14 Christmas Spirit (13 page)
Read 14 Christmas Spirit Online
Authors: K.J. Emrick
Then he reached out for Darcy's hand, and his tone softened. "I learned recently what it means to be given a second chance. This is yours, JoEllen. If you want it."
This time, JoEllen was at a loss for words. She hugged the two of them instead.
"Darcy," her mother called to her from the living room. "Don't we have a Christmas dinner to plan?"
She and Jon and JoEllen laughed together and promised to work out the other details later, about how they would create a life for Ellen Gless in Misty Hollow. For now, there was something else Darcy had to do.
They had a dinner to plan.
Starting with one special phonecall.
Christmas day dawned amid a cloudy sky and a scattering of snowflakes that drifted lazily on a cold breeze. Smudge spent some time up in the living room windows, watching it all come down, meowing at the snow like he was thinking about chasing each individual flake, chomping them between his teeth, and letting them melt away on his tongue.
Instead, he jumped down and made his way to the kitchen where the smells of turkey and stuffing and gravy filled the room. There were always bits of food to be had at the holidays. He just had to make his best cute cat face.
Darcy knew him so well.
She and Jon sat at one end of the kitchen table. Both of the leaves had been put back in and it was so long now it barely fit the room. They needed the extra seating space. Even with Lilly and Connor eating at a fold-up table in the living room there were a lot of people to feed.
Grace and Aaron sat on Darcy's left, next to the wall, with baby Addison happily bouncing on Grace's knee. Lilly sat next to JoEllen across from them, laughing at a joke Jon had just told. At the far end, Darcy's mother sat very close to James, spending more time stealing glances at each other than eating.
Then, next to Jon, sat Audrey Tinker. His mother.
The phonecall that Jon had dreaded so much had turned into an hour long reunion for the two of them. Things were said that fixed up hurts Jon hadn't even realized he'd been carrying around. Of course she would come for Christmas dinner, Audrey had said. She had been so depressed thinking she would spend one more Christmas alone and now her son was reaching out to her.
It was the best Christmas present she could get, Darcy heard her say. When she had arrived this morning she hugged Jon tightly and acted like she didn't want to let go. Jon's eyes had found Darcy's, thanking her without words.
In the middle of dinner, Jon excused himself from the table and asked Darcy to come with him for a moment. To check on the kids, he said.
He wasn't fooling anyone.
They did go into the living room and ask Lilly and Connor how they were doing. "Fine," they both chimed in at once, not looking away from the claymation Rudolph special playing on the television. Their food had been picked through, with the cranberries gone from Lilly's plate and the turkey devoured from Connor's, and the rest of it all kind of mixed up together. Darcy suspected there had been a mini food fight taking place in here while the grownups weren't watching.
Lilly did look away from the television once, to make sure Darcy was wearing the My Little Pony watch. Darcy held out Lilly's gift to her with pride. She kept it for special occasions now. Like this one.
In the corner of the living room, over by the bookcase, stood a prelit artificial Christmas tree. Jon had taken Darcy to pick it out yesterday, in the midst of a dozen other preparations that she had been trying to get done. The little white bulbs cast a glow off the glass ornaments that had all been carefully placed last night, a group effort involving the kids. It was the first tree Connor had ever decorated, JoEllen told her. The little boy came over to hug his mother after placing the star on the top, declaring this the best Christmas ever.
Around the middle of the tree, secured to the center support rod on plastic tracks, was a toy train that ran around and around in circles. Darcy had never seen the like of it. When they were picking out which tree they wanted from boxes and boxes of others, the trains had sat next to them on a shelf. Jon had taken one look and declared that they needed one. He had looked like such a little kid holding the train set that Darcy couldn't even begin to argue. The train would now be a part of their Christmas tradition forever. Like a lot of other things.
After making sure the kids had enough to drink Jon took Darcy by the hand and led her upstairs to their bedroom. Halfway up, Darcy realized where he was taking her.
"Uh, Jon, we have guests downstairs. Maybe we should wait to, you know…"
He chuckled. "Don't worry. This is something else."
Curious now, she followed him into the bedroom. He closed the door, and twirled her into his arms, and kissed her deeply.
When she could breathe again, she traced his face with one fingertip. "I thought you said this wasn't…that."
From the dresser, he picked up the slim wrapped package that she had noticed earlier. It was Christmas, and the rule was no peeking, but she had been sorely tempted to do just that when she saw her name on the tag.
"Merry Christmas," he said to her. "I know we do presents later, but I wanted to give you this one now."
"Oh, Jon…" She took it from him, and found the tape on the edge, and began pulling the paper away. He'd gotten a lot better at wrapping presents since she'd first met him. Her birthday gift earlier this year had been shaped like a football until she'd gotten the wrapping paper off and realized it was a boxed necklace.
This wasn't a necklace.
It was a special edition DVD of
Meet Joe Black
.
"To replace the one I broke," Darcy laughed. "That's sweet Jon, thanks."
"There's something else there," he told her.
Confused, Darcy looked down at the movie case. Then she turned it over. Behind the movie, still trapped in the wrapping paper, was an eight-by-ten photo of Bard Pitt in character from the movie, sealed inside a plastic display case. Looking closer, Darcy's mouth dropped open. It was signed by Pitt and Hopkins.
"Where on Earth did you find this?" she exclaimed.
"Took me a few hours. And the expedited shipping cost a bit more, but I figured you couldn't be without your favorite movie—"
She cut off the rest of what he was going to say with a warm, full kiss that more than matched the heat from the one he had just given her. This was love. The little things, the gestures that meant something so deeply personal.
This was love.
"Merry Christmas, Darcy Sweet," he whispered into her ear.
"Merry Christmas to you, Jon Tinker," she said in return, breathlessly. "I love you."
-THE END-
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Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick is an up and coming talent in the writing world. She is a new Kindle author/publisher and brings a variety of experiences and observations to her writing.
Based in Australia, Kathrine has wanted to be an author for the majority of her life and can always be found jotting down daily notes in a journal. Like many authors, she loves to be surrounded by books and is a voracious reader.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at the local library.
Her goal is to become a bestselling author, regularly producing noteworthy content and engaging in a community of readers and writers.
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