A Christmas in Connecticut Page 5

  Jack pulled into his driveway. He’d had his head in the clouds the entire way after leaving Claire. She was so damn cute and sexy. He was a tiny bit concerned by the change in her once she’d agreed to help, but he chalked that up to her still adjusting to the time change. Yeah, that’s probably it. The idea of spending time with her made him happy, and he needed something to feel happy about these days. Adjusting to civilian life after six years in Afghanistan had been a challenge. He’d just been getting a handle on the transition when his dad had died.

  Jack was overwhelmed with feelings of grief and loss by the death of his father and the death of the young man under his charge. He was wracked with guilt over losing Robbie. He felt responsible. He awoke many nights covered in sweat…heart pounding and momentary confusion about where he was. He’d slowly remember that he was home in River Falls. The relief he felt was cut short once he remembered his dad was gone.

  After he and Beth buried their father and got a grip on his financial affairs, Jack rolled up his sleeves and went to work trying to figure out where the store stood financially. He felt conflicted about rescuing the struggling business.

  On one hand, it was his legacy…it had been passed down through generations; Jack felt an obligation to not let it falter on his watch. Even if he never settled down or had kids, Beth was having a son. He felt he owed it to his unborn nephew to not lose the store. He also felt an obligation to the town. While some did their shopping on Amazon or over at the Walmart, there were a lot of town folks who’d stayed loyal to the shop. It had been more of a community than a business. People would stop by for whatever they needed and talk to his dad, exchanging stories of trips, grandchildren, and town gossip. Some would say that Wilson’s Hardware was the heart of the town…its life blood. How could Jack just let that disappear?

  On the other hand, had been his desire to leave River Falls, to make a life in a bigger city. He’d left for Afghanistan with a broken heart. It had been rough, but the years had finally healed it; however, serving in a war zone hadn’t given him any opportunity to meet someone new. He thought a life in Hartford would give him that chance. A big city, where you didn’t know everyone. A fresh start. But that was becoming a distant hope. He needed to face facts: he was probably going to be living out his life here in River Falls.

  And that’s why these crazy feelings over a woman he barely knew were just that…crazy. She would be back in L.A. in a matter of weeks. Anything he started with Claire was going to wind up at one big dead end; what was the point? This realization didn’t stop the tug his heart felt when he thought of her. The desire to spend more time with her, protect her…kiss her soft-looking lips and hold her in his arms and pull her tight. Get her out of your head, Jack. He opened his front door and let out a big sigh as he walked into the dark and lonely house.

  “What were you thinking?” Emmy’s voice was just a notch below a shriek. “I mean…you don’t know how to do any of this…what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know…I wasn’t thinking with my head…I was thinking with something else.” The enormity of what Claire had agreed to was beginning to sink in. What was I thinking? “I was thinking that I wanted to help him and his sister for Christmas. This is their first Christmas without their dad, I understand the sense of loss. I mean…I’ve got to be of some help? Right?” She looked expectantly at her friend.

  “Okay…let’s regroup.” Emmy’s voice had come down a few octaves. “We can handle this…I’ll help you.”

  “But you’re not here.” Claire said sadly.

  “We’ll do it by phone and Facetime…I’ll help you through this. You’ve got this, Claire. We’ll make a list of projects you can handle.”

  “There’s already a list…but I can’t handle any of it.”

  “What list?”

  Claire told Emmy about the list Beth had already drawn up. “I’ll text it to you. But trust me…I can’t do any of the things on it. Jack said he could handle a couple of them…but the rest? Shit.”

  “Send me the list…I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Okay…thank you. Ugh…I’m so stupid, Emm.”

  “No, you’re not…you’re just horny.” Emmy laughed and Claire couldn’t help but join in.

  “But it wasn’t just that, Emm…I really want to help if I can. You always say that some of what you do should have stuck in my brain…maybe it has. I’m meeting Jack at his sister’s house tomorrow…I’ll let you know how it goes.”

  After hanging up, Claire poured another healthy shot of schnapps into her hot chocolate and pulled up the blog she’d written a couple of years ago.

  Ooh La La!

  While in Paris recently, I sampled my way through the French version of hot chocolate, and I have one word for it: luscious! There was nothing better than sitting outside a small cafe with my pot of le chocolate chaud and watching fashionable Parisians go about their day. The hot chocolate was unlike its American counterpart in that it was thick, rich, and velvety, practically as thick as a milk shake. I can assure you, though, you don’t need to travel to Paris to enjoy this exquisite treat. The secret? Use the best ingredients and don’t rush the process. Yes…I know…the skim milk hot chocolate you’ve been making is better for your figure…but trust me…this version is worth the extra thirty minutes on the treadmill…I promise! You will need to find high quality semi-sweet chocolate…when I say high quality, I mean something from Belgium or Switzerland. You will also need a high-quality whipping cream, brown sugar, and flaked fleur de sel. I went a step further and added homemade marshmallows to give it a bit of an American touch. Don’t be intimidated. Homemade marshmallows are easy to whip up and only take a few quality ingredients. Once you try the homemade version, you’ll have a hard time eating those chewy, flavorless store-bought ones. It’s easier than you think to elevate your style of living. Click here for the full recipe. Au revoir!

  Claire had always written these blog posts to inspire people to live their best lives with creative recipes and crafts. She’d never thought twice about using a healthy dose of creative license, although Emmy sometimes tried to reign her back. But when reading them through Jack’s eyes, through the perspective of him believing she could create any of this, all she could do was cringe inside. How am I going to live up to this version of myself? I can barely live up to the real version of myself. The thought worried her and gave her a sickening pit at the bottom of her stomach. Ugh.

  Chapter 7

  “Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s you!” Beth pulled Claire in for a giant hug, “I’m Beth, but you know that already.” Jack’s sister had the same dark blond hair he did, except she had beautiful curls, the kind Claire had always dreamed of having. She had the same blue eyes as his and the most adorable dimples, and her energy was infectious.

  “I’m glad to meet you, too,” Claire said. She looked at Beth’s pregnant belly. It was huge…like really huge. She can’t be just thirty-two weeks along. “Are you having tw—” She noticed Jack’s eyes practically bulge out of his head as he began to slightly, yet urgently, shake his head “no” while pulling an imaginary knife along his throat. “I mean…are you having a tough time with the bed rest?” She saw Jack heave out the breath he’d been holding in relief.

  “You have no idea…all I want to be doing is decorating for Christmas. It feels like torture being confined all day to this,” Beth replied, getting back into the quilt covered bed.

  Claire heard a loud snort and noticed the Scottie dog lying underneath the covers. “Oh…cute, who’s this?” she asked, scratching the dog on his head.

  “That’s Archie,” Beth said. “He’s under house arrest.”

  “House arrest?”

  “He got the neighbor’s dog pregnant.”

  At the sound of his name, Archie’s head popped up. He made a “hmph” sound, jumped off the bed, and ambled out of the room; evidently not wanting to listen to the tale of his crime.

  “Oh no,” Claire replied, although it s
ounded kind of adorable.

  “Oh yeah. He got under the fence one day while Pippa, our neighbor Sheila’s Westie, was out. Archie must have been able to smell that she was in heat, because he dug a hole, that I swear he used a backhoe for, and was in their yard going at Pippa within seconds.”

  Claire had to stifle a giggle at the image Beth just painted.

  “As luck would have it, just the one time did the trick. Pippa’s due any day now.” Beth had a look of pure exasperation on her face.

  “You can’t blame him,” Jack piped up. “I mean…”

  Beth shot Jack a look. “His punishment was a trip to the vet the very next week,” she said. Jack appeared to visibly wince at this.

  Claire couldn’t help but let out a small laugh; evidently, this counted as trouble in a small town.

  “Anyhoo…I had Tyler get down all the boxes of Dad’s Christmas stuff. He put them in the sunroom. I thought you two could go through them and decide what to use…I think some ornaments are missing hooks. Claire, instead of all those ugly metal ones, you could replace them with some red satin ribbon. Wouldn’t that look great?!?”

  This sounded like a project Claire could tackle. “Great idea,” she replied, giving Beth a thumbs up signal.

  “Get some rest, Sis, Claire and I’ll start with the boxes. Do you need anything?”

  “No…I’m good. I’m just delighted that you’re here, Claire.” Beth’s face beamed, her dimples flanking her smile.

  Jack and Claire had been sorting through the boxes for a couple of hours. They’d created a box of things to be used and repackaged what wouldn’t be. The time had flown by. She and Jack had exchanged small talk, little nuggets about one another. Claire learned Jack had been an Eagle Scout and that he was quite an accomplished carpenter. “Yet you decided to study business. Why?”

  “I don’t know…I guess I wanted out of River Falls and it seemed that a degree in business would lead me to a career out of here. Few businesses around here need someone with a business degree.”

  Claire nodded her head. She looked over at him as he slid one box back into the closet. His shirt had come untucked from his jeans and Claire could see part of a six-pack peeking out. Jack caught her staring at him. Luckily, she hadn’t been drooling too, but she could feel her cheeks turn red.

  “So how did you get into the blogging business?” Jack stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

  “It started with a college project and it just kind of took off.”

  “That’s amazing. You’re so talented. I’m really in awe of all that you can do.”

  Claire felt a sense of discomfort. “Well…you know, like most blogs, I’m sure, a lot of creative license is used; I’m not really all that.” She looked at Jack. Her heart was racing. How far was she going to go?

  “What do you mean?” He stopped what he was doing.

  “Well…” She felt tongue tied. “Everything is staged in the photos and…”

  Beth suddenly burst into the room; her face appeared ready to burst with excitement. “I just got off the phone with Sheila. I’d told her all about you; she scrolled through your blog posts and came across the one where you built a whelping box and helped birth a litter of puppies! Remember? You’d even nursed one back to life! It was just the sweetest story.” Beth gushed with excitement.

  Claire began to get a queasy feeling in her stomach. She remembered the post. It had been one of her more creative ones. She remembered Emmy standing, arms folded, giving Claire one of those looks. At the time, Claire thought it was just a little creative embellishment…but now…but now…oh god…she felt as if she was going to be ill at the thought of what was coming next.

  “Neither Sheila, nor I have any experience birthing puppies. It would be crazy good if you could build Pippa an adorable whelping box to welcome her puppies in!” Claire was sure Beth was about to combust with excitement.

  “Well…I…uh…I’m probably going to have my hands full with your Christmas list.” She looked over at Jack.

  “It wouldn’t be that hard…I can do the actual building if that would help. It sure would be cute for Pippa to have a real whelping box instead of the cardboard one Sheila’s got set up now.” He smiled confidently at Claire. “We’ve got this.”

  “We do?” she asked quietly.

  “Sure,” Jack replied, hands on his hips.

  “Okay,” was all she could manage to croak out. Her throat was suddenly as dry as the Sahara.

  “Also…it would be really great if you could assist with the birth.” Beth was bubbling over now with delight. “Because Sheila doesn’t know what she’s doing, and I obviously can’t help.” Beth motioned to her enormous belly.

  Just then, Archie had sidled up to Jack and looked around at everyone, somehow knowing the conversation had something to do with his little escapade. He let out a sharp bark that startled everyone.

  “Okay…I’ll see what I can do.” Claire felt clammy and weak in the knees. She could check out some online videos…see how it’s done. How hard could it be? Animals gave birth out in the wild all the time without any help. She’d probably just need to give Pippa some emotional support, like a doggie doula. Pippa would do all the work. Claire felt a moment of relief. But the fact remained that she was horribly squeamish at even the thought of blood. A career in medicine had never and would never enter her mind.

  “Great! It’s all settled then. I’ll go call Sheila, you could pop over now and meet Pippa to get an idea of what size box you’ll need to build.” Beth was hurriedly walking back to her bedroom.

  “Let’s walk over, I’ll introduce you to Sheila.” Jack held the front door open. Archie trotted out ahead of him, he seemed to know where they were headed.

  “Hi! I’m Sheila, come on in.” The curvy blond stepped aside so that Jack and Claire could step into the house. Archie had slipped in past their feet and pranced off.

  “Let’s follow his lead…he always knows where Pippa is,” Sheila said.

  The little black Scottie trotted into the family room and up to a blue and white striped dog bed where he nuzzled the small white dog lying there.

  “This is Pippa,” Sheila announced proudly. “She’s due any day…she and Archie had a one-night stand, I guess you could call it.” She gave Archie a disapproving look.

  Claire kneeled and gave the little Westie a scratch on her head. Pippa’s belly was large, and she looked miserable over the entire ordeal. “You should have used protection,” Claire whispered. Archie let out a snort.

  “I have a tape measure here, if you want to take down some measurements.” Sheila held it out. Claire had no idea what to measure.

  Jack took the tape measurer from Sheila. “Where are you going to be putting it?” he asked.

  “Here in the family room. That way she’s with all of us, and not hidden away somewhere. I looked over your blog and that box you built was so adorable! Since it will be the focal point of the room, I really want it to blend in, like a piece of furniture. Did Beth tell you about Pippa’s Instagram account?”

  Claire shook her head no. The dog is on social media?

  “She’s got over ten thousand followers! I’m going to be posting photos and videos of the whole thing. Having a beautiful whelping box will help make it go viral.”

  Claire dumped a handful of ice into the glass and poured a healthy portion of bourbon over it. She needed it after the day she’d had. Whelping box? Birthing puppies? She felt as if she was going to cry. Thank goodness Jack took over the building of the box. He seemed to know what he was doing…mentioned something about trimming it in decorative crown molding. When the discussion had turned to the idea that Claire could sew the bedding, she’d let out a strangled little laugh. She had no idea what end was up on a sewing machine. Claire had been quick on her feet and noted that time was of the essence, and it would be too challenging to sew the bedding from scratch and instead introduced the idea of using a gently used quilt to pad the box. She had stopped by th
e secondhand shop on the way back to the cottage and had hit the jackpot. They had a lovely, blue and white floral-patterned quilt…it would look great. Claire was pretty sure she could sell the idea to Sheila.

  But now the birthing. What in the actual hell was she going to do? She took a large swallow of the bourbon and sat down with her laptop. It was time to face the music and remind herself exactly what she had written. The rest of the bourbon went down the hatch before Claire focused her eyes on the computer screen.

  Puppy Love

  This weekend I had the very special honor of helping bring six tiny pups into the world. It was an experience I’ll never forget! But let’s back up a bit and talk about what you’ll need to help your dog have her special day. Dogs give birth in what is called a “whelping box.” This is a type of enclosure with sides tall enough that the new little nuggets can’t escape. The whelping box is where momma dog will give birth and then nurse and tend to her puppies until they’re old enough to expand their horizons. Now, most whelping boxes are plywood, or PVC tubing, cardboard, or even an old dresser drawer, and then they’re often filled with rags or old bath towels. However, there is no reason you can’t make a more beautiful place for your dog to birth and nurture her little darlings.

  I painted the one I made for Snickers’ litter white on the outside (with non-toxic paint…those pups will chew everything once their teeth come in!). I added crown molding trim to really elevate the look. I found the most beautiful blue and white ticked fabric that I turned into the most adorable and luxurious mini duvet, which I layered over an orthopedic dog bed, topped with a soft lambswool mattress pad (cut to size), of course this was all covered in waterproof sheeting, and then the beautiful duvet topped it all off. Snickers was truly a queen for a day!