by Erica Penrod
* * *
Early Friday morning, with the first light trickling through the kitchen window, Lexi stood over the electric skillet and turned over the second round of sizzling bacon. Eight boys occupied the counter and she couldn’t keep the food coming quick enough.
“Hey, Lexi, can I ask you for a favor?” Lucas asked over a plate of scrambled eggs swimming in fresh salsa. “And you can say no.”
“Sure,” she said. Glancing over, he sat at the far end of the island. She stepped back from the popping grease with a spatula in her hand. “What can I help you with?”
“Tomorrow we’re going out to cut down the Christmas trees, and I was hoping …” He picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. “Excuse me.” He placed the napkin back in his lap. “Anyway, I was hoping maybe you could go with us into town this afternoon, when the guys are done with school, to get some ornaments and lights?”
Just then the hot grease sputtered and landed on her skin. “Ouch!” She dropped the utensil and dabbed at her arm. Reaching out, she turned the dial to a lower temperature.
“Are you okay?” Lucas asked. His eyes were a blue flame as his fork hit the table. Creases appeared in his forehead and the concern in his voice caught her more off guard than the flying liquid fat.
“I’m fine,” she said, looking down and realizing how much she’d missed the way he was with her when she first arrived. But when she stole another glance, his eyes were still; no inclination of what she’d just witnessed remained. She stood up straighter, not willing to let her disappointment weigh her down. “You want me to go shopping with you?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Lucas picked up his fork. “I don’t have anything and I’d considered having the trees professionally decorated, but I think the experience would be good for the boys.”
“Shopping?” Derek piped up with his mouth full, and bacon bits rained through the air. “I don’t want to go shopping,” he said, then swallowed.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Lucas stood up. “And you don’t want to go … even if Lexi comes?”
The teenager smiled, giving Lexi a big toothy grin, displaying samples of his breakfast. “Well, if Lexi goes, I guess I’ll go.”
Lexi couldn’t help herself and matched his smile.
Lucas shook his head, but his lips were caught in a lopsided grin. “That’s what I thought.”
“But what if, instead of buying ornaments, we get supplies and make our own?” she said, feeling all giddy as pictures of holiday crafts she’d seen plastered all over Pinterest began to form in her mind.
“Wait, what?” Lucas asked.
“I think it’ll be great,” she said, already at number ten on her mental shopping list.
The boys looked at one another and then at her like she just grew antlers and a red nose.
“Come on, you guys! Where is your Christmas spirit?”
“We’re not Girl Scouts,” Hayden said with his hair stuck to one side of his head, obviously styled by his pillow.
Lexi silently pleaded with Lucas to back her up. He met her gaze and cocked an eyebrow.
“Hey, guys, let’s trust Lexi on this.” Lucas winked at Lexi. “I’m sure Earl and Atiu will be thrilled with the idea.”
Earl and Atiu were finishing up a few things outside. Lexi made their plates, wrapped them in tin foil, and placed them in the oven on warm.
“I know I can’t wait,” Adam said, before he gulped down the rest of his milk.
“Me neither,” added Shaun.
A wake of murmuring rippled from one end of the counter to the other, but Lexi knew by the boys’ expressions they weren’t about to drown in complete despair.
“Instead of riding horses today, we’ll be going to town,” Lucas said, silencing the rip current. “Get your work done and we might be able to take off a little earlier so we can make it back up the canyon before it gets too dark.”
“Is there any chance we could pick up my car while we’re in town?” Lexi asked.
“Of course,” Lucas said.
A traditional bubble of excitement ricocheted through her belly. Since she was a child, she loved decorating the Christmas tree, and some of her fondest memories from elementary school were adorned by the homemade ornaments they made for their parents. A small pang of sadness manifested as she remembered that by now, her family home would be decorated from floor to ceiling, no surface left untouched.
The Evanses’ house had at least five trees every year: three for the entryway, one for the formal area, and another for the family ornaments. Lexi’s mother, Natalie, had the entryway trees done by a design company whose dramatic theme changed from year to year. They were a work of art and Lexi eagerly anticipated their reveal, but her favorite tree was the one they dressed together as family, sharing memories as they pulled each trinket from the box. Her mom stood ready with the glue gun in case one of the treasures hadn’t fared well in storage.
“Does that work for you?” Lexi heard in the background. Her mind was caught in the snow globe of her Christmases past. She shook herself and the postcard pictures drifted away.
“What was that?” She tried to recall what Lucas had last said.
“If we leave as soon as the boys are finished with school?”
“That works for me,” she said. “So all of the boys get to come?”
“Yes, with strict surveillance. And how about we pick up some pizza for dinner, if that’s all right with you? I know you have something planned, but I have a feeling we’re—” He pointed to the boys and himself. “—going to need a lot of supervision in the ornament workshop.”
“That sounds good,” Lexi said. “But I’m warning you … you asked for this.”
“What does that mean? I asked you to come shopping?”
Lexi turned off the skillet and loaded the bacon onto a plate. “You did, but what you didn’t know was that I tend to get carried away with this kind of stuff.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“What stuff?”
“Let me put it this way … have you seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation?”
She could see the wheels spinning in his head for a second, and then his eyes widened in understanding.
Lexi beamed with satisfaction. “The good news is that I’m not any worse than Clark Griswold.”
Chapter 10
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Lexi and their mountain tribe lumbered through the automatic doors of the mega home décor and craft store. Eight teenagers, not known for good behavior; three grown men, whose movement mimicked a herd of gazelles waiting for a lion to attack; and her, a self-admitted Christmas nut, trying to maneuver their way through the holiday crowds had her as uneasy as her mother in a secondhand store. But as three of her five senses heard the music, smelled the pine, and saw the plunder of red, green, and gold, she grabbed a cart and forged ahead.
“You might want to grab another cart or two,” she called over her shoulder, relishing the shock that spread across their faces. “And follow me.”
Seconds later, with boys on either flank, she found what she was looking for. An open area between the aisles displayed a number of decorated trees, each one with a different color scheme and theme.
“Take a look at these and tell me if there’s anything you like. That way I’ll have an idea of what you guys are interested in, and if we need to, we’ll vote.” Lexi tilted her head, waiting for a response, but the boys stood there, looking sideways at each other. “Oh, come on,” she huffed. “It’s not that hard.”
From the corner of her eye, she noticed a tree covered in sports-related ornaments.
“Adam.” She left the cart and walked over to the tree. She picked up a Red Sox ornament. “This looks like something you would like.”
Adam tried to hide his excitement, but when he saw the miniature replicas of his favorite sports team, his eyes lit up and seconds later he was standing next to Lexi.
That was all the prodding the other boys needed, and they disperse
d around the trees. In that moment, Lexi watched as the young men shed their defenses and let their inner child emerge. All except for Bo and Brett. While they stood in front of a tree, they didn’t interact with one another or offer their opinion on how the tree at High Country should be decorated. Glancing over at Lucas, she found him closely observing them as well.
“I want each of you,” he said to the boys, “to choose one of your favorites, and we’ll hang them on our tree.”
Lexi felt her insides melt by his gesture and she wondered how he knew exactly what to do, because when she glanced back over at Bo and Brett, they were both engrossed in selecting an ornament.
“And that’s why he’s the boss,” Atiu said quietly to Lexi, who’d stepped back to enjoy the moment. “Who would’ve thought that teenage boys would get a kick out of their own Christmas ornaments?”
“He is good,” Lexi said, watching the way Lucas interacted with the kids. If she were anyone else, she’d think he was the forever kind of man.
“Yeah, he is,” Atiu said, and when Lexi looked up she saw the big island man staring at her.
“What?” Lexi loosened the scarf around her neck. She hadn’t said that last part out loud, had she?
“Nothing.” His dimples deepened into his cheeks and his eyes flickered as bright as the lights around them. “Nothing at all.”
* * *
In the end they decided on an outdoors theme, and while Lexi purchased a few of the resin ornaments, she had sacks full of ribbon, burlap, bells, Christmas paper, and anything else she could think of. They picked out clear lights and Lucas indulged her with garlands for the mantel and other greenery for the house. The only item he balked at was when she picked out a couple sacks of scented pinecones.
“You know, we have thousands of those in our backyard.” He picked up the netted sack. “Why should we pay for these?”
“Because they smell like cinnamon,” she said, inhaling their fragrance. “I could probably figure out how to make my own scented pinecones, but since we’re on a tight schedule, I figure this would be better. We’re making ornaments out of these.”
Lucas gave her a once-over. “If you say so.”
“I do,” she said with a soft smile, as they stood in the checkout line. Earl, Atiu, and the boys were occupied by the miniature Christmas village set on rolling hills of white fleece-like material on display to the right of them. Mirrors made tiny ponds, where little figurines of ice skaters danced along the glass and other holiday scenes were depicted with little houses and tiny artificial trees.
While Lucas paid for the items, Lexi used his phone to find the phone number of a nearby pizza place.
“Thanks for doing that.” He took the phone from her.
“No problem,” she said.
“We’ll save some time if we call ahead,” he said with the phone pressed to his ear, giving her an authentic smile. “We make a good team.”
In rare moments like this, Lexi caught a glimpse of the warm friendship he’d given to her when she came a week ago, before the “big freeze,” as she liked to call his sudden change in behavior. They did work well together and he was obviously friends with Atiu and Earl, so why had he pulled away from her? Could he tell that her thoughts weren’t always platonic and he was trying to keep a professional relationship? If that was the case, she wanted to find the nearest snowbank and dive in headfirst.
This was her first job out of school and she was blowing it. Perhaps if she hadn’t had the misfortune of falling into Lucas’s arms the night they met, none of this would be a problem. She wouldn’t have felt that spark between them and he’d be the perfect employer. As it was, she had to consciously choose not to think about that night or the spark or his piercing eyes, and was forced to dredge up painful memories of Brian to keep her heart at bay.
So as her thoughts about Lucas began to wander down that forbidden road, Lexi recalled the night that changed her life, the night she found out she wasn’t enough for the man she’d loved. Suddenly, she couldn’t get enough air and her chest tightened just like when she stood in front of Brian six months ago. When she wondered how she could’ve been so wrong and how she could believe that he ever really loved her. Because she knew with the whole heart she had at the time that if the tables were turned, she wouldn’t have walked away; she would’ve loved him more.
* * *
It was a miracle. Lucas walked into the kitchen on Saturday morning. Any of evidence of last night’s mayhem had disappeared into the cinnamon-scented atmosphere. Lucas rubbed his temples, his head still whirling with visions of the “creativity mess,” as Lexi so affectionately dubbed the scattered paper, ribbon, glue guns, and other crafting paraphernalia.
On the corner of the counter, the pinecones sat in a box, with strips of red and green spilling over their sides. Gold bells and artificial holly berries were glued to the centers, where bows crowned the top of the ornaments. In another basket, paper birds sat in their nests of grapevine. At least, that’s what he thought Lexi had called the small twig-like wreaths. There was a third box with silhouettes, cut out of gold glitter paper, in the shape of deer heads.
He had to admit, she’d impressed him. Lexi taught the guys to fold the paper into birds, how to use the glue gun with only a few minor injuries, and best of all, how to clean up after they were finished. Lucas hoped the Christmas tree thing would be a hit with the kids, but he couldn’t have envisioned this. Even though some of the ornaments looked like they’d been assembled by teenage boys their faces were priceless as they cut, glued, and folded. Seeing the boys gathered, bobbing their heads along with the Christmas music would hang on the tree, right next to the handmade ornaments … he couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful. Well, maybe one thing … or maybe someone.
Walking over to the fridge, he pulled out the carton of orange juice, then took a glass from the cupboard. As he poured the liquid, he praised himself for the past few days. He’d accomplished what he intended, and that was to get push Lexi the woman into his subconscious and put Lexi the chef in the forefront of his mind. In reality, that meant he ignored her as much as possible, which maybe wasn’t a permanent solution, but the method was a temporary fix.
Lucas took a swig from the glass and set it back on the island. He heard footsteps coming down the hall and knew at once who they belonged to: Lexi.
“Oh,” she said with a startled expression. “Hi, I didn’t realize you were in here.” She reached up in an attempt to smooth the mound of hair piled on top of her head, but the effort was pointless; her hair looked like she’d lost a wrestling match with a raccoon. Lucas kept his smile hidden between his lips.
“I wanted to get an early start. I figured I’d give the boys some extra sleep time today, since we were up a little later than usual.” He glanced at the ornaments. “I’ll get going on the chores and maybe we’ll get out of here before noon.”
“Out of here?” Lexi asked with a yawn.
“To cut the trees.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. My brain’s not awake yet.”
He noticed the imprints of her pillow on her cheek and her eyes still hazy with sleep. Her heart-shaped face reminded him of a drawing of a fairy he’d once seen in a children’s illustration book: the slight slope from the tip her delicate nose to her wide eyes, and the way her lips looked like they’d been drawn to perfection by the hand of an artist in strawberry watercolor.
Lucas drew in a breath … she was doing it again. Lexi was naïve of her potency, but she was still to blame for his moment of weakness. Correcting himself, he pulled the emotion from his voice.
“Would you like to come?” He was aware his invitation sounded like a recording.
Lexi knitted her eyebrows together as she studied his face. “I’m not sure …”
He saw her bewildered expression transform into something else … maybe sadness.
“The boys would like it if you came.”
“I’ll think about it.” She walked farther into the kit
chen.
He felt the chill of her cold shoulder as she passed, and he immediately regretted the way he’d handled the situation. Lexi helped him when he asked and turned the evening into something special. And if he was correct, which he knew he was, these boys needed moments like that in their lives to remind them of the good things life had to offer.
“Lexi, I’m sorry,” his mouth said, before his mind had time to edit his words. “If I sounded like I didn’t want you to come get the trees with us, of course I do.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I must’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed.”
She eyed him cautiously, but didn’t say anything.
“I mean it.” He tried again to apologize. “I know we won’t have half as much fun if you’re not there.”
Silence.
“I want you to come,” he said, and was encouraged when her shoulders relaxed. “I need you to come. How are we going to get the perfect Christmas tree without our Clark Griswold?”
Lucas knew he had her. She fought the urge to smile and the look in her eyes thawed into a spring morning of crisp blue sky and newborn green.
“Okay,” she said, and even though he’d hoped for more enthusiasm in her response, he’d take what he could get.
“Good.” He put the juice back in the fridge. “Now get cookin’, good-lookin’.” He shut the door and spun around.
Lexi froze.
“Oh my gosh,” he said. “I didn’t mean that. It just slipped out.”
Lexi continued to stare at him like she’d never seen him before.
“My dad used to say that to my mom—joking, of course—and I was thinking about trying to hurry and have the boys get through with breakfast.” He shook his head and knew his face was flushed. “Please forgive me; that wasn’t appropriate at all.”
Finally, Lexi laughed, and then he did too. “I’m not worried about it,” she said. “I’ve made my share of unprofessional blunders. It seems like we kind of started out that way.”