But as the minutes ticked on without a response back from him, I gave up hope that he would contact me back.
Just as the movie began winding down, the house phone rang. Mom got up to get it, and Dad took the time to stretch. I heard her mumbling in the background as my father leaned over to kiss the side of my head. Then, Mom practically came bouncing into the room.
“Who was that, sweetheart?” my father asked.
“Abby, why don’t you go clean yourself up?” my mother asked.
“Why, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I just have a fun little idea on how we can wind down Christmas this year. But that means we all gotta get cleaned up.”
“But we always lounge around in our pajamas,” my father said. “What are we doing differently this year?”
My mother just gave him a look before I stood up.
“Mom, what’s going on?” I asked.
“Can’t it just be a surprise?” she asked. “I want to surprise my family. Now, go get cleaned up.”
Sighing, I made my way up the stairs. I took a quick shower and pieced myself together, wearing a pair of my new pants. I slipped on the boots my parents had gotten me before I wrapped the beautiful coat around my body. Then I headed back downstairs. My mother was rushing around like a bat out of hell while my father’s face ached with his smile, and I realized that I was now the one in the dark.
“Okay, is anyone gonna tell me what’s going on?” I asked.
“So, there was a special caller on the phone,” my mother said.
“And that caller wants you to check the front porch,” my father said.
“Who called?” I asked.
They smiled and ushered me to the door.
“No, really,” I said. “I’m serious. Who call—”
My father opened the door for me, and I saw Colin standing on the porch. His eyes were bright, and his smile was big, and I simply stood there in shock. Colin was on my porch. At my house. Dressed in the most beautiful suit I’d ever seen that was tailored exactly to his body. His gray suit was paired with a dark red button-down shirt, and the tie he wore was a deep, shimmering green.
I laughed, throwing my arms around him as he pulled me close.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” I asked.
“I believe I was invited,” he said.
I pulled my head back to look into his eyes, but his lips quickly encompassed mine. His hand cradled my neck as our lips slowly massaged one another’s, and I melted into his touch. He tasted like coffee and chocolate as our tongues danced together, and when my legs gave out from underneath me, he caught me within his strong grasp.
“Would you like to come in?” I asked breathlessly.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
He backed me into my home and reached his hand out for my father. They shook hands again before my mother came around, scooting between us so she could give him a proper hug.
“Miriam Hollis,” she said. “Welcome to our home.”
“Jack Hollis,” my father said. “Glad you could make it for Christmas.”
“Thank you for having me,” he said. “I’m Colin Murphy.”
“Well, Colin Murphy, would you like to join us for Christmas dinner?” my mother asked.
“We have a honey-baked spiral ham, sweet corn, mashed potatoes, and anything else my wife decides to whip up within the next hour,” my father said.
“It all sounds wonderful,” Colin said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yes,” my father said. “You can sit and have a drink with me. Once these two get going in the kitchen, they’ll run you over if you get in their way.”
Following my Mom into the kitchen, we quickly began throwing things together for dinner. I heard Colin and my father laughing with one another. My father was picking his brain about his business, and Colin was talking with my father about his professorship. All my life, my father had been a teacher of some sort, but he retired as the head of the Economics Department at the local college.
“He fits in nicely here,” my mother said.
“He does seem to be a bit more at ease than I remember him being,” I said.
“Sometimes you just gotta get someone around the right types of people,” she said.
We set the table before we all began to eat, and I found myself staring at Colin. He was smiling and laughing with my parents. He was offering up more information about his life than I’d ever been able to pull from him. I could feel a warmth radiating from him that I’d only experienced once or twice while we were on the road together, and it only served to pull a smile across my face.
The rigidity was gone, and in its place was a fluid, happy, intelligent man that set my soul on fire.
“So, I actually have a question,” Colin said.
“Ask away,” my father said.
“It actually has to do with Abby.”
“What’s up?” I asked.
Turning toward me, he slid his arm onto my thigh. I felt his warmth penetrating my jeans, and it took a great deal of deep breathing to keep that telltale flush from creeping into my cheeks. I felt my parents’ gazes on us as he looked deep into my eyes, losing myself in the softness of his facial features.
Features I had come to know as jagged up until this point.
“I’m staying at a hotel in Minneapolis, and it’s a wonderful place,” he said. “It’s where the charity
