Stuck With My Christmas Crush (Sweet Christmas Kisses)

17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Jason

“ F airy Charlie didn’t stay to meet the Duke and Duchess from Scotland,” Maddie says with sincere disappointment. “I laid out a place for her and everything.”

She indicates the circle of little pretty tea things that surround her where she sits cross-legged on the floor. Maddie picks up one of the teacups with gold handles and pretends to drink from it. Then she eats a slice of pretend cake from a matching dainty plate decorated with roses. A teapot, empty milk jug, and sugar bowl are in the middle of the circle with a grand three-tiered cake stand.

“She had to go, Maddie,” I explain. “But she’ll come back and have tea with you… and the Duke and Duchess from Scotland, another time.”

“Mmmm. Too late. They’re only here to have tea with me today and then they have to go back to their castle.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yes. Fairy Charlie missed out on something very special.”

Maddie’s words ring around my head. Missed out on something very special . That is exactly the feeling I have just now. That I have missed out on something very special and rare and beautiful.

The jolt I felt as Charlie reached for my hand. The warmth of her fingers as they curled around mine. The incredible feeling that I never wanted to let her go as we walked together to the garage. And then something I said upset her and now she’s gone. I clench my jaw and rub the back of my neck in disbelief. I’m experiencing a sense of loss for something I never had, which is ridiculous. I shake off my undue mushy emotions.

This big old house is getting to me. I’ve been here too long. I turn my attention back to Maddie who gallantly continues her pretend tea party despite her disappointment.

“Could you give me an ETD of the Duke and Duchess? We need to get moving soon. Okay?”

“They left already.” Maddie shrugs and sighs. “I’m good to go now, Jason.” She stands up and wipes pretend crumbs from her dress.

I scoop Maddie up and give her a hug and she wraps her arms around me. Then I put her down and she holds my hand as I switch off the lights and lock up the hotel. Then I turn on the security system I had installed, with cameras and an alarm that alerts a twenty-four-hour service. It’s pricey but necessary for peace of mind. And it means that I’m not so tied to the place.

Rocko lopes on ahead as I walk with Maddie back to the gatehouse. He knows it’s dinnertime.

“Hey, Rocko has a new collar,” says Maddie with a bright smile which lifts my mood. “I like it. It can be his Sunday best collar; his Christmas collar; the collar he wears to go to a party.”

I open the gatehouse door, but Maddie points to the bag and package stowed carefully on the shelf beside the tools.

“Charlie left them,” I say by way of explanation.

“Aren’t you going to open your present, Jason? ”

I stop, hesitantly. “Yeah. Maybe later, huh? We’ve got to get going.”

“How about now? It’ll only take a couple of minutes. Unless it’s a Christmas present and you want to bring it home and put it under our tree and open it with us on Christmas Day?”

I sigh, trying to ignore the Christmas comment. I don’t tell Maddie that I’m planning to hide myself away again until the whole shebang is over. But Meredith still buys me a gift and will corner me when I turn up eventually, with what they call an un-Christmas. Just for me.

“No. I think it’s a thank-you present, Maddie.”

“Great, then you’re totally allowed to open it right now.”

I don’t move. I stare at the package. Then I look at Maddie and say, “How about you open it for me?”

“How come you don’t want to open your present? If it was my present I’d open it straight away. And I definitely wouldn’t let anyone else open it for me.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll open it now.” I take the package from the shelf. An envelope falls on the ground. I pick it up then push the door open and we all go inside. Maddie sits on the couch. Rocko jumps up beside her and I sit on the chair. I open the envelope and read the message which makes me smile .

“What does it say, Jason?”

“It says, Merry Christmas. I hope all your dreams come true. Then, Charlie says, if I ever want juggling lessons, to call her.”

“Oh, how wonderful,” squeals Maddie clapping her hands. “Open the present,” she demands.

I peel off the ribbon and tear away the festive wrapping to reveal a box of three brightly colored soft balls. Rocko pricks up his ears and looks interested.

“No, Rocko. They’re not for you.”

“I think you should call Charlie and tell her how much you love your present and say yes to juggling lessons. What’s in the bag?”

“Just the clothes Charlie borrowed when she stayed with me in the storm.”

Memories of being snowed in together come flooding back and I don’t know what to do with them. Images of Charlie in the candlelight; asleep on the couch; her sleepy face in the morning; the way she raced out and made snow angels; the way I stood there like an idiot.

“Get your things, Maddie. I’ll feed Rocko, then we’ll go.”

I park in Meredith’s driveway. Daniel, my brother-in-law, comes out to greet us.

“Daddy!” yells Maddie, loud and excited.

“Hey, Maddie, my darling,” Daniel says opening the rear door of the Chevy. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you, so much too,” Maddie says as her dad unbuckles her from the back seat. “Jason got a present from fairy Charlie.”

“That’s nice. Who’s fairy Charlie?”

“You know, Daddy. She was at Isabel’s party, then she had a sleepover with Jason.”

“It wasn’t a sleepover, Maddie. There was a storm. She was stuck there with me.”

I watch as a lightbulb pings on in Daniel’s head. “Oh, that fairy Charlie. Please come in and tell me all about it.”

I follow Daniel and Maddie into the house which is festooned with Christmas decorations. A huge tree takes up most of the space in the living room.

“That’s new since I was last here.” My comment about the tree is a deliberate deflection from the subject of fairies. “How was Washington, Daniel?”

“Ha! Frustrating mostly. A lot of talk and not much action. Thankfully, I got away earlier than expected. But enough about that. It’s Christmas and I’m back here with my best girl.” Daniel picks up Maddie, squeezes her close, and dances in a circle on the carpet which makes Maddie giggle. “You’ve grown so much, Maddie. How come my little girl has got so big so quick?”

Meredith appears in the doorway wiping her hands on a tea towel, quietly watching her husband and daughter laughing.

“Come on, I’ve made some gingerbread cookies,” she says smiling warmly as we walk to the kitchen.

“Fairy Charlie, huh? What’s going on there, do you think?”

Meredith scoops out some frosting and fills a piping bag. The countertop is almost completely covered with person-shaped gingerbread cookies which smell mouth-wateringly delicious. I put my hand out to take one, but Meredith slaps it away, then she fixes me with a stern look.

“She stopped by with a thank-you gift,” I say as casually as I can, hoping my churn of emotions isn’t showing. “Which was nice and completely unnecessary.”

Meredith doesn’t say anything but holds the frosting bag nozzle steady over the first gingerbread man in the row.

“Really. She’s nice.” I sound too defensive. “And that’s all.” I shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans and look out of the window. “The gift was a nice thought.”

Meredith looks up briefly from piping a smiley face onto another cookie. “And,” she says .

Maddie comes into the kitchen followed by Daniel. He picks her up and sits her on one of the bar stools, then sits on the stool beside her.

“They look good enough to eat,” says Daniel with his arm protectively around Maddie.

“Soon,” says Meredith.

“We washed our hands and everything. Didn’t we, Maddie?”

“Well, great. Maddie, do you want to decorate a cookie?” Meredith hands the frosting bag to Maddie and then gives her a plate with three gingerbread men on it.

“Alright,” says Maddie seriously. “This one is you, Daddy.” She pipes a smiley face onto one of the gingerbread men. She gives him a tie and buttons in a line down the middle. She pauses and says, “Did Jason tell you about the present?”

“No, Maddie.” Meredith grins at me. “Not yet.”

“Jason. Tell us about the present.” Maddie continues to decorate the cookies. “It’s the best,” she says as she draws a smiley face on the next cookie. “This one’s you, Mommy.”

I look at the floor. “Juggling balls. Charlie got me juggling balls and wrote in the card to call her if I needed lessons.”

“Ah! That’s brilliant,” says Daniel. “That really is a very good present. ”

Then, Meredith says, “I love her already. When can we meet her properly?”

“Ask her to come for Christmas, Jason,” says Maddie as she draws messy zigzags on the last cookie on her plate. “This one is me.”

“Now, hold on, just a minute.” I put my hands out as if that’s going to stop the wave of enthusiasm. “Charlie probably has plans for Christmas. And who says I need juggling lessons?”

“Well, can you juggle?” asks Meredith.

“No. But that doesn’t mean I need lessons.” I walk to the door and back again. “I may not have time… I may not want to.”

“You don’t want to learn to juggle?” Maddie is incredulous. “Come on. We can practice right now.” My niece slides down off the barstool.

“Just a minute,” says Daniel. “You need to wash your hands again.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot.” Maddie goes over to the sink where Meredith turns on the tap for her, then gives her a tea towel for drying. Maddie holds up her hands to her mom for inspection. Meredith gives her a nod of approval.

Then my niece leads me to the living room. She picks up the remote and turns on the TV, then flicks through the channel menu and finds YouTube .

“You can find lessons teaching you just about anything. This is how I learned my frosting skills.” Maddie’s expression is stony serious. “Alright, Jason. Go get your juggling balls and I’ll find someone in here to show you how.” Maddie looks up at me with eyebrows raised. “You don’t want to go and get lessons from Charlie if you haven’t even tried it on your own, do you?”

“Maddie. I don’t have my gift. I left it back at the mansion.”

“I know. I thought you just forgot to bring it. So, I brought it.” Maddie doesn’t take her eyes off the screen as she scrolls through ‘Juggling for Beginners’, ‘Juggling 101’, ‘Juggling Made Simple’, and a whole heap of others on a list that is making my head spin. “The box is in the car.”

I stand for a moment trying to figure out how exactly to respond to this pint-sized dictator. Meredith and Daniel watch from the kitchen. They smile and shrug as if they are powerless to intervene.