Holidays at Crescent Cove

by Shelley Noble

  Bri looked down at her pajamas, realizing for the first time she wasn’t fully clothed. Her mouth twisted and the tears fell against her control.

  David took two steps and pulled her up. Wrapped his arms around her and held her close while she tried not to cry. She cried anyway. And felt a little better afterward.

  She pushed him away, not roughly but so she could see his face, the model in her raising her head long enough to realize her own face must looked blotched and hideous.

  She meant to thank him for all he’d done. For going the extra mile when it was obvious all he wanted to do was deliver his letter and leave. But what she said was, “Why didn’t you tell me you were a doctor?”

  “It didn’t come up.”

  “Something that big? And it just didn’t come up? Why didn’t you want us to know? Or was it just me?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not a doctor now. So it seemed superfluous.”

  “What if you hadn’t been there? What if I hadn’t called you to talk to Lily? What if you’d left that first day?” She was talking to herself as much as David, questioning her ability to raise these girls she loved so much. She was wound so tight and so close to the edge of something that might turn into hysteria. She heard herself and couldn’t stop.

  “What if I’d never come?” He smiled at her. “You would have taken her to the hospital just like you did this morning. You’d be sitting here waiting for her to wake up or in the waiting room with Mimi and the Prescotts. Just like now.”

  “How do you know? She might have died. Maybe I was crazy to think I could do this.”

  He grasped her shoulders, shook her. “Stop it. You’re just a little post-traumatic right now. Lily is fine. You’ll learn as you go, just like every mother before you. And you have a terrific support system. You’ll be fine. ”

  She covered her face with her hands. “I just don’t want to screw up again.”

  “You didn’t screw up. You just happened to have help. You really didn’t need me. I saw you in action. You didn’t need me at all.”

  Something in his voice made her forget about her fears and her feelings of inadequacy. “Who are you trying to convince, David. Me or you?”

  “Just tell me what you want Margaux to bring you from home.”

  She didn’t press him, but wrote out a list and handed it to him. He stuck it his pocket and walked to the door.

  “David?”

  He turned. “Hmmm?”

  “Why did you quit practicing medicine?”

  He shrugged slightly. “Because it didn’t change one damn thing.” He turned and was gone, leaving Bri to stare at the empty doorway.

  Chapter Nine

  MARGAUX STOPPED HER car at Bri’s kitchen door. They hadn’t talked much on the drive from the hospital, for which David was grateful. He was suddenly exhausted. He practically crawled out of the car.

  “Thanks for the ride.”

  “No problem.”

  He started walking toward the cottage.

  “Hang on for a sec.” She pulled out the list and scribbled something at the end. Then she tore it off and handed it to him. “My cell number. Call when you want a ride back to the hospital, or if you want to come over for dinner or something. Do you have food? Should I go get you some lunch?

  “No, but thanks.”

  “I’m sorry I let the cat out of the bag about you being a doctor.”

  “It’s no big deal. Doesn’t matter in the least.”

  “She heard them call you doctor at the hospital. She had a right to know.”

  “It’s fine, Margaux. Don’t give it another thought.” He didn’t wait, but strode away before she could call him back again.

  As soon as he was inside the cottage, he tossed off his jacket, took a long hard look at his backpack where it still lay on the floor. Stay or leave? Life would have been so much simpler if he had just dropped Ben’s letter in a mailbox. Now he could feel those pernicious strings of caring tying him to the spot. How could he leave until Lily was totally recovered? How would Bri manage?

  Just like she managed before you stumbled into her life, fool. She didn’t need him, those kids didn’t need him. The truth was, nobody needed him. He thought he would like it here but he didn’t. Blame it on his missionary parents, his decision to become a doctor. To go where he was needed, not where he could settle down in a nice town to a comfortable practice.

  He sat on the edge of the bed and untied his boots, kicked them off. Lay down and pulled the blanket over him. He had done some good. But it hadn’t lasted. What was the point of saving a village from disease just to have it raided by an opposing tribe and the people killed a few months later? Why set up triage centers when they were blown to smithereens before the fist patient could be seen?

  What the hell was the point?

  He fell asleep on the question.

  David awoke a couple of hours later, feeling somewhat refreshed and immensely hungry. He wondered if Margaux had locked Bri’s door.

  Mercifully, the back door to the farmhouse was unlocked. He rummaged in the fridge, careful not to eat anything they might need. Then he read the note Margaux had left tented on the kitchen table. I mean it, call me if you need anything. Again she’d left her cell number. This time she’d added Nick’s cell and their landline.

  David shook his head. They were all bending over backwards to make him feel welcome. And it was the last thing in the world he wanted. He wanted to be alone, unattached, detached, uncaring. To be any other way was just too damn hard.

  He made himself an egg sandwich and then went outside, where he chopped wood until his arms and back ached. He replenished the wood pile, then looked around for something else that needed doing.

  The phone numbers sitting on the table kept beckoning. He wanted to know how Lily was doing. If Mimi was okay without her Mama Boy. Finally he gave it up, showered, changed into the last of his clean clothes, and started walking toward the hospital.

  He hopped a ride in the back of a pickup truck that let him off a block away from the hospital. He stopped at the gift shop, and bought a helium balloon with a big yellow smiley face and Get Well Soon written across it, then he took the elevator to the third floor.

  It was with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation that he opened the door to Lily’s room. He checked on the threshold. The woman sitting in the chair next to Lily’s bed was not Bri. For the briefest second he thought it was Margaux, but when she turned to see who had entered, he knew he had to be looking at Margaux’s mother. What was her name? Jude.

  “You must be David,” she said, breaking into a smile.

  Why were they all so ready to be nice to him?

  “I’m Jude Sullivan, Margaux’s mother.”

  “Nice to meet you. I just—” He looked up at the balloon.

  “Well, come on in. Lily, look what Dr. Henderson brought you.”

  “Day-did,” Lily said sleepily. “Boon.”

  Jude beamed at Lily. “That’s right, he’s brought you a balloon.” She motioned for David to come closer.

  David stepped toward the bed.

  “Mama gone.”

  Jude leaned over and patted her hand. “Mama’s gone to see Mimi. She’s coming back soon.”

  Lily looked at David.

  “She’ll be back soon.”

  She asked again in Mandarin.

  “Back soon,” David repeated.

  Lily nodded. “Back soo. Back soo. Back soo.” Her eyes closed.

  David sighed and tied the balloon to the dresser across the room where Lily could see it.

  “I think the saints must have brought you to us, David Henderson.”

  “I’m afraid the saints gave up on me a long time ago, Mrs. Sullivan.”

  “Hmmph. Call me Jude. Everyone else does. The saints never give up on a perso
n. Maybe you’ve given up on yourself?”

  David had been smiling at her, but her statement wiped the expression off his face.

  “Have I offended you? Sorry. But I sense a man about to bolt. Stay awhile and give us a chance to thank you properly.”

  “I didn’t do anything but make the mistake of sleeping in the wrong barn.”

  “Do you really think it was a mistake?”

  “Well, it wasn’t ordained, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He heard the bitterness in his voice. Started to apologize for his rudeness.

  Jude laughed, a melodious sound that disarmed him. And confused him.

  “I’m not that religious. I’m sure everyone’s life would have gone on perfectly well, whether you entered it or not. But you’ve certainly enriched it.”

  “I see where Margaux gets her tenacity.”

  Jude smiled complacently. “I taught her well. We’ve all had our ups and downs. That’s the beauty of family and friends. They give you a soft place to land. Now if you don’t mind sitting here for a minute, I’ll go get myself a cup of tea. Would you care for anything?”

  Taken off guard, David could only shake his head and sit down.

  BRI SAT ON Margaux’s couch sipping tea and holding Mimi on her lap. Mimi had cried when Bri came in from the hospital. Bri just picked her up and held her. How could she ever make her tiny daughter understand that she would never leave her, if she had her way? And she wasn’t looking forward to leaving her to go back to the hospital.

  “Was I crazy to think I could do this by myself?”

  Margaux frowned at her. “Of course not. Anyway, you’re not by yourself.”

  “It was just a fluke that David —Dr. Henderson—showed up out of the blue, like some flaming miracle.”

  “I wasn’t talking about David.”

  Bri sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I know I have you and Nick and Jude and Dottie and Grace . . . okay, a whole lot of people. It’s just him showing up, speaking Chinese, and diagnosing appendicitis that showed me how incompetent I am.”

  “Bullshit. If his coming has shown you anything, it’s that maybe you’re in need of a little companionship.”

  Bri laughed in spite of herself. “You make me sound like an old woman with a hundred cats.”

  Margaux laughed, too. “I did not. I just think he’s ruffled your peace.” She cocked her head at Bri.

  “Oh no. Not going there. You know what happens with me and men. I have responsibilities now.”

  “I know what happened with you and men. Happened, past tense. That was ages ago. Exactly when was the last time you had any dealings with men?”

  “Jake McGuire redid my banister and several treads this fall.”

  “And don’t think Nick and I didn’t notice.”

  “He’s sweet but a little too good-natured for me.”

  Margaux chuckled.

  “What?”

  “At least you thought about it.”

  Bri sighed.

  “Look, it’s hard to suddenly have kids already walking around and going to school, without having time to wrap your mind around it and waiting for them to learn to talk and walk and all those things that most mother’s have months to prepare for. Dealing with Connor is often beyond my expertise, and as for Nick, fuggedaboutit. That’s why we have grandparents.”

  “My parents came to visit a few weeks ago,” Bri said. “They lasted a day. It was too stressful for everyone. They did invite us to go there for Christmas, but I wanted the girls to have Christmas in their own home.”

  “Absolutely. Plus we wanted you all to be here with us. And they have mom and Nick’s mom to spoil them.” Margaux smiled happily. “It’s our first Christmas together, too. Which reminds me. Are you all set for . . .” She glanced at Mimi. “S-A-N-T-A?”

  “Yes, thank goodness. I’ve been buying stuff for months now. I probably shouldn’t give it all to them at once. Talk about overkill.”

  “Us, too. Trying to make up for all the bad stuff they’ve been through, Connor, and Lily and Mimi.”

  Mimi looked up at the sound of her name. “Mimi,” she said.

  “I should get back to the hospital,” Bri said. “Dr. Mosley said that Lily might be able to come home for Christmas Eve. That’s tomorrow. I really, really hope that happens. Do you think they would let Mimi in to see Lily if I took her with me?”

  “See Lily,” Mimi said.

  Margaux smiled at Bri. “We’ll all go.”

  Chapter Ten

  “SHE’S BEEN TALKING a mile a minute,” the nurse said as she wheeled Lily out into the late afternoon sun. She stopped the chair next to the SUV and lifted her into her car seat. “Couldn’t understand most of what she said but she’s won our hearts.”

  “Bye bye.” The nurse flapped her fingers at Lily.

  “Bye-bye,” Lily said and waggled her hand.

  The nurse smiled past Lily to Mimi. “Bye bye.”

  “Thanks for everything,” Bri told her, and closed the car door.

  “Merry Christmas,” the nurse said, and pushed the empty wheelchair away.

  Bri drove back home, both girls in the backseat, only instead of an empty passenger seat, David Henderson sat beside her. It was a strange feeling, and not an image she wanted to get used to. He’d been a tremendous help just at a time when she really needed help. She even got a little buzz when he was around. But neither of them would act on it. He was carrying way too much baggage, whatever it was, and she was too distrustful of men and herself to mess up now.

  When they got home, Bri settled Lily on the couch in the great room. At least she tried to. One look at the presents under the tree and Lily would not stay down.

  “If you both sit quietly on the couch, you can each open one present tonight.”

  David laughed. “You think you can stop them at one?”

  “We were always allowed to open one package on Christmas Eve.” She smiled a reminiscent smile. “But nothing big.”

  She picked out two identical packages for Lily and Mimi to open. At first both girls just looked at them.

  “Open them,” Bri said. “Mimi and Lily’s presents.” Their expressions changed and they tore through the paper to reveal identical boxes filled with colorful hair bands, barrettes, and ribbons. Their expressions of happy surprise made Bri’s lip tremble.

  “I better put the lasagna in the oven.” Leaving David to keep things in check, she fled the room. She was so overful of emotion she couldn’t contain it. But she didn’t want the girls—or David, for that matter—to see her cry. She wasn’t sure she could explain “happy tears.”

  A couple of deep breaths and the sight of the waiting lasagna calmed her. She still wasn’t the best cook in the world but wanted to make the Boyce traditional Christmas Eve dinner for her girls, and after a few tips from David and a couple of emergency calls to her mother, it looked perfect.

  She spread a red tablecloth on the kitchen table and placed a snowman made from Styrofoam balls in the center. She grinned at her handiwork. Life was looking up.

  When she came back to the great room, David was sitting on the couch. Mimi and Lily had headfuls of colorful barrettes and banded cowlicks that passed for ponytails. They knelt on the couch on either side of David.

  “Hey, here’s Mama Boy,” he said.

  Bri looked down at him. She covered her mouth with her hand but couldn’t keep back the laugh. “Nice hair.”

  David grinned. His hair was spiked in a handful of little cowlicks held by the girls’ new hair bands and barrettes.

  “We did,” Lily informed her. Mimi nodded.

  “Lovely,” Bri said.

  “I think I’ll go primp for dinner,” David said. He wriggled out from between the girls and headed for the back door, pulling out the hair bands on his way.

  “Dinner in an hour,”
Bri called after him. Laughing, she chose a book and sat down. Mimi and Lily climbed into her lap. “Let’s see.” She opened it to the first page. “ ’Twas the night before . . .”

  WHEN DAVID RETURNED an hour later he wore clean clothes and his hair was still damp from the shower.

  “Lasagna smells incredible,” he said.

  “Well keep your fingers crossed. It’s the first time I’ve made it.”

  By the time dinner was over the girls were fading and so was Bri, but there was Santa still to do. She put them to bed. They could have baths tomorrow before they went to Margaux and Nick’s for Christmas lunch.

  When she got back to the great room, David had poured out two glasses of wine.

  “Thought you might need some fortification and some help lugging stuff down the chimney. Are they asleep?”

  “Out like little lights.”

  They crept upstairs to the spare room where more packages waited. They were all wrapped in candy-cane-striped paper.

  “The official paper of the North Pole,” Bri told him.

  They lugged the presents downstairs, arranged them around the tree, and sat down.

  “Pretty nice,” David said. “Thanks for letting me be a part of it.”

  “Hey, you’ve more than earned your keep.”

  He smiled.

  “Why don’t you practice medicine anymore?”

  The smile vanished. “I just don’t.”

  “But—”

  “I told you at the hospital, Bri. I burned out. There are just too many sick and maimed people in the world, too much inhumanity. Too much red tape and uncaring and greedy officials. It was just too big of a job.”

  “You said at the hospital that it didn’t change things, but you must have helped people, saved their lives.”

  “Yeah, just so they could succumb to something else, another disease, or by violence. I lost a lot that should have been saved because we didn’t have the right medicines or the right equipment or even a Jeep to take them to a decent hospital. I saved others that it would have been better to let die.