Welcome to Serenity (35 page)

“Save me some eggnog,” he said as she left.

He’d meant to make her smile, but instead she walked away looking sad, as if he’d just popped her holiday balloon. He’d have to find some way to make it up to her…. The giant snowflakes on the light poles in downtown Serenity were sparkling. Vendors lined the streets, selling arts and crafts, quilts, jewelry and homemade jams and jellies. Kids, excited in anticipation of Santa’s arrival, were inhaling cotton candy and hot dogs. Any minute now, Santa would arrive atop the town’s fire truck as a local choir sang

“Here Comes Santa Claus”, the lights on the tree in the square would be turned on and the Christmas festival would be officially under way.

Next to Jeanette, Maddie grinned and squeezed her hand.

“You did good! It’s absolutely beautiful and there are more vendors than we’ve ever had before. I can’t wait for the choirs to start singing. That’s my favorite part. And the kids can’t wait to see Santa. At least Jessica Lynn can’t and Katie’s pretending she still believes for her sister’s sake. Kyle’s too old and Cole’s too young, but it’s nice to have at least one kid who still believes in Santa.”

“Where’s Helen?” Jeanette asked. “I thought she’d be here by now with Sarah Beth.”

“Last time I saw her she was in the kitchen at Sullivan’s telling Erik how to decorate the Christmas cookies he’s bringing over here for Santa to give away.”

Jeanette chuckled. “How was that going?”

“Erik just tunes her out and does his thing.”

“Really?”

“Oh, did I forget to mention that he gave her some icing and told her to do whatever she wanted with it? Last time I saw him, he was trying to get red icing out of his hair.”

Maddie turned to her, her expression sobering. “You and I haven’t had much time to ourselves to talk lately. Right after the first of the year, we have to get serious about expanding the spa. Meantime, what’s going on with you and Tom?

We’re taking bets he’ll be giving you a ring for Christmas, or Valentine’s Day at the latest. I know it may seem fast, but he doesn’t strike any of us as the kind of man who likes to wait around. And he has said he loves you.”

Jeanette wasn’t quite as certain as Maddie that she and Tom were anywhere near ready for that big a commitment. They’d taken a huge step when they’d slept together and she’d taken an even bigger leap of faith after talking with his father, but marriage or even an engagement? It was too soon for that kind of talk.

“I think you’re all jumping the gun,” she told Maddie.

“Come on. I’ve seen you two together. Everything clicks.”

Jeanette barely resisted the urge to sigh again. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“So what’s the problem?”

“If you can believe it, Christmas. The worst memories of my life are all tied up with the holidays and I’ve managed to overcome that and really find my way back to loving the season the way I did as a child. He’s still so cynical and jaded, it’s driving me nuts. You should have heard him going on and on a couple of hours ago. You would have thought the entire season was invented just to annoy him.”

“Maybe he’s just the kind of guy who obsesses over details, and right now there are a hundred of them related to getting this event off the ground.”

Jeanette shook her head. “It runs deeper than that. It’s all tied up with the phony excess his mother insists on, but please, that doesn’t begin to compare with what I went through.”

“You’ve never explained about that,” Maddie reminded her. “I’ve hoped you would, but I swore to myself I wouldn’t pressure you to tell me.”

Jeanette couldn’t help grinning at the pious note in her voice. “That must have just about killed you.”

“You have no idea,” Maddie replied just as Cole began to wail. “Hold on. Don’t you dare leave,” she ordered Jeanette as she reached for her son. “Give me a minute to find Cal in this mob scene and turn our baby boy over to him. Then you and I can talk.”

“Maddie, this isn’t the best time,” Jeanette protested. “It will only bring you down. Heck, talking about it will bring me down and I’m in a halfway decent place right now.”

“You’re not if you’re thinking that you and Tom don’t have a future because you disagree about the holidays,”

Maddie said, then turned to Kyle. “Take your brother.” She handed the baby over to the horrified teenager.

“Mom!” Kyle protested, even as he snuggled the baby against his chest with the ease of someone who’d grown used to caring for his new siblings.

“Find Cal,” Maddie ordered, giving him no sympathy.

“He can take over for you,”

“This sucks,” Kyle grumbled, but he went off in search of his stepfather.

“You are putting a serious dent in your son’s social life,”

Jeanette told Maddie, who merely grinned.

“Don’t let him fool you. The girls are drawn to him like a magnet when he’s babysitting. He just hates admitting how much he likes having them fawn all over him and Cole.”

“So the baby is a babe magnet?”

“Absolutely,” Maddie said. “Last time Ty was home, he kept pleading to take the baby for a walk in the park. At first I thought it was all about bonding with his new brother, but then Kyle filled me in.”

“Wait a minute,” Jeanette said. “Isn’t Ty dating Annie?

I thought they were a couple.”

“Something’s going on there, but I’m trying to stay out of it. So is Dana Sue. Those two kids have been thick as thieves for a while now, but over Thanksgiving they weren’t even speaking. I have no idea if they fought, broke up or what.”

“It must be hard not going to the same college and trying to maintain a relationship,” Jeanette mused.

“We all warned them about that, but Ty said they’d do okay. Annie’d adored him practically forever and he was great with her when she was dealing with her eating disorder, so we backed off. Whatever’s going on, they have to work it out for themselves. It won’t help for Dana Sue or me to get involved.”

“Yet another of your frustrations, I’m sure,” Jeanette said.

“Yes, and since I can’t fix their issues, let’s deal with yours,” Maddie said. “Why did you react so badly when I asked you to work on the festival? And what does that have to do with what’s going on now between you and Tom?”

Since Maddie was as tenacious as a pitbull, Jeanette gave her the condensed version of the Christmas Eve accident and its aftermath.

Maddie’s eyes welled with tears. “Oh, sweetie, I had no idea. I would never have forced you into doing all this if I’d understood why you were so against it. You should have told me right then.”

“It’s worked out better this way,” Jeanette admitted. “I needed to face what happened and let go of all the pain. I actually think I can go to church on Christmas Eve this year with an open heart. I wish Tom were in the same place.”

“Come on, sweetie. This is not that big a deal. You’ll figure this out. You two have too much going for you not to overcome your differences over the holidays,” Maddie said adamantly.

Jeanette tried to come up with an explanation for her gut feeling that would make sense to Maddie. “It’s not the holidays, per se,” she said eventually. “It’s that I don’t think I can be with someone who’s so negative.”

Maddie clearly didn’t buy it. She regarded her knowingly. “You’re making excuses, Jeanette. This isn’t about Christmas or negativity. What’s really stopping you from grabbing on to what the two of you have found with each other?”

Jeanette wasn’t really surprised that Maddie had called her on it. Maddie was an intuitive woman. The problem was, she didn’t have a straightforward answer. “It’s not just one thing,” she said eventually. “I could give you a whole list of reasons we don’t belong together.”

“Starting with?”

“His mother and I don’t get along.” She decided not to mention Mrs. McDonald’s attempt to get her out of Tom’s life permanently by sending her husband over here on a mission to buy her off. It hadn’t worked and now that she understood why it had happened in the first place, she could forgive the whole misguided incident. Maddie might not.

“You planning to live with the woman?” Maddie asked wryly.

“No, but come on, even if she and I find a way to make peace, she is not the kind of person to stay out of our lives. Do I really want a lifetime of dealing with her?”

“If it comes with a man as great as Tom, don’t you think it would be worth it?”

Jeanette thought of how Tom made her feel when they were alone and grinned. “Now that you mention it, maybe it does. Meantime, though, in the spirit of holiday goodwill I agreed to show up at some fancy dinner party at their house next weekend.”

“Is that your punishment for existing?” Maddie inquired tartly.

“It’s my pitiful attempt to extend an olive branch yet again,” Jeanette said.

“Give it time. They’ll come to appreciate you for the wonderful woman you are,” Maddie assured her.

“You are such an optimist.”

“Well, of course I am. A few years ago, when Richard walked out on me, I thought I’d never be happy again. Then Cal came along and just look at my life. It’s better than ever. I have two little ones I’d never dreamed in a million years that I’d have at this stage of my life. I have a husband who adores me. I have a son who’s excelling in college and is destined to play pro baseball. I have two other kids who are getting smarter and more mature every day. And I have a business I enjoy and friends who support me and make me laugh. All that can be yours, too. You just have to reach out and grab what you want.”

“I’d be hard pressed to come up with five kids overnight, but I see your point,” Jeanette said. “I need to count my blessings.”

“And Tom could be one of those if you’ll open your heart to him,” Maddie reminded her. “Work this out, sweetie. I know you want to.”

“Yeah, I do,” Jeanette admitted, her gaze searching the crowded square before finally finding Tom near the stage. He and Santa—Howard—were arguing, yet again. Then Howard plunked an extra Santa hat on Tom’s head and Jeanette found herself chuckling at his obvious discomfort. Maddie nudged her with an elbow. “You’ve gotta love a man in a Santa hat.”

Jeanette sighed. “Yeah, I suppose I do.”

But that didn’t seem to stop her from wondering if she was going to live to regret it.

Tom looked around the town square at the awed expressions on the kids’ faces and shook his head. Maybe only someone under twelve could truly enjoy Christmas, he mused. He turned to share his thoughts with Jeanette and realized that she was gazing around at all the lights with that same look of awe on her face. He frowned.

“You really have gotten into this, haven’t you?”

“Don’t make it sound like an accusation,” she responded.

“I have gotten into it. Just look at all these people, Tom. Look at how happy the kids are. Even Howard’s in his element up there handing out candy canes and Erik’s cookies and letting the kids whisper their Christmas wishes in his ear.”

“How are they going to feel on Christmas morning when they don’t get what they asked for?”

She whirled on him. “Would you just give it a rest? Look how the town has come together for this event. That’s a good thing. Lighten up, okay?”

“You know, I really don’t understand you anymore,” he said, genuinely bewildered by her change in attitude.

“Ditto,” she said, walking away.

Years ago, faced with his parents’ total lack of interest in ensuring their children enjoyed the holiday season, using it mainly as a time to enhance social connections, Tom had learned to be independent, not to rely on anyone for his happiness. Tonight, though, for the very first time he felt well and truly alone. It scared him to think that Jeanette might use this as yet another reason to keep their relationship from moving forward. Things had been going well recently, and now, it seemed he was about to ruin it. He had to get a grip, remember what really mattered.

“You look as if someone just stole your Christmas presents,” Ronnie noted, joining him. “Where’s Jeanette?”

“I have no idea.”

Ronnie gave him a knowing look. “Did you two have a fight?”

“Apparently,” he said.

Ronnie nodded sagely. “Ah, one of those. They’re the toughest kind to handle. Did she give you any clues?”

“It had something to do with my bah-humbug attitude.”

Ronnie grinned. “Yeah, you really do need to work on that. The whole town’s talking about what a grump you are. It probably doesn’t bode well for your future as town manager.”

Tom stared at him incredulously. “You think I could be fired because I’m not filled with the Christmas spirit?”

“Serenity does have certain expectations for its town officials,” Ronnie said solemnly.

“You can’t be serious!”

Ronnie chuckled. “Okay, I’m kidding. Your job is probably safe, but you really do need to loosen up about the holidays.”

Tom sighed. “I know.”

“Then maybe you should get a clue,” Ronnie suggested.

“Go find some mistletoe, drag Jeanette under it and kiss her like there’s no tomorrow.”

“And you think that will fix things?”

“Probably not, but it might be a good start.”

“Given her current mood, she’ll probably slug me.”