The Wishing Tree (4 page)

It was the best day Ria could remember having had for years. It meant so much to her, more than
Pete could ever know, to see her son so happy. It seemed like such a small thing, but it was an expense she had not been able to afford. It seemed every spare penny went in trying to keep up with the bills.

This day had been the best gift she could ever have received – so special, she had not even thought to wish for such a thing on "the wishing tree."
Pete Cochran had walked into her life yesterday and made it a beautiful, magical dream ever since – just by doing the simplest things.

The tree had been a wonderful surprise, but for him to have brought the lights Miguel wished for, to have set it up for them, and helped decorate it … meant the world. Dinner afterward, filled with laughter and conversation, revealed an easiness between them she'd never experienced with anyone else.

Then, the one thing that marred the day had happened – the horrific altercation between Pete and her brother. Fear had been all-consuming. She'd seen Julio fight before. He knew a score of dirty tricks. What a relief that Pete ended the fight as quickly as possible, and had gotten the better of Julio. Maybe her brother would think twice about ever approaching her again.

Now, they drove toward her apartment,
Pete's hand enfolding hers. Miguel had fallen asleep in the back seat after a long day at the movies, lunch at McDonald's, and Christmas shopping.

Pete
had stopped at the bank after they'd left the theater to get some cash. Inside the shopping mall, their next stop, he paid for Miguel to ride the indoor carousel. As he rode under their watchful eyes, Pete had reached for her hand and pressed two hundred dollars into her palm, closing her fingers around it.

"I want you to have this. Buy whatever
Miguel has his heart set on. We'll figure out some way to get it home without him seeing it. If you need more, let me know."

"
Pete—" she was at a loss for words. His generosity deserved so much more than a pitiful
thank you
.

He bent to kiss her lips. "I want to do this. I want him to have his best Christmas ever. Then, after we shop for him, we'll shop for you."

She shook her head, her eyes burning with tears. "You are … too good to me."

"That's impossible, Ria. No one could ever be too good to you. You're one in a million."

She was quiet until she could get control of her emotions. "That means so much to me," she said finally. "Thank you."

The carousel came to a stop and
Miguel clambered down from his yellow pony, running to where they stood. "Mama, I waved at you again when I went by and you didn't wave back. I thought you might be crying."

"No." She bent to him to give him a hug. "I wasn't. I was just talking to
Pete. About Christmas things."

"Did you wish for something on our wishing tree?"
Miguel's impish face looked up earnestly into Pete's.

"Uh… Well, not yet,"
Pete evaded.

Ria could see that
Miguel was worried about it.

"Mama, did you?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "I sure did."

"We'll have to wait 'til Christmas to see if it comes true, I think," he told her seriously, taking her hand.

She looked at Pete, shaking her head slightly as they started down through the mall. "No," she said softly. "We don't have to wait. I've gotten more than I ever could've wished for already."

He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I guess my wish is the one we'll have to hold our breaths for, then. Here's hoping the tree doesn't give out before I get what I want."

* * * * *

Pete
pulled into the parking lot and opened his door, then the back door on his side where Miguel insisted on sitting.

"Want to go on up and open the door?" He glanced at Ria. "I'll carry him up, then come back for everything."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Let me carry some of it as I go."

"It's all right, honey. I'll get it."

"I'll make coffee." She closed the truck door and headed for the stairwell.

"That's a good trade," he teased.

He unbuckled Miguel's seatbelt and gently pulled him out of the truck. Miguel's arms went around his neck and he savored the sleepy trust of the little boy he'd already come to love in such a short time. This had been a wonderful day for all of them, Pete thought – not just for Miguel. He couldn't remember a day when he'd felt so happy. He couldn't remember a night when he'd slept peacefully, with none of the nightmares of the battlefield crashing through his head.

But he had done so last night.
He stopped at the bottom of the stairwell, letting that thought settle. For the first time in six years, he'd had a full night of uninterrupted sleep. During those years, he would have given everything he owned to have that peacefulness back. Who'd known all it took was holding Maria Sanchez in his arms?

He came up the stairs slowly. He'd met
Maria and everything changed – for the better. He didn't want to move too fast … scare her. Or was he scaring himself with thoughts of settling down with Maria, taking on the role of husband and father, when he had no experience in either capacity?

As he came through the door, he noticed Ria standing beside the kitchen table. Her face was filled with anxiety, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Inside, the spic-and-span apartment had been ransacked. The drawers had been pulled out and left on the floor, clothing scattered helter-skelter across the carpet.

Ria's hands shook as she grasped the table to steady herself. "He's been here again."

Anger shot through
Pete, but he kept calm, knowing he had to do so for her. "Can you come turn back his bed?" he asked softly.

"Yes, let me do that." She turned to hurry down the hallway.

Pete followed, waiting for her to make the bed ready. Miguel's room had been left untouched, but everything else was in shambles – including the tree, Pete noted.

Somehow, that angered him more than all the rest of it as he thought of the excitement in
Miguel's small face, the happiness in Ria's eyes as they'd decorated it.

He laid
Miguel in the bed and glanced at Maria, who was unlacing her son's shoes. She was barely holding herself together. Pete didn't want to leave her alone, but he needed to unload the truck.

It could have been worse, he thought, if they'd gone shopping yesterday.
Julio would have found the gifts and pawned them.

"You can't stay here," he murmured.

"This is our home," Ria answered. "We have no place else to go."

"You have someplace now, Ria.
My
place."

"I can't—"

"Yes. You can." He took her hand, and led her out of Miguel's room, shutting the door quietly behind him. "Make us some coffee, sweetheart. I'm gonna unload the truck. We'll stay here tonight, but in the morning, it's moving day."

* * * * *

Maria poured the water into the cheap coffee maker with an unsteady hand.

Damn
Julio!
She would have called the police long ago, but Julio's gang had connections within the police department. They would let him off the hook and leave her more vulnerable than ever.

Pete
was so kind to offer his place as a refuge for her and Miguel. Was he just being chivalrous? This had been one of the best days of her life. Pete had seemed as carefree as she felt. She was beginning to suspect it wouldn't have mattered where they'd been or what they were doing – Pete would have had that same effect on her, no matter what.

She smiled at the thought of two practical personalities such as
Pete and herself finding one another and falling in love in two days' time. Was that what made her so –
giddy
? Lord, she detested that word. But … she had to admit, it described her feelings today, and Pete had enjoyed himself every step of the way, as well.

As
Pete carried up the last load of their Christmas purchases, he shut the door behind him. "Want me to put these in the bedroom?"

She sighed, remembering the mess. "Yes. Wherever you can find a place."

"I wouldn't have brought them in, seeing as how we'll be packing up everything again tomorrow. But I was worried about leaving all this in the truck."

"Especially in this neighborhood," she said as he started for the bedroom. "There's no way it would be there tomorrow."

Ria poured two cups of coffee, adding sugar and a little milk to hers before setting them on the table.

Pete
returned momentarily, his features set and grim. "Has he done this before?"

Ria nodded as she sank into a chair. "Once. He thinks I have money hidden." She gave a short laugh. "I don't have any money to
hide
."

"Have you thought of calling the police?"

"Sure. I've thought of it.
Dreamed
of it. But his gang has friends there, Pete."

"Yeah, well – so do I."

She shook her head. "I don't want to drag you into this. I don't want … to be a burden to you."

He set his mug down very deliberately, then reached across the space that separated them and took her hands in his.

"Ria… You will never be a burden."

"And – and I don't want you to feel like you have to be k-kind—" She pulled her hands away, shaking her head. "Or need to feel sorry—"

"You would think
that
? After the day we spent together?" His voice was low, but there was a measure of anger tinting his words.

She looked up at him, seeing him in a new light. He was looking at her as if she'd somehow hurt him, as if she were trying to end things before they had a chance to truly begin. In his look, she understood that he felt she was trying to extricate herself from the relationship. This day meant as much to him as it had to her.

"Maybe," he said carefully, "it's
you
who feels sorry for me. Not the other way around."

Ria's heart pounded crazily. "Feel sorry for you?
How? Why?
"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Maybe you aren't ready to spend your life with someone with one eye."

"Spend my life… Are you
proposing
to me? And for the record," she went on, not waiting for his answer, "I don't give a damn about anything but
you
, Pete Cochran, and how you make me feel."

"How's that?"

She stood up, facing him. "Like a beautiful, lovely, perfect angel. Like I can do anything I try to do, and do it well. Like I'm the best mother in the world to my son. Like I never need another thing in this life but you, because I happen to love you. Having one eye doesn't matter to me at all. When I look at you, I see a handsome man who – who—" She broke off, taking a step back as her hand went to her mouth as if to stop the words.

"Lady, you better say 'a man who loves me'."
Pete stood and gently pulled her into his arms. "I don't know how this all happened so damn fast, but I know it's real. You said you loved me. I – I love you too, Ria. I know this is crazy, but – I know I wouldn't mistake what I'm feeling for
kindness
."

"
Pete … I didn't mean to say all that."

He chuckled. "I'm glad you did. I'm not the best one for putting my feelings into words."

"You said
I love you
," she whispered. "That's the most important thing of all."

* * * * *

They'd gone to bed shortly after, pausing on their way to right the Christmas tree as best they could.

"
Miguel's going to be so disappointed," Ria said pensively. "This tree meant everything to him."

Pete
hugged her. "We'll take it with us. It's not ruined – just the decorations."

"And the new lights you bought."

He nodded. "Yeah. I hope I can find more this close to Christmas."

Pete
stood the tree up in the bucket as Ria salvaged what ornaments she could find that hadn't been shattered.

Now, as they lay next to each other in bed,
Pete reached for her. She moved to put her head on his shoulder.

"You have something on your mind," he stated. "Thinking about tomorrow?"

"No. I was … actually wondering about your time in the military."

He hadn't expected that, but the tension which coiled inside him at that topic was not unfamiliar. "What did you want to know?" He sounded more curt than he intended, and she rose up on her elbow to look down at him.

"I was just curious. But if it's painful to remember, we don't have to talk about it."

"There's not much to tell. I was deployed and served in Iraq for a year. Came home and was re-deployed for another year. If you're wondering about this—" he raised a hand to his eye patch, "—if I'd gone home two weeks sooner, it wouldn't have happened."