White Christmas (6 page)

“I want to, Tessa. It feels good to talk about it to someone who might really understand. Aunt Nell tries, but well, frankly, I don’t think she really liked Carly.”

Tessa didn’t have to guess, she knew Nell had a very low opinion of the young woman engaged to her nephew. Nell had felt from the beginning that Carly was shallow and easily swayed.

“A hothouse flower,” Nell had said on many occasions. “Not the kind of girl Chad needs by his side.”

Tessa chewed her lip, feeling uncomfortable that she knew more about Chad’s life than she let on. “You two looked so much in love,” she said, trying to give the relationship the benefit of the doubt.

“I think that was part of the problem. Everyone made the decision for us. We looked right together. We had great futures. We were the “it” couple. After a while I think we just started to believe our own press.”

“What do you mean?” Tessa asked.

He shook his head and looked off into the distance. “We thought we had to be at all the right parties, seen at the best functions. We were so busy doing all the right things, we never had the time just to be us. When we finally stopped, there really was no “us.” Just what everyone thought we should be.”

As Tessa stared up at his near perfect profile, she thought that was saddest thing she’d ever heard. His dark hair fell over his forehead and she longed to reach up and comb it back.

In that same instant, she knew what she would want her “us” to be…if she could have an “us”…with Chad. More moments like this, where it felt as if they were the only two people under a night sky full of brilliant, diamond-like stars. Or like the moment when Nell had tricked Chad into sitting next to her and he winked as he sat down. Or how he chaffed uncomfortably, like a boy caught with his fingers in the cookie jar, beneath her grandfather’s stern gaze. Those were the kinds of moments she wanted. If she were Carly, she would have seen that they had those kinds of moments.

She was beginning to agree with Aunt Nell. Carly wasn’t the right woman for Chad.

“Hey, Tessa!” She groaned slightly as she recognized the voice and turned. Across the way, two of her brothers got out of their car to meet Ashley and Tiffany.

“Come join us for some hot chocolate!” Her brother Mark, Ashley’s dad, called out.

“Sorry! We’re in a hurry,” she said and briskly turned Chad around to walk up the sidewalk.

“We are?” Chad said.

“Absolutely. The last thing I need...or rather you need, is to sit down with my brothers so they can harass you with questions.”

Behind them, they heard male laughter, then barking like a small dog.

Tessa froze, closed her eyes and held her breath.

“I suppose,” Chad said, “that’s their imitation of Tessa the Terrier.”

“Yep,” she said, before sealing her lips in a tight line. “They know it makes me crazy!”

She looped her arm through his and headed up the sidewalk again. “That’s another reason why you need a family behind you. Just when you start to think you’re all that, your family comes along and bursts your bubble so you crash down to earth!”

Chad’s laughter followed them all the way into the Adams House.

5

“The Adams house was built by one of White’s prominent bankers, Joshua Adams and his wife, Ellen,” Tessa began as they stepped through the mansion’s massive double doors. “They lost their only child to pneumonia at the age of three. Mrs. Adams spent the rest of her life, and her husband’s money, on this home and children’s charities.”

Unlike the other homes, this one was lit only by candles and kerosene lamps situated around the hall. Directly across from the door a staircase with an ornate wood balustrade led to the second story. Its polished surface sparkled in the candlelight.

The second story landing opened onto the entryway. Smack dab in the middle of the entry stood a fourteen-foot, perfectly shaped Christmas tree. It was strung with modern lights in the shape of candles that flickered. Victorian cut-outs in marvelous colors of burgundy and gold, hung from the branches by burgundy ribbons.

The cut-out pictures were of women in full dresses, boys in short pants, young girls with corkscrew curls, wooden sleds, and spinning tops. The colors were vibrant and every bit as pretty as modern ornaments. Silver stars dangled from different branches and sparkled in the flickering lights. And the pine smell…Tessa closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She only opened them when she heard the click of heels on the wood floor.

Nell came through the parlor door, wearing a black taffeta dress that had a full-length skirt with a bustle in the back, and a single strand of pearls at the neck. Her white hair was pulled into a bun that somehow suited her features and made her look lovely and timeless.

Chad whistled. “You said these days made you feel young! You weren’t kidding.”

She waved a hand at his teasing, and then motioned them to come into the parlor. “I hoped you two would stop by. It’s been a busy night and I was just about to serve myself some tea. Come on in and sit with me.”

Chad took Tessa’s arm and they followed her.

A fire roared in the huge marble fireplace.

“Some seasons it’s so warm, we can’t even light this, but not this year,” Nell said. “Take off your coats and get warm.”

She sat in one of the fragile Victorian chairs and wrestled the bustle into a comfortable position. On the tea cart in front of her sat a beautiful tea set.

“It’s not original to the house,” she said, as she poured steaming tea into fragile, rose-painted cups. “I bought it second-hand several years ago and donated it to the museum because I knew it would look lovely in that cupboard over there, which by the way, is original. Mrs. Adams bought it in Europe and had it shipped home. Now, I enjoy this special tea-time before I wash everything up and put it back in the cupboard for another year.” She handed Tessa a cup.

Tessa inhaled the delicate aroma of jasmine-scented tea. “Oh, Aunt Nell, it’s heavenly,” she breathed.

“I have it shipped in. Glenda at the drug store orders it for me. What do you think?” she said to Chad as he tasted from the cup she handed him.

“Well, I won’t say it’s heavenly, but I can’t think of better way to spend a cold winter’s evening than here with you two ladies.”

“What nonsense,” Nell said. “I don’t know why I put up with your shameless flattery.”

Tessa knew why.

Chad loved his aunt deeply.

Tessa watched him tease her.

He even coaxed a story from her about how she and her sister, Chad’s grandmother, had ridden a wooden sled, just like the one in the Christmas tree cut-out, down a gully outside of town. The frozen snow made them go so fast, Nell tumbled off and broke her arm.

Chad laughed at the story and his great-grandfather’s reaction. Then he coaxed more memories from her.

Tessa could see his affection for the older lady in his every gesture and word. The fact that he was willing to forsake Phoenix’s active social scene to spend Christmas with her, told Tessa a lot about him. In fact, it told her more than she needed to know.

She watched as his hair fell over his forehead again. How the candle light made his smile seem soft and sweet. How carefully he tried to hold Nell’s’ delicate, prized china tea cup with two fingers.

And Tessa fell just a little bit in love with him.

That startling realization sent her pulses pounding.

But it was just a little bit of love! Not real love. Not as ’in love.’ The way he treated his aunt, so careful and considerate was endearing…and the way he’d been flustered by Tiffany’s apparent attraction. And how he’d faced up to her grandfather’s stern voice.

Uh-oh.

Tessa very slowly and carefully placed the tea cup on the tea cart. Only then did she fold her hands in her lap and allow herself to admit the truth. She was in deep, deep trouble.

****

Tessa shoved the empty cardboard boxes into the back of her grandmother’s car. They were headed back into town for her grandmother’s shift at the apron display. She’d spent the night with her grandparents at the ranch house and slept, amazingly well. No tossing and turning. No self-doubts and angst over her feelings with Chad. In fact, after some serious prayer time, she felt at peace.

Tessa looked up at the sun-filled sky and smiled. It was going to be the first nice day they’d had since she’d arrived in White. She intended to enjoy it. All of it.

Last night had been magical. The brilliant stars. The engaging conversation. The candlelight tea. It was the most fun she’d had in months. Chad was charming, quick-witted and wonderful to look at. In short, he was perfect.

Practical Tessa knew no one was that perfect. If she spent enough time with him, she’d find his fatal flaw and all those budding emotions she’d felt last night would die a quick and easy death.

So, she adopted a plan. Spend as much time as she could with Chad, find all those quirks that would make him seem more human, and then get on with her busy, purpose-filled life.

In the meantime, she would continue her campaign to prove to Chad that he should marry and have a family. She was even more convinced that he needed it to do his job properly. As one of the best political choices she’d seen in a long time, she wanted him to succeed. Besides, he really did deserve a loving, supportive family. Watching him with his aunt last night had convinced her of that.

Grandma Sophie dropped her off at her sister’s house. Jessica was the leader of a Girl Scout troop and they were making a float for the Christmas parade at the end of the week. Jess had fallen behind and needed help to finish it before the big day.

Tessa spent the afternoon dipping papier-mache in the flour glue and sticking it a six foot representation of Girl Scout Cookie boxes.

Afterwards, she ran home for a quick shower. Then she dropped off extra tickets to the church play with Nell, just in case she and Chad wanted to watch. Tessa ignored the knowing smile that came over Nell’s lips.

“Thank you, dear, you saved me a trip. We’ll see you tonight,” she said.

Tessa left the Adams House, shaking her head and laughing. She fixed dinner for her parents, who barely had time to shower before they were on their way to the play.

Chad and Nell came in a few minutes after them and Nell somehow managed to see to it that Tessa and Chad were sitting beside each other again.

They smiled in greeting and they both knew they’d been managed again.

The church had a new youth pastor. He and his young wife had done a great job with their rambunctious teens. The play was emotional and sensitive.

Afterwards, in the church community center, Chad complimented Ashley and Tiffany. This time Ashley managed to keep her friend’s overtures under control and Chad handled it all with his usual charm. He even took some good-natured political jabs from her brothers.

Later, as they made their way to their cars he said, “Your family has made me feel welcome, Tessa. I can’t tell you how much that has brought up my spirits.”

“It hasn’t been hard. Aunt Nell is family to us already, and you just seem to fit in like you belong.”

“That’s nice,” he said, looking off into the distance. “It feels good to belong.”

Tessa smiled. “See, I told you. You need a family of your own.”

He shook his head. “I’d rather just fit into yours. Being friendly old Uncle Chad carries a lot less responsibility and likelihood for mistakes.”

Nell and Grandma Sophie came up behind them so she didn’t have the chance to say what she wanted to say. Instead, she said, “Assemblyman Barrigan.”

Then she turned and followed her Grandma to her car.

“Excuse me?” he called out over the hood of Nell’s older model sedan.

“Barrigan and his wife. Happily married. Think about it.”

Before he could respond, she popped into her car and shut the door.

The next day when Chad and Nell joined them at the school choral program, he said, “Barrigan and his wife don’t count. It’s a second marriage for both of them. Everybody should get it right the second time around.”

Laughing, Tessa conceded his point, but she gave him another parting shot later. “Senator Padalicki. His wife is expecting their fourth child. You can’t tell me their relationship isn’t working!”

He just shook his head and waved goodbye.

The Twelve Days of Christmas celebrations flew by. Chad participated with Tessa’s family in the cookie exchange, Santa’s Workshop Craft Fair, and last minute mad-house shopping at the mall thirty minutes away.

Each time they parted, Tessa gave him an example of a successful political career and a marriage. Chad wouldn’t admit it, but she was certain she was winning the battle.

A good thing, too, because Tessa had very few examples left. Chad was right. It was hard to maintain a healthy relationship and live the life of a politician. But she knew it could be done with God’s help. With only three days until Christmas, time to convince Chad was running out.

She pulled into her sister’s driveway to prepare nine little girls for this afternoon’s parade, opened her door, and stepped into mass pandemonium.

****

“I wonder what’s keeping Tessa,” Sophie said as she looked down the empty main street. “She should have been here by now.”

“Are you sure she planned to join us?” Nell asked.

“She said she needed to help Jessica get the girls set-up then she would be here.”

The ladies sat in webbed lawn chairs on the sidewalk of Main Street with blankets wrapped around their legs.

Grandpa Jim sat beside them, a wood figure in his hand and shavings at his feet.

Chad perched on the curb beside them, wondering about Tessa. He was glad Sophie had said something. It prevented him from asking and generating a whole new round of knowing winks and looks from his aunt.

He didn’t want any speculation or talk to spoil the atmosphere. This last week with Tessa and her family had been some of the best times Chad could remember. It had been a time to relax and laugh, to joke and exchange ideas. Mainly it had been a time for him to heal. He could never thank them enough for that. But above all, he looked forward to every minute he could spend with Tessa.