Red Hot Christmas (8 page)

Later, as he was wiping the sweat out of his eyes, he realized that Aaron had been right. Luke had needed to blow off some steam. He could feel the anxiety leave his body with every rapid heartbeat. If he played a little rougher than normal, the guys didn't complain about it. By the end of the game, he was covered in sweat and he felt more centered than before.

He decided to shower in the lockers instead of heading home.

Living in a house with four older women, no matter how large the place was, made him appreciate the younger of the species even more. These women were very meticulous about their daily routines. He knew his grandmother was a stickler, but seeing how the three sisters lived made him think that all women were the same.

He wondered if Amber had a daily routine. What kind of good smelling stuff did she put all over that sexy little body each day to make her smell so good?

After the game he stopped by the restaurant to check in on her. He knew her schedule by heart thanks to someone in the house posting a copy on his refrigerator door. He figured it was most likely his gran, since he already knew she had it in for them.

When he entered the restaurant, the last thing he'd expected to see was Amber dressed in a large hooped fifties skirt with a pink poodle on it. Her long hair was put up tight in two pony tails that swung around when she talked and walked, and she had on the sexiest shade of red lipstick he'd ever seen. His steps faltered as he walked in and zeroed in on her.

She noticed him and smiled, then executed a cute bouncing walk and came towards him. “It's always fun to dress up the week of Halloween. What are you going to be this year?”

He hadn't thought about it. To be honest, his whole mind had been consumed with his gran's health.

“I can be anything you want.” He smiled and pulled his leather coat up like the Fonz used to. He wished he had a comb to grease his hair back. She laughed and held onto his arm, walking him to a large booth near the back wall.

“I could always use another strong greaser.” She laughed when he made a funny face. “Well, it was worth a shot.” She sat down next to him and opened a menu.

He looked at her, and she looked back. “What? I got off thirty minutes ago. What do you say to a dinner partner? I'm starving!” She leaned closer to him and cupped her hand near her mouth. “I have it on good authority that the lobster bisque is something to die for tonight.”

He smiled, he couldn't help it. She looked like she was truly enjoying herself. Scooting closer to her, he put his arm around her shoulders and smiled when she settled next to him. He wished for a quiet, dark dining room instead of a loud one full of families and children, but, it would have to do...for now.

Amber's heart skipped a beat when Luke pulled her closer. Even though they sat in a crowded room, she felt like they were the only ones there. She'd heard how his grandmother was doing from almost every person that came through the door. It seemed that everyone in Pride joined in spreading the word, especially when it was someone they all admired and cared for.

She tried to make the mood light and fun. After all, what more could you do when you were wearing a hooped skirt and ponytails?

She had to admit that by the time both their plates were cleared, she was wishing to be able to spend more time with Luke. He was easy to talk to and funny when the worry left his eyes. When she looked around the room and realized that it was practically empty, she knew she couldn't stall anymore. She'd seen him looking at the clock on the wall, probably worried about getting home to his grandmother.

He held her umbrella over her as he walked her to her Jeep. Then she leaned up and kissed him quickly on the lips, before he had a chance to make a move. “Thanks for our first date, Luke.” She smiled and swung her skirt, holding her hands in front of her, and added. “Golly, I hope I didn't get you in too much trouble keeping you out so late.”

He smiled. “Next time, baby,” He pulled her closer, still holding the umbrella. “Maybe we can take a drive to watch the submarine races out at Look Out Point.” He leaned down and slowly kissed her and she felt herself start to shiver as he ran his free hand over her arm and back. She leaned closer into him and felt his warmth spread into her until her skin was on fire and she was aching for more.

On her short drive home, she kept asking herself why she always did this to herself. She knew what she was getting into. She'd convinced herself to not get involved with him and had even laid out a very sensible plan for how she would accomplish the task.
So the question was, why wasn't she following her plan?

When she pulled into her parking spot, Patty motioned to her through the store window. She wanted to get out of the uncomfortable outfit, but found herself heading into the store instead of upstairs to shower and change into her yoga pants.

“There you are dear. I was just telling Ruth here,” Patty motioned to an older woman who nodded and smiled at Amber, “that your parents live in Portland. She thinks she might know them.”

Amber felt the blood leave her face as she looked towards the older woman. Was there any chance that she knew her parents? God! She hoped not!

“Regina and Ronald Kennedy?”

Amber took a deep breath and relaxed a little and shook her head. “No, my parent's names are Donna and Frank Kennedy. I think I had a cousin named Ronald.” She smiled apologetically and hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

“Oh, well. I know a Donna Kennedy, but she lives in Eugene instead of Portland. It couldn't be her then.” Ruth patted her silver hair.

Amber's ears started ringing and she felt a panic attack slamming into her. She had to get out of the store, and soon.

“I'm sorry, Patty, I need to get out of this dress. It was nice meeting you, Ruth.” She turned and made it up into her apartment in record time. Her breath was coming in quick gasps, and her head felt light as she slowly sat down, her back against her front door. She folded her legs up and rested her head against her knees.

She'd been running from her family for too long to have them brought up in some small town. How was it possible that someone in this small town knows her mother? No doubt the news would be spread all over town by the morning that her mother was crazy and her father was a terrorist.

W
hen she walked into the restaurant just after noon the next day she made a point to watch and see what the reaction was. So far, no one stared at her or whispered in hushed tones while looking in her direction. Maybe that was too high school-ish. She walked into the back room and noticed everyone was moving around, busy as usual. Nobody seemed to care or notice her.

Could she have lucked out? Maybe Ruth didn't know her mother? Maybe it was a different Donna Kennedy?

By the end of the shift, she knew that no one in town knew her story. There were enough locals coming and going each day that she would have had some clue if they knew her secret. But she'd worked herself up so much that morning that she had a migraine by the time she pulled into her parking spot.

She was happy it was close to one in the morning so the store's windows were all dark,
it was one less thing she would have to worry about. But when she entered her place and saw the blinking light on her message machine, she knew her monthly call had come. No matter what she did, her mother seemed to always find her phone number
.

One less thing she would have to worry about. But when she entered her place and saw the blinking light on her message machine, she knew her monthly call had come. No matter what she did, her mother seemed to always find her phone number.

“
Hello, Amber. It's your mother. I wanted to let you know the progress we've made for your father. So far, Mr. Malone thinks we have a chance this time. All we need is your cooperation. If you change your mind about helping out, give Mr. Malone a call. You have his number.” The machine beeped at the end of the message.

Amber walked into her bathroom and dropped her hoop skirt and shirt. She pulled the pony tails out of her hair as she turned on the hot water. When it was nice and steamy in the room, she stepped under the spray and cried until she couldn't cry anymore.

Walking out of the bathroom, she wrapped herself in a large towel and fell face first on her bed and didn't move.

The darkness consumed her mind, and she shivered in the cold. When she looked out the window of the van, she saw a man lying on the ground, staring up at the night sky with empty eyes. She knew the monster was inside the large silver building, but she didn't know when he'd be back. Remembering what had happened just a few minutes ago, she shivered again.

“You stay down now, Amber. I mean it. Don't poke your head up for nothing. Daddy's just going to go meet a friend, then I'll come back and take you out for some ice cream, like I promised.” Her father turned his head and waved at someone out of her sight. She was nine years old and sitting on the floor of her father's van. It was a week before her birthday. She remembered because Gabby Luft told her that she wouldn't go to her birthday party if she was the last girl on Earth. Amber had cried all day, and even now her eyes were puffy and red. It was one of the reasons she'd pestered her daddy into taking her on this short trip. He'd finally agreed and promised her that if she was good, he'd take her out to Stripes, her favorite ice cream place.

She’d stayed tucked down on the floorboard of her father's van until she'd heard the yelling. Then she'd quietly stood up and looked out the side window. What she saw changed the way she would look at her father for the rest of her life.

There was a young man in a guard uniform down on his knees as her father stood over him, yelling. The man's blond hair was curly. She remembered that detail because she'd always wanted curly blond hair. His hands were raised up like he was praying, but before she could blink, her father pulled a gun out of his coat and shot the man right in the face. Amber's whole world shattered in that split second. She was frozen in place, even her eyes refused to blink. She watched as her father walked past the man's lifeless body and into the large building. He was holding the black case he always had hiding in his closet.

She thought about running away, about just opening the door and running. But then she looked at the dark heap that used to be a man and realized she was afraid. Too afraid of the monster that was out there.

It must have been only a few minutes later when he came back out, but to her it had seemed like years. She could see the monster walking out of the door, moving closer to her. She quickly ducked down and tucked her body into a ball, closing her eyes tight, listening to every sound. She could hear her heart beat loudly as the van door opened, then closed, the van swaying with the extra weight. The monster was inside with her, and he had her father's voice.

“See, darling, I told you I'd be back quickly. Oh, here now.” Her father reached under her chin and pulled her face up towards his. “What are all the tears about? Are you still upset about what that girl said to you today?” Amber looked up, trying to meet eyes she no longer knew, but her eyes refused to focus on his face, Instead all she saw was a monster she was now very afraid of. So she nodded her head and tucked back into a ball.

“Well, don't give that girl a second thought. Let's go get you some ice cream to make everything better.” He chuckled as he drove away from the large building.

In sleep, she mimicked the actions of her nine-year-old self until finally she woke, more tired than before. Rubbing her forehead, she swung her feet over the bed and pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a large sweatshirt. Walking into the next room she stood at the windows and watched the quiet town. But instead of seeing the dark buildings or the street lights, she saw her father's face.

Halloween came and went quickly for Luke. He coasted through handing out candy with his gran that night dressed as a pirate, a costume he'd used a few years back.

He felt like there was a fog over his eyes. The fact that he hadn't had a good night’s sleep since getting the bad news was finally catching up with him. When he sat down with the four women later that night to watch Dracula in black and white, he found himself nodding off.

The next few days he watched his grandmother's health deteriorate slowly. At first she had a hard time standing up, so someone had brought her a wheelchair to help her get around the house. He moved all the furniture around so she could easily get everywhere she wanted. Then one morning he noticed that her eyes were not tracking him as he talked to her. He purposely moved quietly across the room, and she continued to speak to him like he hadn't moved.

“Gran?” he said when he made it back to the first spot, “are you having troubles with your eyes?”

“Oh, well, don't worry about that. I'll be fine. I'm just a little tired. I think I'll go lie back down.” She moved to push the chair back down the hallway. He was there to do it for her.

“We can go see Dr. Stevens if you need?”

“Oh, no. I don't want to bother anyone. I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow.”

The next morning, she was still having problems, so he arranged for Aaron to casually stop by before the game that week.

“Mrs. Crawford, Luke says you're having problems with your eyes. Would you mind if I checked on them? I promise no needles this time.” Aaron smiled.

“Oh, well, I suppose so. How's that baby coming along? I just can't wait to see it. You're having a boy this time, right?”

“Yes, ma'am. He won't be showing up until after Thanksgiving some time. I know Lacey and Lilly are really excited to see him.” Aaron continued to chatter as he looked as Luke’s grandmother. Luke didn't like the frown on his friend’s face. When they walked outside, Aaron broke the news that she most likely wouldn't gain her eyesight back.

He tried to bow out of going to the game, but his friend insisted that at least he sit on the sidelines and watch. So he sat there for about half an hour, then quietly walked out the doors. He found himself walking around town since the weather was nice enough. He avoided the grocery store and instead headed down towards the docks.

When he reached them, he leaned on the railing, looking out over the water. He had a small sailboat docked there. He hadn't taken it out in months and probably wouldn't for a long time. He just couldn't imagine going out on the water and enjoying himself while his gran suffered.

“Hey.” He heard a voice from behind him, and when he looked, he saw Amber walking towards him, holding a small to-go box.

“
Hey, yourself.” He leaned back on the railing. “Taking a break?”

“Yeah.” She stopped right in front of him. “It's my lunch break. Care to join me?”

“Um, sure.” He straightened.

“There's plenty here.” She held up the container. “Let's go over there.” She pointed to a bench and he followed her and sat down. “You're not playing today?”

“No. I decided to take a walk instead.”

“Well, you couldn't have picked a better day for it.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I always love the
occasional
sunny day this time of year.”

He looked around and realized she was right. “How's work going?”

“Oh, it’s wonderful.” She smiled over at him. “I'm still waiting for something to change. I keep thinking there can't be a job this perfect, there has to be something wrong with it.”

“Do you always look for the negative in things?” He chuckled as she opened the container of food and he saw a huge hamburger. He knew that the restaurant made some of the best, and this one was huge. She was right, there was plenty of it to go around. It sat on a large pile of spicy fries and there were two large pickles sitting off to the side.

“Mark, the chef on duty, thinks I'm too thin.” She smiled. “He keeps giving me too much to eat. Do you know, the other day, he actually made me a whole chocolate pie to take home? I still have several slices tucked away in the fridge.”

“Mmm.” He looked down at the container, “No chocolate in there?”

She laughed. “No, just one of the largest burgers I've ever seen. I don't always look for the negative, no. I guess you could say I'm just cautious.”

“I can see that.” He took the half of the burger she offered him and immediately took a bite. He always loved the burgers there, but this one was better than any he'd had in a long time.

“I know. It's crazy, huh?” She handed him a napkin from her pocket and laughed at him.

“What?” He took another bite.

“How good it is. I mean, I've had burgers before, but this...” She held up her half and took a big bite. He watched her eyes close and listened to her moan as she chewed. Then she slowly licked her lips and all thought of food left his brain. He stared at her mouth and was mesmerized. Her checks were pink due to the slightly chilly wind coming off the Pacific. Her hair was tied back in a loose braid and tiny wisps of hair framed her lovely face. When she opened her eyes again, he noticed how blue they were today. Almost as clear as the sky itself.