Red Hot Christmas (10 page)

She knew he could see it in her face, because he took a deep breath and smiled. “You said something earlier today about having extra chocolate pie in your fridge?” He rested his forehead against hers as she chuckled.

“Yeah, how about I make us some coffee, and you can help me eat the rest of the pie?”

When she walked in, she rushed to the thermostat and upped the temperature.

“Why don't you leave that thing at a reasonable temperature? That way when you get home, the place is warm.”

“It's wasteful. Besides, I enjoy feeling the place warm up. It's kinda like inching your way into a warm bath. You have to do it gradually.”

“See, now you’ve got me thinking about you naked in a bath.” He chuckled. “Go, make us some coffee and get that pie before I take you into the next room; we both know it's too soon for that.”

She smiled and walked into the next room. Okay, so she had to give him props for being open and honest, something no other man had ever been with her. After all, he'd shared his whole life experience with her. She'd even broken her cardinal rule and told him about her family. She'd never done that with another man before.

When she walked into the living room a few minutes later, he was standing by the windows.

“You know, I never get used to how beautiful this town is during the holidays. I mean, look at it.” He waved his hand.

A few days back, a group of people had come and put up white lights which hung over main street. At night they lit up, so that she didn't even have to turn on her living room lights anymore. Instead the warm glow from the street lit up the room. Wreathes hung on every street light. There were small flags with turkeys on them that said Happy Thanksgiving. They had replaced the one's that had a jack-o-lantern for Halloween.

She supposed they would put the Christmas ones up the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe even add more lights here and there.

“Do they do a community Christmas tree?” she asked as she handed him a plate with a large piece of pie. She set his coffee cup down on her coffee table.

“Yeah, they put it up in the main square, across from the library and town hall.” He pointed to the left. “It's something to see.” He turned and she watched him take a bite of the pie.

“Chocolate, huh?” She smiled.

“What?” He licked a dab of chocolate off his bottom lip. She followed his tongue's motion, dreaming.

“Chocolate. You're a chocoholic, I think.” She smiled at him.

“Isn't everyone?”

“No, some people enjoy it, some people can't stand it, but you...every time chocolate is mentioned, your eyes light up and you get this goofy look that crosses your face.”

She laughed as he made the face. “Yes, that's it.”

He laughed, too. “Yeah, it's my kryptonite. Anytime I didn't want to do something growing up, my grandmother would just bake a batch of her brownies, and she'd have a slave.”

“I'm surprised you don't weigh more.” She laughed and took a bite of the pie. She'd been eating it all week long, but each bite was like heaven.

“Yeah, well, you can thank those weekly basketball games. I've got to stay in shape if I don't want to get myself killed. It's murder playing with that bunch. You should stop by sometime and watch a game. Some days we have a whole crowd there. Megan, Lacey, Allison, and the kids come every now and then.”

“I've always liked watching basketball. My favorite sport to watch is hockey, though. There's just something about a bunch of big guys in padding, beating each other up.” She grinned.

“Well, if you like watching that, you will definitely enjoy watching a bunch of sweaty guys, half of us shirtless, knocking each other around. Why do you think Megan, Lacey, and Allison make a point to show up?” They both laughed.

I
t was less than a week later that Amber received another call from her mother. This time she sounded more urgent.

“Amber, I know you don't care too much about me, but maybe you'd think about your father for a change. His health is failing inside the prison and all he wants is to be free. He has thirty more years on his sentence and this appeal is the only hope he has of getting out early. Give Mr. Malone a call, or I'll give him your direct number.”

The message machine clicked. She felt like walking over there and picking up the machine and tossing it across the room. There was no way her father was going to walk out of prison early because of her. If she showed up at all, she would make sure they kept him in that cell until the very second his heart stopped. She wasn't cold hearted, but after seeing the two sided face of her dad, she doubted he'd ever feel remorse for the crime. After all, according to him, the guard had deserved it working for a company that was killing the earth.

Sure, she was somewhat of a nature lover herself. But there was no way she'd ever condone anything like what her father and his group had been planning. The plans had just been a small part of the operations. After the investigators had found her father's friends, they'd found a large cash of bomb material. Apparently their goal was to blow up the main power facilities in Portland and Seattle, hitting both places in one night. They would have killed thousands of people, all in the name of saving the planet.

She decided it was early enough to head down to the market to finish getting the things on her shopping list. She knew she needed to take a trip into Edgeview soon. So far she'd traveled the twenty minute drive a few times. She enjoyed the winding ocean roads and liked Edgeview enough. They had a Walmart and other major stores where she could easily find what she needed.

But for tonight she just headed downstairs, feeling a little more worn out after listening to her mother's message.

When she walked in, she wished she'd waited five minutes. There at the checkout stood Patty chatting happily away with Ruth.

When she walked in, the two of them quieted down and looked at her oddly. She grabbed a basket and started down the closest aisle. When she reached the back of the aisle, she heard them chatting again. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on her shopping. When she had a full basket, she walked to the front with her head down, looking at the items, mentally checking if she'd gotten everything.

She didn't realized Ruth was still standing in the same spot until she almost bumped into her.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I need to watch where I'm going. Don't you hate it when you think you've forgotten something?” She set her basket down and started emptying the contents onto the conveyer belt.

“Yes, well.” Ruth stood aside. “I was in Eugene last weekend, visiting my son. He and his wife have lived there for the last ten years. They have four of the best children. Anyway, I remembered that your mother lives there and decided to stop by for a quick visit.”

Amber could hear her heart beat in her ears, and felt all the blood leave her face and hands.

“Anyway, it had been some time since I'd visited Donna. I'd say about sixteen years. Of course the second I saw her again I remembered you as a little girl. Lone children can be so spoiled sometimes. That's why my Edward has four. Anyway...”

At this point Amber wished to be anywhere but where she was. She looked around frantically for something, anyone to help her excuse herself. There was no one else inside the store this late at night, except the three of them.

“Anyway...” Ruth repeated. “Your mother told me the story of how your father was incarcerated, all because you told a fib.”

There it was. The ugly lie had spread. There was no way she'd ever feel welcome in this town again. She was finding it hard to breath. Her vision grayed around the edges and she knew, just knew, that at any moment she would hit the floor.

“Well, I want you to know I stood up right there in her florescent pink living room, set my tea cup down and said in a clear voice, 'There is no way the Amber Kennedy I've met would every lie about something so important. If she says that Frank Kennedy shot and killed that man seventeen years ago, then I believe her.' Then I told her that Frank Kennedy had always been a bad seed. I remember him in high school. That's where I know your parents from, by the way. Frank was always getting into trouble. Mouthing off, finding some good reason to do something stupid. Well,” Ruth took a deep breath, “I'll have you know your mother kicked me out of her house and told me to never come back.”

“Good riddance, if you ask me,” Patty said with a huff. “We sure are proud of you for standing up for what's right. You've earned your spot in this town, working as hard as you do down there at the Jordan's restaurant. Best manager they've had, besides Lacey, that is.” The two women smiled and nodded.

“You don't worry yourself about that appeal coming up. If your mother is pestering you about it, you just tell her to give me a call, and I'll set her straight.”

Amber was still standing still. At this point, she was unsure of what had just happened. Surely these two strangers hadn't stood up for her? No one had ever stood up for her before. Not like this. She blinked a few times. When she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

“Oh, see what we've done. We've upset her now.” Patty pulled out a box of tissues from behind her counter and handed a few to her. Amber looked down at them, unsure of what to do. Then a tear hit her hand and she realized she was crying.

“I'm sorry, Amber. I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted you to hear the details of my visit from me and not your mother.”

“It's just that...Well...I'm sorry.” She wiped her eyes and face.

“It's okay, honey. I'm sorry we brought the whole subject up. Now we're standing around watching your ice cream melt,” Patty said as she started to scan Amber's items quickly. Ruth helped her bag the items.

“Thank you, both of you. I'm sorry you found out about my past. I tried to hide it, and now I wish I would have come clean right away.”

“Don't worry about it. We understand. We know we can be quite the gossips, but we both wanted you to know that your story wouldn't go any further than us. Some other people in town might not understand, since they don't know you like we do.” They both shook their heads. “Well, we'll just keep it to ourselves. You tell whomever you want whenever you feel more comfortable.”

When Amber made it back upstairs, she realized her heart was lighter than when she'd gone downstairs. Now she thought she could get through the night without downing the entire container of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Luke's grandmother died in her sleep on the tenth of November five days after her farewell party. She was seventy-nine years old. She'd looked at peace when he'd found her that morning. He'd instantly known when he’d entered her room that she wasn't there anymore. He walked over to her bed and sat on the edge, looking down at her in the dark room.

An hour later, when one of the Henderson sisters walked in, all his tears had been shed or so he'd thought. It took a day to make all the final arrangements. His grandmother had set everything up for her funeral shortly after his grandfather had died. Still, that didn't stop the steady stream of people from coming and going in the house. The place always smelled of home cooking and had people in it all hours of the day.

That first night was the hardest on him. Iian stayed until late. He'd even tried to crash on the couch, but Luke knew he needed to get home to Allison and their son, Conner. Finally, around midnight, he convinced him to leave. Luke walked down the hallway and looked in to his grandma’s dark room. He could still smell the fancy perfume he'd bought her for her last birthday. He knew the bottle sat on her dresser, a cherished prize she'd enjoyed.

Her funeral was all set for two days from now. No doubt the house would be packed with every member of the town afterwords. He knew he needed his sleep, but instead found himself up all night staring at the computer screen. Programming and designing helped take his mind off of how empty the house now felt.

He'd never known how much his grandmother had filled the place with her smile, her laughter. When morning came around, he decided to take a quick drive and ended up at the old cemetery adjacent to the church. He knew he would be here again tomorrow, but he just needed to talk to his grandfather beforehand.

As he stood on the hill, looking down over the small, peaceful town, he could almost believe everything would be alright. He talked to his grandfather, knowing the good it did was only for him. He was thankful they hadn't started digging the grave yet for his gran. The grass next to his grandfather’s marker was still green and whole. The night’s rain had soaked the ground and his boots sank a little in the grass as he chatted to himself.

He must have been standing there for an hour, when he heard a cough behind him. Turning, he nodded to Father Michael.

“
Hey.” Luke stuck his hands in his coat pocket. He hadn't realized how cold he was until his fingers started to tingle.

“How are you doing, son?” The father walked over and stood next to him, looking out across the cemetery towards the town.

“I'm hanging in there.” Luke knew and liked the father. He'd been a steady staple all his life since they day he'd arrived in town when he'd been a lost child. Realizing he now felt a lot like that little boy so many years ago did little for his ego.

“I know it's hard to believe, but your grandmother is with your grandfather now, and most likely getting a warm welcome in heaven.”

He smiled, “Yeah, but it doesn't make the hurt and loneliness go away.” He turned to the father. “How does someone recover from losing everyone they've ever cared about? First my parents, now my second parents.”

The father turned and looked at him. “Did you know I had a son? He'd be about your age, if he'd lived. When I was twenty-seven, he and my wife boarded a plane to visit my wife's family out east. The plane slid off the runway in Philly. I remember thinking the same thing back then. I'd come up here one day to pray and the priest, Father Patrick, had walked with me out here. He waved his hand over the view here.” Father Michael waved his arm towards the hillside, the trees, and the town. “He told me,
“You have what you need in life. God never takes something without giving something else to help you.”
Father Michael turned to Luke. “Then he said, “
You have Pride, let the people here be your family. I can't take away your pain, your loneliness, but these people can and will.
” The father put his arm around Luke's shoulder. “There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss my old life. But there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not thankful for the people I love and surround myself with. They are the reason I wake up every day. The reason I do what I do and enjoy my job.” He wiped a tear from his eyes. “Now, don't be going around saying that to anyone. As far as they know, God is the reason I do everything, and he is, because He gave me them.” He waved his arm again, pointing to the small town.