Winning Her Love (The Rocky Mountain Christmas Train)

8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

W hen the last child had finally left with a parent, Joy rushed to Chantal. “You were wonderful,” she praised. “But you are not going on stage tomorrow night.” Her daughter’s face went from blissful to angry instantly. Chantal turned and stomped over to where Seth was sitting in the front row, her crutches slamming into the floor with each step. She couldn’t remember the last time Chantal had been that angry. Her daughter was very even-tempered.

Closing her eyes, Joy struggled not to be angry at Seth. This was his fault. He let Chantal do this. Now she was going to start thinking she could do many things far beyond her abilities. She was going to get hurt. Joy pushed her anger aside. Now wasn’t the time.

“I’m going to practice my lines,” Joy said.

“You should try them with the mic on,” Seth suggested. “You mentioned that you’re not good at public speaking. Trust me when I say the mic makes it worse.”

Well, that was helpful. Not! She sighed. He had a point.

She walked to the mic stand and clicked the mic on. “Testing.” Barely audible, her voice quivered. Crud . She cleared her throat and tried again. Louder, but no less shaky.

“Louder, Mama,” Chantal said from the first row.

“Good evening.” Panic hit her square in the chest. She sounded awful. Creaky and shrill. “I sound terrible.” She couldn’t do this .

Chantal laughed. “You sound like you, Mama.”

Seth smirked.

He knew she’d sound this way. Jerk .

She tried again. “My name is Joy; I’ll be your emcee for the evening.” Her voice steadied, but still sounded wrong. So very wrong.

“Better,” Seth said, taking a seat beside Chantal. “Pretend you’re talking to us. Forget everyone else. It’s just us.”

She focused in on his face, and though he was six feet away, she’d almost swear she saw support there. She drew in a deep breath and began again. Her lines flowed and if she tuned out her own voice, she might get through this. Only Seth wouldn’t be in the audience tomorrow. He’d be on stage. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine she could get over her fears. Speaking up at staff meetings made her anxious. She’d never be able to get through this.

She practiced a few lines and flipped the mic off. Chantal and Seth cheered. She climbed down off the stage on wobbly legs. Seth rushed forward and offered his hand. Grateful, she took the offered support.

“Wow, that was terrible,” she grumbled. Terrible didn’t even cut it.

“Actually, that was pretty good. You’ll be great tomorrow.”

Chantal hurried over. “You were great.”

She highly doubted that, but she’d accept the praise. “I guess we managed today.” She grinned. They’d done it. One day down, and one to go. “Let’s head back to the train.”

Ngozi rose from a chair in the back of the gym and pocketed her cell phone. “All finished?” she asked as they walked toward her.

“Is there a good place to get dinner nearby?” Seth asked. “All those kids made me hungry.”

Ngozi laughed. “There’s a pizza place eight blocks west. I’d give them a try. They make terrific pizza and the best minestrone.” She gave them directions.

“Shall we go to dinner, ladies?” Seth asked. “We don’t have to worry about getting back. The train isn’t going anywhere.”

“There’s going to be a huge bonfire in the park tomorrow night. You’ll have a blast. There will be crafters and food trucks. It’s the annual tree lighting party and Lyons Christmas Market.”

“That sounds gre…,” Seth said.

“I don’t think so,” Joy said, speaking over Seth.

“I want to go to the bonfire. Please, Mama. I’ve never been to one. All my friends have gone to bonfires.” She drew the words out into the whine Joy detested.

“I don’t think so. Let’s just get some dinner and go back to the train. I’m exhausted. We can talk about this tomorrow.” She didn’t need this fight right now. Her stomach was already whirling with stress. She didn’t know if eating would make it better or worse.

Chantal gave her the death stare. The one that said this wasn’t over.

“O-kay,” Seth dragged the word out. “Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

Fifteen minutes later they were led to a booth in the busy restaurant.

“Sit with me, Mr. Mathison.” His eyebrows jerked up in surprise, but he climbed in beside Chantal who was pointedly not looking at Joy.

Great, she was going to pout all night. A tiny part of her said she was being unreasonable, but she didn’t want her daughter to be injured. Maybe she’d made a mistake in bringing Chantal along on this trip. Or maybe the trip itself was a huge mistake. She almost groaned aloud. She needed the money and if nothing else, having someone pay all her food for a month was a huge saving. Christmas this year was special. They would arrive at their destination on Christmas Eve and be hosted at a hotel until the twenty-sixth, when they’d begin their journey home. It was the trip of a lifetime, but it wasn’t going to include a bonfire. They’d find other fun things to do.

Chantal pouted longer than normal. She was surly when she ordered until Seth gave her a side look. She immediately brightened her tone with the server. That was a look Joy would like to master. Instant compliance without a word.

Joy clenched her fists and relaxed them. Stress over tomorrow night was making her hyper-sensitive and jumpy.

“We have some free time tomorrow,” she said. “What shall we do?”

“The mall’s out. The bonfire is out. There’s nothing left to do.” Chantal’s glare would cut glass.

“I’m sure there are plenty of things to do,” Seth said. “We just have to put our minds together and figure it out.”

Joy wanted to kiss him for his support, though she suspected he thought she was a helicopter parent, never letting her child out of her sight or into potential danger. She wasn’t like that, was she?

Seth pulled out his phone. “Let’s do a search and see what Lyons offers for entertainment.” He typed and scrolled. Chantal leaned in to peer over his arm.

Funny how her daughter immediately trusted Seth. She was usually wary around men. Not that Joy spent much time around men outside of work. But Chantal had never had a male teacher. Both her physiotherapist and doctor were women. She’d never taken to anyone, male or female, as quickly as she had to Seth.

Not that Joy blamed her. He was attractive and helpful. A bit off-putting at first, but he seemed to be a great guy. And a firefighter too. Who didn’t love a man in uniform? She slipped into a fantasy vision of Seth dressed for work. Whew! The man should be on a calendar. And for a man who said he didn’t get along with kids, he was doing great so far. Both with Chantal and the choir. What made him think he couldn’t deal with kids? He was fabulous. He’d even straightened out the older kids with nothing more than a few words.

Seth and Chantal shared a ham and pineapple pizza. Gross. She detested pineapple on pizza. Joy had the chicken Caesar salad. She’d give her left foot for a glass of wine, but it wasn’t in the budget. Maybe she could swing it, but she wanted to pay down their medical debts as quickly as possible and her conscience wouldn’t let her indulge in the pleasure. Thinking about it, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had wine that wasn’t at a work function.

Shoving the complaint away, she took a minute to count her blessings. She had a lovely, healthy daughter. They were on the trip of a lifetime and in the company of a nice man. If they were lucky, she might win the funds to pay off her debts. Life wasn’t so bad.

“Mo-om.” Chantal’s impatient tone said she’d spoken more than once.

“Yes?”

“Were you listening?” Chantal rolled her eyes, and Seth smirked.

“Sorry, I was thinking about…about your Christmas gift,” she fibbed. Seth’s smirk turned into a full-on grin.

“Hey, look at this.” Seth handed her his phone. “There’s a Christmas train. We could go for a ride.”

“Yay,” Chantal cheered.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Joy said sadly. It was fifty dollars a ticket. No way she could afford that.

“It would be safe. It says you board and stay seated while the train travels a ninety-minute circuit through a Christmas village and lighted forest. You get cookies and hot cocoa. This sounds a bit like The Polar Express . It’s a decent deal.”

She gave him a look.

brows came together in question. Chantal glared at her.

“Look, Joy. I’d love to go on the train, but I really don’t want to go alone. Will you and Chantal please be my guests and save me from the embarrassment of being a single man on a family train ride?”

She blinked. How had he fathomed her problem so quickly? She wanted to be angry at him for prying into her life, and for wedging himself in where he didn’t belong. Somehow, the hope on her daughter’s face had her accepting.

“You know what? I think I’d like that. What do you say, Chantal? Shall we ride the train with Mr. Mathison?”

Chantal flung her arms around Seth. “Yes, please.”

Seth called ahead, booked tickets, and requested early boarding. They hurried to finish dinner and were off to the train.

Seth smiled at the sweet joy on Chantal’s face. She wriggled in her seat as the hot chocolate cart came toward them down the train aisle.

“Can you send Mama the picture you took of me with the elf?” she asked.

“Sure thing.” He pulled out his phone and sent Joy the photos taken in front of the trainyard’s gates. The sign over their heads welcomed them to the Santa Express. One of mother and daughter, and the second of all three of them together that a staff member had taken.

“Can I see, Mama?” Chantal asked when Joy’s phone chimed.

“Oh, look at us,” Chantal smiled up at Seth. “We look like a real family.”

Her words hit him like a blast of heat to the heart. If this kept up, he’d be having feelings again. He tried to shore up his softening defenses. “We sure do, kiddo.”

“Chantal,” Joy said with a clear warning in her voice.

“I know, Mama. He’s not my dad. But I like Mr. Mathison. He’s my friend.”

“He’s our friend.” Joy smiled at him, and he suddenly didn’t care about anything more than getting to know the beautiful woman sitting across from him.

The trip flew by. They rode through an old west town with every building lit up with lights. Antique-looking gas lamps lit the corners. Slowly, the train rolled into a forested area where every tree glowed with warm lights. Each tree was different. Where one tree was pure green and another blue, others were white or multicolored. They ranged in height and breadth.

Seth spent more time watching Joy and Chantal than the passing scenery. He snapped several pictures as they traveled.

The trip was over too quickly and as they disembarked behind everyone else, he knew a moment of sadness that the night and his time with them had ended. Deep inside, he hoped to spend more time with them after they completed their task for the contest.