Christmas Romance (Best Christmas Romances of 2013) (3 page)

“I need to get the food out of the car,” she said, trying to create a comfortable emotional distance between herself and the too-handsome cowboy.

“Let me give you a hand.” He stepped back and his eyes dimmed, as if he guessed her intention. “Wait here, Penny,” he said, but Penny was busy in the living room with the presents.

He followed Lee to the car, and she could sense his eyes upon her, caressing her just as his breath had earlier. As much as she didn’t want to like the attention, she couldn’t control the sudden desire that coursed through her like oxygen, filling each cell of her body with a desperate need for him to be near her again. She needed his touch and his rich scent—a subtle combination of aftershave mixed with a hint of cinnamon—brush over her.

When she reached into the trunk, she could sense his closeness. The warmth of his body radiated in the cold winter morning like steam rising from earth frozen for too long and finally came back to life in the spring sunshine.

“Here, take the fish.” She handed him the black roaster with the salmon inside.

“Fish?”

“You don’t like fish, do you?” She grabbed a bag filled to the top with bread, cranberry sauce, a green salad, and enough vegetables for twenty people.

He gave her a guilty smile. “I’m sure anything you cook will be amazing—and far better than anything I could’ve made. Before we met, I was going to really go out of my way and microwave some chicken nuggets for me and Penny. Anything has to be better than dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets for Christmas dinner.”

Lee smiled as she thought of sitting around the Christmas dinner table their plates full of little dinosaurs. “Unfortunately, fish is a far cry from chicken nuggets. I hope Penny will eat it. I know kids aren’t huge fish fans normally, but there wasn’t much choice at the store.”

“Ah, she’ll love it—just like I’m sure I will. Thank you for doing this for us. It means a lot.” He gave her a nod before he turned and moved toward the house.

She followed him in. Penny sat next to the tree with a pink package in her hands—no doubt imagining what hidden treasure lay beneath its enticing paper.

Their living room was small and the only Christmas decoration was a tree whose sparse limbs were covered in strings of popcorn and construction paper rings. What few glass ornaments adorned its branches were of princesses and tiny white baby shoes. There were no antique glass bulbs or family heirlooms. It was almost as if Albert’s life began with Penny. The ornaments reminded her of her own life, clearly defined into two parts—before Daniel’s death and after.

Albert must have felt the same division after the loss of his wife. Evidence of his feelings was evident, from the tree to the few pictures that adorned the walls. But unlike Lee’s house, which stood as a shrine to her son, it was as if Albert stripped his home of anything that would make him relive the pain of losing Brooke. Undoubtedly, he must feel the same pain that seemed to be reawakened by the unexpected simple things—a bird on a branch, a certain song on the radio, or the way someone’s smile could make the very cells of her being ache.

“Your tree is beautiful.” Lee ran her fingers over the course red construction paper ring as she thought of the laughter and joy that must have gone into the chain’s making.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Penny looked up from her treasure. “Daddy made the popcorn string, but I helped with the rings. Can you believe he didn’t know how to make them? I had to teach him,” she said with pride.

“Was he a good student?” Lee smiled at Albert who gave her a quick wink.

Penny shrugged. “All right, I guess. He kept wanting to make them red, red, green, but after a while he got it right.”

“Men,” Lee said with a laugh. “It’s a good thing they have us around, huh? They just have no sense of what looks good.”

Penny giggled as Lee followed Albert into the kitchen.

In the small square room there was a toaster, a run-of-the-mill microwave, and a package of shortbread cookies on the counter.

“Just so you know, I think I know what looks good,” Albert said with an appreciative nod.

A faint warmth rose in Lee’s cheeks. “Thank you,” she mumbled as she sat down her bag and fumbled around, taking out its contents and laying them on the pristine white counters.

Albert sat the roaster down on the stove and lifted the lid. “Um, Lee? Is it supposed to be like this?” He stared at the contents of the pan.

“What do you mean?” She moved over beside him.

“You know… Is it supposed to be
cold
?”

The silver fish was carefully stuffed with lemon slices, bits of fresh herbs, and slabs of butter. Yellow smooth, unmelted butter.

It couldn’t be cold. It hadn’t been a long drive across town from her house. She remembered it as clear as day. She’d taken the bags out to the car, come back, opened the oven, pulled out the fish, and carried it to the car.

As she recalled, she hadn’t even felt the eyelash-curling heat of the oven when she’d retrieved the main dish. And it hadn’t been warm on her hands when she’d carried it out. How could she not notice?

“Okay,” she said in a sigh. “Where’s your oven? We’ll slip it in. Fish doesn’t take that long to cook. It’ll be ready in a jiff. Maybe we can open presents first, then eat.”

Albert sat the lid of the roaster down and turned to face her. “That would be great, but my oven doesn’t work. I’ve been meaning to get it fixed for a while now, but it’s just something Penny and I don’t use very often.”

She couldn’t blame him for not getting his oven fixed. She’d rarely used hers in the last few years. So little in fact, she must have forgotten how to turn it on.

“Okay,” she said with a smile. “No biggie. We’ll just fry it up.”

Albert gave an uncomfortable cough. “Yeah, it’s not just the oven that’s broken—it’s the whole stove.”

Why did this have to happen when she was trying to make a good impression?

I can’t get a lucky break,
she thought for a moment and then stopped. It wasn’t true. She had gotten lucky. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t the party of one she had been just last night. Who cared about some fish?

Around the small white, nearly untouched kitchen was a dishwasher. “How about your dishwasher? Does it work?”

“Like a charm. But what does my dishwasher have to do with cooking dinner?”

“Well, if we can’t bake the fish or fry the fish, we’ll have to steam it.” She gave a prideful smile.

“You sure know how to make lemons into lemonade, don’t you?” He gave her a charming grin. Before she could move away, he reached up and pushed a wayward hair out of her face and behind her ear, his fingers grazing her skin. She went still and the desire she’d tried to escape at the car returned with a new strength.

Grabbing a roll of tinfoil out of the paper bag, she pulled out a sheet and spread the fish onto the thin aluminum. “I haven’t done this before, but I saw the recipe on Pinterest and it didn’t seem too hard. I think I only have to put the fish in foil, add spices, and steam. Easy.” After she’d folded the tinfoil over and crimped the edges, she slid the fish onto the top rack of the empty dishwasher. “Nothing to it, right?”

“If you say so,” Albert said, his lips pulled into a sexy half-grin. “I’m always up for a new adventure.”

“Well, if there’s one thing I can guarantee, it’s that if you’re around me enough, there’s always an adventure.”

“Then I will make sure to stick around.”

Her stomach clenched with excitement. “I hope so.” She flexed her rusty charm and sent him a wilted smile. “Why don’t we open up presents and then we can eat?”

“I know Penny will be happy to hear that. She’s been playing with the gifts all morning.”

In the living room, Penny had constructed a pyramid out of the pink and red packages. “Are you guys ready?”

“Go ahead, sweetheart. Why don’t you start unwrapping the presents?”

Penny tore through the paper, her face lighting up as she opened up the gifts from Albert. There were dolls and dresses, beads, and clay—everything a girl could ever want.

The pyramid of gifts grew smaller and smaller until the last two gifts were the ones Lee brought. It was silly, but Lee couldn’t help the excitement and nervousness she felt. It was true that it was better to give than to receive. It was the best feeling in the world to see the joy in Penny’s face after she opened a gift.

Penny picked up the gift Lee brought and gave the doll-filled box a squeeze. Instead of opening the gift, she held the present in her arms.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Albert asked, holding a stuffed dog in his weathered hands.

Penny shook her head.

“Why not?”

Penny looked over at her and smiled. “Ms. Lee already gave me the present I wanted most of all.”

“Huh?” Albert frowned. “Did she let you open up a present when I wasn’t looking?”

“No…” Penny hugged the gift in her arms closer. “She made you happy.”

Chapter Five

The scents of lemon and warm fish rose from the dishwasher as it beeped, letting them know the cycle ended.

The bell tones of Penny’s voice echoed into the kitchen as Albert walked in. “Is dinner ready?”

“I hope so,” Lee said as she silently prayed that nothing went wrong.

Lee opened the dishwasher’s door. A billow of steam spilled out, obscuring the tinfoil that sat on the top rack. Cracking open the door farther, globs of pink mush came into view. Bits of pink splashed around the aluminum box as if someone had thrown bits of fish confetti around the washer.

Lee slapped her hands over her mouth as she gasped. “Oh my God!”

“What happened? The fish isn’t still cold, is it?”

“No…” Lee stared in at the tinfoil that she’d neatly folded around the fish, but now was bulbous and leaking water and little bits of fish. “I screwed it up.” She opened the rack as water splashed down from what had once been the well-intentioned main course. “I can’t believe it.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry.” He put his hand on her shoulder and spun her around. “I don’t care about any damn fish.”

“I’m sorry about the mess.” She motioned to the fish-filled washer. “I can’t do anything right.”

“I don’t care about the mess—it will all be part of the memory. And there are plenty of things you do right. You tried, damn it… and that’s more than I can say for most.”

“But there’s nothing to eat…”

“We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.” He dropped his hand from her shoulder down to her waist and the sudden action made her frustration slip away, leaving only her embarrassment. “And just think, we’ll never forget this—our first ill-fated Christmas fish.” He pulled her into his arms. The warm scent of his cologne sat fresh on his shirt, but it didn’t completely mask his scent. “Or this.” He leaned down and took her lips with his, his touch tender.

Her lips felt numb, but the rest of her body came alive with the feel of his kiss.

He eased back from her lips and she could sense his smile.

“Thank you, Albert. Thank you…for everything.”

“You’re the one that deserves thanks.” He rested his forehead against hers and his warm breath brushed against her cheeks. “I’ve tried to make Christmas great for Penny ever since Brooke’s passing, but it’s just been me and Penny every year. No matter how much we decorate or how much we pretend it’s a celebration, it hasn’t felt like Christmas. For the first time in a long time it feels like Christmas again.” He paused for a second. “And I know this may sound crazy, but it’s like you were meant to be here. We were meant to be. It’s almost like Brooke wanted us to come together.”

Lee’s mind went to the moment she’d first seen Penny. She’d thought the girl was an angel sent by Daniel. Looking back, it was hard to discount the possibility that she’d been right. And maybe Albert was right; maybe Brooke had a hand in their meeting as well. “That’s not crazy at all.”

She pressed the side of her face against his chest and danced in the musical beat of his heart.

“Lee?”

“Hmm?”

“What do you wish for?”

There were many things that came to mind—to be in his arms, hear Penny’s laughter, start a family. But even more than that, she wished for love.

“Remember, if you say a wish out loud it won’t come true.” She smiled against his chest.

“I don’t believe it…”

“I don’t want to risk not getting my wish.”

Penny walked into the kitchen and smiled. She’d caught them. “Daddy?”

Lee wiggled free of his arms.

“Yes, honey?”

“Can I have a piece of pie?”

Albert glanced down at the mess of fish that smeared the dishwasher. “Sure, why don’t we have dessert?”

Walking to the fridge, he opened the door and pulled out a green box. He opened the box and drew out a pie covered in clouds of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

“Is that French Silk?” Lee asked.

“Yep. I got it at the restaurant last night. They were just bringing it out of the back, as though it was waiting for me when I walked in,” Albert said. “It’s funny, I didn’t know what I wanted until I saw it, but just like you, it’s just what I needed.” He smiled.

His words echoed through her heart. Any question that Daniel had a role in their meeting, disappeared. He was the reason she, Albert, and Penny met. Daniel wanted her to move forward.

Albert opened the sides of the box and the pie slid out. Its aluminum dish teetered on the edge of the counter. “Watch out! It’s going to fall!” Lee reached out instinctively to grab the pie.

Before she could reach the pie, Albert grabbed the pan and slid it back to safety. Lee stopped. Her arms were extended in front of her and, as she moved to lower them, Albert took her hands. “Lee?”

“What?” She couldn’t stop staring at the lovely white clouds on the top of the pie.

“It’s okay.”

“No. It’s not okay... I can’t fall.”

“
You
can’t fall?”

She glanced up at him as she realized what she had said “I meant
it
… the pie.”

He looked at her sideways as he squeezed her hands. “I hope you know that if you fall. I’ll be there to catch you.”

His words filled her hollowness and made her breath stick in her throat. How could he know the words she so desperately needed to hear?

“It’s okay, Ms. Lee,” Penny said, “Daddy’s a good catch.”

Albert’s laughter mixed with hers. Penny was right; he was a catch.

“You know what, Penny?” Lee reached over and laced her fingers through Penny’s bobbed curls.

“What?”

“I think I’m just like you.”

“Really?” Penny smiled as she dipped her finger into the pie’s fluffy cream. “Why?” She popped her finger into her mouth.

“I think I already got my wish.”

She caught Albert’s gaze and sank into the promises that were held in his spring green eyes; promises of safety, a future, and a life she thought she’d never have again.

Albert rubbed his finger over the back of her other hand. “And what was it that you wished for?”

“I wished for love.”