fell to the floor, a couple shattered among the shards of other broken ones. Gideon made sure the pine was stable, and then he backed away. “In answer to your earlier question, Miss Alice, there is a tree underneath there.”

  Kathleen shoved herself from the window ledge. “More hot chocolate anyone?”

  Everyone quickly said yes.

  “I’ll help you get it.” Gideon quickly trailed Kathleen into the kitchen while the others discussed how to clean up the mess.

  Kathleen covered the distance to the stove where a pan of hot chocolate was still on a burner. “Poor Jared. He’s going to be so upset with himself.” She slanted a look at Gideon. “Mom really did have too many ornaments, but she never would get rid of any of them. She has been collecting them from before I was born. She always insisted the boys make her something for the tree as her present every year.”

  A memory invaded his thoughts. The boxes of Christmas decorations stored in his childhood home in the attic. All burned up—gone forever. After that he hadn’t collected many—only a handful given to him by friends over the years. The small two-foot tree he put up at Christmas had a lot of bare places on it.

  As Kathleen poured the drink into the mugs, he came to her side, inches from her. The sound of laughter drifted from the living room. He smiled. “This could have been a disaster.”

  “Next year all those bare places on the tree now will be filled with new decorations. It was an accident. The topping on a difficult day. I figure I need to cut my losses and go to bed.”

  “That might not be a bad idea. I’ll help your mother clean up the mess. Go on. You’re right. This past week has been hard on you.”

  “But what about the ornaments that have to be put back on the tree?”

  “We’ll take care of it.” He captured her hands and turned her toward him. “Go. Rest. You deserve it.”

  “But this is my…”

  “What?”

  “My family. I can’t ask you to fill in for me.”

  “You aren’t asking me. I’m volunteering. No, I’m
insisting.” He cupped her chin and lifted her head so he could look into her eyes. He grazed his forefinger across the top of her cheek. “I see it there. You’re exhausted.”

  “I can’t let you do my job. This is my family.”

  “Why not let me? I’ll borrow yours for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow you’ll be better rested.”

  “You know when I agreed to decorating the tree tonight, I’d forgotten how much work it could be, especially a second time.”

  “I saw that when all you did was sink down on the windowsill and stare at your son when he fell.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t have the energy to react. He has his share of accidents, but this was a doozy. I’m glad Mom took it so well.”

  “Ruth goes with the flow.”

  “That’s something I’m still learning from her,” she said in a voice that reflected the world crashing down on her.

  He brushed his lips across hers, then urged her toward the door into the hallway. “C’mon. Off to bed with you.” He watched her walk toward the stairs, her shoulders slumped, her step slow.

  She bent over the banister to look at him. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  As she disappeared from his view, he remembered bits and pieces of their interaction throughout the day. Something was wrong. Kip’s accident had been traumatic, but there was something else going on with Kathleen. He’d given her several opportunities to confide in him, but she hadn’t. Frustration churned his gut. He was falling for her, and she was putting up barriers between them. He needed to shore up his own walls, protect himself, but he was afraid he was too late.

  “Kip wanted to know where the hot chocolate—” With glitter sparkling in the light on his jeans and shirt, Jared paused in the entrance from the dining room and panned the kitchen. “Where’s Mom?”

  “It was past her bedtime.”

  “She doesn’t have one.”

  Gideon crossed to the tray with the full mugs and picked it up. “She was tired, and I told her I would make sure everything was cleaned up from your little disaster.”

  Jared yawned. “You know, I’m tired, too. I think I’ll go to bed—after my hot chocolate.”