by Emily March
But when he emerged into civilization once again, his phone showed no missed calls, no voice mails. No nothing. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. “What the hell, Reilly’s Mom?”
At the airport, he kept the phone in his jacket pocket when he turned in his rental car. He held it in his hand as he checked his luggage and stood in the security line. At the restaurant near his gate, he set the phone on the bar as he ordered and drank a beer. Time ticked by.
Ten minutes before he was due to board, he threw in the towel and hit redial. It rang twice, but when the call connected, the voice on the other end wasn’t Reilly or his mother. The canned recording said, “The number you have reached is no longer in service.”
He called again, this time dialing the number himself. Same result. Next he called the phone company, fought his way through to a human being, and checked for a service outage. Nada.
They made the boarding announcement for his flight as he waited in line to inquire about a flight to Nashville. He dialed her number again. “The number you have reached is no longer in service.”
Dammit. Temper churned inside him. Why? If she didn’t want Reilly to talk to him again, the least she could have done was call him and explain!
But that didn’t make sense. Reilly knew his number. Reilly could call him from any phone. Why would she disconnect—
The stalker. Oh holy hell.
“Final call for flight three forty-seven to LAX.”
Devin stared at his boarding pass and rubbed the back of his neck. What the heck did he think he could do? He didn’t know her name. He didn’t know what she did for a living beyond work long hours. He’d talked to her four times. Spoken with Reilly only a few times more than that. It was nonsense to think she needed his help.
“Sir?” The gate attendant gave him a chiding look. “Your boarding pass?”
“Yeah. Okay.” Devin handed the slip of paper to the attendant. He didn’t need to decide this very moment. He had a layover in LA.
He made his way onto the plane and took his seat. He was feeling around for the seat belt when the burner phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but he didn’t hesitate to answer. “Hello?”
Reilly’s Mom’s voice sounded rushed and harried as she said, “You’ve been kind. It seemed only right to let you know. Reilly won’t be calling today. His arm was broken and he’s . . . sedated. So, goodbye. Good luck in Australia. Thanks for the fantasy, Santa.”
The connection went dead.
Five
One year later
At the summit of Sinner’s Prayer Pass, Jenna pulled into the observation point parking lot and said, “I need a little break before I tackle the descent. Let’s get out and explore a few minutes, shall we?”
“Okay.” Reilly unbuckled his seat belt and scrambled out of the truck. Immediately, he bent and scooped up a handful of snow, made a snowball, and threw it at the nearest target—the wood sign declaring the pass’s elevation.
“Get your gloves if you’re going to play in the snow.”
“Mo-om,” the boy protested.
She lowered her sunglasses and gave him a warning stare. He returned to the pickup and dug around for his gloves as Jenna walked to the edge of the scenic overlook. The town lay nestled at the center of the narrow valley, snuggled up against a meandering creek that flowed into a frozen lake to the south. She counted four main avenues and a dozen or so cross streets. Garlands of greenery bedecked with twinkling white lights and big red bows stretched across the intersections. Instead of one central business district, commercial structures appeared to be interspersed with residences. All over town, wood smoke rose from redbrick chimneys.
From this vantage point Eternity Springs appeared to be the quaint Christmas village in a department store display window. The only thing missing was the train.
Reilly threw a snowball over the guardrail and stood beside her to watch it fall into nothingness. After it disappeared, he stared down at the little town. “Is that it? The place where we’re spending Christmas?”
“Yes, it is. Eternity Springs.” Jenna waited, holding her breath for his reaction.
He had none. Jenna’s sigh fogged in the cold mountain air. She had high hopes that this Christmastime visit to Colorado would revive her son’s excitement over the holiday. It was just wrong for a seven-year-old boy to be so ambivalent about the holiday season.
Not that she blamed him. Even she had trouble disassociating the trappings of Christmas with assault rifles and masculine shouts. It had been a bitch of a year.
After the New Year’s Eve SWAT raid, she’d transferred to a new OB/GYN group in Memphis and hired a private nanny for Reilly and a private investigator to find the jerk who was terrorizing them. But after identifying three likely suspects—all men with professional ties to Jenna—the PI had cleared them each of any wrongdoing.
For seven months, they’d led a peaceful life. Reilly’s arm healed, and he stopped waking from nightmares in the middle of the night. Jenna settled into the new practice and found a new church for her little family to attend. Then in July, she received shipments from a fruit-of-the-month club, a jelly-of-the-month club, a razor club, a coffee club, a salsa club, and a jerky club—none of which she requested. In August, she began receiving text notifications from social media accounts she’d never created. She reengaged the private investigator, but when eighteen pizzas arrived at their front door on September the third and Reilly’s nightmares resumed, she packed up their belongings and moved to Tallahassee.
While waiting for her Florida license to be processed, she worked screening phone calls for a physician practicing concierge medicine. In October, she and Reilly had accepted an invitation to attend a Florida State football game with the divorced CPA who lived in the apartment next door. They’d had a fabulous time and that date led to numerous others. Jenna had grown fond of Joel Mercer, especially because Reilly had thrived under the man’s attention. After she’d cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the three of them, he’d invited Jenna and Reilly to join him and his children on a Disney cruise over Christmas.
Then last week, Joel had rescinded the invitation after his children pitched a fit about sharing the cruise with their dad’s girlfriend and her son. Reilly had been crushed. Jenna was steamed. Boy, had she misjudged Joel’s character. When had—
Reilly tugged on her sleeve. “Mom, look! Is that a bear?”
Alarmed, Jenna whirled around. “Where!”
“Nowhere. Scared you!” Reilly giggled, his eyes sparkling with happiness she hadn’t seen in days.
“Reilly James Stockton!” she scolded, her hands on her hips, her expression schooled into a fake scowl. His laughter was music to her soul. “You shouldn’t scare your poor mother like that.”
“You shouldn’t have been fooled. Bears are hibernating now. It would be very unusual for us to see one. Didn’t you pay attention to what the park ranger told us yesterday?”
“Obviously, I didn’t pay close enough attention.”
This morning they’d visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Reilly had peppered the ranger with questions. His enthusiasm had reassured Jenna that the decision to come to Colorado for Christmas had been a good one. After the Joel disappointment, she’d wanted to do something totally different from Disney. She’d considered taking Reilly to New York City, but decided the crowds wouldn’t suit. They lived near the beach, so that wasn’t a solution.
Then she’d recalled the praise Reilly’s Santa had given his parents’ mountain hometown. She’d recalled the wonder and yearning in her son’s voice when he told her about Santa’s favorite place to deliver toys. Santa’s favorite place is Eternity Springs, Colorado, Mom. Because it’s magical. It has family magic.
Since Jenna’s little family could use some magic, she’d picked up the phone and booked a Christmas trip to a place called Angel’s Rest Healing Center and Spa. So, here we are, Eternity Springs. I hope you’re ready to do your thing.
&n
bsp; “It’s starting to snow, Mom. Isn’t it cool?”
“Frigid.” For the next few minutes she watched her boy catch big fat snowflakes on his tongue, and hope filled her heart. Maybe this would be a good Christmas, after all.
“Better load up now, Riley. We’re running out of daylight. Plus, we need to get down off this mountain pass before it starts snowing any harder.”
Half an hour later, they were introduced to Celeste Blessing, the Angel’s Rest innkeeper. She wore her gray hair in a stylish bob. Gold filigree angel wings dangled from her ears and friendliness sparkled in her light blue eyes. Jenna liked her immediately.
“We had a last-minute cancellation so we’ve upgraded you to our best two-bedroom cottage at the same charge as your regular room. It has plenty of space for a lovely, large Christmas tree. I hope that’s all right with you?”
“That’s fabulous. Thank you.”
Celeste chattered on about holiday events in Eternity Springs as she ferried Jenna and Reilly and their luggage in a golf cart to a cottage sporting a plaque beside the door that read blitzen.
“We absolutely love Christmas here at Angel’s Rest,” Celeste explained as she led them into the cottage. “All our cottages get a special holiday name. I trust you’ll be comfortable here. Don’t hesitate to ask for anything you need.” Jenna looked around and her spirits took flight. She saw a fireplace with a mantle built for stockings, a spot in front of a picture window made for a tree, a bar separating the kitchen from the living area that cried out for a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa.
“This is fabulous. Just fabulous.”
Celeste reached into the pocket of her gold ski jacket and removed a Christmas-green ticket. “As part of your rental, you are allowed to harvest one Christmas tree from the Angel’s Rest property. If you wish to take advantage of this offer, you need to make an appointment with our Christmas tree elf. I’m sure he’ll have time to take you tomorrow. Just pick up the house phone and dial X-M-A-S.” Jenna glanced at her son. He’d gone quiet in the face of all the Christmas talk, shoved his hands into his pants pockets, and started scuffing his boots against the cabin’s wooden floor. We’ll get through this, buddy. I’m going to make this such a good holiday, that you’ll forget all about last year. “I love that idea. We’ll do that.”
“Let me recommend our local Christmas shop, Forever Christmas, for trimmings. You’ll find a tub with tree trimming basics in the downstairs closet, but I’m sure you’ll want to buy a few things to make the tree your own. At Forever Christmas you’ll find everything you need to trim the tree and deck the Blitzen halls—lights, garland, ribbons and bows, ornaments, and of course, the Twelve Dogs of Christmas. Mention you’re guests at Angel’s Rest and receive a ten percent discount.”
“Dogs?” Reilly repeated.
“Yes. Forever Christmas has an entire room dedicated to dogs. It’s called the Dog Haus. If you like dogs, you need to pay it a visit, and be sure to check out the special collection of ornaments that features the dogs of Eternity Springs. They can be purchased individually or as a set.”
“I love dogs,” Reilly said.
Celeste gave him a warm, gentle smile. “You’re going to love Eternity Springs, Reilly. I can just tell.” Glancing up at Jenna, she added, “It’s where broken hearts come to heal.”
The statement resonated through Jenna’s mind as Celeste finished the tour of the cottage and departed. It stayed with her as she fixed supper, negotiated a bedtime with Reilly, then built a fire in the fireplace and read aloud two chapters of Harry Potter before overseeing bath time and tucking the boy into bed.
She checked on him twenty minutes later and found him still rosy cheeked from his hot bath and sleeping peacefully.
Peacefully. Where broken hearts come to heal.
Jenna went to bed with a smile on her face.
The following morning, she and Reilly had breakfast in the dining room at Angel’s Rest and registered for a slot to choose and cut their own Christmas tree. They arrived at Forever Christmas shortly after it opened for the day. In short order, finally, Reilly got his Christmas on.
It was the Dog Haus that did it. Everywhere you looked, you found something related in some way to dogs. Gifts for pets, apparel for dog moms and dads. Ugly-Christmas-sweater dog costumes and chew toys and bubbling dog bone tree lights and ornaments celebrating dozens of different breeds. Reilly was in heaven, and it quickly became apparent they’d have a dog themed Christmas tree.
Reilly had been lobbying for a dog almost since he learned to talk, but a pet was one too many responsibilities for single mother Jenna. So far, she’d managed to withstand his numerous requests. But now as she watched him load up his shopping basket with dog themed trimmings, she wondered if the time had come to relent. Maybe a puppy from Santa was just the medicine her son needed to bring joy back to the holiday.
“Isn’t that little dachshund ornament cute?” asked the woman behind the checkout counter. She’d introduced herself as Claire Lancaster, the store’s owner. “It’s one of my daughter’s favorites. She loves her some wiener dogs. One of our local residents owns a dachshund whose hind end is paralyzed and the dog gets around in a wheelchair. She’s the sweetest little thing. Her name is Penny.”
“What happened to her?”
“I believe the story is that she jumped down off some lawn furniture and landed wrong. Broke her back.”
“That’s sad.”
“Yes, but it honestly doesn’t appear to bother her. She’s a happy dog.”
“Do you have an ornament that has a wheelchair?” Reilly asked.
“Not this year. I’m having one made for next year, though.” To Jenna, she said, “If you’d like to join my mailing list, you’ll be notified when they become available.”
As a rule, Jenna didn’t join mailing lists, but she couldn’t resist Reilly’s reawakened enthusiasm for Christmas. This was the most animated he’d been about the holiday since his last phone conversation with Santa. “Yes, I’ll sign up.”
While Jenna recorded an email address in a notebook Claire kept beside her register, Reilly said, “We’re going to cut down our own Christmas tree this afternoon.” “You’ll enjoy that. Do you have one of the national park permits?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Jenna answered. “It’s something arranged through the place where we’re staying.”
“You must be at Angel’s Rest.”
“Yes.” Jenna snapped her fingers. “The innkeeper told me to mention that.”
“You get a ten percent discount,” Claire said with a cheery smile. “The forest where you’ll choose your tree is acreage that Celeste recently purchased from a rancher that expands the Angel’s Rest resort. You are going to love your trip into the forest. It’s a gorgeous section of land and you have perfect weather for it. Sunshine and crisp, but not bitter, temperatures. Two inches of new snow to make everything pretty. My friend Cam Murphy handles the tour for Celeste. He takes you in a horse-drawn sleigh and it’s a beautiful ride.”
“That sounds great. Don’t you think so, Reilly?”
“I guess,” he said with a shrug, but Jenna didn’t miss the note of interest in his eyes.
On the way out of Forever Christmas, Jenna noted that Reilly slowed as they passed a Santa themed room. When he stopped and stared, she held her breath. Was he about to make a breakthrough?
He had not asked to visit Santa this year. He had never mentioned last year’s Santa calls. He certainly had never mentioned the final phone call that never happened because the Nashville SWAT team had burst through their front door, screaming and sweeping the house at gunpoint. The break in her son’s arm had healed just fine, but mentally, he still had a ways to go. He’d gone from being fearless and friendly before the SWAT team raid to fearful, suspicious, and shy especially around men. It had taken him weeks to warm up to Joel—and then that had turned out to be another kick in the teeth.
Jenna wanted her son to find the right balan
ce between caring and carelessness. She wanted him to find his sense of security. She wanted him to rediscover the innocence and magic of being a child. She prayed these ten days in Eternity Springs would help in that regard. If they could just have a normal Christmas, it would do Reilly a world of good.
To that end, she walked past him into the Santa room. She picked up a red and green plate with the words Cookies for Santa written at its center. “I think we need this. Don’t you?”
He stood there for a long moment before he shrugged. “You haven’t made cookies in a long time. I bet Santa likes chocolate chip cookies.”
“I’ll bet you’re right. Let’s do it!” Jenna carried the plate back to the register and paid for it.
She exited Forever Christmas with a spring in her step and hope in her heart.
“We sure wish you were coming home for Christmas, son,” Cam Murphy said, watching Devin’s image on the computer. Devin had called to pick his father’s brain about a recurring engine problem he’d been having on the Out-n-Back, and the two had talked shop for almost half an hour before the conversation turned to more personal matters.
“I know. I’ll miss you guys.” Because Devin had taken time away from work to come home for Brick Callahan’s wedding in October, returning two months later simply wasn’t doable. “If our foolish friends ever wise up and stop getting married, maybe we can stick to that visit schedule we planned when I decided to move home.”
“Foolish friend, my ass. Brick Callahan is so happily married, his smile can power a generator.”
“Hey. I smile plenty myself and I don’t have a ball and chain to haul around.”
Cam shook his head. Devin was the very definition of a rolling stone who never hid his lack of interest in marriage. Cam figured he’d really enjoy it the day his boy met his match. Hard heads fall harder.