Chapter Three
Brooke
After Eric left, I cleaned up the kitchen then rubbed my hands together as I started to snoop around. He said I could, so I didn’t feel too guilty.
I hadn’t really gotten a chance to check things out the night before. Besides. If I was spending another night. I needed to know who I was dealing with. A girl had to be sure. Right?
The living room was nice. Photographs on the wall. An older couple and two teenagers. Eric and his sister I thought. He looked good. He must have been popular in High School. The kind of guy who the girls whispered about. Each of them wishing he would pick them.
The bookcase was surprising. Everything from Jordan Peterson’s Map of Meaning to Churchill’s volumes on World War II. The lower shelves were filled with Science fiction and an entire shelf held a long line of Louise L’amour westerns.
A guy’s bookshelf I realized.
The small tree in the corner looked like it had been decorated by a spastic imbecile. The ornaments were hung haphazardly with big gaps and the tinsel had been draped in clumps. It made me smile to realize the man wasn’t perfect.
The biggest surprise was the workroom.
I opened the door hesitantly, afraid of what I might find. I anticipated either a car engine sitting in the middle of the room. Either that or a torture chamber out of Fifty Shades of Gray.
Of course, he surprised me once again.
He used the room for carving wood. A workbench along the far wall held a hundred different hand tools each of them hung symmetrically on a pegboard.
He couldn’t decorate a Christmas tree, but his tools were meticulously cared for.
A partially finished wooden owl sat on the workbench staring at me. I gasped as I realized how well it was done. Each curve, each cut brought the wood alive.
I twisted and examined the room to find several more pieces in different stages of completion. A unicorn that made me smile. A bear looking as if he wanted to eat me for lunch.
Eric was good, I realized. Very good. Who was this man?
Taking a deep breath, I felt something shift inside of me. Again, he had surprised me. As I left the room I turned again and looked at the owl and slowly shook my head.
I was leaving in a day or two. I reminded myself. The one thing I had learned long ago was not to get attached. To never let my heart get crushed. But as I looked at the wooden bird staring back at me, I thought it might be too late already.
It was going to hurt when I left, and I needed to start putting up my defenses now.
The rest of the morning drug by as I waited for Eric to return. I ignored the TV, I knew it would be filled with Christmas movies. I made it a practice to avoid such things. They had a habit of tearing me up inside.
Around Eleven I started pawing through my case as I tried to figure out what to wear. Finally, I settled on a floral dress that sort of looked festive. I took a shower then realized he didn’t have a hairdryer. How as that possible?
Mine was in my big case back in my car.
Finally, I had my hair looking halfway decent. I got dressed, then sat on the couch in his living room and waited.
The sound of someone pulling into the driveway made me jump up as my heart began to race.
Eric stepped into the house and froze. His eyes traveling over me as a smile slowly crossed his face. My heart skipped a beat. He liked what he saw. All that work had been worth that simple smile.
His hands were dirty, and he had a smudge of oil above his right eye. He looked tired, I realized. He’d been working on and off all night. Brooke, I told myself. Of course, he’s tired.
“Let me grab a shower and we’ll be off,” he said without taking his eyes from mine.
I nodded as I put my hands behind my back, suddenly terrified I would reach out to touch him.
When he came out a few minutes later it was my turn to freeze. Boy the man cleaned up nice. He wore a blue button-down shirt, open at the neck. With slacks and dress shoes and a big silver watch that made him look delicious.
“You ready?” He asked as he grabbed a sports coat from the hall closet.
All I could do was stare as my insides grew soft. The man was too sexy. How was I possibly going to keep my hands to myself? Especially around his sister and her family.
He had exchanged the tow truck for a pick-up. I shot him a quick glance and raised an eyebrow.
“Billy is on call, I left the truck at the shop.”
I nodded. Of course. He wouldn’t want to be pulled away from his sister’s dinner.
“Are you sure this is all right?” I asked. “I mean, me coming. Christmas is for families.”
He laughed as he opened my door. “It’s not that big a deal Brooke. Believe me, things will be fine.”
I tried to force myself to relax. He was right, it wasn’t that big a deal. But somehow, deep down inside I felt that it was as I put way too much importance into it.
Eric drove through town and down a back road until he pulled into a long driveway. His sister’s house was tucked back in among the trees. Multi-colored Christmas lights had been strung along the edges and each window was ringed in white twinkling lights.
It looked so pretty. So homey. So perfect. My heart lurched with regret and loss.
As we got out, Eric pulled two bags from the back with wrapped presents. My heart shuddered.
“I thought this was just supposed to be dinner. I didn’t know you were exchanging presents.”
He laughed. “It’s Christmas. These are for Sally’s kids.”
Eric opened the front door without knocking and yelled, “Sally, I’m here and I brought a guest.”
The inside matched the outside. A warm welcoming front room filled to the max with Christmas decorations and a huge tree. The delectable scent of ham, pies, and a dozen other aromas greeted me.
A woman of about thirty five stepped around the corner drying her hands on a dish towel. She smiled at her brother then saw me and hesitated for just the briefest moment before smiling even wider with surprise.
My insides scrunched up. He hadn’t called her ahead of time, I realized as a strong urge to punch him in the shoulder washed over me.
“Hello,” she said as she pulled her brother in for a quick hug.
A tall slim man about her age stepped out of the kitchen with a carving knife and frowned slightly.
Eric hugged her like he actually liked her, then stepped back and introduced me as he explained why I was there.
I felt like a silly idiot, but Sally pulled me into a quick hug and said, “oh, you poor dear. Getting stuck like that. And on Christmas.” She slowly guided me into the house as three children raced into the room.
“Uncle Eric,” the screamed as he was mobbed with more hugs.
“These are the rug rats I was telling you about,” Eric said to me with a smile as he looked down at them with obvious love.
“This is Erin, the oldest,” he said as he indicated a young girl of about thirteen. “And this is Jeff,” he added as he ruffled the hair of a ten-year-old towhead. “And this little one is Jenny,” He said as he pulled an elfin blond five-year-old up into his arms for a special hug.
Jenny hugged her uncle and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “Did you bring us presents?” she asked.
He laughed as he nodded towards the bags at his feet.
My heart melted. He was good with kids. Okay, back and in the perfect category. Cooked, rescued damsels in distress, and liked kids. Thank god he couldn’t decorate a tree or he’d be too perfect.
“Give them a minute, guys,” Sally said as she shook her head. I could tell how much she loved them just by the way she looked at them. A caring lioness.
Little Jenny took my hand and pulled me towards the tree.
“Are you Uncle Eric’s girlfriend?” she asked innocently.
My stomach squeezed into a small ball as I stammered.
Eric laughed. “No, sweetie. We are just friends.”
I felt some semblance of normalcy return as I thought about what he said. I’d barely known the guy for a day, but he was right. I did sort of feel like a friend. Of course, deep down inside I wanted more. But I had the good sense to shut that emotion down before it had a chance to grow.
Sally pulled me away from little Jenny and into the kitchen.
“Is there anything I can help with?” I asked as I looked at all the food on the counters.
“No, not really. We are almost done,” she laughed. “Eric has a special talent for showing up just as the food is about to be served.”
“Are you guys talking about me,” he said as he came up behind us, making me jump.
“Yes,” Sally said as she told him to go keep her husband Jake company.
Once he was gone, Sally turned to me as her face grew serious. “Is everything okay. Do you need anything? I mean getting stuck on Christmas Eve. Is your family worried?”
A sharp pain shot through my heart. “There is no one to worry. So, no big deal. And yes, I am fine. Thanks to your brother, otherwise I’d have frozen to death by the side of the road.”
Sally studied me for a long minute then relaxed. “Well, if you need anything, you let me know.”
The dinner was wonderful. A true family Christmas dinner. Teasing and laughing. I sat back and watched the interaction between them. Shared history, I realized. Something I had never really had.
The closeness and ease between each of them was special I realized as my heart broke. So special. Would I ever have something like this? How could I build this? I’d never known it.
As we cleared the last of the dishes, young Erin smiled at me and whispered. “I like you, you can date my Uncle.”
I coughed, “We are just friends. He’s helping me out.”
She frowned and said, “he likes you, I can tell.”
My heart jumped while I forced myself to pretend I wasn’t screaming with joy inside. God, it was like I was back in high school and we were two girls behind the bleachers talking about boys.
I don’t know what I would have said but Eric chose that moment to break out the bags of presents.
“Who wants their present?” He said. A pang of shame and regret flowed through me. I hadn’t brought anything. How could I have been so stupid?
Sally shook her head at her brother as she turned and glanced at the pile of dishes in the sink. Then she shrugged and smiled as she followed her screaming kids out into the living room.
“We had our family Christmas this morning,” Sally whispered to me. “This is sort of the icing on the cake for the kids. Although they are already spoiled too much.”
“I don’t know if it’s possible to spoil kids too much on Christmas,” I replied. She looked at me strangely for a moment then nodded as she slipped her arm into mine and pulled me to a better observation point.
Eric sat in a chair and handed Erin a present. Little Jenny frowned but her brother Jeff nudged her. “You know the rule, Oldest first,”
Jenny continued to pout.
Eric smiled at her as he tapped his knee, she shot across the room and jumped up onto his lap. He whispered something to her and she laughed.
Young Erin glanced at the tag on the present then said, “Thank you, Uncle Eric, and Brooke.”
I frowned until I realized that Eric had added my name to the presents. My heart melted. He shot me a quick smile. I mouthed the words ‘Thank You’ then turned to watch Erin open her present.
She pulled the paper back and squealed as she pulled out a new cell phone. She immediately checked with her mother who smiled back and nodded.
“He talked us into it.”
Erin squealed again as she ran across the room to give her uncle a hug.
Jeff received a Star Wars Lego set and Little Jenny a Barbie set. Then Eric pulled out a second present and gave it to her. The little girl smiled up at her uncle as she opened it. She froze then smiled widely as she pulled out a beautifully carved wooden horse.
“For my collection,” she said as she stared at the horse with wide eyes then wrapped her hands around his neck and gave him another hug.
My heart ached as a tear formed in the corner of my eye. Hallmark Christmases were real, I realized.