“Starting with?”
“His mother and I don’t get along.” She decided not to mention Mrs. McDonald’s attempt to get her out of Tom’s life permanently by sending her husband over here on a mission to buy her off. It hadn’t worked and now that she understood why it had happened in the first place, she could forgive the whole misguided incident. Maddie might not.
“You planning to live with the woman?” Maddie asked wryly.
“No, but come on, even if she and I find a way to make peace, she is not the kind of person to stay out of our lives. Do I really want a lifetime of dealing with her?”
“If it comes with a man as great as Tom, don’t you think it would be worth it?”
Jeanette thought of how Tom made her feel when they were alone and grinned. “Now that you mention it, maybe it does. Meantime, though, in the spirit of holiday goodwill I agreed to show up at some fancy dinner party at their house next weekend.”
“Is that your punishment for existing?” Maddie inquired tartly.
“It’s my pitiful attempt to extend an olive branch yet again,” Jeanette said.
“Give it time. They’ll come to appreciate you for the wonderful woman you are,” Maddie assured her.
“You are such an optimist.”
“Well, of course I am. A few years ago, when Richard walked out on me, I thought I’d never be happy again. Then Cal came along and just look at my life. It’s better than ever. I have two little ones I’d never dreamed in a million years that I’d have at this stage of my life. I have a husband who adores me. I have a son who’s excelling in college and is destined to play pro baseball. I have two other kids who are getting smarter and more mature every day. And I have a business I enjoy and friends who support me and make me laugh. All that can be yours, too. You just have to reach out and grab what you want.”
“I’d be hard pressed to come up with five kids overnight, but I see your point,” Jeanette said. “I need to count my blessings.”
“And Tom could be one of those if you’ll open your heart to him,” Maddie reminded her. “Work this out, sweetie. I know you want to.”
“Yeah, I do,” Jeanette admitted, her gaze searching the crowded square before finally finding Tom near the stage. He and Santa—Howard—were arguing, yet again. Then Howard plunked an extra Santa hat on Tom’s head and Jeanette found herself chuckling at his obvious discomfort.
Maddie nudged her with an elbow. “You’ve gotta love a man in a Santa hat.”
Jeanette sighed. “Yeah, I suppose I do.”
But that didn’t seem to stop her from wondering if she was going to live to regret it.
* * *
Tom looked around the town square at the awed expressions on the kids’ faces and shook his head. Maybe only someone under twelve could truly enjoy Christmas, he mused.
He turned to share his thoughts with Jeanette and realized that she was gazing around at all the lights with that same look of awe on her face. He frowned.
“You really have gotten into this, haven’t you?”
“Don’t make it sound like an accusation,” she responded. “I have gotten into it. Just look at all these people, Tom. Look at how happy the kids are. Even Howard’s in his element up there handing out candy canes and Erik’s cookies and letting the kids whisper their Christmas wishes in his ear.”
“How are they going to feel on Christmas morning when they don’t get what they asked for?”
She whirled on him. “Would you just give it a rest? Look how the town has come together for this event. That’s a good thing. Lighten up, okay?”
“You know, I really don’t understand you anymore,” he said, genuinely bewildered by her change in attitude.
“Ditto,” she said, walking away.
Years ago, faced with his parents’ total lack of interest in ensuring their children enjoyed the holiday season, using it mainly as a time to enhance social connections, Tom had learned to be independent, not to rely on anyone for his happiness. Tonight, though, for the very first time he felt well and truly alone. It scared him to think that Jeanette might use this as yet another reason to keep their relationship from moving forward. Things had been going well recently, and now, it seemed he was about to ruin it. He had to get a grip, remember what really mattered.
“You look as if someone just stole your Christmas presents,” Ronnie noted, joining him. “Where’s Jeanette?”
“I have no idea.”
Ronnie gave him a knowing look. “Did you two have a fight?”
“Apparently,” he said.
Ronnie nodded sagely. “Ah, one of those. They’re the toughest kind to handle. Did she give you any clues?”
“It had something to do with my bah-humbug attitude.”
Ronnie grinned. “Yeah, you really do need to work on that. The whole town’s talking about what a grump you are. It probably doesn’t bode well for your future as town manager.”
Tom stared at him incredulously. “You think I could be fired because I’m not filled with the Christmas spirit?”
“Serenity does have certain expectations for its town officials,” Ronnie said solemnly.
“You can’t be serious!”
Ronnie chuckled. “Okay, I’m kidding. Your job is probably safe, but you really do need to loosen up about the holidays.”
Tom sighed. “I know.”
“Then maybe you should get a clue,” Ronnie suggested. “Go find some mistletoe, drag Jeanette under it and kiss her like there’s no tomorrow.”
“And you think that will fix things?”
“Probably not, but it might be a good start.”
“Given her current mood, she’ll probably slug me.”
“That’s why we have paramedics on standby,” Ronnie said.
“I thought that was in case somebody choked on a hot dog,” Tom muttered.
“They multitask,” Ronnie assured him. “Find the woman and kiss her before all of this gets blown out of proportion.”
“Kissing can’t solve this problem,” Tom said.
“Maybe not, but it can remind you both that what you have is worth fighting for.”
Tom regarded him with envy. “How’d you get to
