Sheila Roberts - The Lodge on Holly Road

No, he decided. It wasn’t picky to want what his folks had. They’d been so happy. Maybe that was some older-generation thing. Maybe it didn’t work that way for people his age anymore. Who knew?

All he knew was that hanging out with his friends should have put him in a good mood and instead they were a holiday bummer.

Never mind, he told himself. Santa’s still alive and well, and it’s Christmas in Icicle Falls. Your life’s not so bad.

But hey, Santa, if you’re listening, it could be better.

Chapter Four

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

“What do you mean you won’t be coming for Christmas Eve?” John Truman’s mother demanded.

John had not been looking forward to this conversation, which was why he’d put it off to the last possible minute. “I’m doing something with Holland.”

“With her family?” his mother asked suspiciously. When it came to Christmas and her kids, Mom didn’t like to share.

“No. Just the two of us. But we’ll be back Christmas Day.”

His mother harrumphed. “That’s all well and good, but it’ll just be us on Christmas Day. What am I supposed to tell the aunts and uncles, and your cousins? And Ben’s bringing his fiancée, too.”

As if John hadn’t already met his big brother’s girlfriend a million times. Anyway, if all went according to plan, he’d be showing up on Christmas Day with a fiancée of his own.

When he shared this with his mother, she wasn’t all that excited. “So, you’re going to do it.”

“Yep. We’re driving up to Icicle Falls tonight to stay in this really cool B and B and I’ll propose on Christmas Eve. Then we’ll come by the house on Christmas Day and show you the ring.”

There was a long moment of silence on his mother’s end. “Well, John, we love you and you know we’ll welcome her into the family.”

And that was as much as he was going to get out of his mother. She and Holland hadn’t quite warmed to each other yet. Mom thought Holland was self-centered. Translation: Holland didn’t always want to go along with Mom’s social plans for the family. Holland thought Mom was controlling. Translation: Holland didn’t always want to go along with Mom’s social plans for the family. They were both strong women but John knew they’d really come to love each other. Eventually. Once Mom got over the idea that Holland wasn’t good enough for him.

All moms thought that about their kids, right? Except she loved his brother’s fiancée, probably because Margo fell right in with everything Mom wanted to do, from impromptu family picnics to Father’s Day barbecues. But Holland had a family of her own, and an important job at a Seattle ad agency. She had a social life, too. She had girlfriends, and a book club, and that all took time. And she and John had friends. They couldn’t necessarily drop what they were doing and come running whenever Mom called. That was what Holland said when she balked at Mom’s latest plans for family (and girlfriend) solidarity. Fortunately, she’d never said it to Mom’s face, or there would’ve been hell to pay.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” his mother added.

Oh, yeah. Feeling the motherly support here. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You haven’t even been together a year.”

“Eleven months.” Close enough. And they’d known each other before then. They worked in the same downtown building and had hung out at lunch sometimes.

“And you two did have that rough patch,” she continued.

“Everybody has rough patches, Mom.” He remembered his parents doing their share of fighting when he was in grade school. “Anyway, that was months ago.” He and Holland had worked things out since then. Okay, so they still had a fight once in a while. Every couple had disagreements, right? “We’re fine now.” And they were going to have a great time up in Icicle Falls, where he’d booked them a room at the kind of classy place Holland would love, with a fancy lobby and fireplaces in the rooms. Oh, yeah. It was going to be totally romantic. He had everything planned out. A late dinner at one of the local restaurants, shopping the next day, followed by a romantic sleigh ride and maybe some skating in the outdoor rink in the town square. Then, after Christmas Eve dinner, he’d whip out the ring he’d bought, get down on one knee and ask her to marry him. After that they’d have champagne in their room, get a fire going in the fireplace and heat up the sheets. Oh, yeah. Holland was going to be blown away.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt,” his mother said.

Had his mother been a wet blanket in another life? “What makes you think I’ll get hurt?” He wasn’t an idiot, for crying out loud.

Another silence on the other end of the line. “Honey, sometimes you’re not...”

“Not what?”

“Not very realistic.”

Okay, sometimes he was an idiot. But how could he have known Sarah Schoop was out to use him? Okay, so she’d gotten him to buy her a few expensive presents. He hadn’t minded. He liked being generous. Maybe he liked being obtuse, too. He and Sarah would probably still be together if his mother and sister hadn’t done an intervention after his sister overheard Sarah asking him to pay for her boob job. They’d explained that Sarah loved him only for his 401k. Yeah, Sarah was a mistake. But he was older and wiser now. Once a guy passed thirty, he developed a little more discernment. And one thing he knew—Holland didn’t need to use him. Well, except as a sex toy.

“You need a woman with a good heart,” said Mom.

“Holland has a good heart.”

“I’m sure she does...somewhere.”

“Mom,” John said sternly, “you’re talking about the woman I love.”

“Don’t remind me,” she said.

“Okay, I have to go,” he said, pissed.

“All right, but what am I supposed to tell the family tomorrow?”

“Tell them that the next time they see me I’ll be engaged.”

That didn’t make his mother happy but it sure made him smile.

He was barely off the phone with Mom when his smartphone rang. This time it was the love of his life. “Hey,” he said. “I’m just leaving to pick you up.”

“Yeah, about that.”

Oh, no. His mind latched on to the image of a building getting whacked by a giant wrecking ball. He could practically hear the crack and crumble of his carefully laid plans. “What?”

“I have to work late.”

Two days before Christmas? Was she working for Ebenezer Scrooge?

“You go on up and I’ll meet you there.”

Oh, yeah, take two cars to a romantic getaway. “No way. We’ll wait and go tomorrow morning.” He’d paid a good chunk of change for the room but so what?

“No, you may as well have fun. Just go on up.”

How was that supposed to be fun without her? Here he was, planning to sweep her off her feet, and instead she was pulling the rug out from under him. “I’m not going up without you. That’s lame.”

“No, it’s not. Anyway, you paid for the room. You might as well use it.”

“It wouldn’t be the same without you. I’ll wait and we can go up later, after you get done at work. I’ll drive. You can relax.”

“There’s nothing relaxing about the way you drive,” she informed him.

John frowned. Honesty was important in a relationship, but sometimes Holland was too honest, especially when it came to his flaws. “Thanks a lot,” he muttered.

“Come on, John. Don’t be like that.”

“Like what?”

“All disappointed and grumpy.”

Kind of hard not to be disappointed. He’d had this all planned, and she’d known about it for a month. Since when was she so gutless that she couldn’t tell her boss she couldn’t work late?