The Perfect Present

by Rochelle Alers

  She realized she’d sounded a tad heavy-handed when coercing Noah to come home with her until flights were resumed, but after seeing the overcrowded terminal she felt vindicated. She stared at Noah’s ramrod-straight back. He stood, hands clasped behind him, as he waited with the others disembarking at O’Hare for his bag to come around the conveyor belt. Stepping forward, he grasped a bag when an elderly man attempted to retrieve it. He lifted it with minimal effort and set it on the floor, nodding when the man thanked him.

  Nearly fifteen minutes later, his large duffel appeared and Noah joined Sierra near the door. “My brother said we should wait outside for him.”

  Noah covered his head with a cap and, reaching for her carry-on, shouldered the door open. He glanced up at the steel-gray skies. It had begun to snow. “It looks as if the Northeast isn’t the only area to get a white Christmas.”

  Sierra shivered as icy-cold wind stung her cheeks. “Let’s hope not. If Chicago gets snowed in, then it’s going to be a knockout punch for those waiting to leave the city.” She took a quick glance at her watch. “Barring traffic, my brother should be here soon.” The words were barely off her tongue when an SUV maneuvered up to the curb and the driver got out, dressed in desert fatigues. It was Mark, and not Daniel, who had come to meet her.

  She gasped, as her heart pounded a runaway rhythm against her ribs. If his goal had been to surprise her, then he had, because Sierra felt her knees buckle slightly before she was able to regain her balance. She tried to make her feet move, but they refused to follow the dictates of her brain.

  Once her brother was deployed to Afghanistan, she had made it a practice to stop every day at the church a block from her condo to say a prayer and light a candle for his safe return. Now seeing him in person was proof her prayers had been answered. One moment she was standing, and the next she found herself lifted off the ground as Mark crushed her against his body.

  “No one told me that you’d come home.”

  Mark chuckled. “And no one said anything about your bringing your boyfriend home for Christmas,” he countered, setting her on her feet. “I got in a couple of hours ago.”

  “He’s not . . .” Her words trailed off when Mark’s cell phone rang.

  Mark stared at Sierra as he answered the call. “Yes, Dad. Sierra’s here with her boyfriend, and you should expect us in about an hour. Yes, I’ll drive carefully.” He rang off. “That was your father. It’s apparent he’s worried about his little princess.”

  Sierra curbed the urge to roll her eyes at her brother. She’d wanted to tell him that Noah wasn’t her boyfriend, but it was too late because he’d announced to their father that she hadn’t come home alone. “Mark, I’d like you to meet Noah Crawford.”

  Mark came to attention and saluted Noah. “I’m honored, Captain Crawford.”

  Noah extended his hand. “It’s just Noah.”

  Mark shook the proffered hand. “Then Noah it is. And I’m Mark. Daniel told me Sierra was bringing company, but I never would’ve imagined her boyfriend would be military.”

  “It looks as if this is truly a night for surprises,” Noah said, as Sierra opened her mouth to refute Mark’s belief that they were romantically involved.

  Reaching for Sierra’s carry-on, Mark motioned with his head. “Let’s get home before it really starts coming down. Noah, you can put your duffel in the back.”

  Noah opened the passenger-side door and then cupped Sierra’s elbow. “Let’s go, girlfriend,” he crooned. There was just a hint of laughter in his voice.

  “How long do you think we’ll be able to keep up this charade?” she asked.

  “As long as it takes for me to get a flight out.”

  “That may not be for a couple of days.”

  “Come now, girlfriend, we should be able to keep it going for a couple of days. After that, we’ll never have to see each other again. You can always tell your folks that it didn’t work out,” he said in her ear.

  The last thing Sierra wanted to do was lie to her parents; however, it was now too late because she hadn’t been given the opportunity to refute the preconception. “Okay,” she said, further perpetuating the ruse.

  Mark came from the rear of the SUV, picked up Noah’s duffel, and rested it over his shoulder. “I hope you guys aren’t having a lover’s spat before Mom gets to meet him.”

  “ No.”

  “Of course not.”

  Sierra and Noah had spoken in unison. She did not want to believe inviting a stranger to her parents’ home had backfired on her, when her family were under the impression she and Noah were a couple. She smiled. “I’ll sit in the back, because I know you and Mark will want to trade war stories.”

  Noah’s eyebrows lifted questioningly. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He opened the door behind the front seats, assisted her up, and then sat next to Mark when he came around to sit behind the wheel.

  Sierra settled back in her seat and tried to anticipate her parents’ reaction to her bringing a man home with her—even though it was for only a day or two. She half listened to the conversation between her brother and supposed boyfriend as they left the airport in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

  The falling snow intensified, quickly covering the roadway as wipers, turned to the fastest speed, worked to keep windshields from freezing and obscuring visibility. Forty minutes later, Mark maneuvered into the driveway leading to the sprawling Colonial in a Chicago suburb. A large live Christmas wreath decorated with miniature imitation pinecones, red and green apples, and red velvet bows had been hung on the front door, while tiny white lights ringing the house shone through the veil of heavily falling snow. Electric candles had been placed in every window, a practice her mother had begun with her children, and revived as a grandmother.

  And judging by the number of vehicles in the driveway, Sierra assumed her brothers, along with their wives and children, were in attendance. Daniel lived in a Kentucky suburb near Fort Campbell, while Luke and his pediatrician wife, who was expecting their second child within weeks, had recently purchased a loft in downtown Chicago.

  She inhaled as the front door opened and her father walked out. There was no doubt Philip Nelson was anxious to meet the man who had impressed his daughter enough to introduce him to her family. And she knew she had no one to blame but herself for not telling Daniel she’d met a serviceman during her flight and had invited him to stay with their family until Boston’s Logan Airport reopened. However, when she’d mentioned she was bringing company, her brother drew his own conclusion, and announced she was traveling with her boyfriend.

  * * *

  Noah got out of the car and helped Sierra down, his arm going around her waist with her father’s approach. It had only taken a single glance to know what Mark would look like in thirty years. The younger man had inherited his father’s height, khaki-brown complexion, rawboned face, and features.

  Philip extended both arms and Sierra moved into his embrace. “Welcome home, baby girl.” He smiled, his eyes going from his daughter to Noah. He released Sierra and enveloped Noah in a bear hug. “Philip Nelson. Welcome to the family, son. And thank you for your service to our country.”

  “Noah Crawford. Thank you, sir, for allowing me to stay in your home for a few days.”

  Philip, dropping his arms, waved a hand. “None of that sir stuff. I left that behind once I retired.”

  “Daddy was a colonel,” Sierra said.

  “I was a lieutenant colonel,” Philip corrected as he patted Noah’s shoulder. “Come inside and meet the family. After that, you can get into your civvies and relax with the rest of us.”

  Noah nodded. “I have to get my duffel.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” Philip motioned to Mark. “Put Noah’s bag in Sierra’s room.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” he countered. “I don’t mind staying in a spare room.”

  “There is no spare room, son. No one’s going to judge you if you and my dau
ghter share a bedroom.”

  “But, Daddy—”

  “But nothing, Sierra,” Philip said in a quiet, no-nonsense tone. “Every bedroom in the house is occupied, so this is no time for you to pretend that you and Noah aren’t sleeping together.” He rubbed his arms. “I don’t know why I’m standing out here in the snow jawing about nonsense. Come on in the house, where it’s warm.”

  Noah exchanged a look with Sierra, who lifted her shoulders and at the same time shook her head. It looked as if the decision for them not to share a bedroom had been taken out of their hands. He had never been good at lying or even bending the truth, but it was as if he had to go along with Sierra’s father’s ultimatum because, at the moment, he did not have a choice.

  Reaching for her hand, he tucked it into the bend of his elbow as he followed Philip. “I’m sorry to put you on the spot,” he said sotto voce.

  “It’s me that put you on the spot,” Sierra countered. “Even though we’ll sleep in the same room, we don’t have to share the bed. You’ll see once we get inside.”

  Noah experienced a modicum of relief. He wasn’t a novice when it came to women, yet he also had not made it a practice to sleep with women who were complete strangers. And even after spending several hours talking with Sierra, she was still a stranger. His life in the military hadn’t lent itself to forming lasting relationships, because he never knew when he would be called up for a mission that would take him away for weeks at a time—missions he was forbidden to talk about, even to those closest to him: his mother and sisters.

  He patted her hand. “Don’t worry about it, darling.”

  Philip glanced over his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re telling her not to worry. When she was a little girl she used to get upset over nothing.”

  “I had every right to be upset, Daddy, when Daniel used to pop the heads off my Barbie dolls.”

  “And your mother punished him for it.”

  Noah smiled hearing the interchange between Sierra and her father, because he’d done the same with his sisters’ dolls. After a while his sisters had begun hiding them, and he’d had to find something else with which to annoy them.

  The instant he stepped into the entryway he was enveloped with warmth and the glow of recessed lights running the length of the hallway that opened up into a great room with a towering live spruce. Noah unlaced his boots, leaving them on a long rubber mat with dozens of other outdoor footwear.

  Sierra’s fingers tightened on his arm as she held on to him to keep her balance as she kicked off her shoes. “I forgot to tell you that tonight we’ll have a tailgate-type buffet dinner. Christmas Eve is when we decorate the tree, while the women in the family spend the day cooking. We usually sit down to eat around eight, and those who manage not to succumb to a food coma stay up until midnight to open gifts.”

  “What happens Christmas morning?”

  Philip smiled at Noah. “It’s the dudes’ turn to cook. We make up a buffet brunch for everyone, along with the requisite mimosas. Can we count on you to help us out?”

  Noah smiled. “Yes.”

  He gave Sierra a sidelong glance, wondering if she realized how lucky she was to have both her parents with whom to celebrate the holiday. He never knew his father, who died suddenly when Noah was still a toddler, leaving his mother to raise three young children under the age of eight.

  “Where is everybody?” Sierra asked Philip.

  “They’re all on the back porch. Why don’t you go and change before everyone descends on you.”

  Mark joined them. “I’ll take your luggage upstairs, and then I’m also going to shower and change before joining the others.”

  Noah relieved Mark of the bags. “I’ll take those.” He and Sierra followed her brother up the carpeted staircase to the second story of the expansive house with gleaming parquet floors. Sierra led the way down the hallway to her bedroom, opened the door, and waited for Noah to enter. Bedside table lamps were turned to the lowest setting, built-in window blinds were partially open, and two electric candles on the window ledge cast long and short shadows on the walls and pale bed covers. Rag dolls, colorful sock monkeys, and stuffed teddy bears claimed space on the cushioned window seat.

  She flipped a wall switch, turning on the overhead light. “You can take the bed.”

  Noah set down the bags and turned to face her. “Where will you sleep?”

  She walked into a spacious alcove that contained a white wrought-iron daybed, desk and chair, bookcases, and a table with a television and audio components. Once she was old enough to have sleepovers, Sierra’s mother had a contractor remove the doors, rods, and shelves to the walk-in closet and convert it into an alcove for a daybed with a trundle. It was her favorite space in which to nap or do homework, and many nights she had fallen asleep there rather than get up and get into the queen-size bed.

  “I’ll sleep here.”

  “I don’t mind taking the daybed.”

  “Forget it, Noah. You’re my guest, and I’m certain you’ll get a better night’s sleep in a larger bed. Besides, I don’t want to be responsible for you waking up with pains in your neck or back.”

  “But I don’t want to put you out.”

  She curbed the urge to roll her eyes at him as she walked over and opened the door to the bathroom. “You’re not putting me out. You can use the bathroom while I unpack and find something to wear. I’ll clear a drawer in the armoire for you to store your clothes. There’re also some hangers if you need them. I want to remind you that everyone is casual. Jeans, running shoes, and T-shirts and hoodies are the norm.”

  He gave her a snappy salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

  This time Sierra did roll her eyes upward. “I don’t like lying to my parents, but we’re going to have to come up with a story as to how we met and now are supposedly involved with each other.”

  Noah’s eyes bored into hers. “I don’t like lying either, but we have to be on the same page if we’re questioned. Where do you live?”

  “San Marcos. Why?”

  “Have you ever been to Tijuana?”

  Sierra nodded. “I went there a couple of times with a few of my colleagues when we celebrated someone’s birthday.”

  Noah smiled. “And I’ve been there more than a few times with my buddies. I could say we saw a group of American women in a club and decided to offer our protection against several locals who were trying to hit on you. We made certain everyone got back across the border safely and you and I exchanged phone numbers. After that we started dating.”

  She angled her head, smiling. “That sounds plausible. How long have we been seeing each other?”

  “I fabricated the lie, so I’ll leave it up to you to determine the time frame.”

  Sierra mentally counted back to the last time she’d been in Tijuana. “Seven months.”

  “Okay. That means we met in May. And in seven months you should know that I was raised by a single mother and I have two sisters. I was just two when my father was killed in the line of duty. He was a US marshal. He was transporting a fugitive from New York to Boston when the van in which they were riding was hit by a driver who’d lost control of his tractor trailer. Everyone in the van died instantly, while the driver of the big rig walked away with only a broken leg.”

  A shiver eddied over Sierra’s body with this disclosure. She could not have imagined growing up without her father, despite the fact he’d spent a lot of his time away from home. However, his homecomings were likened to a celebration that went on for days and sometimes weeks on end, until it came time for him to return to his base.

  “I’m sorry, Noah.”

  Sadness flitted over his handsome features for several seconds before it disappeared. “My mother went back to college to get a graduate degree in social work and eventually became the executive director of an agency for the elderly. She has two more years before she retires.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Sylvia.”

  “She never rem
arried?”

  “No. My mother claims she found herself comparing every man she met to my father, and because he was her first love she said they could never measure up.”

  “She sounds like my mother. She met my father when she was sixteen, he eighteen, and both claim it was love at first sight. Even after thirty-eight years of marriage, they still act like newlyweds. Now that we have our story together, it’s time we change so I can introduce you to everyone.”

  Sierra busied herself unpacking her carry-on while Noah opened his duffel and removed several articles of clothing and a toiletry bag before he disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

  Once her mother decided she no longer wanted to live on base, Evelyn Nelson had a Realtor conduct a search for a house with at least six bedrooms with en suite baths, which eliminated the problem of her four children having to share one or two bathrooms. Sierra had been a month shy of her third birthday when her mother gave birth to another son, and the instant Sierra saw Mark she treated him as if he was one of her dolls instead of a real baby. They were inseparable until it came time for Mark to go to the same school where his older brothers were students. Her parents enrolled Daniel and Luke in a nearby military academy, while she had attended a private all-girls school.

  Sierra had just celebrated her seventh birthday when her family moved into their new home and she claimed the bedroom that overlooked the front of the house so when she sat on the window seat she could see everyone coming and going.

  She realized she was wasting time reminiscing about the past. She selected a pair of black leggings, an oversized sweatshirt stamped with her college logo, and a pair of ballet flats. She left the bedroom and made her way to the hallway bathroom.

  She turned on the radio on a corner table, tuning it to a local all-news station. A special weather bulletin focused on the storm ravaging the Northeast and a new storm that was sweeping across Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, with predictions of another foot of snow in the region, which had just dug out from under eighteen inches two weeks before. It appeared as if Noah’s layover would have to be extended until the weather cleared not only on the East Coast but also the Midwest.