Hating Christmas (Holiday Series) (9 page)

“No wonder,” Holly said, half to herself. “And did
Michael and she marry quickly?”

Audrey cast her daughter a comprehending, admonishing
glance before admitting, “I think they did.”

“Okay.” Holly just wondered if Levi could be
convinced of the difference.

***

“Well”, Michael said a little awkwardly to Holly,
“guess it’s just you and me…”

He placed his palms on his knees, sitting on the
couch opposite her as if he wished he could be anywhere else.

Guilt did that to some people. She hadn’t seen him
since the big blow up earlier and a constraint now settled between
them.

“Yes, just us.” Holly tried not to sound forbidding,
settling for cool. She and her mother were close, having faced the
world together after her father’s death. Her mom might have
forgiven the guy, but Holly hadn’t forgotten the nasty things she’d
overheard him yell at her mother.

“Your mom made us a nice Sunday dinner for this
evening. Rump roast. Peas. Mashed potatoes….” His voice trailed
off. “Can’t imagine what’s keeping her and Levi. He said he had
some phone calls to make back to the coast. Boy’s always making
phone calls.”

As a teen, she’d both dreaded her mother remarrying
and saw the value in it, not wanting her mother to go on being
lonely. That was when she was a kid. Now, she had no question about
it. She was out of the house and her mother’s marriage wouldn’t
affect her directly, but she didn’t like her mom being upset the
way she’d been with Michael earlier.

“Your mom said she was just going to change out of
her slacks,” he said, sounding a little desperate.

Holly didn’t respond to this remark.

“Listen,” Levi’s dad said suddenly. “I know you heard
your mother and I having our disagreement this morning—“

“Is that what you call it?” Holly lifted her
eyebrows.

Michael had the grace to look ashamed and regretful.
“Okay, we were fighting. I don’t know what your mom told you, but I
took exception to—“

She waved a hand. “No need to explain. It’s between
you and mom.”

“But I want you to understand,” he insisted. “I love
your mother and I felt rejected by your her response to my
Christmas gift.”

“The cruise?”

“Yes, yes,” he said eagerly, as if she’d said
everything was forgiven.

He shook his head. “I tend to respond to things too
quickly sometimes. Your mom was just being financially
conservative. I can understand her response. I appreciate her money
attitude. Not all women worry about what their husbands are
spending. Your mom’s smart that way”

Holly wasn’t sure where to go with this. “Yes….”

“Levi was right. It’s crazy to spend a lot of money
going on another cruise right now. We can do that later. Maybe for
our anniversary or something.” Michael beamed a smile at her. “That
boy of mine makes a lot of sense sometimes.”

“Mmm hm.” Where the hell was her mother? It didn’t
take this long to put on a dress. Holly glanced back at the
staircase. Even Levi’s presence would be a relief, at this
point.

“I know you and your mom are close.” Michael leaned
back against the couch. “She’s used to counting on you and I get
that. But I just want you to know that I don’t intend to come
between you.”

“Good,” Holly stuck in, “because you couldn’t.”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t want to. I love your mom
very much and I just want to make her happy.”

She felt like she should respond to this, but she
couldn’t find anything to say and Michael went right on as if he
didn’t need anything from her.

“She’s a wonderful, intelligent woman. I don’t know
if she told you, but we knew each other way back in grade school.”
His smile was boyish and bashful. “I liked Leanne Milgrove back
then and your mom was going steady with a kid named Rocky. Geez,
that was years ago.”

Holly understood the fun in meeting old friends, she
just wished her mother hadn’t felt the need to marry within a month
of reconnecting with a man she hadn’t seen since they were in grade
school.

“Quite the looker, your mom.” Michael mused, clearly
lost in reflection. “Of course, she’s still beautiful now, but even
back then all the guys were jealous of Rocky.”

He frowned into space. “I wonder whatever happened to
him. I think he moved away—yes! He and his family moved to
Milwaukee the summer before we all were headed to high school.”

Her step-father seemed to shake off his nostalgia,
saying with a smile, “We all had crushes on you mom back then. She
was quite a girl. I’m a very lucky man.”

Watching him talk about her mother left Holly feeling
a little shaken, not stirred. He seemed to genuinely appreciate her
mother. Holly wasn’t sure what to do with this impression.

“Of course,” Michael smiled at her, “she’s lucky to
have such a good daughter, just like I’m lucky to have Levi. Not
all parents have such loving,
successful
children.”

Holly wondered with a sudden shade of guilt if he’d
still have this conviction if he knew that she and Levi were doing
their best—well, she was doing her best!—to break them up. She
couldn’t vouch for Levi after his woodpile failure.

Maybe they were both wrong…. Holly wove her fingers
together on her knee and registered the sinking feeling in her
stomach that had nothing to do with lunch being delayed. Were she
and Levi all wrong about this? No, no. Their parents’ marriage had
been sudden and impulsive—two things marriages should never be in
this day of more than half of them failing. You needed to think
about that kind of commitment carefully. Look before leaping, that
was Holly’s motto, at least when it came to marriage.

“Here they are!” Michael hailed his new wife.

Both he and Holly swiveled around just as Audrey came
down the stairs.

He jumped up to give her a peck on the cheek. “Oh,
that’s a pretty dress.”

Her mother was wearing forest green shirt dress with
tiny red Christmas balls dangling from her ears. “Thank you,
sweetheart. Oh, good,” she smiled as Levi sauntered down the steps.
“Now we’re all here and we can start dinner.”

Chastened by the possibility that this marriage might
not be a bad thing, she followed them in for dinner.

* * * * * * *
* *

Wiping her mouth with a cloth napkin, Audrey said,
“Holly, guess what I saw when I got the ornaments out of the shed
yesterday?”

“I have no idea.” Holly lifted her head to look at
her mother and her reddish hair glinted in the light streaming from
the dining room’s bay window.

Levi found himself wondering if she’d ever succumbed
to a natural desire to see what blonde hair did for her. It would
be a shame to tame that wild fire on her head, but he knew from
something his girl cousin had said once that kids could be cruel to
anyone who was different.

“…maybe Levi would like to go with you.”

The sound of his name jerked Levi back to the moment
and he realized that both Audrey and Holly were looking at him—the
one with smiling encouragement and the other with skepticism.

“Mom,” Holly chided, “Levi grew up in California.
He’s never been sledding. I’m sure he has no interest in it and he
probably doesn’t even have the clothes for it.”

If he thought she was really concerned for his
well-being, Levi might have appreciated her intervention, but from
the look on her face, she clearly didn’t think he was capable of a
little simple sledding. The realization fired his competitive
spirit.

“I have some warm things that might fit you, son,”
his dad spoke up eagerly before Levi could respond. “We’re about
the same size.”

“It would be a shame not to try out your old sled,”
Audrey insisted. “I saw it and your spare one hanging in the shed
rafters. Remember how you used to love sledding when we came on our
holiday visits?”

“Sledding sounds like fun.” Levi sent her a
challenging look.

Holly flashed him a glance that conveyed both
annoyance and doubt. “Mom, it’s not polite to insist on Levi
sledding. He didn’t have the benefit of regular visits here. He’s
probably never ridden a sled before in his life.”

“How hard can it be?” Levi placed his napkin next to
his plate, feeling as if his manhood was being challenged. He’d
seen the old Hollywood movies—people laughing as they sailed down
hill— and it didn’t look that hard. Daring her with a grin, Levi
waited.

“That’s my boy!” His dad got up and came around the
table. “Let’s go get you suited up.”

“Mom…? I don’t think….” Holly stopped, seeming to
realize no one was listening.

Michael chortled. “Levi’s always been an athlete.
Good at everything he tried in high school and college. You better
watch out, Holly, he’ll leave you in the snowy dust!”

“Thanks, Dad.” Levi got up from the table, following
his dad, and throwing Holly another smile.

“Holly’s been sledding at Christmas since our first
visit back here when she was eight!” Audrey championed her daughter
as she started to clear the table.

Holly looked even more irritated. “Mom, I’m sure
those old sleds are rusted and unusable and I should stay to help
you clean up.”

“Nonsense. They looked perfectly fine. The cobwebs
probably protected them.” Her mother started stacking the plates.
“Michael will help me. Besides, I bet you could easily beat Levi
down the hill. After all, you’re the one who’s been sledding since
you were eight. You can wear my snowsuit.”

“I’ll get bundled up and meet you on the porch in ten
minutes,” Levi promised. “Remember, I still owe you for the
snowball incident this morning.”

Twenty minutes later, Holly stood at the bottom of
the snowy hill that rose behind her mother’s home, clutching an old
wooden sled that looked way smaller than she remembered. The sun
was a watery yellow above them. She hadn’t been sledding since her
first year of college, but she remembered the basics. She was a
little surprised that Levi agreed to this. He had no idea what he
was getting into here and the thought made her giggle to herself.
The first few times she’d tried to control a sled, she’d struggled
to get the pull just right to direct the thing. From hard
experience, she’d learned that fluffy white snow didn’t always feel
as soft as it looked.

The hill wasn’t large, but it had a smooth path
between stands of trees and emptied right behind her mother’s
house. It had enough pitch to make this exciting. She just hoped
Levi didn’t hit a bump and go sailing through the plate glass
window at the back of the house or land in the hot tub her mother
had installed two years ago.

“You could have just said you’re not into winter
sports.” She mentioned as she and Levi continued up to the top of
the hill.

He flexed his hands inside his father’s borrowed
gloves, reaching up to pull his knit cap on more tightly. “Scared I
might beat you?”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she scoffed, surprised at
how different he looked in his dad’s old knit cap. Much less
Hollywood-tough, but still mouth-watering. He should have borrowed
that and the gloves before he’d gone up to attach the string of
lights to the roof. She looked down at the sled he towed behind
him. “Look at how small that sled is. You’ll hang off the
sides.”

“You just don’t want to meet me on the field of
battle.” His sled beside him, he danced on the snow in front of
her. “You need to throw snowballs from a hiding place around the
corner of the house or go behind my back to get my actors to work
with you.”

“That does it!” She started stomping up the hill, her
little sled trailing after her. “I’m rubbing your face in it and I
did
not
go behind your back with Mac Toledo. You’re going
down, Harper.”

“What do you call it then? Getting him to do your
documentary without even talking to me?” Levi followed her.

“I call it talking with an actor to see if he’s even
interested.” She threw the words over her shoulder.

“I’ve been on the phone since I got here,” he puffed
clouds of foggy air as he climbed behind her, “trying to get him
that big job. That’s my job. I help grow his career. I get him jobs
that pay him more and more money with every film.”

She reached the top of the hill a little short of
breath, standing for a moment with her hand pressed to her side.
“Don’t you mean that you make sure
you
get more and more
money?”

“Yes,” he said, reaching the spot next to her.
“That’s how it works. I get him more money; I get a piece of his
income.”

“Vulture,” she taunted, shifting her sled in front of
her.

“I’ve been called worse.” His breath made a foggy
puff in front of him. “By better paid people.”

“Ohhhh, you’re going down, Harper!” Furious, she
turned to look down the hill. She was gonna crush him.

Preparing to dive on the sled and cruise in ahead of
him, she stopped. Sledding could be dangerous for the novice.
Knowing he’d never attempted this sport, Holly felt a certain
responsibility for him. Dammit. “Listen up, Vulture.”

He grinned at her.

“This is a runner sled.” She nudged it with her
mother’s borrowed snow boot. “You pulled it up here by the rope
that’s attached to the steering rod.”

“You sound sexy when you’re bossy.” Levi shuffled to
the side in the deep snow, regaining his balance quickly.

Holly glared at him as she continued. “Sometimes when
you’re sledding down the hill, you need to steer—“

“Why? I thought we just sit on it and slide down.” He
put one foot on the sled, nudging it back and forth on the
snow.

“Steering can be important if—for instance—you find
yourself heading for the hot tub deck or for a clump of trees.
You’ll want to avoid a head injury, right?”

He grinned again. “Right. Avoid the hot tub, no
trees.”

Rolling her eyes skyward, she went on. “Pull on the
left side of the rope if you want to go left. Right, if you want to
go right. Just like riding a horse or turning a car’s steering
wheel. This first run will be the slowest because the snow isn’t
packed. So even you can probably handle it.”