Christmas Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Series #5) Page 6

  The boy glanced around the small room and then back at Mac. With a disdainful look, he said, "You're fifteen years too late."

  Mac blinked to keep the moisture in his eyes from falling and glanced at Cecelia. "Why don't you show Sean to his room?"

  Cecelia stepped in front of the boy. "Ah, there are stairs at the end of the hallway leading to the only room upstairs, a bedroom under the dormer. Come on. Let's get you settled."

  *

  Sean glanced around the dormer room that was spacious enough and walked to drop his backpack on the bed. He had a lump the size of the moon in his throat. He'd imagined meeting his birthfather at least a thousand times since reading the correspondence that had obviously been going on all of Sean's life. Sure, he'd known he was adopted, and early on, when he'd asked about his birth parents, his mom and dad had spoken of them in the past tense and mentioned a car accident, so he'd just assumed they were dead. It was only while he was looking for his iPod that he'd come across the locked desk drawer in his father's office. It was like a light went on in his head and when an inner voice whispered, There are secrets in there, he'd pried the drawer open regardless of the consequences—he had to know what was in that drawer. The contents had stunned him. His father was living and his parents had corresponded yearly with him, sending pictures and updates, but his father had never once asked questions about his son. He'd only sent short thank you notes. And what of his mother?

  After that, Sean's attitude had taken a dive into the deep end of the ocean. When he'd approached his parents holding the box of letters, he'd demanded, "Why didn't you tell me about him? And is my mother alive?"

  The mother who had raised him rushed to his side, while his father said, "Your mother is dead. Your father is alive. But breaking into someone's personal items is not acceptable, Sean."

  Sean had replied, "Keeping the fact of a living birthfather from me is not acceptable, Dad." He'd tossed the box of letters on the carpet and run from the house. He'd heard his father say, "Let him go, Ruth"

  Since the discovery his life had been hell and he knew his parents were paying the price for deceiving him. He was angry and he became more so each day. Finally, his parents had confronted him and told him that his birthfather had agreed to meet with him, but they would give no history as to why he had been put up for adoption. Agreed to meet with me! He'd wanted to throw the words back in their faces. He'd wanted to shout, He owes me, but he'd remained silent and sullen and merely asked, "When?"

  A knock on the door brought his thoughts back to the present. He opened the door to face the woman who had picked him up at the airport. She seemed nice enough, but he hadn't been into nice for over a week. She said, "I own a coffee shop in town and I need to check in. I'll only be gone about an hour and then we can eat dinner. Do you like pizza? Your father and I talked about ordering one. They make a great one at Pappy's Pizza Palace. I can stop by on my way home and pick one up."

  Sean shrugged. "Whatever."

  She asked a little too cheerily, "Do you like pepperoni or ham or combination or just cheese?"

  He glanced at her. She looked nervous. "I like it all."

  "Oh, great. Then I'll order a combination.

  "Sure."

  She started to turn away, but paused and said, "You should cut him some slack."

  Before Sean could respond, she closed the door.

  Chapter 15: Cowboyanese

  As soon as Cecelia entered Dixie's Cuppa Joe, Justin pounced. "Well, can you tell us anything about Mystery Kid?"

  Tilly was working today and rushed from behind the counter. Angie was still there, too, and joined them.

  The shop was empty except for a group of teenage girls that often visited after school and never paid attention to anything but the gossip they shared.

  A few days before Sean's arrival, Cecelia had confided to her employees that Mystery Man had a son arriving and she may need to take time off during his two week stay. Since she'd made it clear early on that they would never get information from her about Mystery Man, they didn't prod her for particulars, although she could see curiosity sparkling their eyes.

  Cecelia responded to Justin. "He's a teenage boy."

  Justin slapped his head. "Now why couldn't I figure that out?"

  Cecelia grinned. "He's a sullen teenage boy named Sean and that's all I'm going to say."

  Justin grinned back. "You're a regular encyclopedia, boss."

  While Cecelia closed down the cash register, she gave serious thought to an idea that kept popping up. She said to Justin, Tilly, and Angie, "You know, I think I'll ask Sean to help us decorate the shop this Sunday. Maybe being involved in Christmas cheer will help his attitude." And maybe pigs will fly.

  Justin said, "Being a teenage boy once myself, I can tell you it probably won't make a difference."

  Cecelia sighed, "I know. But maybe there will be a long-term affect."

  Tilly laughed, "Yep, using that terminology, you were a high-class business woman."

  Cecelia grinned. "Perhaps I should have said, 'Maybe down the line he'll get some smarts in that noggin' of his'?"

  Justin winked, "Another six months and you'll be speaking full-blooded cowboyanese."

  Amidst jokes and laughter, Cecelia and her employees finished closing shop for the day and called goodbyes. She drove the short distance to the pizza parlor. Inside Pappy's Pizza Palace, she inhaled the aroma of Italian spices, meats, sauces, and bread. Pappy was still there and said, "I just pulled yer order outta the oven and if I say so meself, it's pure perfection."

  "I have no doubt about that," Cecelia agreed.

  "So, Fannie Levinworth said she saw you bring a teenage boy to Mystery Man's house. Wanna share what's up?"

  Cecelia sighed. What Mac couldn't seem to grasp was that the more he remained hidden, the more the townsfolk focused on him and wondered who he was. She responded, "There's nothing up except a night of your pizza and television reruns."

  Pappy guffawed, "Nothin' stays a secret forever."

  Cecelia reached into her purse to pay Pappy and leave a nice tip. She grabbed the monstrosity of a pizza and said with a grin, "Catch you later, Pappy."

  *

  Mac watched Cecelia set plates and utensils on the coffee table and then open the huge box with Pappy's pizza. His son sat across from him on the couch and Cecelia settled in beside him. He had to hand it to her—she was a trouper. If he'd been treated as rudely as Sean treated her, he'd have tossed the kid out on his ass. Hell, what was he thinking, he had been treated just as obnoxiously. The boy had stayed in his room all day and only come out when Cecelia called him to eat. Mac figured the kid was either doing his schoolwork online, surfing the net, listening to an iPod, or playing video games on a fancy cell phone. After all, his parents were rich and Mac had created a generous trust fund for him. Funny, how he thought about his own son having parents.

  Cecelia gave a few attempts at making conversation and the boy just sort of grunted. Mac studied his son's face. He reminded him of himself around that age—sullen, cocky, and rude. Of course, Mac had been dealing with an alcoholic mother, and then, after her death, being bounced from foster home to foster home, so he sort of figured he had reason. His son had been raised in the lap of luxury with loving parents—his excuses were limited. Except that Mac could only imagine the shock it had been for Sean to discover his birthfather—and then realize said father had never attempted contact.

  Cecelia spread a napkin on her lap and then cut her pizza into bite size pieces with a knife and fork. Mac almost grinned at her politeness. When Sean stuffed a bite of pizza in his mouth, she glanced at Mac and then back at Sean. She said, "Sean, I'm actually new to the community myself. I've only been here a few months, but something I've learned is that the residents of this lovely town are friendly and," she smiled and Mac's heart thumped, "quirky."

  Sean said, "So?"

  Cecelia continued, ignoring his rude remark. "Anyway, my coffee shop is closed on Sundays and there's
a whole gang of wonderful folks coming this Sunday to help decorate for Christmas. There's going to be some teenagers and I thought you might like to meet them."

  Sean took another bite of pizza and said with a full mouth. "I'll pass."

  Mac's arm hurt like hell and his musing suddenly darkened. Staring at his rebellious son, he decided to step out on a limb, believing the boy wasn't quite as creepy as the persona he was trying to portray. He said, "I guess since we've finally met and you obviously don't want to be here, I can call the airlines tomorrow and book you a flight back home."

  Both Cecelia and Sean gave him a surprised look. A flicker of an expression crossed the boy's features that broke Mac's heart. The kid's facade was a bunch of crap, just as he'd guessed. He was a boy wanting to know the father who had rejected him. Softly, Mac said, "You might actually find a friend in this hick town. I finally found one in Cecelia."

  The boy swallowed the lump of pizza he'd been chewing. He didn't look at his father, but responded, "Fine. But I'm not decorating some Christmas tree."

  Mac glanced at Cecelia and recognized the hint of a smile in her eyes. She said seriously, "I promise I won't ask you to decorate a tree."

  Just as Mac was feeling pretty good about a minor victory, the kid looked from him to Cecelia and asked, "So, are you two, like, you know, boyfriend/girlfriend, sleeping together."

  Chapter 16: Deck the Coffee Shop

  Cecelia unlocked the door to her coffee shop, walked to the back and disarmed the alarm, and then returned to Sean who had slumped into a rebellious heap in a chair. She pulled another chair out from the table and joined him. "What do you think of my coffee shop?"

  He barely glanced around. "It's okay."

  She decided to do some teasing. "Just okay? Hey, this place is fabulous. After I bought it I was so scared that I'd made the biggest mistake of my life, but now…" She made an expressive movement encompassing the room. "I consider it the best move of my life. Sometimes you have to take chances." She waited a second and added, "Like you did with your dad."

  Sean frowned. "Are you about to give me a pep talk?"

  "Do you need one?"

  He glanced away. "No."

  Cecelia saw him reading the menu posted on the wall above the cash register. He almost grinned.

  "Do you like the names of our drinks and pastries?"

  He said aloud, "Fluffy-Puffy," and then he did grin, which transformed his face so drastically that Cecelia inhaled sharply. In that moment he looked like a happy-go-lucky young man whose greatest worry was how to impress the girls.

  Cecelia said, "I'm always open to new names. If you think of any, please run them by me."

  "You mean something like, Happy Zappy or Groovin' Grinds or Mornin' Mocha?"

  Cecelia laughed loudly, "You're good…really good! I may have to hire you."

  The sound of the door bell tinkling distracted them.

  One of the Tanner twins held the door for his mother and two others, Tessa Branigan and his identical twin brother. Cecelia could never tell the boys apart.

  *

  Sean watched several people enter the coffee shop. As soon as the first group arrived, they were followed by another and then another. The teenagers stared at him and he figured introductions would soon begin.

  Cecelia jumped up and started welcoming everyone. She'd turned out to be a pretty nice lady and even though she and his father had denied any hanky-panky, he wondered if they were lying. He slid his gaze to the chubby girl who'd entered with the first group. Normally, he didn't pay much attention to girls who were overweight, but she was really cute.

  "Hello everyone and welcome," Cecelia spoke loudly, and the gathering of maybe a dozen people stopped talking to listen. "I just want to express how grateful I am that you've taken time out of your day to help me decorate the coffee shop for Christmas." She laughed and lifted her hands in an expressive motion, something she did often. "I know…I know…it's not even Thanksgiving. Not to worry. I'll be dressing the shop with Thanksgiving items on the tables. But for today, let's turn this place into Santa's North Pole Workshop."

  One of the twin boys said, "I'm ready to get started."

  Cecelia grinned at the boy. "We will in just a moment. But first, I'd like to introduce a young man visiting our town. His name is Sean Barfield." She pointed toward him.

  Sean wanted to groan. He hated introductions.

  Everyone in the room spoke almost in unison.

  "Hi Sean."

  "Nice to meet you."

  "Welcome to Paxtonville."

  "Hello, good to have you here."

  Sean wanted to groan again when Cecelia said, "Instead of me introducing everyone, why don't we go around the room and you can give your name and tell something about yourself?"

  The lady that had been the first to arrive said. "That's a great idea. My name is Sarah Tanner and the twins are my sons. We live on a ranch outside of town. If you'd like to visit, you're more than welcome."

  The boy in a green T-shirt beside her said, "Hi Sean, I'm Toby. Glad you're here."

  A second later his brother in a red T-shirt said, "Hi, I'm Preston. Where'd you come from?"

  Sean said, "San Diego."

  Preston replied, "Cool. Believe it or not, our school made it to the baseball Nationals last year in San Diego."

  Sean wasn't much interested in baseball and figured that since Preston didn't mention anything about winning the playoff, they'd probably lost.

  Everyone looked at the cute girl. She turned pink and said shyly, "My name is Tessa."

  Toby piped up. "Her Dad is Dirk Branigan, the rodeo champion."

  Tessa turned pinker and Sean almost smiled. She was super cute with really curly brown hair that reached her shoulders, and a big dimple in one cheek. She was too young for him, though; maybe twelve or thirteen.

  The next person to introduce himself was a guy probably in his early twenties. He said, "Hi Sean. I'm Justin and I work here. I make the best coffee drinks in the county." He glanced at a woman standing across the room and amended, "Besides Julie, that is."

  The woman he grinned at replied, "You got that right. You could say I was Justin's mentor." She looked from Justin to Sean. "Guess you figured out that I'm Julie. Nice to meet you." She pointed at the twin boys, "And those rascals are my brothers." She motioned toward a girl of maybe seven or eight standing beside her and wearing a pair of shredded jeans and a stretched out T-shirt that made her look like a homeless kid. Julie said, "This is my daughter, Maudie."

  Maudie grinned and said loudly, "Howdy, Sean."

  After that, introductions continued. Sean figured he'd probably forget all the names, except for Tessa. The last person to speak was an old lady who said her name was Molly Tucker. Sean tried not to grin. His mom and dad had once made him go to a musical called Annie Get Your Gun. The woman was dressed like Annie with a full leather skirt, fringed jacket, and fancy boots. Blue hair peeked from beneath her pink cowboy hat. He wondered if she packed a pistol.

  Sean was happy when the introductions were over and the attention moved away from him. Suddenly, the door burst open and a teenage boy called loudly. "Hi, Aunt Cecelia. Sorry I'm late. Mom and Dad said to tell you hello. They'll be back after grocery shopping."

  Cecelia said, "Good morning, Harris." She turned to Sean. "This is my nephew, Harris. Since you, Toby, Preston, and Harris are all about the same age, I'm sure you'll become good friends."

  Sean doubted that. He was in no mood to make friends, especially in this hick town.

  Cecelia rubbed her hands together. "Are ya'll ready to make Santa's workshop a reality?"

  Everyone in the group answered excitedly in the affirmative and Sean frowned. What was with these people? Were they "happy" clones or something?

  An hour later, the room was transformed. Cecelia had purchased wall to ceiling 3-D murals that looked awesome when viewed from different perspectives. On opposite sides of the room, the murals depicted a workshop filled with elves making
toys. In one setting Santa sat on a stool inspecting a bicycle while an anxious elf looked on. The other mural had an elf sitting on Rudolf's back lifting a glider into the air, as if coaxing Rudolf to fly.

  From the ceiling above the glass case of pastries, Preston and Toby were hanging a paper mache sculpting of Santa in his sled pulled by his reindeer. Rudolf's nose glowed on and off.

  Sean glanced across the room at Harris who stood on a ladder hanging large, dangling snowflakes. Climbing his own ladder, Sean did the same. They would meet in the center of the room.

  Tessa caught his attention when she tried to hang an ornament on a high branch of the Christmas tree that had been placed in the farthest corner of the shop. He jumped down from his ladder. "Here, let me get that."

  Another voice said, "I think I'm a little taller. I can get it for you, Tessa."

  Sean turned to see Preston behind him. He turned back around and grabbed the bulb. "Not a problem, Preston. I can reach it." When he stretched to hang the bulb, it brought him close to Tessa. She blushed that pretty pink again. He missed the branch and almost fell. Her emerald eyes widened and she said, "Oh, be careful." Now he blushed.

  Preston said, "Like I said, I'm taller."

  Sean hung the bulb and stepped back. "There. Got it."

  Tessa glanced from Preston to Sean and said shyly, "Thank you."

  The "Annie Get Your Gun" lady stepped to the tree with an ornament. Sean didn't know who she was talking to, but she said, "Yep. Things should be quite interesting in a few years." She winked at him. He figured she must have a few screws loose.

  There was a banging noise and everyone looked toward the counter. Cecelia was hitting a spoon on a pan.

  "Listen up, Santa's elves…"

  Sean rolled his eyes.

  "It's time for refreshments for our North Pole workers. The counter is open. Order whatever you want, compliments of Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Who will be first?"