This Christmas (9 page)

M
eeting a woman’s parents for the first time was usually enough to make Jake’s palms sweat. He was all about the good first impression, but he didn’t know if that would be possible today.

Granted, he already knew Sabrina’s parents, but the last time he saw them was ten years ago, as Ryan’s friend. Enza and Ed had been great to him, giving him a place to stay and making him feel like one of the family. Of course, that was before he left their daughter pregnant.

Jake could rationalize all he wanted that Bree had kept Charlie from him—that part of it wasn’t his fault—and he was pissed about it, but he couldn’t shake the guilt he had for leaving her in the first place. Not necessarily because of the pregnancy, but because he’d hurt her so badly when he shouldn’t have. He’d believed Sydney, he’d supported Sydney, but he should have stayed with the woman who had changed the game for him.

He walked up to the front door, tugged at his shirt cuffs, and rang the bell. He felt like he was going on a first date, rather than seeing his daughter. Thinking about it though, that was kind of what it was. He and Charlie were bound by blood and hockey, but they didn’t know each other. He didn’t know what seeing his daughter would be all about. He wanted to know everything about her. It was going to take time; he got that, but today was a first step.

He heard a dog barking and a clatter of footsteps behind the door, which finally opened revealing a beautiful girl with a smile just for him.

Charlie stood there with a medium-sized, white dog wiggling next to her. The dog had reddish brown spots and the face of a retriever, including the big, friendly retriever smile.

“Hi!” she said, a little breathless. “Hi.”

“Hey.” She really did look just like Sabrina, with her long dark hair, big olive colored eyes, and a bright smile, but it was what he saw in her gaze and smile that reminded him so much of her mother. It was the intelligence, the sense there was always something cooking inside her head.

She was a little more dressed up than he expected, wearing a sweater dress in Mariner’s blue with tights and little flat shoes. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, with an orange bow. She had the team colors covered, but a little differently than he expected.

“You look very nice,” he said as he stepped into the foyer.

“Uncle Ryan said we might be sitting with your boss, so Nona thought I should dress up.” The dog, who she’d called Holly, was sitting by her side. It was obviously a friendly pooch, but something told him the dog would rip off his arm if he made an unexpected move.

“We are going to be sitting in the owner’s box, but you can wear anything you want. Are you comfortable in that?” He didn’t care what she wore; just that he was getting to spend time with her.

“Uh, huh. I like it. Everyone thinks because I like sports, I don’t like to dress up, but I do.”

“Okay then. Is your mom here?”

“No, she had a patient come in at the last minute. She should be here soon, though.”

“She’s actually on her way.”

Jake glanced up to respond to whoever had spoken to see he was locked in Vincenza Gervais’ sights. The woman was about Bree’s height, which meant maybe she was five-one on a good day, a little rounder than Bree, but she had the same dark hair and piercing hazel eyes as her daughter and granddaughter.
Please don’t let me screw this up.
“Hello, Mrs. Gervais. It’s nice to see you.”

“Jake.” She came toward him with her hand extended. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Could he call her on that? There was no way she was happy to see him. She probably wanted to feed him to the fishes.

He decided to play along, shaking her hand and smiling, especially since Charlie was watching. “Does Bree want us to wait for her? We have a few minutes.”

“You do? Wonderful. I’m sure she’d like to see you both before you go.” She turned and motioned for him to follow. “Come back to the kitchen. We’re doing some baking.”

Bree’s mom smiled warmly. Maybe things were okay. It had been a long time, after all.

“Nona doesn’t like you.” Charlie spoke barely above a whisper as she took his hand and they trailed after her grandmother.

There was his reality check.

“How can you tell?” If a nine-year-old could pick up the signals, he figured he was in real trouble.

“She’s using her lawyer voice. That’s never good.”

“Her lawyer voice... great,” Jake mumbled as he followed, taking stock of the place he hadn’t been in ten years.

He’d always thought this was a great house. It was big, but still felt like home; not an easy feat when the place could double as a small inn. He took in the family pictures that lined the walls and stopped at a table which was filled with shots of Charlie and Bree. Even more than the photo album, this showed him all the things he’d missed, and the lump that formed in his throat was like nothing he’d experienced in his life. He picked up one of the frames, one of mother and daughter at Christmas. Both wore red dresses, and Jake wished he could have been there.

“That’s my first Christmas.”

She would have been six months old. “I can’t get over how much you look like her.”

“Poppy calls me Mini-Bree.”

Jake laughed at the name. “Really? I think it fits.” He placed the frame back on the table and as they got to the end of the hall, he heard a burst of female laughter from the kitchen.

Crap.

“Who’s here?”

Charlie took a deep breath before she answered. “Other than Nona? Aunt Jade, Aunt Cass, Aunt Kara, and Aunt JoJo. Poppy went to the store for more butter.”

He was a dead man walking, even without Bree’s father there. Charlie started into the room and Jake’s feet wouldn’t move. She tugged on his hand and Jake swallowed. He could wait in the hall. Or the car. Yeah, he could wait in the car, couldn’t he?

“Is something wrong?” she asked. Charlie’s eyes were wide, and he didn’t know how to tell her that her old man was afraid of a roomful of women. But she knew. Like Sabrina, Charlie could read him like a book.

“Don’t be worried,” she said sweetly. “I’ll be right there.”

If Jake didn’t love this little girl just because he and Bree had made her, that moment would have sealed it. She was sweet, she was brave, and she had a heart of gold. Jake did the only thing that felt right; he went down on one knee and pulled her into a hug.

His daughter didn’t hesitate. Charlie wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours, so much had been dredged up, but if he knew anything, it was that he was never going to leave them again.

“I wished for you,” Charlie whispered. “Every year at Christmas.”

Jake leaned back and saw the smile on his little girl’s face was coupled with a few tears. Using the pad of his thumb he gently brushed them away. “Well, this Christmas, the wish came true.”

Charlie nodded before she looked down. “I have something I need to ask you.”

“Okay.”

“At school, um, there’s a father-daughter holiday dance. Usually Poppy or Uncle Ryan would take me, but I want to know if you would go with me?”

“When is it?”

There wasn’t a question in his mind whether he would be there. She told him the date, and once he cleared a couple of things off the calendar, he’d be all hers. “You have yourself a date.”

Charlie hugged him again and he didn’t know if there was a better feeling. Once they stepped back from each other, he smiled. “You’re going to protect me from the angry mob in there?”

“They aren’t a mob.”

He noticed she didn’t say they weren’t angry and he grinned. “Let’s go.”

When he stepped into the kitchen, the conversation stopped dead. Mrs. Gervais smiled politely, and Jade, who he’d sort of met last night, greeted him with a nod. The other three were unknown. There was another blonde, gorgeous and very pregnant, and a pretty brunette. The older of the women shot Sabrina’s mother a look that elicited a shrug, and he guessed wordless conversations were par for the course when women were friends for as long as these ladies had been. He remembered Bree telling him about her mother’s sorority sisters, how they and their children were really like her extended family. The four women, who had met at university over thirty-five years ago, had almost a dozen children between them, including five girls who were very close in age. They were Sabrina’s posse and the pretty, dark-haired woman who was walking toward him looked at him like he was dog food. He reminded himself, all he had to do was be polite.

She stuck out her hand. “I’m Cassandra Baines.”

“Jake Killen.”

“Oh, we know who
you
are,” the older woman snapped.

Cassandra shot her a look. “That’s my mother, Joanne, and this is Jade Engle and Kara Larsen.”

Jade waved and sipped at a mug of cocoa. Jake was thinking if Bree didn’t get there soon, he could sure use a sip of something, but it needed to be stronger than hot chocolate.

The tension in the room was enough to cut off his air. He felt like an ambush was coming and coming soon. Charlie jumped up on one of the stools at the kitchen island near where Cass and Jade were rolling out dough.

“Aunt Cass, why do you always wear black?” Charlie grabbed a couple of M&M’s from a bowl and popped them in her mouth. Jake didn’t know if Bree’s friend always dressed in black, but standing in the brightly lit, cheerfully decorated kitchen, she looked very New York and a little out of place in her black sweater and pants.

“I don’t always wear black,” Cass said.

“Yes, you do.” Charlie deadpanned. “That or grey.”

Cass rolled her eyes. “Noted. I’ll try to remember to wear pink or something next time.”

“I have a nice Christmas sweater that would fit you,” her mother said.

“I’d pay money to see you in that, Cass.” Kara chuckled.

“Not a chance,”

“Please?” Jade whined. “You need to do something fun.”

Jake was having a good time keeping up with the banter. It was a female version of the trash talk he shot at his teammates—without the profanity.

“Perhaps another time,” Cass responded. “I am a serious academic, after all, hence why I suppose I gravitate toward black.”

“You should have thought about it today,” Charlie crooned. The little smirk that teased at her lips made Jake wonder what she was up to. “Black was not a good choice.”

“What? Why?” Cass glanced down at her sweater and her eyes narrowed at Charlie.

“You have flour on your boobs,” Charlie’s giggle was infectious, but Jake could not laugh at the boob joke. He couldn’t. He’d be dead if he did. So he bit his tongue and thought about the slow, painful death that would follow if he broke.

“Charlotte! That is not appropriate talk!” Okay, the kid got the full name treatment. Nona wasn’t happy.

Charlie didn’t seem concerned that her grandmother was horrified, raising her eyebrows and pointing. “But look! She does!”

Jade nodded. “Kind of like snow-capped mountains. Reminds me of home.”

“Kara’s bump has flour on it, too,” Cass cried. “What about that?”

Jade chuckled. “Yes, but her bump looks cute, like a cupcake. Your’s looks a little obscene.”

Cass tossed a handful of flour at Jade, who then retaliated, and Charlie quickly retreated to Jake’s side. All the women were talking at once and not one of them cared he was there. The pressure was off. He leaned toward his girl, who was smiling at the chaos a few feet away. “Did you do that on purpose?”

She shrugged, but the self-satisfied look that crossed her face told him all he needed to know.

“When you’re sixteen,” he said just loud enough so she could hear, “Whatever car you want, is yours.”

Jake stepped back into the hall to avoid having his suit covered in flour. The scene in the kitchen was calming down, but Charlie was still giggling at the mayhem she’d incited. Mrs. Gervais and the woman Charlie called Aunt JoJo were yelling at the younger women and, he had to admit, they did look like they were having a great time. It was no wonder Charlie was such a sweet kid; she had a lot of good influences. There was a mischievous streak, no doubt, but she’d obviously been raised with a lot of love.

Without warning, he felt a large hand clamp down on his shoulder. He turned to see the unsmiling face of Ed Gervais glaring at him. The man was huge, a former All-American offensive lineman in college, he was a practicing pediatrician. Jake could only imagine what his small patients thought of the big man, but based on what Bree used to tell him, Dr. Ed was beloved by one and all.

He didn’t look very lovable right at that moment. No, Dr. Ed, with his broad shoulders, barrel chest, and hands the size of snow shovels, was looking at Jake like he was a dirty lowlife. “Charlie, honey, go sit in the living room while I talk to Jake.”

Not “your dad” or “your father” just “Jake.” Nice.

Charlie was about to object, but Jake stopped her. “Do what your grandfather asked, Charlie. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She nodded and headed toward the front of the house, while Jake was steered into a room down the hall. It was Ed’s office and it was as masculine as the man who took the control position behind the desk. Wood paneling, sports prints, diplomas from Ivy League universities... Jake had been playing pro sports for thirteen years and he knew when an opponent was trying to intimidate him. It was unfortunate for Bree’s father that Jake didn’t intimidate easily.

Ed motioned for him to sit in one of the leather chairs on the opposite side of the desk and he obliged him, crossing his legs when he sat.

“I’m going to get right to the point, Jake. I don’t like that you’re here. You took advantage of my daughter, you changed her life in ways you can’t possibly imagine, and you hurt her. I don’t trust you.”

“I can understand your mistrust, but I didn’t take advantage of your daughter.”

“She was eighteen and you were twenty-five. How do you figure that? Then you left her to raise a child on her own.”

“Dr. Gervais, Sabrina didn’t tell me about Charlotte and you are well aware of that. I found out yesterday. While I’m sorry for what Sabrina went through, I would have been there for her and Charlie had I known.”