Mary's Christmas Surprise (Christmas Holiday Extravaganza) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  Thank you

  You Can Help!

  God Can Help!

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  Mary’s Christmas Surprise

  Carol James

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Mary’s Christmas Surprise

  COPYRIGHT 2018 by Carol James

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or Pelican Ventures, LLC except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  eBook editions are licensed for your personal enjoyment only. eBooks may not be re-sold, copied or given to other people. If you would like to share an eBook edition, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

  Contact Information: [email protected]

  All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version(R), NIV(R), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

  Cover Art by Nicola Martinez

  White Rose Publishing, a division of Pelican Ventures, LLC

  www.pelicanbookgroup.com PO Box 1738 *Aztec, NM * 87410

  White Rose Publishing Circle and Rosebud logo is a trademark of Pelican Ventures, LLC

  Publishing History

  First White Rose Edition, 2018

  Electronic Edition ISBN 978-1-5223-0183-7

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To my friend Diane. My life was enriched by having known her. And to Beverly Parrish, gourd artist extraordinaire, for her artistic inspiration.

  1

  “I’m home!” Mary’s words echoed in the silent darkness of her parents’ house. Her announcement was living proof that, as Mom said, old habits die hard. For a few seconds, she’d forgotten no one was home.

  An excited bark sounded from the kitchen. Well, no one was home except Riley.

  Stepping into the foyer, Mary set down her suitcases, turned on the light, and then made her way into the kitchen as a playful yip greeted her.

  Riley was in his crate. On the counter, his leash and box of treats sat beside a piece of paper inscribed with the vet’s phone number and care instructions in Mom’s handwriting. So, maybe coming home would do some good after all. Keeping Ri crated while Mom and Dad were gone bordered on cruelty, but Mary understood. Leaving him at the kennel for weeks while they were on their anniversary trip would have cost a fortune. Tomorrow, Mary would call the neighbors and let them know she was home and could take over the Riley duties.

  She squatted and struggled to unlatch the door of the now rocking crate. Before she could pull the door open completely, seventy pounds of black lab bounded out, knocking her to the floor and covering her face with dog kisses. “Hey, buddy. I’ve missed you, too.” As she pulled him close, he nuzzled her shoulder and whimpered. At least one man in this world, besides Dad, loved her.

  “C’mon, Ri. Tonight and for the rest of the Christmas holiday, you’re bunking with me. No more sleeping in that jail.”

  ~*~

  Something startled her awake. Her bedroom door had been pushed open. She reached her hand out to Riley’s side of the bed. It was empty but still warm. Where was that dog? As she rolled out of bed and put on her robe, a series of rhythmic slaps sounded below. Someone, definitely not Riley, was walking across the tile floor in the foyer. An intruder. Anyone who’d been watching the house would know her parents had been gone for weeks. Her heart pounded, the blood throbbing in her ears. Dad had always said Riley would probably lick any burglar into submission. But Ri should have at least barked or whimpered with joy while he was doing it. She’d heard nothing. The truth rose up in her throat. Riley was probably drugged or dead somewhere.

  She grabbed her phone and tiptoed as lightly as possible toward the closet. After silently closing the door, she crouched in the far corner. Heart racing and fingers shaking, she managed to dial the police.

  “Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”

  “Someone’s broken into my house, and they’re still here. I think they’ve killed my dog,” she responded, her voice barely above a whisper. As the spoken words hit home, tears filled her eyes.

  “What’s your name, and where are you?” the operator asked, her voice steady.

  “Mary Sherman. I’m at 865 Saddle in a closet in the back bedroom upstairs.”

  “Good, Mary. Stay there. A patrol car’s been dispatched. Now describe yourself to me.”

  “What? I...”

  “So I can relay it to the officers.”

  “Dark brown hair, past my shoulders. Brown eyes. Five feet eight. About one thirty. Hurry! Please hurry!”

  “We will, Mary. I’ll stay on the phone with you until the officers arrive. Do you have any weapons?”

  Weapons? “No.”

  “Great, Mary. That’s perfect.”

  Maybe not. What if the police didn’t make it in time? What if he found her first? She absolutely needed a way to protect herself.

  In the far corner behind some prom dresses stood her old tennis racket. That would be her best choice of weapon should the intruder find her before the police arrived. She crawled over, sat, and placed it diagonally across her body. Some shield this would make, but it was better than nothing. She wouldn’t give in without a fight.

  “Mary, are you still there?”

  “Yes.” Her whole body trembled.

  “Good. You’re doing great. The officers are on your street, so they’ll be there any minute. For your safety, please stay where you are. They’ll come get you when everything is under control.”

  “OK.”

  The minutes seemed like hours before commotion rumbled downstairs and a familiar bark sounded. Tears she’d been holding back rolled down her cheeks. Riley was OK.

  “They’re here. Thanks so much.”

  “Good. Now stay on the—”

  She tapped “End” on her phone and waited. Maybe she should go downstairs. No. What if the criminal had overcome the police? She’d wait. Her fingers were numb from gripping her racket so tightly.

  A muffled voice sounded through the door. “Mary? It’s Officer Jenkins. You can come out now.”

  How did she know “Officer Jenkins” was actually a policeman? It could be the killer trying to find her. But then a murderer probably wouldn’t know her name. Unless he had stalked her all the way from the Atlanta airport. Her pounding heart jerked her entire body.

  “Mary? Are you OK?"

  She couldn’t spend the rest of her life—however short—in her closet. Please, Father... She opened the door and inched out into the bedroom. A policeman stood inside the doorway to the hall, his hand on his gun.

  “Drop the racket,” a voice hiding in the darkness behind her commanded.

  She jumped and did as she was told.

  “Hands on your head.”

  “What’s going on?” She struggled to keep her voice even as s
he complied.

  Ignoring her question, the officer in the doorway flipped on the light. “OK, Jake. Does she look familiar?”

  A tall man with longish, dark brown hair and an even darker lumberjack beard stepped into the room and stared at her in silence. With brows knit, he slowly shook his head. “No...wait, yes. Yes, she kind of looks like the girl in some pictures downstairs.”

  They thought she was the criminal? “Of course, they look like me! They are me! I’m not the intruder. He is! This is my parents’ house, and I’m the one who called nine-one-one. Someone please tell me what’s going on.”

  “Looks like there’s been a little mix-up,” the voice behind her chuckled. “We’ll be on our way, and ol’ Jake here can clear things up. I imagine he can answer any questions you have.”

  ~*~

  “Ol’ Jake” pulled a bag of coffee out of the canister next to the stove. “How about some decaf?” He opened the cabinet by the sink and grabbed a couple of mugs. He certainly knew his way around Mom’s kitchen.

  “Sure.” She was trying to appear calmer than she felt. This whole thing was unreal. Surely, any second now, she’d wake up and find herself upstairs in her bed.

  As she sat at the table, her reflection came into view in the back window. Her hair looked like a family of spiders had been weaving little webs and had gotten off course. She reached up and quickly tried to smooth the tangled mess.

  Riley padded over and placed his head in her lap. His eyes sparkled, and his tail wagged. Ri was a good judge of character, and nothing about this seemed to concern him. But the truth was that she had no idea who “Ol’ Jake” was or what he was doing in her parents’ house. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

  “Sorry about this whole thing.” Jake set the mugs on the table and slipped into the chair across from her. “I’m staying here, and it kinda freaked me out when the police came to the door and told me someone was hiding upstairs. I had no clue anyone was here. I mean, nothing was out of place in the house.”

  “Neatness is not grounds for arrest.” Even she could hear the defensiveness in her voice.

  “Neither is taking the dog out. And just in case you’ve forgotten, you were the one who called the police.”

  “But shouldn’t you have figured out something was up when Riley was loose?”

  “The other day, he pulled a Houdini and got out of his crate. I assumed I just hadn’t closed it right again.” He blew across his coffee and then took a sip. A slight smile crossed his face. “So-o-o-o, where’s your car? If I’d seen a vehicle in the driveway, I’d have known something was up.”

  “I took a cab from the airport,” she shot back.

  His eyes twinkled. They were hazel with golden flecks in them. “Gotcha.”

  She tasted the coffee. Some cinnamony-chestnutty blend. “Thanks for the coffee. It’s good.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Look, Jake. My parents didn’t expect me to come home for Christmas. Actually, I didn’t expect to either.” She glanced at the diamond engagement ring on her left hand. “It was kind of a last minute thing. Anyway, now that I’m here, there’s no need for you to stay. I’ll see that my parents pay you for the whole time when they get back. You can go home.”

  “I am home.”

  Surely, she hadn’t heard him correctly. This was, and always would be, her family’s house.

  He leaned back in the chair and smiled. “I’m renting the guest room from your parents.”

  No one had told her. “Mom and Dad would never rent out a room.” Unless there’d been some sort of financial disaster. Maybe Dad had lost his job. But no, they wouldn’t be on that cruise around the world if that were the case.

  “I moved to town about three months ago, and the pastor knew they had space and asked them if I could stay here until I find a place of my own. I was the one who insisted I pay rent.”

  “But now that I’m back, couldn’t you stay somewhere else temporarily?”

  Sipping his coffee, he stared at some point over her shoulder. “I guess I could stay at the shelter downtown.”

  The shelter? She wouldn’t wish that on anyone. The other choice was for her to rent a hotel room, and she didn’t have the money for that. So she couldn’t leave.

  But they couldn’t both stay in the same house. Or could they? When she was in college, she and Eric had shared an apartment simply for financial reasons. They’d been strictly friends, and it had worked out fine. The main difference was that she knew Eric from the student mission group. She didn’t know Jake. But Mom and Dad did, and they obviously trusted him. “OK, I have an idea.”

  “Shoot.” He took another sip of his coffee.

  “We’re adults. We can both stay here.”

  As coughing overcame him, his face reddened and his eyes filled. He’d gotten strangled.

  “Are you OK?” The last thing she wanted to do was run around the table and beat him on the back like Mom used to do when she was a kid.

  He held up a hand and nodded his head as the attack subsided. “That’s exactly why we can’t stay here. Because we’re both adults.”

  “No, listen. I’ll move downstairs to Mom and Dad’s room.” It had a private bath and a lock on the door. “And you can stay in the guest room upstairs.”

  “Mary, I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the number of reasons that’s a bad idea. You and I will know nothing’s going on, but no one else will.” He took a deep breath and then continued. “It’s really late, so I’ll stay tonight. But tomorrow, I’ll find someplace else.”

  2

  After pulling on some jeans, a sweater, and her pink fuzzy slippers, Mary ran a brush through her hair and twisted it into a knotted bun. The image staring back at her in the mirror was acceptable enough. And even if it weren’t, it would have to do. She was starving. The little bag of airline pretzels that had served as last night’s dinner were long gone. She unlocked the door, stepped into the foyer, and listened. The house was silent except for the whir of the heater fan. “Hello? Riley? Jake?”

  Silence greeted her.

  She shuffled into the kitchen. A plate covered with foil with a note beside it sat on the stove. I made a little too much for breakfast. Help yourself if you’re hungry. Riley’s with me.

  Of course Riley was with him. That dog had been with him since last night when Ri had pressed his nose to the crack under her parents’ bedroom door and whimpered until she’d finally let him out. He’d flown upstairs—to Jake’s room she presumed—and she hadn’t heard another peep out of him.

  As she lifted the foil, the comforting aroma of scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, and mushrooms along with bacon and toast greeted her, and her stomach responded with a rumble of gratitude. She microwaved the plate for a few seconds, poured a cup of the coffee he’d left warming, and then sat at the table. She could get used to this. Too bad he couldn’t stay.

  This morning she got it. Last night, when she’d suggested they both sleep here, her brain must have been oxygen deprived from the flight. Yet asking him to leave when he was paying rent felt cruel, although he’d been the one who’d insisted on leaving, not her. And that was really the only option. She had no other place to go. But then, neither did he.

  Bright winter sunlight shone through the kitchen window, reflecting off her engagement ring and painting little rainbows around the room. Their electric colors were a stark contrast to her gray mood. Being alone for Christmas was not what she’d planned. She’d had a place to go until last Friday. She was supposed to be in Aspen with Drew and his family right now. Until he’d decided to call off their engagement.

  At first, she’d tried to give back the ring, but he’d insisted she keep it for “all the trouble” he’d put her through. She’d agreed, but not for that reason. They’d broken up several times over the years—one other time right before Christmas. Then, Dad had muttered something about Drew not wanting to buy her a Christmas present. But Drew had always come back. Always. A
nd he’d come back this time, too.

  For now, though, here she was. She’d come home seeking the comfort of the familiar, the constant, the memories of Christmases past. But everything had changed. Mom and Dad were gone, a boarder was living in her childhood home. Even Riley wanted to be with someone else. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was the way she’d envisioned it a few days ago. She swallowed the urge to cry.

  The kitchen door opened and Riley bounded in with Jake right behind him.

  “Morning. I see you found the break—” Jake stopped, a shadow of concern replacing his morning smile. “I, uh... Are you OK?”

  Mom had always said that Mary trying to hide her feelings was as effective as using a clear, plastic shower curtain as draperies. Her face always betrayed her heart. “Sorry. Yes, I’m OK. Just tired.” She forced a smile.

  As he sat across the table from her, warmth replaced the concern. “Oh, good. Not good that you’re tired. Good that it wasn’t me. I thought it might have been something I did. That maybe you were vegan or something and hated the breakfast.”

  His comment was obviously an attempt to lighten the mood, so she followed suit. “Nope, I’m a Texas girl through-and-through. Although I’m still a little tired from last night. Not only was it unbelievably late, but it was also emotionally draining. You know, practically getting arrested in my own home and all.”

  “Now let me make sure I remember everything correctly. Who exactly called the police?” As he grinned, his gaze captured hers, and the golden flecks in his eyes sparkled.

  Enough moping around. It was decision time. She could become a casualty of circumstance, or she could get going and do something about it. “Well, it certainly wasn’t the intruder.”

  “I think we should call it a draw and just leave it at that.”

  She took a bite of the eggs. “These are delicious, Jake. Thanks so much.”