Page 70 of Unwanted

Laurie told her what she needed done, and they chatted easily, getting to know each other, Laurie telling Harper how the adjustment between sunny California and snowy Montana was going. Laurie Gallagher was warm and kind, and Harper liked her immensely after only ten minutes. Her heart broke to know that such a motherly woman had lost her only child.

They each carried two trays of appetizers into the living room, where Mark and Jak were standing by the Christmas tree, both holding a glass of eggnog. Mark helped them set down the food and then handed them each a glass. “Merry Christmas. Thank you both for joining us and brightening our home.” He looked at his wife, and a flash of sadness moved between them before they both smiled, raising their glasses. Harper and Jak raised their glasses as well, and then Harper took a sip of the rich, creamy drink with the barest hint of alcohol. She was glad it was subtle. She wasn’t much of a drinker, and anything more would have been too strong for her.

As she was lowering her glass from her lips, she glanced at Jak, who had just taken a drink. A look of pure horror crossed over his face before he sputtered, a spray of eggnog raining from his mouth as he coughed and retched and tried to catch his breath.

Harper took the cup from him, as Mark began patting his back and Laurie rushed forward with a napkin. He took it, wiping at his mouth as tears from coughing filled his eyes. “Oh dear,” Laurie said. “Are you okay? Let me get you some water. You must have swallowed it down the wrong tube.”

She rushed off, and Mark ceased pounding on Jak’s back as he coughed once more, taking a deep breath. “What is that?” Jak asked, eyeing the glasses in Harper’s hands as though she was holding two big goblets of poison that he’d just drunk from.

“Just cream and eggs and well…” Harper looked helplessly at Mark who glanced back at her, sheepish.

“I should have realized that this might be a taste you’re not quite used to,” Mark said. Laurie came back into the room and handed Jak a glass of water, which he took, a grateful look on his face before he tipped it, drinking it all in three quick gulps. Jak let out one final shudder as Harper placed the two glasses on the table, looking at the trays of food with new eyes. There was an array of cheeses, but there were also vegetables and crackers and a few nuts and dried berries. She let out a sigh of relief. He had plenty of options there of foods that wouldn’t cause his stomach to protest. Hopefully. She wasn’t a medical professional, but she knew his diet had been limited and his body would probably react poorly to things it wasn’t used to.

Damn, I should have thought of that sooner, she admonished herself. By the look on Mark’s face, she could tell the same thought was crossing his mind.

“Why don’t we open a few gifts before Laurie’s sister, Pam, and her boys get here,” Mark said, leading them to the tree and, Harper knew, trying to ensure Jak didn’t feel awkward about spitting out the eggnog. He didn’t look awkward exactly—yet—more aggrieved that they’d all tried to poison him on Christmas. But Jak was self-conscious, and as soon as he had a moment to wonder if he’d reacted wrongly, he would. Not that he had done anything inappropriate, considering they should have thought a few things through—but, regardless, Jak would wonder, and she was glad Mark was moving on quickly to something else.

“Great idea, Mark,” Laurie said, heading toward a grouping of bags under the tree near the back.

Harper grabbed the pile of gifts she’d brought, and when she went to hand Jak the gift she’d gotten for him, he was standing at the tree, a look of utter bafflement on his face as he rubbed the “needles” of the fake tree between his fingers. He leaned forward and tentatively sniffed at it.

“It’s not real,” she whispered, leaning toward him.

He glanced at her. “Not real?”

“Right, it’s, um, made of…” Plastic? Nylon? Harper actually had no idea.

Jak’s brow wrinkled, but then his fingers found one of the twinkle lights, and he touched it lightly as though he thought it might burn him. “They’re like tiny stars, cold enough to hold in your hand,” he murmured. He seemed pleased by them, and Harper’s lips tipped as she watched him. She gazed at him, studying the look of childlike wonder on his strong, handsome face. I’m in love with him, she thought. It was too quick, too much too soon, too risky in so many ways, too…oh, so many “toos,” but it was true and real. I love you, she thought as he gazed at the fake tree, a look of awe and perplexity mingling in his open expression. The strength of the feeling almost brought tears to her eyes.

When did it happen? she wondered, trying to pinpoint the exact moment she had fallen. It should have been…momentous, wasn’t that true? But no, she realized dreamily, it hadn’t been one singular stopping of time. It was a beautiful string of moments, each one opening her heart to him little by little. And this was one. Watching Jak under the twinkling lights of his first Christmas tree, it was suddenly clear. Sometimes miracles—like love—arrived gently. Softly. Without fanfare. Without a lightning strike. For true miracles needed no such thing. Their eyes met, and her heart sang. I love you, she thought again. And it was as simple and as wondrous as that.

“Here,” she whispered, and his gaze moved downward as she placed a wrapped gift in his hands.

He blinked at her and then considered the package wrapped in bright-red shiny paper, tied with a white-and-red bow, a look of pure delight coming over his face. “Thank you,” he said. “I love it.”

She laughed softly. “There’s something inside.”

“Inside?” He turned it over.

“Have you never received a gift before, Jak? Even when you were a child?”

“No.”

Her heart squeezed—even she, a foster child, had received a few Christmas gifts—but she didn’t want to make him feel strange, and so she smiled. “I’m honored that I’m giving you your first one then. Let’s sit and you can open it.”

Laurie had collected her bags and was seated on the couch, and the rest of them joined her, passing gifts around. Jak watched them, the first hint of uncertainty coming into his eyes. Harper knew what he was thinking: he had nothing to give to them. I should have helped him with the whole gift thing. She hadn’t anticipated that he’d feel bad for not reciprocating. God, she really needed to start considering his situation more. Considering that he watched everything so closely, that he wanted so much to fit in. She was just really getting to know him, but she should have realized that.

“This is from me and Jak,” she said quickly, handing the gift she’d brought for the Gallaghers. It was a beautifully photographed coffee table book of Montana, done by a local photographer.

Laurie ran her hand over the top of it. “Oh, Harper, Jak, it’s lovely. It’s the perfect addition to our new home. Thank you.”

She smiled. “In the summer, if you’d like, I’d be happy to show you some of those spots. There’s a beautiful waterfall a short distance from here. You can see a picture of it in there.”

Laurie glanced at Mark, and Harper thought she saw something that looked like hope in the older woman’s eyes. Had Harper’s gift made her glad—even for a moment—that they’d moved to Montana? Oh, she hoped so. “We would absolutely love that.”

Harper turned toward Jak. “Open yours,” she said softly.

Jak looked down at the gift in his lap and then slowly, so slowly and painstakingly, removed the bow and then the wrapping paper, turning over the book she’d picked for him. The Montana Wildlife Guide. “I…thought you could look up the names of the things you’ve come to know,” she said very softly.

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