Merry Humbug Christmas (35 page)

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“Grandpop,” she called out. “I think something’s not right.”

Everyone turned toward the house, and Jeane popped up from

her chair with a gasp. Reese’s heart nearly stopped when she spotted the black smoke billowing from the house.

“Something’s on fire!” Hannah shouted.

Matthew spiked the ball to the ground, and the whole lot of

them took off running toward the back door. Through the expanse of windows, Reese could see the flames reaching from the stovetop to the hood over it, curving around the edge and straining toward the ceiling.

“Stand back,” Paul bellowed. “Nobody open that door until I see

what’s going on inside. Just stand back, all of you. Jeane, get the kids away from the door.”

“Does anyone have their cell phone out here?” Reggie called out

to no reply.

Reese cupped her eyes against the window with both hands and

peered inside. On the marble kitchen floor, she spotted the towel she’d tossed back on her departure, one end of it charred by flames.

Surely, she hadn’t started the fire with the thoughtless toss of a dish towel!

“No!” she cried. “Nooo.”

Her helpless archenemy circled the island and ran into the great

room, barking relentlessly.

“Paco’s in there!” Sarah cried and headed straight for the door,

but Damian grabbed her at the waist and yanked her back again.

“Not a chance!”

Reese couldn’t help herself. She weaved around them and pushed

past Paul before cranking the knob and shoving open the door.

“Reese, what are you—”

With her arm folded over her mouth to block the smoke, she

raced into the great room and searched the tables until she caught sight of a cell phone and grabbed it.

“Mom, where’s the fire extinguisher?” she heard Damian call out.

“Damian, get outta there, son!”

“It’s under the shelf in the pantry!”

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Reese searched the room for Damian, but a substantial wall of

ashy fog blocked her view. She took a deep breath and began choking on the thick smoke.

Paco—
You ignorant little thing!—
made her chase him around the sofa before she got close enough to catch him by the collar. He chomped down on her hand as she did, and she screamed, but she

didn’t lose her grip.

“Mattie!” Damian called out. “Do you know how to work it?”

“I got this,” Matthew returned. “Get Reese!”

Disembodied arms wrapped around her waist and hoisted her

straight off the ground. By the time she recognized Damian’s mus-

cular biceps, he’d heaved her right over his shoulder and carried her toward the back door, Paco dangling by his teeth from her bleeding hand.

“PAUL, JEANE, I AM so sorry. I’m just so, so sorry!”

Reese could hardly breathe. She didn’t know if the smoke had

smothered her, or if the guilt had done it, but she couldn’t seem to get a deep breath. Damian wrapped a blanket around her shoulders

and sat down on the bench next to her.

“En qué estabas pensando? Has perdido el juicio?”
Sofia rattled. “You threw a towel on a burning flame on the stove?”

“Is that what happened?” one of the firefighters asked from the

doorway.

“Yes!” Reese confessed, and she jumped to her feet. “It’s all my

fault. I just went inside to stir the sauce, and the dog bit me—”

“Paco bit you?” Damian interjected.

“He didn’t mean it,” Sarah piped up.

“Oh, I know, honey. He just doesn’t know me.”

The fireman cleared his throat. “The towel?”

“Oh. Right. I was using it to swat the dog away from my leg, and

I tossed some dog treats to distract him—”

“What dog treats?”

“Don’t interrupt, Sarah,” her mother told her.

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“But I ran out of dog treats yesterday.”

Reese looked up at Damian, her heart racing. “What was in the

plastic bag on the counter?”

“Those were Grandpop’s vitamins!” Hannah exclaimed, and

Sarah began to cry.

“What will happen? Will he die? Did you try to kill Paco just

because he doesn’t like you?”

Reese collapsed into Damian’s arms.

“Let’s just settle down. Everyone,” he said. “Mom, go with Regg

and call the emergency animal clinic in town. They’ll want to know Pop’s pills and dosage.”

“I’m going with you!” Sarah blurted.

“So you tossed the towel toward the kitchen,” the fireman led

Reese. “And you didn’t know it landed on the stove.”

“Of course, she didn’t,” Damian answered him.

“No,” Reese confirmed. “I didn’t know.” Looking frantically

at Paul and Jeane, she descended into a full-on ugly cry. “I’m so sor-ry . . .”

“We know, dear,” Jeane said with an exasperated sigh. “We know.”

“No one was hurt. That’s the important thing right now,” Paul

added, and he turned to the firefighter. “What’s our next step?”

“You’ll want to contact your insurance company, and they’ll send

out an inspector to make sure there’s no structural damage.”

“Is that a possibility?” Jeane asked.

“It could be, but I really don’t think so. It looks like you’re just facing some cosmetic repairs. Still, you’ll want to take care of that right away. We don’t see any residual hot spots, and no water damage. There is, however, some concentrated smoke damage. If you’ll come into the kitchen with me, I’ll show you.”

The entire Palmer clan filed in behind the fireman, except for

Damian and Reese who stayed outside the door. Tightening the blanket around her shoulders, Damian looked into Reese’s eyes and gave her a tired smile. For the first time she noticed the smudges of soot on his face and neck, and she instinctively bunched the blanket with her hand and used the corner to gently rub it away.

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“Reese,” he said with a gravelly tone to his voice.

“Please don’t.”

“Don’t . . . what?”

“Don’t anything,” she replied as he brushed the tear stains from

her dirty face with his thumb. “Don’t tell me it’s going to be okay, that it was just an accident, because I’ll break down completely. And please don’t tell me how badly I’ve messed up and that you’re finished with me because I would like to be your fiancee as long as I possibly can. You can break up with me after we get back to the city, all right?”

“Is that everything?”

She thought it over then nodded. “I think that covers it.”

Glancing down at her blackened hands, Reese noticed her beau-

tiful and brilliant diamond ring had lost every bit of its luster beneath the soot. As she realized it was likely a living metaphor for all that had happened, she dropped to the bench, tossed her face into both hands, and began to sob.

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On the twelfth day of Christmas,

Murphy’s Law gave to me . . .

twelve reindeer hauntings,

eleven houses burning,

ten carols screeching,

nine cornball sleigh rides,

eight geese a-roasting,

seven backs a-blazing,

six ER visits,

five frozen thiiiings!

four yapping dogs,

three wrenched necks,

two mismatched gloves,

and a big rockin’ Harry Winston ring.

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12

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back and get something

to eat with the rest of your family?” Reese asked Reggie as

they meandered down the sidewalk. “It’s not like we’re going to find anywhere else open on Christmas night.”

“I’ll be fine,” she replied, and she looped her arm through

Reese’s. “Mom’s going to take out a platter of sandwiches we can

all have later. Right now, it’s just about getting the kids fed. There’s nothing more trying than a pack of hungry Palmer children.”

“And since Christmas dinner was pretty much sidelined by

me . . .”

“Well, when you said you wanted to go for a walk while the oth-

ers got something to eat, I pretty much knew that translated to being too uncomfortable to sit there and—”

“And look into the faces of the family whose home I had just

burned down?”

Reggie chuckled. “You didn’t burn down the whole house. Just a

little corner of it.”

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“The kitchen, Reggie. That’s a pretty important corner.”

“Besides,” Reggie cut in. “I wasn’t going to leave you wandering

the streets of Big Bear Village all alone with your thoughts.”

“You mean the ones where I flail around in them until I finally

drown?”

“Those would be the ones.”

Reese shook her head and groaned softly. “You’re a very kind

person, Reggie. I appreciate the company.”

The normally bustling village streets stood rather empty beneath

the border of candy cane lamps and scalloped tinsel. Most of the

stores were closed for the holiday already, and only a few bundled families wandered past them as she and Reggie made their way down Pine Knot Avenue.

“Let’s recap,” Reese suddenly exclaimed. “Bailed on my best

friend for Christmas . . . hit a reindeer . . . ran over Eli . . . barfed on dinner . . . burned down the house . . . poisoned the dog. Did I miss anything?”

Reggie couldn’t hold back her laughter. “If you did, I’m not going to name it. I try never to kick a friend when she’s down.”

“Thank you.” Reese tilted her head and rested it on Reggie’s

shoulder for a moment. “I think it’s always important to make a good impression on the in-laws, don’t you?”

After a few beats of silence, Reggie sniggered in the effort to keep from displaying her amusement, and the mere sound of it ignited

something in Reese. The two of them began to laugh—almost hys-

terically—as they ambled on.

When the soft strains of a choir of voices beckoned, they both

straightened.

“Do you hear that?” Reese asked.

“Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains. And the
mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains . . .”

As they turned the corner, Reese spotted a group of people gath-

ered around a tall lit Christmas tree with a living nativity staged in front of it. About fifty people held small candles as they gathered around a man, woman, and baby in a constructed manger lined with

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hay. Next to them, Reese noticed a shy little lamb, two goats nibbling on straw, a brown-eyed calf, and a small donkey. The scene, enhanced by the beauty of the combined harmonies, touched Reese in a raw

place deep within her.

As they reached the group, a smiling woman in a red-velvet coat

handed them both candles. “Welcome,” she said as she lit them. “God bless you both.”

Reese and Reggie exchanged curious smiles, but neither one

questioned whether to join in. Just as they became part of the circle, her emotion weighed on Reese until she couldn’t help from bowing

her head.

“Glo-o-o-o-ria! In excelsis deo!”

She’d had such high hopes about spending time with Damian’s

family and getting to know them. Would they ever be able to for-