Blame It on the Mistletoe (3 page)

“Your hair used to be so long when you were younger.” His voice had lowered to a deep rumble, his breath minty and warm. “But I like this. It’s sexy.”

And now she might officially die. She couldn’t believe he was this close, and when she finally dragged her eyes up to look at him, he was smiling. Her nervousness must have been apparent because he dropped her hair and cleared his throat. Alex always had the sexiest lips, full and even a little pouty. She was surprised how handsome he looked with a beard. She’d never before been attracted to facial hair, but on him it was really hot.

“So, listen, I won’t tell my grandmother you’re staying here. But is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah, fine.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I promise everything is okay.” Between the touching and the questions and the owl throwing, she was a flustered mess. She took a deep breath and tried to sound like she wasn’t on the brink of a freak-out. “I’m just … in between places for a couple of weeks. That’s all. And I really appreciate you keeping it between us.”

“You know Bev would let you stay if you asked.”

“Oh, I know, I just don’t want to bother her.” Or let anyone know how close her business was to folding. “About tonight, I mean it’s technically your space. … I can just—”

Alex cut her off. “It’s fine. I’ll just get a room at the Inn on Main.” The small hotel down the street was the town’s only accommodation, save for a couple of fancy bed and breakfasts.

Brooke blew out a breath. “Well, I doubt you can get one tonight considering it’s a holiday weekend.”

He appeared to think about this and then shrugged. “If not, I’ll head back into the city.”

“Oh, Alex. That makes me feel horrible, why don’t you just spend the night with me?” She blurted out in a rush and then immediately realized how ridiculous her offer was. Even worse, he could actually accept—she’d really be in trouble then.

He grinned and shifted from one leg to the other. “I really don’t think that’s wise, Brooke.”

“You know I didn’t mean it like
that
and it would be fine. I mean we’ve known each other for years. There’s a couch and a bedroom.”
Stop talking
, she told herself.

“I appreciate it, but …” Once again his eyes slid down her body and back up to her face in a slow, thorough caress that had her breath catching at the back of her throat. “We aren’t quite the same people we were years ago, and even though you didn’t mean it like
that
, it still might prove to be a little too tempting.”

She was completely speechless. Was he implying that she, Brooke Abbott, might prove to be a little too tempting for Alex Coleman? Her stomach flopped and she had to bite her own lip to stifle her grin. “Okay. Well, can’t say I didn’t offer.”

“And I appreciate it. Really.” He lifted a hand to his head and pulled his fingers back with a trace of blood on them.

“Oh my god, I forgot you’re hurt.” She grabbed his hand, noticing how warm and strong it was, and led him behind her counter, pushing him into a desk chair. “Stay here,” she commanded before grabbing a handful of paper towels from a roll on the side of her worktable.

“Are you going to play nurse for me?” He called out as she ran to the bathroom to wet the glob of towels. When she came back, he was grinning. “I’m pretty sure in my fantasy the nurse is a lot more scantily clad.”

“Sorry, I only pull that number out on special occasions.”
Oh my god, why was she flirting back?

“Nice, I’ll remember that. I might have to find myself hurt again soon.”

Brooke felt her cheeks flush as she leaned in. He sat very still, and the spicy scent of his cologne was a jolt to her senses. Ignoring any inappropriate thoughts it might inspire, she parted his hair and examined the cut. It didn’t appear to be gaping or bleeding too much, but it was hard to tell. After a moment he spoke, his voice nearly giving her the chills. “What’s my prognosis Nurse Abbott?”

“Well, you’re gonna make it. But you may want to get this looked at. It doesn’t appear to be deep, but you never know.”

His large hand caught her wrist as she worriedly continued to dab at the cut. She stopped and looked down into his eyes as he spoke. “It should be fine. I’ve had plenty worse.”

She nodded and stepped back, gently pulling out of his grasp. She wondered how much worse exactly he’d really had, but she didn’t want to pry. She knew from small-town gossip that he’d enlisted in the military right out of high school, just like his father. She tilted her head and smiled. “Well, make sure to at least clean it good when you get settled somewhere for the night.”

“Will do, Nurse Abbott.” He stood and gave her a wink. “Okay, well, I’m going to go spring a visit on my mother.” He glanced at his watch, no doubt the shiny thing she’d mistaken as a weapon.
Good going, Brooke
.

He hesitated before he stepped from behind the counter and leveled his gaze on her. “What would you say to meeting up with me down at Smokey’s in like an hour? It’s going to be the only thing open tonight, and I’d love to buy you a drink as an apology for scaring you.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but without thinking on it too long she responded, “Uh, sure, that would be fun.”

Would it be fun? And what was she doing accepting? She had a lot of work still to do before tomorrow. But for once she couldn’t find a reason to care. Alex had just asked her out and “no” wasn’t even a consideration because she’d dreamed about going out with Alex Coleman for much longer than she’d dreamed about a successful shop. Stupid thinking for a grown woman, she knew, but sometimes desire didn’t make any sense.

“Great.” His grin showed off a dimple on his cheek, and she couldn’t help returning it with her own—no doubt incredibly dorky—smile. “Okay, so I’ll see you in an hour.”

Alex stared at her for a moment more, biting at his bottom lip, like he was running through the last twenty minutes in his head and wondering how he’d gotten here. No problem, because she was doing the same thing. Finally, they gave each other an awkward good-bye before he turned and walked through the store toward the backdoor. As his feet crunched on the remains of the ceramic owl, he turned around.

“Let me help you clean this up.”

“Oh no, I’ve got it. I couldn’t ask you to help clean up the item that I tried to kill you with.”

He laughed. “See you soon, Brooke.”

She gave him a small wave then grabbed the broom to sweep up the broken ceramic. Without his presence the space felt empty. He had managed to warm the small store, and with him gone the air felt quiet and cold. The nice thing was that now she had something to look forward to–what a change from the last few weeks.

When she was done cleaning up, Brooke quickly hung the remaining ornaments on the tree before running upstairs to make herself a little more presentable. She obviously couldn’t shower and change into a cute dress, because that would look like she was trying too hard. And honestly, she shouldn’t want to be attracted to him, she wasn’t really ready for anything to
happen
in the man department, but it felt nice to be noticed by the one guy that she’d always secretly crushed on. That was all it was. Right?

Alex crossed the train tracks in his rental car and drove toward the outskirts of town to the old trailer park he’d grown up in. He parked in front of his mother’s lot and took in the painfully familiar view. Even in the dark he could make out the same double-wide, with its pink horizontal stripe and matching shutters. He wasn’t surprised to find it even more dilapidated than it had been the last time he’d been here five years earlier.

A lamp was lit in the window, and he took a deep breath knowing that he’d now have to face her. It was too much to hope that she might not have been home. He was ashamed at that thought; he loved his mother in his own way, even though she always made it very difficult. He hadn’t seen her in years, and he was equal parts guilt and fear as he stepped from the car.

He shouldn’t overthink it. It was a quick visit, not a lengthy stay, he reminded himself as he walked up the crumbling driveway to the porch. It was hard to see at night, but the three wooden steps seemed to have been repaired since—well, he could only remember them being splintered and falling down. His whole childhood he’d had to step over the first one so it didn’t crash in and break his ankle.

He knocked on the door, the familiar scent of his childhood wafting over him: smoke, perfume, and generic laundry detergent. Some deep part of him wanted to run off the porch, get in his car, and hightail it out of town because there was no telling what he was about to walk into. Willingly.

The front door opened, the chain lock allowing it to go only so far. When his mother’s eyes met his they widened, her smile beaming. “Alex, baby.”

She slammed the door and he swallowed hard as the chain slid across the old wood. It flew open and she pulled him into her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me you were comin’? This is the best Thanksgiving treat ever.”

He put his arms across her back and returned her embrace with a little squeeze. “Wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, it certainly is.” She pulled back, her gaze taking in every inch of him. Her small wrinkled hand grasped his chin, and she grinned. “What is with all this facial hair? You look like a grown man.”

“Probably because I am.” He gave her a small smile. Something was different, she looked … healthy, relatively speaking. And she seemed happy. This was completely opposite of the last time they’d seen each other. She’d been drunk, irritated, and verbally abusive. This new woman in front of him, he wasn’t sure how to handle her, and he was well and truly shocked.

“Well, come on in and sit.” The place was still dated, but it was clean. Cleaner than it had ever been in his whole life. And she had a new sofa—it still looked slightly broken down, but light years better than the floral mess he remembered. He sat and looked around. Some comedy movie was playing on the TV, the same school portraits of him in frames around the room.

“The place looks great, Mom. Really.” He swallowed. Had he ever had a normal conversation with his mother? He quickly tried to remember and came up with nothing.

“Thanks. I’ve been working real hard, baby. Real hard.” She pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Apparently some things didn’t change, but he didn’t dare say anything to her in her own home. She blew out a puff of smoke that billowed between them. “I’ve been sober for seventeen months now.”

His eyes widened. “Wow. I mean, good for you. I’m glad, Mom.” Alex glanced around. He didn’t see any beer bottles or dirty boots. “Where’s Mark?”

“Gone. Gone for good. Wasn’t willing to get sober with me so I kicked his ass outta here.” She laughed, her voice gravelly from years of cigarettes and hard living.

She was obviously proud of kicking Mark out, and so she should be, but she’d done it before. Alex hoped for her sake this time it stuck. He wanted her to finally have the courage after all these years to be rid of the man who treated her like shit, took advantage of her at every turn, and even had the nerve to call her son a fuck-up after he returned home from the military. The guy had been a first-rate dick. “Well, good. I’m glad he’s gone.”

“Me, too. Alex, it’s like I’m living a brand-new life. A second chance. I got a job at the Stop & Go on Main. Tina gives me about forty-two hours a week, and it’s been a blessing. Hell, I wished I’d stopped drinkin’ years ago.”

“Huh, yeah I bet.” Alex suddenly felt numb, his uncertainty turned to anger. How nice would it have been to have had a normal mother? Years ago, yeah, he would have liked that. Too bad her epiphany was too little too late.

“So tell me about you, you still on those fishing boats? I’d like to have a heart attack every time I think about it.”

“Yeah, just during the warmer months,” he said. “It’s a tough job, but I’ve certainly been through worse. The money’s okay.” Better than okay, but he didn’t need to tell her that. Alex had been sending her a couple thousand dollars at the end of every season for the past four years. It was more than he should, but she was still his mother.

“Thank you for always helping out. You know I appreciate it.” She appeared sincere.

“Of course.” Right out of high school he’d enlisted in the army and served for six years, three of those as a Ranger. After that he’d spent a year traveling and then finally came back to Preston five years ago. Things didn’t go well, so he’d met up with an army pal in Seattle and they hit the docks until they’d worn down a skipper and gotten hired onto his seining boat. He’d spent every summer since sailing around the southern coast of Alaska throwing the seine net, reeling it back in full of salmon with a small crew of men. The winter months he lived in Oregon. This was his first time back since.

“Well, looks like I’m gonna be around for a few days, so maybe we can … uh, go out to dinner or something.” Good god, he couldn’t believe he’d just suggested it.

Her eyes widened. “I would love that. What brought you here, something wrong? You’re welcome to stay here, you know?”

No, he definitely didn’t want to stay here. Staying under this roof would be torture. “No, thanks, Ma. I’ll come by maybe Saturday. Or the Stop & Go, you said? Maybe I’ll swing in there.”

Alex stood up—the house was starting to feel like it was closing in on him. He underestimated the power his past still held over him, and he was grateful she didn’t press the issue on why he was here.

“Are you leaving so soon? I have some leftover pumpkin pie.”

“No thanks, think I’ll head out. Just wanted to come by and say hey.” He leaned in and quickly put a kiss on her cheek before heading for the door.

“Alex,” she said behind him—he could hear the tears just on the edge of her voice. He turned to look in her eyes. “I love you, baby. I’ve missed you so much.”

He took a deep breath. “I’ve missed you too, Mom. We’ll see each other tomorrow or Saturday, okay?”

She nodded her head and swiped a tear from her cheek. Alex stepped into the cold night and pulled his coat up around his face, suddenly noticing the chill in the air. Back in the car he cranked the heat and made his way to the trailer park’s entrance to find a cop car idling. He pulled up next to it and rolled down the window.