Page 76 of Mistletoe and Mischief

“Mom!”

The front door slammed and Beth Morehouse hurried out of the kitchen. Three days before Christmas, and her daughters were home from college—at last! Her foreman, Jeff, had been kind enough to pick them up at the airport while Beth dealt with last-minute chores. She’d been looking forward to seeing them for weeks. Throwing her arms wide, she ran toward Bailey and Sophie. “Merry Christmas, girls.”

Squealing with delight, they dropped their bags and rushed into her embrace.

“I can’t believe it’s snowing. It’s so beautiful,” Bailey said, holding Beth in a tight hug. At twenty-one, she was the oldest by fourteen months. She resembled her father in so many ways. She was tall like Kent and had his dark brown hair, which she’d tucked under a knitted cap. Her eyes shone with a quiet joy. She was the thoughtful one and that, too, reminded Beth of her ex-husband. Three years after the divorce, she still missed him, although pride would never allow her to admit that. Even her budding relationship with Ted Reynolds, the local veterinarian, paled when she thought about her life with Kent and their history together.

“My turn.” Displacing Bailey, Sophie snuggled into Beth’s embrace. “The house looks fabulous, Mom. Really Christmassy.” This child was more like Beth. A few inches shorter than her sister, Sophie had curly auburn hair and eyes so blue they seemed to reflect a summer sky. Releasing Beth, Sophie added, “And it smells wonderful.”

Beth had done her best to make the house as festive and bright as possible for her daughters. She’d spent long hours draping fresh evergreen boughs on the staircase leading to the second-floor bedrooms. Two of the three Christmas trees were loaded with ornaments. The main tree in the family room was still bare, awaiting their arrival so they could decorate it together, which was a family tradition.

A trio of four-foot-tall snowmen stood guard in the hallway near the family room where the Nativity scene was displayed on the fireplace mantel. Decorating had helped take Beth’s mind off the fact that her ex-husband would be joining them for Christmas. This would be the first time she’d seen him in three years. Oh, they’d spoken often enough, but every conversation had revolved around their daughters. Nothing else. No questions asked. No comments of a personal nature. Just the girls and only the girls. It’d been strictly business. Until now.

Until Christmas.

They both loved the holidays. It was Kent who’d first suggested they have several Christmas trees. Always fresh ones, which was one reason Beth had been attracted to the Christmas tree farm when she started her new life.

“I’ve got lunch ready,” Beth said, trying to turn her attention away from her ex-husband. He still lived in California, as did the girls. He’d stayed in their hometown of Sacramento, while Bailey and Sophie both attended university in San Diego. According to their daughters, Kent had asked to come for Christmas. She’d known for almost two weeks that he’d made reservations at the Thyme and Tide B and B in Cedar Cove. The news that he’d be in town had initially come as a shock to Beth. He hadn’t discussed it with her at all. Instead, he’d had their daughters do his talking for him. That made everything more awkward, because it wasn’t as if she could refuse, not with Bailey and Sophie so excited about spending Christmas together as a family. But Kent’s plans had left her with a host of unanswered questions. Was this his way of telling Beth he missed her? Was he looking for a reconciliation? Was she? The questions swarmed in her head, but the answers wouldn’t be clear until he arrived. At least she’d be better able to judge his reasons. His intentions. And her own...

“Just like it used to be,” Bailey finished. Beth had missed whatever she’d said before that, although it wasn’t hard to guess.

Just like it used to be.These were magic words, but Beth had recognized long ago that the clock only moved forward. Yet the girls’ eagerness, Kent’s apparent insistence and her nostalgia for what they’d once shared swept aside her customary reserve.

“Mom?” Bailey said when she didn’t respond. “We’re talking.... Where are you?”

Beth gave a quick shake of her head. “Woolgathering. Sorry. I haven’t had much sleep lately.” Exhausted as she was, managing the tree farm and getting ready for Christmas with her daughters—and Kent—she’d hardly slept. She couldn’t. Every time she closed her eyes, Kent was there. Kent with his boyish smile and his eyes twinkling with mischief and fun. They’d been happy once and somehow they’d lost that and so much more. Beth had never been able to put her finger on what exactly had gone wrong; she only knew that it had. In the end they’d lived separate lives, going their own ways. Their daughters had kept them together—and then they were off at college, and suddenly it was just Kent and Beth. That was when they discovered they no longer had anything in common.

“You’re not sleeping?” Bailey’s eyes widened with concern.

Sophie elbowed her sister. “Bailey, think about it. This is the busiest time of year for a Christmas tree farm. Then there’s all this decorating. And, if we’re really lucky—”

“Mom made date candy?” Bailey cut in.

“And caramel corn?” Sophie asked hopefully, hands folded in prayer.

“Yes to you both. It wouldn’t be Christmas without our special treats.”

“You’re the best mom in the world.”

Beth smiled. She’d had less than three hours’ sleep, thanks to all the Christmas preparations, her dogs and...her incessant memories of Kent. Traffic at the tree farm had thinned out now that Christmas was only three days away. But families were still stopping by and there was quite a bit to do, including cleanup. Her ten-man crew was down to four and they’d coped just fine without either her or Jeff this morning. While he drove out to the airport, she’d been getting ready for her daughters’ arrival. However, as soon as lunch was over, she needed to head back outside.

Beth and the girls had booked a skiing trip between Christmas and New Year’s, and after the hectic schedule of the past two months, she was counting on a few relaxing days with her daughters. Their reservations were made and she was eager to go. Ted Reynolds, good friend that he was, had offered to take care of her animals, which reminded her of the one hitch in her perfectly planned holiday escape.

“Before we sit down to eat, I need to tell you we have special guests this Christmas.”

“You mean Dad, right?” Bailey led the way into the other room, where there was more greenery and a beautifully arranged table with three place settings.

“Well, yes, your father. But he’s not the only one....”

“Mom.” Bailey tensed as she spoke. “Don’t tell me you have a boyfriend. It’s that vet, isn’t it?”

“Ten guests, actually,” she said, ignoring the comment about Ted, “and they aren’t all boys.”

“Puppies?” Sophie guessed.

“Puppies,” Beth confirmed, not surprised that her daughter had figured it out. “Ten of them.”

“Ten?” Sophie cried, aghast.

---