Some Enchanted Season (35 page)

More subdued, Maggie looked through the open doors into the sanctuary. “I suppose we should find a seat.”

“There’s room for you in my pew. Just follow me.” Corinna led the way down the center aisle to the pew one-third from the front and took her seat next to Fern Howard. No sooner had Maggie sat down than she left again to speak to friends across the aisle. Ross, holding both their coats, sat on the end, staring straight ahead, his cheeks flushed.

“If her memory comes back, there’s nothing you can do to stop it,” Corinna said quietly.

He didn’t glance at her, but a muscle in his jaw tightened. “I know.”

“Are you afraid of what she’ll remember?”

“Things were not good between us then.”

“She knows that.”

Abruptly he turned toward her, his gaze unforgiving. “She knows it in her head. She doesn’t remember it in her heart.”

A fanciful distinction for a man recognized by the world as ruthless. He didn’t
feel
ruthless, though, when she clasped his hand. He felt very solid and human and, if the grip of his fingers around hers was anything to judge by, afraid. “And you think it will make a difference if her heart remembers. You think it will change the way she feels.”

Slowly, miserably, he nodded.

“I would love to tell you that you’re wrong,” she said softly, “but I don’t know that. I can tell you, Ross, that there’s no problem in this world that love cannot
overcome. There’s no sin that can’t be forgiven. But you’ve got to have faith.”

He looked at her a long time, obviously wanting to believe but unable to.

Before she could say anything else, the lights flickered and all those visiting with friends, Maggie included, returned to their seats. After the opening prayer, Melissa, lovely in a red velvet dress that brushed her ankles, introduced each segment of the program. Agatha went onstage with the children, then joined the choir for their numbers. Corinna had been blessed in many ways, but the singing talent in the family had all gone to Agatha. Her solo was the highlight of the first half of the pageant.

Before anyone was ready, the last song had been sung, the final prayer offered, the candles extinguished, and the lights brought up. Corinna blinked, then glanced at her neighbors. Maggie was leaning against Ross, and their hands were tightly clasped. For the first time, she noticed, they were both wearing rings on their left hands—his a simple gold band, hers an impressive diamond. She looked contented. He looked … tormented.

Bowing her head, Corinna silently offered a quick and fervent prayer for them.

T
he Christmas tree in the living room was still beautiful, Maggie decided Monday morning, but it was badly in need of a few presents underneath. With Christmas only a few days away, there was no time to waste.

“Did we open the presents last year?” she asked Ross over breakfast.

He didn’t pause in the peeling of an orange. “No.”

“Where are they?”

“In the basement. Do you want them brought up?”

“Were they the same old things?” If they were duty gifts—no thought required, unwanted, unneeded—then, no, she didn’t want them. They could stay in the basement forever for all she cared.

“If by that you mean that Lynda picked out most of my gifts for you, yes.”

She made a face that he looked up just in time to see. It brought a hint of regret into his own expression.

“I’m sorry about that. It was an easy habit to fall into.”

She brushed off his apology with a shrug. “We need to go shopping.”

“All right. What do you want?”

She’d already asked for her emerald earrings. Beyond those, she couldn’t think of anything that he could wrap and slide under the tree. Everything else on her wish list was difficult to tie up in bows—a baby, a long, happy marriage, promises and assurances and commitment. “Surprise me.”

He laughed. “Oh, darlin’, I can do that. They may not be
pleasant
surprises, but I can definitely surprise you.”

“The night we decorated the tree, you said you would think about what you wanted. Well?”

He divided the orange in half, setting one piece on her plate, the other on his own. “A promise.”

“And where can I buy this promise?”

“You can’t. It has to come from your heart.”

“All right. I have lots of that kind of promise. Which one in particular do you want?”

“The one that says we’ll never let things get so bad again. We won’t forget what’s important again. We’ll find compromises we can both live with. We’ll make it good and make it last.”

Compromises
. There were no compromises for the biggest obstacle facing them now. She was going to have a family, and he would have to accept it. Period.

She pressed a kiss to his hand and smelled the sweet tang of orange. “You’re so easy. I guess I’ll have to come up with some ideas on my own.”

“What about the promise?”

Her smile was as frivolous as his expression was serious. “I’m not telling. You’ll have to wait until Christmas Eve to see.”

Once the orange was gone, she said, “Let’s walk downtown, go shopping for surprises, then meet at Harry’s when we’re done.”

“Let’s drive downtown so we don’t have to carry the surprises home in our arms.”

“Deal.”

It was a beautiful cold morning with a cloudless sky of rich pale blue. “I’m starting over there,” she said with a gesture across the street toward the combination gift and book shop. “I’ll see you at Harry’s.”

She started to walk away, but he caught her hand, drew her close, and kissed her. It was simple, sweet, not the least bit inappropriate for a downtown sidewalk, and it made her heart ache. It was amazing that only a
month before, she’d wanted him out of her life. Now, once again, he
was
her life—and life was
good
.

The gift shop was warm and smelled of the potpourri displayed in paper envelopes near the door. The clerk paused in the act of restocking the cards to greet her, then Maggie began wandering down the aisles. The displays of Christmas ornaments caught her attention, one in particular. It was a wreath of holly dotted with red berries, with a gold ribbon bow forming the loop for hanging. Seated in the center on the bottom curve of the wreath was an angel, its feet dangling, and hanging from the bottom was a tiny brass plaque bearing the year and a miniature bell. Maggie lifted the wreath from the display tree, making the bell jingle.

“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his—or her—wings.” From the opposite side of the counter, Noelle, the clerk from Melissa’s shop, was watching her with a friendly smile. “It’s a darling wreath, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” And it would be a perfect gift for all the angels in her life—too inexpensive to incur an obligation but enough to let them know they mattered. She gathered one each for the sisters, Melissa and Holly, Shelley and Emilie, holding them carefully in one hand.

“Here you go,” Noelle said. “This is always helpful.”

With a smile, Maggie accepted the basket. “I love Christmas ornaments. I have a ton, but I need one more.”

“Since you like the wee angel so much, how about this one? It’s even got a message on the back.” Noelle offered a wreath from her side of the tree, identical to
the others in every way except there were two angels, side by side and holding hands. On the back, in graceful script, was inscribed three simple words with incredible impact.
THIS TIME FOREVER
.

For a long time Maggie stared at the words. The promise Ross had asked for. It was perfect.

She added it to her basket, then looked up to thank Noelle. The woman was gone, walking out the door as the bell overhead rang. As she passed by on the sidewalk out front, she flashed a smile and a wave.

Maggie continued with her shopping. When she went to pay, the clerk chatted idly about the holidays and the weather, then broke off as she picked up the dual-angel wreath.

“Isn’t that interesting? I unpacked every one of these myself, but I don’t remember seeing any with two angels. And there’s no tag on it either. How odd. Let me go check.” Taking the ornament with her, she went to the display, then came back with a shrug. “It’s the only one. I’ll charge the same price as the others, if you don’t object.”

“I want it, whatever the price.”

By the time Maggie settled in a booth at Harry’s, the morning was over and she was all shopped out. The angel ornament was Ross’s real gift, but she’d made several other purchases—a chenille muffler to help keep him warm, a nubby sweater that matched his eyes, a bottle of the cologne she liked best on him. She wished she could have thought of better ideas, but the man who had everything wasn’t exactly easy to buy for.

She’d chatted with Maeve and finished her first cup
of coffee by the time Ross joined her. “Did you find everything you wanted?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I found some things I liked.”

“What stores did you go to?”

“I’m not telling. You’ll have to wait until Christmas Eve and see.”

The words made her smile. It had been a long time since she’d looked forward to Christmas Eve—a long time since she’d known that her gifts from him weren’t more of a surprise to him than they were to her.

“Hi there, handsome.” Maeve turned over the inverted cup in front of Ross and filled it with coffee. “Maggie tells me you two have been Christmas shopping. Are you ready for the big day?”

“Almost.”

“I
love
Christmas. It’s the best time of the whole year. I always get misty-eyed over the season.” With a grin, she pretended to wipe away a tear, sniffled, then asked, “What can I get you?”

Maggie ordered the lunch special—a steaming bowl of chili served with jalapeño corn bread—and Ross doubled it. When Maeve left, he reached for Maggie’s hand. “Were you serious about inviting Tom to spend Christmas here?”

“Sure.”

“He won’t make you uncomfortable?”

“Of course he will—a little—but I can live with it. Do you want to ask him to stay with us?”

“I don’t think he would. I don’t even think he’ll come, but he might surprise me. I’ve got to call him this afternoon. I’ll ask him then.”

“If he won’t stay with us, I can call Holly and see if
she’s got a room available.” Remembering the interest her friend had displayed on Thanksgiving made her smile. “I think she would consider having him there her very own Christmas present.”

“He’s involved with someone,” Ross warned.

“No, he’s not. He’s in a sexual relationship. His emotions never get involved.”

“Whatever relationships he has, Holly’s not his type.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Every woman he’s been with since I’ve known him has been exactly the same—”

“Beautiful, elegant, not too bright, bodies to die for, greed to match. And he’s never fallen for any of them. He’s never wanted anything more than sex from any of them. I think he chooses them because he knows they’re
not
his type. They pose no threat. When they eventually leave, as they all do, he knows it won’t be more than a minor inconvenience in his life.”

By the time she finished, Ross was grinning. She put on a fake pout and demanded, “What?”

“You learned something from all those sessions with Dr. Olivetti, didn’t you?” he teased.

“Oh, honey, I learned those things just being a woman. You men are our most intriguing topic of conversation.”

He turned serious again. “If he comes, he’ll treat you appropriately.”

“I know. I’m not worried about that.” She lifted his hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss to his palm. To anyone watching it looked perfectly innocent—but anyone watching couldn’t see her tongue against his
skin or feel his heart rate kick into high gear where her fingertips rested over his wrist.

“Forget inviting him to stay with us,” he said, his voice husky. “We’ll send him straight to Holly’s.”

“A gracious host would at least make the offer,” she chided.

“But I’m not a gracious host. I’m a man in desperate need of his wife’s attention, and I don’t need company down the hall.”

“We won’t have company tonight or tomorrow or Wednesday,” she gently teased. “That should take care of any desperation.”

His gaze met hers and his fingers tightened around hers. “Three nights isn’t enough.”

“How many would be?”

He shook his head. “I can’t count that high, Maggie. Forever. I’ll need you forever.”

R
oss secured the last piece of tape to the package in the center of his desk, then glanced around. The few gifts he’d gotten Maggie that were suitable for wrapping were wrapped—not as expertly as her own packages under the tree, but he’d managed well enough. One of the remaining gifts was tucked in the corner of his office with nothing more than a bow attached, and he’d just gotten off the phone from making arrangements to pick up the other in the morning.

He wasn’t thoroughly pleased with several of the purchases—wasn’t sure whether he’d made the right decision or simply the selfish one. Whatever his motivation,
though, Maggie would be happy, and that was what counted.

It was Christmas Eve, and the sky was dark. Carols came softly from the stereo in the living room, and outside, Maggie was bundled up against the cold as she lit the farolitos. Tom was in town, a few miles away at the McBride Inn, and planning to join them later that evening for the midnight service in the square. Ross wouldn’t be surprised to find Holly accompanying him.

He carried the gifts into the living room and placed them under the tree. It wasn’t an impressive stack of the sort they’d become accustomed to in recent years, but it was more than enough because these were all gifts that meant something. Besides, this Christmas he’d already been given the best gift of all—Maggie.

For as long as she didn’t remember.

For a moment panic gripped him so tightly that he forgot to breathe. Slowly he forced air into his lungs. According to Miss Corinna, there was no sin that couldn’t be forgiven. God help him, he hoped Maggie believed that too. If she didn’t, one of these days his life was going to crumble and he would have no one to blame but himself.

But until that day came, he would have a life worth living, and he intended to make the most of it.