Sleigh Belles

by Beth Albright

  “Nice touch. Do you do this for all the girls?”

  “Only the ones who’ve proven me wrong.” He breathed in her skin. They were both in a quiet state of learning each other’s touch for the first time. As they talked, they kept up the exploring.

  “And only those who I know won’t mind helping me reload the snow machine.”

  Dallas giggled into his neck. She laid her head into the crook under his cheek, and he bent down to press his cheek against hers. He smelled delicious and felt powerful and protective. This was new, too: a protective man. She was lost in her real-life fairy tale.

  Then that song came on.

  Dallas had all of her walls down. Vulnerable and open, she kept moving to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” She tried with all her might not to, but the tears began to flow.

  Cal could tell she was suddenly emotional.

  “You okay, sweetie?”

  “Yeah, this song just brings back memories, that’s all.”

  “It’s okay now. You’re here with me.” He pulled her in tighter. As the song continued, tears streamed down her face. Cal gently placed his fingertips under her chin, lifting her face, and pressed his warm soft lips to hers. A tingle of heat shot through her, relaxing her all over. She kept her face lifted and he kissed her again, sweetly and slowly, tasting her until the song was over. She loved feeling his face all over hers.

  “Maybe now that song will stir a better memory.” He kissed her on her tear-streaked cheek, cupping her face in his hand. He gently drew his thumb across her bottom lip.

  “I’m listening to anything you wanna tell me,” he said.

  “Tell you what?” she asked, closing her eyes as he held her face in those perfect quarterback hands.

  “About that memory. I’m here. No pushing. Just know whatever it is, it’s okay.”

  “Thanks, Cal. I’ll be okay. It’s really nothing. That was just always my favorite song, that’s all.” She smiled as she wiped her face. She just wasn’t ready.

  “It’s good little Sara Grace is singing it then,” he said with a grin. “Dallas, this has been really nice. Let me drive you home. I don’t want you to drive in this stuff.”

  “Oh, Cal, that’s okay,” she started, but then she recalled her car wasn’t there at the theater. “On second thought, I left my car at the station. Wanna give me a ride back?”

  “Love to. I’ll need payment for that, though, you know. It’s a little treacherous out there.”

  “Oh, no, here it comes. I knew you’d show your true colors eventually.”

  “What?” he said playfully. “I mean, I am risking my life.”

  “Fine, what’s my fare?”

  “A little more of what I just received will work. I really liked that form of payment.” He grinned that grin where she could only see one dimple. He had her in a way no one ever had. She found him endearing from head to toe.

  They walked out into the frigid air, a few flurries still flying around as they walked to Cal’s car. Cal drove a vintage Porsche 911. It still had the original leather interior, in perfect mint condition. He walked around to her door, slipping his hand under hers to pull the door handle. She sat down inside, looking up at him. She had been put into the chariot.

  “Nice car,” Dallas said as she buckled up.

  “Thanks. It was my dad’s.”

  “Wow. What did your dad do? I mean besides play football.”

  “He just loved cars. Collected them after he retired. He gave me this one as a gift when I got my doctorate.”

  She could tell that Cal might have a few secrets of his own. She knew his dad must have had to do more than play college football to raise a family and own a collection of fine cars. But she decided not to push. Cal would open up whenever he was ready to tell her more.

  He started the car and they drove out into the empty streets of downtown Tuscaloosa headed to the station. Dallas felt something roll under her feet. She reached down and picked up a toy drummer.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” Cal answered. “Just something for that scavenger hunt.”

  “Oh, are you trying to win the iPad?”

  “Well, just really playing along for fun.”

  Cal looked straight ahead, smiling but not offering a bit more information on the subject.

  Dallas was comfortable in the leather seats, the heater warming the air and Cal warming her hand. He looked at her every now and then as he drove, squeezing her hand.

  “Why don’t I just drop you at home? That way you won’t be out in this tonight. The roads are already starting to freeze.”

  “I don’t work tomorrow. I’m sure all this stuff’ll be gone by the afternoon and I’ll need my car. I’ll be okay.”

  “I know what. I’ll drive you home for now, and then tomorrow I’ll come get you and we can go get your car together when this weather’s cleared. How does that sound?”

  Dallas calculated. But it didn’t take her long. This way, she’d get to see him tomorrow.

  “Okay, that would be great, Cal, as long as you’re sure you don’t mind?” She smiled.

  “My pleasure.”

  She directed him to her house, and they were there in ten minutes, even with the icy roads. Cal pulled up in front, the little accumulation of snow crunching under his tires. Dallas reached to unbuckle her seat belt, but Cal’s hand was suddenly on top of hers.

  “Wait a second there, Miss. I do believe you owe me payment for this ride,” he teased, leaning in toward her.

  “Oh, I’m happy to pay in full.”

  Cal leaned over and pulled her in for a deeper kiss than the last. She placed her hands over his ears and returned the kiss just as passionately, moving her hands through all his thick golden hair. They kissed in the car until the windows were fogged.

  “I have to say, I was never so wrong in my entire life about someone as I was about you. And I’m really happy about that,” he said as he kept kissing her. She was basking in all his attention. Their chemistry was on fire. It was obvious to Dallas that Cal was feeling pretty excited about her, too.

  Cal opened his door and got out, walking around to Dallas’s side. He opened her door and offered his hand. He walked her to the front door, the Times Square lights across the street glaring in their eyes.

  “Gosh, think your neighbors wanna be noticed?”

  “I know, I’ve been meaning to get over there to tell them to turn it down a little. But they’re like this for every holiday. The man is a Civil War reenactor, so in the spring, they even shoot off a fake cannon.”

  “You gotta be kiddin’!” Cal shook his head. “Yeah, well thank God the reenactments don’t occur in the winter, or you’d be deaf and blind.”

  Dallas burst out laughing. She liked his sense of humor and that it was always right there, just under the surface.

  He lingered at the doorway, kissing her a long, sweet goodbye. “So, what time tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Let’s shoot for noon. This stuff will be half gone by then,” she answered breathlessly.

  “I’ll call you, but not too early. Don’t wanna wake a sleeping beauty.”

  “Why not? Isn’t that what Prince Charming always does?”

  19

  All the snow had disappeared by Saturday afternoon, and she and Cal had spent the weekend getting to know each other even better. Monday morning came before she knew it, and she arrived at work ready to see Mike and hear his thoughts on her improv stand-up from the Friday night live shot.

  Mike met her in the hallway before she even had a chance to get to her desk. “Can you come in here, Dallas. I want you to see something.”

  Dallas followed him into his office, still in her coat. He hit the remote control and her live report, package and
all, popped on. She stood there watching herself. But she also watched Mike’s face. He grimaced as she talked first of empty milk and bread aisles, then suddenly went to the stand-up where she was surrounded with kids. They didn’t really go together, and what had seemed like a work of art in the moment now appeared to be the last-minute mash up that it was.

  “So tell me,” he said, “did you order the snow, on cue? I mean you were at a theater?”

  “Um, well...Daniel and I couldn’t really get to a grocery store because—” she began, but then decided the truth was better. Mike was the one who’d asked her to direct the play in the first place, so she figured he’d have to at least be glad she was trying to follow his instructions. “The thing is that I had play rehearsal last night, but I didn’t want to give up the lead story either. So I made the decision to do both.” She was nervous but certainly didn’t come across that way. She smiled confidently.

  “Well, it may be the smartest decision of your career,” he said looking at her proudly.

  That was not at all the reaction she was expecting. “Really? Oh, Mike, I’m happy you liked it.”

  “All those kids, the freshly falling snow and then you threw in that tie-in to our charity Christmas production! I mean, it was pretty quick thinking, live and really in the moment. And it worked like a charm. Good job.” He patted her shoulder as he walked past her into the newsroom.

  Daniel had come up behind her and stood in the doorway, listening. He knew he would be as much to blame if Mike was gonna reprimand her, and he was by her side, thick or thin. She was just starting to realize that.

  “Can you freakin’ believe this?” Daniel high-fived her.

  “I know! Oh, my God, I was fixin’ to have a heart attack when he played that footage. I had no idea what I was gonna say,” she confided.

  “You’d never have known it...cool as a cucumber,” he said.

  Dallas walked back to her desk, taking off her coat and throwing it across her chair, Daniel following behind her.

  “So, what’s on tap today?” she asked.

  “I think Mike liked your idea to expand the Peaches–Baby Jesus story. I heard the producers bring it up in the news meeting. He’s suggested we go out and get a few man-on-the-street interviews to get the community involved in the story.”

  She was glad to hear that. Opening her email to see what had come up over the weekend, she found another message from Callahan Enterprises. When she clicked on the message, it looked like a poem.

  Ms. Dubois,

  Baby Jesus is getting quite a tour.

  Find the statue next at Ten Hoor.

  Ten Hoor was a building on campus, Dallas remembered. “Let’s run over to the campus,” she told Daniel. “I need to check something out. I think it could be worthwhile.”

  They drove through the campus and parked at Ten Hoor Hall, running around the front of the building and inside the main great hall at the entryway. Nothing.

  “I don’t understand,” she said as they headed back to the news van. Then her cell rang. It was Ms. Peaches Shelby.

  “Ms. Dubois, I’m so sorry to bother you on your cell phone, but I got another picture in the mail today, and my little statue was at a building on campus. I thought you might want to know.”

  “Of course, Ms. Shelby. The building wouldn’t happen to be Ten Hoor, would it?”

  “How in the world did you know?”

  “Let’s just say I got a message myself today. Somebody’s sure up to something. Thanks, Ms. Shelby. I’ll be in touch.”

  She hung up and told Daniel what was going on.

  “I think it’s time to get the computer genius on the case.”

  Dallas liked the sound of that.

  “Fine, I’ll check in with Cal later on. Right now, let’s get on over to Walmart and get this man-on-the-street thing done and filed for tonight.”

  “Great. I wanna hear just what Tuscaloosa thinks of that missing statue.”

  Dallas checked her cell phone for messages as they walked. She was striding confidently, her recently cleaned coattails flying behind her with her big, crimson, knockoff Prada bag securely on her shoulder. Things seemed to finally be coming up Dallas. She was feeling as if she had a good shot at that anchor job after Mike’s reaction to her Friday-night report, and Cal was becoming someone she truly cared about.

  She glanced at her phone. Cal had sent a text.

  Hey, baby. I think we should make dinner together tonight. You?

  She sent a text back. You want ME for dinner?

  A text came back instantly. Yes! Perfect idea. You can be the platter and I will lay the food out all over you. Yum.

  She smiled to herself and kept walking, picturing the dinner table they could set.

  She and Cal learned pretty quickly that they were both very sexually flirtatious. Experimental. They hadn’t actually slept together yet, but they’d spent the weekend exploring and learning each other’s buttons...so to speak. It had been fun to go out on a couple of real dates. She wasn’t used to dating. Dallas was starting to trust a man. And for Cal, he was learning just who Dallas really was.

  Both of them were very smart. Everyone knew Cal was really brilliant. That was common knowledge among those who knew him, at the university and in his circle of friends. But Dallas was now proving just how smart and quick she was, neither of which were exactly part of her reputation. And in the same way that she was surprising Cal, it was quite the surprise for Dallas to see how the usually quiet and reserved Cal could be playful, fun and quite the tease. From the...experimenting they had done, she also had a good feeling he’d be a perfect match in bed. They seemed to be on the same page in every chapter of the book.

  “To the usual spot?” Daniel asked her as they reached the van, opening the door to the driver’s seat and snapping her back from thoughts of Cal.

  “Sounds good to me. Let’s go.” She jumped into her seat and buckled up as she continued to scroll down her phone.

  Then she stopped cold. A voice mail from her mother.

  She hit Skip.

  Nothing would get her down today. She had waited a long time to get back to this point. It had been at least a month since things had been going this well at work. Maybe longer. No, I won’t deal with her today, she thought. Besides, if her brother was part of this whole reunion idea, as her mother had said, why didn’t he try to reach her? She had a pretty good feeling it was just something LouAnn had said in an attempt to get her way. Not exactly surprising behavior, but still disappointing.

  Dallas recalled how over the first few years after the family split up, she had tried over and over to reach out to her brother, only to be rejected each time. She remembered going to sleep at night, just fourteen years old, wondering what she’d done that was so awful that the brother she truly loved so much, the man she completely idolized and looked up to, could throw her to the side like trash that didn’t matter.

  If he really did want this, too, why hadn’t he as much as sent a text? That question began to bother her.

  The truth was, when she’d been sent away, it was having been rejected by her brother that had hurt her more than her mother. Without their dad around, they’d bonded even more, knowing they’d stick together as siblings no matter what their parents did. They had felt like a team. So, when Houston had turned on her, she’d felt as though she’d never trust another person again. Houston breaking his word was what had shaped her into that tough, cold Ice Queen for the rest of her life. It had made her feel as if she didn’t matter that much to men. Her defenses were always up when it came to anyone, but men especially. At least her mother had been honest. She’d felt she had to choose and so she had. But Houston? He’d led Dallas to believe he’d always be there for her, and then he’d simply walked away. She’d taken that to mean that she wasn’t the sort of girl worth
loving for who she was. She figured if Houston could abandon her, then anyone could. So she didn’t value herself when it came to men. Instead, she’d learned to use her sexuality to get what she wanted from them.

  But with Cal, it was already different. He had told her he loved watching her work. He liked all of her tenacity and talent. And more than anything, he thought she was smart and treated her that way. Sure, he also showed he was attracted to her, that he desired her, but she could tell it wasn’t the only thing that kept him around. Reminding herself of that got her confidence up. She shook the bad thoughts away as they drove into the hilly Walmart parking lot.

  They arrived at Walmart to get the man-on-the-street interviews. Daniel set up in the parking lot as Dallas began to grab anyone interested in being on camera.

  “Good morning, ma’am. Could we ask you a few questions regarding the Baby Jesus statue that’s been popping up around town?” she asked a chubby woman with a buggy overflowing with Christmas toys.

  “Yes, I think it’s just totally awful. I mean, the nerve of those people to take the Savior straight outta the manger. I hope they catch those sons-a-bitches and fry ’em in hell.”

  Dallas cringed, but she knew better than most that crude people got the most news play. “That’s awfully harsh. Don’t you think it also seems un-Christmassy to feel so full of revenge?” Dallas asked, quickly pushing the mic back to the woman’s lips. She was hoping for a response, and, boy, did she ever get one.

  “Ma’am, this here is the sweet Baby Jesus we’re talkin’ ’bout. He has been stolen—stolen, I tell you—straight from his manger and taken on some damn joyride by a buncha hoodlums with no respect. If they don’t get punished for this, there is no justice!” She gave a quick jerk of her head and pushed her buggy up the hill to her car.

  “That was intense,” Daniel said.

  “Yep. Just the kind of reaction that’ll get everyone riled up.” Dallas smiled. “I knew the people would side with Miss Peaches, though I guess I hadn’t expected anything so extreme. We’ll get the town behind her and get to the bottom of this.”