Christmas Medley, page 16
Taking a sudden step back, I asked quietly, “Is everything ok? You’re late.”
Jean raised her head and stared at me as if I were a stranger. Her expression was in marked contrast to her affectionate look that morning.
“I’m not a child, Laura. It’s barely seven.”
I blinked at the cold response as I looked at my watch. “Actually, its eight fifteen. Clancy wondered where you were.” I wondered, too, but held my tongue. It was clear that something was wrong and I didn’t know what.
Jean lifted her head and closed her eyes briefly. “I should have called and told her I was going to be late. Is she in bed?”
I nodded. I wanted to ask why she hadn’t called me or returned one of my messages. Even a text would have been sufficient. “I said you’d go in and kiss her goodnight.”
Jean nodded, placing her wet coat on the coat hook. Without a backward glance or word to me, Jean headed toward the room Clancy used when they stayed over. It was becoming more and more frequent. We’d talked of moving in together in the New Year, but I’d always been less than enthusiastic. Not because I didn’t want it to happen—I did. Part of me was still in awe that Jean could love me the way she said she did. Bottom line, though, I was afraid of the commitment, because I didn’t want our relationship to fail, leaving me on my own again. I deeply loved the two Nicholby women who had entered my life twelve months ago.
Looking at the snow outside my car again, I wished I’d been braver on that front. I turned back to the window and watched as more snowflakes engulfed my car, giving me a momentary respite from my thoughts. I wondered why I was sitting in a snowdrift, cold, miserable, and alone, when I could have been with Jean and Clancy at Darren Nicholby’s home. Yet, here I was and my thoughts once more drifted to that terrible night when things seemed to fall apart in my new world...
What had I done wrong? Had Jean finally realized that I wasn’t as exciting as the friends she’d left behind? I guess, in comparison to the few I had met in that first three months before Jean and Clancy arrived in town for good, I was downright boring. It had been hard for me to visit Jean, my natural resistance to change and my reticence generally had me second-guessing myself every time I visited. I loved her and Clancy and I thought Jean loved me…certainly Clancy appeared to. Jean and I were sexually compatible. The first night we made love at her house, Clancy was spending the weekend with her dad. The whole world was suddenly revealed to me in brilliant sunshine—I never realized I’d been in the dark. However, Jean, like her brother, was outgoing and enjoyed the social interaction of dinner parties and the company of friends. I was definitely introverted by comparison. I had no friends to speak of, and the only dinner parties we’d been to since she moved here were at her brother’s home. Maybe that’s what this was about—she was having second thoughts. My gut had been aching recently and this was probably the reason, Jean wanted out of a boring relationship.
Walking over to the kitchen and switching on the coffee machine, I set the timer on the oven to warm up Jean’s dinner. All I could do was patiently wait for Jean’s verdict on our relationship.
My hangdog expression didn’t last long. She came quietly into the kitchen and sat opposite me across the table. A part of me hoped that it was just one of those horrible days and then she spoke.
“We need to talk, Laura.”
My throat seemed to contract as my mouth went dry. All I could do was foolishly nod before I tentatively asked, “Is it about why you’re late?”
Her expression looked sad as she replied, “Yes. I went to see you today for lunch but you weren’t there.”
Frowning I asked, “I would have been if you had told me.”
Jean seemed to be surprised at my answer but quickly composed herself. “It was a surprise.” She frowned. “I knew you were reluctant to make this,” her hands moved to encompass us both, “relationship we have into something more formal. What I didn’t realize was the reason why. Tomorrow Clancy and I will leave and you are a free agent again.”
My mind felt like it was bombarded by laser beams as each word seared my brain and made little sense to me. I blindly said, “I can change, Jean.” Desperation was in every intonation.
Jean seemed disgusted with the answer and gave me a look that would have made the snow outside turn to a block of ice. “I thought I knew you, Laura, and we had something good together. How wrong can a person be? I’ve had my heart broken before, but this is different. I can’t trust you, and changing won’t make it right. I’m going to bed. I’ll sleep with Clancy.” She stood up and left me sitting at the table.
I knew I had a dumbfounded expression on my face, and I attempted to call her back and have her explain what she meant. My legs refused to take any notice of me. All that happened was tears flooded my eyes and dropped down my cheeks. I’d never cried like this before. If Jean felt her heart was broken, then mine had smashed into a million pieces.
The next morning Jean and Clancy left. As I hugged Clancy to me, she laughingly reminded me that the tree was still at the shop and we needed to go pick it up or Christmas would be here before it was. I felt tears dimming my view as I kissed her cheek and nodded that the tree would be here for Christmas Eve.
“You promise, Laura?” She asked quietly with a serious expression.
“Yeah, I promise.” I meant every word. However, Jean’s look of censure had me internally cringing as she and Clancy left.
Work had no appeal to me. My personal preference was to go back to bed and hide under the covers and shut the world out. Life didn’t allow that luxury as I automatically collected my keys and went about my normal daily routine. Once at work, I had to fend off Darren’s excited talk about Christmas. He commented about how good it was going to be with all of us together just like a family should be, but I mumbled something about having to take a trip. He didn’t listen. Jean would surely inform her brother of the details of why I wasn’t going to be part of the family. Frankly, after being awake all night wondering about our impending break-up, I still wasn’t sure why it had happened. My pathetic attempts to say I’d change had fallen on deaf ears.
Christmas had never been a great time for me, but now it was going to be unhappy in a big way, and I didn’t see any end to my misery. I heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up next to mine. It must be the tow truck. I struggled with the door to try and push it open but there was no way it was going to move. I scrunched up my eyes as a figure, obscured in the dreadful weather, tapped on the window. Amazingly, a voice I wasn’t expecting to hear spoke clearly. I inched down the window.
“Are you hurt, Laura?” There was a note of panic in Jean’s voice.
“I’m ok,” I said quickly to assure her I was unscathed.
“Good. We need to get you out of here or you’ll freeze to death. There’s an even colder front due in tonight. Have you called anyone to help? A tow truck maybe.”
“Yes, I thought that’s who you were.” At that moment, another vehicle stopped and it was the tow truck.
“I’ll see what they think? I’ve always marveled that your car made it home in one piece every night…especially in this weather.”
Her words were half jovial and half serious as I watched her move away. I shut the window. She was right—it was freezing out there.
Half an hour later, the tow-truck managed to break the car free of the snow, which was fast turning to ice. Scrambling out, I embarrassed myself as I almost fell on my ass. Fortunately, a pair of strong arms belonging to Jean provided support. I gratefully whispered, “Thanks.”
The truck driver deliberated over my car for all of five minutes and announced it in no condition to drive. I reluctantly listened to his dismissive comments that I was in need of a new vehicle and he knew someone who could give me a great deal on a new car. I didn’t give a damn about a new car. I loved my old jalopy and this was the first time she’d let me down...well, perhaps not the first, but we’d bonded. With a sad expression, I parked the car and stood on the side of the road. I foraged in my pockets for my cell and cursed. “Damn, how will I hail a taxi at this time with the weather being so bad.” It wasn’t a question, nor was it a plea.
“I’ll give you a lift home, Laura.” Jean remarked quietly.
I hadn’t liked to ask, though I wondered how she had found me in my snowdrift. This was at least a mile from her brother’s home and definitely not on her way home from work. I managed a meek, “Thank you.”
A few minutes later, Jean safely maneuvered us back onto the main route to my house. I was silent because part of me was afraid to speak. It was just so good to be this close to Jean again since I thought I’d never have that chance again. Finally, I asked, “That was lucky you drove by when you did.”
Jean didn’t reply as she cursed at a driver who pulled out in front of her from a side road. She had to place the car in a controlled skid to avoid that idiotic maneuver. “We can talk when we get home. There sure are some idiots out on the road today.”
Meekly I nodded. She’d said home, I was sure of that. It gave me a kernel of hope that maybe all wasn’t lost and she was giving me a chance to change. Ten minutes later, we were outside of my house and I climbed out, half expecting Jean to drive away—she didn’t. Instead, she parked the car and followed me inside.
“I’ll make coffee.” I didn’t give her time to accept or decline the offer. I quickly went ahead and switched the machine on. When I turned, Jean was watching me from the doorway. Self-consciously I smiled. “It won’t take long.”
Jean pursed her lips and then walked toward me. “Why didn’t you explain, Laura? Why did you let me say the things I did? Wasn’t what we have together worth fighting for?”
This conversation was almost as perplexing as the previous one two evenings ago. I was at a loss as to what to say. “Jean, you know it is. Except I don’t understand what it is you want of me. I said I’d change, but you didn’t think I could. I can honestly. Please, give me the chance to show you and Clancy. I’ll be more outgoing. You can invite your friends over; we can have dinner parties, as many as you want…every night if that is what it will take. I promise to try harder. I know...”
Jean held up her hand, gazing at me intently. This time it wasn’t a cold look, but a tender one. I guess I really didn’t understand her or, come to think of it, any woman. I was incredibly naive in that department.
“Laura, you think I left you over a lack of dinner parties?”
Nodding, I tried again to explain. “In comparison to your other friends, I’m boring. If you let me try again, I’ll work on being a social butterfly.”
Jean laughed loudly and her eyes shone like snow flake crystals. She moved and then touched my face, stroking the side of my cheek. I felt the familiar goose bumps that covered my body whenever she touched me.
Oh, how I loved this woman. I’d do anything to keep alive a shred of the love we shared.
She bent her head and kissed me. I allowed the passion and desperation for her touch to take over. When we drew apart, we were both breathless. “Laura, I need to apologize and explain. Let’s sit shall we.”
I meekly followed and some might comment that I was a wimp but I didn’t care. Jean had kissed me and that is all that mattered. She led me to the more comfortable sofa and we sank down close together. Jean took my hand and looked deeply into my eyes. “I thought you were cheating on me.”
The bland explanation had my eyes widening in astonishment. “Cheat on you? I’d never do that. I love you.”
Jean tenderly reached up and stroked away the worry lines on my brow that had furrowed in stupefaction at her words. “I said I’d been by your office at lunch time the other day, right?”
“Yes, you said I wasn’t there.”
Jean nodded then added. “What you don’t know is that I saw you leave the building and I followed you. I’m sorry, Laura. I’m not proud of myself then, or for what I thought I saw. Can you forgive me?”
If Jean thought I had worry lines before then they had just become a grid map. “I don’t understand? Why did you think I’d cheated on you? I love you way too much to...” then it dawned on me where I’d gone that lunchtime. All I could say was, “Oh.”
“Oh, is right. Darren told me about Mrs. Flaherty. I’m sorry, Laura.”
Mrs. Flaherty had died of a heart attack a month before and I had met her daughter-in-law for lunch. We’d had a coffee and she’d given me a piece of jewelry that her mother-in-law wanted me to have. Then, before we departed, she kissed me on the cheek and thanked me for the kindness I’d shown her mother-in-law over the years.
Incredulously I said, “You saw me with Mrs. Flaherty’s daughter-in-law?”
Jean drew in a deep breath as her expression showed shame. “Yes. I was jealous. I figured this was the reason you were reluctant to let Clancy and I move in. I never gave you a chance to explain that night I accused you. What must you think of me?”
My laughter filled the otherwise somber atmosphere. It was gloriously happy laughter as I pulled Jean close and kissed her deeply. “I love you, Jean. There isn’t anyone else, and never will be. I waited far too long for you to let our love flounder on a misunderstanding. As long as I have you and Clancy in my life, nothing else matters. Will you move in with me…please?”
Jean gazed lovingly into my eyes. I saw the answer without words, but a part of me needed them, too.
“Try and stop me. Besides, Clancy is giving me a hard time because she can’t see your tree. Where is it by the way? You did promise.”
Ruefully I admitted, “It’s still in the shop. I was on my way to get one when my car went into the ditch.” I shook my head. “She’s going to be upset because I broke my promise.”
Jean beamed at me. “Come on, there’s still time. I heard on the radio today about a place over on Fifth Street that keeps open until seven. We can make that particular promise come true.” Jean stood up and pulled me willingly with her.
“Where is Clancy? Won’t she be wondering where you are?” I asked, as we put on our coats again and headed toward the car.
Jean giggled. “She knows I’m here with you. All she’s waiting for is a phone call to say she can come home.”
That warmed my heart even more than it was already. Clancy thought of my house as home. Apparently so did Jean and I never had appreciated that. I hugged Jean close and kissed her thoroughly and then with a confident smile, I said, “We’d better get that tree then. We can’t have our daughter arriving home to a treeless house.”
Whatever I said made Jean smile wider than I’d ever seen before. She pulled me into a quick kiss. When we drew apart she gruffly whispered, “Please don’t change, Laura. You are perfect and imperfect the way you are, exactly why I love you.”
Three hours later, Clancy was asleep in her room. I was holding Jean close to me as we watched the lights twinkle on the tree. My life was perfect, or, as perfect as anyone could ever hope for. Then I remembered something and reached inside the pocket of my trousers. I eagerly held out the small box.
“What’s this?” Jean asked, with a delighted smile. Taking the box carefully from me, she opened it slowly. Her look of amazement and joy was what I’d hoped to see.
“That was Mrs. Flaherty’s gift to me. I kind of talked to her about you a few times...well maybe hundreds. She said I needed to buy you a ring and make it permanent. I guess she knew how shy I was. Do you like it?” I asked hoping she wouldn’t scoff at the thought of it coming from someone deceased.
Jean’s eyes filled with tears as she knelt on the sofa and kissed me tenderly. “I love it and will cherish it always, as I will you, Laura.”
My heart was full of love and happiness, and I couldn’t wish for anything more as I pulled Jean into a tender embrace and whispered, “Merry Christmas, my love.”
The End
About the Author
JM Dragon
JM Dragon is a New Zealand citizen, living in the beautiful Canterbury countryside. She loves to garden, travel, write, take care of her animals and family, and pursue her business interests—Affinity eBook Press and a Canterbury manufacturing company.
She is a keen reader of sci-fi, crime/mystery, classics, and romance, which help to feed her imagination for her own stories.
Currently published by Affinity Rainbow Publications NZ LTD, her books include The Promise, Do Dreams Come True, Fix-it Girl, In Name Only, The Destiny Series, Circus, and the 2015 GCLS winner, The One.
You can contact her by email at:
jm1dragon@yahoo.com
Some of JM’s other books include:
Breaking the Silence
The Promise
Do Dreams Come True?
The One
Letting Go
Echo’s Crusade
Circus
The Fix-it Girl
In Name Only
Define Destiny Series
Who Is Nicolas Claus?
Annette Mori
Chapter One
Scrape scratch scrape scratch
Tanner’s bleary eyes popped open and she grabbed for her Glock, tucked safely away, but with easy access, in her nightstand. In exactly two seconds, she registered several things. One, Juliet was not lying next to her in their bed, and two, there was a strange, possibly dangerous noise, coming from the living room.
Juliet. The woman she loved with all her heart was in danger again.
Tanner carefully rolled out of bed with her gun held by her side. There wasn’t time to put on clothes, and she didn’t give two shits what the burglar, or whatever nasty character was out there, thought of her in her birthday suit. She would put a bullet in their head if one single hair on Juliet’s head was harmed.
She crept over the carpeted floor, cognizant of the squeaky part of the wood covering the flooring just outside of the bedroom. Tilting her head to listen for the menacing sound, she finally heard the telltale signs, and she straightened her body to her full five-foot nine-inch frame. She stalked into the living room.
