“Why, is that James Rochester?” the woman asked in mock shock.
James laughed. “Jessie.” He stood up and crushed the woman in an embrace.
Mary guessed the waitress must be a little older than her. She was tall, with beautiful reddish-brown hair and a nice face.
“Jessie, this is Mary,” James said, gesturing to her. Jessie looked down and smiled.
“Very nice to meet you, Mary,” she said, shaking her head at James.
“I certainly can’t believe that you are here. I haven’t seen you in ages. How are your parents? ”
“Good, good. Mom’s busy decorating the new place, and Dad stays busy teeing up.”
Mary watched them carry on their conversation. She felt like a third wheel. James must have noticed because his face flushed.
“Mary, I’m sorry. Where are my manners? My parents retired a few years ago, and now they live in the Hamptons. My mom spends all of dad’s retirement, and my dad spends his time ignoring her and playing golf.”
Mary looked outraged.
“They have been happily married for forty-some years, Mary. I was just kidding about the ignoring part.”
Mary smiled. “Oh.”
“Mary, James has a sick personality. We go way back. In fact, his sister is my best friend. And I have wanted to marry his brother half of my life.”
James looked taken aback by that comment. “Still?”
Jessie looked down at her hands. “Still. But you know how Jonathon is. Still living the high life. Hey, you never know. Maybe my name will be picked from the jar this Christmas!” Jessie said excitably.
Mary cringed. That damned jar.
James laughed. “Mary is reporting on the festival this year, Jess,” he said with mischief in his eyes.
Jessie turned and looked at Mary. “I bet you are thrilled!”
“Oh, yeah, very excited.”
As soon as the waitress left, the date began and Mary couldn’t remember ever having such a great time. James was smart, attractive and funny. His jokes were similar to hers and they liked the same kind of music as well as movies. It wasn’t until the lights began to flicker that she realized the restaurant was closing around them.
“Sorry, you two, but it’s closing time!” Jessie said with a smile. “It was great to meet you, Mary, and James, you need to bring her back soon. Don’t wait so long next time.”
James smiled as he stood, grabbing Mary’s hand in his, “I won’t, and Jess, be patient with my brother. He’ll come around.”
Jessie’s smile fell, “Well, I guess you never know.”
James patted her on the shoulder, “No, you never do, do you?”
After they’d walked a block to his car, James pulled out his car keys and opened the passenger door for her first. Mary acted as though it was one of the most romantic and chivalrous things a guy had ever done for her. She was so surprised that she nearly ran into his arm.
“Sorry, excuse me,” she said.
James laughed, and waited for her to get in then closed the door. As he walked around to his door he couldn’t believe how well they got along. James couldn’t help but think of what his grandmother said earlier about fate and their destinies. When he opened the door, Mary shuddered.
“Let’s get this thing warmed up. It’s freezing out here!”
Mary nodded, teeth chattering.
James rubbed his hands together, and the friction must have heated up his palms. He placed them on her shoulders then ran them down her arms. Just the movement alone made the heat stir in her body. She could feel the heat in her cheeks, and then down her arms, her breasts and in her tummy. She was starting to get really warm. She looked up, and then was completely lost by the look in his eyes. His beautiful chocolate brown gaze nearly took her breath away.
“Mary,” he uttered before his lips came crashing down on hers. It was pure bliss. Bliss wrapped up in a wonderfully soft package.
James’s hands framed her face, then caressed her neck, and pulled her in deeper. She moaned, and he deepened their contact, brushing his tongue against hers in an erotic motion. She felt as if she would melt right there.
It could have been five minutes or five hours, before they heard a horn impatiently honk at them. There they were making out in the car while another car waited for their parking spot. James’s shoulders went up and then he sighed. “I guess we should go.”
“I guess we should,” Mary said quietly. She couldn’t believe that kiss. She had never experienced anything like it in her entire life, and she didn’t know what to think.
James pulled the car out onto the road and they headed back to Mary’s apartment. The drive didn’t take long, and before she knew it, they stopped beneath her apartment building.
“You don’t have to walk me to the door, James,” Mary said, as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
James turned in time for her to get out. She practically sprinted toward the door. “Mary!” James yelled.
She turned just before she got to the entrance of her building.
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow, dinner at eight?”
Mary’s heart continued its frantic pace. Dinner at eight… “Sounds perfect,” she said, then disappeared behind the door.
****
The next morning, Mary’s somewhat blissful week took a turn for the worse. She felt nauseous. And she didn’t know why, but she suspected Delgrasios. Her stomach felt like it had a piece of lead stuck in it. She sat on the floor, draped over the toilet like a doily on a piano. She felt pathetic, and certainly looked it. Ugh.
****
Across town, James sat in his office going through case files.
“You look happy,” Jennifer, the office manager said, as she walked in and put a manila folder on James’s desk.
“I am.”
“Did Mr. and Mrs. Elliot finally call it off?” she asked.
James knew she meant the divorce proceedings of the century. It was a shame really. Mrs. Elliot found ‘evidence’ that her husband was cheating, and Mr. Elliot swore that she’d found absolutely nothing. James believed him. He’d never seen a couple so much in love before and the whole thing made him ill. “No, unfortunately not. She still intends to go ahead with the divorce and wants over half of the estate, including a public apology.”
“Will she get it?”
“For what? He isn’t guilty.”
“You really believe him?” Jennifer seemed surprised.
“I do. The sad thing is, that neither one of them wants this divorce. It’s like trying to see through fog with those two. I can’t convince her to look at the situation in a different way, and he is shattered. I hate to play the marriage counselor.”
Jennifer came around the desk and put her hand on James’s shoulder. It was the second time in a week that she’d made such a gesture. If he hadn’t met Mary Simms, he’d consider marrying her. She was a sweet woman, easy on the eyes and she certainly had something about her that everyone liked. “Sorry. I know how much you hate it. Want to grab some lunch today? My treat,” she asked him.
James laughed. Jennifer made good money, but there was no way that he would ever let her pay for his meal, especially knowing the difference in their paychecks. “I’d love to, but I really can’t. I have so much work to get done, and I have to leave the office early. I brought a sack lunch today,” James said, then noticed her downward expression. “But I really appreciate the offer, Jennifer. Very sweet, thank you.”
Jennifer’s mouth pulled up into a half smile. “No problem. Well, I better head out myself. I need to type up some correspondence. Bye, James.”
“Bye, Jennifer,” James said, feeling awful for turning her down.
James worked the rest of the afternoon and a little later than he anticipated that evening. He couldn’t believe all the work on his desk, and all the calls he had to make. His caseload was heavy, and if felt as though it was even worse this time of year, which was sad really. Why would people want to divorce
around Christmas? Thinking back to his own childhood, he wondered how parents could do that to a kid. He’d had a happy life, was loved and felt safe and secure. It was no wonder why James was older and still not married with kids. It wasn’t because he had a bad life, but because he knew so many couples out there that did. And when you had to see it firsthand every day, it became daunting.
****
Mary finally gave up and went into the ER. She’d felt sick for nearly nine hours and the nausea and chest pains hadn’t let up. By the time the doctor came in to give her an official diagnosis, she was dehydrated. The ER doctor prescribed bed rest and lots of fluids. In other words, forget the date with James.
“Acid reflux, that’s it?” Mary asked the doctor. He seemed really familiar, but she couldn’t place him.
“Yes, ma’am. Nothing too serious, but if you don’t watch your eating habits or pay attention to the signs you will be in a lot of pain again like you are today. You can do a lot of damage to your esophagus if you aren’t careful. What have you eaten lately, or better yet last night?”
“Well, I ate at Delgrasios.”
The doctor grimaced. “Well, that’ll do it. There’s a whole list of foods that you shouldn’t eat. They are triggers, so to speak. Pop, alcohol, anything spicy, fried foods, garlic, onions, citrus fruits, peppermint, tomatoes…”
“What am I supposed to eat then, grass?”
“Oh, and chocolate.”
Mary’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Wash your mouth out with soap!”
The doctor laughed as he marked something on his clipboard. “It’s not the end of the world, although, I do love fried chicken. I’ll put an order in for some blood work. I’d like to do a food allergy test, too. Maybe we can see if chocolate is one of your triggers.”
Mary looked relieved and the doctor laughed once more. “Until then, I have this nice little chalky drink for you. Guzzle it down and enjoy yourself. Maybe you can catch a Christmas special on TV. We do have the Lifetime Movie Network.”
Mary’s nose wrinkled in disgust just before the curtain ruffled.
James walked in.
“Are you okay? Your friend Sara told me what happened.”
Mary put her head in her hand and sighed, wondering if it could be any worse.
“James Rochester. How are you? How are Ava and John?”
James looked at Mary and then back to the doctor. “I’ve been great, Mel.”
“Mel?” Mary asked, wondering. “How do you two know each other?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know, Mary. This is Mel Turner. He and his wife Christine were married at the Magic of Christmas Festival three years ago.”
Mary sighed in disgust. They both turned to her.
“Mary is doing the article this year,” James remarked, with a grin.
“I wondered when we might get interviewed. You picked one hell of a way to do it, though.” Dr. Turner smiled and looked at his clipboard once more. “My number is on the prescription pad that I’ll give you later. Call anytime and let me know when you want to interview us. Christine and I could meet up for dinner or brunch.”
Mary nodded her head, wanting to die from hospital gown embarrassment. James watched her closely as Dr. Turner left the room.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, turns out last night’s meal was my last.”
James’s face paled. “What?”
“Acid reflux.”
James let out a big breath of air. “Geeze, Mary, you scared the hell out of me.”
“Trust me, this wasn’t the best way to spend my day, either. I’ve been here since about 8:00 a.m.”
“You should have called or something.”
“I barely know you, James. I am not going to just call you when I get a boo-boo or something. Besides, it’s no big deal; I just can’t eat anything. Well, I’ll find out all I can eat in a bit. He’s going to get some blood work done. I need an allergy test.”
“I know you don’t know me that well, but, well…” James stammered. His face flushed and he looked out into the hall. Nurses and orderlies passed by as if nothing had happened. James took a deep breath. “Sorry about Delgrasios.”
Mary laughed. “James, it’s not your fault. It’s a good thing, really. Apparently I finally did enough damage for all of it to get really irritated. Besides, we were rushing things a bit anyway.”
James looked up into her eyes.
Mary could feel the heat of a blush coming on.
“You think?”
Mary’s heart hammered in her chest, not knowing what to say. “The doc says there’s a Christmas special on Lifetime. Want to watch it with me?”
Chapter Four
Almost a week after the hospital incident, and Mary still hadn’t seen James. He’d called a few different times, usually at some weird hour during the day, but Mary found that she couldn’t talk to him. What was the point? He knew her whole stance on the festival. So, she dug in deep at work, investigating the entire festival and the couples that married throughout the years, and she learned a lot.
She’d found that of the several couples she’d met, often one person in the pair gave an odd sort of look when she mentioned the festival and asked how the ‘magic’ really happened. It seemed that they were nervous, anxious to get the interview over and done with, but the other half of the couple—their partner or spouse—appeared not to notice and seemed more than willing to answer any and all questions having to deal with their marriage and whirlwind courtship.
“So, how long have you two known each other?” Mary asked Dr. and Mrs. Turner. She’d made the appointment with them a few hours after she left the hospital.
“Well,” Christine said, looking at Mel, “ten years.” Christine smiled and grabbed her husband’s hand. “Ten wonderful years, but only married for the last three.”
“And in those seven years you hadn’t thought about marrying each other?”
Mel looked at Mary and sighed. “Well, as a matter of fact, I did. I asked Christine twice. They say that it takes fate three times.”
Mary looked at him curiously and waited for his explanation.
“A long time ago a woman—and before you ask who, I can’t tell you her name— told me that fate takes three times. She said there were three signs of fate and I had to be open for them to work. I thought it was a load of bull, to be honest, but she was an elderly woman and she came into my office, so I listened. Anyway, we became friends and I told her of my frustrations and that I loved Christine, but she refused to marry me.”
“She refused? Why?”
“Well,” Christine cut in, “I thought we were too young for one thing. I wanted to travel. My parents were forever griping about how they never got to travel before they had children, and I didn’t want to have those kinds of regrets.”
“Why not just get married first then travel before having them?” Mary queried.
“Mary,” Christine said shyly, “how could I ever marry a man like Mel and not want his children right away? I told him I wanted to wait; I didn’t say no.”
“So, you planned on marrying him, then?”
“Oh, yes. I wanted more than anything to marry him.”
“So, both of you put your names in the jar. Why?”
“Well,” Mel grimaced, agitated. “I asked her again, and then she said no…again, so I did it more for spite than anything.”
Mary looked at Christine, clearly shocked at what Mel said and noticed how calm she appeared. “So, you wanted to make her mad?”
“I wanted her to see that I wanted to get married and I didn’t want to wait anymore.”
“So, what about you, Christine? Why did you put your name in the jar?”
“I’d like to know that same question,” Mel said, which must have surprised his wife. Her eyes widened and she looked to Mary for help.
“I…why?”
“What do you mean, why? I know why I put my name in that jar; there’s only so many times a man can
be turned down by the woman he loves.”
Mary flinched, the man was mad and his voice started to rise.
Christine looked flushed. “I put my name in the jar because…”
“Why?”
“Because it’s something everyone always does,” Mary offered. She didn’t know why she did, but she felt like saving the poor woman. She wanted to expose the festival, but she didn’t want to end people’s marriages or make them fight.
Christine nodded, and seemed happy to have Mary come to her rescue. Mel’s face softened and he, too, nodded. Shortly after the interview was over, Mary said her thanks and left. She had just one more interview and wanted to save it for last.
****
James hadn’t seen Mary for nearly a week and it was hell. He called her a few times, drove by her place twice and now he watched her walk into the Sunbeam Café on High street. As casually as he could, he walked in, stepped up behind her at the counter and ordered a slice of apple pie and a large coffee.
“James, what are you doing here?” Mary said. James could tell that she was shocked by the look on her face. “Just get off work?”
“Yes. How’s the article coming?” James didn’t know why he’d started on her already. He’d wanted to see her all week, but she made it damn near impossible. She ignored his calls, when he stopped at the paper she was conveniently not there, and now today—he started on her as soon as he walked into the café.
Mary’s smile thinned. “It’s okay.”
“What, not finding anything?”
“No, totally the opposite, actually.”
James stopped at her reply and watched her closely while he took a seat at the counter. “Why are you writing this article?’
“I told you why the day I met you.”
“But why, really?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Go out with me tomorrow.”
“James, I have a lot of work to do, and besides, you don’t really agree with the article and I don’t want to spend my evening having it out with you.”
Christmas is in the Air Page 6