Celeste O. Norfleet - This Holiday Magic

“Yes, you do.”

“Understand this, Mr. Croft. You don’t know me anymore. You knew that quiet, shy, young woman right out of medical school more than two years ago. She wore rose-colored glasses and thought there’d always be a happy ending in her life, no matter what. Well, she was wrong and she’s long gone.”

“I hope not. I missed her. I missed you,” he whispered gently.

Janelle’s heart lurched. His voice was too tender and his eyes were too sincere. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.

He looked away and gently squeezed her hand. “Because I can’t stop thinking about you, because I can’t stop wanting you and because I can’t stop loving...”

“Stop! Enough! I don’t want to hear it.” She raised her voice.

“Janelle, is that you?”

Janelle turned around quickly to see her father standing in the doorway, holding two coffee cups. A radiant smile instantly spread across her face. She snatched her hand away from the phone and ran over to him.

Setting down the cups, he met her halfway and they embraced long and hard. Moments later he pulled back and gently held her face in his hands. He stared closely, then nodded. “Yes, you’re okay?”

She smiled and nodded as tears rolled down her face. “Yes, I am now.”

“God, I missed you,” Ben said.

She laughed, half crying for joy. “I missed you, too, Dad.”

Janelle and Ben hugged again, and then he held her close as he turned to Tyson, smiling. “My little girl’s back.”

Tyson grinned. “Yes, she certainly is. I’m gonna fax these letters out. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Dad, you look so tired.”

Ben eyed his daughter happily. “Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you. When did you get here?”

“Just now,” she said.

“No. I mean when did you get back from Africa?”

“About three hours ago. I was stuck in Customs for a while. It feels like I’ve been on the road forever. I left Dar es Salaam over twenty-five hours ago.”

“What? It doesn’t take that long to get here from Tanzania.”

“I know, but I grabbed the first flight, and unfortunately, the last-minute plans made travel a nightmare.”

“Well, you’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

“Dad, tell me what’s going on. Why, of all people, is Tyson Croft here in your office? He said he was working with you.”

“It’s nothing for you to be concerned about, sweetheart. He’s working a few things out for me.... Just some minor business matters.”

“Dad, you know Tyson can’t be trusted. You know what he does for a living. The man gobbles up businesses and breaks them apart and sells them to the highest bidder. There’s no way he’s here to help you.”

“I am,” Tyson said, standing in the office doorway.

Janelle turned and glared at him.

“Janelle, you’re going to have to trust me on this. He is here to help. I know you and Tyson have a strained past and, from the sound of it when I walked into the office earlier, a questionable present, but I’m going to need for you to put all that aside, at least for the time being. I need Tyson, I need you and I need a truce,” Ben said.

She looked away, refusing to answer.

“So—” he began, smiling again “—not that I’m not delighted to see you, but what are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to come back until next year. What happened?”

“I’m fine. My relief arrived early, so I decided to surprise you and come home for the Christmas holidays. I guess the surprise was on me since I went to my house and found my neighbor Mrs. Ivers there with a little girl. She told me it was your idea for the child’s family to move in.”

“Yes, it was my idea. I needed them here quickly and they needed a place to stay. Your house was empty and it was perfect.”

“I don’t understand. Admittedly, the little girl is absolutely adorable, but why was it so important for her family to live in my house? Who’s her family?”

“I’m her family. Aneka is my daughter,” Tyson said.

His pronouncement stunned her. Tyson had a daughter? She had had no idea. Her heart tumbled. The math wasn’t that difficult to figure out. The girl had to be at least four years old. That meant that Tyson had been a father the whole time they were together and he’d never said a word.

Suddenly it all made sense. The months of romantic bliss they had spent together had just been a momentary interlude for him. The reason he’d left her was to go back to his real family. “Your daughter? You have a child, ” she said incredulously.

“Ben,” he said, “I’m almost done here. We just have a few more things to tie up. I can move us to a hotel for a few days and...”

“It’s the holidays,” Ben protested. “I’m sure Janelle wouldn’t want you and your daughter out in the street this time of year. Janelle, what do you think about coming home and staying at the big house with your dear old dad for a few days? It’ll be good to have my daughter back under the roof again, at least for a little while. And I could certainly use the company. The house gets awfully quiet sometimes. What do you think?”

Both Tyson and Ben looked at Janelle. But she couldn’t focus on her dad. She was still stuck on the fact that Tyson had been a father the whole time they’d been together. It took her a moment to catch up with what was going on around her. “Um, yeah, sure, that’s fine. Stay at the house with your daughter...your family,” she said awkwardly.

“Thank you,” Tyson said.

“Good. That’s all settled,” Ben declared. “Tyson, why don’t we call it a night and pick this up tomorrow evening?” Tyson nodded his agreement and walked over to Ben’s desk. “Janelle, give me a few minutes to get some things put away and then we’ll head out.”

“I just have to go by my house and pick up my suitcases. I left them in the foyer. Also, I borrowed Mrs. Ivers’s car, so I’m going to need a ride to the big house.”

“I’ll take you.” Tyson spoke up quickly.

“No,” Janelle said just as fast. “No, that’s okay.”

“She’s right, Tyson. It’s late. I’m sure Mrs. Ivers needs to get home and your daughter needs you there now.” He turned to Janelle. “I’ll meet you at your house when I finish up here. It shouldn’t be too long.” He kissed Janelle’s forehead.

Janelle nodded and walked out. Tyson grabbed his briefcase and followed. They shared the elevator down to the first floor and exited the building together. Each got into their respective cars and drove away in the same direction without a single word.

So much for a holiday at home, she thought to herself as she drove off.

Chapter 4

Twenty minutes later they arrived at her town house. In silence side by side, Janelle and Tyson walked up the short path to the front door. As soon as they got to the top step they stopped. Standing beneath the security lights over the door, each had a front-door key in hand. “You go ahead,” she said, motioning for him to step up and open the front door.

“No,” he said, stepping back. “Please, it’s your home. After you.” She put her key in the lock and turned the latch. “Are we just going to ignore this and pretend?” he asked.

“I’m tired, Tyson. I don’t feel like playing games tonight.”

“This isn’t a game, Janelle,” he assured her.

“Fine, let’s pretend. How about we play a game called ‘truth or truth’?”

He sighed. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” His eyes sparkled beneath the lights.

“I can’t believe you. One day you were there, we were talking about getting married and starting a life together, and all of a sudden the next day you were gone.”