One Kiss for Christmas (The Happy Holidays Series Book 4)

by Michele Brouder

  Donna smiled at him.

  As they pulled up in front of the town hall, Donna found a spot right out front and parked the car. They stared at the space circling the statue of the town’s founder that had previously been occupied by ice sculptures just yesterday afternoon. It was all gone. There wasn’t even an indistinguishable pile of slush to give testimony that they’d been there in the first place.

  “I don’t believe this,” Donna groaned. “I’ll have to tell Christine.”

  Jim leaned over and took her hand in his. “I know you’re upset, but there’s nothing that can be done about it now. Let me take you to breakfast.”

  “Okay,” Donna said half-heartedly.

  They pulled into the parking lot behind the diner and walked around to the front of the building on the sidewalk. Jim held the door for Donna as they entered the restaurant.

  Once inside, they were seated by the host, who handed them a menu each. They both said yes to her inquiry of coffee.

  The diner was all decked out in Christmas decorations. Gold and silver garland hung from the ceiling with red and green ornaments suspended from the garland. The windows were covered in fake snow, and Christmas lights of red, blue, and green lined the windows. Holiday music floated out from speakers in the corner of the ceiling. Some of the servers wore Santa Claus hats. One server wore candy-cane earrings.

  That was one of the things Jim loved about Orchard Falls. The town still went all out for the holidays. Any holiday. Community spirit and involvement made it festive.

  Their coffees were brought out and their orders taken.

  Steve arrived at their booth to say hello.

  “Any word on Sarge?” Donna asked.

  “Just that she went in for surgery last night. Broke her leg in two places!” Steve said excitedly.

  Donna slumped in the seat and groaned again. “She’s going to kill me!”

  Steve frowned in confusion. “Why?”

  “Because Donna wished her good luck and told her to break a leg before the race,” Jim explained.

  Steve laughed. “Boy, you live dangerously!”

  Steve glanced back and forth between Jim and Donna. “Well, I’ve got to go. Got to get the boys to their hockey practice. See you both later at either the craft fair or the talent show.”

  Chapter 17

  Donna threw in a load of wash, then jumped into her car and headed over to Christine’s. Her friend lived in an old farmhouse at the other end of Main Street, about six blocks from Donna’s house.

  As usual, Christine’s was a madhouse of activity.

  “Mom! Where’s my hockey stick?” yelled one of her sons from upstairs.

  “Where did you leave it?” Christine shouted. She stood at her kitchen table, folding and sorting laundry from a basket perched on a kitchen chair. There were two more baskets of clean laundry at her feet. The table was covered in piles of folded laundry. She had six sons and two had just arrived home from college for the holidays.

  Donna took the basket of towels and began folding, joining her friend at the table.

  “Mom!” yelled the same kid again.

  “Check the garage and hurry up,” Christine said. “Your father will be back soon and he’s not coming in, so you better be at the curb.”

  Donna laughed. “Where’s Eugene?”

  “It’s oil-change day for both cars,” Christine explained. “He should be back with my car soon and he has to drop the boys off to hockey practice.”

  As if on cue, a car horn blared from outside.

  “Matt! Luke! Dad’s outside waiting,” Christine called.

  Two teenage boys bounded down the stairs sounding like they weighed more than they did, and sailed through the kitchen at a high rate of speed, loaded down with all kinds of hockey gear and equipment.

  “Hi, Donna! Bye, Mom,” they called as they ran out the door.

  Once quiet descended, Christine asked, “How about some coffee?”

  Donna shook her head. She was still full from breakfast, where she’d devoured a three-egg omelet, toast, hash browns and two cups of coffee. The stress of the festival was giving her an appetite.

  From upstairs, there were repeated thumps and thuds, to the point where the brass lighting fixture directly over the kitchen table began to sway. A small shower of dust fell from the spackled ceiling and landed over the piles of clean laundry.

  “Give me strength,” Christine muttered. She walked to the foot of the staircase and yelled, “Kevin! Knock it off!”

  She headed back to the table. “He’s going through either a karate or kung fu phase. Hopefully, it will end soon.”

  For as long as Donna had known Christine, her life had been chaotic—even before she’d had six sons. Brent used to love going over to their house as a child because it was pure bedlam.

  “The ice sculptures are gone.”

  Christine stopped folding a T-shirt. “Gone?”

  “Yeah, as in melted.”

  Christine peered out the window. “Oh, gosh.”

  “I’m so sorry, Christine, they were so beautiful.”

  Christine shrugged. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll have to call the artist and tell him that all his hard work melted,” Donna said, not treasuring that idea.

  “I’ll do it. He should hear it from me.” Christine paused and looked up at the ceiling. “Though when I mentioned to him about a possible warm front, he said they’d be fine. ‘It won’t get that warm,’ he said.”

  “Sarge broke her leg last night at the toboggan races,” Donna reported.

  Christine had a sly grin on her face. “Too bad it couldn’t have been her tongue.”

  Donna burst out laughing. “Christine!”

  “Anyway, where have you been?” Christine asked. “It’s like you fell off the face of the earth.”

  “I’ve been busy with this festival. Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong,” Donna said.

  They looked at one another and laughed.

  “Just the festival?” Christine enquired with one eyebrow raised. “Sure you haven’t been busy with your new neighbor slash former boyfriend?”

  Donna blushed.

  “I knew it!” Christine said. She pushed the laundry aside and sat down across from Donna. “Tell me.”

  Donna shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. We’ve been hanging out.”

  “Hanging out?” Christine scowled. “That’s what my boys do. At least tell me you guys have kissed?”

  “Well, no,” Donna said and added quickly, “Not yet.”

  Christine shook her head. “What’s wrong? You like him and he likes you. So why aren’t you kissing each other?”

  “Oh Christine,” Donna said, squirming in her seat.

  “Don’t ‘oh Christine’ me,” she shot back with a smirk.

  “We’re taking it slow,” Donna said.

  Christine made a face. “How slow is slow? Do you think you’ll be kissing by next year?”

  Donna owed Jim a kiss. He’d said so himself. Her stomach fluttered at the thought of it. She didn’t think he’d wait until next year to collect it. And she didn’t want to wait. Donna wanted Jim to kiss her. More than anything.

  “We want to proceed with caution.”

  Christine rolled her eyes. “What are you? A school bus moving on after the red light changes?”

  Donna started laughing. “We just want to take our time. Enjoy the journey.”

  Christine scowled. “That’s crap. Live your life. Kiss the man. Kiss him now.”

  “I don’t know if this is a long-term relationship. He’s considering a job in California.”

  “So? Go with him. Live your life,” Christine said in exasperation.

  “And . . .”

  “And what?”

  “I’m spooked.”

  Christine frowned. “About what?”

  “Jim and I were already together once, and it didn’t work out.”

  “Second chances anyone?” Christine
was always ready with an answer, and it was usually the right one.

  “Plus, there’s the whole thing about Brad.”

  “What about Brad?”

  “You remember when I first started dating Brad, how I told you he was the perfect rebound relationship because he was so different than Jim?”

  Christine nodded. They’d spent many a night talking about this, either in Donna’s bedroom or Christine’s bedroom with the CDs playing in the background. At the time, Christine had already gotten engaged to Eugene.

  “It was a very unexpected happiness I found with Brad,” Donna admitted.

  Christine agreed and said quietly, “Brad was a beautiful man.”

  “I mean, no one was more surprised than me that it worked out the way it did between us.”

  “Honey, the two of you were perfect together.”

  “It didn’t work out the first time with Jim. Who’s to say it will work out a second time? Am I being greedy for wanting another chance at happiness when I already had it once? Jim is not Brad.”

  Christine lowered her voice. “No, he isn’t. He’s Jim. I don’t believe in all this superstitious nonsense. I believe in living your life to the fullest. And as soon as all my kids are gone off to college, that’s what I plan on doing. Actually, I may move to another state altogether and not leave Eugene or the boys my forwarding address.”

  They both laughed.

  “But seriously. May I point out a few things?”

  “Please do.”

  “First, Brad loved you madly and he’d want you to be happy. I know that’s a cliché, but it’s true. And if you think you have a chance of happiness with Jim, then take it.”

  Donna hesitated.

  Christine continued. “Second, Jim is not Brad. They’re at opposite ends of the spectrum. But you’re also not the same person you were thirty years ago or even twenty years ago. None of us are.” She paused. “What I’m saying is, Jim and Brad—apples and oranges. We like them both but for different reasons.”

  “You’ve certainly been a good sounding board, Christine.” Donna smiled.

  “That’s what best friends are for. Really, though, Donna, be happy. Not content. Happy.” Christine appeared thoughtful as she picked up the last item of clothing from the basket. “And who’s to say you can’t love more than one person during your lifetime?”

  The community center was packed for the talent show.

  Donna scanned the room. It was packed. Along the walls were the winter wonderland decorations the art department from the high school had created. There were intricate, glittery snowflakes of all different sizes suspended from the ceiling and along the walls were murals of snow-capped mountains and chalets. They’d done a gorgeous job.

  The center’s lights were dimmed except for the mishmash of Christmas lights strung along the perimeter of the ceiling and around the inside of the windows. Some were multicolored, some were clear, some were blue, some blinked and some didn’t. Donna tried to look on the bright side and thought that at least they had lights. Donna remembered Jim’s words that it didn’t have to be perfect to be good. She just hoped it didn’t turn into an epic failure. She didn’t want to think about what else could go wrong.

  Brent stepped out from behind the heavy red drapes and up to the mic and into the spotlight to begin his emcee duties.

  Donna could tell he was nervous by the way he stumbled over some words and his rapid-pitch delivery. She sat on a folding chair next to Jim in the sixth row. Jim reached over and squeezed her thigh. Donna’s breath caught in her throat at his touch.

  “There has been . . . um . . . one change in tonight’s program. Sarge and Ralph will not be performing their duet of “Islands in the Stream” tonight due to an unforeseen circumstance.” This was met by “aws” from the audience. “Instead, Alice Kempf has graciously agreed to step in and conduct a Christmas sing-along with the audience as she plays the piano.” There was subdued clapping for that.

  Donna nodded her approval. What was a talent show without music? A sing-along was sure to put everyone in the spirit. And kudos to Alice for agreeing to be a last-minute replacement. She sighed. Orchard Falls was a great little town. She wished Jim could see it the way she did.

  Later, after Alice stood up from her piano bench, the crowd jumped to its feet to give their oldest resident a standing ovation.

  When Brent and Leah appeared for their act, Donna and Jim sat up straighter in their seats. Jim leaned into Donna. “This could be the start of something big.” In the hushed dark, with his shoulder touching hers, Donna’s skin tingled.

  Brent and Leah were dressed like Captain and Tennille. Brent sported a navy-blue nautical jacket, hat, and white pants. Leah wore a blonde pageboy wig. As Brent began to play the piano poorly, Leah sang off-key.

  Brent could not take his eyes off Leah. Donna put her hand to her mouth as she saw first- hand that her son was absolutely smitten with Jim’s daughter.

  When they were finished, Jim whispered, “Hollywood has nothing to worry about.”

  Donna elbowed him with a giggle.

  Jim sighed. “They’ve got it bad for each other, don’t they?”

  Donna smiled. “They sure do.”

  Chapter 18

  Jim hesitated in the doorway of his kitchen. Leah stood at the table, wrapping Christmas presents.

  “It’s okay, Dad, you can come in. I’ve already wrapped your gift,” she said, waving the tape dispenser around.

  Every kitchen chair was occupied by shopping bags or tubes of wrapping paper. Leftover scraps of paper and ribbon and empty wrapping-paper tubes littered the floor.

  “So, no coal for me this year,” Jim joked.

  “Nope.” She smiled. “You’ve been good.”

  “Something smells good,” Jim said, looking over to the pot on the stove.

  “I’m making potato-and-leek soup for tomorrow,” she said.

  Jim clapped his hands. “Sounds good.”

  “Where are you going?” she asked, cutting a sheet of wrapping paper to fit the box she’d laid on top of it.

  “Over to the community center to help get ready for the dance tonight,” he replied.

  “Geez, you’ve really settled in to Orchard Falls,” she said.

  “I’m getting there. I did grow up here, you know,” he said.

  “I’ve fallen in love with it,” she said. “It’s a lovely little town.”

  Jim raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Does this have anything to do with the town’s veterinarian?”

  Leah blushed. “Oh, Dad.” She set the scissors down. “Actually, I was thinking of staying on after Christmas.”

  “Really?” Jim asked, not overly surprised.

  “Would that be all right?”

  “Of course, it’s all right with me. As I’ve said before, this is your home, too,” he said. “You really like Brent.”

  She nodded and smiled. “We had a long talk and I’ve decided to stay a little while longer.”

  “It sounds like you didn’t have to think about it too much.”

  “No.”

  “What about your job? And the activism?” he asked.

  “I can be an activist anywhere. And I’ve already talked to my boss and I’m going to put in for a transfer to the east coast. They were planning on opening another branch out here for guide-dog trainers, and I told them Orchard Falls would be perfect as it’s only a two-hour drive to New York City.”

  Jim was delighted that his daughter would be living with him on a more permanent basis. He was even happy that the cats were staying. After all, it was a package deal.

  It made Jim happy that his daughter was happy.

  The community center was a picture of organized chaos as volunteers hurried to get everything ready for the dance later that evening. The atmosphere was charged with excitement, and voices laughed loudly. Someone had brought a Bluetooth speaker, and Christmas music filled the center.

  The DJ was in the corner, setting up his equip
ment, and the caterers were setting up the buffet tables with warming dishes. They asked Donna if she wanted the napkins folded a certain way, but she left it up to them. Donna walked over to the DJ to reiterate that they didn’t want the music played so loud that they couldn’t carry on a conversation. Jim joined the rest of the volunteers in setting up tables and chairs. The caterers followed immediately behind them, laying tablecloths and place settings and setting down centerpieces.

  Ralph arrived with a large light-up snowball that was going to hang over the dance floor. As soon as he appeared, he was swarmed by well-wishers and townspeople enquiring about Sarge.

  Jim and Donna joined the small circle.

  “How’s Sarge doing?” Jim asked.

  “She’s coming along. She’ll have that cast on for a while. She’s home, so that’s good.”

  “Is she up for company?” Donna asked. Jim could hear the hope in her voice.

  Ralph hesitated. “Give it a few days, Donna.”

  “So, she blames me,” Donna said.

  Ralph laughed. “You know Sarge!”

  That caused a twitter among the crowd.

  “Can I hang that snow globe up for you?” Jim asked.

  “No, thanks, Jim. I’ve got it,” Ralph said.

  “Let me grab the ladder for you, Ralph,” he said.

  As Jim headed off to the storage room, the DJ performed a sound check. “Testing one, two, three, testing one, two, three.”

  Donna made a beeline for the DJ. “That’s way too loud!”

  After Jim set up the ladder for Ralph, he glanced around the room to make sure all the tables were set up. Then he sought out Donna.

  She rubbed the back of her neck and looked around the center. Her gaze bounced from Ralph up on the ladder to the DJ to the caterers and back again to Ralph. She bit her lip as she watched him.

  Jim reached out and touched her arm. “Hey, are you all right?” he asked.

  “I am,” she said, nodding her head so fast that Jim was afraid it was going to pop off.

  “Everything is fine,” he said.

  At that moment, Mary Ellen Schumacher walked in, her hand still in a cast.