A Touch of Christmas Magic (Peppermint Hollow #2)

1. Kai David Jackson

CHAPTER 1

KAI DAVID JACKSON

“She’s perfect, Kai,” he whispered gruffly over the phone. At well past midnight, and even from over a thousand miles away, I could picture his light blue eyes sparkling with love for his new daughter.

Propping myself up against the headboard in my childhood home, I smiled and rubbed sleep from my eyes. I’d crashed after a long day at work, but Colby’s calls were set to bypass any silent or mute feature on my phone.

My best friend since Kindergarten went on. “She’s so pretty. The tiniest fingers and toes.” He sniffed. “Like, how did I help make something so perfect and gorgeous?”

I kept myself from snorting, but all I could think was Yeah, right. How did Colby Burke, the most gorgeous, amazing man I’ve ever known have anything to do with creating a perfect creature? Instead, I rolled my eyes on my end of the phone in Peppermint Hollow, smack dab in the middle of Small Town, USA.

“And they’re just going to let us walk out of here with her? Like what kind of system is this? I’m not trained to take a baby home.” True worry laced Colby’s words. I’d known the man since we were five and, twenty-five years later, I knew exactly the way the pale skin on his forehead crinkled when he was anxious about something. The way he’d be running his hand through his dishwater blond hair.

“You’re going to be an amazing father,” I said.

And I meant that with my entire being.

Colby had lived through and overcome a shitty childhood, and I knew he’d do everything in his power to make sure his baby never knew anything but love, support, and stability.

“I don’t know,” Colby hedged. “She’s so amazing, and I know now what people mean about a baby being your heart on the outside of your body, but this wasn’t part of the plan. Things with Mandy were such a shit show and,” his words lowered, and I figured he wasn’t alone, “Sasha and I aren’t exactly talking forever.” He sighed. “She’s not doing well. At all.”

My chest clenched.

My best friend had run from Peppermint Hollow years ago. Trying to escape his demons—even though he and his dad had a really good relationship now —and chasing happiness like a dog chomping at snowflakes. Just when he thought he’d found what he was looking for, it melted away.

After moving away from our hometown in the Midwest and settling in Florida, Colby had supposedly fallen for the love of his life. His first wife, Mandy, had ended up being an addict just like his mom. She cheated, nearly destroyed his business—CoJack Realty; our business—and trashed his heart.

I’d begged him to come home after he divorced Mandy, but Colby stubbornly stayed put, determined to earn love and happiness.

When he met Sasha and followed her to California while she looked for her next big break, my heart broke a tiny bit more.

I’d never really let myself believe Colby and I would become more than friends. Sure, we’d joked around the summer after our senior year that we’d give it a go if we were both still single when we were thirty. We’d been drinking and lounging together on the couch in my parents’ basement, our limbs tangled together after we’d paused our wrestling match.

But the tipsy pact we’d made was nothing more than ramblings.

That was what my head kept telling me over the years.

My heart, however, had different hopes.

People always assumed we were a couple. We’d been joined at the hip since the first day of school. Colby spent more time at my house than he did his own—at least until his father, Thomas, pulled his shit together—and folks often joked that we were one person in two bodies.

They weren’t wrong. Colby was my other half. A soul mate if ever there was one.

I had plenty of platonic friends of different genders. Being bisexual didn’t mean I was destined to get all hot and bothered over my best friend.

But there I was.

I’d secretly longed for a chance to love Colby as more than a friend since we were about thirteen. But he’d never seen me that way—at least not for real. Sure, he joked that if he was ever going to go for a guy, it would be me, but Colby had always dated girls.

And he would have told me if he felt some sort of way for me.

Right?

I had to accept he wasn’t looking to come home and fall for his best friend.

For the most part, I’d made peace with it.

Mostly.

But when he got with Sasha, it hurt. I guess a tiny part of me had hoped that the mess with Mandy would bring him home and we’d eventually joke about being thirty and single. We’d give the old high school pact a go.

Instead, he’d moved farther away and started playing house with another addict. Colby made jokes about always going for the only thing he knew, which meant unstable, unreliable addicts—something he had a lot of experience with thanks to his mother—but I knew it broke him a bit each time he ended up drawn to someone just like his mom.

And Sasha was definitely just like Colby’s mom.

An addict.

Unreliable.

Unstable.

I think they did love each other in their own way for a short time, but I truly believe they would have broken up long ago if Sasha hadn’t ended up pregnant.

Surprisingly, she’d committed to cleaning up her act for nine months. Colby had high hopes she’d stick with the new sobriety, but the fact Sasha had demanded a c-section to be scheduled as soon as possible had me thinking she was going right back to using as soon as the baby was born.

Imagining Colby and his baby leaving the hospital with a coked-out Sasha chilled my blood. I should be with him. I should be helping. I should get to share this with my best friend.

“What’s her name?” I asked, steering Colby away from talk of Sasha. I wasn’t sure my heart could handle hearing about how she was jonesing for a fix while my best friend cradled his new baby.

Colby took the distraction. “Elsie.” I heard his smile across the miles. “Elsie Mae Burke.”

“I want to see pictures,” I said, emotions clogging my throat. “And don’t even think about doing any work for at least a week. You know I’ve got it all covered.”

CoJack Realty had been our brainchild during college. Colby and I were one and the same when it came to being able to turn on the charm and talk to pretty much anyone.

For me, that was my natural personality.

Friendly, outgoing, life of the party.

For Colby, it was more something he could flip on when needed.

He tended to be more broody, stand-off-ish, and quiet if given the chance.

Except around me.

We were the perfect mixture. We matched each other’s energies, lifted and grounded when needed, and, as cliché as it sounds, truly completed each other.

Realty was something we were both interested in and good at.

We’d been CoJack since sixth grade when the teacher let us name our groups for a project, and the name had stuck. When it came to our business all those years later, there really wasn’t any question about what we’d call ourselves.

CoJack Realty was successful beyond our wildest dreams. The business allowed us to set our hours, pad our savings accounts, work from wherever we wanted, and spend both at-home and at-work hours with our best friend.

“I’ll send some as soon as I’m off the phone,” Colby promised. The catch in his voice went straight to my heart. “Thanks for answering.”

“Always. I’m here. You know that.”

I’m here. For you, for Elsie, for us.

Always.

“Maybe you can come visit? See your new niece?” The unspoken I don’t want to be alone with a new baby and her addict mother had me wondering how quickly I could book a flight to California.

“Of course. Say the word and I’m there.”

Never mind Sasha hated me.

Or the fact seeing them together, bonding over their baby, building a life together—a life I wanted to share with Colby—would shred me.

If Colby needed me, I was there.

Always.

“Let me get everyone home and settled, then we’ll make plans.” Colby paused. “Listen, I think they’re going to teach me how to give her a bottle here soon. Sasha refused to breastfeed her—” Bitterness crept into his words. “Won’t even hold her or look at her really. So, the nurses said they had donated breastmilk, and they’d show me how to feed her.”

I swallowed down the anger and disappointment bubbling through me. “Fill her belly and let her know Uncle Kai loves her.”

“Kai…” Colby’s words cracked with emotion.

I waited.

“Fuck, Kai, I’m so scared. I don’t know how to do this.”

“You’ve got this, Cole. She’s lucky to have you. Call me every hour of the day if you need to. Call your dad and Allison. Or my mom and dad.” Thomas Burke and his longtime girlfriend, Allison, lived in Peppermint Hollow. My parents, Eric and Lacy Jackson, had recently moved to the retirement village. All four were friends, and I knew they’d jump in to help as needed. “We’re all here for you. Always.”

Colby sniffed and mumbled something along the lines of a goodbye.

The line went dead.

And my heart ached.

Ached for so many things.

Things I wished I could fix. Things I couldn’t have. Things I wished were different.

But mostly, my heart ached because my other half was scared and hurting across the continent.

“She left,” Colby said, his words flat.

We’d talked every day of our lives, and the last few months had been no different. As much as I’d wanted to go to him—offer my help, ease him into fatherhood…as if I knew anything about being a parent—I’d held off.

In the first week after Elsie Mae was born, Colby held out hope Sasha was turning over a new leaf. She wanted nothing to do with the baby, and she was never seen without a drink in hand, but she hadn’t shown any signs of drug use.

By week two, everything had changed.

“She’s gone all day,” Colby had said, his words ragged with exhaustion. “When she comes home in the evening, she doesn’t even look at Elsie. Just crashes. She leaves again in the early morning hours.”

“Where does she go?”

He’d sighed. “No idea. I really don’t even care. Mostly, I just want her away from Elsie; I know she’s volatile when she’s using.” Desperation laced his words, and I imagined him paralyzed by indecision. Leave his baby’s mother? Stick around and face the inevitable harm Sasha would bring to Elsie—whether physically or emotionally?

“So, the drugs are back?” I hadn’t been surprised, but my heart hurt for Colby.

“New track marks. She doesn’t even try to hide them.” The tiny baby noises on the other end of the phone brought a smile to my face. “I know I need to get Elsie away from her—and I would in a heartbeat if she was around more than she is,” he’d said when we’d spoken earlier in the week.

Elsie Mae was four months old and thriving. As much as things with Colby and Sasha sucked, Colby as a father was rockin’ it as I’d predicted. He’d yet to feel out the idea of putting her in daycare or getting a nanny, working his hours around her naps and bottles.

Now, his words registered. “Left? Like moved out?” I asked.

“Yeah. One day last week, she was showered, dressed up, and headed out the door at a regular time.” His chuckle held only bitterness. “My stupid ass thought for one split second she’d gotten a job or something.” Sasha had dreams of being an actress, but nothing had ever panned out.

“Then today,” Colby went on, “she comes in while I’m feeding Elsie. Two suitcases and a big handbag. Hands me a brown envelope as she cries. ‘I’m sorry,’ she says. ‘I’m not a mother. I won’t do to her what my mother did to me. I’m sorry for what we ended up, but there’s no one I’d trust more to be her daddy.’ Then she walked out.” Colby sniffled. “The envelope had a short note saying she was leaving the country. She’d met someone who could offer her a chance at more.” He scoffed. “More coke most likely. Anyway, there was a thick sheaf of papers. She’d signed them.”

“Like divorce? But you weren’t married.”

“Termination of parental rights. She signed papers saying she was no longer the parent of our baby.” Colby’s words caught. “I don’t know if I’m more pissed or relieved.”

“And they’re legit?” My heart played tug-of-war with my emotions. Anguish and hope.

“Yeah, I sent them to our attorney. He said they looked legit but shared them with a friend in family law. They’re legally sound.”

“So, what does this mean?”

Colby laughed bitterly. “I’m a single dad without an addict living in my apartment. Pretty much nothing changed other than now I don’t have to worry about her being around Elsie.”

“Come home,” I blurted out.

“What?”

I imagined Colby with Elsie propped on his shoulder as he burped her—I’d seen him do it during our daily video chats—his blue eyes squinting.

“Come home,” I repeated.

“I don’t have a place there. I can’t just show up in town with a baby. Dad and Allison are in an apartment. Not enough room for me and Elsie.”

“Don’t be a dumbass. Move in with me. I’ve got plenty of room.”

Never mind that the only room with a bed right now was the master bedroom. When Mom and Dad moved to the Peppermint Hollow Retirement Village, I’d jumped at the chance to make my childhood home my own.

They’d agreed to sell to me, and I’d helped them move the furniture they wanted to keep to their new place.

As much as I loved the old house, I got rid of most of the furniture and décor they didn’t want and planned to slowly furnish and decorate it as I desired.

Some of the more sentimental pieces were moved to the basement, but many of the rooms were empty or close to it—I hadn’t brought a lot with me from my tiny apartment on the outskirts of town.

My new bed in the master bedroom was king-size. Colby and I were both about six-foot-two, fairly average height and build, and could easily share until he got his own room set up.

Or he could just share with me indefinitely. Not like we hadn’t slept together a million times growing up.

But that was all something we could discuss once I got him back home.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to risk Elsie getting any kind of crud on an airplane. Plus, I’d have stuff I’d want to bring, so a road trip would be better than a flight. But driving cross-country with an infant?” He sighed. “I don’t know that I have it in me. Would that even be good for her?”

“She’d be with her daddy. Safe, fed, warm, and loved. Nowhere else better.” I meant the words. Elsie struck gold with Colby as her father, and I’d spend the rest of our lives making sure he believed just how amazing he was.

“It sounds like hell,” Colby hedged.

“But?” I knew when my best friend was wavering.

He huffed out an exasperated breath. “There’s nothing here for me. Never really has been. I can’t say I miss small-town living, but damn, I miss everyone.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“Wait, I didn’t say that. There’s a lot of logistics to figure out.” The sound of his words changed, and I imagined him walking from one room to another. Water running told me he was likely rinsing a bottle in the sink.

“I’ll come out and help pack. We’ll make the trip back together.” I already had visions of hooking a U-Haul to Colby’s big black truck and making a week of traveling back home. Me, my best friend, his baby girl. My heart squeezed in my chest.

Colby was quiet for a long time. “I’ll think about it.”

A terrible gurgling noise filled the line.

“Um, what was that?”

He groaned. “Oh my god, I’ve got to go. She just exploded. It’s running down my arm.”

The line went dead.

Exploded?

Puke? Poop?

Images of an exploded baby filled my head. What was running down his arm?

Was that something I wanted to get involved in? Could I even handle a baby, let alone the near disasters that came with one?

My heart thumped double-time.

If it meant getting Colby back by my side and helping him raise his baby, I’d deal with whatever bodily fluids and explosions Elsie wanted to bring my way.

I just needed my best friend back home.