Finding Christmas (Blue Harbor Book 7) Read online

  Her parents had wasted no time in setting up their tree—not that they ever had. The weekend after Thanksgiving was their tradition growing up, though in recent years Jenna often had too many piano lessons to help out for long. Gabby was usually tied down at the flower shop—wreaths and centerpieces were in high demand this time of year—and Brooke had only moved back from New York last spring.

  Jenna paused outside the small picket fence that divided their property from the sidewalk and admired her parents’ work, wishing that she had made the time to help out, that she hadn’t put so much effort into planning a pageant that wasn’t even going to take place.

  Technically, she didn’t live here, but this was home, and she knew her parents would be offended if she knocked before entering. Instead, she turned the front knob, not surprised to find it unlocked because her parents had lived in this small town all their lives and trusted that everything would just continue as it always had, even though change was clearly in the air, at least for her.

  “Hello!” she called out as she wiped the snow off her boots.

  “Jenna?” Her mother quickly appeared in the hall. “Well, this is a surprise. We just ate. Can I offer you something?”

  Jenna shook her head, then, on second thought, nodded. A home-cooked meal sure beat whatever she might make for herself back in her tiny kitchen. “That would be really nice after the day I’ve had.”

  “Uh-oh,” her mother said. “Well, you hang up your coat and I’ll heat up a plate.”

  Jenna set her wet things on the radiator to dry, as she had as a kid, and then met her mother in the kitchen. The island and oak table were anchored by poinsettias and pine cones. “Gabby’s work?”

  “Of course!” Her mother smiled as she set a plate on the counter. “Now that your sister has finally hired an assistant, she doesn’t require my services as much, but I can’t stop showing up at the shop anyway, so I figured I may as well buy a few things.”

  Jenna fell into a stool and picked up her fork. Roasted chicken with mashed potatoes. She couldn’t complain.

  “So,” her mother said, leaning over the other side of the island. “How’s the pageant coming along?”

  Jenna swallowed a bite of food and realized that she couldn’t eat it, regardless of how good it tasted. “There isn’t going to be a pageant this year.”

  Her mother pulled back in surprise. “What? But why not?”

  “Apparently people have complained that it’s…stale.”

  Her mother narrowed her eyes. “There’s nothing stale about a tradition. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? For people to have the same thing to look forward to, year after year?”

  “Try telling that to Principal Dunne.” Jenn sighed. “Suzanne left. Family emergency. Now there’s a temporary principal and he, well, he isn’t a fan of what I do.”

  “Oh, honey.” Her mother took her hand and squeezed it. “He just doesn’t know talent when he sees it.”

  Jenna didn’t point out that those were the same words her mother had said all those years ago when she’d bombed in her audition for the music college.

  “The worst part of it all is that it’s Mr. Pritchard’s last year. I was hoping to do something special for him.”

  “Well, just because this new principal doesn’t want to have a school pageant, that doesn’t mean he can stop you from honoring Mr. Pritchard.”

  “And how would I do that?”

  “Have your own pageant!”

  Jenna considered this for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t see how I could do that. I don’t have the resources.” The costumes all belonged to the school. More like they were rented by the school.

  “You could figure it out. You have the Christmas choir. What’s to stop you from having a children’s choir?”

  Jenna could think of a few things. Her pride. Her wounded ego. Her lack of funding. Her creeping self-doubt that maybe this guy was right, maybe she wasn’t any good, that maybe she’d been fooling herself to think that people liked what she did with the pageant.

  “It’s a little late in the season,” she said, trying to think of how much time she had.

  “So? This is a small town, and it wouldn’t take long for word to spread.”

  “We’d need a venue,” Jenna said, considering her options now that the school auditorium was most definitely not one.

  “What about the Winter Carnival? Everyone attends anyway. It would be the perfect opportunity for the children to perform.”

  “You don’t think that the kids will be too full of sugar or too tired from all the activities?” Jenna frowned, thinking of the year she’d had one too many hot chocolates followed by a bumpy ride in the sledding races.

  “It’s the most festive event of the year,” her mother said. “Think about it, at least. You do amazing work with those kids at the summer music camp, and they love having you at the school, too.”

  “Loved,” Jenna corrected. “I’m worried those days are behind me now.” She hesitated before adding, “Like other things in my life.”

  “Life is full of setbacks and you’ve had your share,” her mother said firmly but kindly. “You’ve always found a way to come out the other side and you will again. You love music, Jenna, and that’s what has never changed.”

  No, it hadn’t. Even when she’d lost her nerve and her confidence, she had never lost her passion.

  “You always kept believing in yourself. And Christmas is, above all things, a time for believing.”

  Jenna smiled her first smile in days and picked up her fork again. Leave it to her mother to state the obvious.

  Chapter Three

  Jenna’s sisters were already waiting for her near the entrance to the town square when she arrived at the tree lighting ceremony, harried and slightly out of breath. Her lesson with Anthony DeMarco had run longer than usual on account of the poor child’s frustration with the final notes of “Jingle Bells.” Jenna didn’t have the heart to tell him that they could finish up next week, but that had left her little time to get ready for tonight.

  Still, her hair was brushed, she was wearing the warm, cashmere sweater in a perfect shade of cranberry under her matching wool coat, and her leather tote was full of music for tonight’s event, even though she had all the songs memorized by now. Ever since a fifth-grade recital when she blanked on the second verse of a piece she’d practiced ten times a day for weeks, she always made sure to have her sheets with her, just in case.

  “Were you waiting long?” Jenna noticed that the crowd was already pretty full for the hour. They had purposefully agreed to meet at this time so they’d have a chance to chat before Jenna took her seat at the piano that had been placed inside the big gazebo. She was happy that the paths had been cut and salted. Tonight’s ankle boots were fashionable for piano pedals but not slippery snow.

  “Only long enough to see the line for mulled wine quadruple,” Gabby said with a wry grin.

  “I’m sure that Britt will make an exception if we smile nicely,” Brooke only half-joked. Now that their cousin Britt and her fiancé Robbie Bradford were running the Conway family orchard and winery, they’d taken the business to a new level, and Jenna and her sisters were happy to support it as was the rest of the town.

  “Let’s get in line now before it grows any longer,” Jenna suggested as they followed the smell of warm, sweet spice. She wouldn’t have any wine tonight, not when she had a concert to perform, but she certainly wouldn’t say no to a hot mug of cider, another Conway specialty.

  “Look, there’s Maddie!” Gabby shot up a mitten-covered hand and started gesturing frantically to their cousin. “Hurry up before someone gets behind us!”

  Maddie did as she was told and jogged and slid through the snow-covered park, managing to join them in line before two other couples followed suit.

  “You don’t have to work tonight?” Jenna asked, gesturing to some of the other kiosks that were selling drinks and food.

  Maddie shook her head.
“I don’t want to compete with Amelia, and I could use a night off anyway. Besides, Cole’s meeting me here soon once he finishes up a project in Pine Falls.”

  She smiled at the mention of her boyfriend, whom she’d now been dating for over a year. Jenna pondered on that as the line progressed a few feet. So much had transpired in Maddie’s life in a relatively short time, between starting a business and dating Cole, and the same could be said for Brooke and Gabby as well. Whereas Jenna…well, Jenna had been content doing the same thing each day. Waking up, practicing her music, and teaching the town’s youth. The most exciting thing that had happened to her all year was moving into her new apartment over Brooke’s wedding dress shop.

  She never complained about it, and it rarely bothered her, but that was until one of the things that filled her otherwise quiet existence had been taken away.

  She glanced at the piano tucked beside the big tree, donated by Bob’s tree lot, and thought again about her mother’s idea to host a children’s choir. If she wanted to do it, she’d have to act fast. Christmas was just around the corner now, and tonight they’d be kicking off the season.

  Maddie elbowed her as they moved up in line. “Hey, how did the meeting go with Suzanne? Did my cookies help sweeten the deal?”

  Jenna felt her spirits sink. She hadn’t wanted to discuss this tonight, not when she was about to perform, and not when this was a day that she looked forward to all year. But now her sisters were looking at her with curious expressions, and there were still at least six groups in front of them in line, and well, they’d end up hearing the news soon enough, likely by the time they reached the kiosk. Keira Bradford was not only one of Jenna’s favorite pupils but also a student at the school who had been looking very forward to this year’s pageant. No doubt that Robbie would be offering a kind word or two with a mug of hot cider, possibly on the house, because he was like that.

  And because he was almost family.

  “Suzanne has been replaced with a temporary principal,” Jenna said with a pinch of her lips. “I’m afraid that even your delicious cookies couldn’t soften the heart of that Scrooge.”

  In front of them, a man cleared his throat. Now both of her sisters had given her their full attention, and Maddie had completely stopped glancing toward Main Street in hopes of seeing Cole.

  “They’ve…they’ve canceled the pageant this year.” Just saying the words reminded her of the awful truth.

  “No!” Maddie said.

  “Oh, yes,” Jenna said bitterly. “It would seem that not everyone values traditions.”

  “Even Christmas traditions?” Brooke shook her head.

  “My services are being replaced with a digital recording.” Jenna could barely get out the words. “The kids will sing a song to their parents during their holiday parties.”

  “But…but the children love that pageant!” Maddie said.

  “Apparently I’m stale,” Jenna said. “Like yesterday’s bread.”

  Now Gabby set a hand on her arm. “Oh, honey. Other than seeing their kids sing and jingle a bell in a cute little costume, you’re the reason most people looked forward to the pageant! I’m sure this old curmudgeon is half-deaf. He’d have to be to turn down your participation.”

  The man in front of them coughed. Jenna took a step back. The last thing she needed was to catch a cold and further ruin her holidays.

  “He’s not old. He’s…well, he was actually sort of cute.” Jenna almost resented having to admit this. Cute and cold.

  Now Maddie’s eyes gleamed in a way only they could, given the circumstances.

  Jenna swatted her. “Maddie! He fired me. He didn’t even give me a chance. Looks aside, the man clearly has a heart of ice.”

  “Absolutely!” Gabby said with a firm nod. “At least his job is temporary.”

  Jenna found little solace in this statement, but there was some nonetheless. “Yes, with any luck, he’ll be out of town just as quickly as he came into it. From what I’ve gathered he won’t be making any friends along the way.”

  Her family all nodded along. Absolutely, yes, absolutely.

  From across the park, Keira came running through the snow toward the kiosk, her cheeks nearly as bright a pink as her puffer coat.

  “Principal Dunne! Principal Dunne!”

  The man in front of them turned and flashed a wide smile to Keira. “Hello, there, Keira! So nice to see you!”

  Principal Dunne? Jenna’s breath stalled when she glanced at her sisters and cousin, whose wide-eyed expressions matched her alarm.

  “My teacher said we could vote on our class song for the holiday party. I nominated a song and it won!”

  “Wonderful.” The man had the nerve to actually smile. It was a wolfish, Scrooge-like smile if ever Jenna saw one. A smirk, really.

  She waited to see if he’d turn around to prove his point, but he stayed put. Maybe he hadn’t heard them. Maybe she could just slowly back away, out of line, and sprint to the piano where she really should get set up, even if the tree wouldn’t be lit for another half hour.

  Jenna and her sisters edged up in line. Her cheeks burned so much that she considered unbuttoning her coat. She watched as Principal Dunne turned his head, his face now in profile to them, looking around at the crowd that continued to gather.

  She waited, hoping he would turn around, edge up in line, but no. No, that was not how her week was going.

  With a lift of his eyebrow, his mouth quirked and he turned to face her head-on, the merriment in his dark eyes snuffing out her last hope that he hadn’t caught any part of her conversation.

  “Jenna. Nice to see you again.”

  She pinched her mouth. She could hardly say the same, but that would be impolite, and besides, Maddie was now nudging her side with her elbow.

  “Principal Dunne.” She nodded. “These are my sisters, Gabby and Brooke. And my cousin, Maddie.”

  “Travis.” He grinned. A genuine, even friendly grin, or so she might have said if she didn’t know his true spirit.

  There were handshakes all around, and Maddie did a terrible job of hiding her smile as they edged up in line. Thankfully, it was Travis’s turn now, and he ordered two hot ciders, which gave Jenna a moment of pause.

  She didn’t know what was more surprising: that he would attend a Christmas event, or that he wasn’t here alone!

  “Have a wonderful time, ladies. Jenna, nice seeing you again.” He grinned again, until his eyes crinkled with what Jenna might only call mischief, and she cursed under her breath the moment he was gone, cutting across the snow, carrying two steaming paper cups to his date.

  “Pity the woman he’s here with tonight,” Jenna remarked as they approached the stand.

  “With a face like that, there’s nothing to pity!” Maddie edged up closer to Jenna. “You weren’t exaggerating when you said he was cute.”

  “Cute, and a curmudgeon. Just like you said.” Jenna inched to the side while the orders were placed, but she couldn’t resist darting her eyes over the crowd, in the direction that Travis had walked. Idle curiosity, she told herself. It would certainly be interesting to see what woman in town would put up with such a cold-blooded man, however attractive.

  “You all met the new principal just now?” It was Robbie who asked the question. “Keira said he’s great with the kids, but she’s pretty bummed about not having a pageant this year. It was her year to be an angel!”

  Jenna gave Robbie a long look. There was a lot she could say on this topic, but the line was long and she really did need to take her post soon. She always liked to have a few minutes to prepare before a performance, to get the feel of the keys, to assess her positioning, and take some calming breaths. Some events were comfortable, especially here in Blue Harbor, where everyone was her friend.

  But having Travis Dunne in the crowd tonight, she couldn’t help but feel judged again. And even a little rejected.

  “If I told Keira there might still be a chance for her to perform in front of
a big crowd this Christmas, do you think she’d be interested?” she blurted. Her heart was beating faster. Could she really do this? Put on a show, all on her own?

  Robbie nodded, looking a little confused. “I’m sure. Why? What did you have in mind?”

  “Oh…just gathering information,” Jenna said as she stepped aside for the next couple. She looked across the town square, taking in the lights and the excitement, reminding herself that this event wouldn’t happen again until next year.

  Travis Dunne might have made it his personal mission to steal some of her Christmas spirit, but she’d be darned if she let him take away that pageant from the kids, or overshadow tonight for her, either.

  So he was a Scrooge, was he? Travis didn’t know whether to be insulted or flattered. He did know that he was very happy his grandmother had been warming herself near one of the bonfires that had been set up throughout the town square, and that she, therefore, didn’t happen to hear that conversation, because as much as he might not match her enthusiasm for the holidays, he certainly intended to give her a wonderful Christmas.

  He carried the two cups of steaming cider to the small circle of benches that had been set up near the blazing fire, close enough to view the tree lighting with a relatively unobstructed view. His grandmother was staring into the flames, a faraway look in her eyes when he sat down. She barely noticed him until he extended a hand containing a paper cup.

  “Careful. It’s hot.”

  “Oh, I’ll be fine,” she tutted, brushing away his concerns.

  And she would be, he knew, but still, he worried. It was her brazen attitude that had landed her in the wheelchair in the first place. She’d always been stubborn and independent. Losing her husband just a year after Travis’s mother was born had made her resilient, she said. She’d never remarried and prided herself on her accomplishments. She was a pioneer of her generation, she claimed. She was also unwilling to admit that she ever needed help.

  Much like her daughter, Travis thought with a heavy heart. He’d watched her struggle firsthand over the years, a single mother who was doing the best she could without a lot of resources. He offered to help, but she would just give him that worried look and tell him that she was fine, even when it was clear that she was tired and anxious. He didn’t ask for anything, instead. He downplayed the newest video game systems, told his mother he didn’t like the new fashion trends, and never put much focus on birthdays. Or Christmas.