Romancing the Holidays: Twelve Christmas Romances - Benefits Breast Cancer Research

by Crista McHugh

  What? Tammy wasn’t giving the kids her Santa gifts? What the hell? Lena’s blood pressure jumped, and her anger threatened to explode. “Let’s have a grown-up call after this,” she said as Kalani tightened his hold on her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

  Billy interrupted. “Say good-bye, girls. Daddy wants to say a special Christmas Eve wish to Mommy.” The girls said their good-bye’s, blew kisses, and were gone.

  With just Tammy and Billy left, Lena tried to be civil. “I understand you have your own gifts for the girls, but they specifically asked for these toys,” she whispered. “They told Santa at the Coconut Marketplace what they most wanted. They will be very disappointed if they don’t get their fondest wish.”

  Kalani took her hand in his and pulled it over to his lap. Squeezing ever so lightly.

  Billy cleared his throat. “I understand Lena, but Tammy got some terrific toys and we’d like to do our own Christmas, not yours.” He didn’t look entirely convinced.

  Tammy interrupted. “I know you like to control everything, Lena, but you have to let us parent the girls too. When they come here, they play by our rules. We are the parents.”

  The thought of Tammy parenting her daughters made Lena feel squeamish and before she could say something she’d regret, Kalani spoke.

  “Tammy, this conversation is between Lena and Billy. Not us. Let’s let them speak.”

  Tammy’s look of shock was priceless. “Who the hell are you? And, who do you think you are talking to me like that? You haven’t even met these girls. I’ve been around a hell of a lot longer than you. I have dried those girls’ tears when they were sad, read them bedtime stories, and fed them mac and cheese that I made from scratch. Something their real mother doesn’t even bother to do! I’ve known them for a year.”

  Billy looked shocked. “Honey, don’t. It’s not the…”

  Lena interrupted. “How could you have known them for a year Tammy, when Billy and I have only been apart eight months?” Lena knew the answer.

  Tammy looked flustered. “It’s just an expression, Lena. I’ve known Charlotte and Audrey much, much longer than Kalani who was just introduced tonight.” She laughed, meanly.

  Lena stared at Billy, waiting for him to man up and say something. He looked defeated. Tammy had him by the balls. “Billy.” She held her gaze on her ex-husband and there was a long moment of silence.

  Finally, Kalani saved them all. “We need to go, Babe.” Kalani looked toward the bedroom door and called to no one. “We’re coming.” Kalani smiled lovingly at Lena. “Time to go to the party.”

  “Let’s talk tomorrow, Billy.” Lena emphasized the last part like she didn’t want Tammy involved, then reached over to press the button to power off. “Good night.”

  When the screen went black, Lena dropped her chin to her chest and let out a long sigh.

  “You OK?” Kalani’s face was inches from hers.

  “I will be.” She closed the laptop, and looked up to see his sympathetic face. “You’re a good actor. Thank you.”

  Kalani shook his head. “I know Tammy Palau by reputation. How did Billy ever end up with her?”

  “That’s a long story.”

  Kalani took her hand. “No pressure, but sometimes it helps to tell your story to someone.”

  Venting would have been so easy, but Lena wasn’t sure that she should share the details of her messy year, not with a stranger.

  Before she could refuse, Kalani suggested another idea. “Let’s let Pepper and Jake take care of the dishes. You look a bit tense.” His face looked friendly and open. “Grab a glass of wine and let’s get in the hot tub. Jake’s going to watch Pepper sing. Let’s hang out here.”

  Lena’s shoulders were bunched around her neck and she let them fall. “You don’t have to listen to me talk about Tammy and Billy. If I start, I may go all night.”

  Just as she said that, a text came in from Tammy, all in caps.

  “CHARLOTTE JUST CALLED ME MOMMY!!! SO SWEET!”

  Lena showed Kalani the text and when his eyes returned to her, he looked almost amused. “See you at the hot tub in five minutes.”

  Kalani

  He’d just slipped in to the steamy water when Lena came around the corner in a turquoise one-piece swim suit. Even though Lena probably wore a bikini with style, she looked breathtakingly beautiful walking across the deck to the hot tub in a one-piece suit. Kalani was a sucker for long legs. She’d pinned her long hair up and carried a towel at her side as she walked like a model on a runway. He had to stop himself from whistling. That would have been the old Kalani, the one who used alcohol like a shield. The new Kalani realized he didn’t have the right to openly judge a woman’s physical appearance with his cat calls and whistles. Still, he greatly admired Lena’s physical appearance.

  She didn’t make eye contact with him but slipped into the steamy water. Even though the outside temperature was the low-seventies, the hot water was a nice contrast and judging from Lena’s sigh as she sank into the bubbling water, she thought so too.

  “Are you one of those people that like to go from the hot tub to the pool?” He tried to not stare at her look of sheer relaxation and pleasure.

  “Probably not,” she smiled. “I haven’t had enough to drink for that.” Lena looked over to him. “I’m not sure if that kind of humor is distasteful to a recovering alcoholic. I’m sorry.”

  The world was so full of references to drinking alcohol, Kalani hadn’t really noticed. “Not to me. I only know that I can’t drink alcohol any more, but, like a lot of alcoholics, I have no problem with other people drinking.”

  “Was it hard to give it up?” Lena swept the water back and forth in little waves towards her chest, sending ripples over the tops of her breasts.

  “Yes, and no. By the time I realized that I was on a destructive path and had lost some very important people in my life, I’d hit rock bottom.” He remembered the morning he woke in a tourist woman’s bed at a Kona coast hotel, with no recollection of how he got there, or where his dog was. The feeling of having hit an emotional brick wall, told him he’d gone as low as he ever wanted to go. “Drinking was slowly ruining my chances for having a great life. If I wanted to make something of myself, it would have to be without alcohol.” He had to admit, it felt good to tell his story. “I went cold turkey, started going to meetings, and haven’t had a drop since that day. It happened two days after I told you I was hot stuff in bed, if you need a reference.”

  Lena smile at him kindly. “I knew you’d had a lot to drink but I still found something about you that night that I found very sweet.”

  Their eyes locked and then Lena looked away.

  “Tell me about you.” Kalani asked her specific questions about her split from Billy, gauging how much she wanted to talk and how much would feel good to get off her chest. Lena talked of Tammy’s involvement in the breakup.

  “Did it hurt that he left you for someone like Tammy?”

  “Yes.” Lena took a deep breath and changed the subject, leaving Kalani disappointed she’d been careful not to reveal too much. Still, he understood. He and Lena barely knew each other. And the woman beside him didn’t seem like the type who did a lot of trash talking to make herself feel better. That much he could tell.

  An hour later, when Kalani revealed that his father had broken ties with him, Lena’s wall came down. Her expression softened as he spoke of how the drinking was the wedge between them. “I’m still hoping he changes his mind, someday.”

  When the subject turned back to Lena, Kalani asked if she and Billy had been happy up to him meeting Tammy. It was probably too personal a question, but the words slipped out before he could stop them, especially because Lena had not looked happy at the party where they met.

  Lena chose her words carefully, explaining that Billy had always had a wandering eye and when Tammy came along, things were shaky in their marriage. They’d just come through years of babies and toddlers and no one felt particularly sexy
. She’d been pouring everything into her children. “I take blame for some of this.” Lena looked pained. “I wasn’t available to my husband. Not physically or emotionally. I fell in love with my babies and out of love with Billy.” She looked over to where the two dogs were lying on a patch of grass, Olaf having snuggled in to Latte’s side. “I assumed we’d get back what we had, once the girls became more independent and I was willing to wait for my feelings to return.” She gave a mirthless laugh.

  Kalani waited, knowing more would come.

  “I’m not sure they would have. I won’t ever know. He found someone to love him, and in some ways, I don’t blame him.”

  “That’s very generous of you.” He had to think that Lena was either very understanding or didn’t really want the marriage to last.

  “I had to take some responsibility, although it’ll always hurt to think that Billy and Tammy were together months before I found out.” Her forehead wrinkled in thought. “I asked him when he’d planned to tell me, and he said he was trying to figure out if Tammy was worth leaving his family over. That was the final straw. Billy had risked our relationship for Tammy but wasn’t sure he wanted to leave the girls. I asked him to move out. He did, and I knew it was the end of our marriage. I now realize he was worried that if he didn’t live in the house with us, he wouldn’t find time for his daughters, which is pretty much what’s happened.” Lena looked toward the pool. “I hope he’s enjoying them, and not just having Tammy do everything.”

  “I don’t know your children, but they looked pretty happy tonight.” He thought back to the Skype call. “Tammy looked a bit frazzled though.”

  Lena leaned back to let the jets work on her shoulders. “Tammy thinks it’s a competition between us, which I don’t understand because she already got what she wanted—Billy. I can’t figure out why she feels the need to make me miserable through the girls.”

  Kalani thought for a minute. “Maybe Billy said something like you are the world’s best mother and she’s trying to prove him wrong.”

  Lena nodded and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “You might be right.” A long silence stretched between them with only the sound Latte snoring from the grass and the hot tub jets. Then Lena smiled. “It was fun to pretend I have a boyfriend. Petty revenge feels good, I have to admit.” She opened one eye and looked over to Kalani. “You might have to make another appearance tomorrow.”

  “I’m available.” In more ways than one, he wanted to say. The idea of Lena as his girlfriend had found its way into his head. As he came to understand this woman who loved her children and looked like a goddess in a bathing suit, Kalani felt himself intrigued.

  They moved to the pool when their bodies got too hot and swam around in the cooler water, still talking. They’d long since left the heavy subjects and were now talking about favorite movies and music. The conversation felt vaguely like a date where you try to determine common ground.

  When they said goodnight, hours later, Kalani suggested they go diving the next day. “Maybe head up the road to Slaughterhouse Beach,” he said.

  “Please tell me there is no Slaughterhouse there,” Lena said, wrapping the towel around her shoulders.

  “Not since the mid 60’s,” he said. “It’s a good dive but a bit of a trek down a hill in gear, if you don’t mind.”

  Lena flashed a grin his way. “I’m in good shape, if you haven’t noticed.” Then, she turned and went off to her bedroom with her puppy, her backside wiggling just enough to make Kalani watch.

  He fell asleep with the thought of Lena and soon was dreaming. In the dream he was paddling a canoe on a lazy river, with Lena at the bow, facing him. She wore a gauzy floral-printed robe and he could see through to her breasts. As he directed the canoe to a quiet island covered by a grassy meadow, Lena jumped overboard, not making even the slightest splash, and disappeared below. He called to her, but she didn’t surface. Even though the water was clear to the bottom, he saw nothing that looked like a body below the boat. He jumped in after her and as he did so, the water turned to a flat table of limestone. He saw Lena in the distance, dancing to the music of a street guitarist. Her flowing gown trailed behind her like captured light on slow-speed camera. He woke with a start to realize that Latte wanted to go outside. He patted the bed for her to jump up with him and tried to settle her, but her head kept popping up.

  Latte didn’t usually ask to go outside during the night, but Kalani didn’t want to take any chances in Jake’s house. When she jumped off the bed again, he slipped out of the covers, pulled on his jeans and a shirt, and left the room with his dog. They went downstairs, and he quietly opened the sliding door in the living room. Both he and Latte headed for a grassy patch beyond the pool. The house was dark except for a line of small recessed lights by the pool and a moon shining over the ocean.

  Kalani saw someone on the beach below, standing at the water’s edge. He moved closer and recognized Lena. Olaf was digging in the sand beside her. It was just after three a.m. What was she doing?

  He considered joining her on the beach but then Lena walked away from the house, along the shoreline and Kalani figured that he’d leave her to her thoughts. After hearing what a shitty year she’d had, he wasn’t sure how much Lena would appreciate interference from a man. Especially someone who had more than conversation on his mind. The hard part about leaving her alone was that Lena still had that sexy mouth he wanted to kiss. And now that he’d seen her dripping wet with her cheeks all red from the heat of the spa, and had dreamed about her breasts, he couldn’t be responsible for what he was feeling for her at three a.m.

  He had to be careful, according to what he knew. Although he hadn’t been tempted to take a drink in the last year, not really, he wasn’t sure about entering a relationship with a woman who drank.

  Kalani left Lena walking the beach with her puppy in the Maui moonlight and went inside to his bed.

  He hadn’t realized how lonely he was until he started talking tonight.

  Chapter 6

  LENA

  Two cups of coffee down and breakfast cooking on the chef’s griddle, Lena knew if she didn’t get her jewelry order delivered today, she wouldn’t get it to Lahaina in time for Christmas shopping. Soon, it would be Christmas Eve and she didn’t want to be working on packaging jewelry while the rest of the island had a day off. Not that she minded, but there were too many distractions this week to want to sit quietly and make jewelry or package it. That was best done when the children were at school and the house in Kona was quiet with the intense calm that comes after noisy voices are gone.

  She hadn’t been able to get last night’s dream out of her thoughts since she woke up in the middle of the night. Her dreams were always strange, but this one included Kalani, which wasn’t unusual because he’d been the last person she spoke with before bed. But the dream was emotional--drifting along with him in a boat, jumping in the river hoping he’d follow, and swimming to a vast table of rock where a man played Flamenco guitar. She’d dripped her way over to the guitarist and started spinning around in circles to dance and realizing her dress was see-through, and Kalani was headed her way, she felt brazen and purposeful. He could see her naked form under the dress.

  She’d woken to Olaf ringing the door’s jingle bells, and once she opened the patio door, he’d escaped to the beach, the gate being open. She let him play on the beach while she thought about the dream knowing that Kalani Shipton had grabbed her thoughts and wasn’t letting go. Who was this man she’d spent hours talking to? She’d leashed her dog and headed back to the house, almost hoping to continue the dream where she’d left off.

  But dreams didn’t work that way, and now she was fulfilling a waking dream--making breakfast in the kitchen of her dreams. Only Pepper and Jake were awake and roaming the house at seven thirty. Pepper had made coffee earlier, something that was very unlike her night-owl friend and was now talking about going Christmas shopping in Lahaina.

  “I want to get some little t
hings,” Pepper said, drinking coffee and watching her friend cook.

  “Is Kalani up?” Lena asked.

  “I haven’t seen him, or Latte.” Pepper looked to the patio where Jake was skimming the pool with a long-handled basket. “I have nothing to give Jake for Christmas, and now that we’ve rekindled our fondness for each other,” she grinned, “I want to get him something nice.”

  Lena squeezed her friend’s arm. “Are you happy that Jake didn’t go to Aspen?”

  Pepper’s smile was full of brightness. “Jake and I never had problems with being happy together. We are very compatible. It’s his schedule and his need to be in Los Angeles that caused our breakup.” Pepper sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to see this for what it is. A nice, but temporary reunion.”

  Love affairs were difficult, Lena knew that, even when you were happy. It was always a risk. She grabbed the spatula and moved the bacon pieces to a plate. She poured eggs into a skillet and sprinkled cheddar cheese and chives on top, then looked at her friend watching her, like Pepper was studying how to cook breakfast. Lena laughed, knowing Pepper ate all her meals out and had no interest in cooking. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  Pepper shrugged. “I don’t know. Jake loves your cooking. It’s like the magic way to a man’s heart.”

  “I’m sure Jake doesn’t care what you do as long as you don’t change.” Lena appraised her friend’s expression. “If you are going to give this relationship with Jake another shot don’t feel you need to entertain me this week. Be with Jake. I’m in my own little world, happy as can be.” She looked down at Olaf who’d smelled bacon and was now sitting by the dining room table, where she’d backed him up to keep him from being underfoot. “My dog is keeping me busy.”

  Pepper filled what they were using as a dog water dish, setting it down on the floor for Olaf. “Your girls are going to fall in love with this dog,” she said, watching Olaf drink water. “He’s a real sweetheart and so easy for a puppy.”