Christmas Miracle (12 page)

“Janie!” Lauren scolded, holding the child firm by her shoulders. “What did I tell you about opening the door by yourself?”

“But I heard a bell,” Janie whined, pouting her lips and wiping at dry eyes.

Shaking her head, Lauren gave her an incorrigible grin and looked up. The grin faded as shock registered on her face. She got to her feet slowly, clutching Janie’s hand in her own. Melanie immediately recognized that they were dressed to match. Lauren wore a red wool sweater that stopped at her knees and black tights underneath. On her feet were tall black boots.

“I thought I’d stop by to see Janie,” Melanie said slowly.

Getting over her shock, Lauren smiled and lifted Janie into her arms. The little girl looked at Lauren and then Melanie.

“Gosh, you’re probably freezing. Come inside.”

Lauren stepped aside and Melanie turned to wave at Cameron, whom she knew was still parked there, waiting for her to go inside. He blew his horn, and the car pulled away from the parking space. Turning around, Melanie gave Lauren a small smile and stepped into the warm house.

***

She’d been there for about ten minutes, and Lauren had introduced her to Janie as “Aunty Melanie.” Janie knew the name because the little girl had reached for Melanie, and when she was poised on Melanie’s hip, had said, “Thank you for all my presents, Aunty Melanie.”

This year, she’d seen a dream dollhouse in the window of a toy store and had sent it to Lauren’s address for her niece. As usual, she’d attached a check for a few hundred dollars to Lauren with the memo, “For Janie.”

After asking Janie if she liked it, and getting a sticky smooch on her cheek in answer, she’d placed her niece onto her feet, and the little girl had perched herself before the dollhouse and proceeded to tune the adults out.

“You have a nice house,” Melanie said after silence descended between them. Lauren was still reeling with shock that Melanie was in her home.

“Thank you. Erm—would you like a tour?” There was uncertainty written on her face and in her body language.

Melanie nodded, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the place was not only spacious with its two full bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and an extra room, but spic-and-span clean. Lauren had been particularly messy when she was younger. Her sister had changed, if only for the Christmas holiday.

After the tour, they went back into the living room. Janie was still absorbed with her toys.

“Would you like something to drink?”

Melanie declined. “No, thanks. I should be going.”

“Oh.” Lauren’s face fell, and she looked like she’d protest before she sighed and nodded.

“What about some black cake?”

Eyes narrowing on her sister, Melanie said the very first thing that came to mind. “You can bake?”

Lauren beamed proudly and nodded. “Yep. And I figured out how to make black cake. It even tastes like Mom’s.”

“Really?” Melanie asked, feeling doubtful about the whole baking thing, and especially baking like Mom. Lauren had been the worst cook. She’d even burned water before.

“You don’t believe me?” Lauren was already standing, and Melanie watched as her sister stepped into the kitchen. After passing a quick look at Janie, who was still absorbed with toys, she followed her. Lauren was standing over a pan of black cake, cutting a slice out of it. She laid it on a saucer and held it out to Melanie.

Taking a small bite, Melanie slowly chewed, and then she grinned. Lauren was right. It was black cake, and it tasted just the way their Caribbean mother used to make it.

“Goodo?” Goodo was the American soft drink of the Caribbean. At least, it was the soft drink that her mother and her Caribbean friends all used to have.

“I didn’t even know they still sold that,” Melanie retorted. Lauren reached into a cabinet and retrieved the soda, pouring a glass for Melanie and adding a few cubes of ice.

“They do, but mostly in Brooklyn, in the delis and supermarkets around Caribbean neighborhoods.” Lauren watched her with a smile. “They probably don’t sell it around where you live.”

Melanie nodded. “Probably not.”

“I can give you one if you like—”

“No, Lauren, it’s fine.” She took a long drink of the bubbly soda and placed the glass onto the countertop atop her empty saucer. Looking around the lacquered kitchen, she said, “You’ve done well, Lauren. Janie looks great. Your house is beautiful.”

Smiling, Lauren said softly, “Thanks, Mel. I try.”

Melanie nodded. Her sister was a junior executive secretary in a large law firm on Wall Street. When Lauren had told her she’d taken Chester to court for child support, Melanie had wondered if Lauren also used the child support to support herself. After finding out her sister’s occupation, she’d known that the money went mainly to Janie.

At that moment, her BlackBerry vibrated.

Reaching into her jacket pocket, she retrieved it and mouthed, “Excuse me” to her sister.

“Hey.”

“Do you need me to give you some more time?” Cameron asked through the phone.

“Are you outside?”

“Pulling up right now.”

“I’ll be out in a few.”

“Are you sure?”

She found a little smile. “Yes, I’m sure.”

As she slipped her BlackBerry back into her jacket, Lauren asked, “Leaving?”

She nodded. “I’d like to say bye to Janie.”

They made their way back to the living room, and Melanie easily lifted the child into her arms.

“I’m leaving now, Janie, but I’ll see you again very soon. Would you like that?”

Janie stole a glance over her shoulder at her mother before looking back to Melanie and whispering, “Can you bring me candy?”

Melanie chuckled and turned to Lauren. Her sister rolled her eyes and smiled. “Sure. I’ll bring you some candy.”

“Yay,” Janie replied, and then latched on to her neck and placed her head against her shoulder. “Mommy doesn’t like to give me candy, but you’re nice, Aunty Melanie.”

“And Mommy isn’t nice?” Lauren smirked, reaching for the little girl.

She shook her head and yawned.

“Time for your nap, huh?”

With Janie hanging on to her, Lauren walked Melanie to the door. She’d lifted a hand in goodbye when her sister’s voice halted her.

“Thanks for coming over, Mel. It means a lot to the both of us.”

Melanie turned back to her. “It means a lot to me too.”

They both smiled at each other, and then Melanie walked to Cameron’s car. After she was buckled in, Cameron looked from her to the woman and child standing in the doorway, and asked, “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Her reply was accompanied by a soft smile, which he eagerly returned. “Your mother was adamant about the time for lunch.”

He chuckled. “She won’t mind if I’m late.” But he still eased the car from the spot and blew his horn in farewell to her sister.

As Melanie waved, she asked, “And why is that?”

“Because I’m her favorite.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Who wouldn’t love me best?”

He winked at her, and Melanie couldn’t help but shake her head.

***

Lunch with his family proved no less entertaining than breakfast.

The only difference was that Melanie got her first taste of traditional Scottish dishes, and while she seriously did not want to know what went into some of them, she admitted that Cait Mackintosh was a genius in the kitchen. She’d had something that consisted of parts of the animal that were usually thrown away in the U.S., and had found it delicious right up until Cameron told her what was in the dish. The desserts, though—she didn’t even care what went into those as she wolfed them down. Cameron had teased her about it, but she was too busy savoring each different flavor to mind him. Cait had even put aside a tin of desserts especially for Melanie to take with her when she left.

After lunch, the overstuffed family members all poured back into the living room. People were on couches, chairs, and mostly sprawled about the carpeted floor. Everyone seemed content to slowly fall asleep after that meal, when Cait suddenly said, “I brought something to entertain us.”

“What’d you bring, Ma?” Brendan asked from his spot on the ground. He was lying on his back, both hands over his belly.

“It’s a surprise. Where is your DVD player?”

Aiden guffawed on the ground, and Brendan joined in.

“Who taught her how to use a DVD player?”

“Be quiet before I take you over me knee,” Cait retorted, using her foot to lightly push Brendan. He beamed up at her, but stood and took the DVD from her. Moving over to the television, he inserted it, grabbed the remote, and retook his position on the floor.

When the Mackintosh siblings saw what was on the DVD, they all released collective groans.

“Ma!”

“Oh, come on!”

“Not in front of guests. This is embarrassing.”

Melanie curled closer to Cameron and settled in for the entertainment. It was a home video of them at an earlier Christmastime. Years ago, judging by the fact that Cameron looked to be barely eighteen, and also like a teenage girl’s dream guy. He’d since lost his soft features, grown manlier and more handsome, but heck, if she’d seen him as a teenager, she would have looked twice.

“I’m the handsome kid with the dark hair and dreamy blue eyes,” he whispered in her ear, and she slapped him lightly.

“There are three of those in the video.”

While Cameron looked all of eighteen, Aiden looked to be about fifteen, and Brendan ten, perhaps eleven. They were all adorable, especially Brendan, whose bright red fuzz had darkened over the course of his life, and whose freckles had mostly faded. He also had all of his teeth now, some of which were missing in the video.

“I said the handsome one.”

She laughed softly.

“He means the one with the large donkey ears, Melanie,” Aiden confided from the ground.

“That’s how he overheard our plots to blow up the backyard,” Brendan muttered.

“Oh, look, it’s me!” Adeline squealed, pointing to a half-naked toddler running about on the screen. Big blue eyes, short-cropped black hair, and a diaper were all she wore.

“I see nothing’s changed for Addy since she was a wee one. Still running around naked—” Brendan broke off and grunted, half in pain and half laughter, as Adeline’s foot made solid contact with his leg.

“Sorry, Addy. Forgot to say that now you wear more makeup now.”

A younger version of Sebastian Sr.—who unsurprisingly looked like a combination of Cameron and Aiden—moved behind the toddler, catching her and picking her up, only to plant a kiss on her chubby cheek.

“This is so adorable it’s making me slightly ill.” This was from Aiden.

“That was probably Addy’s attempt at the ginger biscuits,” Brendan called over to him.

“If you two don’t shut your big yaps so the rest of us can enjoy the video...” Cait muttered with a smile on her face. She found Melanie grinning at her and shook her head good-naturedly.

At that moment, Cameron shifted his body, pulling his feet onto the couch and leaning his back against one of its arms. Without even thinking of it, Melanie leaned back against him, turning herself slightly so that she could watch the video projecting from the screen.

It took only a half an hour before most members of the Mackintosh family were asleep. She peered over at Sebastian Sr., who was definitely gone, and Cait, who was gone but kept shifting in her sleep. Brendan, Aiden, and Adeline had been unusually quiet, so she figured they were asleep as well. Turning her head slightly, she looked up at Cameron.

His eyes were alert and he was looking at her.

“Tired?” he whispered.

She shook her head. “No.” And then her gaze dropped to his lips. “But I wouldn’t mind lying down.”

A brow lifted, and he quickly looked around the room at his sleeping family members.

“We are going to walk out of here...very slowly.”

When she was in the hallway, Melanie laughed softly. They were officially “sneaking around.” She felt as if she were sixteen again. Cameron stepped out moments later, and she only had a few seconds to react before he crushed her against the wall, his mouth and body pushing against hers. As their tongues tangled, she ran her hands through his silky hair, moaning as he reached down and lifted her so that his erection nestled between her legs.

“You want to lie down, lass?” Cameron asked between kisses.

She nodded, her forehead bumping lightly against his.

“I don’t know, lass. I think I want you standing up.”

Melanie leaned forward and traced his lips with her tongue. “Maybe we can do both.”

He ground his cock against her, and she whimpered.

“We can do more than that.”

And then he set her back on her feet, grabbed her hand, and together they made a beeline for his room.

Chapter Ten

Melanie was caught in the middle of a very large crisis. As she sat in her office, twirling her pen around and staring at the two magazines and the newspaper on her desk, she knew there was no easy solution to it. Cameron wasn’t business. Well, he was, but at the same time, he wasn’t. She couldn’t just forget about him like he was a completed business transaction. He’d done something to her. And she didn’t mean on a purely physical level, although the man certainly knew his way around a bedroom, an office, a kitchen, a living room— She forced herself to stop picturing them together in the different rooms of her home.