“Hey, Nat.” Grant’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
“Just calling to say I made it here safe.”
“Good, good.” She heard clattering of computer keys in the background and tried not to be annoyed that he wouldn’t step back from the computer for just a minute to talk to her.
“How was your day?”
Long, distracted pause. “Um, busy.”
“Oh.”
“Hey, Nat. Someone’s calling in on the other line, and I’ve got to take this. Call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Miss you,” Natalie said, but her words were cut off when Grant switched over to the other call. He was a busy person. She knew that. It wasn’t personal. She plugged her phone into the charger and slowly cleared off the bed, her mind feeling heavier with every notebook, poster, and block she picked up. One of the things Grant always said he liked about her was how not-needy she was compared to other women he’d dated. She was independent. She didn’t need him to make tons of time for her. She understood how much his work demanded of him.
Natalie shook her hurt away, sure that she was just over-tired and over-stressed. She climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling, listening to the quiet laughter of Anne and Stan down the hall before falling into a restless, lonely sleep.
Natalie blinked away a strange dream later that night, wondering what woke her. Jimmy’s room was dark and kind of cold. She shivered and pulled the quilt higher over her shoulders. Yawning, she closed her eyes again and tried to welcome sleep back.
“Hey, sexy.” A man’s deep voice murmured close to her ear, stopping Natalie’s heart. It jump started into rapid speed when she felt someone move beside her. A man.
“Janessa!” she screamed as loud as she could. Scrambling like crazy, she kicked out of the covers. “Don’t touch me!” she yelled when he grabbed her arm, holding her in place. She moved back and forth, trying to break free, but stopped when she heard him laughing. She knew that laugh.
He held himself on his elbows above her, a wide smile stretched across his face.
“Hello, Natty.”
Natalie tried to blink away the adrenaline still rushing through her body. “Jimmy?”
“Fancy meeting you here. In my bed.”
Natalie hit him in the chest once, and then again, harder. “You scared the crap out of me. Aren’t you supposed to be at your girlfriend’s house?”
“Plans changed. I thought you’d recognize me right away.”
“You look different.” Natalie suddenly realized that she was still touching his bare chest—which felt way tighter than it used to—and pulled her hands back to her stomach. “I hate you so much right now.”
Jimmy’s deep laugh shook his whole body. “I didn’t know you were going to be here for Christmas.”
The light flicked on. “Are you okay, Nat?” Janessa asked, out of breath. Other footsteps followed and Jimmy rolled off of Natalie.
“Jimmy!” Janessa launched herself at them, steamrolling Natalie to give Jimmy a hug.
Natalie took a deep breath and wished her heart rate would slow down. She glanced at Jimmy, but looked away quickly when she realized he was only wearing blue-striped boxers.
“What are you doing home?” Janessa asked.
“Long story.” Jimmy sighed. “Hey, Mom. Stan.”
He caught the pants that his mom tossed to him with a pointed look.
“What?” he asked innocently. “My nakedness doesn’t bother anyone. Janessa? Natty? I know Natty loves it. Boys at the U don’t have bodies like this.”
Natalie’s cheeks warmed. He’d always been able to embarrass her. “Yeah. They’re ripped,” she retorted.
“Put your pants on,” his mom insisted, a smile twitching the corners of her mouth. “Stan’s going to put some coffee on so we can talk.”
Jimmy groaned. “Mom, I’ve been up for almost 24 hours. Can we talk in the morning? I’ll tell you everything then. I promise.”
Anne sighed. “Fine.” She leaned close and pulled Jimmy into a hug. “Whatever the reason, I’m glad you’re home. It just didn’t feel like Christmas without you.” When she stepped back, her eyes glistened with tears. She used the edge of her robe to wipe them away.
“It’s good to see you, brother,” Janessa said, giving Jimmy another hug. “Nat, I guess you’re bunking with me sooner than expected.”
“Why? Bed’s big enough for both of us.” Jimmy smiled at Natalie with his I-dare-you smile, but it was more tired than usual.
“Save it, Jimmy” she said. “Go to sleep. You’ll have plenty of time to tease me tomorrow.”
Jimmy’s yawn almost broke his jaw. “I go by James now.”
He did look more like a James than a Jimmy. “I’ll call you James when you call me Natalie.”
He chuckled. “Sorry, Natty. It’s just not meant to be.”
“Good night,” Janessa said, taking Natalie’s arm. “We’ll get your stuff out of here in the morning.”
Jimmy definitely looked different than the last time Natalie saw him. Not nearly as skinny as he used to be. Kind of muscular, actually. The glasses were gone. His hair not quite as out of control.
Still annoying, though. That would probably never change.
“Good night,” Natalie said, climbing into bed next to Janessa, still thinking about Jimmy and his daring smile. That was the same too.
“EVERYBODY UP! WE HAVE TO GET an early start for The First Day of Christmas!”
Natalie groaned and stuffed her face deeper into her pillow. It was way too early for anyone to be so cheery—especially since she’d had a hard time falling asleep after waking up with Jimmy in her bed.
A knock that tapped to the rhythm of Jingle Bells came on the door. “C’mon girls. The days a-waistin’”
“Make him go away,” Janessa mumbled next to Natalie.
“He’s your step-dad.”
“You’re a guest. They have to listen to you.”
Natalie burrowed deeper into the blankets. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear him.”
“Snooze!” Janessa yelled. The knocking stopped.
“Did you just yell ‘snooze’ at a person?” Natalie lifted a corner of the blanket to peer at Janessa. “I don’t think it works that way.”
“Hello? Do you hear knocking anymore? Totally works.” Janessa started giggling, and soon both girls were clutching their stomachs from laughing so hard.
“Your house makes me punchy,” Natalie said.
Janessa sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I think that’s all part of Stan’s evil plan. You come in here, he feeds you weird crap, he wakes you up at unholy hours—”
“And then he unleashes his Santa Claus statue minions on you when you’re at your weakest?”
“Exactly.”
Another knock sounded.
“Persistent, you can say that about the man,” Janessa said.
“Girls, Stan has a nice breakfast all ready for you,” Anne said. “Just come down in your pajamas before it gets cold.”
Natalie’s stomach growled. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a decent breakfast. Years, probably. Breakfast was usually a granola bar she grabbed on the way to class or her internship. Of course, this was Stan. If last night’s dinner was any indication, breakfast might be anything but decent.
“We’re coming.” Janessa threw her robe on over her pajamas. “Stan’s a really good cook when he makes something recognizable. We’d better get down there before Jimmy eats it all.”
The girls went downstairs and found warm tortillas, scrambled eggs, and homemade salsa waiting for them on the sidebar. It smelled quite a bit how Natalie imagined heaven smelling. They grabbed plates and started piling their food high.
“Save some for the rest of us, Natty.” Jimmy spoke right next to her bare shoulder. She struck her elbow back into his stomach, smiling when she heard his swift intake of breath. That had been one of her favorite moves to use on him in high school, too. Wo
rked like a charm whenever he got it in his brain to flirt with her. Hopefully with so my years passed since they’d last seen each other, she wouldn’t get so flustered every time he flirted or got too close to her.
“Your elbows are still bony as ever.” He rubbed his stomach.
“And you’re still not a morning person.” She took in his wild hair and thin glasses. That was more like it.
Jimmy piled his plate with the food Stan had prepared. “Hey, lost any underwear lately?”
“Shut up.” Natalie willed the blush away from her cheeks while Jimmy laughed, and she took her seat at the table next to Janessa.
“You just need to ignore him, and he’ll stop bringing it up,” Janessa advised.
Jimmy sat across from them and took a huge bite of his burrito. “I’ll never stop reminding Natty of it, no matter what.”
“So what happened to Uptalk Girl?” Janessa asked without preamble—and much to Natalie’s relief. Let Jimmy squirm for a little.
“Janessa,” Anne admonished. “It’s not nice to call Allison names. But, yes, Jimmy. What happened?”
“It’s not much of a story.”
“Then it won’t be hard to tell us,” Janessa pressed. Natalie even found herself leaning forward in interest.
Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say that after sixteen long hours in a car, we decided that it wasn’t going to work long term for us, so it was best to just end things then.”
“We?” Janessa pressed.
“Yes? It was a mutual break-up? Turns out we don’t have a lot in common?” Jimmy said in a high pitched voice.
Janessa visibly struggled to hold her laughter in for about two seconds before it burst out of her with a loud snort that made Jimmy laugh too.
“Who raised you two? You kids are awful, making fun of poor Allison.” A small smile tugged at the corner of Anne’s mouth, negating her lecture.
“Mom, it was bad. Sixteen. Hours. You have permission to pity me.”
“Oh, hon. I’ve pitied you for a long time.”
Natalie sat back in her chair and smiled at the exchange. She loved how close Anne, Janessa, and Jimmy were. Growing up, there hadn’t been a lot of laughter in Natalie’s home. It wasn’t that they were unhappy—she could even say that she and her parents had been close in a way. But not in this way, where they could joke and laugh and have fun together. Natalie’s parents were very serious about everything. How could they laugh and joke and tease when they constantly had worries about people they’d left behind in each country? And they were more serious people by personality—a trait they’d passed on to Natalie.
“Well, we’re glad you came home,” Stan said, smiling at everyone. He wore another Santa sweater, only this one had a background pattern of chili peppers. “Now you’ll get to do Six Days of Christmas with us. I was telling the girls last night that it’s a tradition I started with my kids after my first wife died when they were all still young.”
Anne reached out and took Stan’s hand and they shared a sweet look. Natalie felt a little twinge of longing deep in her stomach. She’d always wanted a relationship with someone where feelings could be conveyed with just a simple look and a touch. But looks and touches were more the stuff of girlish dreams. Grant had steadiness and drive, and she liked who he made her.
“The kids and I were really sad,” Stan continued, “so I decided to start something called the Six Days of Christmas. Basically we picked five countries—the sixth was always the US—researched them, and then celebrated Christmas the way those countries do each day in the week before Christmas. It was so much fun, we continued doing it every year, and it’s something that your mom said she’d like to experience.”
“That sounds really awesome.” Jimmy leaned back in his chair, his hands resting over his stomach.
“Today is Mexico. After everyone eats and gets dressed, we’ve got a busy day of celebrating.”
Busy day. Panic snapped Natalie back to reality. She couldn’t have any busy days right now. She’d only come up with one slogan for the Magneto Blocks, and even though Grant loved it, Natalie just couldn’t get excited about it. Magneto Blocks: Tall and Tough Towers. Sure, the alliteration was nice, but overall it wasn’t great. It definitely wasn’t a winner.
“First we’re going to get the nativity set up, then make luminaries. Hopefully by then my kids and grandkids should be here and we can do the piñata. I found a huge star piñata, and maybe you guys can help me stuff it with candy before the kids get here.”
“I think I’m going to have to sit out today’s activities,” Natalie said. “I have way too much to do.”
Jimmy mussed up her smooth hair. “Aw, Natty. Still my little stick in the mud.”
Natalie looked crossly at him. “I have some really important things I need to do for work.”
“Yes, I’m sure Alderman Ads will crumble into nothing without your help.”
How did Jimmy know where she worked? “Unfortunately for me, I’m expendable. That’s why I need to work so hard this week.”
Janessa nodded. “I promised her she’d get lots of time to work if she came home with me.”
Natalie wished that Stan didn’t look so disappointed. It wasn’t like she was an actual member of the family where it mattered that she participated. She didn’t need to build traditions with them or bond with his kids and grandkids.
“We understand,” Anne said. “We’ll make sure you get plenty of quiet time.”
“Thank you.” Natalie finished her breakfast in record time while Stan outlined how they were going to go around to different stores to get all of the parts to add to their nativity—and how they needed to get a couple baby Jesus statues since one went missing in the move. Thus, baby Santa.
Natalie tried not to feel disappointed that baby Santa was getting booted from the manger. She glanced around the table at all the excited faces and caught Jimmy watching her closely. She glanced away quick, but her heart still skipped.
Natalie excused herself when she started wishing she could spend the day shopping for statues with everyone else. She had more important things to do than enable Stan’s creepy statue collecting habit. Like working. And becoming somebody important. That’s what mattered.
Natalie grabbed her hair in her hands and banged her head against her knees. “I hate this. I give up.”
She’d been working on her ad since right after breakfast, and she was closing in on dinner. Her eyes hurt, her head hurt, and her back hurt. And she was right back to where she started. A whole rotten list of ad ideas that made her question if she actually had any talent for this.
Downstairs, Stan’s grandchildren ran around with squeals and laughter. They’d all arrived about an hour ago and she’d had a hard time concentrating since they’d come. Janessa had told her that Stan had three kids and four grandkids ages seven, five, two, and a couple months old. It amazed Natalie how loud four kids could be.
A quick tap sounded on the bedroom door, and Jimmy popped his head in. She was still blown away by how different he looked. Whenever she heard his voice, she expected to see the skinny, glasses kid from high school instead of someone who looked so . . . hot. He’d changed into a dark pair of jeans and a pine green sweater that just happened to match the exact same shade of green as his eyes. Not that she was checking him out or anything—he was annoying little brother Jimmy after all—but it was hard not to notice.
“Treats?” He held out a plastic baggie of candy. “I managed to scrounge these up from the piñata.”
Natalie’s stomach rumbled. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “Thank you.” She picked through the bag and found that it was full of pink and orange Starbursts. “Hey, these are my favorite!”
One corner of his mouth turned up into a half smile. “Still the same. Ready for a break yet?”
Natalie popped a pink candy in her mouth and then stretched out her back with a groan. “I’d better not. I need to come up with something soon or I’m never going to win
this.”
“Yeah, Janessa told me about the contest.” Jimmy walked the rest of the way into the room and snatched Natalie’s notebook from her.
“Hey!” She stood to grab it from him, but he jumped back.
“Let’s see what you’ve come up with so far.”
“Jimmy!” She tried half-heartedly to get it back, but part of her was curious about what he’d think of her ideas.
“’Heavy, sharp, can break a window.’” Jimmy lifted an eyebrow. “Astute.”
“Give it back if you’re just going to make fun of me.”
“I was giving you a compliment. ‘Tall and Tough Towers.’ That one’s okay. ‘Magneto: The Better Block.’” He started laughing then and read through all of her brainstorming before handing back the notebook. “Natty, the rest of these are just bad.”
“Not all of them,” Natalie defended, even though she’d thought the same thing only moments before.
“The Tower one has potential but feels off.”
“It’s the rhythm.” She sighed and lay back on the bed. “Why did they give me blocks, Jimmy?”
He flipped through a few more pages, and then tossed the notebook onto the bed. “I think you need to take a break tonight. Your brain could use a rest, and Stan is cooking up something that—well, looks awful—but smells amazing.”
As much as she hated to admit it, he was probably right. It might do her good to step back from it all for a few hours. “I guess I do need to eat.”
Jimmy grabbed her hand and helped her up off the bed and into a friendly hug. “We didn’t get much time to talk last night. How’ve you been the last few years?”
Natalie hugged him back, surprised by how tall he was. “Busy.”
All I Want (Three Holiday Romances) Page 8