Chapter Nine
SOMETHING ODD WAS GOING ON BETWEEN RYAN AND Douglas Caldwell.
As Holly followed Ryan to the kitchen, she turned and briefly caught a flash of something that looked like defeated resignation on his father’s features before Doug quickly looked away, turning to respond to something his granddaughter said.
“If I didn’t know better, I might think you were trying to avoid talking to your dad,” she said in a low voice as they began transferring the containers of soup and casserole to the refrigerator.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ryan’s expression was stony, remote as Antarctica.
“Don’t you?”
“My father and I get along fine,” he said, his tone short, in marked contrast to the teasing and light flirtation of earlier while they were stringing lights. When he had almost kissed her.
“What makes you think otherwise?” he asked.
She chose her answer carefully. “As soon as you saw him pull up, you looked tense.”
Maybe that was because he had been upset at himself for nearly kissing her. She preferred to think his sudden change in mood had more to do with his father.
“Your sister mentioned once that you and your dad aren’t close. I guess that was the biggest clue.”
“You talked to Kim about me?”
She shrugged, sliding a large container of soup onto a lower shelf. “When you work in a small retail shop together all day, you have plenty of time to chat about your lives. Kim loves you and worries about you.”
“She should worry about herself and about Audrey. I’m fine.”
Holly decided not to point out that his testy tone and stiff posture said otherwise.
Somehow she had the impression Ryan Caldwell was an inherently self-contained person who didn’t let others close very often.
“Remind me to tell Kim she shouldn’t be gossiping about me and my relationship with my father to a woman I had never met until a week ago.”
Had it only been a week? It felt like much longer, maybe because Kim had talked about him often, with both concern and affection.
“Sorry I said anything. You’re right. It’s none of my business.”
Holly knew she should keep her mouth shut but she couldn’t help remembering that brief glimpse of what appeared to be raw pain on the elder Caldwell man’s features.
“I don’t know any of the history between you and your dad. Kim never gave me any details, for what it’s worth.”
“I guess I should be grateful she had a little discretion.”
His clipped tone didn’t invite further discussion but Holly was compelled to add one more thing.
“I do know that he and Diane have been a great support to Kim and Audrey since they moved to the Lake Haven area. She once told me the father she remembered in her youth wasn’t anything like the man he had become over the past few years.”
His mouth tightened but he said nothing and she decided not to add that perhaps in light of the holidays—the season of miracles, hope, reconciliation—he might try giving his father another chance.
None of this was her business. She and Ryan weren’t friends. Not really. They were polite acquaintances who were helping each other out.
Had he really almost kissed her or had she imagined that?
He placed the last container of food in the refrigerator, closed the door and carried the basket back to the living room, where they found Doug helping his granddaughter hang a garland over a door frame while Lydia watched on carefully, brow furrowed in concentration like a pint-sized project supervisor.
“Hope this is okay here,” Audrey said. “I think I remember Mom hanging it here last year.”
“It looks perfect,” Holly assured her. “Exactly where I would have put it.”
Audrey grinned as her grandfather finished hanging the garland. He stepped away and shifted his head, studying his handiwork. “Not bad.”
“Thanks, Grandpa,” Audrey said, giving him another hug.
“Thanks, Auddy’s Grandpa,” Lydia echoed.
He smiled at the girls. “You’re both very welcome. I’m happy to help.”
“We can always use another pair of hands, if you want to stick around a bit,” Holly said brightly, though she didn’t miss the glare Ryan sent her from behind his father’s back.
“I would love to help but I need to go. I’ve got to get back to Diane. I don’t like to leave her alone for long. I wanted to drop some of this food over before it goes bad. Whatever you don’t think you will eat in the next day or two should probably go into the freezer.”
“Thanks for thinking of us,” Ryan said, the words stiff and formal. She could tell they hadn’t been easy for him.
What had caused this rift between father and son? It must have been something that happened in his youth, perhaps after his mother’s death from cancer when he and Kim had been teenagers.
Her heart ached with compassion for both of them.
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you both later. Lydia, Holly, it was nice to see you both again.”
After another hug to his granddaughter, Douglas Caldwell picked up his basket and headed out the door, leaving a charged silence behind.
Doug Caldwell had a forceful personality. Not unlike his son. She had to wonder if that might be part of the reason the two of them seemed to butt heads.
Whatever might be awry between them wasn’t her business, she reminded herself again. Ryan didn’t strike her as an unreasonable man. He likely had good reasons to be angry with his father.
She turned her attention back to her decorating crew.
“What’s next, oh mighty taskmaster?” he asked, with an exaggerated bow.
She rolled her eyes as Audrey giggled. Lydia giggled as well, though Holly was quite certain she didn’t know what was funny.
“We’re almost done outside. I’m sure the two of you can finish on your own, now that we’ve started. Why don’t we decorate the tree next?”
“We need some Christmas music,” Audrey declared. “I don’t think you’re legally allowed to decorate a Christmas tree unless you’re listening to appropriate music, are you?”
Her uncle rolled his eyes but directed a smart speaker in the room to play instrumental Christmas music and a moment later, a jazzy version of “Jingle Bells” poured out.
“Much better,” Audrey said with a grin as she opened another box containing ornaments.
“Where do we start?” Ryan asked, eying the tree with so much apprehension that Holly almost laughed. Had the man really never decorated a Christmas tree before?
“Since the tree is prelit, we don’t have to mess with hanging lights.”
“Lucky us,” he answered.
“Exactly. On real trees, it can take forever to get the lights right.”
“I love Christmas lights,” Lydia said, her features aglow in the bright colors from Kim’s artificial tree.
“So do I,” Ryan told her daughter with a gentle smile that touched Holly deep at her center.
She cleared her throat. “Once the lights are on, I always start with the garland first and then hang the decorations after that.”
“The garland is in the box closest to the tree,” Audrey said. “Mom always used a gold shiny ribbon for a garland.”
“Good to know.”
She opened the box and found a roll of wide ribbon on top, coiled around what looked like a portion of a dowel.
She had to admire Kim’s organizational techniques. As someone who was usually only too happy to take down her Christmas decorations—or so exhausted by all the fuss, at that point—she usually tended to store her decorations haphazardly.
“This will work nicely,” she said. “Give me a few minutes to hang the garland and then the rest of you can start hanging ornaments.”
“Even me?” Lydia asked, eyes wide as if afraid to hope.
“Especially you, darling.” She smiled, kissing Lydia’s forehead. When she lifted her head, her gaze met Ryan’s and she found him watching her with an unreadable expression, one that left her feeling slightly breathless.
The next hour was surprisingly enjoyable.
Ryan headed back outside, presumably to finish hanging the few remaining light strings.
Audrey seemed to relish the chance to decorate the tree, choosing where each ornament should go with care.
Lydia was more haphazard, hanging most of hers in one big clump that Audrey subtly tried to redistribute more equitably.
After it was clear Audrey could handle the task without her supervision, Holly left them to the tree decorating while she went to work adorning the mantel with more greenery, ribbon and floral picks she found in the boxes of decorations.
By the time Ryan came in from outside, the house looked vastly different than when Holly and Lydia had walked in a few hours earlier.
After shrugging out of his coat, Ryan sniffed the air with an appreciation that made her smile.
“It smells good in here.”
“Christmas magic,” she told him. She decided not to tell him she had found some pine- and cinnamon-scented sachets in a sealed container in one of the boxes and had tucked them around the room in unobtrusive places.
Holiday cheer to her was as much about the scents and tastes as the decorations.
He looked around the room. “Everything looks great. Thanks so much for your help.”
She could not disagree. The house looked warm and inviting, a haven of comfort.
“It was a team effort,” Holly said.
“Mom is going to be so happy when she comes home,” Audrey said with a satisfied sigh.
Holly couldn’t resist hugging the girl, her throat aching a little as she thought about how cheerfully Audrey had handled the stress and disorder of this holiday season.
“You’re most welcome. We were happy to help, weren’t we, Lyd?”
“I’m a helper.”
“You sure are,” Ryan said.
Lydia giggled, clearly besotted with the man.
You and me both, kid , she wanted to say.
“Do you two want to stay for lunch? We happen to have much more to offer than we did earlier today, thanks to my dad.”
“We should probably go. I have some things to do before we head over to Haven Point for the bridal shower this afternoon.”
“I have to go potty,” Lydia said suddenly, looking around the room as if she thought she might find a convenient toilet in a corner.
“Come on. I’ll show you where the bathroom is,” Audrey said, reaching for her hand.
“Thank you,” Holly said as the two of them left the room, leaving her alone with Ryan.
Had he really wanted to kiss her earlier? It felt like something she must have imagined, especially since he seemed once more remote and unapproachable.
“I really am grateful for all your help. I’m pretty clueless when it comes to decorating a house in general and decorating a house for Christmas in particular.”
“Yet you hung those lights like a champion. If the helicopter pilot thing doesn’t work out, you could go into business hanging other people’s outdoor decorations.”
“Good to know. I might need to keep that in my back pocket.”
“Are you looking for another career? I thought helicopter pilots were the Swiss Army knives of the sky.”
“We are. Unfortunately, this one is currently a little bent.”
He gestured to his leg, the one she knew he had injured in that accident that had shaken Kim so badly.
“I’m not sure if the navy will still want me in the air if this doesn’t heal. And I’m sure as hell not willing to spend the rest of my career behind a desk, where I’ve been for the past two months.”
“Kim has been really worried about you.”
He looked disgruntled at that information. “I’m curious to know what else my sister might have told you about me.”
She couldn’t resist the urge to tease him a little.
“Hmm. Let’s see. She had to sit with you on the school bus every day until you were in second grade because you were afraid of the older kids.
You were something of a genius when it came to math and science, unlike her.
And you don’t date any woman for longer than a month, always careful to make sure she doesn’t get the wrong idea and think you might be serious about her. ”
He frowned. “She makes me sound like a player. And like a prize ass.”
“I never had that impression at all. Kim adores you and would love to see you find someone special.”
“I’m afraid she’s going to be waiting a long time for that.”
He gave her a sly look. “Besides, I have found someone. You. I can’t believe you forgot that we’re madly, embarrassingly in love. That’s what you want your ex-in-laws to think, right?”
She pushed away a sudden, wholly inappropriate yearning. “Why is it that our supposed relationship becomes more intense every time we talk about it? Next you’ll have us engaged and planning our own wedding.”
He grinned and Holly completely understood why so many women went out with him. That smile was lethal.
“All done, Mommy. I even have my coat,” Lydia announced from the doorway, where Audrey was helping her with the sleeves. “I just need my boots.”
“You do. It’s cold outside. We don’t want you to freeze your toes off.”
Lydia giggled and the sound was a blunt reminder to Holly that her daughter was the only thing that mattered to her. Not a man with devastating good looks and a smile that made her want to fall into him and never climb back out.