“Nick asked you to go to the lot with him?”
“Well, not in those exact words. But he left a note in the candle shop wreath last night after he dropped off the heater. It all but invited me to go.”
“He dropped off a heater?” Everleigh screamed so loudly Chrissy had to pull the phone away to keep from bursting an eardrum. “That man is an angel!”
“Ev, focus.”
“I’m sorry, sis, but you have no idea how excited I am that I won’t lose my fingers to frostbite during my shift tomorrow,” her sister explained. “Anyway. There was a note to meet at the tree lot? That’s really sweet. Maybe it’s his way of easing back into a friendship with you, Chrissy. I think you shouldn’t read into it so much and just roll with it. He’s obviously trying to make amends in the best way he knows how.”
Maybe Everleigh was right. Maybe Chrissy was reading into things too much. Maybe Nick wasn’t even that surprised to learn about her house and all the time she’d spent with his brother during his absence.
But she knew that look that fell across his features, the one that displayed his sheer shock to find out that she’d purchased the Miller home—the home they’d mapped out an entire future to take place within. Of course she often wondered what it would be like to share this space with Nick. As young loves, they would take the long way home just to steal a glimpse of the historic home. Other than Prosper Tomlin’s farm, it was one of the few spaces in Heirloom Point that still had any acreage. Like most communities, large properties had been parceled off over the years, with smaller homes erected where grand structures once stood.
Nick had promised Chrissy that the Miller home would one day be theirs. He would play a few years of hockey at whatever level he could just to save enough money to secure their dream. When the home finally came on the market a few years back, Chrissy had thought seriously about calling Nick to share the news of its availability.
But if their love hadn’t been enough to pull Nick back to Heirloom Point, an empty house certainly wouldn’t do any better a job.
“Listen,” Everleigh spoke into the reflective silence that grew in their phone conversation. “What are you doing right now? Sounds like you could use a pick me up.”
“I was just planning to schlep this tree into the house and get it set up. Not much going on other than that.”
“Save the schlepping until I’m there. Tree schlepping is definitely a two-woman job. I’ll even bring hot chocolate. See what a good sister I am?”
Chrissy couldn’t disagree. Everleigh was the best. “I love you, Ev.”
“I know you do.”
* * *
“IT SMELLS LIKE it’s burning.” Chrissy scrunched her nose and grimaced.
“Popcorn always smells like it’s burning when it’s popping. It’s totally fine.”
The trill of the smoke detector confirmed Chrissy’s suspicions. “Pretty sure it’s burning!” Racing into the kitchen, Chrissy threw open the microwave door and grabbed a nearby towel that had been folded up next to the dish rack. She flapped the cloth against the streams of thick smoke which billowed, making the surrounding space an opaque cloud of gray.
Everleigh let out a choked cough. “Okay. You may be right. I think it is burning.”
“That was my last bag of popcorn.” Chrissy held the charred bag by the corner and slumped against the island. “Now what are we going to use for garland?”
“We were using it for garland? I thought we were making ourselves a little afternoon snack.” Everleigh looked disappointed. “I don’t think you’re supposed to put popcorn garland on a flocked tree anyway, sis. That feels like all kinds of fake snow overkill.”
Chrissy shrugged. “It’s the way I always do it.”
“Well, maybe it’s time to do things a bit differently.” She took her sister by the arms and offered an encouraging grin. “What else do you have that we could use? Something you have a lot of that would look decent when wrapped around a tree.”
Chrissy couldn’t think. She had been in a tizzy since her run-in with Nick that morning and even though she thought setting up and decorating her tree would provide the calm she needed, she found herself more stressed than anything. From the box of glass ornaments she’d dropped and broken during her climb down from the attic to the recent popcorn fiasco, nothing seemed to be going Chrissy’s way.
“I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of candles.”
“Yeah, um, no. We’ve already had one thing go up in smoke today. We don’t need to incinerate an entire tree. What else?”
“Macaroni?”
“If you were a preschool teacher, sure, that could work, but that’s not the case here. Any other options?”
“I have tons of cranberries left over from Thanksgiving. I never got around to making the sauce and opted to buy the canned kind instead.”
“Yes!” Everleigh’s eyes lit up. “That’s perfect. Those things last for weeks. Got some needles?”
“I do. In the back room with my sewing kit.”
“And fishing line?”
The excitement dropped from Chrissy’s face. “That, I don’t have.”
“It’s fine. We’ll just make a quick pit stop to McHenry’s,” Everleigh said. “Go grab your jacket. I’ll drive.”
Chrissy didn’t attempt to protest, knowing her sister wouldn’t let her out of it easily. Nick probably wouldn’t even be there. On Sundays, McHenry Hardware closed up early and since he was at the tree lot just a few hours earlier, she doubted he would go in for an afternoon shift. Plus, she didn’t know if he even officially worked for his parents now that he was back. She didn’t know much of Nick’s plans, really.
Everleigh grabbed her purse and keys from the kitchen table and headed toward the front door. “Ready?” Like she could read her sister’s hesitation, she said, “Come on—I’ll be your buffer if Nick’s there.”
“Somehow that doesn’t instill huge amounts of confidence.”
“Oh come on, sis. I’m the master of distractions. Do you have any idea how many people I was able to redirect when they came over to look at my candy cane wreath? Everyone wanted a piece of it.” Then squinting and pursing her lips, Everleigh added, “Matter of fact, remind me to pick up another wreath while we’re at the store. My door looks empty without one.”
“You ate that entire wreath already?” Chrissy asked as she bounded down the porch steps behind your sister.
“I told you it would be gone in a matter of days.” Everleigh turned back and winked. “You should know by now I’m a woman of my word.”
Nick
THE SNOW HAD just started to fall, despite the weatherman’s predictions for clear skies.
Through the hardware store windows, Nick could see the cottony layer clinging to the ledges and roofline of Chrissy’s candle shop across the way. At least her store was closed on Sundays. One awkward encounter per day was plenty sufficient.
“Didn’t expect snow today.” Nick’s dad, Joe, narrowed his gaze and squinted through his glasses as he took in Spruce Street. “Think there’ll be enough for Slushy to make his first appearance of the season?”
Nick grinned. For years, he and his father built a snowman on the sidewalk just outside the hardware store when a decent winter storm made it possible. Instead of coal and carrots, they used items found within the shop. Bolts and washers for the eyes. A funnel nose. PVC pipes for the arms and a weed paper scarf. It was a silly tradition that started when Nick was just a small boy, but it was one he held dear.
“I think we’ll need a few more big storms before we have enough snow to work with, but I, for one, can’t wait for Slushy’s arrival.”
“Always could count on you to play along.” Joe clamped a hand down on his youngest son’s shoulder. “Kevin never did take any interest in making that silly snowman.”
Nick muted the thought that was about to form, the one that wondered if maybe Kevin had been too busy taking an interest in other things. His brother was a good, honorable
man. He didn’t deserve Nick’s scrutiny.
“It’ll sure be nice to have both of my boys here for Christmas this year. I can’t even remember the last time all four of us shared a holiday meal together. Must be ten years or more.”
“Kevin’s coming home for Christmas?”
“Yep. Your mother just got the phone call this morning. Haven’t seen her so happy in years. I think I might even get out of buying her a gift this year because nothing’s going to top having both of her boys under one roof for the holidays.”
The bell chiming above the door pulled Nick out of the conversation. He was relieved to see Everleigh walk through the entrance, but that relief didn’t last more than a few seconds. Chrissy trailed behind, her cheeks reddened from the icy air and her dark hair dusted with fine, powdery snowflakes. She looked alarmingly beautiful. Shivering, she shook out her hands and ran them up and down her arms. When their eyes locked across the store, Nick felt that same shiver creep down his spine.
“Davenport ladies, what can I help you with this wintery afternoon? Did that heater make its way over to you last night?” Joe asked, stepping toward the women.
“Sure did,” Everleigh said. “Thank you for that. It’ll be so nice not to freeze during my shift at the shop. We’re actually here for some fishing line. Would you be able to point us in the right direction?”
“Absolutely,” Joe said with a nod. “Right this way.”
Everleigh followed, but Chrissy hesitated, her gaze still fastened on Nick. Slowly, she paced toward the cash register where he stood as he counted the day’s sales from the drawer. She fiddled with the fringe of her wool scarf and then flashed a brief, guarded smile as her only greeting.
“You plan on doing a little ice fishing?” Nick joked, but it felt forced and unnatural. He thumbed through the stack of dollar bills in his hand and counted them out under his breath.
“The one and only time I’ve ever fished was during that church retreat back when we were juniors. Remember? Camp Awanagohem?”
“Oh yeah.” Nick bundled the dollars with a rubber band and moved on to the fives. “Camp I Wanna Go Home was a better name for it, though.”
“You’re just sore because I won first place in the trout competition and yours came in dead last.”
“Of course I was sore over it. As you just admitted, it was the one and only time you’d ever fished. It was probably the hundredth time I had.”
“You’ve always had such a competitive nature, Nick.”
“I know. Sometimes I think I need to learn how to reel it in,” he joked, pleased with the unexpected pun.
“I see what you did there,” Chrissy acknowledged with a chuckle. “I think your competitive nature has served you quite well. I mean, it takes more than just talent to make it to the pros. You’ve got grit and determination and those are admirable qualities.”
Shutting the register drawer, Nick shook his head. “Until they’re not.” He dropped his hands onto the counter. “Listen, Chrissy. I want to apologize for how I behaved back at the tree lot. I think a little of that competitive nature came out when you told me Kevin helped with the house and that just wasn’t right. I’m sorry.”
Chrissy shook her head quickly. “It wasn’t like that at all, Nick.”
“I know it wasn’t. Which is why I want to apologize. And even if it was, it’s not something I should have an opinion about, anyway.”
“Kevin has always been there for me—”
“I know.” The smile fell from his mouth. “And I wasn’t.”
“I was going to say Kevin has always been there for me like a big brother. That’s it,” Chrissy corrected.
“Still, it just never occurred to me that Kevin would be the one repairing that old porch or stripping the wallpaper from the dining room or retiling the bathroom floor. Those were things I figured I would do, I suppose.”
“It’s a little hard to renovate a house from two-thousand miles away,” Chrissy said around a quick laugh. “But you were where you were supposed to be, Nick.”
“And now? Do you think this is where I’m supposed to be?”
“I think only you can answer that.”
“Got the fishing line!” Everleigh’s booming voice forced a quick end to their conversation. She bounded up to the counter. “How much do I owe you?”
“It’s on the house,” Joe said as he rounded the checkout stand and grabbed a brown bag for Everleigh to place the item into. “We’re closing up soon anyway and I’m sure Nick doesn’t want to rebalance the register.”
“Well, thank you, Joe,” Everleigh said. “I appreciate it.”
The sisters turned to go, but Chrissy stopped right before the store’s threshold and spun around. “Can I add my two cents?”
“Not if it’s going to throw off the register,” Nick joked, knowing it was a particularly bad one.
Smiling sweetly, Chrissy paused, then said, “I think it might throw off more than that, so I’ll just keep it to myself for now.”
* * *
“DID YOU KNOW Kevin helped restore the old Miller place?”
Nick handed Tucker a bottle of root beer over the back of the sofa and cracked one open for himself. He placed the opener onto the counter and grabbed a bag of potato chips from the cupboard to satisfy his salt craving. The Northern Lights game was just about to start, but Nick’s television was still on mute.
“Yeah, I did, but only because I helped with it, too.” Tucker took a long swig from the amber bottle. “That place was a dump, Moose. You should be glad your dream of owning it never came to fruition. I can’t even imagine the amount of money poor Chrissy dumped into it.”
“Did a lot of people help out?” The more he settled into Heirloom Point, the more unsettled Nick grew. It was easy to pretend things had stayed the same in his absence, but houses and lives were rebuilt and he hadn’t been any part of it.
“Yeah, there were a few of us. Me, Kevin, Lee, your dad. I think Earl even came by a few times, but Doris always seemed to have a reason to pull him away.” Tucker reached across the couch to retrieve the remote. He cranked up the volume. The roar of the stands filled the room and Nick’s heart lurched into a faster pace. Like déjà vu, he was instantly back in that hockey rink. The sights. The smells. The sounds. It was all right there, vivid and real as though he could feel the very ice underneath his feet. “Hey.” Tucker narrowed his eyes at his friend. “You okay, buddy?”
“I’m good.” Nick took a swig of soda and plopped down onto the couch. “You won’t think I’m crazy if I admit that I haven’t watched a game since my contract ended, will you?”
Tucker angled the remote at the screen. “I’ll shut it off. We don’t need to watch this. I can catch up on the stats tomorrow.”
“No, no. It’s fine. It just feels like another life, you know?” Nick sat forward to place his drink onto the coffee table. He grabbed a handful of chips from the open bag and then leaned back. “But this feels like another life, too, so I don’t really know what that leaves me with.”
“Looks like you get the chance to create a totally new life. I don’t know, buddy. To me, that sounds pretty exciting.”
“If I’m being completely real, coming home makes me wish I’d never left,” Nick admitted. He tossed the chips into his mouth. “Like if I had known this”—he glanced down at his injured knee—“would be the outcome of pursuing hockey, I think I would’ve stayed here and never left at all.”
“Nah, man. Then you never would’ve realized your dream.”
“As it stands, I think I actually missed out on a much greater one.”
Remote still in his grip, Tucker clicked the sound off. The room fell silent. He rotated on the couch to face his friend. “I see what you’re getting at, and Nick, I’m going to tell it to you straight: just ask her out.”
“I can’t do that, Tuck.”
“Why not? Because it’s been a decade since your last date?”
“Because it’s been a decade since
we called off our engagement. That’s a little different. I can’t just waltz back into town and act like that never happened.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve seen you dance. I don’t recommend waltzing anywhere. But in all seriousness, I think she’d say yes to a simple date, Nick. It’s pretty harmless.”
“Why would she say yes to a date?” Nick reached for his drink.
“Because deep down, I think she still has feelings for you. I think it’s the real reason why things never went anywhere with Kevin.”
Nick nearly choked on his root beer. “What never went anywhere with Kevin?”
“Any sort of relationship. Plus, I think he got tired of being rejected. That poor guy must’ve asked her out at least a half-dozen times when we were working on the house.” Tucker switched his attention to the flat-screen TV hanging on the wall and turned the sound back on at a low volume. “A half-dozen that I’m aware of. Probably more.”
“Kevin asked Chrissy out?”
“Yeah.”
Tucker’s eyes were glued to the game which was now underway. Nick’s old teammates flashed across the screen, their blue and red jerseys a blur of color as their skates carved deep grooves into the ice. Hockey sticks slammed together and bodies crashed against one another, along with the rink walls.
“This is all news to me.”
“What? That your brother asked your ex-fiancé out? Repeatedly?” Tucker’s mouth flattened into a line. “Okay, now that I say it out loud, it does sound pretty crazy. Listen man, it really was nothing. It’s not like he stood any chance with her. Chrissy hasn’t been in any real relationship since you left.”
Relief should have followed that statement. Nick didn’t anticipate the guilt that ensued instead. He had wanted Chrissy to move on and to find love again. He’d wanted it for himself, too, but it never happened. No woman could ever compare.
An Heirloom Christmas Page 8