Aralia leaned down next to her and read through it for a few moments as she was pulling on thick, warm socks. Smiling, she stood up and threw her arms around Caroline.
“Congratulations, baby doll! That’s so exciting!” Aralia praised her.
“Thank you, I can’t wait to tell Logan. This is it, Aralia. I’m finally going to be doing a job that I’m good at, that I enjoy, and best of all, that I got all by myself.” She grinned, hugging herself as she practically danced around the room.
“It’s all falling into place for you, isn’t it?” Her friend smiled, watching her.
“It really is,” she responded, missing the flash of sadness that crossed Aralia’s face as she wondered if she would ever get to have that same feeling.
“You haven’t told Logan yet? Is he still sleeping?”
“No, I don’t know where he is. The bastard let me wake up to our first Christmas, an actual white Christmas, alone.” Caroline shrugged, feigning more irritation than she really felt.
“White Christmas? Holy cat in a sweater, it’s snowing!” Aralia rushed over to the sliding glass doors that lined one wall of her room and lead onto the side porch of the balcony. Caroline followed her, grinning and shaking her head.
“You say the weirdest things, you know that?” She told Aralia.
“You love it.” Her friend tossed back and Caroline nodded, smiling, because she absolutely did love everything, well almost everything, about Aralia.
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“That is absolutely wonderful news, Caroline. I would love to see some of your artwork some day.” Laura told her as she helped her with cooking breakfast.
“Sure, I would be happy to show you. Have you seen Logan’s work? His is much more skilled than mine.” She responded, putting bacon flat on a hot pan.
“Of course, we have a few paintings hung around the house. Music was always his main love though. I honestly only think he started painting when things got tough in his last relationship.” His mother told her, cracking eggs into a mixing bowl at a lowered counter top.
“Gina?” Caroline cringed slightly, knowing that she would come up eventually.
“Yes, Gina. She was a sweet girl when I knew her, but I think over time working her way up in the music industry made them argue a lot. I think it tainted his love of music, at least for a time. He’s such a creative spirit, it had to come out somewhere, so painting it was.”
“I hadn’t thought about it like that, but it makes sense.” Caroline replied.
“Listen, Caroline, I’m sure you heard about what Gina did for me.” Caroline just nodded.
“I’ll always be grateful to her for that, it was an unbelievable sacrifice. But, that has no bearing on my son’s happiness. And for the last year, it seems that happiness has been coming from being with you. So, I don’t want you to feel any discomfort about all that. It’s the history, okay?” Laura told her, whisking the eggs together.
“I really appreciate that, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about that.” Caroline blushed, slightly embarrassed.
“I thought you might be, that’s why I brought it up. But it’s behind us now, we don’t need to bring her up ever again.” Laura smiled at her.
“Can you grab the grape jelly from the fridge?” Caroline obliged and brought the container over to her, watching her scoop out several spoonfuls of the jelly into the bowl of uncooked scrambled eggs, stirring it all together.
“Why are we putting grape jelly in the eggs?” Caroline asked her inquisitively, helping her bring it over to the stove to begin cooking.
“Christmas morning tradition, darling. You’re making the bacon and this will turn the eggs green.” Laura told her.
“Green eggs and ham!” Caroline exclaimed, laughing.
“Logan’s favorite story growing up, I think I read that book to him a million times.” She chuckled.
“Speaking of your son, do you know where he is? He wasn’t here when I woke up a little while ago.” Caroline frowned.
“I’m not sure, but he knows breakfast starts at ten every Christmas morning, then presents around the tree after. So, I doubt he will be late. Maybe he had some last minute shopping to do.” Laura shrugged.
“Maybe,” Caroline just nodded, still feeling glum about having not woken up with his arms wrapped around her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“I’m ready for some sweet delicious eggs!” Charlie called out, waltzing through the front door without knocking.
Rock was only a step behind him as Caroline and Laura turned to greet them after finally finishing breakfast and setting the table. Aralia was already seated at the table chatting with Mickey. Dylan was just walking down the stairs as they entered and exchanged greetings with his friends.
“Hi boys,” Logan’s mother greeted them and they each came over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Momma.” Rock kissed her, then came to hug Caroline.
“I didn’t know you guys were coming back today.” Caroline accepted his hug.
“Have you tasted Momma Clay’s food? Much better than the granola bar waiting for me at my apartment.” Rock grinned, seating himself.
“Scavengers is what they are.” Mickey grunted.
“Merry Christmas to you too, Pops!” Charlie waved over at him from the other side of the very long dining room table that sat in front of a wall of glass windows overlooking the water.
“Wow, so they really are all like one big family, huh?” Caroline asked Laura softly.
“They are all my boys,” Laura nodded, “their home lives weren’t much growing up. Dylan and his sister grew up in foster care, we don’t even know where she is anymore. Rock’s parents were alcoholics and very cruel. Charlie is the youngest by quite a large age gap in a family of all girls, he was never paid attention to at all. I might not have the use of my legs anymore, but I can certainly use my heart to give some lonely little boys a mother figure.”
“That’s really beautiful,” Caroline smiled as she helped Laura maneuver to the table.
“Did you guys start yet?” Logan’s voice boomed from the foyer before he appeared in the kitchen, grinning.
“Starting right now, since you’re late, you get last crack at the eggs.” Mickey called out.
“Crap, that’s the best part of Christmas breakfasts.” He groaned playfully, pulling a chair out next to Caroline and kissing her on the forehead. She tried to give him a questioning look to ask where he had been, but he either didn’t notice, or he ignored it.
“I get the whole green eggs and ham thing, but it doesn’t gross you out to be eating eggs that look like pureed olives?” Aralia crinkled up her nose as she looked it over.
“Try it before you judge, I swear you’ll love it. We have it every year.” Charlie chimed in and all of the men around the table echoed their agreement as everyone began piling food onto their plates.
“Logan, where were you this morning?” Caroline said discreetly, leaning into him.
“Let’s talk about it later, have you tried those biscuits? They are amazing.” He said, switching topics as Caroline frowned but agreed to let it go for now.
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“You didn’t have to get me this! Caroline, this is insane!” Aralia exclaimed, pulling the last of the red and green tissue paper out of the gift bag.
“It’s no big deal, I know how much you love collecting wines. And 1989 is your birth year, so I thought it would be nice.” Caroline just shrugged from where she sat on the couch next to Logan.
Everyone else was seated around the living room in different chairs or couches, opening their own presents. The room was loud with laughter and gratitude as people swapped gifts. Caroline had already opened her gifts, walking away with a beautiful round diamond necklace set in white gold from Logan, a set of sketching charcoal pencils from Aralia, and a floral perfume from Logan’s parents.
“That’s so thoughtful, Caroline, but it’s too much. This i
s like a two thousand dollar bottle of wine from France.” Aralia held out the bottle gingerly, as if she was afraid it would break.
“Nonsense, I rarely ever drink wine with you and it’s about time I started supporting the things you love since you’ve always supported me.” Caroline meant it to, she had never been a big wine drinker since she preferred hard liquor.
However, Aralia had worked in different bars most of her adult life, even before she was of legal age, making her quickly fall in love with the world of wine. They didn’t talk about it much and as Caroline was starting to realize how important being an illustrator was for her, she was seeing that maybe her friends had different ambitions too.
“Thank you, Caroline.” Aralia placed the bottle down gently and walked over to Caroline, wrapping her arms around her neck.
Caroline was caught off guard at the sight of a tear in her friend’s eye. She made a mental note to herself to talk to Aralia more about it when they were alone. This was a girl who rarely showed any emotion beside bubbly excitement, so she knew that her gift must have touched a nerve somehow.
She hugged her friend back, then watched as Aralia gently scooped up the wine bottle and headed out of the room to carefully put away her newest treasure.
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Aralia slid open the glass balcony door in her bedroom that lead out to the expansive deck. Stepping outside, she pulled her knit sweater tighter around her as snowflakes fluttered descended past her. She stuck her tongue out into the cold air to capture the icy gems, tasting them as they dissolved quickly.
“You know that there is plenty of water in the house if you are thirsty.” A voice started her, causing her to jump and almost lose her balance on the slippery wood.
“Whoa, careful there.” Dylan’s strong hand grabbed her forearm and steadied her, piercing her with his gaze as his unshaven jaw clenched tightly as he looking at her.
“You’re just full of answers today, aren’t you,” Aralia replied sarcastically. She pushed his hand away even though the sudden contact had reminded her of all the things she had enjoyed from those hands just a few hours ago.
“Back to sassy this morning, I see.” He mused, raising his brow as he pulled his collar closer to his neck to stay warm.
“Last night was a one time thing, it’s not going to happen again.” She said even though her body was heating up and demanding the exact opposite.
“I believe I’m the one who told you that,” he grinned and Aralia just shrugged.
“People say a lot of things. I would hate to have to break your heart, especially during the holidays.”
Dylan stepped toward her as she finished her witty retort, causing her to step back until she found the glass door at her back. Taking another step toward her, he reached one hand past her head and laid his palm flat on the glass. Leaning in, his lips were only inches from hers and she could feel the warmth from his entire body seeping into hers. He was bundled up in winter gear now, but she couldn’t help remembering the tattooed, solid build that she had run her hands over last night beneath all those clothes.
“If only I had a heart to break.” His voice was low and gruff, barely above a whisper and yet her entire body trembled in response.
He brushed his lips lightly against hers and she closed her eyes. Just as she was about to let him kiss her, it suddenly got very cold and her eyes flew open to find that she was alone. She turned and saw his retreating figure going into one of the balcony doors, slamming shut behind him. Her jaw dropped in shock, quickly followed by a wave of irritation.
She couldn’t believe that she had let that man get to her twice now. Last night was definitely a fluke, because as intoxicating as Dylan was, he was also frustrating. He seemed so passionate and intense one moment, then hollow and uncaring the next. She couldn’t keep up with his back and forth moods and she didn’t want to.
Aralia had enough to deal with in her own life. Unlike Caroline’s parents, hers at let her be a free spirit and she had enjoyed it. She paid most of her own bills with only the occasional help from them, mainly because she loved to work and bars were her home. But as she watched her friends begin to settle down and find careers, she began to realize that she didn’t have a trajectory for her life.
The snowflakes swirled past her as she turned to go back inside. She had wanted to stare into the icy waters behind the house and find the answers to what she should do with her life, but it wasn’t that easy. The cold air wasn’t helping her think like she had hoped it would.
Although that could be Dylan’s fault.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“You’re going to freeze out here, Caroline. Come inside.” Logan caught up to her on the beach below his parent’s house where she was walking.
“I’m not, I like the cold.” Caroline shrugged in response and kept walking.
“Alright, then I’ll walk with you so when you turn into a block of ice, I can carve ‘I told you so’ into it.” Logan pulled his coat off and wrapped it around her shoulders since she was only wearing a sweater.
She considered refusing it for a second, still feeling irritated at his disappearance earlier, but she actually was cold so she kept it. Glancing sideways at him as the pulled the jacket tighter around her, she narrowed her eyes.
“Smart ass.” She quipped back.
“But I’m your smart ass.” He took her hand in his as they were walking and chuckled, smiling with his perfect blue eyes shining right through her. Caroline felt her anger dissolving slightly, but she tried her best to hold onto it.
“You’re mad at me.” Logan stated, not as a question and not as an apology, just a fact. Caroline gave him a seething look that clearly confirmed his statement.
“Gee, how did you guess? Is it because I woke up alone on our first Christmas together?” She responded sarcastically.
“I’m really sorry about that, babe. I thought I was going to be back before you woke up, but then it took longer than I thought.” Logan stopped walking and pulled her into his chest, kissing her forehead.
“Well, where were you? I thought maybe you were getting a gift or something, but we all opened the presents and there wasn’t anything that made sense with you leaving.”
“I can’t tell you, but trust me that it’s something good. I promise you will find out soon, but if I told you now it wouldn’t be as special.” He lowered his voice, coaxing her with his soft, almost melodic, tone.
“That makes no sense.” She grumbled, loosening her stance a little as the warmth from his body seeped into hers.
She couldn’t stop herself from leaning into his chest and dropping her head onto his shoulder, letting him hold her. He smelled like sandalwood and it was intoxicating to her as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Do you trust me, Caroline?” He pulled away to look in her eyes.
She stared back and bit her lip, contemplating staying angry with him. It was getting harder with each second he was around her. Plus she really couldn’t imagine him doing anything to hurt her on purpose, despite all the suffering they both endured at the start of their relationship. They were in a different place now and she did trust him not to hurt her.
“Against my better judgment, yes.” She sighed, trying to hide a small smile.
“The ice queen is smiling,” He grinned at her, then leaned in, kissing her gently.
She parted her lips at his urging, kissing him back gently at first, then with more intensity. She could hear the water quietly rushing up to them, just shy of touching their boots. The air was crisp and clean, despite the chill that was slowly beginning to enter her bones.
“Alright, you win. Let’s go back inside.” Caroline scrunched up her nose, making a mock annoyed face as she stepped away from him.
“I knew you would see reason eventually.” He laughed, following her with their hands still interlocked.
“You know nothing.” She smirked in defiance.
“Oh yeah, that reminds me. Mom said you got
some big news this morning, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was.” Logan said as they reached the stairs that led from the beach, up to the house.
“I don’t know if I want to tell you now. You should have been there this morning to find out with me.” She giggled, climbing the stairs.
“Oh come on, don’t torture me.” He sped up on the stairs behind her, grabbing her waist and nuzzling his face into her neck just as they reached the top step.
“If you think that is torture, then you have a lot to learn about women.” She pushed him away, laughing as she headed to the deck stairs to take her up to her floor.
“Fine, let’s make it interesting then. Last one back to the bedroom has to spill the beans.” He dared her.
“Really?” Her eyebrows shot up, she was still dying to know where he had been this morning.
“Yep, you in?” He asked as they stood at the bottom of the stairs.
Taking off in a flash, she took the steps two at a time until she reached the first level. Circling around quickly, she made it to the second set of stairs just as she saw Logan reach the first level.
“No fair! I didn’t say go yet!” Logan shouted after her, laughing.
“Life isn’t fair,” she tossed back.
She made it about half the way up the last staircase before Logan caught up with her. Wrapping his arms around her waist as she squealed in protest. He lifted her right off the ground and tossed her over his shoulder so that her legs were dangling in front of him as he reached the final level. He slowed his run to a walk as he headed toward the sliding glass door that led into their bedroom.
“This doesn’t count, Logan. You can’t pick me up, that’s not in the rules!” Caroline whined as he opened the door and walked inside, giving her a gentle smack on her bum as he did so.
“Life isn’t fair, didn’t you teach me that?” He grinned, sliding her down his front until she was on her feet again.