Chapter Twenty
“Just because the whole town spends every holiday at the fire department doesn’t mean we have to.” Joy climbed into the passenger seat of the Green Machine while Tristan checked the children’s seatbelts were secure in the back before he slipped behind the steering wheel.
“What would you rather do today?” He put the van in reverse and backed out of Lorraine’s driveway.
Joy shrugged. “If the house is ready I could be setting up. But I know, I know…you’re waiting for the final touches to be complete. I don’t want to ruin the big surprise you’ve planned.”
“Forget the house.”
“Impossible. It’s all I can think about.”
“Would you rather skip the barbecue and spend Fourth of July on the beach?”
“I would, but I didn’t pack for a day at the beach. I packed for a day at the firehouse.”
“Wanna see a movie?”
“We’ve seen everything PG and under.”
“Wanna go bowling?”
“I just had my nails done.”
“Wanna go to the park.”
“We might as well go to the barbecue then.”
“Are you sure?”
Joy sighed. “Sure. What the hell. Everyone’ll be there. My folks enjoy seeing the kids.”
“Ya think they’ll offer to babysit?” Tristan sounded hopeful.
“So we can make out in the van?” she joked.
He waggled his brows. “Sounds good to me.”
With three kids in their life, date night had become more of a pipe dream. Romance was reduced to sneaking kisses in the laundry room or wherever they could steal a moment. When Tristan visited Joy at the Christmas Shoppe on his lunch breaks, she’d flip over the Closed sign, and they’d get busy in the backroom, but it wasn’t as comfortable as his big bed.
Between working all day and catering to the children, they were both beat. Sleeping together was literally sleeping together like they’d been married for forty years. And in addition to their set schedule of bouncing between his place and Lorraine’s house, they spent every holiday at the firehouse. Joy worried they were falling into a rut.
“We don’t have to stay all day. Just a little while.” Tristan affirmed with a kiss on the back of her hand.
It wasn’t that Joy minded spending time at these festive community events, she just wanted a little excitement to spice up the usual routine.
After burgers, beers, and banana splits, the band rocked until dark as the crowd waited for the fireworks. This was how she spent every July Fourth of her childhood, and now, thanks to Tristan’s persistence, she could share the moment with her boys.
“We’ll watch the kids tonight.” Sophia sat on the folding lawn chair next to Joy.
She gave her mother a curious glance. “Why?”
“Because…” The woman never said no whenever Joy needed a sitter but rarely did she suggest it on her own. “We miss them.”
Huh? Joy leaned away from the body snatcher that stole her mother. “You see them all the time, you don’t have to—”
“Don’t argue with your mother, Joy,” her father chimed in. “We’ll keep them at our place overnight if that’s all right?”
Tristan massaged the back of Joy’s neck with a strong hand. “You sure?” he asked her parents.
The whole situation seemed sketchy to Joy, like the three of them were in cahoots. Where was Lily when she needed a brain to pick?
“Yeah. You two go have some fun.” Bob waved them away.
“Daddy? For real? You wanna take three kids tonight? They’re hopped up on ice cream and lollipops.” Joy gave her father a doubtful eye, wondering the motive behind this generous offer.
“Don’t you trust us? We raised three kids or did you forget? We can handle yours.” He leaned over to kiss Joy’s forehead then shook Tristan’s hand and exchanged whispers.
“I’ll run home to pack their PJs and toothbrushes and drop it off to you.”
“Don’t worry about it. We have everything they need,” her father insisted.
“Where are the kids so we can say goodnight?” Joy stood, looking around, spotting them with Nick and Lily dancing by the bandstand.
“Just go or you’ll never get out of here.” Bob nudged her in the other direction. “They’ll be fine. Now scram before we change our minds.”
Tristan grabbed her hand and they weaved through the mob to get to the van.
Once they were cruising down Main Street, Joy asked, “What did he say?”
“Who?” Tristan shrugged. The man played dumb like a world champion.
“Never mind.” Not in the mood to start another war, she shut up. As they wound through the narrow streets toward his house, she exhaled an enormous yawn as if her fatigued body knew his big, comfy bed was near.
“Tired?” Tristan squeezed her hand.
“A little.”
“Me too.”
When they got home, the dogs were bouncing around the house, freaking out after someone set off a bunch of bottle rockets in the street.
Joy kicked off her flip-flops and curled on the couch with the pups while Tristan turned up the stereo to some classical music to block out the noise.
“Don’t get too comfy,” he said.
“Why?”
He disappeared into the bedroom and returned with handcuffs and scarves. “I have something to show you.”
“I’m so pooped I won’t fight it so no need to go through the trouble. I don’t remember parenting being this exhausting?”
“Trust me, it’s no trouble.” A cunning smile crossed the luscious lips she craved to kiss if she had the energy.
“Oh, fine…Should I take off my shorts?”
“Nope. And leave the tank top on too.” He pulled her to her feet, cuffed her hands behind her back, covered her eyes, and nudged her forward.
“Where are we going?”
“Shhh…” He guided her with a gentle hand between her shoulder blades. “Pretend you’re sleepwalking.”
She stepped one bare foot in front of the other. By the space and distance, she figured they were headed to the kitchen. “This is a strange kind of foreplay.”
“Keep going, keep going. Less talking, more walking.”
The back door opened with a recognizable creak, and the muggy night air wrapped around her like a moist towel. “Don’t I need shoes?”
“I think you’ll be all right. We aren’t going that far. Don’t worry.”
He marched her onto the wooden deck, down the three steps to the damp lawn, then spun her a few times like playing Pin the Tail On the Donkey. “Having fun yet?” He chuckled, seeming amused with this game.
“Oh, loads. You’re making me dizzy.”
“Good.” He led her in a circle, then a straight line, then zigzagged until they stopped.
“Are we there yet?”
“Just about.”
Joy waited for the mask to come off but instead he prodded her from the soft grass, up three wooden stairs. “All that work to go back inside?”
“Yep.”
“Swell. Now that I’m all sweaty, I need a shower. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The door didn’t squeak when it whooshed open. And the flooring wasn’t sticky hardwood, but cool like ceramic tile. The smell was unfamiliar, like lavender and fresh paint. “Where are we?”
“Home.” Tristan pulled down the fabric from her eyes.
Standing at the center of a new kitchen, she spun slow, taking in all the sights like a kid in Disney World for the first time. Something about this place was familiar. The layout was similar to Tristan’s kitchen. But rather than cabinets and counters of glossy black and shades of brown, the space was ivory and burgundy—the colors of her mother’s old kitchen, with high-end stainless steel modern appliances. “Is this…? It can’t be, can it?”
“It can and it is.” Tristan waved his hands like a magician, presenting her with a single key between his fingers. “Is the décor okay? You seemed to like my place, so I worked with that. Plus your folks showed me old photos from when you lived here. I stuck with their scheme the best I could. Waiting for the furniture to be delivered took longer than I expected. But it’s all ready for you. You can move in right now if you want.”
“I want, I want,” Joy shrieked, nodding, shaking off the shock. “Thank you.” She would’ve hugged him but her hands were bound behind her back so Tristan gathered her in his arms.
“You like it?”
“I do. I really do. What’s not to like?”
“I’m not sure if you’ll like the living room so much.”
“Tsk. Don’t be silly.” Joy skimmed around him, but he stopped her and pulled up the scarf over her eyes again. “Seriously?”
“Do me a favor and just play along, will ya?”
“Fine,” she conceded, letting him guide her by the elbow. Then he pushed down on her shoulders until she landed on something firm yet bouncy. “New couch? Very comfortable. I wish I could see it.”
“New everything.” He pulled the blindfold over her head and smacked it against his palm as he let out a shaky breath. “Whaddaya think? Be honest. I can change it if you don’t like it.”
Joy set her eyes on the most beautiful winter wonderland she’d ever seen, more breathtaking than anything Everyday’s Christmas has on display. The whole room was decorated like a Thomas Kinkade painting. From the tiny white lights in the window and fake snow kissing the glass. To the multi-colored twinkle lights on the evergreen and the soft golden glow of the big tree-topping star grazing the ceiling. Most of the ornaments were recognizable from the shop, and the special ones on the upper branches were straight from her childhood.
“Your mother helped with the decorations.”
“Christmas is her favorite. I can’t believe you went through all this trouble for me. The idea was to do it for your daughter.”
“And it was a great idea. I hope she’s as surprised as you are.”
Beneath the tree were presents labeled with all of their names: Joy, Nicole, Mason, Owen, Rex, Cookie. “I don’t see any presents for you.”
“You’re my present, Joy. And I’m going to unwrap you right now. But first…” Tristan plucked an ornament from the tree in the shape of a Fabergé egg and flipped the lid.
Inside was the biggest diamond Joy ever saw in real life.
“I know I’ve asked you twice already. I’m praying three times is a charm. But if you still feel like you can’t say yes, I’ll ask you again someday, I can’t promise when. I only hope you’re so overwhelmed you won’t say no this time.” He chuckled as a rosy flush crept up his cheeks. “All I want for Christmas, and every day, is for you to be by my side as my wife. I love you, Joy. I can’t remember life before you. I don’t want to imagine living without you. Please say yes.”
Too stunned to speak, she couldn’t stop the silent stream of tears rolling down her cheek. “Yes, yes, yes. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to…” Her pounding heart drowned out any doubt her conscience tried clinging too. All she wanted, all she needed, was this man, here and now, forever. “I just had to be sure you were the right one. And you are. You’re the only one. Always.”
****
Tristan forgot his key ring at his place, so slipping the engagement ring on Joy’s finger behind her back was awkward, making it impossible for her to admire the two-karat round stone set high in the platinum band. “Lemme run next door—”
“Oooh, forget about it,” Joy purred. Her breasts strained gloriously in the red cotton tank top and she rubbed them against his T-shirt, sending electric pulses straight to his pants. “I need you now.”
“I know what you mean.” He knelt to tear open the button fly of her snug shorts and dragged the denim down to her ankles where she kicked her way out of them. Then he nibbled and gnawed the smooth skin along the inside of her thigh, working his way toward the apex where he teased her sensitive spot with his tongue, before trailing down the other leg.
Standing with her wrists locked behind her back, Joy leaned on the wall for support, spreading her legs wider. “More…” she pleaded in a husky voice Tristan loved to hear because it meant he was doing something right.
To avoid crushing her hands, he bent her over the armrest of the couch as he thrust his hips against her bottom. “I hope you don’t mind this position.”
She threw a smile over her shoulder. “You know it’s my favorite, silly boy.”
Yes, he knew, all too well how perfectly they fit together in this pose as much as the rest. He shed his jeans and, wielding his super-sensitive sword like her knight in shining armor… Thinking of armor… “Dammit, I forgot the condoms. Lemme run home to get some protection. I’ll be quick.”
“No way are you leaving me hanging like this. Just go for it without one. We’re getting married, we can handle the outcome.”
Goosebumps rose on his arms at the thought of making a baby on their first real try. As content as he was with the three they had, having one between them was a cool concept in the heat of the moment. With no pressure to perform or reproduce, he eased inside. It always felt great before but this…God, this was what makes life worth living. Pure heaven between her thighs.
It didn’t take long before they were rocking in sync. Tristan quickening the pace, driving harder and faster toward the sensational climax, then, when he couldn’t hang on another nanosecond, he melted into a puddle of lust, his body limp against hers.
“Wow,” Joy mumbled, muffled by the couch cushion.
He helped her stand upright and led her toward the master bedroom where she flopped onto her side to recuperate.
Then he hiked up his jeans and ran to his place to grab the handcuff key. While he was there he slipped the pups a dose of the mild sedative prescribed by the veterinarian specifically for tonight’s expected racket before jogging back to Joy’s.
Once he removed the cuffs she spent a long moment admiring the sparkling rock on her finger then threw her arms around his neck. “I must’ve been out of my mind turning you down twice. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“I’ll never give up on you, sunshine.” He couldn’t stop the smile stretching his face at the sight of her gazing at the ring like she expected it to do something magical other than gleam.
When the first big boom vibrated the walls at ten on the dot, they stepped out on the front porch to view the show. Streaks of red, white, and blue light sizzled and popped high in the night sky but they were nothing compared to the fireworks behind his eyelids when Joy slid onto his lap, nuzzling her face against his neck and suckled his ear lobe, whispering, “I love you, Tristan Casanova.”
The next morning while Joy dried her hair in her brand new bathroom, Tristan sat back on the couch with a cup of coffee and the pups, able to relax for the first time in weeks since meeting the woman who turned his world right-side up.
Bruno showed up at ten a.m. as instructed with a bag of fresh baked bagels and all the fixings, before Sophia and Bob brought the kids over to see their new home.
“What is all this, Mom?” Mason asked cautiously, scanning the new surroundings, but mostly honing in on the brightly lit tree.
“What do ya think?” Owen elbowed his brother. “It’s Christmas. And look.” He pointed to the wrapped packages. “Santa was here.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in Santa.” Joy’s suspicious eyes bounced between her boys’ faces.
“Just ’cause Daddy said there was no Santa Claus doesn’t make it true,” Mason said, sounding smarter than a soon-to-be second grader.
“Don’t believe everything you hear, Mommy,” Owen chimed in.
As the boys knelt beside the tree divvying out presents, Lily showed up alone with an unexpected housewarming gift.
“A kitten?” Joy pulled the white fur-ball out of the cardboard box. “You shouldn’t have. Really, Lily.”
“Don’t blame me. The boys asked for it.” Lily pushed past Joy to get a front row view of the decorations. “Nice tree, guys.”
“No one’s excited to see the rest of the house?” Joy frowned.
“Whaddaya talking about? Excited? It used to be my house. I know what it looks like.” Bob grabbed a bagel and coffee and sat at the end of the dining room table behind his newspaper, away from the madness but within view of the action.
“Lily and I saw it already,” Sophia admitted.
“Yeah,” Lily added. “We’ve been as busy as Santa’s little helpers doing the dirty work in the background.”
A few minutes later there was another knock on cue.
“Speaking of Santa…” Lily announced.
The door swung open and a fat man dressed in a plush red suit burst into the room. “Ho, ho, ho.”
Nick made a believable Santa Claus however the true test would be fooling Nicole and the boys. Three little faces with big O’s for mouths and wide eyes stared speechless.
“Sonofabitch pulled it off,” Tristan whispered in Lily’s ear. “Way to go, Nick.”
Lily smirked knowingly. “Told ya so. Never doubt the power of The Suit.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” Santa bellowed, “I thought Christmas in July would be a nice change of pace. But Santa’s sweating his cojones off. Could someone crank up the AC in this place?”
Tristan laughed on his way to the thermostat and dropped the temperature to sixty-five degrees.
“Are you kids surprised to see Santa?” Nick skewed his deep voice, bellowing in third-person.
Three heads nodded in sync.
“I bet no one’s more surprised than Santa, making this long trip for this special family on the hottest day of summer. Can Santa get something cold to drink before he passes out?” Nick swiped the sweat beading above his fake white eyebrows.
Flustered by the rush of excitement, Sophia wobbled to the kitchen to fetch a beverage for the unexpected guest from the North Pole and returned with a glass of ice water. “He looks so real,” she mumbled to the grownups.
While controlled chaos shook the house, Tristan kept an eye on Mr. Barbieri watching his kin regroup under the family’s old roof for the first time in over a decade. The older man nodded proudly at his future son-in-law and winked in approval, then went back to checking his lottery tickets against the numbers in the newspaper.
“Geez…” Bob choked on a prayer then shouted, “My numbers. Finally they hit. Sophia, Sophia—” He jumped off the chair and grabbed his wife’s face, kissing her hard on the cheek. “I can finally retire. Key West, here we come.”
“Seriously, Dad?” Joy cut her eyes at him, shoving her engagement ring between her parents to show off the glittery stone. “You had to steal my thunder? And you can’t move out of Scenic View. I’m just getting settled.”
“Ummm, don’t get too excited over here.” Lily squeezed her face between Sophia and Bob’s, getting in on the expanding hug. “This pregnant woman doesn’t wanna be giving CPR this morning, thank you very much.”
“Pack your bags. I’m taking the whole family to Disney World,” Bob announced, adding to the frenzy.
Every time Joy caught Tristan staring at her, she giggled. He couldn’t help himself; she was something special, and best of all, she was all his. Better than hitting the lottery.
“Did you kids take a look outside yet?” Santa led the screaming stampede through the kitchen and out the door where Tristan had installed a jungle gym, complete with a double-decker fort, rock climbing wall, three slides, and six swings, bigger than the one in his own backyard.
“I’ll race ya,” Owen shouted, leading the way as Mason and Nicole followed. Lily, Bruno, Sophia, and Bob trailed them, heading for the picnic table beneath the shady tree beside the playset.
Joy slipped her arms around Tristan’s waist. “Nice job, Santa,” she said.
Tristan glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone else might be in the room. “Who me?”
“Yes, you.”
“You got the wrong one. Santa’s the fat guy in the red suit with the white beard.” He pointed to Nick under the blazing sun. “I owe him one. I actually owe him a lot more.” If it weren’t for Nick, Joy wouldn’t have gotten this house.
“Well, as far as I’m concerned, you’re my Santa.” She stretched on tiptoes to kiss his lips.
Squinting an eye like aiming at a target, he hoped his good intentions didn’t miss the mark. “Really?”
“Really.” Joy laced her fingers between his. “Who would’ve imagined in a gazillion years I’d fall for the first Casanova to cross my path?”
As they watched their framily enjoy the fruits of his labor, Tristan was never more content making everyone he loved happy.