New Beginnings (10 page)

Xavier looked at me skeptically. “Okay. Get some rest.” He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

Just a little after one in the afternoon, I woke and made my way into the living room. Xavier had the stereo on. The sounds of Andy Williams floated down the hall. I was shocked to see a huge Christmas tree erected by the window. It had to be eight feet tall. The wonderful pine scent that filled the room told me the tree was real. Xavier was in the process of stringing the last of the colored lights on.

“There you are,” he said happily. “I was just getting ready to come and get you. I could use your help with the ornaments.”

“This is a wonderful surprise. Did you do all of this while I was sleeping?”

“Yes. I really wanted to shop together for a tree, but you were sleeping like the dead, Ella. Are you sure you’re feeling all right? I almost put a mirror under your nose to make sure you were still breathing,” he said jokingly.

“You tried to get me up?” I asked surprised, having no recollection of that at all.

“Yes. Twice.” He held up two fingers for emphasis.

“I’m sorry. I guess I was more tired than I thought.” I frowned. Could it be the pregnancy?

“No worries. Stewart was going to the market for a tree so I went along with him,” he said with a small smile. “Come here.” He gestured to a plastic storage bin in front of him. “Here are the hooks. Let’s get started.”

I noticed that the lights were new, the garland was new, and the star for the top of the tree was still in the packaging. “Is this the first year you’ve put up a tree?” I asked incredulously.

Xavier looked at me sheepishly. “Yes,” he admitted quietly. “I’m usually not home for the holiday. Besides my parents always had a tree. I didn’t feel it was necessary.” He paused for a moment as he looked at me intently. “But, it was important to me now. It’s something I wanted to do for you … with you.”

“I love it. Thank you. I haven’t had a real tree since I was a little girl.” I looked down at the bin of ornaments. These weren’t new. That could only mean that they were from … “Xavier, these ornaments. They aren’t new. Did they belong …” I let my voice trail off.

“Yes, Ella. They belonged to my parents. Gabe and I split them. Is that all right?” He gave me a worried glance.

I placed my arm on his forearm. “Of course it’s all right.”

He opened the first of two bins. Every ornament was unique. They ranged from cute Hallmark ornaments to expensive ones made with Swarovski crystals. There were no simple round glass balls to be found. Xavier was able to tell me where almost every ornament had been purchased. Most of the glass-blown ornaments were from family vacations or from trips that his parents had taken from all over the globe. A red phone booth from London, the Eiffel Tower from Paris, Dublin Castle from Dublin, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a yellow taxi cab from New York City just to name a few.

My favorite was a 2006 Swarovski snowflake. The way the ornament caught the light was absolutely breathtaking. Xavier said his parents had purchased the ornament during a trip to Austria.

“My mother loved the cold and snow a great deal. Each year my father took her to a different ski resort. Austria was her favorite location,” he said with a smile. “Now that I know how much you love the cold and snow, too, I’ll be sure to take you to Austria as well so we can pick out our own Swarovski snowflake.”

“I’d love that.” I gave him a shy smile. I turned back to the bin and pulled out a velvet bag. I gasped when I pulled out a beautiful Waterford silver rattle ornament. Engraved on the round end of the rattle was Baby’s First Christmas 1976. A blue ribbon was tied around the handle. “This is beautiful.”

Xavier looked over at me. “My brother has one, too. Every year my mother had them on the tree.”

I handed him the ornament. “Then I think you should put this one on the tree.”

“What about you, Ella? Do you have any ornaments you’d like to add to the tree?”

“My mother has them. I have a few from when I was married, too, but I left them all with my parents.”

“I’d like to get something for us. I have something in mind. Are you up to going out when we are done here?” he asked.

“Sure. I’m always up for going out with you,” I said, winking at him.

Later that afternoon, Xavier and I were headed down Second Avenue in his Maserati. It was nice to be able to go out just the two of us for a change. If we weren’t sitting in this expensive sports car, we would have just been an ordinary couple out on a Sunday afternoon.

He pulled up in front of a white office building. The first floor had five little shops covered with blue awnings. He took my hand and headed into a Waterford Crystal store.

An older gentleman with gray hair, steely gray eyes, and a warm smile approached Xavier. “Mr. Hart. It’s a pleasure to see you this afternoon. What can I help you with?” he kindly asked.

I looked at Xavier in surprise when the gentleman greeted him by name. He just smirked at me.

“Good afternoon, Bill. This is my fiancé, Ella Martin. Ella, this is Mr. William Hollingsworth. My father used to frequent his shop,” he said, looking at me.

“Fiancé, Mr. Hart? I had not heard. My heartfelt congratulations to you both.” He turned to me and extended his hand. “Ms. Martin, it is a pleasure.”

“Thank you,” I said shyly as I shook his hand.

“What can I help you with today, Mr. Hart?” he asked, rubbing his hands together.

“I have an item on reserve I would like to show Ella, please.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll just be a moment.” Mr. Hollingsworth disappeared into a back room.

I looked up at Xavier. “You have an item on reserve? When did you do that?”

“Friday at lunch, but I wanted you to see it before any kind of a purchase was made.”

Mr. Hollingsworth returned with a red box. There was a cutout window on the top of the box, which beautifully showcased a Waterford crystal heart nestled in red satin. Etched in the crystal on the front of the heart it said
Our First Christmas Together 2011
. The heart was heavy with beautiful scalloped edges and ten small red crystals spaced around the outer edges of the heart. It was beautiful.

Xavier looked down at me. “I know we aren’t married yet, but I still consider this our first Christmas together. I hope that you feel the same,” he said sincerely.

For a moment I was overtaken by emotion. My eyes stung with tears that I fought back. My chest felt tight and my face flushed with happiness. Stephen never did anything like this. I bought our first Christmas ornament, because something such as this never even crossed Stephen’s mind. Because of the pregnancy, I was feeling overly emotional as well. Xavier started to panic when I didn’t say anything right away.

“We don’t have to get it. Of course, if you wanted to wait until our first Christmas as a married couple I would understand. I just thought …”

I placed my index finger over his lips. “Shhh.” I cleared my throat. “The ornament is beautiful. Of course I consider this our first Christmas together. I would love to make this our first official Christmas ornament purchase.”

Xavier gave me a glorious smile. He grabbed my face and kissed me softly before he turned to the salesman with a triumphant smile. “Bill, we’ll take it.”

The triumphant smile on Xavier’s face stayed in place as we exited the shop and walked back to the car. I couldn’t help my own glorious smile in response to the joy on his face. If he was this happy over an ornament, what was he going to do when I told him I was pregnant?

Once we were settled back in the car, he asked if I was hungry. He made mention of a casual Italian restaurant that he used to visit with his family frequently. It had been a few years since he had gone, but he wanted very much to take me. I agreed without hesitation.

We pulled into the parking lot of a square red brick building on a corner. The front of the building had nothing more than an arch around the front door with a curved sign overhead that said The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were immediately assaulted with the wonderful smell of garlic and spices that always permeates a good Italian restaurant. It was charming with an exposed wood ceiling, dark hardwood floors covered in beautiful Persian rugs, and a trolley sitting in the middle of the dining area that housed a few tables and chairs.

The many large tables were filled with big, happy families boisterously enjoying a meal on a Sunday evening, while many couples occupied the surrounding booths.

A cute, young, teenage girl with big, brown eyes and long, dark curly hair greeted us. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the gorgeous man standing next to me. Her mouth hung open as she stared. I glanced up at Xavier only to see that big, beautiful smile still spread across his face. I chuckled at her reaction knowing that he had the same effect on me.

“How many?” she stuttered, staring at Xavier like a deer in headlights.

“Two, please,” Xavier said, totally unaware of her reaction to him.

She led us to a small booth perfect for two toward the back of the restaurant. Her eyes never left Xavier’s face. I watched her walk off and wave over another young girl who was working. She was talking animatedly and pointing in Xavier’s direction. I chuckled in response.

“What’s so funny?” Xavier asked, frowning at me.

“Do you really not know?” I asked incredulously.

“Not know what?” he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

“The affect you have on women of all ages.” I smirked at him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, shaking his head slightly.

I chuckled. “Did you really not notice the way that poor girl who seated us stared at you? Then she ran off to one of her friends over there who turned and gave you the same deer in headlights look.”

“Sweetness, I haven’t seen any other woman since I saw you on that plane.” He gave me a scorching look.

I think my panties are about to spontaneously combust. Geez, this man was hot. “Good answer.” I winked at him.

A young, blonde gentleman dressed in black trousers with a black polo approached our table. Xavier ordered two Coke’s and the garlic cheese bread for our starter. I continued to openly ogle him the whole time he ordered.

“Well Ms. Martin, did you not notice how flustered our young waiter was after he got an eyeful of you?” Xavier challenged.

“What? Me? You’re kidding.” I waved my hand at him dismissively.

“That’s one thing I absolutely love about you.” Xavier smiled at me. “Your humility. You have no idea how stunning you really are.” He reached over and grabbed my hand. His soft, warm fingers caressed the inside of my wrist making my pulse quicken. How does he do that? How does he set my body on fire with just a touch? I knew he was aware of the affect he was having on me by the smirk on his face.

“How do you do it?” I asked quietly.

“Do what?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“Set my blood on fire like that? Do you know every erogenous zone on a woman?”

With that our waiter returned with our Coke’s and garlic bread. He must have overheard my question, because he blushed slightly before stumbling over his words as he asked if we were ready to order. After taking our order, he quickly retreated.

Xavier chuckled. “No, I don’t know every erogenous zone on a woman. But I am learning every erogenous zone on you. And what a lesson it is proving to be,” he said softly.

All through our spaghetti dinner, Xavier flirted shamelessly. He tangled his legs with mine under the table. The heat in his eyes, the way he licked his lips between bites, and the light caresses to my hands and wrists were slowly driving me crazy. The food only satisfied one hunger. Now I was starving for Xavier. The need to feel his bare skin against mine was almost overwhelming. I was ready to devour him.

I raised a brow and slowly shook my head at him when the waiter returned to clear our plates and asked if we were interested in dessert. Xavier hesitated for a second. I was poised and ready to kick him under the table if he tried to order any dessert. Something about the look on my face had him quickly asking for the check.