In Love by Christmas: A Paranormal Romance (37 page)

50

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas

T
he house was
bustling when Ashley let herself in the back door. Mrs. Cook and a crew of village people filled the kitchen, along with wonderful smells. “What’s going on, Grammie?”

Dr. Schierman jumped. She wasn’t used to Ashley’s young voice. Cass had called her by her first name, Vanessa. “You startled me. Tomorrow’s Christmas, dear. We’re having a feast and everyone we know is invited. We’re having a smaller gathering tonight, for the people in the house. Prime rib roast and all the trimmings tonight; turkeys, ham and everything else tomorrow. George Yeoman and his men are barbecuing the roast and setting up decorations outside. They brought in a Christmas tree while you and Leroy were talking. Where is Leroy?”

“He wanted to look at the horses some more.” She hoped her lie didn’t show on her face. She also hoped she never saw Leroy again. Her hands tingled where she had touched him.

Her room was upstairs next to Grammie’s. She looked in the closet. Dresses so beautiful they should belong to a princess hung there. She took them out, marveling. “Oh, Grammie.” She loved her so much. Ashley’s drawers were full of sweaters and nighties. An embarrassing drawer was filled with beautiful underwear. A lacey bra was on top … She didn’t wear a bra. But it was beautiful.

Her tummy and arms where she’d touched Leroy ached in a good/bad way. She felt like she’d die if she didn’t hold him soon. They were soul mates, that longing said. But what could they do? She was a kid.

Ashley moved to the desk in her room. A top of the line Numenon Ranger laptop was set up there. It must be a new model, because she hadn’t seen one so sleek. Ashley was used to things like this. Her dad often brought home experimental computers and other things that Numenon was working on. He must have given this one to Grammie.

She powered it up and began her research. The Internet hadn’t been around very long, but it was huge. In school, they told them that there were thousands websites. She didn’t need that many for what she was thinking about.

What she searched for was, “How old do people have to be to get married, by state?” She kept thinking about Leroy and how he holding her had felt, with the trees whirling and sparkles and all. She wanted him to be very, very close to her.

And she didn’t. Those girls in her class were
awful,
having sex and not being married
.
If they were married, all that would happen is they would start having affairs, like her parents. But if they were spirit warriors? They wouldn’t act like her parents.

She wished she hadn’t made her stupid search, anyway. She wasn’t going to marry Leroy and she certainly wasn’t going to have sex with him. Though she wanted to be
so
close to him. Embarrassed, Ashley moved from site to site.

He wouldn’t have sex if he wasn’t married. That was truly awesome. He was
really
old. Twenty five. That was … almost as old as Doug and the people who worked for her father. Too old for a little girl like her. But she wasn’t a little girl, not at all.

She pushed forward and did more searches and tabulated the results. Then she wrote an essay.

Why I am a woman and not a little girl:

• I got my period when I was eleven. That means I’m not a little girl, I’m an adult. In some countries, no one would think anything of me getting married.
  
• Many states allow people who are my age to get married. The people getting married have to have their parents’ permission, but some states legally allow the marriages. See the attached report by state.
  
• I’m smart and know more about the world and feelings than many grownups.
  
• Leroy and I are soul mates. If we get married this young, it doesn’t matter, because soul mates don’t have affairs or get divorced. We’ll be happier than you and Mommy are.
  

That isn’t what she started out to research. She wanted to know if girls her age could get married and where. How did her essay change to the reasons she was a woman and could marry Leroy? She had addressed her arguments to her father. Ashley knew he would be the hard one to convince. Of what?

Her brow creased. She needed to think about some other things. Ashley had noticed facts that didn’t add up.

If Mommy was supposed to come back from Spain at the end of August, why isn’t she home for Christmas? If Mommy was going to be late, she would tell me. She would phone. She knows I worry about her.
Ashley’s brow creased as she thought.

Why would Daddy go on a retreat and not tell me? Why would he go on a retreat at all? He doesn’t care about God.

The Numenon Ranger laptop she was working was XII. Her Ranger at home was IV. That was eight models from her laptop.
It took Daddy’s people years put out a new model. It would take him almost until the year 2,000 to get to XII. That was years and years from now.

Also, she visited Grammie’s house all the time. She’d been there a week earlier. The family room, the big room with the kitchen, wasn’t as large as it was now. It didn’t have the whole wall of windows and glass doors, either. The walls had been lacquered a deep red with white trim. The upholstered furniture was the same red, and all the wood trim was lacquered shiny black.

Today, the room was light and bright with pale yellow floral prints. The furniture was pale wood. The room was bigger, and there was more stuff in it. The kitchen was new.

Even Grammie couldn’t redecorate that fast.

Something else. She went to her computer and clicked where the date appeared on the top. It didn’t. Nothing on the computer said the date.

This was so strange.

She couldn’t think about anything more. Her head ached and she felt dizzy. Mrs. Naughton came with a milk drink and she gulped it down. She knew what those did.

Even sound asleep in her bed, Ashley thought of Leroy. She ached for him. She’d marry him, as long as they didn’t have to have sex.

51

Christmas Eve

“
H
i, Pop!” Leroy
and his dad had played phone tag so much Leroy forgot that the man existed outside of a voice on a machine. “I’m in California. I forgot to call and tell you I didn’t need that plane ticket. I hope you can get your money back.”

His father was completely silent. Finally, he said, “Glad you’re back, Leroy. I reckon I can cash it in.”

His dad didn’t get any ticket for him. He was lying. He’d forgotten about him entirely. He’d been playing polo against monsters and robots, in a game televised all over the world, and his dad didn’t know or care.

“Hey, Pop,” he started conversation again, “would you like to come up to Northern California for Christmas tomorrow? Dr. Schierman, whose place I’m staying at, asked me to invite you. She’ll send a jet for you. I’d love to see you.”

His pop’s hesitation let him know he was right. Something was up. “Well, son. I’d love to come, but … things have changed. Remember the Meyers place next door where they both died and some rich folks from Silicon Valley bought it? And then they remodeled it and gave me all their old stuff for your cabin?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“They got a divorce. They put the place on the market and it got snapped up right away. I went over there to meet the new owners. Turned out it was one owner, a widow lady from back East—Connecticut. She used to fox hunt back there. Real good rider. She wanted to ‘live her dream’ while she could, and that was on a nice, big ranch in California. She thought that place next to us was heaven. Thing is, she didn’t know a thing about ranchin’ or cattle. I helped her some. Quite a bit. She appreciated it a lot. She liked me too.” Leroy could feel his pop shifting from foot to foot over the phone, or shifting from something to something.

“I fell in love, son. Susan’s the prettiest, nicest, smartest lady. I never knew one could be so fine—or love me back.

“When I went over to visit the first time, she said she’d heard of me. She said she was thrilled to be living near the great bullfighter! She’d been my fan for years. Leroy, Susie and I got married a couple of months ago. Flew to Las Vegas and tied the knot. It was kind of love at first sight.”

Leroy froze. He blinked. “What?”

“We live most of the time at her place. That’s why I missed your calls. Damned if chipmunks didn’t eat the wires at our place. You know how they do that. We come over here when we want some quiet.” Now, his dad was smiling so hard; Leroy could feel
it
over the phone. “She’s got her ranch manager and her horse trainers at her place. And the ranch hands. She wants to start a hunt club soon. They’re workin’ on that. It’s kind of a zoo over there. It’s private at our place. She thinks it’s
romantic
. Historical and all.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, Dad? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”
Do you know what I’ve been doing? That I could have gotten killed about a million times? Do you care about me?

“Sorry, son. Love is blind, they say. Sometimes it’s stupid too.”

Leroy wanted this conversation over. “OK. Can you come tomorrow, Dad? Dr. Schierman wanted everyone to arrive about three. She’ll send a jet. Or a plane if the town runway isn’t long enough.”

“That’s OK. Susie can use her plane. And her runway. Just finished. See you at three.” His father went on, sounding contrite. “I’m sorry, Leroy. One thing has led to another. I’m surprised as hell myself. I didn’t tell you because I was embarrassed to fall in love again, as old as I am.” He cleared his throat. “And I was afraid you’d be mad at me.”

“Why?”

“I thought you might think that I don’t love your mom anymore. That’s not true.” His dad’s voice went husky. “I will
always
love your mother. Emily is my one true love. Don’t think I’ve forgotten her.”

“I know how much you loved Mama, Pop.”

“Well, good. We’ll talk tomorrow. I love you, boy.”

“What’s her name?”

“Susie Watches, now. Before that, she was Susan Anderson.”

He staggered into the living room as they were serving drinks.Dr. Schierman was not pleased when she heard that his father had added a guest. “He got married, Dr. Schierman. Didn’t even tell me.”

“Who is she, Leroy?”

“Her name was Susan Anderson. She used to live in Connecticut.”

Having completed that delightful bit of information sharing and bonding with his father, Leroy went in for the Christmas Eve dinner. Ashley sat across from him. She wore the most beautiful long dress, a red and green and white plaid in some material that rustled. Her hair was swept up on top of her head with ringlets falling down. She had a little makeup on. He could barely breathe; she didn’t look like a little girl at all. He couldn’t talk to her much. The dining table was so wide, it made conversation difficult. He looked at her instead.

The table rivaled any of the English Lords’; vast and covered with candelabras, arrangements of holly and berries and bows, palatial silver, crystal and linens. He used everything he learned in his travels in eating dinner. He was delighted to concentrate on silverware rather than the sensations in his body and thoughts and feelings tumbling through his head.

Ashley caught him in the hallway when he was heading to his room.

“Leroy,” she said. “I’ve been considering our situation as soul mates. I’ve done a study of legal marital age by state. In many states, girls who are almost fourteen can get married. They’ll even allow it in California, if your parents agree. I think you have to go to a counselor, though.

“And I’m … physically mature. In India and China, no one would care at all. I’m five foot seven. That’s as tall as many grown up women. Actually, the average size of a woman in the United States is 63.7 inches, only five foot three, almost four. I’m way taller than average. I’m still growing too. I think we should get married.”

She pressed herself against him and grabbed the back of his head with her hands. He had to bend over to kiss her, but not as much as he did with Arabella. She
was
tall. Sweat broke out all over him and his hands went all over her. As hers did too.

“Ashley, stop. I can’t do this.” She pulled away from him. He swayed, sweating, blowing like a stud horse ready to mount a mare. “Oh, God, Ashley. I have to marry you. I’m so in love with you. We have to get married. I’m going to die …”

“We will, Leroy. We can go to Las Vegas. Grammie is my guardian. She will sign for me. We’ll do it tomorrow after dinner, OK?”

He’d wanted to be married in a green, leafy wedding bower with vines reaching up and flowers trumpeting. He wanted Grandfather to marry them and all the elders to be present. He wanted smoke and feathers and all his friends chanting.

Breathing hard, he said, “Las Vegas will be fine.”

He remembered Will saying long ago that they had to be in love by Christmas. He didn’t mean married too, Leroy knew. But damn, you couldn’t be more in love than Ashley and he.