His Jingle Bell Princess Read online

  She looked down at her utilitarian outfit. She couldn’t say she felt beautiful at the moment. She was slightly sweaty. Her hair was a mess from the walk and the wind. And she hadn’t worn makeup in days.

  “I haven’t noticed a beautiful woman in a very long time,” he said in a quiet tone.

  He removed his glove and reached slowly up to touch her cheek.

  She couldn’t stop herself from leaning into his palm.

  “So smooth.” There was a reverence in his tone.

  He dipped his head, putting his lips against her hair. She couldn’t call it a kiss, more a tender, intimate touch. She reveled in its power, closing her eyes to memorize every nuance of the moment.

  He drew back slowly. She did, too. They gazed into each other’s eyes.

  “Daddy?” Amelia’s voice jolted them back to reality.

  The garage door opened.

  “Where are you?” she called. “What’s taking so long?”

  Sam took a step back, focusing his attention on the tree. “We’re on our way.”

  Jasmine blinked herself back to reality. She tried to bring her emotions under control. But they didn’t want to be controlled.

  They wanted Sam.

  Chapter Five

  Watching Jasmine string a final garland across the tree, Sam could still feel the silk of her cheek against his hand. Her breath had been soft puffs against him. Her skin was warm to his touch. While the sweet scent of her hair fanned around him.

  He tried to tell himself it was only human comfort. He’d had an emotional day, and something about Jasmine soothed him.

  She stepped back from the tree now to survey her work.

  “Can we put the star on top?” Amelia asked.

  “It’s Sophie’s turn this year,” Belle said.

  “I know it’s Sophie’s turn. I’m going to get it out of the box.”

  “Will you pick me up, Daddy?” asked Sophie, squaring herself to the tree and presenting him with her back.

  Amelia brought over the etched, silver star, handing it carefully to her sister. Excitement shone in both of their eyes.

  He was aware of Belle’s watchfulness and of Jasmine moving to an armchair to sit down. He wondered if Jasmine was remembering his caress. She hadn’t backed away. If anything, she’d leaned in.

  He was ready to admit that touching her was like coming out of dormancy. He was still a man, still human, and though he might not be proud of his needs, they existed, and he wasn’t going to be able to ignore them forever.

  He mentally packed his newfound acceptance away. It was something to explore later, when he was alone and had time to think.

  “Ready?” he asked Sophie, wrapping his hands around her waist to hoist her up to the tree.

  He waited for the ache of loneliness to pressurize his chest, like it always did when he was reminded of family moments with Kara.

  “I’m ready,” Sophie said.

  He lifted her to sit on his shoulders. She gripped his head, wobbling a little as he slowly rose.

  “Whoa,” she called. “This is really high.”

  Strangely, his ache was muted.

  “Closer, Daddy, closer,” Amelia called.

  “You’re going to have to reach for it,” he told Sophie.

  He felt her lean and tightened his grip on her thighs. “I’ve got you.” He inched between two of the lower branches, careful not to brush off any ornaments.

  “Up, up,” Amelia called encouragingly from the floor.

  Jasmine stood, seeming to move for a better angle. Sam tried to ignore her, but he couldn’t. He was hyperaware of her movement toward him, the distance between them, his desire to have her come closer so he could touch her again.

  “Did it!” Sophie cried with delight. Then she gasped as she canted sideways, flailing her arms.

  Jasmine surged forward, reaching up for her.

  “I’ve got her,” Sam said, but momentum carried Jasmine’s chest up against him, her soft breasts molding against his side.

  His muscles contracted and his heart rate all but doubled.

  “Help me down,” Sophie called out, reaching for Jasmine.

  Jasmine was laughing as she moved in front of him. “Give me your arms,” she said to Sophie.

  Sophie reached down to grasp Jasmine’s outstretched arms. Jasmine’s movements increased the intimacy of their touch and a surge of energy buzzed through his skin.

  Sophie laughed, and Jasmine smiled, and Sam couldn’t help but smile in return. Amelia jumped on his back, obviously anxious to get in on the fun.

  Something flashed, and he realized Belle was taking a picture. It would be a happy Christmas picture without Kara. He instantly sobered. He moved Amelia aside and came to his feet, backing away from the little group.

  “It looks very nice,” he said, struggling to keep the enthusiasm in his tone.

  Jasmine obviously sensed something in him and looked up.

  “Come on, girls,” Belle said cheerfully. “Help me make some hot cocoa.”

  “With mini marshmallows?” Amelia asked.

  “With mini marshmallows.” Belle confirmed. “I think we’ve all earned it.”

  Jasmine watched the trio leave for the kitchen. “She’s very observant.”

  “Amelia?”

  “Belle. She cares a lot about you.”

  Sam forced himself to put some distance between them, making a show of looking at the tree from all angles. It had tiny white lights, glass ornaments of all shapes and sizes, silver garland, and strings of cranberries. His gaze went to Kara’s picture, shellacked onto the ornament Amelia had made in grade two. There’d once been one of him as well, but it had long since been lost.

  “Have you checked the phone lines since dinner?” he asked Jasmine, reminding himself she was leaving soon.

  “They’re still down. I’m going to walk down to city hall tomorrow and see if there’s anything more to find out.”

  “I’ve never seen a storm last this long.” He focused on the snow falling under the streetlights.

  “On the radio, they’re calling it a hundred-year storm.”

  “Do you get snow in Vollan?”

  “We do.” She said. Her voice was even. There was no sign that their touch had affected her as it had him. “Not too much in the capital, but up in the mountains it can get quite deep.”

  “Your family must be getting frustrated.”

  “I’m fairly certain the pilot got the radio message. Not that it would be hard to figure out that I was stranded in Tucker. It’s not like I could have left the plane at any other point on the journey.”

  She was making a joke and he found himself smiling again.

  He found himself curious about Jasmine’s life in Vollan. “You said you were missing Christmas events. What are they?”

  “So far, I’ve missed a concert or two, probably a play” she said. “The official lighting of the tree in the city’s square. There’s a children’s party that I usually attend.”

  “You don’t have any children of your own.” He knew that, and he wondered what would bring her to a children’s party.

  “Some of my friends have children. And I love watching their faces when Santa shows up.”

  “You want kids someday?” He couldn’t help but think she’d be a good mother.

  Amelia and Sophie certainly liked her. And she seemed patient and intuitive. As a stranger, it was fairly incredible that she’d offered to walk to miles in the snow to retrieve Christmas ornaments for his girls.

  “Definitely,” she said. “Someday. I’ll have to get married first.”

  For some reason, her expression turned pensive, as if the thought of a husband was disagreeable.

  “You don’t want to get married?”

  “It’s hard to imagine.”

  “Why?”

  “When you haven’t met anybody suitable…”

  “Suitable?” He found it an odd choice of words.

  “That’s the righ
t…” She hesitated. “I don’t know…”

  Now she had him curious. “Are you looking for something specific in a husband?’

  “I guess what I mean is, how do you know if somebody is right?”

  “I’m not the guy to ask about that.” He’d never had to consider a woman from the perspective of whether or not she’d make a suitable partner.

  “You found Kara,” Jasmine said. “You obviously figured out she was right for you.”

  “I found Kara when I was seven years old.” He could still remember riding his two-wheeler bike along Green Drive and seeing her drawing with chalk on the sidewalk. “We grew up together. We started seriously dating at sixteen. It never occurred to me that it could be anyone else.”

  “I envy that.” And then she seemed to realize what she had said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

  “I know what you meant. Kara and I were lucky. I can’t say I know how other people do it.”

  “It’s complicated for me.”

  He could guess why. “Because of your rich, overprotective father?”

  “Truth is.” She looked distinctly self-conscious as she spoke. “I’ve never been on a real date.”

  Sam couldn’t hide his surprise. “How is that possible?” Again, he couldn’t imagine the men weren’t lining up for the opportunity to take her out. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-four.”

  There was no way, no way in the world that she hadn’t had hundreds of offers.

  “You must have gone to college,” he said.

  “I have a degree in international studies.”

  “And?” He prompted. Didn’t they date at colleges in Vollan?

  “I attended close to home. So, no dorm life. No frat parties. No post-football keggers.”

  “I’m starting to feel sorry for you.” And trying to imagine how a European country could be so different from America. “They have football in Vollan?”

  “You’d call it soccer. But, yes, we have a very accomplished professional team in the European league.” Her answer betrayed pride.

  “Are you a fan?” he asked.

  “I’m a fan of everything Vollan does.”

  “Patriotic. I admire that.”

  “I am extraordinarily patriotic. My country is everything to me.”

  “I wish I could help you get home,” he said, trying to mean it.

  But he knew he didn’t mean it. At least not in this moment. He wanted her to stay right here in Tucker. She was beginning to fascinate him, and he wanted the snow to keep falling and the airport to remain closed so she had no choice but to stay.

  *

  Jasmine couldn’t help but feel proud of the Christmas tree. It wasn’t her accomplishment alone, not by any stretch. But she had contributed. And it was a beautiful tree. And this morning she sat sipping her coffee gazing up at it against the backdrop of the snowy world outside.

  “We need to buy some presents,” Amelia said, joining Jasmine, still clad in a pair of yellow pajamas. “Then we can wrap them and put them under the tree. It’ll look even prettier then.”

  “Won’t Santa Claus take care of that?” Jasmine asked.

  Sophie came in from the kitchen. “We’re too old to believe in Santa Claus.”

  The two girls took up opposite ends of the sofa. Jasmine was curled in a big armchair.

  “We believe in shopping malls,” Amelia said with an almost comical air of worldliness.

  “I want to get Daddy a basketball,” Sophie said.

  “That would be interesting to wrap,” Jasmine said.

  “He never shoots hoops anymore,” Amelia said. “He used to shoot hoops with Brock. When we lived next door.”

  “There’s lots of things Daddy doesn’t do anymore,” Sophie said, a wistfulness to her tone.

  Once again, Jasmine’s heart went out to the girls. She wasn’t sure what to say to comfort them. She knew they didn’t need comfort from her. They needed Sam to be whole again so he could enthusiastically participate in every part of their lives. She wished there was something she could do to speed up the process.

  “I wish we could have the party,” Sophie said on a sigh.

  “The party was Daddy’s favorite all time thing,” Amelia said.

  “A basketball party?” Jasmine asked.

  “No, silly,” Amelia said. “The Christmas party. Everyone would help, and everyone would come. It was awesome.”

  “Everyone from school,” Sophie said. “All our friends.”

  “It was a school party?” Jasmine asked.

  “Grown-ups, too. We’d sweep out the warehouse. It was the only place big enough that was free. Then we’d set up tables and a stage. We had games and songs and balloons.”

  “And bubbles,” Amelia chimed in. “We’d always blow bubbles. Remember, Sophie?”

  Amelia mimicked bubble blowing, and Sophie pretended to bat them out of the air.

  “At a warehouse?” Jasmine asked.

  “Daddy’s warehouse. It used to have wood and stuff in it. But the business changed, and it hasn’t changed back.”

  “Oh.” Now Jasmine understood why they couldn’t have the party. The last thing Sam would want to do was be at the helm of a traditional town Christmas party. She could only imagine Kara must have taken a pivotal role in the event.

  “I wish we could do it again,” Sophie said.

  “The kids all miss it,” Amelia said.

  “I bet Daddy would like it,” Sophie said.

  “He liked the tree.” Amelia gazed up at the sparkling tree.

  Sophie followed suit. “And he didn’t mind us getting the old decorations.”

  “He seemed really happy last night,” Amelia said.

  “I like it when Daddy laughs.”

  Jasmine liked it when Sam laughed, too. She wasn’t in a position to judge, but she thought he’d seemed happier last night, more relaxed than he’d been since her arrival. She had to wonder if the few minutes he’d spent in his old bedroom had helped break the ice. Maybe he was ready to start moving on with his life.

  She’d be happy for him if he was.

  “Maybe you could ask him.” She suggested to the girls.

  Sophie slid closer to Amelia. “He’d just say no.”

  “He might not.” Jasmine was far from convinced Sam would say yes, but she found she didn’t want to dash the girls’ hopes before it was necessary.

  “We could surprise him,” Amelia said. “He’ll like it if he sees it. I know he will.”

  Red flags went off in Jasmine’s brain. She could only imagine the ways Amelia’s idea could go wrong.

  “Can we, Grandma? Can we?” Sophie asked.

  Jasmine turned to see Belle come into the living room.

  “Can we what?” Belle asked in a cheerful voice. She also seemed more relaxed than usual after the tree decorating.

  “Surprise Daddy,” Amelia said.

  “Surprise him how?”

  “With a party. The party.”

  “The party,” Sophie added.

  “The Christmas party?” Belle asked, looking as worried as Jasmine felt.

  “He’ll like it,” Amelia said, coming to her feet. “I know he will.”

  Belle’s voice grew gentle. “I know how much you girls love that party.”

  “Everybody loves the party,” Sophie said, bouncing to her feet beside her sister. “Every single body in the whole town loves the party. It’s the town’s party.”

  Belle gave Jasmine a helpless look. “It’s true.”

  “We’ll do everything,” Amelia said. “Jasmine can help.”

  “Me?”

  “It’ll be fun. It’s so much fun.”

  “I won’t be here much longer.” As she said the words, Jasmine glanced out the window at the relentless snow.

  It had to let up soon. And then she’d be free. Party or no party. Sam or no Sam. Soon, none of it would make any difference to her in the long-term. The knowledge was vaguely depressing.

/>   “Please, Grandma.” Sophie looked so pathetically hopeful that Jasmine couldn’t imagine how Belle would be able to say no.

  Instead of answering, Belle spoke to Jasmine. “He went over to the house again this morning.”

  Jasmine was surprised. “He did?”

  “He says he’s going to finish the renovations, so they can move back home.”

  “A long time ago, Daddy tore down the dining room wall,” Amelia said.

  “This is a good sign?” Jasmine asked Belle.

  It had to be a good sign. His trip there last night had definitely broken the ice on his emotions. Maybe the party wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  “Mommy loved the party,” Sophie said.

  Jasmine couldn’t imagine Sophie would be sophisticated enough to purposely invoke that level of emotional blackmail. But it worked anyway. Belle’s shoulders drooped and her expression softened.

  “Kara did love the party,” Belle said to Jasmine. “And it does belong to the whole town. Last year, it was impossible, the first Christmas after. But I can’t see cancelling forever. We have to start again sometime. If Sam absolutely refuses to participate, he can always stay home.”

  “You want to ask him up front?” Jasmine thought that might be the safer course of action.

  But Belle shook her head. “No. The girls are right about that. He’ll dig in his heels. It’s better as a surprise.”

  Both of the girls shrieked with excitement.

  Jasmine had some serious reservations. But this wasn’t her decision to make. Kara had been Belle’s daughter. Belle knew the town. And Belle obviously knew Sam better than Jasmine ever would.

  “You’ll help us?” Amelia asked Jasmine.

  “You have to help us,” Sophie said.

  “I will as long as I’m here,” Jasmine agreed.

  She doubted she’d have time to do much, but she’d lend a hand if she could.

  *

  Sam stood in his dining room, sizing up the bare studs left between it and the kitchen. He felt stronger today than he had in months. He knew with a certainty it was time to retake control of his life.

  At one point in his grief, he’d decided renovating the house was the way to help them move forward. And he wasn’t yet ready to throw away the idea of a fresh start. The kitchen had always been too small, and there was room in the yard to extend the living room and put in a new dining room.