Bright Haven: An Amberly Novella Read online

  “Indeed,” he said, giving me a squeeze. “And by the way,” he gripped my arm as he spoke into my ear. “Mike is terrific. I’m glad you picked him over your stupid old man.”

  I choked with a laugh that almost felt like it would turn into a sob. The lunacy of this conversation wasn’t beyond me. “Me too, dad. Me too.”

  “All right,” my father cleared his throat, suddenly brusque. “Enough business. I haven’t tried all the treats, and I will regret it all year long if I don’t.”

  I laughed, wiping my eyes. “You’d better hurry. Some of the things are going fast.”

  Just then Ava and Chloe burst into the kitchen. “Daddy, can we open presents now?”

  I laughed, the pure excitement of my girls contagiously cleansing all the heavy memories away. “Of course. Let’s go open presents.”

  “Yay!” they squealed and then ran into the living room. “Mike, daddy says we can open presents now!”

  “All right then,” Mike boomed from the living room. “Let’s open presents.”

  “Me first!” my mom exclaimed, jumping up from her seat and demonstrating a remarkable agility for a woman her age. She gave my dad a pointed look and he exited out the front door, I guessed to retrieve something for her.

  “Can I help?” Ava cried, following her Gramma close behind.

  “Me too!” Chloe scrambled close behind her sister.

  My mother laughed. “But then how will you get your presents?” she stood with her hand on her hip and gave the girls a mock stern look.

  “Oh yeah,” Chloe said. She put her finger in her mouth, a throwback to her younger days and looked to me with real concern in her eyes.

  “You could go last?” I suggested, amusement bubbled inside me.

  Horror filled Ava’s eyes. “Go last?

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Danielle said. She and Trent were sitting in the corner of a couch, very much snuggling.

  “Yes, then you get the fun of helping and then the fun of opening a present at the end too,” I pointed out.

  The girls looked at me skeptically, and then Chloe nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that. I can help you, Gramma!”

  “Me too!” Ava said, never to be outdone or left behind by her sister.

  I found a seat and pulled Mike next to me happy to enjoy the spectacle. If I knew my mother I knew what all of this was. She and I spent all kinds of time on the phone since our lunch and she left nothing to chance.

  My dad came back inside with a giant basket full of presents, all beautifully wrapped and addressed to their recipients.

  “Okay girls,” my mom said. “Take turns pulling a gift out and reading the tag. Then give the person their present.” She turned to the room. “Don’t open your gift until everyone has theirs and everyone can open them at once.”

  The girls did just that, reading off names. “Sarah.” “Beck….Beckett.” “Nichole.” “Trent.” On and on it went. I got a lot of quizzical looks from some of the recipients, a few who had never met my mother. I just gave them my ‘beats me’ smile and shrugged.

  When the basket was empty, the girls looked in, aghast to find nothing for themselves. They looked up at my mother, who winked at me and then their Papa handed them each their gifts they’d been hiding behind the couch.

  My mom turned around in a circle in the room and clasped her hands together. “Is everyone ready?”

  I swear she just loves the attention.

  She brought her hands down. “You may open your gift!”

  The room erupted in a cacophony of ripping paper and laughing. I held my gift on my lap, happy to watch the room. Everyone seemed astonished to receive a pair of high quality pajamas, all different prints and designs, in exactly their size.

  “What’s Christmas Eve without new pajamas?” my mom laughed.

  “Now I know why you have so many winter pajamas,” Mike murmured in my ear.

  I laughed, “Yep, I get a new pair every year whether I need them or not, and now you will too.”

  The rest of the night proceeded in lovely fashion, though my girls were absolutely spoiled since every person arriving brought them each a gift.

  When no one but Mike looking I slid open the envelope my dad gave me and peeked inside. I gasped at the sum. It was enough money to start the shelter right away. Ever since I was a kid and tried to save every stray dog who followed me home, and hid stray kittens I’d found in my coat at school to save them from the cold, I wanted a way to do more to save animals.

  Mike squeezed my shoulder and kissed me on the top of my head as I wiped the tears from my eyes. I looked up and noticed my dad watching us, his mouth in a tight smile, like he was trying to hold his emotions in. His eyes welled up too until finally he had to wipe his own tears away.

  “Thank you dad,” I said, again. There was so much commotion in the room no one else noticed.

  “You’re welcome,” he said, and then turned his happy attention to his grand daughters who were modeling their new pajamas. They’d wasted no time putting them on.

  We had a merry gift exchange after that. Later I noticed the girls were getting sleepy. They were going home with their mother that night, so I got their attention and said, “Girls. If you want to see your gifts from Mike and me, let’s go check the garage.”

  “The garage?” Nikki said. “I hope you didn’t get them cars.”

  “Not hardly!” I said. As far as I was concerned they were never growing up, and therefore would never need cars.

  Mike and I wrapped each girl up in a blanket and carried them in our arms out into the winter night. The snow fell just a little, and a breeze blew it around in little blustery curls. “Is it a pony?” Chloe asked Mike.

  Mike chuckled, his deep voice warming my heart with his resonant amusement. “No, but I promise you’ll love it.”

  When we got into the garage, Mike turned on the lights and we put the girls on the shop floor. We’d thought to put on their winter boots and their coats under the blankets. Mike pointed to two square shapes covered by sheets. “That one is for Ava, and that is for Chloe,” he pointed.

  They both looked up at us, questioning in their eyes. “Go see!” I said.

  They each took their sister’s hand and ventured to the draped objects, and then looked back up at us again.

  “Pull!” Mike said.

  And so they did, to reveal two beautiful hand-made desks. “Wow!” Ava said.

  “They’re desks!” Chloe exclaimed. “For us?”

  “Yep, for you,” Mike beamed. My heart surged with love for my burly sweet quiet carpenter. He’s worked tirelessly on these desks built especially for my two little daughters.

  “There’s more,” I said. “Look in the drawers.”

  A crowd had followed us outside, and everyone admired the beautiful shining desks.

  The girls pulled open drawers to find them full of the thing they loved the very most. “Art supplies!” Ava shrieked.

  “Yay!” Chloe said. “We can art forever now!”

  I laughed, peeking at Danielle. I bet she heard that term from her. She grinned and looked down, pleased with her daughter’s clever mimicry.

  “We’ll get them put in your room before you get back,” Mike said. “I wanted to put them in there to surprise you…”

  “But you guys are too clever and there was no way we could have put them in your room without you noticing,” I said.

  “That’s for sure,” Ava said, putting her hands on her hips. She looked down to see Bacon walk up to her with a stick in his mouth, his tail wagging. That dog loved carrying things around in his mouth.

  “Look who woke up,” I said. Bacon was a morning person, and after greeting all the guests and receiving as much admiration as a dog could possibly handle, he’d curled up in the corner near the fire and gone to sleep. Or, mostly to sleep. I’m sure he kept one eye open to watch the room. He must have woken up when everyone came outside.

  My dad came into the shop and looked over the
desks. He turned and shook Mike’s hand. “That’s some beautiful work, son,” he said. “Thank you for taking such good care of my grand daughters.” He looked Mike square in the eye, and I felt so proud of my father for evolving as a person.

  “It’s my pleasure, sir,” Mike said, his military manners on full display.

  “And for taking good care of our David,” my mom said, taking my dad’s arm and smiling at us until I felt awkward and dopey.

  “No more glögg for you,” I joked, and leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

  She put her hand to her face and laughed. “If I can’t be cheesy at Christmas, when can I?”

  Mike nodded seriously, like this was the most important discussion in the world. “Your mother has a point. Do not deny her the cheese.”

  I realized everyone was watching, and I felt my cheeks burn. Why was I even blushing? “And I love you all too! Are you happy now?”

  Mike leaned over and kissed me. “Yes. Yes I am.”

  9

  David

  “Alone at last,” Mike grinned at me as he closed the door on our last departing guest. Everyone was gone, except Bacon who snoozed in front of the glowing fire. The whole scene looked like a Christmas card picture.

  Mike put his large calloused hand around mine and led me to the couch. I looked longingly toward the kitchen and Mike chuckled. “I want to clean up as much as you do, but I did a lot while you were running the door. Don’t worry.”

  I leaned back into the cushions and sighed, anxious relief filling me. The adrenaline of the party wound me so tightly, I was still trying to come down from it.

  Mike knew this about me and he sat with his arm around me, patient and quiet. He ran his fingers up and down my arm and smoothed my hair. I slowly relaxed and snuggled into him and watched the fire burn down.

  Watching a fire was so meditative. How many people over how many millennia did exactly what we were doing? Cuddling close to your loved one and watching the fire, and feeling safe from the storm felt like a very ancient and primal thing to do.

  I looked around the darkened room, still filled with bright burning candles. If this didn’t look like Christmas eve, then nothing did.

  Mike kissed the top of my head and said, “I have a present I’d like to give you tonight, unless you would rather have it in the morning.”

  I sat up a little, suddenly alert again, and looked into his soft hazel eyes, dark in the shadowed room. I had a gift for Mike too — and I was kind of planning on giving it to him on Christmas morning. But if he wanted to do gifts tonight I could pivot — I think. Or, I could ask him to wait, but curiosity was getting the better of me.

  Mike squeezed me a little. “I love watching the war inside you,” he said, his eyes dancing with amusement. “You want to wait until Christmas, but you are dying to find out what your gift is.”

  Laughter bubbled up inside me. Mike was right. I raised chin and smiled at him. “Let’s wait until tomorrow. I didn’t get us these stockings for nothing.”

  Mike looked at the empty stockings we had hanging on the mantle and smiled. He scratched the top of his head and said, “All right. Tomorrow morning it is. I can keep a secret a few more hours.”

  “I know you’re trying to tempt me, but it won’t work,” I said, and slid myself around to straddle his lap.

  “This works for me too,” Mike said, and pulled me in even closer. I silently wished we’d put our pajamas on first. My tight pants were too restrictive for this to be as entertaining as it could be.

  I wiggled on his lap and enjoyed feeling the swell of his erection growing under me. “I was always told that if we didn’t go to bed Santa wouldn’t come.” I laughed at the end of this sentence, unable to keep a straight face with my double entendre.

  Mike grinned and laughed softly as he traced the shape of my body with his large experienced hands. “Let’s get ready for bed, and by then I can put the fire out.”

  I climbed off his lap, sorry to leave his embrace, and held out my hand to pull him up. “You can have the bathroom first while I finish putting away food and let the dog out. Then I’ll get ready while you do the fire,” I said. The gears turned in my mind as I planned out the next twelve hours.

  Mike considered. He always planned everything, so I knew he was doing the same thing. “That works. I’m excited to put my Christmas pajamas on.” He reached over and picked up his gift from my mother and looked at the print. My mother had found him black pajamas with little saws and hammers all over them. At first glance you didn’t realize what the print was. Mine were like that, except they were navy and had little dogs all over them.

  I shook my head. “Don’t ever underestimate my mother’s shopping skills,” I said as I grabbed my gift pajamas.

  I led Mike upstairs by the hand and then kissed him before he went into the bathroom. The moment I knew he was safely locked away for a few minutes, I ran to the bottom of my dresser and pulled out the gifts I’d been hoarding. I had just a few minutes to get them downstairs and into Mike’s stocking.

  All of my commotion roused Bacon again and he got up to see what I was doing. He sniffed all the packages and wagged his tail. “Not for you, sweet doggie,” I whispered. I crept down the stairs, and he followed behind me, wondering what I was up to.

  I laid out all the other things I’d gotten for Mike’s sock and padded his main gift with other things so even if he felt his stocking he wouldn’t guess what he was getting. By the time I was done, his stocking was full to the top. I snuffed all the candles and made sure everything was locked.

  As soon as Mike came downstairs to tend the fire, he’d know what I’d been doing, but I knew he wouldn’t snoop. I hung the bulging sock on a hook away from the fire so he wouldn’t have to touch it to do his work. Then I hurried to the kitchen to put away what was left of the party.

  Bacon followed me and I let him out for his last break before bed. He didn’t want to go at first. I can’t say I blame him. It was cold and snowy. “Go on fancy dog,” I laughed, and he finally ducked his head and went outside, his tags jangling in the night.

  Mike was right — he had put most of the food away. I took care of the rest and surveyed the kitchen with satisfaction. Then I let Bacon back in and headed upstairs. Giddy anticipation filled me and I wanted to bounce with excitement. It was like the feeling I got when I was a little kid on Christmas eve, except this time I was excited for what I was giving someone else. I loved this feeling. I got it with my girls too. Every holiday and occasion was new again because I experienced it both from the other side and also through their eyes.

  And now I got to have it with Mike too. Every holiday, every occasion, and every anniversary that rolled around I would marvel that I was with him. We’d make it special together.

  By the time I made it back upstairs Mike was ready for bed and in his pajamas. They fit him perfectly and he looked so manly yet — adorable, I couldn’t help but smile.

  Mike looked down at himself and gave me a sheepish grin. “Jammies,” he said, the sweet word contrasting with his deep soft voice. A thrill ran through me. I swear he got sexier every day.

  He kissed me and I headed into the bathroom to do my nighttime routine. He banged around a little in the bedroom before he went downstairs. I brushed my teeth and wondered if he was doing the same thing I had. Just like him, I wouldn’t peek. Imagination was often more fun than reality, and anticipation was always at least as much fun as the event.

  But I didn’t think Mike had any idea what I had in store for him. My heart skipped a beat and I tried to wipe the gleeful smile off my face so he wouldn’t think I was deranged or something.

  I was just climbing into bed when Mike and Bacon came up, finished with their chores. Mike’s cheeks were flushed and he had a mischievous smile on his face.

  “You look pleased with yourself,” I observed, enjoying watching him try to reclaim his own poker face.

  Mike leaned over and petted Bacon one last time before bed. His teet
h flashed white as he twisted his smile into submission. Bacon trotted onto his own bed, curled up, and put his head down. Delight buzzed through me. I was so excited about…well…everything.

  “Come’re,” I said, patting the bed.

  Mike pulled off his pajama top, revealing his broad chest, his beautiful tattoos, and his carved abs. Then I could see just how low slung his pajama pants were. My mouth watered as I took in the sight of him. He noticed me looking and smiled. “Too hot to sleep with a shirt,” he said.

  “Poor me,” I drawled, and slid up next to him as he settled into bed. He put his arm around me and I ran my hands up and down his burly chest. He was warm — so warm — and I cuddled up like a cat next to a radiator.

  Mike pulled another blanket over me and held me close. “Tonight worked out great,” he said. I knew he was talking about so many things. My parents, all our friends and family visiting and having a good time, the food was delicious and we had enough of it, the girls liked their gifts, our pajamas fit, the weather was Christmasy…the list went on and on.

  I sighed a happy sigh, thinking about all the ways everything was perfect. And tomorrow would, hopefully, be even more perfect.

  The morning came early with Bacon’s nose in my face, his tail thumping on the dresser. He knew better than to lick me, but his whiskers tickled my cheek and his breathing woke me with a start. He smiled at me the way golden retrievers do, and his tail sped up. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “Do you need to go out?” Mike said from behind me.

  I groaned and pulled the blankets over my head. That was a rhetorical question. Bacon was a morning person. Mike was a morning person. I was not a morning person.

  Mike unburied a portion of my face and leaned down to kiss me. He got a section of my temple next to my hairline. I smiled to myself inside the covers in spite of my grouchiness.

  Then Mike climbed out of bed and took Bacon downstairs. I snugged into the bed, making the most of them both being gone. All the more reason to sleep in. Besides, it was cold outside. I heard Mike downstairs say, “Go on!” to Bacon, who probably didn’t want to go outside once he realized how cold it was.