Christmas Miracles Page 7

  “Yes? You did ring the bell, didn’t you?” Judy put her hand on the door as if she was about to close it.

  “Go ahead. I’m not going anywhere,” Dax murmured lovingly.

  Dax’s warmth seeping into her, Tiffany found her courage. She stepped forward and said softly, “It’s me. Tiffany, your old friend.”

  Judy’s eyes went blank, then she hastily started to wheel backwards. “I remember you, but you weren’t my ‘friend’. Go away, and don’t darken my door again, traitor.”

  Damn! Tiffany knew her string of luck had been too good to hold. Maybe this was the penance she had to pay. She sucked in more air as a knot twisted in her gut. “Judy, please listen. I’ve come to beg your forgiveness and offer my help, like I should have done years ago. Only I was scared you’d reject me.”

  “You were right to be scared. I’m rejecting you. Now, get off my property and don’t come back. You were obviously never my friend, and I don’t know how you imagine you could help me.” The other woman went to slam the door.

  Dax stuck his foot in the way, and the door bounced off it. “Please, let Tiffany apologise properly. We really do want to help and to make amends.”

  Judy looked him up and down with interest. “Who are you? Her husband?”

  “Almost,” Dax admitted and wound his arm around Tiffany and drew her against him. “This wasn’t easy for Tiffany to come here.”

  “It’s not easy on me, either. I hoped never to lay eyes on you again. Please go. You’re making me feel bad. I don’t want you here.”

  Tiffany’s heart broke, and she wanted to leave as Judy begged and put an end to this nightmare. She knew she didn’t deserve three Christmas miracles, but God, had she ever hoped. Anything could happen at Christmas when one wanted it badly enough, and she wanted this so badly her heart cried. But she decided to be thankful for the two miracles she’d been granted, and she’d learn her lesson for the future.

  Tiffany remembered the check in her pocket and pulled it out. She held it out to the other woman. “This is for you. I know it doesn’t make up for anything, but if it can help pay medical expenses or for house repairs, groceries, anything, I want you to have it.”

  Judy batted the check out of Tiffany’s hand, and it landed in a snow drift at the bottom of the stairs. “You don’t owe me a blasted thing. I don’t want your blood money. Take it, take your mockery and go. And don’t come back. I’ll call the cops on you next time for trespassing.”

  Tiffany’s heart sank, and she hung her head. She felt bad for putting Judy through this, and she damned herself and the ghost for giving her the idea.

  “Tell me,” Dax said as he went after the check and handed it back to Tiffany. “Are you still mad at Tiffany for not telling your mother what you were doing or because she couldn’t handle what you were doing?”

  The check scorched Tiffany’s hands as if it had been dipped in acid. She’d known this would probably happen, but she’d prayed not. Now that it had, she slipped it in her pocket and knew she’d have to go to plan B and just be a silent benefactress, helping behind the scenes.

  Judy’s jaw dropped a notch. After a pregnant pause, she muttered, “Everything. Mostly, because she deserted me.” She turned back to Tiffany. “After all those years of being ‘best friends’, you just dropped me like I meant nothing to you, like I was trash. Well, I’m not garbage…”

  Tiffany gasped. “I didn’t think that. I didn’t feel that way. I was scared, scared of what you were doing to yourself and of getting caught up in something illegal.”

  “So you left me there to drown in drugs. Some friend.” Judy harrumphed and jutted up her chin. Her fingers clawed at the arms of her chair.

  “I know better now, but then, I was a kid. I was only seventeen. I didn’t know what to do. I thought I was helping you by not telling your mom. God, now I wish I had, that I’d made you get treatment. I’m older now, and I know better. If I could go back, I would.”

  “Well, you can’t. No one can. Don’t you think I would if I could? That I’d do things differently? But we can’t. Not a one of us.” Bitterness trembled in Judy’s voice, a bitterness of long-standing heartache that ripped at Tiffany’s very soul.

  “I’d like you to be my maid of honour, if you change your mind before our wedding.” Tiffany wanted to bite back the words the minute she’d spoken them. She hadn’t meant to say them aloud. She hadn’t come here with that thought at the front of her mind. But then, from the time she’d been little, she’d always presumed Judy would be her maid of honour. It had just sort of popped out.

  Judy’s face flushed bright red. “Why? Because you have no other friends? You have to scrape the barrel with me? Well, no thanks. I’m not that desperate for friends.”

  “Not at all. I have other bridesmaids.” Thank God for Terri and her family. And for Gillian. She knew without a doubt Terri and Gillian would stand up with her, would wish her well and would always be there for her, as she’d be there for them.

  She felt a pang for her childhood buddy’s obvious anguish. She could feel it in each bitter word the other woman spoke. Judy was obviously in need of a friend, but she couldn’t force a friendship.

  “I understand,” she whispered. “I’m sorry we bothered you. I really do want to be friends. If you change your mind…” She handed Judy her business card with her cell phone number on it.

  “Yeah. Right. Have a happy life!” Judy slammed the door.

  Refusing to cry where Judy could see her, Tiffany choked back tears but clutched Dax’s hand so hard she feared she’d crush his fingers as they trudged through the snow back to his car. “I deserved that,” she muttered as she groped for the door handle.

  “No, you didn’t. We all deserve forgiveness, especially at Christmas time.” Dax drew her into his embrace, shielding her from the falling snow that had left half an inch of powder on the car and was now whitening his hair. He feathered a kiss across her cheek and filled her with a warmth that chased away the bitter cold.

  “Christmas is over. The magic’s gone,” she muttered, missing the magic already, dreading the letdown she always felt in January after all the festivity died down and the humdrum of normal life resumed.

  “Not until the Epiphany, it isn’t?” Dax pulled her closer still and wrapped her inside his coat. “Christmas isn’t over for big Italian families until we’ve celebrated our last, big Christmas meal. You’re coming with me, by the way, and I’m going to introduce you to the entire crew. I can’t wait for you to meet them.”

  Tiffany shivered but not from the cold. “Just how big is your big Italian family?”

  “Big enough. You’ll love them. You’ll have a whole mess of bridesmaids.”

  “If they’re anything like you, I’m sure I will.” She gazed up at her fiancé with love and adoration, feeling a little of the sting of Judy’s rejection fade. Another thought struck her and her eyes widened. “They don’t know about us from before, do they? They won’t blame me for anything, will they?”

  “No. They’ll love you as much as I do. I have no doubts.”

  “Wait! Don’t go!” Judy’s voice sliced through the whipping wind.

  Tiffany’s heart jumped, and she whirled around in Dax’s arms, hope sparking in her chest when she caught sight of Judy wheeling herself onto her porch. “Do you think she changed her mind?”

  He nibbled at her lower lip. “Maybe.”

  “Anything can happen at Christmas.” She liked the idea of stretching out Christmas love and magic until Three Kings Day, or as he called it, the Epiphany.

  “Let’s go see what she wants.” He withdrew his coat from her and fit his hand into the small of her back.

  She didn’t mourn the warmth for she was suddenly warm inside when she started towards Judy. Together she and Dax retraced their steps through the snow, their former trail already filling with powder. “Yes?”

  Tears slid down Judy’s cheeks. “I didn’t mean to be so harsh with what I said. I’m just a mise
rable old soul, and you caught me off-guard. I never dreamed I’d see you again. Please come in.”

  Tiffany’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked to Dax who smiled into her eyes. “Go for it.”

  “Can I still be a bridesmaid?” Judy looked down at herself with a grimace. “I mean, in a wheelchair? I’ll need help up the steps.”

  “We’re friends, aren’t we? Of course, we’ll help you with anything you want. Even when you don’t want it but need it. Deal?” She held out the check again. “I really, truly want you to have this. I know it won’t cover all your needs forever, but it could help for awhile.”

  Judy sucked her lip into her mouth and stared at the check. Finally, she accepted it, folded it and put it in her pocket. Then her gaze focused on Tiffany, and she gave her a dazzling smile. She thrust out her hand. “You’ve got it. Deal.”

  Dax put his hand over theirs. “Count me in, too.”

  “Already did,” Tiffany said, and she blew him a kiss full of love and promise.

  “What are you waiting for? Come in from the cold, and we’ll have some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies.”

  “Do you have the little miniature marshmallows your mother always put in?” Tiffany’s mouth watered from the memories of happy Christmases of their youth, rather than from the scrumptious tastes.

  Judy winked. “Would I serve you anything else? I know how much you love those.”

  As they entered the house which was a little more worn, but otherwise the same as Tiffany remembered, she thought she felt another presence and saw a shadow quickly disappear around the corner. Intuition told her it was the Ghost of Christmas Past, and it also assured her that everything had been set right.

  Dax sat on a chair and pulled her onto his lap, curled his arms around her waist, and coaxed her to lean back against his warmth. “I love you with all my heart,” he whispered against her ear.

  Her heart sang for joy, and she snuggled closer as she accepted a cheery mug from her friend. She held it out in a toast, “To Christmas miracles, love, and friendship.”

  Their mugs clanged in midair as they echoed her. She took a sip of the heavenly brew then kissed Dax. “How about a Christmas wedding, mister?”

  He scowled, but then his brow unfurrowed. “Only if you mean Christmas as in ‘this’ Epiphany. I refuse to wait another day to be together.”

  Her heart melted. She squealed and almost spilled her hot chocolate before she remembered it was still in her hands. After she set down their mugs, she flung herself into his arms and not caring who was watching, or that the Epiphany was only two days hence, gave him a Christmas kiss full of love, devotion and promise.

  About the Author

  When Ashley Ladd was 16, she made a wish to live in the paradise known as South Florida. She got her wish and for the past twenty years has lived her dream with fun in the sun.

  She’s held many jobs besides romance diva, including accountant, customer service manager, and waitress, but the most notable is her stint in the US Air Force. Thus, this story, like several of her others, features sexy military heroes and heroines, living the adventure she knows and loves. Her only regret is that she can’t meet the real life Captain Kirk and travel through space with him, thus she has created her own sexy space captain with whom to romp and love through the universe.

  Email: Chinara@aol.com

  Ashley loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.

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