A Heart for Christmas

Yvette Stilwell glanced up at the departure board at Heathrow Airport.  Her eyes scanned over the flights listed. 
Great.
  She groaned to herself.   Her flight was delayed. Getting home had been the only thing on her mind since she had arrived in London.  Not that she didn’t enjoy the bustling city.  She did, but she missed her daughter, Lacey, terribly.  Her trip was supposed to last a few days.  Long enough to train employees on their company’s new shipment tracking software, but there had been one delay after another.  Her boss told her that she was the only trainer up to speed on their latest upgrade. Yvette figured the truth was nobody wanted to travel right after Thanksgiving. This time her overzealous penchant for learning had come back to bite her in the butt. 

H
er daughter’s ninth birthday was in less than a month away.  Yvette had no intention of missing preparations for either the birthday or the holidays.  Their tradition always began on December 1
st
, and Lacey was counting on her.

To her relief,
Yvette’s manager agreed that she could hop the next flight home.  In exchange for the leaving before all of the training was completed, she would set up a series of video conferences when she returned to help their employees with any issues that cropped up.  She thanked him and then contacted their travel office to book the next flight back to Raleigh, NC.  Next, Yvette called her Aunt Addie, to let her know about the change in travel plans.  Adelaide Thompson, her mother’s younger sister, lived in Asheville.  She visited often.  Since Yvette’s parents lived in Florida, Adelaide volunteered to watch Lacey.

“Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?”

Startled, Yvette looked up.  A tall man was standing
in front of her.  His carry-on bag parked at his side.

“Oh, no
it’s free,” she replied, scooting over a few inches. 

“Great, thanks.”  He sat down beside her and scooted his bag closer to his leg.

After a few moments, Yvette snuck a peek  at the man. She watched him remove a cell phone out of his coat pocket.  He slid his finger across the screen to unlock it.  Yvette couldn’t help but see a picture perfect winter landscape of snow and a giant fir tree.  Well, minus the decorations.  That’s the last thing she expected to see on a man’s cell phone.  Stifling a laugh, and not wanting to be caught staring, Yvette lowered her eyes. 

An elderly lady
sitting on her right asked if she had the time.  Glancing at her watch, Yvette answered.

“I ha
te these long delays, don’t you?” the woman asked her.

“Yes, I do.  I guess I shouldn’t complain
, though.  My plans changed last minute, so I’m glad I got an earlier flight home.”

“Where do you l
ive?” the woman asked.

“Raleigh, North Carolina.”

“Really?  I’m headed there, too.”  A male voice said.

Yvette turned to
face Christmas tree man.  It was the first time she’d been able to see his full face.  She’d known he was tall, but she had no idea he was so…she searched for the right word, but was mortified when “Wow” slipped out of her mouth. 

Yvette’s skin reddened and she tried to conceal her embarrassment by coughing. 

“Sorry,” she said quickly.  “My gum almost went down wrong.”

“It’s okay,” the man said with a smile.

“What I meant was wow, you’re from Raleigh, too?”

“I wasn’
t born there.  I grew up in Alexandria, Virginia.  My father is a Colonel (RET) in the Army.  We did our share of traveling.”

“I bet.  Do they still live there?”

“No, my parents live in the Smoky Mountains, near Waynesville.  They have a small place in Raleigh, too.”

“
Small world.  I have an Aunt that lives in Asheville.  It’s so beautiful in the mountains at this time of year.” 

“Definitely
.”

“My name is Yvette Stilwell,” she said
as she smiled, extending her hand.

He clasped it and closed his fingers around hers.  “
I know.  I’m Christopher Darcy.”

“You
know?”  Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.  If she had seen him before, she couldn’t recall where.  Yvette searched his face for anything that would jog her memory.  Christopher Darcy was a very attractive man.  He had warm brown eyes, thick eyebrows, and a small mole on his cheek under his left eye.  His skin was light brown, and his teeth were bright and straight.  He was well built, and from what Yvette observed, over six feet tall.  Suddenly, she remembered.

Recognition finally dawned. 
“Duke,” she blurted out.  “You went to Duke University.”

“It took you long enough,” he replied with a trace of humor.

Her eyes widened.  “I can’t believe you remember me.”

“Of course
, I remember you.  I was a year ahead of you, but you were in a few of my classes.  You graduated in 2001, right?”

Yvette nodded.

“You used to date a friend of mine…Jordan.”

“I never dated him,” she retorted
, “that was my roommate.”

“Yeah, like I said.  Your roommate dated him.
If I recall, you were pretty exclusive with a guy.  Michael, wasn’t it?” 

Yvette nodded, and then her smile faded.  “Yes. 
Michael.  We ended up getting married,” she said softly.

“That’s cool.  What’s he up to these days?”

“Not much,” Yvette tried to sound nonchalant, but her voice trembled.  “Michael died a few years ago.  He was in car accident.  The drunk driver that hit him walked away from the crash.  My husband wasn’t so lucky.”

Christopher
’s smile faded.  He turned toward her.  “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

Yvette felt the usual tug at her heart when she mentioned her late husband.  “Thank you.”

Before either could say more, their plane arrived and the boarding process began.             

They both stood up and gathered their things.  Yvette lost track of Christopher until much later after she’d gotten to her row and placed her carry-on luggage away.  He was sitting
in the same row, opposite side from her aisle.

“What a coincidence,” she said when they made eye contact.

“True.”  Christopher leaned over to speak to the woman in the aisle seat. 

Yvette sat
next to the window and got comfortable.  It was going to be a very long flight, so she made sure everything she needed for comfort was close at hand.  

Yvette fastened her seat
belt.  Seconds later, she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.  She was going home.

A few minutes later, the flight attendant
went over the safety instructions. 

“
You shouldn’t sleep through this.  She might say something very important.”

Yvette
’s eyes opened.  Christopher sat in the aisle seat in her row.

“
I suppose you’re right.  I wouldn’t want to miss something that may save my life later,” she told him. 

“I hope you don’t mind my changing seats.  These flights are long enough without someone interesting to talk to—especially an old college friend.”

“You know, I don’t think we were friends back then.”

Christopher turned in his seat so that he was facing her.  His expression was playful.  “No
?” he agreed.  “Well if we weren’t, we should have been.”

CHAPTER
TWO

The heat crept up Yvette’s face and his comment.  Christopher saw her pick up the safety card in the seat pocket from in front of her and gave it her undivided attention. 

“You’re not blushing are you?” Christopher said
in awe. 

“Of course not
,” she denied hotly.

“Though I have to admit, I find the
prospect thoroughly amusing.”

She swung her head around.  “Oh really?  And why is that?”

“Because you never glanced my way in school.  You were too focused on your studies, your close circle of friends, and your late husband.”

When she
didn’t have a snappy comeback for that, he knew his comment had hit home.     

“You know i
n some ways, you’re nothing like I remember.  And yet, some things are exactly the same.”

Yvette smiled.  “Is that so?  Like what?”
 

“I don’t know.  Just things.”

It was Christopher’s turn to be evasive.  There was no way he was going to mention that her beauty hadn’t diminished with time.  If anything, the years had enhanced it.  Yvette’s brown hair was longer now, and her sable-colored eyes were not hidden behind thick black eyeglasses.  Her five foot, ten inch frame still supported the curves she had at twenty-one.  The added bonus was that they were more ample now.  Her golden brown skin was flawless, but it was Yvette’s smile that held his attention the most.  That hadn’t changed in the eleven years since he’d seen her last.  Though she had not associated with him back then, Yvette had left a memorable impression.  She was not someone you could easily forget.  And for her to be here in such close proximity on a plane for the next eight hours was a very welcome surprise.

Christopher put the brakes on his reminiscing
before he drifted too far down memory lane.  He cleared his throat, and then picked up a magazine and buried his face in it.  It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep. 

Sometime later, Christopher was being tapped on his shoulder, followed by rhythmic shaking.  After a deep yawn, he finally opened his eyes.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Yvette apologized, “But the flight attendant has past once
already and I wasn’t sure if you wanted some lunch.”

“Thanks,” he replied in a voice deepened with sleep.  He stretched and sat up in his seat. 

Yvette nodded.  “You’re welcome.”

After Christopher ordered a soda with no ice, he unfastened his seat belt to slip off his jacket.  He motioned to the seat between them. 

“Do you mind?”

“No, of course not.
  I couldn’t help but notice earlier that you have a picture of a Christmas tree on your phone.  I’ve never seen one on a guy’s phone before.”

A wide grin opened into a full smile.  “You know, tis the season, and all that.”

Yvette nodded.  “Christmas is my favorite holiday.  My daughter’s, too.”

Christopher smiled when he imagined miniature Yvettes running around.  “So you have children?”

“Just one.  Lacey.  She’s eight.  Her birthday is December 23
rd
so I try and make it an extra special time for her.  You know, so that she won’t feel like she’s getting the short end of the birthday and Christmas present stick.”

Christopher chuckled.  “Makes sense.”

“What about you?  Are you married?  Any kids?”

“Actually
, I’m divorced.  My ex-wife is living quite comfortably in my ex-house, and has custody of my ex-dog.  Don’t know how that happened.  Clearly she had the better lawyer.”

Yvette
stifled a chuckle. 

“Go ahead,” it makes me laugh some days, too.”  He said dryly.