A Texas Holiday Miracle (14 page)

Her mother finally glanced at the photo album. Lacey flipped it to the next picture and the next.

“She has blond hair and green eyes just like us,” Joyce commented. “How is that possible?”

“Mona’s eyes were green, but Emma’s are lighter like mine and yours. I don’t know how it’s possible. I just know that it is.”

“Her hair and everything about her reminds me of you when you were that age.”

“Everyone who meets us comments on how alike we look.”

“You were always your father’s daughter.”

Lacey wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she didn’t, hoping it wasn’t going to lead to another argument.

“Sometimes I felt left out. Your father took you to ball games and fairs and carnivals and fishing. Not once did he ask me to go.”

Lacey was dumbstruck. “Because you didn’t want to,” Lacey reminded her.

Joyce waved a hand. “That’s beside the point. It would have been nice to have been included sometimes.”

“I’m sorry if we shut you out.”

“And I’m sorry about a lot of things. It’s hard to explain my feelings about Emma. I know they’re wrong,” Joyce said, leaning back in her chair. “Your father always wanted another child and I kept putting it off. I started having female problems and had to have a hysterectomy. It was too late then.”

“I never knew you wanted another child.”

Her mother glanced in the direction of a waiter who was clearing a table. “Jack and I argued about it all the time. I regret not listening to him more. I regret so many things, and when I see his child with another woman, I’m filled with such anger, and it’s all directed at me. I screwed up our lives and I have only myself to blame.”

Lacey’s breath caught at her mother’s obvious pain. So many years and she was learning things about her mother that she’d never known. “But Emma’s not to blame. She has no grandmothers, only an aunt who doesn’t know her. I’m all she has, Mom. She could use you in her life.”

“Please don’t ask that of me.”

Lacey reached across the table and took her mother’s hand. Joyce gripped it tightly. “Emma and I need you. Think about that.”

They walked to their vehicles in silence. Lacey gave her mother a gift and she accepted one from her. “I’m not going to open this. I’ll keep it until Christmas, hoping you’ll change your mind.”

They hugged and Lacey said, “I love you, Mom.” She got in her car and drove away. In her rearview mirror she could see her mother still standing in the parking lot, looking lonely and alone.

Why did life have to be so hard?

Lunch had run long, and Lacey was in a hurry to get back to Horseshoe. She didn’t want to be late to pick up Emma, but there was a wreck on I-35 and the traffic was backed up for miles.

She hit the steering wheel with the palm of her hand. “Damn it!”

Thirty minutes later the traffic still hadn’t moved, and she knew she wasn’t going to make it. She had Mrs. Fillmore’s private number, so she called and told her the situation. Thank God the teacher had a heart of gold. She let Emma talk to Lacey on the phone.

“Sweetie, I’m caught in traffic and Gabe will pick you up. Okay?”

“Where are you?”

“On a highway and I can’t get to school on time because someone had a wreck in front of me.”

“Are you gonna come get me?”

Lacey’s heart sank and she repeated, “Sweetie, Gabe will be there. I’ll come as soon as the traffic clears.”

“’Kay.”

Clicking off, she immediately called Gabe. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, hoping Emma wasn’t going to be upset. After another thirty minutes, the traffic began to move, and she zoomed toward Horseshoe.

It was 3:30 p.m. when she pulled into her driveway. She expected Emma to be in the front yard bawling her eyes out. She wasn’t, but that didn’t mean she was okay. Lacey jumped out of the car, yanked open the front door, ran through the house, out the back door and through the gate.

She stopped suddenly. Gabe and Emma were working on the concrete forms. Emma knelt in the dirt with a hammer and was beating on something. Gabe was beside her, talking and giving instructions. Emma chatted away, comfortable with Gabe and unafraid. She was okay. Lacey was, too. She took a long breath and relaxed.

Everything was perfect. Just perfect.

Chapter Fourteen

Gabe looked up, saw Lacey and whispered to Emma. Her sister jumped up and ran toward her, screeching, “Lacey! Lacey! Lacey! You’re home.”

Lacey caught her and lifted her into her arms, kissing her cold cheeks. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Gabe picked me up and we’re busy working.”

“I see.” No tears. No fears in her beautiful green eyes. She was adjusting, and that was the best Christmas gift Lacey could receive.

Emma wiggled to get down. “I have to help Gabe.”

Gabe had ambled over by then and she smiled into his dark, warm eyes. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“We got ice cream, Lacey.”

“You did? That was a treat.”

“Yeah. Now we have to get back to work.”

Lacey hated to burst her bubble. “Sweetie, it’s homework time, and I have to get supper started. You can help Gabe tomorrow.”

Emma scrunched up her face. “Aw, Lacey.”

Gabe squatted in front of Emma. “Tell you what, kiddo. I’m going to get cleaned up. While you’re doing homework, I’ll go to the diner and get supper for us. Lacey’s had a rough day.”

He glanced at her and as he said the last words, she thought if this wasn’t love, she didn’t know what was. The revelation shook her. She’d considered herself in love with Darin, but the feelings she had for Gabe were different. It was as if he held her heart in his hand and he had to squeeze it for her to breathe. Without him... She stopped herself. These feelings were too new, too soon, and she had to stop weaving dreams that weren’t meant to be. She could breathe perfectly well on her own, thank you very much.

She vowed not to overthink their relationship. For now, she would enjoy his company and be thankful that he was growing stronger and stronger emotionally.

The days that followed were easygoing. Gabe continued to work on the storage shed, and she was busy helping Mrs. Fillmore with the school program. Since she wasn’t home much during the day, they had very little time alone with Emma there. But it gave Lacey a chance to figure out exactly what she was feeling. She wasn’t sure love was supposed to happen that quickly. But then she was a sucker for love at first...grouch.

* * *

O
N
S
ATURDAY
, L
ACEY
and Emma went to the mall in Temple to buy a dress for the program. It was a big mistake. The mall was crowded and it was hard to shop, but they finally found a dress that Emma liked and so did Lacey. It was red with a black-and-red polka-dot ribbon around the waist.

Emma wanted to get something for her teacher, so they searched for that, all the while fighting the crowds. The chatter and noise was loud and festive, and the piped-in Christmas music filled their ears. As they walked toward the entrance, they passed Santa’s Wonderland, where a long line stretched into the crowd.

Lacey didn’t say anything to Emma and they kept walking. It took everything in Lacey not to point out Santa. But she would not force Emma. That was more important.

Suddenly, Emma stopped and looked back. “I want to talk to Santa.”

This was more than Lacey had hoped for. “Um...okay.” She had no idea what Emma wanted to say, but Lacey was going to give her the opportunity. Maybe, just maybe, a miracle might happen.

They stood in line for fifteen minutes before they reached Santa.

“Hi, little girl.” Santa patted his knee. “Hop right up and tell Santa what you want for Christmas.”

Emma crawled onto his knee and stared him straight in the eye. “You’re not real.”

Lacey gasped and hoped the kid behind her didn’t hear. She’d had no idea her sister was going to be this blunt.

Santa was taken aback, but only for a moment. “You don’t say. You’re awfully young to think that way.”

“But it’s true.”

“Now, I know I’m not the real Santa. He’s at the North Pole, awfully busy getting ready to deliver a lot of gifts to children all over the world. I’m just one of his helpers, taking children’s wishes back to him.”

The expression of stubbornness on Emma’s face changed to one of confusion. She wasn’t quite sure anymore. Lacey knew her that well. Yes! She wanted to raise her fist in the air, but she waited to hear Emma’s next words.

“’Kay. I’ll tell you what I want for Christmas, and if it comes true, I’ll know Santa is real.” Then she did something that made Lacey want to scream. She whispered into the man’s ear. Lacey couldn’t hear a word. She stepped closer, but the noise of the crowd prevented her from hearing.

“Santa can do some things, but others he can’t. Just never stop believing,” the man said, and Emma slipped off his lap.

Lacey took Emma’s hand and they walked out of the mall. One way or another she was going to get Emma to tell her what she had asked Santa for.

As Lacey buckled her seat belt, she glanced at Emma. “Santa was nice.”

“He’s just a helper.”

Lacey started the car and backed out of the parking spot, trying to be patient. “But you believe what he said to you?”

“I told him what I wanted for Christmas, and if I get it, then I’ll know.”

One. Two. Three. Be patient.

“What did you ask for, sweetie?”

“I can’t tell you, because then I won’t know if Santa is real.”

Evidently a six-year-old was smarter than Lacey. Emma refused to say what she wanted for Christmas no matter how many times Lacey tried to turn the conversation in that direction. It wouldn’t come true if she told Lacey, she kept saying. Lacey would give her time, but she had to find out. Above all else, she wanted Emma to believe.

* * *

G
ABE
SPENT
THE
morning in Horseshoe. He stopped at a resale shop and bought a patio table and chairs for the deck. He’d seen the set as he’d passed by and had decided that he needed it. At the hardware store he purchased a barbecue pit. He was making hamburgers for Lacey and Emma that night. From there, he went to the grocery store.

He had just finished setting things up when Lacey walked over. From her dazed expression, he knew her mind was somewhere else. She sank into one of the cushioned wrought iron chairs as if it had always been there.

He leaned against the table. “What’s wrong?”

“Emma talked to Santa at the mall.”

“Well, that’s good. It’s what you want, isn’t it?” He wasn’t sure because her expression didn’t change.

“She told him what she wanted by whispering it to him, and now I don’t know what it is. I’m trying to figure out a way to get it out of her. Nothing’s working. She’s adamant that if she gets what she asked for, then she’ll know that Santa is real.” Lacey’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Think I’ll go back to the mall and try to talk to the Santa and see if he’ll tell me. I’ll make him tell me.”

“S-l-o-w.”
Gabe spelled out the word patiently and her head jerked up. “You’re getting obsessed with this, and you need to take a deep breath, stop and think. Emma has taken a step forward, so you have to continue to let this happen naturally.”

She ran both hands through her hair and fluffed it like he’d seen her do so many times when she was worried. “But if she doesn’t get what she asked for, then she’ll never believe and I’ll...”

“You’ll love her and you’ll be there for her like you always are. So, please, calm down and just take it slow.”

“Why are you always—” She touched the cushion beneath her. “What am I sitting on?”

“A chair cushion.”

She jumped up and looked at the patio set. “You bought some furniture.” Her eyes went to the barbecue pit. “And a barbecue pit. You’re settling in and nesting.”

Unable to resist, he pulled her into his arms. “Men don’t nest.”

“Mmm.” She splayed her hands across his chest, and he felt their warmth all the way to his heart. She had that effect on him. “Men hunt. Isn’t that a quote from Jerry Seinfeld? So what did you hunt us up for supper?”

“Hamburger meat. And it was hell beating little old ladies to it in the grocery store.”

She laughed, a bubbly sound that relaxed every muscle in his body, and at the same time tightened them in a well remembered way.

“Where’s Emma?”

“Inside. Jimmy was waiting in our driveway, and they’re playing with Legos. I better go check on them. I just had to vent to someone, and you’re my go-to guy.”

“Happy to be the go-to guy. Come over later and we’ll do the hamburgers.”

She went down the deck steps and he called, “And stop obsessing.”

She stuck out her tongue and made her way to the gate. It seemed like forever since he’d nailed the gate shut. He’d been in that deep, dark hole. Unreachable. Safe. And dying a little each day. She’d had the nerve to bring him back, and a part of him would always be grateful for that. Even though his other life waited, he couldn’t see beyond this time here in Horseshoe with Lacey and Emma. If he was living in a fool’s paradise, it was the best place on earth.

* * *

L
ACEY
SPENT
THE
entire weekend trying to coax Emma into telling her what she wanted for Christmas. After a couple of dark looks from Gabe, she gave up. He was right, as always. It would work out the way it was meant to be, and she had to accept that.

After she left Emma at school on Monday, she put on her sweats and grabbed her iPod. Gabe had started running every morning and she planned to join him. She really needed the exercise.

Gabe walked out of his house and she met him in the front yard. He gave her a quick glance in the sweats. “What are you doing?”

She jogged in place. “I’m running with you this morning.”

“I go fast and I don’t stop for anything.”

“I go slow and stop for everything. My attention span is not that great.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Mmm.”

“I’ll hang with you until I drop.”

He took off down the driveway and into the street. She followed and tried to keep up with him, but she soon found his long strides too much. Somewhere around the two-mile mark she collapsed on a curb, breathing heavily.

“You okay?” he shouted back.

She waved a hand. “I’m fine.”

Her heart ping-ponged inside her chest with painful thuds, reminding her she was in dismal shape. She really needed to work out every day. And she would, just as soon as she could feel her legs again.

Two cars stopped, their drivers asking Lacey if she was okay. She muttered something and they drove on. Mrs. Hornsby, on whose curb Lacey was sitting, came out and asked if she’d like a cup of coffee. The last thing she needed was coffee, but she thanked her, and the elderly lady left Lacey to her misery.

It was about 8:30 a.m. and it was nice sitting there in the cool morning. Or it would be when she could breathe normally. The winter grass was brown and brittle, and the trees had lost their leaves and stood out like stick figures against the cold. A squirrel darted across the street and up one of the trees. Several green cedars stood out in prominence as if waiting to be decorated. That reminded her of the poor Douglas fir in her living room. It probably would never be adorned with the bright colors of Christmas. She wouldn’t force Emma, but it was taking a toll on Lacey’s Christmas spirit.

She was about to get up when she saw Gabe jogging toward her. He wasn’t even breathing hard. He squatted in front of her with his back to her.

“Hop on.”

“Gabe...”

“Come on. I need coffee.”

She did as he’d asked, feeling a little foolish and very young. He fitted his arms under her knees and took off toward their houses.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I really can walk, you know.”

“You’re too slow.”

“You’ve wanted me to go slow.”

“Different situation. And stop talking. It uses up too much oxygen.”

She rested her face in the crook his neck and drew in the manly scent of soap and sweat. It revived her senses.

“I have Oreos and coffee waiting.”

He didn’t answer, just jogged up her sidewalk through the front door and dropped onto her sofa. He fell one way and she went the other. He was exhausted and she was laughing. She couldn’t help herself. Then they both were laughing like teenagers.

“Well, we’ve given the neighbors something to talk about.”

“Yeah.” He rested his head back against the sofa. “Things were getting too boring.”

She rose on her knees beside him. “I’ll have you know I’m never boring.”

He turned to look at her with a half grin. “Now, that’s the gospel truth.”

She poked him in the ribs, and he pulled her onto his lap, his lips finding hers with heat-seeking accuracy. She curled her arms around his neck. Her fingers tangled in his hair, and she reveled in the fire building between them. His lips were cold and hot at the same time and she felt that heat in the regions of her body that really needed it. He groaned and she opened her mouth. The kiss deepened to the point they both needed—somewhere between fantasy and reality. His lips trailed to her cheek and then to her neck. Her skin ached from his touch, and it ignited her senses into full-blown arousal. When she straddled him, not even thinking of consequences, and pressed her body against his, he pulled his mouth away.

“S-l-o-w.”
Each letter came out ragged, but she knew he meant it. They were going too fast. “You said something about Oreos and coffee.”

She kissed the tip of his nose. “I had something else in mind.”

“I know. I did, too, but...”

She slid from his lap. “I really hate that word—
but.
” She walked into the kitchen and poured coffee for both of them and then found the cookies. He took the cups to the table and she followed, feeling as if she’d already had too much caffeine. Her nerves were jiggy and she was hyped up. It was all about sex, which she hadn’t really thought about in a long time. And that was good.

After sitting at the table, she opened the cookies and handed him two. She was about to add cream and sugar to her cup when she noticed the dark liquid. It reminded her of his incredible eyes. She didn’t need the coffee. All she had to do was look into his gaze and she’d receive the same thrill, the same lift and the same warm feeling.