GINA WILKINS - Beneath the Mistletoe - Make-Believe Mistletoe / Christmas Bonus, Strings Attached

He cleared his throat and glanced somewhat sheepishly toward Lucy, who nodded encouragement at him. And then he began, his voice deep and rich as the words rolled fluently from him. The logs in the fireplace crackled in accompaniment, and Lucy didn’t think she had ever heard a more perfect telling of the beloved poem.

A love of literature was one of the criteria for a man to be placed on her prospect list. How frustrating that Banner met so many of her requirements— “jolly” being a notable exception—yet still set off every emotional alarm she possessed.

“‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night,”’ he finished, causing Tricia to break into delighted applause.

“Well now, I’ve played guitar, Pop sang for us, Miss Annie read from the Bible and Banner’s quoted poetry,” Bobby Ray said. “Lucy, do you or Joan want to entertain us now?”

Joan blushed. “I’m afraid I don’t have any talents.”

“Sure you do, Mama,” Tyler argued. “You sing all the time at home, and Grandma said you could have been a real music star.”

Joan blushed even more brightly. “My mother tends to exaggerate.”

“Sing for us, Mama,” Tricia urged. “Bobby Ray can play guitar for you, won’t you, Bobby Ray?”

“I would be delighted.” Bobby Ray cocked his head toward Joan. “What do you want to sing?”

She sighed, apparently realizing that her children wouldn’t stop pressing her until she gave in. “How about ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’? Maybe that will be a good omen for the roads tomorrow.”

Bobby Ray strummed the opening chords of the song. Lucy was pleased that Joan really did have a lovely voice. Her slight country drawl made Lucy think of Reba McEntire. Joan’s mother might have been right about Joan having a career in music had she chosen to pursue it. Lucy wondered if that was a dream that had been abandoned for Joan’s unfortunate early marriage.

Everyone applauded when Joan finished singing.

“That was lovely,” Miss Annie enthused.

“Very nice,” Pop seconded. “We should try a duet.”

“I agree with your mother,” Bobby Ray said. “You have a beautiful voice, Joan.”

Joan’s eyes glowed in the firelight, showing her pleasure with the compliments. “Thank you. But that’s enough, please.”

Bobby Ray turned to Lucy with a mischievous grin. “Well, Miss Lucy? What are you going to do for us?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t suppose you would be interested in hearing some advanced math calculations?”

“Not hardly. Why don’t you sing us a song?”

She laughed. “Trust me, you would rather hear Hulk sing than me.”

Tricia scooted closer to Lucy’s chair. “What can you do, Lucy? Besides math, I mean?”

“I play a little piano, but we don’t have one of those available. It isn’t exactly a portable instrument like Bobby Ray’s guitar.”

“What else?” Tricia seemed confident that Lucy had talents she hadn’t yet revealed.

“I can wiggle my ears,” Tyler announced, and proceeded to do so.

Tricia sighed. “We’re talking about Lucy, not you.”

Lucy turned to Banner. “Do you have a deck of cards?”

He stood, reached into a cabinet beneath a built-in bookcase beside the fireplace and produced a card deck that he tossed to her.

“You do card tricks?” Tyler asked, moving closer on his knees, and making Lucy wonder how many pairs of jeans he had worn out that way.

“I read minds,” she corrected him.

The boy snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“I suppose I’ll have to prove it.” She shuffled the cards, then fanned them in front of him. “Pick a card.”

Keeping his eyes suspiciously locked with hers, Tyler slid a card out of the middle of the deck. He looked at it quickly, then held it pressed against his chest. “You didn’t see it, did you?” he asked.

“No. I’ll close my eyes while you place the card back in the deck.” She made a production of squeezing her eyes tightly shut, laughing when Tricia placed a soft little hand over her face, just to make sure there was no cheating.

After Tyler had replaced the card in the deck, Lucy dramatically hummed and swayed, keeping her eyes locked with his while she slowly shuffled the cards in her hands. And then she pretended to psychically receive inspiration.

“Voilà,” she said, sweeping a card in an arc and then turning it toward Tyler. “You drew the three of clubs, didn’t you?”

His eyes widened. “How did you know?”

“She read your mind,” Tricia said in exasperation. “Weren’t you listening, dopey-head?”

Tyler reached out to give his sister a push. “It was a trick, stupid.”

“I’m not stupid! Mama, he pushed me.”

“Did not.”

“Did, too. Everyone saw you.”

“You know, I would have sworn I heard jingle bells outside a minute ago,” Pop murmured to his wife, making sure the children heard him.

Tricia perked up. “You did?” she asked, forgetting the quarrel.

“Could’ve been the wind,” he answered. “But you never know on Christmas Eve.”

Tricia ran to the window to look out into the cold darkness. Tyler sighed gustily. “Santa doesn’t know we’re here, remember?”

Bobby Ray shook his head. “Oh, I don’t know. Santa’s a pretty smart guy.”

“That’s right,” Pop agreed. “Remember the song?”

He launched into the opening of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” urging the others to join in. Despite her warning to the others about the quality of her singing, Lucy sang along. She wasn’t really awful, she figured—just not solo quality. She noticed that Banner even sang a few lines, though so softly she couldn’t hear if he could carry a tune or not.

She knew he had planned to spend this evening alone with his dog, but she suspected that he wasn’t particularly sorry his plans had changed.

After another couple of songs, Joan announced that it was time for her children to brush their teeth and get ready for bed. Carrying flashlights to guide their way, they told everyone good-night and headed out of the room.

Tricia paused in the doorway, turning to say in her clear little voice, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.” And then she giggled and turned to run after her family.

“Isn’t she a precious little thing?” Miss Annie murmured.

“She is a cutie.” Pop turned back to Lucy. “Let me see that card trick again. I don’t think I watched closely enough the first time. Didn’t see how you managed it.”

“Watch as closely as you like. You won’t see how I do it this time, either,” she bragged, shuffling the deck as she walked toward his chair.

“I want to see this, too.” Bobby Ray walked over to stand behind Pop’s chair, his gaze focused on Lucy’s hands.

By the time she had performed the trick twice for Pop and once for Bobby Ray, the men had to concede that they had no idea how Lucy knew which card they had chosen each time.

“I read your mind,” she teased, quoting Tricia. “Weren’t you listening, dopey-heads?”

Everyone laughed—except Banner, who stood and turned toward the kitchen. “I think I’ll go out to the workshop and bring some things onto the back porch.”

Lucy knew he meant the children’s gifts. They would be easily accessible on the back porch once they knew the children were sound asleep. “I’ll help you,” she said, laying the deck of cards on a table.

“You need me to come with you?” Bobby Ray asked.

“No, we can handle it,” Banner replied, already on his way.

Bobby Ray picked up the cards and looked at Pop. “Want to join me in a game of candlelight gin rummy?”

“I believe I will,” the older man said, scooting his chair closer to the coffee table.