The Christmas Cookie Wars

Chapter Twenty-One

Twenty-One

There was nothing better than sitting at the kitchen table on Christmas Eve morning, sipping coffee, inhaling the aroma of cinnamon French toast baking in the oven while you watched the snowflakes come down.

Except for having someone to share the moment with.

The rogue thought invaded Melody’s peace, tightening her throat and her chest.

She hadn’t even had time to talk to Jonathan after the race they’d won together yesterday. In the chaos of the Cookie Daze cleanup, they’d each gotten pulled in a hundred different directions and then he and Ainsley had to rush off for a play in Denver. When he’d gotten into his car, she’d waved at him from a distance, a piece of her heart going with him.

A piece of her heart was still with him.

“Happy Christmas Eve!” her sister called, letting herself in through the kitchen door, stomping snow off her boots onto the rug.

Right on time.

This tradition had started the year after Thomas died—Kels showing up on her doorstep with a surprise gift at exactly nine o’clock on Christmas Eve morning. For a few years, Melody had tried to reciprocate, but her sister always refused. Think of this as your gift from Thomas because I promised him I would still do his Christmas shopping every year, no matter how long he’s been gone. So now Melody always made extra coffee and she saved Kelsey’s gifts under the tree for when they celebrated with the entire family.

“There’s some kid shoveling your driveway.” Kels poured herself a mug and plopped down across from her. “I didn’t get a good look at him under the layers.”

“What?” Melody stood and padded to the window above the sink, moving the curtain so she could see outside. Sure enough, a kid had carved wavy, uneven lines in the few inches of snow that had piled up overnight. Oh, for the love. “That’s Blake. I’m sure his mother is forcing him to do something nice for us after everything he put the boys through. Poor kid. I’ll be right back.” She tied her fleece bathrobe and slipped outside, staying on the front porch so her slippers didn’t get wet. “Hi, Blake.”

He didn’t look up from his mundane scraping. “Hey, Ms. Monroe.”

“You don’t have to shovel our driveway.” She scrubbed her hands together. It was freezing out here!

“Yes, I do.” He stopped to look at her, his cheeks every bit as red as his shiny shovel. “My mom said. She said I have to shovel your driveway for the rest of the winter or she’ll take away my Xbox.”

Ah yes, Melody had resorted to the Xbox threat a time or two herself. “Well, it looks like you’re about done anyway. Why don’t you come in for some breakfast and warm up?”

The boy’s jaw hinged open. “What are you guys having?” he asked eventually.

Melody laughed. “I’m making some delicious French toast, and there’s plenty of extra.”

Blake looked around the neighborhood, most likely to make sure his mom wasn’t hiding in the bushes spying on him. “I guess I could. For a few minutes, anyway. My hands are pretty cold.”

She’d thought so. Melody held open the door for him and ushered him through the small foyer into the kitchen.

“Have a seat. I’m sure Finn and Tate will be up any time now.” The heavy scent of cinnamon always lured them out of bed on Christmas Eve. “I’m just getting ready to take the French toast out of the oven.”

Kels gave her a funny smile and followed her to the oven. “Look at you showing some grace,” she murmured.

“It’s Christmas Eve.” Melody donned her reindeer oven mitts and slid the casserole out. The scent of cinnamon stung her nose in the best way. “Besides, it’s barely above zero degrees out there,” she whispered, noting that while Blake had removed his hat and gloves, he’d kept his coat on.

Kels harrumphed, nursing her coffee while she leaned against the counter watching Melody dissect the French toast.

“My mom said I should apologize again if I saw you,” Blake said when she brought his plate to the table.

“There’s no need to apologize again. Once is enough.” She poured him a glass of orange juice from the pitcher and then handed him silverware and a napkin. “I bet Finn and Tate can move past everything that happened.”

Footsteps creaked upstairs. “Speaking of…” She dished up their plates too and set them on the table just as the boys stumbled into the kitchen, all bleary eyed.

Finn stopped cold when he saw Blake. “What is he doing here?”

“Blake was shoveling our driveway,” Melody said cheerfully. “So I invited him in to have breakfast with us.” And there’d better not be any food fights this time , she told him with her eyes.

“Okay.” Finn sat down next to him with a shrug.

Tate, however, sat across from Blake and gave him the evil eye. Her older twin had always had a harder time letting go of grudges.

“This is really good, Ms. Monroe,” Blake said after a couple of bites. “Do you think you could share the recipe with my mom?”

Heck no. Who was she to call up Charlene—the catering queen—and tell her she needed to make one of her recipes? “Why don’t you tell her about it, and then she can ask me if she wants it.” She wouldn’t be waiting for that phone call.

She shared an amused look with Kels and went to the sink to work on the dishes.

“I’m happy to call Charlene and tell her how much her son loved your French toast,” her sister whispered.

“Now, now. It’s Christmas.” Melody rearranged a few plates and glasses in the dishwasher to fit in as many items as she could. “This isn’t the time for vindictive phone calls.”

“Fine.” Kels huffed. “Maybe I’ll save that for after New Year’s.” She leaned in even closer. “So, how’s Jonathan?”

“I don’t know.” She’d obsessively checked her phone for texts until midnight, but nothing came. “Things got chaotic after the event, and I really didn’t get to talk to him much.”

“Maybe you’ll talk to him today.”

What was with the mystery in Kelsey’s tone? “I doubt I’ll hear from him on Christmas Eve.” Melody closed up the dishwasher and glanced over her shoulder. The three boys were now laughing together. At least something good had come out of all this.

“The look on your face when the macaroni and cheese landed was priceless,” Finn was saying.

“Yeah! You looked like this.” Tate made a half-angry, half-shocked expression.

She was about to break up the teasing, but Blake cracked up too. “I can’t believe you had the balls to throw your macaroni and cheese at me!”

Ugh. She hated that word at the table. But she didn’t correct Blake.

“The food fight was kind of awesome,” Tate said.

“But that’s not something any of you will ever do again, am I right?”

“Right,” all three boys said solemnly. In another minute, Blake stood up and carried his empty plate to the sink. “I’d better go before my mom comes looking for me. Thanks again for breakfast. It was delicious.”

“You’re very welcome. Anytime.”

“Hey, Blake.” Finn brought his plate to the sink too. “Maybe we could go sledding sometime over break.”

“That’d be awesome.” He pulled on his hat and gloves. “I’ll probably be grounded from my phone for a while, but you could come and ring the doorbell when you’re going.”

“We will.” Tate poured himself more orange juice.

With another seat open at the table, Melody and Kels sat back down with their own heaping helpings of French toast.

“What’re you and the boys doing today?” Kels asked, drowning her breakfast in syrup.

“That’s a silly question. It’s Christmas Eve.” Kels knew full well they maintained a very tight schedule of traditions on December 24. The day always started with Melody making their mother’s cinnamon baked French toast for breakfast. She could check that off the list. After cleanup, the boys would open the new Christmas ornaments she’d bought them (they had to be wrapped, even though they always picked them out themselves) and put them on the tree. Then they always took the rest of the wrapped presents out of her closet and set them at the base of the tree before taking their annual Christmas pajamas picture in front of the display. Next, they moved on to playing their annual game of Risk—the boys’ favorite. Typically they ate an early dinner—chicken noodle soup that her mother kept stocked in Melody’s freezer along with a loaf of bread warmed in the oven. And, to cap off a busy but very relaxing day, they watched The Polar Express . “We have a lot to do today, don’t we, boys?”

“Actually, we already told some friends we’d meet them at the park for sledding after lunch.” Tate used his arm to swipe the orange juice off his upper lip.

“Oh.” She set down her fork, her stomach suddenly cramping. Did she really have to give up on another tradition? She wasn’t ready for this. “You don’t want to play Risk today?”

“We play that every year.” Ouch.

“We can miss one time, right?” Tate jumped up and put his glass in the dishwasher.

“Sure,” she mumbled. “That’s fine with me.” She smiled so her lower lip would stop quivering. It looked like her plans had suddenly changed. She would sit here by herself, maybe pass the time by looking at pictures from when Finn and Tate were still totally devoted to their mom.

“Hey, Finn, let’s go work on our Minecraft world before the tree stuff.” Tate hooked his brother around the neck and they pounded up the stairs sounding more like a herd of water buffalo than two ten-year-old boys.

“Sorry, sis.” Kels reached for her hand across the table, giving her a squeeze of solidarity.

“It’s good, right?” She sniffled. “They’re becoming their own wonderful selves. This is what’s supposed to happen. And I have to start letting go a little bit.” Ha! Letting go. It would be more like prying her fingers off one by one.

“I think this is a good time to give you your Thomas gift.” Kels withdrew a small wrapped jewelry box from her pocket and handed it over.

“This helps a little.” Kels always seemed to get her the sweetest things in Thomas’s memory. She carefully picked at the tape to undo the paper and opened the box to find a necklace made of two interlocking hearts with Finn and Tate’s birthstone in the middle. “Kels.” She never tried to hide tears from her sister. “I love it. It’s absolutely beautiful.” She put it on, pressing the pendant to her chest.

Her sister held her hand again. “They’re growing up, Melly, but that’s only because you’ve done such a great job with them, all on your own.”

“Now that’s just not true.” She used her napkin to mop up the tears. “You’ve been here the whole time. And Mom and Dad. And Aunt Bernice and Uncle Clive.”

“But you’re the reason they feel secure enough to embrace life.” Now Kels had started to cry too. “You could’ve retreated after Thomas died. You could’ve lived in fear. But you didn’t. You kept going and now they’re thriving. They’re strong and resilient and full of hope and joy. They know they always have a place to come home, no matter how big they get.”

“Thanks, Kels.” Okay, now she was just blubbering. They both were. “You’re the best.”

“I know.” Her sister blew her nose into the napkin. “But I should get back home. Doug and Genevieve were still sleeping when I left, but they’re probably ready to decorate the tree.” That was one of her sister’s family’s Christmas Eve traditions. They always waited until the last possible minute to decorate the tree. “See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.” Melody stood up and hugged her, holding on a little longer than usual.

After her sister left, she tidied up the kitchen and checked her phone again. Still nothing from Jonathan. Should she text him ?

“Are we ready for the ornaments?” Finn wandered back into the kitchen, followed by Tate.

“?’Cause we have to get going soon.”

“I’m ready if you two are.” She herded them upstairs and into her bedroom—the only room in the house that Thomas had had the chance to renovate before he got sick. They’d combined a small study and the largest bedroom into a suite, complete with a nice-sized walk-in closet that happened to be the perfect place to hide gifts. “Take these boxes out and we’ll put all the presents under the tree.”

“Are these mine?” Tate’s eyes grew rounder.

“These have my name on them!” Finn took his box and she followed them down to the living room. The boys took out their presents one by one, shaking them as much as she’d let them get away with before setting them down.

“FYI, there are no Beatbox headphones in those packages.” She’d better warn them now. After putting those in her online shopping cart, she simply hadn’t been able to make the purchase. “They were a little too much this year.”

“That’s okay, Mom.” Finn was inspecting one of the larger presents with his name on it. “I don’t need headphones. I can’t wait to see what’s in these!” He shook another package.

“Yeah.” Tate continued to rummage through his stuff. “All that money for one pair of headphones is probably a waste when you could get like three Lego sets.”

“Exactly.” And each of them had a Lego set to open. Every once in a while she still got a glimpse of her little boys—that was her Christmas gift.

The last packages left in the boxes were their ornaments, so they both ripped them open—a feathered owl for Finn and a blown-glass snowman for Tate.

“We each made an ornament in honor of Dad too.” Tate hopped up and disappeared.

“In art class,” Finn explained. His brother brought back two small boxes.

“Wow.” Melody carefully lifted out a stained-glass angel and a stained-glass star and held them up to the window, catching the sunlight. “Look at these colors. They’re so cool. He’d love them.” She handed them back and snapped a picture of the boys hanging them on the tree.

“Now it’s real picture time!” Finn sure seemed to be moving things right along. He probably couldn’t wait to go sledding.

“You two take your places while I set up the tripod.” She fiddled with the thing for a good five minutes but finally found the right angle.

“Come on, come on.” Tate waved her to join them impatiently. “We gotta hurry and meet our friends.”

“Well, if we can all keep our eyes open and smile at the camera, this should be quick.” But that wasn’t possible. After six takes, they had a shot everyone agreed on. Before she could even disconnect her phone from the tripod, the boys were already suiting up in their winter clothes.

“Bye, Mom!” Finn raced back into the living room to give her a hug.

“We’ll be back later!” Tate waved from the foyer.

“Have fun.” She held her smile intact. “Be careful. But mostly have fun.”

They stampeded outside, voices rising with excitement, and she collapsed on the couch and allowed herself five minutes of wallowing. But she couldn’t sit around crying all day. So she got up and showered and dressed in a festive red sweater and jeans. She cleaned the bathrooms, since she was hosting her family for their big Christmas dinner tomorrow.

Even scrubbing the toilets didn’t kill enough time for the boys to get back home.

Thankfully, the dishwasher buzzed. She’d just finished the silverware when there was a clamoring at the front door. “Boys?” She stepped into the foyer, and the door flew open. Finn and Tate walked in, along with Ainsley, who quickly closed the door behind her.

“Hey!” A hopeful breath sat suspended in her lungs. “What’re you doing here?”

“We weren’t sledding with our friends,” Tate announced.

“We were working on your Christmas present,” Finn finished.

“Really?” She couldn’t stop glancing at Ainsley. The girl’s smile hinted that a huge surprise was coming.

“Yep!” Tate looked at the other two and then back at her. “Here’s the thing. We want you to date Mr. Braxton.”

She didn’t even know how to respond. “That’s so nice, you guys, but—”

“He makes you happy,” Tate interrupted.

“Your eyes get all bright every time you see him,” Finn added.

She couldn’t deny that. “I think very highly of Jona—I mean Mr. Braxton. But he’s your principal and—”

“We’re almost done with elementary school,” Tate reminded her.

Yes, whether she wanted them to be or not.

“We only have five more months.” Finn held up his fingers. “And then it won’t even matter anymore. We’ll be in middle school.”

“True.” But inviting someone into their lives would still introduce complications. It would change everything. For so long the three of them had functioned in their own little family unit. Were they ready for such a big change now? Was she ready?

“You do everything for us, Mom.” Finn gestured for Tate to move closer to the door. “And we want you to be happy. So…”

“Merry Christmas,” they said in unison. Tate threw open the door and there stood Jonathan on the porch with a huge red bow wrapped around him. “Surprise.”

A laugh bellowed out, a huge guffaw straight from her belly. “They wrapped you?”

“It would appear so.” He stepped inside the house somewhat tentatively. “This was all their idea.”

“Mine too,” Ainsley threw in. “I even found the bow.”

Melody laughed again, and Jonathan joined in this time. “This probably isn’t what you asked Santa to bring you.”

“No.” The laughter faded as she gazed into his eyes, but her smile only grew. “But this is the best Christmas surprise I’ve ever gotten.”

“There’s more surprises.” Finn took the bow off Jonathan. “Mr. Braxton and you are going on a date to his house.”

“We already made dinner for you, and Ainsley’s gonna stay here and hang out with us while you eat,” Tate added.

“And then we’ll all watch The Polar Express all together.” Ainsley squealed. “This is gonna be so great!”

Melody could only laugh again, joy bubbling up. “Thank goodness I showered.”

“Go, go, go!” Tate all but pushed them out the door. “You don’t want your dinner to get cold.”

Before allowing herself to be swept away again, she turned to Ainsley. “You’re sure you’re okay staying with them?”

“I’m happy to.” She slung an arm around each of them. “We’re going to play Risk and then we’ll heat up a frozen pizza.”

“That was my idea,” Finn told her.

“You three are full of good ideas.” Melody took Jonathan’s arm and stepped outside with him.

“So you’re really okay with all this?” he asked on their way down the porch steps. “I didn’t want to ambush you, but I didn’t have the heart to derail their plans either. They were so excited.”

“Are you kidding? I’m excited.” She stopped him so she could finally put her arms around him. “I thought about texting you all night, but I didn’t know if—”

“You didn’t know if I was thinking about you too?” He checked the house behind them and then brushed a prelude of a kiss across her lips. “I was, Mel. I’m always thinking of you. I didn’t want to push when you said things needed to go back to the way they were. But I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“It’s not.”

He smiled and held her hand the entire drive to his house. “So did the boys just show up at your house today and ask if they could wrap you up for me?” she asked when he helped her out of the car.

“They texted Ainsley yesterday and the three of them met in the park and hatched this plan.” Her offered her his arm and led her to the front door. “It might not surprise you to learn that National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is my daughter’s favorite movie.”

Melody let out a cackle. “Hence the red bow and delivering you to my doorstep.”

“How could I say no?” He opened the door and steered her inside. “I didn’t care how it happened, I only wanted to see you. All I want for Christmas is for you to give me a chance.”

“You don’t have to ask, Jonathan.” She stepped into his space, circling her arms around his waist, drawing him as close as she’d wanted him all week. “I gave you my heart the night you saved our cookies.” When he had so quickly and easily become part of the three of them. And now there was no going back.

She stretched onto her tiptoes so she could press her lips to his—and this would never get old, kissing him whenever she wanted. How had she lived without kissing for so long? Melody forced herself to pull back or they would never get on with the meal. “And then I tried to take my heart back, but I couldn’t. I can’t. It belongs with you.” She knew because it had been the same with Thomas. They’d simply fit. She didn’t need time to decide if the connection was there or not because she’d felt this before. This was real and powerful and lasting.

“I’ll do my best to deserve your heart, then,” he murmured, drawing her hands to his chest. “To hold it close to mine.” He sealed the promise with a kiss, slow and savoring and freeing. Melody let herself sink into him, embracing the utter bliss.

“So, are you hungry?” Jonathan collected her to his side, walking her through his house into a great room. Now that they weren’t lip-locked, she could get a look around. The space was neat without being overly clean. From the knotty floors to the dark kitchen cabinets along the left wall to the stone fireplace reaching up to the vaulted ceiling, the space had a rustic, homey feel. Mountain elegant. While the décor was clean and modern, it also had a lived-in feel. A few pairs of Ainsley’s shoes sat near the couch, and she was glad to see she wasn’t the only one fighting a constant shoe battle.

In the far corner, in front of large picture windows, the rectangular wooden dining room table had been all set, complete with dishes and a bottle of wine and two fondue pots with steam rising off the top. A platter of cut-up carrots and broccoli and cauliflower and cubed bread sat at one end. And another platter must’ve been the chocolate dippers—strawberries and pineapple and cookies and brownies. “Wow. Look at that spread.”

Jonathan pulled out a chair for her. “Ainsley got a fondue set for her birthday a few years back and, after the divorce, that’s become our Christmas Eve tradition.” He picked up a lighter sitting nearby and held the flame to the wicks of two pillar Christmas candles sitting between the fondue pots. “I wouldn’t let them leave the candles lit when we went to your house, but I promised I wouldn’t forget to light them when we got back.”

“Those kids are the sweetest.” Melody felt herself tearing up again. “All three of them.”

“They’re pretty incredible.” Jonathan sat across from her and filled their wineglasses. “Ainsley already thinks the world of you. Though I’m not surprised. I envy how open you are, how friendly, even with people you don’t know well.”

“You’re friendly too.” She took a few of the veggies and cubes of bread before handing the platter to him.

“But it’s not as natural for me as it is for you.” He used one of the fondue forks to dip an apple in the melted cheesy goodness. “I remember the first time I met you. When Finn and Tate were in second grade. It was my first week as assistant principal at the school, and you brought me a welcome package.”

“That’s right.” She soaked a bread cube in the cheese. “I’d forgotten about that.” She’d brought by some candy and local soaps and pumpkin bread from the bakery.

“You told me how happy you were that the school was in such good hands. It was the nicest thing anyone did to welcome me here.” He was looking at her in that way he had, intently, focused, like she was the only thing he wanted to see. “It was the kindness I needed after getting through the divorce. I think that’s when my crush started.”

“That might be when mine started too.” She chewed for a while, letting him sit in suspense for the rest of the story.

“You didn’t have a crush on me.” His head tilted. “Did you?”

“I thought you were way too handsome to be a principal,” she admitted. But she hadn’t been ready to do anything about it until now.

They talked about their respective losses, what they’d learned, how they’d grown, what they hoped for their kids. They could’ve sat and talked all night over that velvety smooth chocolate, but Melody knew the kids were waiting.

Jonathan seemed to be thinking the same thing. He cleared their plates before she could help and then assisted her with putting on her coat, stealing a few light kisses on her neck in the process.

When they arrived back at her house minutes later, Melody swore her cheeks were glowing.

Finn and Tate ambushed them the second they walked through the door.

“Did you have fun on your date?”

“Did you like the fondue?”

“Wasn’t the chocolate amazing?” Ainsley asked hopefully.

“Yes to all of those questions,” Jonathan said.

Melody turned to his daughter. “We ate the whole pot!”

“Yay!” Ainsley high-fived the boys.

“Now it’s movie time!” Tate led the charge to the living room while Jonathan helped Melody make popcorn, and then they all nestled into the two couches—her and Jonathan snuggled up on one and Ainsley sitting between the boys on the other while the fire flickered below the television.

The movie started, but Melody wasn’t watching the screen. She was taking in the moment. A moment she’d pictured deep in her heart. A moment she’d longed for without even realizing it.

The first of many more happy Christmases to come.