Christmas in Eternity Springs (12 page)

Claire opened her mouth to reply, then gave up when the girls' squeals went to fire alarm level.

“Whoa, there.” Brick Callahan sauntered onto the patio carrying a beer and two soft drinks. “Put a lid on it, squirts. Our eardrums are about to blow.” Then, catching sight of the puppy, he added, “Whoa. If that picture's not too full of cute. Whatcha got there, Little Bit?”

“My new puppy,” Claire offered.

Brick turned to her with a grin. “Well, well, well. A new puppy. A fluffy one at that. Cool. You won't have to use fake snow anymore in your displays at the shop. You can repurpose dog hair.”

She rolled her eyes and gestured for him to join her and Jax. “Jax Lancaster, meet Brick Callahan. He owns Stardance Ranch, which isn't really a ranch, but a combination campground and resort.”

“Glamping. I read your Web site. It's an interesting concept.”

“It fills a void in the market,” Brick replied.

Claire added, “Stardance isn't far from the Rocking L. Brick, you met Nicholas last summer, didn't you? Jax is his dad, and they're the newest residents of Eternity Springs.”

“Oh, yeah? In that case, welcome.”

“Thanks,” Jax said, as the two men shook hands.

“Sunday night is your usual date night with the twins. Is something happening on the baby front?” Addressing Jax, she explained her question. “The twins' parents are expecting a baby any time now. Gabe Callahan is Brick's uncle.”

Brick shook his head. “Nope, no baby news, but Nic is as cranky as Mortimer on bath day. Being the spectacular family member that I am, I sent them over to the Yellow Kitchen for a really nice dinner, and told them I'd have the girls to my place for a sleepover.”

“We're having pizza and Coke for supper!” Meg called.

“And chocolate cake for dessert!” Cari added.

Claire scolded Brick with a look. He replied, “Am I a great cousin or what?”

“Can I have chocolate cake and Coke, too, Dad?” Nicholas asked.

“Sure. Why not?” When Claire included him in her scolding look, Jax shrugged. “Peer pressure gets me every time.”

“Are we talking about them”—Claire nodded toward the twins—“or him,” she finished, jerking her thumb toward Brick.

Jax grinned mischievously, and Claire's heart went pit-a-pat.

She cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Brick has done some building up at Stardance, Jax. He might know something about contractors in the area.”

Jax's interest perked up. “You know of any crews that can use help?”

“What do you do?”

“A little of everything. I grew up in the business.”

“Right now, all the contractors who work the area are based out of Gunnison, but I don't think you need to sign onto a crew. Eternity Springs needs a general handyman. Ask people to spread the word that you're available. If you're good and dependable, you'll find all the work you want, and you'll earn more doing it, too.”

“That's good news. Thanks for the tip.”

“Glad to help.” Brick rose and picked up his drink. “Since the urchins are occupied, and I don't want to horn in on your date any longer, I'll take my beer inside and see if I can't hustle up a game of eight ball.”

“It's not a date!” Claire and Jax said simultaneously with similar alarm in their voices.

“Uh-huh.” Brick rolled his tongue around his mouth, then said, “Nice sweater, Claire.”

She sensed the warmth of a flush on her cheeks and decided she'd find a way to pay Brick back another time.

Jax picked up his glass and met and held her gaze with a steamy one of his own as he took a long sip. “It
is
a very nice sweater, Claire, and I want you to know something. When I take you out on our first date, it'll be for something better than burgers, and I won't bring my kid along.”

Oh, my.
The pitter-patter of her heart turned into a
thump, thump, thump.
Thankfully, Nicholas threw her a lifeline when he stood up and approached their table. “Miss Claire?”

She wanted to hug him for the interruption. “I have an idea.”

“I like ideas. What is yours?”

“About her name. What it should be.”

“Oh? Well, let's hear it.”

“My new friends Meg and Cari call you Miss Christmas.”

“Yes, they do.” She darted a glance toward Jax. Would this be a problem for Nicholas?

“I think you should name her something Christmasy.”

“You do?” The suggestion both surprised and delighted her. It had to be a good sign for the boy that he would suggest such a thing, didn't it? “Do you have something in mind?”

He nodded and his glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose. He pushed them back up. “She's bright and shiny and soft and she makes people happy. You could call her Tinsel.”

“Hmm…” Claire folded her arms and considered.

In an obvious effort to buy her time, Jax repeated, “Tinsel makes people happy? Does it make you happy, Nicholas?”

“I remember when it did.”

“Oh, yeah? When?”

“That one time the navy let you come home for Christmas. Remember? We decorated a tree and you bought boxes of tinsel and Mom called them icicles and you said it was tinsel and she said icicles and she threw a piece at you and you threw some back and we had a tinsel war?”

Jax slowly grinned. “I do remember that.”

“Everybody laughed. It was fun, Dad.”

“Yes, it was. We were all happy that day.”

Listening to the Lancasters share a memory of a happy Christmas past, Claire's heart melted. When Nicholas turned back toward her, she said, “I happen to know that tinsel comes from the French word
étincelle,
which means ‘spark' or ‘glitter.' I think you're right, Nicholas. Tinsel is a perfect name for her.”

The boy's face lit up like a Christmas tree. “You really think so?”

“I really think so. Meg, may I borrow the puppy for a minute?”

The little girl rose gracefully to her feet and carried the pup over to Claire. Claire snuggled the dog against her for a moment, lifted her to her face for a little nuzzle, then stared into those liquid brown eyes and said, “Puppy mine, I hereby christen you Tinsel.”

Claire thought she would probably remember the look of delight on Nicholas's face forever. The look on Jax's face was more difficult to interpret. Approval, yes. Gratitude, certainly. But also, something more. Something that sparkled like tinsel on a Christmas tree.

It warmed her clear down to her toes.

 

Chapter Eight

A puppy's kiss is sweeter than honey.

—CLAIRE

Jax's heart gave a little twist when he delivered Nicholas to Eternity Springs Community School for his second first day of third grade. Unlike the first day of school in Seattle, his son didn't drag his feet. Meeting Cari and Meg last night had made a world of difference to the boy, especially after they told him he could be friends with the Cicero family boys, Keenan and Galen. “They'll be so happy a boy close to their age moved to town,” Cari had assured Nicholas. “Third grade has tons of girls.”

So now, today, he hopped out of the car and ran toward the front door with barely a “See you later, Dad.”

As happy as it made Jax to see the boy so excited about school, a little part of him did miss the “us against the world” closeness they'd shared since Jax had told the Hardcastles they were moving to Eternity Springs.

Watching his boy disappear through the school's front doors, it occurred to him that maybe he'd been depending on Nicholas as much as his son depended on him.

Jax continued to feel rudderless in this new world of his. Being career military, he'd had a clear picture of his course for a very long time. Now, he drifted at the mercy of the wind and unfamiliar currents.

Keep in mind that it's temporary,
he told himself. These months were his breather, his time to reset. His time to figure out how he wanted to best use his education, training, and experience. His time to forge a bond with Nicholas that would last for the rest of his life.

There's your rudder for the next nine or ten months. Remember that.

He walked into his meeting with Larry Wilson with his self-confidence restored, and when he left the lumberyard an hour later, he had a course ready to chart.

And a reward waiting because of it.

He strolled up Aspen to Third and headed for Forever Christmas. He'd been curious about Claire Branham's shop since July, and he finally had the opportunity—and excuse—to take a tour.

He knew the address. He'd looked it up so he could avoid the block when he had Nicholas with him.

He spied Claire's store easily. Other merchants had pots of red geraniums and purple petunias and yellow daisies hanging on to summer lining the sidewalk in front of their stores. The pots in front of Forever Christmas sported Christmas trees complete with lights. The awning above the shop's red door was striped like a candy cane.

Drawing closer, he spied bows and wreaths and window displays worthy of Macy's in New York. Strings of lights lit the place up like … well, like Christmas. Jax wasn't much of a shopper, but Forever Christmas even beckoned to him.

“She has a talent for this,” he murmured as he reached for the doorknob.

Hmm. His gaze flicked to the store hours posted on the door. The door chimes played the opening notes of “Frosty the Snowman” as Jax stepped inside. His gaze found her immediately.

She wore a Christmas-green apron embroidered with the Forever Christmas logo over a Christmas-red blouse and black slacks. The combs in her glorious hair were made of silver and matched her star-shaped earrings. She stood surrounded by boxes. “Good morning, Miss Christmas.”

The smile she turned his way warmed him like hot apple cider on a snowy day. “Hello, Jax. How are you this morning?”

“I'm doing just great, thanks. Nicholas couldn't wait to go to school this morning and my business with Larry went well. He agreed with Callahan that I can keep as busy as I want to be working as a handyman.”

“That's excellent news.”

“Yeah.” He shook his head and repeated, “Yeah. It's a good solution. Not something I figured to do again after college.” Dinged his pride a bit, to be honest. “But sometimes it can be good to go back to your roots, right?”

“Absolutely. Falling back to your roots can give you time to figure out which direction to grow next.”

“I like that. So, care to show me around your shop, Miss Christmas?”

“I'd love to. But I have to warn you to be careful of the boxes. They're stacked everywhere. I've decided to close down for a couple of days while I knock this project out.”

“That's probably a good idea.”

“So, Nicholas wasn't nervous about meeting new classmates?”

“Apparently not.” Jax shoved his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “He wouldn't let me walk him inside today. Just ran off and left me behind like an afterthought.”

“Good for him.”

“I figure the big test will be tomorrow. If he drags his feet in the morning I'll know today didn't go as well as we both have hoped. Enough about us. Show me your place.”

Claire made a flourishing gesture with her arm and said, “Welcome to Forever Christmas. Honestly, the best way to see it is to explore at your own pace. My customers tell me that wandering through the shop is like a treasure hunt. I do have items grouped by subject, but right now I only have one dedicated room, though that's going to change. I sell lots of Baby's First Christmas ornaments and decorations. When I expand upstairs, I'm going to make one of the bedrooms into a nursery. I have plenty of merchandise to keep it stocked.”

Jax listened to her words, but what captivated him was her enthusiasm. This was a woman who loved her work. She sparkled with it. He looked at her and thought of champagne. A champagne toast after midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

Beneath a ball of mistletoe. Mistletoe adorned with glittering tinsel.

When he realized that she now looked at him expectantly, he cleared his throat. “That's a great idea.”

She beamed. “Thank you. I thought so, too. Why don't you look around a little bit. You'll see that I have merchandise stuffed—I mean displayed—in every nook and cranny in the place. I need to make two phone calls to let customers know that their orders have arrived, but then I'm flipping my sign to
CLOSED
and going into move mode.”

“Need some help? I don't have anything else on my docket until it's time to pick Nicholas up from school.”

“Only a fool would refuse moving muscle. Thank you. I don't have all that much. No heavy furniture. Just boxes. Though I should warn you there are stairs involved.”

“Stairs don't scare me. Pianos scare me.”

“No pianos,” she promised with a laugh.

Jax tore his gaze away from her smiling lips and turned his attention toward her shop. He honestly enjoyed exploring Forever Christmas. She had created a homey world with evocative scents and sounds that tugged memories of Christmases past from the recesses of his mind. She stocked everything from high-dollar collectibles to low-priced impulse items. Christmas china and linens set a sparkling holiday dining table. She'd arranged soft goods—towels and bedding—in visually pleasing blocks of color along one wall.

The woman had some money invested in this place.

With that realization came a faint niggle of unease. The last thing he needed was to get involved with another wealthy woman. He'd learned that lesson the hard way.

Not that he planned on getting involved with Claire Branham or any other woman, for that matter, while he was here in Eternity Springs. Nicholas needed to be Jax's only focus for a while. He'd have time enough to dip his toes into the relationship department once they settled somewhere permanently. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to anyone to start something that could never move beyond casual.