Читать книгу The Christmas Gift - Darlene Gardner, Darlene Gardner - Страница 11

IN ALL HER YEARS OF caroling, Krista had never heard a more off-key rendition of “Silent Night.”

Not everybody in their group of eight was hitting sour notes. Krista, her mother and her grandmother could sing a little. Charlie Crosby had a pleasing baritone, Milo Costas was more or less on key and the neighbors who’d joined them were mainstays in the church choir.

That left Alex.

He was singing about sleeping in heavenly peace, confidently belting out the word peace so it sounded as though it had two syllables.

The elderly man and woman just inside the threshold had been smiling since they opened the door to a care basket and a choir. The man’s smile grew. He laughed. The woman poked him in the side with her elbow.

Mirth rose from Krista’s diaphragm, begging for release. She stopped singing and clamped her hand over her mouth. Her chest rose and fell in silent guffaws.

The song ended, and the couple applauded. The elderly man caught Krista’s eye and winked.

Alex was standing next to Krista at the rear of the group. He edged closer and whispered, “Are you and that man laughing at me?”

Krista removed her gloved hand from her mouth to issue a denial, leaving nothing to hold back the laughter. It burst forth, like a car horn. She swallowed it back, only half-successfully.

“No,” she said on a half giggle.

“Yes, you were.” Alex placed a hand over his heart. “I’m wounded.”

“You sounded like it when you were singing,” Krista quipped in a voice only loud enough for Alex to hear and broke into more laughter.

The flat line of Alex’s lips crinkled. Then he laughed, too.

“Shall we sing another carol?” Krista’s mother sent Krista and Alex a withering look. “Mr. and Mrs. Dombrowski enjoy the religious ones.”

Krista clamped her lips together. So did Alex. They exchanged a guilty look, and Krista felt about ten years old. She giggled again. Her mother looked more stern.

“Let’s do ‘Angels We Have Heard on High,’” Grandma Novak suggested.

Krista caught Alex’s eye and placed a shushing finger to her lips. “Not as loud this time. It’s okay to hear the angels, but not you,” she whispered.

“Smart aleck,” he said without heat.

With Krista’s mother directing frequent warning glances in their direction, Krista got through the carol without laughing. It helped that Alex took her advice and turned down the volume.

While the couple thanked them, Krista grabbed Alex’s hand. “Let’s get out of here before my mom has a chance to scold us. I know the way to the next house.”

Krista wasn’t so much afraid of her mother as she was eager for an adventure. Caroling had never been so much fun. “Faster,” she said over her shoulder, smiling at Alex.

He smiled back. He wore gloves and a brown winter jacket made of a fabric that retained heat. He was hatless, his thick black hair rustled by the wind. With his skin ruddy from the cold, he looked vital and alive.

For the hundredth time that day, Krista thought about what the blonde had said at the Christmas shop. Was it really possible that Krista had broken Alex’s heart? She couldn’t put much credence to it. Their relationship, however intense, had been too brief. Neither could she get the possibility out of her mind.

“Krista! Alex! Wait!”

They’d barely made it twenty yards down the sidewalk before Krista’s mother hailed them. She was securely wrapped in order to fend off the cold, with only her face showing through an ice-blue scarf. “What got into you two back there? The seniors want to hear you sing, not laugh.”

Krista remembered the delight in Mr. Dombrowski’s eyes when his gaze met hers. “I think Mr. Dombrowski liked it.”

“Only after you started to behave,” Krista’s mother said. “I know you haven’t been home in a long time, Krista, but you know how important this program is to your grandmother.”

Krista did know. Grandma had come up with the idea years ago to deliver holiday care baskets accompanied by Christmas carols to the elderly and shut-ins of the community. Grandma got lists of names and addresses of the willing from area senior centers and assigned caroling teams routes, with most of the stops within walking distance. This year, the Novaks’ group had five destinations.

“We’ll be good from now on.” Krista caught Alex’s eye and waggled her brows. “Won’t we, Alex?”

He did a nice job keeping a straight face. “We will.”

“You have to hold up your end of the bargain, too, Mom,” Krista said. “One house and then you go home.”

Her mom had only struck the deal after the Novaks threatened en masse to call off the caroling.

“I know your tricks, Krista Novak.” Her mother wagged a finger. “You’re trying to deflect attention from yourself. If you think that will work, you—”

“Look, there’s Rayna,” Krista interrupted, nodding toward her sister, who was walking toward them with the rest of the group. “Didn’t you say she was bringing her boyfriend, Mom?”

“Why, yes. Trey’s supposed to be with her.” Her mother’s forehead creased. “I’ll go find out what happened.”

She left Alex and Krista and headed for Rayna.

“Nice misdirection,” Alex said.

“Thank you.” Krista executed a little bow. “I learned that from my Grandma. Anytime Mom says something Grandma doesn’t like, Grandma changes the subject. That’s probably how she’s been able to live under the same roof with my mom all these years.”

“I think it’s because Grandma Novak doesn’t take herself too seriously.” Alex had resumed walking toward the next house on their list, and Krista fell into step beside him. “She keeps things in the house light.”

“You mean because my dad’s in a wheelchair?” Krista couldn’t hold back the question, both wanting to hear how her father was coping eight and a half years after the accident and not wanting to know. Except couldn’t she make an educated guess? Her father had been mostly sequestered in the office by himself since she arrived. That didn’t paint a picture of a well-adjusted man.

“Well, yeah,” he said, “but not only because your dad’s paralyzed. Rayna’s twenty-one going on thirty-one, and your parents…how can I say this…? They like to agree to disagree.”

Krista couldn’t have summed up her family more succinctly than that, especially Rayna. She didn’t know her sister well enough to make an astute observation.

“Diplomatically put,” she said.

“Eleanor and Joe don’t put anything diplomatically,” Alex said with a grin. “Used to freak me out until I caught on that was the way they interacted.”

It had taken Krista most of her childhood to reach that realization. “You know my family awfully well.”

“That happens when you live next door,” he said.

Even though he openly disapproved of her own dealings with her family, Krista couldn’t pass up this chance to find out more about her sister’s life. She already knew Rayna had five months of school left. It was the personal stuff that interested Krista more.

“Do you know what the deal is with Rayna’s boyfriend?” she asked. “Any guess why he didn’t show tonight?”

“Trey? It’s hard to sum him up. He’s a bit of a free spirit.”

“So he’s irresponsible?” Krista asked.

“More like irrepressible. It’s impossible not to like the guy. If there’s a good time to be had, Trey will find it,” Alex said. “But he’s not the caroling type.”

“Neither are you,” Krista pointed out.

“Hey, I come every year,” he said.

“Do you always sing so loud?”

“Pretty much. I fake confidence.” He laughed. “That’s what us guys do when we’re in over our heads.”

“Good thing I’m here to keep you in line,” Krista said.

“Oh, yeah. I just love having a woman around who’s blunt enough to tell me I sound like I’m dying.”

“Not dying—wounded,” Krista said. “The wounded have greater lung capacity.”

He threw back his head and let out another deep chuckle. Krista joined in. They’d laughed a lot in the past, too, including over the spilled poinsettias. She found it attractive that he didn’t take himself too seriously.

Grandma Novak caught up to them on the sidewalk with Charlie Crosby next to her. “We’re sticking with you two. You’re having more fun than everyone else.”

“It does the heart good to see a young couple enjoying each other,” Charlie remarked.

Krista shook her head. “We’re not a couple.”

“Really?” Charlie wore a long black coat with a top hat that might have looked foolish on anyone else. On Charlie, it looked dignified. “You’ve never been a couple?”

Krista exchanged a look with Alex, silently requesting help in how to handle the situation. He shrugged.

“Aha! I saw that look!” Grandma cried. “I knew something went on between you after the poinsettias dropped!”

“It was a long time ago, Grandma.” To Charlie, she clarified, “Eight years.”

Charlie tipped his top hat. “Bully for you for managing to keep the spark alive.”

Charlie could tell there was still fire between them? That could only lead to problems. “Alex and I didn’t keep in touch.”

“So the spark reignited?” Charlie asked.

“There is no spark,” Krista lied. She tugged on Alex’s arm. “Tell them, Alex.”

“No spark,” he agreed.

“Can both the lady and gentleman protest too much?” Grandma asked.

Krista was about to object more vigorously when her grandmother laughed. “You should see your face, Krista. We’re teasing!”

“I wasn’t,” Charlie stated. “I really think they look like a couple.”

The rest of the carolers were gaining on them. Krista expected her mother to be leading the way, demanding to know what they’d been discussing. Her mom, though, must have kept her word and returned home.

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Krista told Charlie with more levity than she felt.

At the next house, Milo was deputized to ring the doorbell because he carried the care basket corresponding to the address.

Alex stepped aside so his father could move to the front of the group. “It’s come to my attention that it’s better if I keep to the rear,” Alex remarked.

Milo patted his son on the shoulder. “Somebody finally told you that you can’t sing, huh?” He nodded at Krista. “Good girl.”

“I took it like a man,” Alex said. “Didn’t even cry.”

Krista grinned at him. Alex smiled back.

“You two are the cutest couple!” the neighbor lady who sang in the church choir remarked as she passed by with her husband to their rightful place at the front and center of the carolers.

“Did I hear right?” Rayna was the last to arrive. She addressed her question to Alex, not even glancing at Krista. “Do you and my sister have something going on?”

“Nope,” Alex said. “Not a thing.”

Krista listened to Alex’s casual denial with dismay. He seemed to think this troubling development was no big deal. If she were a member of just about any other family, she’d be inclined to agree. Priority number one was getting Alex alone so she could explain the precariousness of their situation.

It was either that or suffer through a couple days of hell.

ALEX HAD NEVER BEEN more glad for a song to be over.

The temperature seemed to have dropped at least ten degrees since they’d started caroling, although there was no sign of the snow that was in the forecast.

Grandma Novak had invited everybody to her house for hot chocolate and eggnog. The group made excellent time traveling the few blocks back to White Point Road, possibly because the wind was at their back.

“Mulled wine would be good, too,” Grandma remarked before she went into the house. “I know we have mulling spices but I’m not sure how much wine we’ve got.”

“We have some wine,” Alex offered. “I’ll stop by next door and get a bottle.”

“I’ll come with you,” Krista offered.

Alex wondered at her change of heart. Since they’d been mistaken for a couple, Krista had maneuvered to keep one caroler between them at all times.

“I’m anxious to see what Alex and his dad have done with the house. I used to play over there all the time when I was a kid.” Krista broadcast her reason as though she were a politician addressing an assembly. It gained her curious looks.

“We haven’t done much.” Milo stomped his feet and rubbed his hands to keep warm. “Why do you think we always hang out at your parents’ house?”

“Go on, you two.” Grandma Novak swept her right arm toward the house next door. “And take your time. There’s no rush on the mulled wine.”

The inside of the one-story ranch-style home where Alex lived with his father was nearly identical in layout to the Novaks’. A living room, kitchen and dining room accounted for one side of the house. A hall leading to the bedrooms and bathroom took up the other. The warmth from the radiator heating system made it feel cozy after the chill of the outdoors. Alex cocked an eyebrow at Krista’s scarf, hat and red winter coat.

“If you take all that off for the tour, you’ll just have to put it back on again,” he said.

“I’m not here for a tour!” Krista sounded as though she were stating the obvious when the situation was anything but.

“If I didn’t know better,” Alex said, slowly drawing out the words, “I’d think you were trying to get me alone.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Alex’s muscles tensed, and the temperature in the room seemed higher than it had mere moments ago. Was Krista finally following through on the hypothetical she’d posed in the car? Was she propositioning him?

“We need to put a stop to this couple nonsense straight away,” Krista said.

Alex felt like a fool. The entire caroling group knew he and Krista were alone in his house. Of course she hadn’t been about to propose they make wild, passionate love. “And here I thought you were open to the idea.”

“To having another fling! Not to being a couple! Can you imagine what my mother would make of that?”

Alex wasn’t looking to build a lasting relationship with Krista, either, but hearing her reject the idea so forcefully stung. “Hate to break this to you,” he said, “but you added fuel to the fire by insisting on coming over here.”

Alex headed for the rear of the house and the wine rack he’d had built into the cabinetry a few years back when they’d had the kitchen remodeled. He examined the selection, aware without turning that she was close behind him.

“How else could I get a private moment with you?” Krista asked. “We need to discourage people from thinking we’re an item.”

The twelve-bottle wine rack was half-full, with a number of different types of red wines represented. “Any idea what kind of wine is best for mulling?”

“What? No,” Krista said. “I don’t have the faintest idea.”

“Maybe a merlot.” Alex had a choice of two brands, pulled out the less expensive bottle and held it up to her. “I got this one at the grocery store. I’m no connoisseur but I wouldn’t put mulling spices in fine wine.”

“Neither would—” Krista stopped talking midsentence. “Why are we talking about wine? We’re wasting time. We need a strategy.”

She’d taken off her hat, the only concession to being indoors, and the static electricity in her hair caused it to frizz. Her nose, the one he disagreed was too long, was red from the prolonged exposure to the cold. So were her lips. She’d looked so put together since arriving that he enjoyed seeing her frazzled.

“Why?” he asked. “What does it matter what your mother thinks?”

“You know what she’s like, Alex,” Krista said. “She’ll use any means possible to get me to move back to Pennsylvania. If she believes we have something going, that’s leverage.”

“I still don’t get it,” he said. “If you know you’re staying in Prague, what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that she’ll make my life miserable!”

“So tell her there’s nothing going on,” Alex suggested.

“It’ll have to be the truth.” Krista touched him on the sleeve of his jacket. “This flirting we’ve been doing, it can’t go any further.”

“We’ve been flirting?” he asked.

“I have.” She squeezed his arm. “I can’t forget how great we were in bed together. You were there. You must remember, too.”

Oh, yeah. He remembered.

“The past is the past,” Alex said. “The present is a whole new ball game.”

“So you’re not attracted to me anymore?” she demanded.