A Princess Under The Mistletoe

Tabitha shrugged her shoulders. “Sounds the same to me. Am I supposed to sit in a dark corner here until someone says it’s safe to come out?” Tabitha shook her head. “I’m young. I want to live.”

“Well, just be careful,” Sara said. “Things can happen...during sex.”

Tabitha laughed but squeezed Sara’s arm. “How would you know?” she asked. She immediately became contrite. “I’m sorry. It must be hard being the family saint. You’ve made it easy for me to be the sinner.”

Sara drew Tabitha into her arms, tightly embracing her younger sister. “I worry about you. I don’t want you to suffer.”

Tabitha’s gaze softened. “I’m not in pain when Christoph is around. He’s Greek. He makes me feel happy. He makes me forget my troubles.”

Sara still felt uneasy about Tabitha’s lover. “If you say so,” she said. “I just want you to be safe, careful and happy.”

“In our situation, one out of three isn’t so bad,” Tabitha said.

Sara took a deep breath. “Look after yourself. I’ll call you. Try to respond,” she said.

Tabitha smiled. “I’ll do my best. Are you sure you don’t want a cup of tea?”

Sara shook her head. “I think I heard the water in the shower turn off. Time for me to go. Call me,” she said, kissing her sister on the cheek before she walked out of the apartment.

Sara wandered around downtown, glancing into shop windows even though she was distracted. She stopped by the gelato shop, ordered her favorite hazelnut gelato and headed for the beach. It was early December and although it was too chilly for swimming, she wanted to make the most of her day. Spooning the delicious dessert into her mouth, she stared at the beautiful azure ocean and felt completely lost.

She was full of worry over her brother, who had been missing for months, and her sister, who appeared determined to compensate for the constraints of the past several months. Sara sighed and her mind wandered to Gavin, Sam and Adelaide. A little trip to the beach would mean so much to all of them.

Spooning the last bit of gelato into her mouth, Sara stood and brushed the sand off her backside. So much for escaping Gavin and his brood. It appeared that her own family situation was crazier than his.

* * *

Gavin alternated between encouraging Sam to eat his lunch and spooning mushy green peas into Adelaide’s mouth. She banged the extra spoon he’d given her on the tray of the high chair. The sound of metal repeatedly striking plastic reminded him of a bad visit to the dentist.

Sam appeared to be having a glum day. “Hey, bud,” he said to his son. “Eat a few more bites of your sandwich.”

Gavin gave Adelaide another bite and she spit the green matter back at him, chortling in delight and banging the tray. “Hey. Give your poor dad a break.”

At that moment, Gavin heard the front door open and footsteps. He glanced up to find Sara in the doorway and felt a shot of relief. “You’re back early,” he said.

He felt her gaze wander over him. She bit her lip as if to contain her amusement. “I’m delighted to know I’m not the only one on whom she likes to shower her food.”

“I bet you look better in green than I do,” he said, somehow feeling much lighter. He wiped Adelaide’s face. She screeched at him in return. “Hope your morning was better than ours.”

“Not bad,” she said. “I ate gelato and sat on the beach for a little while.”

“Gelato,” Gavin echoed.

“The beach,” Sam said, jealousy oozing from his tone.

Sara glanced at both of them. “There’s nothing preventing us from taking a little trip to the beach,” she said. “We don’t even have to swim. We just need to slather on some sunscreen, throw on a hat and roll up our pants if we dare to have the chilly water on our toes.”

Sam scrambled up on his knees in his chair and stared hopefully in Gavin’s face. “Can we go, Daddy? Can we?”

Gavin had so rarely seen Sam exhibit this much enthusiasm during the past few months. There was only one answer he could give his son.

Chapter Three (#ulink_5860413a-497a-51bb-91e7-398d17495ec8)

Sam zoomed along the sandy beach. When the water was calm, he stepped into it up to his ankles.

“I can’t believe he’s tolerating the chilly water so well,” Sara said.

“You forget that he spent the past several years playing in the snows of North Dakota,” Gavin said.

Adelaide wiggled inside the baby carrier strapped to Gavin’s chest and kicked her chubby little legs. She was almost too big for it, but they’d left in a rush and since she was putting everything in her mouth, he suspected there was no way he’d be able to keep her from ingesting sand, shells and rocks.

“Adelaide really wants free, doesn’t she?” Sara said, smiling as her hair blew in the breeze.

“Yeah. I’m just not prepared to dig sand out of her mouth,” he said. “Trust me. It would be a real mood killer.”

Sara nodded and closed her eyes as she lifted her head. “The ocean makes everything better.”

“Unless it involves a tsunami or hurricane,” he said.

“Feeling a little cynical?” she asked.

Yeah, he thought, but didn’t say it aloud. Instead he took a deep breath of the salt-scented air and then another. He felt his insides stretch open a bit. Gavin had felt tight and stiff for a long time. He’d had to stay tight in order to hold everything together. Everything had been so sad. His kids had lost their mother. His wife had lost her life. He had no right to breathe easy. He had no right to even a moment of happiness. Taking another breath, he almost felt a little sore at the expansion of his lungs.

“Maybe we should step into the water like Sam,” she encouraged. “Maybe it will make us feel better.”

“You make it sound like a baptism,” he said.

“Maybe it is,” she said. She took off her shoes and barely stepped into the water. She let out a little squeal and glanced over her shoulder. “Give me a minute to get used to it.”

Gavin watched her take a few more steps into the water. She was an odd combination of characteristics. Pretty in a quiet way, she looked young for her years. At the same time, he saw glimpses of an old soul in her eyes. Gavin smirked at himself. Old soul. Was he getting poetic about the nanny?

Shaking off his dour attitude, he ditched his shoes and walked toward Sam and Sara. He stepped into the water and felt the initial shock of the chill. He waited for the magic. No dramatic wave rushed through him. He just felt a little lighter.

“It’s strange, but it feels good, doesn’t it?” Sara said more than asked.

“I guess,” he said. “Sam, you’re not getting drenched, are you?”

“No,” Sam said, but he kept wandering farther into the water.

“Don’t go any farther,” Gavin called. “You might step into a hole. I don’t want you going in over your head.”

“Okay,” Sam said, walking in circles and staring at his feet.

“He loves it,” Sara said. “I’d like to bring him down here more often, but I’m not sure I could watch both of them at the same time.”

Gavin nodded. “I’ll try to make more time for it. It definitely takes two adults with these kids. So when did you fall in love with the ocean?”

“I grew up in a landlocked region, but we often took vacations on the shore. It was one of the few times we could count on being with our parents. Although there was always a nanny or two along.”