by Jill Sanders
“When the baby comes along we may have to change some of our traditions.” she said as they sat around the large dining room table enjoying the food. “Kids don’t like waiting until after lunch to open presents.”
“I think we have another year or two before this little one,” he placed his hand over his wife’s growing belly. “will be big enough to really care.”
It was always a pleasure having the family together, it was especially nice because Aaron’s grandfather was there as well.
Dr. Stevens Sr. had always been a part of the town and now he was feeling like he was becoming part of their family.
“I can’t thank you kids enough for inviting me today.” The old man said over his second helping of sweet potatoes. “Best Christmas dinner I’ve had in a long time. Iian, my boy, you sure can cook.”
Just then, a loud noise came from the back laundry room.
“I’ll get that.” Lacey said jumping up and rushing to the back room.
A few minutes later, she came back into the room. The front of her dress was wet and her hair was a mess, but she had a large smile on her face.
“Is everything okay?” Aaron asked, starting to get up.
“Yes! No, don’t get up! Yes, everything is fine.” She sat down with no more explanations. How about we eat dessert after we open the presents?” The eager tone in her voice, almost gave her away.
Half an hour later everyone sat around the living room in various chairs. Piles of discarded wrapping paper lay at their feet.
Megan sat with her feet tucked underneath her on the couch. Todd sat next to her, a large box of baby clothes and toys sat next to them.
Iian sat in a chair playing with his new iPad. Aaron sat on the floor next to Lacey, who had at least a dozen new bright colored pairs of socks scattered around her. Some were from Aaron, but most were from her brothers.
His gifts were spread out on the floor like a child, he enjoyed opening every one of them. But, the one he liked the most was currently chewing on his left shoe lace.
The small brown lab puppy from Lacey, had instantly won his heart. He thought he could never love like this again, not after Jennifer. However, the instant pull he felt, he knew he loved the little girl.
“A home needs a protector.” Lacey sat and watched Aaron’s face. The happiness she saw there, was priceless.
He’d always wanted a dog, someone he could have shared time with, someone who would have loved him, unconditionally. His parents would have never allowed him to have a pet of any kind.
He’d been busy after graduating college, too busy to think about owning any animals then either.
Then, there had been Jennifer. She had made it very clear that owning animals of any kind were a waste of time. She had even sneered at him when he’d talked to her about getting a cat. She had said she was allergic to animals, but now he wondered how many other things she’d lied to him about.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The day after Christmas, he realized why his parents never let him own a puppy. How could something so small, leak so much?
Not only did he have to let her out every half hour, but in between outdoor potty breaks, she’d taken to going on the pile of newspapers in the laundry room. However much she peed the play time he experienced with her made it all worth it.
She had quite an attitude, and demanded his attention almost all the time. He was glad that Lacey and Bernard had spent the night again, really glad for her help in watching the little girl throughout the night.
The following morning he had been trying to train her to sit. It’s a simple command; he thought she could handle it. The little dog treats he tried to bribe her with weren’t helping. Every time he said “sit” she would run around in circles and chase her tail instead. He was trying to be patient and was saying “sit” for the hundredth time when Lacey walked in shaking the snow off her hat and gloves. She had walked back home to pick up a change of clothing and her snow boots and a heavy coat.
The weatherman said they were in for more snow and to expect it to last all weekend. However, Lacey had told Aaron that the weatherman was wrong and that the snow was due to stop later tonight. So far, her weather predictions had been spot on, so he believed her.
“Training hard?” she gave a sympathetic look and then laughed when the puppy rushed forward and started jumping up on her legs. “No! Down.” she commanded. “Sit.”
The small dog quickly stopped jumping and promptly sat on her small bottom while her tail thumped vigorously.
“How did you do that?” Shaking his head he frowned at the small puppy. He was sure there was a conspiracy going between the pair.
“She just needs a firm voice.” she bent over and petted the chocolate fur ball. “Do you have a name yet?” The puppy quickly laid down and rolled over onto her back exposing her belly. A trick, no doubt, learned from Bernard.
“Cleo.” Aaron said as he watched the two ladies in his life.
“Cleo?”
“Her name is Cleo, after Cleopatra. She’s small and demanding, but so worth it.” he smiled down at the chocolate mound who had fallen asleep with all four legs in the air while Lacey continued to rub her belly.
“Cleo, what a perfect name.” Lacey picked her up carefully and carried her to the doggie bed by the fireplace.
It was later, just after dinner when the snow slowed enough to let the dogs run around the back yard. They stood watching them from his large and newly built covered deck and laughed as Cleo chased Bernard as he retrieved the ball. Cleo wasn’t interested in the ball, instead she kept latching onto Bernard’s ears.
Despite the extra burden, Bernard would gather the ball and bring it back while Cleo would retrieve him. It was all very cute and entertaining.
Aaron had just bent down to pick up the ball for Bernard when a large ball of snow landed on his neck and left shoulder.
As snow started to slide down between his collar sending shivers down his back he heard Lacey giggle. Grabbing a large handful of snow and retaliated.
After the great snow fight that soaked both humans and dogs, hot chocolate was consumed while they sat by the fire. Their hair was still damp from the battle and they were currently snuggling in warm terrycloth robes.
One thing he could say about Lacey, she might be small, but she had a really good arm.
“I’m thinking of starting a softball team next spring and you should be the pitcher.” Reaching over he took hold of her arm and felt her tiny biceps. “How can such a small arm give such a powerful throw?”
“I grew up with two brothers. I had to know how to throw good because they ran too fast, I could never catch them. So I started throwing things at them to get their attention.”
He realized she was serious and could not stop the chuckle. Hearing his laughter she soon followed and snuggled closer to his side to feel the laughter shake his whole body. She thought she was starting to warm up and it had nothing to do with the fire.
A few days later Aaron was a wreak. He was nervous and slightly nauseous. He knew the house was spotless, having spent most of the morning cleaning everything he owned. Why did he have so much furniture? There was a banquette of food spread out on his counter tops and even some warming in the oven. Thank goodness all the food had been delivered earlier by Iian, courtesy of the Golden Oar, so he did not have to worry about cooking. Cleo was tucked away in her kennel located in his bathroom ensuring she did not get underfoot of his guests.
Lacey, however was running late she should have been here two minutes ago. He continued to pace in front of his front door; it wasn’t like her to be late. He stopped pacing when he heard the back door open and saw her step in, shaking the snow from her coat.
“I decided to walk over, since your driveway will soon be a parking lot.” She took her coat into his laundry room and hung it on the hook just inside the door. Removing her purple galoshes, she replaced them with the heels she had tucked into her overnight bag.
“I think I
should have bought more beer. Should I have bought more beer? Or maybe gotten more champagne?” He was now pacing in his kitchen. Why had he agreed to a party?
“Relax, you’ve just the right amount of everything. Everything will be fine.” she walked over and kissed his cheek. He looked down and noticed her then. He noticed the dress, her hair, the heels, her legs. How could he not notice her? The red dress was skin tight and hit mid thigh with a slit that traveled far enough to get his heart rate speeding to dangerous levels.
“Wow.”
She stopped and smiled at him. “You like?” She did a little turn on the thin three inch silver heels.
He started walking towards her with his mind on one thing. Her. Just her. Just as he reached her, they heard a car drive up.
“Later.” he warned with a smile.
He hadn’t know there were this many people in town. There must be close to two hundred people in his house. So many, that they had actually opened his back sliding doors and people were spilling out onto his deck despite the weather. The opened doors did help in cooling off the place. Because there were so many bodies crammed in the temperature had risen to almost blistering. The noise level was so high the music that had been playing was barely audible.
He had only seen Lacey three times since the arrival of the majority of his guests. He’d seen both her brother’s several times. Todd and Megan had been sitting in the dining room, both with large plates of food and chatting with another couple. He thought he had seen Iian talking to a tall blonde in the kitchen earlier. But, Lacey was nowhere to be found at the moment.
After his, what seemed like, millionth conversation with one of his new townspeople, he decided to look for her again.
Walking to the hallway he heard her laughter coming from the back bedroom, along with a male voice. A memory long forgotten, surfaced.
It was a loud party, much like the one going on now. He was looking for Jennifer, to tell her… something. He didn’t quite remember what it was, but he knew it had been important. He’d been looking for a few minutes now. The house had been large, the guests were spread out, and it had taken him several minutes to side step his way through the crowd. Finally, he had freed himself so he could search some more and he remembered seeing her head up the large curved staircase, so he headed up it to follow.
Opening one door after another down the long wide hallway, had proven useless. Just as he turned to go back downstairs, he heard her laughter coming from the last door on the left which was left cracked open. Walking down the hall he reached for the door handle just as he heard a male voice.
“You aren’t really going to go through it are you? Come on Jennifer, don’t you think you’ve strung him along enough?”
“I know what I’m doing, Tom.”
“You have to know, he’ll find out sooner or later.”
“It won’t matter. Once I have the license, there won’t be anything he can do. Besides, he’s been clueless so far. I mean, he stays so busy down at the hospital. Do you honestly think he will notice? Plus, his parents are as blind as he is. They absolutely adore me and have told me I’m the best thing he has ever done.”
She laughed again, but it didn’t sound quite like the Jennifer he knew.
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with us, I could care less who you married. I just want to know that we will still get to do this, after.” It was silent then, he opened the door wider to see his fiance and one of his best friends in a passionate embrace.
Lacey was walking back towards Aaron’s bathroom, just as a large blonde man walked in to the bedroom. She had just taken Cleo out to relieve herself in the backyard and was returning her to the kennel.
“Well, hello again. Lacey, right?” Ric Derby walked over to the pair and gently stroked the little dog’s head as she held it in her hands. Cleo wiggled with excitement at the new attention, causing Lacey to hold on a little tighter.
“Yes, it’s Mr. Derby?” She remembered, because they had briefly met at Allison’s store a few weeks back. “Are you here with Allison?” she looked around.
“Yes, just looking for a place to set this down.” He held up a woman’s black jacket, no doubt Allison’s.
“Here, let me take that for you.” She quickly walked into the restroom and placed Cleo back into her kennel. The small dog began whining immediately. “Shh, shh now, settle down girl.” Cleo quickly turned two circles and lay back down on her bed.
“She’s cute. Is she yours?” Turning, she saw that Ric was now leaning against the bathroom door with his arms crossed, much like Aaron did all the time while she did her morning ritual of hair and make-up.
“No, she’s Aaron’s.” she walked over and held out her hands for the coat.
Ric started to hand it to her, but kept a hold of it a while longer.
“Are you here with someone?” he smiled down at her.
“Yes,” she laughed and said. “I’m following her lead,” she nodded towards the puppy.
Ric laughed, “Why is it all the pretty one’s are always taken?”
Lacey laughed again. Just then Aaron walked around the corner.
Standing in the door to his room, the memory took over again. Only this time, he saw Lacey and the man he had just been introduced to, Ric Derby. Only, he didn’t see them standing like they were, with a few feet in between each other. Instead he imagined them embracing. His body shook, his ears rung, and his sight dimmed.
“Oh, there you are Aaron. I was just letting Cleo out.” Lacey took the coat from Ric, walked over and hung it on a large chair where other coats had accumulated.
Upon Aaron’s silence, Ric jumped in. “You have a lovely home. I drove by the place just before you purchased it. It doesn’t look the same.” Ric noticed the mans look and the tension in the room and decided the best exit was a quick one.
Aaron had yet to say anything. Lacey noticed his hands were fisted by his sides, she noticed the vibration coming from him. Walking over, she took his hand in her own. She waited for him to look at her and just looked into his eyes.
“Ric is here with Allison. Actually, he is the reason she is moving away to California.” Lacey noticed his hands starting to relax in her own.
“Allison is a talented woman. I do believe she is going to make it big in the art world. Well, I better go find her.” Ric quickly left the room.
“What was that all about?” Lacey turned on him the second the bedroom door clicked shut. “You were rude to Mr. Darby.”
“What was that all about? What were you doing back here all alone with that man?” Aaron paced to the door and back again.
“I told you what…” she began to explain, but then she realized what the look on his face meant and where his thoughts had lead him. “Is that what happened?” she walked over and took his hands again. “You’ve yet to open up about it. But, is that what happened before? Did someone cheat on you?” she tried to look into his eyes for the answer.
He pulled his hands away and went over to the outside door and leaned his head against the windowpane feeling the cool from the night beyond. Why was it so hot in here? He took a large cleansing breathe.
She walked over and stood before him, resting her hands on either side of his face. “Aaron, look at me.” she pulled his face up to her own. He opened his eyes. “I’m not cheating on you. I would never do something like that. You are the only one I want to be with. If that ever changes, you will be the first to know. I don’t play games, and I don’t keep secrets.”
Looking into her eyes, he could see the truth. This was Lacey, not Jennifer. Taking another large breath, he pulled her close and enfolded her in his arms breathing in her scent.
“I know. I’m sorry. I overreacted. It’s just. Yeah. That’s how it happened. It was a hard experience to get over. The betrayal.” he hugged her as she stood in front of him. She felt so right in his arms. How could he have doubted her?
“No one should have to go through something like that. I’m sorry.” Jus
t then Cleo let out a loud bark.
“Does she need to go out?” he said, his voice full of panic and concern. Thinking he might have to deal with a puppy mess along with his own emotional ones.
Lacey laughed. “No, she’s just being spoiled. Hearing her daddy’s voice, she of course wants you.”
“I like spoiling her. I like spoiling you.” he reached up and kissed her slowly.
Just then, the bedroom door opened and Iian walked in with a pile of coats in his arms. Seeing them in the embrace, he quickly dropped the coats on the chair, and signed.
“Get a room.”