Christmas with Holly Read online

  Before Maggie could ask another question, she was startled by a flare of light, then an explosive rush of flame beyond the back door accompanied by a billow of smoke. Instinctively Maggie turned to shield Holly, and ducked her head with a gasp. “My God. What was that?”

  Alex was staring at the back door, his face expressionless. “My guess is, that was the turkey.”

  Twelve

  The back door flung open, and a large figure entered in a cloud of smoke. It was Mark, wearing safety goggles, his arms sheathed in massive gloves that extended up to his elbows. He strode to the sink, reached into the cabinet, and grabbed a fire extinguisher.

  “What happened?” Alex asked.

  “Turkey exploded when we lowered it into the fryer.”

  “Didn’t you thaw it out first?”

  “We’ve had it thawing in the fridge for two days,” Mark replied, with vicious emphasis on the last words. Noticing Maggie, he stopped short. “What are you doing here?”

  “Never mind that, is Sam okay?”

  “For now. But he won’t be when I get my hands on him.”

  Another blinding flare came from outside, accompanied by fluent masculine cursing.

  “Go put out the turkey,” Alex suggested.

  Mark gave him a dark glance. “Are you referring to Sam or the poultry?” He disappeared immediately, closing the door behind him.

  Maggie was the first to speak. “Any method of cooking that involves getting dressed like a hazmat team…”

  “I know.” Alex rubbed his eyes. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept well in a long time.

  Glancing at the wall clock, Maggie realized that if she left right then, she would barely make it to the ferry on time.

  She thought about Thanksgiving in her parents’ home, the swarms of children, the crowded kitchen, her siblings and in-laws all busy peeling and chopping and mixing. And then the long, sociable meal…and that all-too-familiar feeling of being lonely in a crowd. Maggie wasn’t needed there. Here, however, it was clear that she could be of some use. She looked down at Holly, who was leaning against her, and she patted her small back reassuringly.

  “Alex,” she asked. “Is the oven going to be operational at some point today?”

  “Give me a half hour,” he said.

  Maggie went to the refrigerator, opened the door, and saw that it was fully stocked with eggs, milk, butter, and fresh vegetables. The pantry was equally well provisioned. With the exception of the turkey, they appeared to have everything that was necessary for a Thanksgiving dinner. They just didn’t know what to do with it.

  “Holly, honey,” she said, “go find your jacket. You’re coming with me.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to run a couple of errands.”

  As the child scampered away to get a jacket, Maggie told Alex, “I’ll bring her back soon.”

  “I might not be here,” he said. “As soon as I fix this, I’m going back home.”

  “To have Thanksgiving with your wife?”

  “No, my wife’s in San Diego with her family. We’re divorcing. My plan is to spend the day drinking until I feel nearly as happy as I was when I was single.”

  “I’m sorry,” Maggie said sincerely.

  Alex shrugged, his voice cool. “Marriage is a crap-shoot. I knew at the beginning that it had a fifty-fifty chance of working out.”

  Maggie regarded him thoughtfully. “I don’t think you should get married unless you think it has a hundred percent chance.”

  “That’s not realistic.”

  “No,” Maggie admitted with a faint smile. “But it’s a nice way to start.” She turned to Holly, who had returned with her jacket.

  “Before you leave, could you do something with that dog?” Alex asked with a baleful glance at Renfield, who was sitting placidly nearby.

  “Is he bothering you?”

  “Having him watch me with those crazy eyes makes me want to get a vaccination.”

  “That’s how Renfield always looks at people, Uncle Alex,” Holly said. “It means he likes you.”

  Taking Holly by the hand, Maggie left the house and speed-dialed a number on her cell phone on the way to her car. It was picked up immediately.

  “Happy Thanksgiving,” she heard her father say.

  Maggie grinned as she heard the familiar background sounds of barking dogs, crying babies, rattling dishes and pots, and an undertone of Perry Como crooning “Home for the Holidays.”

  “Hey, Dad. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.”

  “You on the way to Bellingham now?”

  “Well, actually no. I was wondering…do you think you could do without the mac and cheese this year?”

  “That depends. Why am I having to do without it?”

  “I was thinking about spending Thanksgiving here with some friends.”

  “Would one of them happen to be Mr. Ferry Ride?”

  Maggie smiled ruefully. “Why do I always tell you too much?”

  Her father chuckled. “You have a good day and call me later. And as for my mac and cheese, just put it in the freezer and bring it on your next visit.”

  “I can’t, I have to serve it today. My friend…his name is Mark…incinerated the side dishes and blew up the turkey.”

  “So that’s how he got you to stay? Smart man.”

  “I don’t think it was on purpose,” Maggie said, laughing. “Love you, Dad. Give Mom a kiss for me. And thanks for being so understanding.”

  “You sound happy, sweetheart,” he said. “That makes me more thankful than anything.”

  I am happy, Maggie realized as she closed her cell phone. She felt…buoyant. She guided Holly into the backseat of her car and leaned in to buckle the seat belt across the girl’s chest and lap. As she adjusted the straps, her mind replayed the vision of the fire and smoke through the back-door window, and she couldn’t help chuckling.

  “Are you laughing because my uncles blew up the turkey?” Holly asked.

  Maggie nodded, trying without success to stifle another chuckle.

  Holly began to giggle. Her gaze met Maggie’s, and she said innocently, “I didn’t know turkeys could fly.”

  That cracked them both up, and they held on to each other, laughing, until Maggie had to dab at the corners of her eyes.

  By the time Maggie and Holly returned to the house, Mark and Sam had cleaned up the disaster in the backyard and were in the kitchen peeling potatoes. Seeing Maggie, Mark came immediately to take the heavy parcel in her arms: a large foil pan weighted with enough sliced turkey to feed a dozen people. Holly followed with a large container of gravy. The scents of turkey roasted with sage, garlic, and basil wafted enticingly through the foil vents.

  “Where did this come from?” Mark asked, setting the pan on one of the counters.

  Maggie grinned at him. “It pays to have connections. Elizabeth’s son-in-law has a restaurant on Roche Harbor Road, and they’re serving Thanksgiving dinner all day. So I called and ordered some turkey to go.”

  Bracing one hand on the counter, Mark looked down at her. Freshly showered and clean-shaven, he possessed a rough-and-ready handsomeness that stirred her senses.

  The soft gruffness of his voice made her toes curl reflexively inside her boots. “Why aren’t you on the ferry?”

  “I changed my mind about going.”

  His mouth lowered to hers, offering a soft, searing pressure that brought hectic color to her face and took all the starch out of her knees. Blinking, Maggie realized that Mark had kissed her in front of his family. She frowned at him and glanced around his shoulder to see if they were watching, but Sam seemed absorbed in peeling potatoes, and Alex had taken it upon himself to start fluffing mixed greens in a large teak salad bowl. Holly was on the floor with Renfield, letting him lick the gravy lid.

  “Holly,” Maggie said, “make sure you throw that lid away after Renfield finishes. Do not put it back on the gravy.”

  “Okay. But my friend Christian s
ays a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s.”

  “Ask your uncle Mark,” Sam said, “if he’d rather kiss Maggie or Renfield.”

  “Sam,” Mark said in warning, but his younger brother grinned at him.

  Snickering, Holly took the lid from Renfield and ceremoniously dropped it into the trash can.

  Under Maggie’s direction, the group managed to assemble a respectable Thanksgiving dinner, including the replacement dish of mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, green beans, salad, turkey, and a simple dressing made with French bread crumbs, walnuts, and sage.

  Sam opened a bottle of red wine and poured glasses for all the adults. Ceremoniously he gave Holly a wine-glass filled with grape juice. “I’ll make the first toast,” he said. “To Maggie, for saving Thanksgiving.” They all clinked glasses.

  Maggie happened to glance at Holly, who was swirling and sniffing her grape juice in an exact imitation of Sam, who was sampling his wine. She saw that Mark had also noticed, and was biting back a grin. The sight had even brought a smile to Alex’s brooding countenance.

  “We can’t just toast me,” Maggie protested. “We need a toast for everyone.”

  Mark lifted his glass. “To the triumph of hope over experience,” he said, and they all clinked again.

  Maggie smiled at him. A perfect toast, she thought, on what had turned out to be a perfect day.

  After dinner and a dessert of pie and coffee and milk for Holly, they cleared the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and put the leftovers in covered containers. Sam turned on the television, found a football game, and stretched out on a recliner. Full and replete, Holly snuggled in a corner of the sofa and promptly fell asleep. Maggie covered her with a throw blanket and sat next to Mark at the other end of the sofa. Renfield went to his dog bed in the corner and flopped down with a grunt of contentment.

  Although Maggie didn’t care much about football one way or the other, she liked the ritual of watching a Thanksgiving game. It reminded her of all the Thanksgivings she had spent with her father and brothers, all of them hooting, moaning, and protesting the ref’s calls.

  Alex came to the doorway. “I’m heading out now,” he said.

  “Stay and watch the game,” Sam said.

  “We’ll need help eating the leftovers,” Mark added.

  Alex shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ve had enough family time. Nice to meet you, Maggie.”

  “Nice to meet you, too.”

  Sam rolled his eyes after Alex had left. “Spreading joy and sunshine wherever he goes.”

  “With his marriage breaking up,” Maggie said, “it’s normal for him to go through a dark period.”

  The brothers seemed to find this highly amusing. “Honey,” Mark said, “Alex has been in a dark period since the age of two.”

  Eventually Maggie found herself leaning in the crook of Mark’s arm. His body was hard and warm, his shoulder supporting her head perfectly. She only half watched the game, the television screen a blur of color as she absorbed the feeling of being close to Mark.

  “The mac and cheese,” he said, “was even better than I had imagined.”

  “Secret ingredient.”

  “What is it?”

  “I won’t tell you mine unless you tell me yours.”

  There was a smile in his voice. “You first.”

  “I put a drizzle of truffle oil in the sauce. Now tell what you put in the coffee.”

  “A hint of maple sugar.” He had taken her hand, his thumb stroking over the crests of her knuckles. The casual sensuality of his touch sent a deep, subtle quiver through her. She felt an equal measure of pleasure and despair, privately acknowledging that for a woman who had decided not to get involved, she had made a hell of a lot of questionable choices recently.

  What was it Elizabeth had said?…That when it stopped feeling like flirting, that was when it became a problem. And it was impossible for Maggie to deny that it had gone beyond flirtation, far past the superficial. She could love him, if she let it happen. Deeply, passionately, ruinously.

  He was the trap she had once desperately promised herself to avoid.

  “I have to go,” she whispered.

  “No, stay.” Mark looked into her eyes, and whatever he saw caused him to lift his hand to her cheek in the gentlest possible caress. “What is it?” he murmured.

  Maggie shook her head and tried to force a smile, and pushed away from him. Every muscle tightened in protest as she left the warm comfort of his proximity. She went to Holly, who was still sleeping soundly, and bent to kiss her.

  “Are you going?” Sam asked, levering himself out of the recliner.

  “No need to get up,” Maggie said, but Sam came to her and put his arms around her in a brotherly hug.

  “You know,” he said affably, “if you lose interest in my brother, I’m a refreshing alternative.”

  Maggie laughed and shook her head.

  As Mark walked outside with Maggie, he was filled with desire and liking and sympathy, all bound with a thread of frustration. He understood the conflict within her, probably better than she would have believed. And he found himself in the position of having to push her, carefully, into something she was determined never to be ready for. If it were merely a question of being patient, he would have given her all the patience in the world. But that wouldn’t be enough to get her past her fears.

  He stopped her on the front porch, wanting to talk for a minute or two before they went out into the icy open breeze.

  “Are you working at the shop tomorrow?” he asked.

  Maggie nodded, not quite meeting his gaze. “It’s going to be pretty busy from now until Christmas.”

  “How about dinner one night this week?”

  That got her to look at him. Her eyes were soft and dark, her mouth edged with melancholy. “Mark, I…” She stopped and swallowed hard, and looked so woebegone that he instinctively reached for her. She stiffened, wedging her forearms between them, but he continued to hold her anyway. Their breaths mingled in puffs of steam.

  “How come Sam got to hug you,” Mark whispered, “and I don’t?”

  “Different kind of hug,” she managed to say.

  Mark lowered his forehead to hers. “Because you want me,” he murmured.

  Maggie didn’t deny it.

  A long moment passed, and she unfolded and slid her arms around him. “I’m not what you need,” she said, her voice muffled in his sweater. “You need someone who can make a commitment to you and Holly. Someone who can be part of your family.”

  “You gave a pretty good impression of that today.”

  “I’ve been giving you mixed signals. I know that. I’m sorry.” Maggie sighed, and her tone turned rueful. “Apparently you’re too much temptation for me to withstand.”

  “You should just give in,” he said kindly.

  He felt a ripple of laughter run through her. But as she looked up at him, her breath caught on another laugh, he saw that her eyes were brilliant with unshed tears.

  “God, please don’t do that,” he whispered. A single tear slipped down her cheek, and he wiped it with his thumb. “If you don’t stop, Maggie, I’m going to make love to you right on this freezing porch with all the splinters.”

  Maggie buried her face against him, took a few deep breaths, and looked up at him again. “I probably seem like a coward,” she said. “But I know my limitations. You don’t know what I went through, watching my husband die slowly for more than a year. It nearly killed me. I can’t do it again, ever. That was my one shot.”

  “Your one shot was over almost as soon as it started,” Mark said, filled with impatient longing, loving the feel of her in his arms. “Your marriage never had a chance to get off the ground. You never had the mortgage, the dog, the kids, the arguments about whose turn it is to do the laundry.” Glancing at the tremulous curve of her lower lip, he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her, too hard and brief for pleasure. “Let’s not do this right now. Come on, I’ll walk you to t
he car.”

  They were both silent as he accompanied her to the Sebring. Maggie turned to face him, and he bracketed her face in his hands and kissed her again, this time letting his mouth linger until she made a soft sound in her throat and began to kiss him back.

  Lifting his head, Mark smoothed her rambunctious curls and spoke in a voice roughened with affection. “Being alone isn’t safety, Maggie. It’s just being alone.” And after she had climbed into the car, he closed the door carefully and watched her drive off.

  Thirteen

  To Maggie’s relief, her relationship with Mark went back to normal the day after Thanksgiving. He brought coffee to the shop, and was so relaxed and charming that she could have almost believed that scene on his front porch had never happened.

  On Monday, Maggie’s day off, Mark asked her to help him shop for Christmas decorations since he and Sam had not even a single ornament to start with. Maggie accompanied him to various shops in Friday Harbor to advise on such items as fresh garlands for the mantels and doorways, a wreath for the front door, a set of heavy pillar candles on mercury glass stands, and a vintage framed Santa poster. The only thing Mark had balked at was a Williamsburg-style ornamental fruit pyramid as a centerpiece for the table.

  “I hate fake fruit,” Mark said.

  “Why? It’s beautiful. It’s what the Victorians used for holiday decorating.”

  “I don’t like anything that looks like I’m supposed to be able to eat it but can’t. I’d rather have one made out of real fruit.”

  Maggie regarded him with amused exasperation. “It wouldn’t last long enough. And if it’s made out of real fruit and you eat it, what will you do then?”

  “Buy more fruit.”

  After they had loaded the last of the purchases into his truck, Mark managed to talk Maggie into having dinner with him. She had tried to refuse, saying it was too much like going out, but he had wheedled, “It’ll be just like lunch. Only later.” And she had relented. They had gone to an intimate restaurant four miles out from Friday Harbor, sitting at a table near a fieldstone fireplace. In the glow of candlelight, they had eaten succulent Alaskan sea scallops stacked with duck confit and goat cheese, and filet mignon shimmering with a date espresso glaze.