Christmas in Eternity Springs (27 page)

Nicholas thought for a moment, playing with an imaginary spot on Jax's sleeve. Then he smiled. “She liked to go to the zoo! We'd take a cooler that rolled and go to the zoo and have a picnic. I'd eat pimento-cheese sandwiches.”

Jax nodded, recalling the photos of the zoo trips that she'd e-mail to him when he was at sea. “Did she have a favorite animal?”

“Giraffes. Mommy liked giraffes.”

“Good job, Nicholas. Those were some really good memories.”

The boy exhaled a heavy breath. “I wasn't so scared. Usually, I'm too scared to remember because instead of good things I always remember that bad time.”

“Whenever you try to think of Mommy and get scared, come and find me and we'll talk about her just like we did now. Anytime you want to talk about Mommy or about being scared or about anything at all, you just let me know. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“All right, then. You ready to go home, buddy?”

“Yeah. What about Miss Claire? She'll worry when we don't show up.”

“I'll send her a text.”

“Meg and Cari saw me cry. Everyone is going to know I'm a scaredy-cat. They'll make fun of me at school.”

“I don't think so. This is Eternity Springs. Everyone I know is rooting for you, Nicholas.”

“Maybe. Galen said his mom died, too. In a hospital, though. She was sick for a long time, he said. I told him I was sorry. People say that to me sometimes.”

“I didn't know that about Galen. I'm glad you guys are friends. Did you tell him about Mommy?”

“No. He already knew she died so I didn't have to talk about it.”

“See? People are different here in Eternity Springs.”

“Yeah, I like it here, Daddy.”

Jax stood and extended his hand to his son. The boy took it, and they walked back to Jax's truck in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts. On the drive back to Three Bears, Jax replayed the incident in his mind. Had he handled it okay? Should he have taken the boy to the clinic, after all? Should he call Rose and ask her advice? Maybe she'd advise him not to wait for Dr. McDermott's return from vacation.

Maybe she'd tell him not to send Nicholas to Seattle.

Well, hell. He needed to consider that possibility. Maybe sending his son away for a long weekend would be the absolute worst thing he could do.

When it comes to parenting, I am so in over my head.

“Dad?”

“Hmmm?”

“Would you think Miss Claire has pictures of the Doghouse on her phone?”

Jax shot Nicholas a sidelong look. “Actually, I know she does. I watched her take a few when I dropped off cookies.”

“Maybe I'll ask her to show them to me. Maybe.”

“If you want to see what it looks like, I think that's a fine plan.”

Since they'd planned to make a meal on Yellow Kitchen appetizers, Jax had to scrounge for his and Nicholas's supper upon their arrival back at Mama Bear. He decided to keep it easy and do breakfast for supper, and he'd just pulled bacon out of the refrigerator when he heard a car approach.

Sitting on the kitchen floor wrestling with Captain, Nicholas scrambled to his feet and ran to the window. “It's Miss Claire. Why is Miss Claire home so early? The party isn't over yet.”

“I don't know.”

Moments later, she hurried inside carrying two bags with the Yellow Kitchen logo on the side, Tinsel trailing at her feet. Jax saw the worry on her face as she studied Nicholas. Nevertheless, she kept her voice casual as she said, “Hey, guys.”

“Why are you home early, Miss Claire? Did something bad happen at the party?”

“No. Everything is going fine. Since Celeste is president of the Chamber of Commerce, I turned the evening over to her.” Claire set the bags on the kitchen table. “I brought food.”

“Good. I'm hungry.” Nicholas pulled a kitchen chair away from the table, climbed up on his knees, and peered into the bag. “What's in the box?”

Claire reached into the bag and pulled out a large square gift box adorned with red glitter hearts against a silver background. She set it on the table. “Well, I visited Shannon Garrett at Heartsong Cottage the other day, and her house put me in the mood for Valentine's Day. I'll tell you a secret, Nicholas, if you promise not to tell anybody else.”

Interest lit the boy's eyes. “I promise.”

“My favorite holiday isn't Christmas. It's Valentine's Day.”

Nicholas gave her a “you're crazy” look. Claire laughed.

“It's true. I've been known to put up a Valentine's Day tree and decorate it. So, I thought I'd better bring home a few Valentine's tree ornaments before they were all gone.”

Nicholas narrowed his eyes. “I'm not dumb, Miss Claire. I know what's in that box. You brought home the Twelve Dogs of Christmas. You brought them so I can see them.”

“Okay. You caught me. I know how badly you wanted to see the ornaments and I thought this might be a way to do it. You keep this box and open it when you're ready. And it's not too much of a stretch to think of them as Valentine's-themed things. After all, what's the main message of Christmas?”

“Presents?”

She ruffled his hair, then leaned over and kissed the top of his head. “Love, Nicholas. The key to Christmas is love.”

*   *   *

Three days later, Claire's thoughts were on the Lancasters as she restocked the shelves in Forever Christmas shortly before closing time. Despite Nicholas's setback the evening of the reception, Claire was encouraged by his progress. He'd asked to see pictures of the Christmas Doghouse. He'd requested she continue to read to him each night. Last night, he'd opened her Valentine's box.

And Jax was at the boy's side offering support every step of the way.

He was such a good father. She wished he could see that. Ever since Nicholas's setback, Jax had second-guessed each of his parenting decisions. He'd had a conference with Nicholas's doctor and his teacher. He'd called the Hardcastles and updated them about their grandson's situation, and they'd gone back and forth about whether or not to go forward with Nicholas's trip to Seattle. The fact that the boy wanted badly to go had weighed heavily in the decision not to change their plans.

Selfishly, Claire had wanted to cheer.

She also believed that Jax was doing everything right with Nicholas. True, she wasn't a health-care professional, but she lived with the boy. She witnessed the progress he made on a daily basis. Jax was too hard on himself.

Her door chimes sounded, and she exited her stockroom to see the man himself rush in with a panicked look on his face. “Help!”

“Jax, what's wrong?”

“I need your ideas. I'm not asking you to do it. I want to be clear about that. But I'm coming up with a great big goose egg, and I need some fresh ideas.”

“About what?”

“Halloween. Tomorrow is Halloween. I didn't know it was such a big deal. Have you seen the costumes kids do these days? Talk about elaborate. The kid showed me some on the Internet. Whatever happened to throwing a sheet over your head and cutting out eyes and going as a ghost? And Nicholas tells me parents dress up now, too! I'm not dressing up to take my eight-year-old trick-or-treating. That's crazy.”

The affronted expression on his face made her laugh. “What does Nicholas want to be for Halloween?”

“He doesn't know, but it has to be cool. What the heck am I supposed to do with that? Why do I have to come up with an idea, anyway? It's not like he's five and needs help. Shouldn't he be doing this himself?”

“I think Halloween has changed in recent years, Jax. It's not just for kids anymore. Adults are really into it. Parents do dress up.”

“Yeah. Well. Not me. I'm drawing the line there. He said the Ciceros have been working on their costumes for weeks. We have a little more than twenty-four hours to come up with something for Nicholas. And never mind that I'm trying to fit four days of work into two out at Papa Bear because I actually have a firm commitment from the electrician for next week, and I can't miss that window. I'm not dragging out the sewing machine that's in the storage closet in Mama Bear, so if Nicholas and I can't put a costume together with safety pins, Super Glue, or staples, it's not happening.”

“You can use a sewing machine? I'm impressed.”

That distracted him from his rant. He shot her a quick grin and said, “I'm extraordinarily talented with my hands. I'm looking forward to showing you. In fact…”—he gave her a slow once-over—“if you haven't had any luck finding that French maid outfit, I could be persuaded to fire up the sewing machine.”

Claire's cheeks heated. “You are such a flirt.”

The teasing glint in his eyes changed to something hotter and more intense. “One week, Miss Christmas. Seven days.”

She wanted to fan her face. Instead, she decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. She slowly skimmed her gaze down his body, licked her lips, and dragged her gaze back up to his face. “One hundred sixty-eight hours.”

He fell back a step. Thumped his hand over his heart.

Claire couldn't stifle a grin. “First, though, we have Halloween to deal with.”

Jax grimaced. “From the sublime to the ridiculous. Any suggestions for me?”

“Let me think about it. We'll come up with something Nicholas will like.”

“Thanks, darlin'.” He picked her up, whirled her around, and kissed her hard. “I knew I could count on you.”

She mulled over possibilities as she finished stocking her shelves. Something “cool” that didn't involve needlework and could be thrown together in one evening. That was the stumbling block. Internet shopping made life in Eternity Springs easier, but experience had taught her that you couldn't count on overnight delivery. The last thing they needed was to be waiting for UPS to show when the sun went down on Halloween.

She had a pretty good idea of the clothes they had to work with currently in Nicholas's wardrobe. Bet she could scrounge up other supplies by calling around to friends. They needed a theme.

“Hmm…” she murmured aloud. She took a look around her Angel Room, but nothing there gave her any ideas. Though she did wonder how many Starlinas she'd see tomorrow night. “Now there's a thought guaranteed to put me in a witchy mood.”

At least Nicholas won't want to dress up as that commercialized fake.

She shook her head, chased away the annoying thoughts, and finished prepping the shop for closing, cleaning the restrooms, adjusting the heat, turning on some lights, turning others off. Upstairs in the Christmas Doghouse, she hesitated. An idea flitted through her mind.

She had an entire line of items embroidered or embossed or printed with “Believe.” She thought of Jax every time she sold one of those items, every time she stocked one.
Wonder if he ever used his journal?
She'd never had the nerve to ask him. Probably not. He probably considered the whole thing silly, and if that were the case, she didn't want to know it. She wanted to keep that particular fantasy alive.

Fantasy. Jax Lancaster was a living, breathing fantasy. Was he just teasing her about the whole French-maid thing, or did he really want to go into role-playing during their first … fling? Wasn't that a little bit much for the first time out? This whole situation was simply beyond her experience. She was living with the man, but not sleeping with him. Playing house. Playing mother to his son.

And my, oh my, was she having the time of her life.

Seven days. Seven days of waiting, then three days of wicked. She'd bought the little costume complete with fishnet hose and the little blob of a cap. She'd probably pack it. If she'd be brave enough to wear it … well … who knows?

“And first you have another costume to concern you,” she murmured.

The more she thought about it, the more she could see it. She could be wrong, but she thought her idea might appeal to Nicholas. And, it could be managed with scissors, staples, and Super Glue—though a needle and thread would make it nicer.

Claire gathered up the supplies they'd need if the boy liked her idea, locked up her shop, and went home to Three Bears Valley.

 

Chapter Seventeen

Best. Halloween. Ever.

—JAX

“I can't believe you got me to dress up for Halloween,” Jax groused as he parked his truck at the Callahan compound on Hummingbird Lake.

Claire rolled her eyes. “You are wearing your suit, Jax.”

“And an armband.”

Claire shared a look of disapproval with Nicholas, who sat between them in the front seat of the truck. “You should bite him, King Komondor.”

Nicholas rolled his head around and the long strands of coiled cotton glued to his old baseball cap went flying. Then he bared his teeth and growled.

Jax narrowed his eyes. “Careful there, you'll lose your Best in Show ribbon.”

The boy panted and pawed at Jax's suit jacket. “Mutt,” he declared, but belied his gruff tone by reaching into his pocket and producing a vanilla wafer “treat.” Nicholas freed himself from the seat belt, nipped the cookie from Jax's hand, then went up on his knees and kissed his father's cheek.

Jax grinned. The kid was really getting into this.

Frankly, so was he.

Exiting the truck, they joined the crowd of Eternity Springs trick-or-treaters making their way toward the bank of Hummingbird Lake where Brick Callahan had docked his haunted pirate ship, which on other days was his uncle Luke's houseboat, the
Miss Behavin' VI.

Halloween in Eternity Springs was one big party for both children and adults. They'd been blessed with good weather, so the door-to-door part of the evening had been a convivial stroll through the residential streets. Word quickly passed among the crowd of kids about not-to-be-missed houses. The Murphys were giving away Sarah's cookies. The Rafferty house had caramel apples. Maggie Romano at Aspenglow B and B was giving popcorn balls.