Maybe This Christmas

by Sarah Morgan

  She hadn’t looked beneath the surface, and nothing on the surface had hinted at the presence of deep feelings.

  She’d run away when she should have stood her ground.

  “We can’t change the way we behaved in the past, Janet, but we choose how to behave in the future. I don’t know why you’re here, but I hope it’s because you care about Jess and want to see her. Otherwise, you have no business coming here and trying to unsettle a family.”

  “He’s not your family. And no matter how much you kid yourself people can change, he is never going to. That’s the difference between us. I see reality, and you live in a dream world.”

  “I was talking about Tyler and Jess,” Brenna said, “and the difference between us is that I don’t want him to change and never have. I love him for who he is, and my relationship with him is between me and him, no one else.” She stopped because two broad-shouldered men appeared behind Janet.

  “Janet?” Jackson’s voice was hard, the expression on his face one that Brenna had never seen before in all the years she’d known him. “Get in your car and drive back to wherever you were staying last night. I’ll make sure Tyler knows you were here.”

  Janet turned her head, glanced between Sean and Jackson and then turned back to Brenna. “I want to see my daughter.”

  Brenna heard a sound behind her, and then Jess stepped forward.

  How much had she heard?

  “I don’t know why you’re here, Mom.” Jess stood close to Brenna. “You’ve told everyone I ruined your life, how having me was the worst thing that happened to you, how you wish I’d never been born. I wish you’d let me live here with him right from the start, but you didn’t, and there was nothing I could do about that, but I’m older now, and I can make that decision for myself.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  “Dad is going to make sure I stay here. He promised.”

  “I hate to disappoint you, but your father doesn’t have much practice in keeping promises.”

  “He’ll keep this one.”

  “And I’ll help him keep it,” Sean said pleasantly, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing a number. “In the meantime, I think this might be a good time to leave. I see our chief of police arriving, and rumor has it his life has been pretty boring lately. He might be glad of some entertainment.”

  * * *

  “SHE WAS HERE and now she’s gone?” White-faced, Elizabeth sank onto the chair and looked at her sons.

  “Yeah, she’s gone.” Jackson looked up from his phone. “Sean has spoken to a lawyer friend. He’s going to get it sorted out. Don’t ask me the details.”

  “Don’t ask me the details, either. My knowledge of law comes from watching a few episodes of The Good Wife.” Sean yawned. “I fix broken legs.”

  Jackson looked at him. “It crossed my mind to put some business your way.”

  A ghost of a smile flickered across Sean’s mouth. “Crossed my mind, too, but generally I’m better at fixing them than breaking them.”

  The door crashed open, and Tyler strode into the kitchen without removing his boots. He had snow on his shoulders, and his hair was wet. “What the hell has been going on?” He saw Alice wince and gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, Grams. Janet was here? I didn’t know she was coming back or I’d have been here. I’m guessing she knew that.”

  Jackson slid his phone back into his pocket. “I think she chose her moment carefully.”

  “How did you know she was there?”

  “Jess texted us both when she showed up at the door.”

  “She called and texted me, too, but I was up on the mountain with no signal, and by the time I got her text it was too late to help. Thanks for sorting Janet out.”

  “We didn’t sort her out. Brenna did that.”

  “Brenna?”

  “Yeah, Brenna. You don’t ever want to make her mad, I can tell you that.” Sean gave a half smile. “You should have seen her, standing on the doorstep, letting rip. It was at least five minutes before either of them noticed us. Even Ash looked nervous.”

  Tyler looked dazed. “Brenna let rip? But she never said a word to Janet in the past.”

  “Then I’m guessing she’d been storing them up because she was throwing out plenty of words today. And they were very well-chosen words, most of them relating to the quality of Janet’s parenting skills.”

  “Was she upset?”

  “Janet? Not visibly, but she’s a cold fish. Nothing upsets her.”

  “Not Janet—” Tyler frowned impatiently “—Brenna.”

  “Angry,” Jackson said slowly. “She was angry. And then Jess came down and said she didn’t want to see Janet anymore and that you’d promised to fix it.”

  Alice made a distressed sound but Tyler had his gaze fixed on his brother.

  “And what did Janet say?”

  “That you’d never kept a promise in your life.”

  A muscle flickered in Tyler’s jaw. “So this lawyer friend of yours—” he looked at Sean “—can he fix it? Because if he can’t, we need to find someone who can.”

  “I trust him. You can talk to him direct.”

  “I’ll do that.” Tyler unzipped his jacket, sending snow flying onto the floor. “Are they both back at the house?”

  “No. I think Brenna took Jess skiing.”

  It made sense to him. Whenever life had been hard, Brenna took refuge outdoors. It was the place she went to heal and recover, and it was typical of her that she would have taken his daughter with her.

  * * *

  “I WISH I COULD ski like you.” Jess watched as Brenna carved another turn to demonstrate her point.

  “You’re going to be better than me.”

  “Never.”

  “I mean it, Jess.” Brenna leaned on her poles, staring into the distance. Jess gave her a worried look.

  “Are you upset about what happened with my mom?”

  Was she?

  She tested her feelings, hunted for the sense of panic and misery that was never far from the surface when Janet’s name was mentioned, but it had gone.

  She’d faced something that terrified her and survived. Not only survived, she’d triumphed. She’d said what needed to be said and saying it had healed wounds she’d thought could never be healed. She felt different.

  “Of course I was upset that she was there, but I think the two of us handled it.”

  “You were awesome. Do you really think she was in love with my dad?”

  “I don’t know. Actually, yes, I think she was. It would explain a lot.” Brenna drew a pattern on the snow with her ski pole. “How do you feel about it all? Be honest with me.”

  “I want to stay here with Dad, and I’m terrified she might try and take me away to spite him.”

  “That isn’t going to happen, Jess.”

  “Are you sure?” There was uncertainty in her eyes. “Because if she does I’ll snowboard down the stairs every day until she lets me come home.”

  Home.

  Snow Crystal.

  Brenna glanced around her, breathing in the smell of winter. All around her the wide, smooth ski runs dissected the snowy forest like white satin ribbons tied around a beautifully wrapped gift.

  “You have real talent. You’re going to have to work hard, but you’re going to do well.”

  “I’ll work hard. And with both you and Dad training me, I will have improved by spring.”

  Would she still be here in the spring?

  Janet was gone, but her words echoed in Brenna’s head, refusing to be silenced.

  He is never going to say “I love you.”

  It was probably the only thing she and Janet had ever agreed on, and she realized she had a decision to make.

 
It wasn’t fair to anyone for her to carry on living here, existing on a diet of hope and nothing else.

  “Do you know what I think? I think we should drive home via the store, buy every decoration Ellen Kelly has left on the shelf and turn Lake House into a grotto.” She was relieved to see Jess smile.

  “Dad would die. It almost killed him putting up a Christmas tree.”

  Brenna scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Jess. “I think it’s especially important to decorate his bedroom. With ribbons and garlands.”

  “And glitter. And maybe we could buy a small tree for his room.” Jess scooped up snow and threw it back at Brenna, who ducked and skied fast down to the bottom of the mountain.

  If this was going to be the last Christmas she spent with Tyler and Jess, she was going to make it a Christmas to remember.

  * * *

  TYLER OPENED THE DOOR to Lake House, fell over Jess’s boots and was assaulted by both dogs.

  Feeling as tense as he used to before a big race, he was relieved to hear laughter coming from the living room.

  “No way. We can’t.” That was Jess. “Dad will kill us. Seriously. We’ll have to move in with Grandma, or maybe even go to the North Pole and live with Santa.”

  Tyler smiled. Jess may be a teenager, but there were still moments when she was closer to being a child. Wondering what Brenna had done to make his daughter laugh on a day that must have been filled with stress and tension, he pushed open the door and stopped, his vision assaulted by what appeared to be a million tiny lights twisted around the beams and across the windows.

  “What the—?”

  “Is this straight?” Brenna was balanced precariously on top of a ladder, trying to fix another garland. “Is it the same height as the other one?” As she reached across, the ladder shifted, and Tyler crossed the room in two strides. “Come down.” Steadying the ladder, he spoke between his teeth. “I’ll do it.”

  “Don’t be sexist. I’m quite capable of fixing lights and garlands.”

  “She is.” Jess handed up another garland. “She’s done all the others. Isn’t it beautiful? We decided to make it extra Christmassy this year.”

  “So I see.” Still holding the ladder tightly, Tyler scanned his living room. “It looks like a fairy grotto.”

  And, more to the point, his daughter looked happy.

  If the meeting with her mother had unsettled her, there was no sign of it.

  “Isn’t it cool? Brenna bought every single decoration Ellen Kelly had in the store. Her eyes were almost popping out of her head.”

  Tyler looked up and met Brenna’s gaze. “You hate clutter.”

  “This isn’t clutter. It’s Christmas.” She secured the final garland and descended nimbly. “So what do you think?”

  Tyler refrained from pointing out that with all the fairy lights and tinsel, there was a strong chance he’d need to wear his sunglasses indoors. “I think it’s great.”

  “Santa needs to know which house to call at.” Jess pushed a pair of toy antlers onto a long-suffering Luna. “There. She’s my reindog. Where have you been, Dad? We were expecting you back hours ago.”

  Tyler stood for a moment, wishing he could postpone the conversation. He didn’t want to be the one to ruin the happy moment. “I had a few things to do.”

  The laughter in Jess’s face was replaced by anxiety. “You saw Mom?”

  “Yes. We had a conversation. A conversation that was long overdue.”

  “Does she want me to go back with her?” Jess wrapped her arms around Luna. “She came here.”

  “I know. Uncle Jackson told me everything. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”

  “Brenna was awesome.”

  “She’s always awesome.” Ash sprang at him, and Tyler pushed him down, his gaze fixed on Brenna. “Thank you for what you did.”

  “I didn’t do anything. Simply had a conversation that was also overdue.”

  Was it his imagination, or was there something different about her? She radiated a confidence that he normally only saw when they were out on the mountain, and she was smiling as she gathered up branches of mistletoe from a pile on the floor. “So how did the conversation go?”

  “Better than I was expecting.” He turned his attention back to Jess. “She doesn’t want you to go back with her. That’s all sorted. You’re living here with us, and that isn’t going to change. She’s flying back tomorrow afternoon, but she has a gift for you, and she wants to give it to you in person. She wants to talk to you. I told her I’d ask you. If you’d rather not, that’s not a problem. I’ll fix it so you don’t have to see her.”

  Jess stroked Luna’s fur. “Why didn’t she give it to me this morning?”

  “I think she had a lot of things to work through in her head.”

  “And she’s done that?”

  “I think she’s taken a step. Talking to Brenna gave her a few things to think about.” He wondered what they’d said to each other. What truths had been exchanged that might explain the new, subdued Janet he’d talked to that afternoon?

  “Where would we meet her?” Jess was looking worried. “Here at the house?”

  “I thought somewhere public might be better. I suggested the café in town.”

  “Wouldn’t people gossip?”

  Tyler shrugged. “That’s not our problem.”

  “I guess not.” Jess kissed Luna on the head and took her time before answering. “Maybe we should see her. We could take Luna. She could wait outside. What do you think, Brenna?”

  “I think you should do what feels right to you.” Brenna was back on the ladder, this time hanging a large bunch of mistletoe over the kitchen door. “Don’t be late for the ice party, though!”

  “We won’t. I’m so excited. Kayla has arranged to have a big ice sculpture in the shape of a moose as a joke because Dad’s always teasing her.” Jess slapped her hand over her mouth. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that!”

  Tyler grabbed the ladder again. “I promise to look surprised.”

  “And there are going to be fireworks. And Dana is offering sled rides, and Élise is cooking amazing food then the next day is Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day! I can’t wait! Have you finished your Christmas shopping, Dad?” Her gaze slid briefly to Brenna and back to him. “Because you really need to get it done.”

  And that, he thought, was his only remaining problem.

  He had no idea what to buy Brenna.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “WE’RE FULL! NO MORE room at the inn.” Kayla danced in the snow outside the Outdoor Center and Élise rolled her eyes.

  “Me, I do not understand why you are so happy. It means we will all be too busy to open our Christmas presents.”

  “It’s fun. Tonight is going to be amazing. You should see the ice carving. Finally, I’ve met a moose that doesn’t scare me.”

  “Where is it?”

  “They’re bringing it over later. I’m tempted to throw champagne over it and lick it off. We have a fire pit, delicious food and Dana is bringing a dog team over so we can offer short sled rides into the forest. Until I moved to Vermont I thought ice was best in a margarita, but I’m rethinking that. This ice party is going to be great. If it’s a success, we’ll do it every year.”

  Brenna checked her phone. She wondered how Tyler and Jess were getting on with Janet. “I’ve spoken to the ski patrol. They’re going to do the torchlight descent before the fireworks start. I hope the weather holds for us. The tree is looking great.”

  Kayla glanced upward. The beautiful spruce twinkled with lights, and a carpet of new snow lay in deep folds around the base.

  “Jackson and Tyler hauled it over here yesterday. We’re trying to outdo Rockefeller Center.”

  “Rockefeller Cent
er doesn’t have the advantage of mountains and forest as a backdrop so I’d say you’re winning.” The cold air wrapped itself around her, and she pulled her hat out of her pocket. “I have to go. I still have things to do before tonight.”

  * * *

  “JESS? ARE YOU READY?” Tyler bellowed up the stairs and winced as Jess came thundering down, Ash and Luna at her heels. “You had the dogs in your bedroom again.”

  “I’m taking advantage of the fact you’re worried about me.” She reached up and hugged him. “Can they come to the ice party?”

  “As long as you keep them on a leash. There will be children there.”

  “They’re good with children!”

  “They behave as if they’re on drugs.”

  “Where is Brenna?”

  “She’s already there. The ski patrol is doing a torchlight descent.”

  They left the house and walked along the trail that led alongside the lake to the Outdoor Center. The snow lay deep, and the dogs pulled on the leash, following their natural instinct to run.

  “They want to pull a sled. That’s the next stage of their training. Dad, are you going to marry Brenna?”

  “What?” Tyler stumbled and almost fell. “Where did that come from?”

  “I wondered. Now that Mom is being so reasonable and all, there’s no reason not to.”

  Panic spread through him like a virus. “No need to rush, Jess. These things take time.”

  “Dad, you’ve known Brenna for about twenty-five years, which is a little scary when you think about it. How much more time do you need?”

  “Scary is the right word. I’m not great at this sort of thing. You know that.”

  “But you were the one who told me it’s okay to feel scared. That the thing that mattered was controlling it.”

  They’d reached the edge of the path, and the stillness of the winter air was disturbed by shrieks of laughter and excitement.

  Jess brightened. “I see Brenna! Come on.” She sprinted across the snow, leaving him to follow.

  The next few hours passed in a blur of winter celebration. Tourists and locals mingled together, enjoying the food and the spectacle. Dana was kept busy taking small groups for sled rides in the forest, and Élise and her team circulated with plates of warming snacks and jugs of hot mulled cider.