13. Harrison
HARRISON
Afew minutes later, Harrison stood beside Katie on the front lawn of a cute colonial house on the corner of Oberlin and Lafayette. It was dark out now, but a little light glowed through the front windows.
Mallory had invited them up to the door with her, but Katie had held back. Her open feeling about Mallory herself clearly didn’t extend to Mallory’s dad.
Please let him be as patient as Mallory, Harrison thought to himself as the cold breeze ruffled his hair. Katie deserves to have fun today.
He tried not to let himself think about how important it was to him for Mallory’s father to like the two of them.
She didn’t even say yes, he reminded himself. I said my piece and she said she’d think about it.
The thing of it was, he believed to his bones that she was thinking about it. It wasn’t a blow off.
At least he hoped that was the case. He was trying not to overthink the fact that she wanted them to meet her dad.
But maybe his gut instinct was nothing more than wishful thinking. The beautiful young baker had him so far out of his comfort zone that he really couldn’t tell up from down anymore.
The porch light came on and the front door opened, revealing a large man with broad shoulders and a surprised but pleased expression.
“Hey, Dad,” Mallory said. “I hope it’s okay that I brought some friends.”
The man’s eyes moved down to Harrison and Katie.
Harrison thought maybe he should wave or shout hello, but his own reserved personality held him back. He managed to nod in a friendly way.
Katie froze by his side, and Harrison put an arm around her stiff shoulders.
“Is this your little baklava cook?” Mallory’s dad boomed in obvious delight. “Did she bring some for me?”
Harrison could feel Katie’s shoulders relax a little. She nodded and held out the tin that was clutched in her small hands.
“Hot dog,” Mallory’s dad declared. “Well, come on in. I’ll whip up some cocoa to go with it.”
Mallory held out her hand for Katie, a smile on her face.
Harrison stood where he was, waiting, hoping…
He was about to give up when Katie moved forward, hurrying up the walkway and the porch steps to join Mallory.
He’d been so worried about Katie that he hadn’t given much thought to meeting Mallory’s dad himself until he was up on the porch and the man was sticking out his hand.
“Charles Fisher,” the older man boomed with a smile.
“Harrison Law,” he replied, taking his hand and shaking.
“Now how’s the Jones place treating you?” Mr. Fisher asked as he led the way into the house.
It was small but neat and tidy, with a cozy fireplace, bookcases, and plenty of windows that probably let a good amount of light stream in by day.
“The farm is great,” Harrison said. “They took good care of the place and the cows.”
“Good to hear,” Mr. Fisher said. “I know Jones loved those animals like pets. He had me out a time or two to fix the gates. They always gave him trouble.”
“The cows are very nice,” Katie said, surprising Harrison by joining the conversation. “They like to be patted and scratched.”
“I’ll bet they do, young lady,” Mr. Fisher said with a big smile. “Now who wants to help with the cocoa?”
“I’ll help,” Katie said right away.
“Wonderful,” he replied. “Thanks very much for that.”
“Harrison,” Mallory said quietly. “Want to help me bring down some of the indoor Christmas things from the attic while they do that?”
“You don’t need to do all that,” her dad said with a slight frown.
“It’s no problem, sir,” Harrison said quickly. “We’re happy to.”
“Are we going to decorate for Christmas?” Katie asked Mr. Fisher excitedly. “I love decorating for Christmas.”
Harrison was impressed. He wasn’t sure if Katie was playing up her excitement to make sure Mr. Fisher didn’t say no or if she really felt that way, but he was pretty sure the result would be the same whether she was deliberately encouraging him or not.
“Oh, you do, huh?” Mr. Fisher said, his eyes twinkling in a way that told Harrison he absolutely couldn’t resist a sweet little kid. “In that case, why not?”
Harrison glanced over at Mallory who was wearing a smile even bigger than Katie’s.
“Come on,” she said softly when she caught Harrison looking.
He followed her up the dark staircase and down a narrow hallway to an attic pulldown hatch.
She pulled on the cord and then lifted her hands over her head, as if she expected the ladder to fall down on her.
Without thinking, Harrison stepped in, wrapped his right arm around her and lifted her out of the way, his own left hand raised to catch the ladder.
“Oh,” Mallory said softly.
But the ladder didn’t fall, and suddenly he registered that she was in his arms, her small, soft form tucked against his chest. The teasing scent of vanilla he’d picked up on her hair once or twice overwhelmed his senses now.
She gazed up at him, her green eyes hazy, and for the second time, he was sure he would kiss her and even more sure that she wanted him to.
She didn’t say yes, a little voice whispered in the back of his head. She said maybe…
Somehow, he let her go and turned to the hatch, pulling the ladder down and climbing away from her while his resolve held.
Thankfully, he remembered to stay hunched over. The center of the attic was fairly tall, but not tall enough for Harrison.
“There’s a pull string for the light,” Mallory said softly from the ladder. “To your right.”
He found it easily and gave it a gentle tug.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he looked around. A row of labeled bins were lined up along the floored center of the space.
“Here we go,” Mallory said with what sounded almost like a forced brightness to Harrison as she pulled herself up to the attic. “Dad keeps all the outdoor decorations in the garage, but the indoors was all Mom’s, and she kept things super organized and…”
She trailed off, her voice thick with emotion. This was her first Christmas without her mom, and Harrison knew all about how grief could sneak up on you and hit you like a truck when you least expected it.
He didn’t say anything, but just pointed to a large green bin with the word Christmas written on it in loopy letters. When she nodded, Harrison grabbed it and headed for the ladder with the bin balanced on his shoulder.
Mallory scurried down in front of him, and then he eased his way down, trying not to knock the bin into the walls of the hallway as he descended.
“You made that look so easy,” Mallory said.
For some reason that made him smile.
“Come on,” she said, the brightness back in her voice now. “You carry it downstairs, and I’ll put the ladder back.”
But he set down the bin instead, then raised the ladder and closed the hatch himself, knowing it would be much easier for him to reach it.
“So tall,” Mallory said to herself, shaking her head.
He’d heard those words a thousand times, but for some reason, it made him chuckle this time, which earned him a big smile.
She was so beautiful when she smiled—her green eyes crinkled and shone with irresistible warmth.
Harrison stood there, his heart pounding, and watched her turn to head down the stairs to rejoin their family members.
Is it wrong to feel this way about her?
But he wasn’t really asking himself. In his mind, he was asking Penny too.
Before she passed, his wife had told him over and over that she expected him to marry again, that she genuinely wanted him to. But it was one thing to hear the words, and another to face the reality that dating someone else wasn’t just a fun chance to get to know a beautiful woman.
If he was serious about Mallory, then they would have plenty of nights like this one, nights of service to family and the warmth and quiet talk and gentle teasing that he had only ever experienced with Penny.
“Did you get into it without me?” Mallory exclaimed from somewhere downstairs.
Katie’s laughter followed, like a tonic to his heart.
This is what you wanted for her, Penny, for both of us.
He hurried down, setting the bin by the fireplace before he followed the sound of their voices back to the kitchen.
“I can’t believe you’re letting her share this,” Mr. Fisher said to Harrison. “If she were my daughter, I’d keep all her treats to myself.”
Mr. Fisher gave Mallory a wink, and Katie grinned, looking really pleased, then lifted the tin, offering Harrison a piece.
The baklava was in beautifully shaped triangles, just as lovely as the way Penny used to make it. He grabbed a bit and felt the sticky, sweet concoction’s weight.
When he took a bite, the flaky treat practically melted in his mouth, filling his senses with the sweetness of honey and cardamom.
“Do you like it, Dad?” Katie asked worriedly. “Is it as good as Mom’s?”
“It’s perfect,” he told her, bending down to look her right in the eye. “You made it just right.”
Katie moved to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing so hard that it made his heart ache. She usually wasn’t super snuggly anymore. This hug meant something.
He hugged her back, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.
A moment later she pulled back and turned to Mallory’s dad again.
“Did you know we brought two treats?” she asked him.
“Two?” he echoed. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“We’re not having the second one until after we decorate,” Mallory said. “Harrison brought down the indoor bin.”
“Thanks, son,” Mr. Fisher said gruffly.
Katie asked about the decorations, and Mallory told her about the candles and the cards and the creche scene for the mantel.
The four of them finished their treats, then washed their sticky hands in the kitchen sink, chatting about baklava and Christmas decorations before heading back to the living room.
“Mallory tells me you were farming before you came to Trinity Falls,” Mr. Fisher said in a friendly way, taking a seat on the sofa.
“Yes, sir,” Harrison said. “My father heads up a big dairy farm for a corporation and I was his right-hand man until this opportunity came up.”
“He misses you then, huh?” Mr. Fisher asked.
“He does,” Harrison agreed. “But now that I’m in charge, I think I miss him more.”