Shattered Dreams (21 page)

Alec smiles and says, “Only a mother would
think to do that.”

“
Thank you. I remember my
dad always having to go out and get batteries on Christmas morning
for our baby dolls and games.”

“
I know what you mean; Molly
was always good at remembering the batteries and the turkey
bags.”

“
Who is Molly?” I ask,
opening up a box of remote control cars.

“
Molly is Raelynn’s mother.
She is no longer with us.”

I think,
She must have died. I should not pry.

I tuck the last gift under the tree and
gather all the trash into the now empty bag.

He stands up and takes the bag of trash from
me. “Is the trash in the garage?”

I also stand with him. “Yes, but I can do
it.”

“
I got it, I think I should
get going, I have kept you long enough.”

“
Alec?”

“
Yes?” he says, turning
around to look at me.

“
Since Rae is with her
grandparents and James is sound asleep, would you want to hang out
and maybe watch a movie or something? This is the first Christmas
Eve since my husband’s death that I haven’t cried. And I know, as
soon as you walk out that door, the tears will come like they do
every year.”

“
Let me take the trash to
the garage and then we can decide on a movie.”

I smile a big smile when I realized he just
agreed to stay. “Another beer?”

“
No, thank you.
Water?”

“
Coming right up.” I follow
him into the kitchen and direct him through the laundry room and
then to the garage. I open a bottle of water for him and pop some
microwave popcorn. He smiles when he enters the kitchen.

“
Who doesn’t love popcorn?
Do you have any seasoning salt?”

“
Do you put it on your
popcorn too?” I ask. Max used to make fun of me because I would add
seasoning salt to our popcorn. I have been doing that since I was a
teenager. Sprinkle a little on top and shake it around. There is
nothing like it.

“
What do you mean, too? I
thought I was the only one to do that.”

“
Nope, great minds really do
think alike,” I say, laughing.

While the popcorn is finishing popping, Alec
disappears into the living room. He comes back into the kitchen and
asks for some matches or a lighter, then he disappears back into
the living room again. I walk into the bedroom and get two pillows
and two throw blankets.

When I return to the living room, Alec has a
fire going in the fireplace. He is standing at the mantle looking
at Max’s flag, his medals, and his gold star. I put the blankets
and pillows on the couch and walk over to him and stand.

“
I’m truly sorry for your
loss,” he says, but he doesn’t look at me. He stares at Max’s flag
that covered his casket.

“
Thank you, he died four
years ago, and I still miss him every day,” I say
honestly.

“
James was a baby,” Alec
says, and it’s not a question.

“
He was just a couple months
old. James has no memory of him.”

Alec turns to look at me. “I’m sorry.”

“
Thank you, I appreciate
that.”

“
I went ahead and started a
fire, I hope it’s ok.”

“
It’s a great idea, thank
you. What Christmas movie do you want to watch?”

“
Christmas movie?” he
asks.

“
Yes, it’s Christmas Eve. We
have to watch a Christmas movie,” I say, smiling.

“
It’s actually Christmas
morning,” Alec corrects. “Merry Christmas.”

I look at the clock on the wall and it’s
12:09 am. “I guess it is and Merry Christmas to you, too.”

“
How about
Die Hard
?”

“
I said a Christmas movie.
You know,
Miracle on
34
^th
Street
,
Frosty
, or
Rudolph
.” I smile.

“
Die Hard
is a Christmas movie,” he says with a twinkle in
his eyes and a smile on his lips.

“
Ok, I’ll give you that; it
has a Christmas tree in it.”

“
It has an entire Christmas
party with Christmas music and everything.” He grins.

“
It is very festive,” I
joke, “If I had it, we could watch it, but I don’t, so sorry,” I
say, although I don’t mean it. I like that movie, but it’s not what
I had in mind.

“
So, if you had it we could
watch it? Is that right?” he asks with a raised brow.

“
Yep, but I don’t.
Rudolph
,
Frosty the Snowman
,
or
Miracle on 34
^th
Street
?”

“
I happen to have my
favorite Christmas movie,
Die
Hard
, in my car. Let me run out to get
it.”

“
You do not,” I
say.

“
Wanna bet?” he says,
smirking.

Do I really want to
bet?
I think to myself. “What’s the
bet?”

“
Let me think… if I have the
movie in my car, you go to Mason and Angel’s wedding with me next
weekend.”

“
And… if you don’t have
it?”

“
I’ll stay and watch all the
Christmas movies you want.”

“
As many as I
want?”

“
I’ll watch them all twice,”
he says, smiling.

I take a step closer and put my hand out for
his, “Mr. Collins, you have yourself a bet.”

He reaches for my hand and shakes it. “Ms.
Greyson, I’ll be back with the movie and we have a date for next
week. Just so you know, my favorite color is red.”

“
Why would I need to know
that?”

“
So you know what color
dress to wear.” He winks at me and walks to the front
door.

I watch him from the front window as he walks
to his car. He reaches for something, closes his car door and waves
a clear plastic case at me and smiles. He re-enters the house,
locking the door behind him, wearing a smile and carrying a movie.
“Where’s the DVD player?”

“
You really carry that
stupid movie around with you?”

“
I never leave home without
it.” He smiles. “Actually, my car came with a
DVD player already installed. So I keep a variety of movies in
the car for passengers in the back seat. Sorry, but where’s your
DVD player?”

“
It’s under the TV on the
bottom shelf.” I toss a pillow and blanket on the couch for Alec,
place the popcorn on the coffee table and I sit on one end of the
couch covered up with my blanket waiting for the movie to
start.

Alec

“
Emma, are you ready to get
into the Christmas spirit?” I ask, picking up a bowl of popcorn and
sitting on the couch. 

“
Do you think this is the
movie to do that?”  

“
No, not really, but I do
love this movie. Lucky for me it’s Christmas and you lost a bet.” I
smile.  

“
Yeah, lucky for you. I was
hoping we could watch
Lethal Weapon
when we’re done with this. You know, really get
into the Christmas spirit.” She smiles a smile to match
mine.  

“
What, you have that movie?”
I ask, excitedly. 

“
No, thank God, I don’t.
But, I do have
A Christmas Carol,
by Charles Dickens, we can
watch.” 

“
Now that’s a classic. We’ll
watch that later.”  

Emma stands up quickly, “I almost forgot,”
she says, before leaving the room. I wait on the couch for her and
she returns with a glass of milk, a plate of Christmas cookies, and
a bowl of sugar. “I have to feed Santa and the reindeer.” She
arranges everything neatly on the dining room table. 

I smile and raise the blanket up for her to
sit down. Once she is seated, I cover her up and hand her a bowl of
popcorn. “Thank you.” 

We both watch the movie and
although she claims she doesn’t like this movie, I think she does.
She laughs and smiles and covers her face with the blanket in
certain parts. I smile:
She is such a
girl.
Towards the end of the movie, I look
over at her and she is sound asleep. I check the time and it is
almost 2:30 a.m.  

I stand up quietly, cover Emma up with her
blanket, and turn off the TV. I grab my tie and jacket and get
ready to leave. Looking over at the table with the milk, cookies,
and sugar, I walk over to it. I partially eat a cookie, drink some
of the already warm milk and throw away most of the sugar in the
bowl. I also scatter some cookie crumbs on the table to make it
look like Santa was messy or in a hurry.  

I look for a notebook and pen and I am happy
when I see them lying on the kitchen counter. I write a note to
Emma and leave it on the coffee table for her.  

I check on James and cover him up before I
leave. I look back at Emma and she has pulled the blankets up to
her chin. I smile and lock and shut the door behind me. On the
drive home, my mind drifts back to the last six hours that I was
with Emma and James. I like her and although it was done on a bet,
I am excited that I have a date with her to go to Angel and Mason’s
wedding.  

I go home and shower before
bed. I need to pick up Raelynn in the morning and then we are
having dinner at my parents. Although Molly is not in the picture,
I try to do my part to include
Molly’s
parents in Raelynn’s life. 

Emma

“
Em, Emma, wake
up.”
 

I blink a few times and
smile. Max is lying beside me on the couch. He smiles; his clear
blue eyes are beautiful. “You’re here?”
 

“
I am, I have missed you,”
he says, leaning over to kiss the tip of my nose. He gently
caresses my earlobe like he always does. “I love you so
much.”
 

“
I love you, and I have
missed you.”
 

“
Merry Christmas,
Em.”
 

“
Merry Christmas, Max.
Where have you been? You used to visit me in my dreams, but now, I
hardly ever see you.”
 

“
You are doing so well, I
don’t need to be here with you that often.”
 

“
But I want you here,” I
say, sadly.
 

“
I would rather be no place
else than right here with you and James.”
 

I nod. I lean over and
touch Max’s scruffy face.
 

“
Em, please, tell James how
much I love him. Tell him Merry Christmas for
me.”
 

“
I will and I love you,” I
say,
trying to memorize every moment of
this visit. 

“
I love you, always and
forever?” He smiles.
 

“
Forever and always,” I
correct.
 

Closing my eyes, I try to put his sweet face
and voice to memory. A chill is in the air and I shiver. I look at
the red embers in the fireplace and remember last night when Alec
was here. I smile and shiver again. After I wrap the blanket around
me, I walk over and put a small log in the fireplace. I hope the
embers are hot enough that it’ll catch. Although we live in
Florida, it still gets cool enough to use a fireplace or run the
heater in the winter time. 

I start to fold the blankets on the couch
when I see a note on the coffee table. I smile when I realize it’s
from Alec.  

Emma,

Merry Christmas,

Thank you for a wonderful evening. I ate the
cookies and drank the milk you left out for Santa. You had fallen
asleep, and I thought it was supposed to look like Santa had eaten
them. Well, that’s what it’s supposed to look like at my house. I’m
sorry the movie bored you and you fell asleep watching it. I owe
you a movie night to make up for last night, or early this morning.
Any movie you want and anytime you want. It’s the least I can
do.

Alec

P.S. Looking forward to our date next
Saturday. The wedding starts at 6:30 p.m. so I’ll pick you and
James up at 5:15. I think James needs to be there a little early
since he is in the wedding.

I reread the note and smile. I also look
around the room. The TV is off, the door is locked and the glass of
milk is almost empty. “Momma, momma, it’s Christmas,” James yells,
running down the hallway. I stand up and greet him with my biggest
smile.  

He smiles and runs into my arms. I hug him
and kiss his soft hair. “Merry Christmas, James.” 

“
Merry Christmas, momma. Can
we open our gifts now?” he asks, excitedly.  

A knock sounds at the door —
I already know who it is. “I think your grandparents want to be
here to see you
open
them.” 

“
Yay, they’re here, they’re
here.” He jumps up and down before running towards the door. I
follow behind him and sure enough, both sets of grandparents are
standing on the porch and holding wrapped
gifts.  

I open the door wide and they enter one at a
time, kissing me on the cheek. James walks with them and leads them
to the Christmas tree. When Danny enters last, I close the door
behind him and lock it.