Happily This Christmas--A Novel Read online

  “I do my best.”

  She pointed to the off-ramp for the outlet center up ahead, and Garrick moved into the right lane of the freeway. They quickly found a parking space and walked into the furniture store. Wynn headed for the dining room and kitchen tables, Garrick keeping pace with her.

  “No one needs this much stuff,” he said as they wove their way through a massive display of sofa and recliners.

  “Maybe not, but people like choices. What if your sofa had only come in purple?”

  His cool gray eyes shifted to her face. “Was it a toss-up between saying purple and pink to get your point across, or did you go right for the purple?”

  She grinned. “I went right there. It’s not too girlie, but there’s a message.”

  He surprised her by laughing. She liked the sound of his amusement, the way he relaxed when he laughed. Something stirred to life low in her belly, reminding her it had been a very long time since her last relationship and that she would very much like to be in one again. The boy-girl kind, she added, just to be clear. With lots of touching and kissing and naked time.

  But that wasn’t on the schedule for today, she told herself, pushing the whisper of anticipation to the back of her mind. Shopping and getting to know Garrick came first. She would enjoy her fantasies about her neighbor later.

  They circled the dining room sets and headed for the more casual kitchen tables and chairs. Wynn stopped next to a round oak table with four chairs.

  “It’s very classic,” she said. “And wood, which you seem to like. What do you think?”

  Garrick walked around the display a couple of times before picking up one of the chairs and studying the underside. “They’re not very well made and the style is kind of boring. Let’s see what else they have.”

  “The alcove is big enough to take a table for six, if you want to do that,” she said. “I don’t think the shape of the table will matter, so if you want square or rectangular instead of round, we can do that. I have the measurements with me, so we’ll be able to double-check that it fits.”

  “A table for six might be better,” he said. “I’m hoping Joylyn will have some friends come by to keep her company. She doesn’t know anyone in Happily Inc, and I don’t want her to feel isolated.”

  They walked around the various displays. Garrick spent time studying a simple rectangular table and chairs in the Shaker style, then surprised her by stopping next to a round glass-top table with a wrought-iron base. The pedestal base was made up of curving iron bars that wove around each other, almost like a braid.

  “That one?” she asked, not keeping the surprise out of her voice. “But you’re all into wood and handcrafted.”

  “I know, but this one is interesting. I like that there aren’t fifty like it in the store.”

  “I think it’s great. The glass top keeps the look open, and it’s easy to clean. They have chairs over there. We could go find something fun to go with the table.”

  They carried several chair options back to the table. Garrick considered plain wooden chairs painted black, several chrome and suede styles.

  “None of these are right,” he said. “The table needs something more.”

  Wynn eyed the chair selection before pointing to a set of lacquered red chairs with black-plaid seats. They were contemporary, unexpected and, when she sat on one, surprisingly comfortable.

  “I know they’re not traditional,” she said.

  “Let’s try them.”

  He carried two over to the table and slid them into place.

  The proportions were perfect, she thought. The red was a pop of color, while the black base grounded the look.

  “I’m sure we could find white plates with a bit of red and black in the border,” she said, walking around the table. “A pattern would be too heavy with the plaid cushions.”

  She looked at him and smiled. “There’s a whole Christmas plaid thing. Tablecloths and napkins, with green instead of black in the pattern. That would be beautiful for the holidays.” She paused. “If you like the chairs.”

  “I do. I have no idea why, but I like them a lot.”

  He used his phone to take a picture of the sales tag for the table and one of the chairs, then he suggested they look at outdoor furniture.

  “I don’t have much by the pool,” he said. “I thought Joylyn might enjoy being outside in the afternoons. Right now the weather is perfect.”

  “Good idea. You have a lot of patio area. You could get two or three loungers and still have room for a table and chairs.”

  They made their selections quickly. Garrick went looking for a salesperson to write it all up. Delivery was arranged for the following Tuesday. As they walked back to the car, Garrick glanced at his watch.

  “Less than thirty minutes,” he said, his tone approving. “I like how you shop.”

  “Wait until you see me stocking your kitchen. I’ll be a blur of activity.”

  They went into the home goods store. Wynn collected a shopping cart for herself and had Garrick take one, as well. As she’d promised, they moved quickly.

  “Linens,” she said, pointing to the far side of the store. “Bedding, towels and accessories.” She smiled. “This time I think we really are going to be looking for anything purple.”

  “It’s her favorite color.”

  Wynn found a pretty bedding set with a soft comforter and good quality sheets in various shades of purple and lavender. For the towels, she went for a soft shade, then found a set of bathroom accessories in lavender with a pop of silver. She added a half dozen throw pillows to the cart.

  On their way to the kitchen department, they swung by a display of prints. Wynn held up a set of adorable fairy prints.

  “Too young? They’ll look great with the furniture, but I don’t want her to think you forgot how old she is.”

  He shook his head. “Not too young. They’re perfect.”

  Wynn added them to her cart, then steered into the middle of the displays of dishes.

  Garrick looked at all the options, then took a step back. “There are too many. Nope. Not going to do this.”

  She grinned. “Chest getting a little tight?”

  “I’m fighting the urge to bolt. I’m man enough to admit it.”

  “Just remember we want white dishes with just a touch of red and black. It can be a border or a subtle pattern. If we can’t find that, we can go for white with red or white with black.”

  He relaxed a little. “You’re right. That helps.”

  They left their carts and wandered up and down the aisle. Garrick walked over with a dish in his hand.

  The round plate was white with a swirl of black in the middle and a single spot of red by the rim.

  “What about this?” he asked.

  “Do you like it?”

  He looked at the plate. “Not really. But the colors are right.”

  “They’re only right if you like them. You’re going to be eating off these plates for the next however many years, Garrick. You need to want to have them in your life.”

  He looked at her. “I don’t think about wanting dishes in my life.”

  She smiled. “Yes, I know, but for today, let’s pretend.”

  She found a couple of patterned dishes, but Garrick shook his head at them before surprising her by holding up a simple red plate.

  “This,” he said.

  “It’s red.”

  “Yes, I knew that. I like it. The mugs are a good size, the bowls work for me and there’s no pattern. I want these.”

  “And you said you didn’t think about wanting dishes in your life,” she teased. “Let’s get two sets. That’s service for eight.”

  As Garrick put the boxes of dishes in the cart, she spotted a Betty Boop canister set across the aisle. The colors were perfect, the style retro. She picke
d up the smallest canister.

  “Too much?” she asked.

  Garrick shook his head and grinned. “I’m in. I love Betty.”

  Less than a half hour later, they had picked up glasses, cookware, flatware and a baking set. By then they were up to four full carts, and Wynn was thinking it was really good that Garrick drove a big SUV. She didn’t think she would have gotten everything into her car.

  “Thank you,” he said when they had checked out and loaded everything. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  “You’re welcome. I enjoy spending other people’s money.”

  He pointed to the steakhouse across the parking lot. “Can I buy you lunch?”

  “I’d like that.”

  They were seated at a booth by the window. Wynn scanned the menu, her mouth watering when she read the description of the steak salad. Her decision made, she put down her menu.

  Garrick was still studying his. She took a second to admire the strong lines of his face and the unfairness of men having thick lashes. Why did that always happen? Was it the Y chromosome? Did it come with naturally thick lashes?

  Garrick looked up and smiled at her. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing. I was just thinking about eyelashes.”

  His brows drew together. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

  “I know. My mind can be an unusual place.” She glanced around at the ceramic turkeys on every table. “It’s nice to see a place celebrating Thanksgiving. Too often we seem to go right from Halloween to Christmas.”

  “I agree. When Joylyn was little, we always made a big deal out of Thanksgiving. We would put together those funny paper turkeys and pilgrim paper dolls a few days before. The morning of, I made her blueberry pancakes. Then we’d head over to her mom’s for a big dinner.”

  “That sounds nice. You were still in high school when she was born?”

  The server appeared. Wynn ordered her salad and a diet soda while Garrick got a burger and iced tea. When they were alone, he looked at her.

  “I’m a really great guy.”

  She did her best not to smile. “Okay, sure.”

  One corner of his mouth turned up. “I only say that to state the obvious before telling you about how Joylyn came to be.”

  “You’re not the hero of the story?” she asked, not concerned about what he was going to say. However things had started for him and his daughter, his affection for her was clear.

  “I tried to be.” He leaned back in the booth. “Alisha and I were both juniors in high school. I had a thing for her best friend and foolishly asked Alisha’s advice on how to win her.”

  Wynn winced. “No girl likes that.”

  “I know that now, but at the time I was an idiot. I also didn’t know that Alisha had a thing for me.”

  Wynn would guess Garrick had been one popular guy back in high school. No doubt he’d been just as handsome, with a little teenage edginess for extra appeal.

  “Which made your request doubly painful for her.”

  “It did.” He smiled. “She said she couldn’t recommend me to her friend unless she went out with me first. To see how I was as a boyfriend.”

  Wynn raised her eyebrows. “Impressive. Go Alisha.”

  “We agreed to date for a month. At the end of that time, I was totally into her and she had come to see I was not all that.”

  Wynn smiled. “You got your comeuppance.”

  “You could sound a little more broken up about it.”

  “I could, but I won’t.”

  He flashed her a smile that nearly made her swoon. She told herself it was because she hadn’t eaten much for breakfast, but knew she was lying.

  “While I was still trying to convince her I was worthy boyfriend material, she turned up pregnant.” He glanced down at the table, then back at her. “Neither of us saw that coming. The parents were unamused.”

  “I can imagine. Did you get married?”

  “No. Neither of us wanted that. By the time Joylyn was born, we were happy to be good friends, and that’s the way it stayed. Alisha’s a great mom, and I did my best to be a hands-on dad.”

  “So you had a baby while you were a senior in high school.”

  He nodded. “It was harder for Alisha than me, of course. She was the one who was pregnant. Once Joylyn was born, we worked out a schedule. Our moms did the lion’s share of the work. We didn’t realize it at the time, but they were there for us. After high school Alisha and her family moved to Phoenix. I didn’t want to lose touch with my daughter, so I applied to ASU and got in. Joylyn and I kind of grew up together.”

  She liked how he’d been involved with his daughter from the start. A lot of guys his age would have done the least they could or walked away completely.

  “You became a police officer in Phoenix?” she asked.

  “I did. Alisha got married and had three boys, one after the other. It was a lot for her to deal with. I saw Joylyn as much as I could.”

  Their server brought their drinks.

  “We did everything together,” he said, reaching for his iced tea. “Hung out after I got home from work, went camping, horseback riding.”

  His tone was wistful. There was lots of love there, but also the fact that he missed what he’d had.

  “You were a good dad,” she said.

  “I hope so.” He sipped his tea. “What about you? Is Hunter’s father around?”

  “No. He died right around the time Hunter was born. He had an insurance policy and I was the beneficiary. The money allowed me to go to trade school and learn graphic design, then move here and buy the business I have now.”

  There was a lot more to the story, but this was the version she told people.

  “Where did you grow up?” he asked.

  “Oakland. So a fair distance from Happily Inc.” She smiled. “I’m liking small town living very much.”

  “There is a different rhythm here. It’s a good place to raise a family. I enjoyed growing up here and I’m glad to be back.”

  “You never had more kids?” she asked.

  “Nope. Just Joylyn. I thought I’d have more. I was married for a while and we talked about it, but somehow it never happened.”

  “You’re divorced?” she asked.

  He nodded. “It was unfortunate but not dramatic. We were both busy with our jobs. I was gone a lot and we drifted apart.”

  “How were you gone a lot?” she asked. “I thought police officers worked regular hours.”

  Their server brought over their food. Garrick thanked her, then looked at Wynn.

  “I took on a few special projects. For several years I was part of a task force with the DEA. I did a little undercover work, and that meant being gone for several weeks at a time.”

  Wynn stared at him. “You were an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration?”

  He picked up a french fry. “It wasn’t like the movies. I went undercover locally a few times, then had a couple of assignments in Colombia. That’s about when my marriage hit the skids, which was bad, but losing Joylyn was worse.”

  Wynn did the math. “That’s the rough patch you mentioned, when she was fifteen?”

  “Yeah, and that was not an easy transition. She got very independent very quickly and told me she didn’t need to spend time with me. Every time I came back from an assignment, I hoped she had changed her mind, but she never did.” He sighed. “Teenagers aren’t easy.”

  “Don’t say that. Hunter’s fourteen.”

  “Brace yourself.”

  “I don’t want to. I want him to be eight forever.”

  Garrick laughed. “Sorry. You don’t get to make the rules.” He picked up his burger. “All right, I’ve been doing all the talking and I’ve surprised you with my dark, dangerous past. What don’t I know a
bout you?”

  “Nothing that exciting.” Garrick an undercover agent with the DEA. And now he was a cop in Happily Inc. That must have been quite the journey.

  “You were married to a rock star?” he prompted. “Once stole artwork from the Louvre? Have a tattoo of a cobra on your back?”

  She started laughing. “So you have an imagination. That’s interesting. And sadly, no to all of them.”

  “You’re sad you’re not a tattooed art thief?”

  “A little. My life is fairly ordinary. I have a business, I’m a single mom and that’s about it.” She paused when she realized how boring that sounded. “I mean I have friends, of course, and there have been a few men in my life.”

  “Anyone I know?”

  “I dated Jasper for a while.” She knew he and the local thriller writer were friends.

  Garrick’s eyes widened with surprise. “When?”

  “Maybe three years ago. We broke up before you moved back.” She held up a hand. “It’s fine. I’m close friends with his wife Renee, and Jasper and I have stayed close. It’s very civilized.”

  “I guess, although he and I hang out and he never said anything to me.”

  “How much time do you and your friends spend talking about the women in town?”

  “None. You’re saying that’s why he never mentioned you. I get that. It’s good you two get along. My ex and I didn’t stay friends.” He paused as if he was going to say something else, then shook his head. “I’m okay with that.” He looked at her. “No kids other than Hunter?”

  “No, although I think you would have noticed them hanging around the house. I’m not the type to keep children locked up.”

  “Good to know. Did you want more kids?”

  The question surprised her. “I never really thought about it. I adore Hunter and having him has been wonderful, but it’s not easy being a single parent. I think having a partner and a support system would make things go more smoothly. I guess I was never in a place where that happened, and now it’s too late.”

  “Why is it too late? You’re what? Thirty-two?”

  “Thirty-four.”

  “Still young enough to have a few more kids.”

  He took another bite of his burger. Wynn stared at her salad as she tried to absorb what he’d so casually pointed out.