Midnight Santa

                  Midnight Santa

                            By

                    Shelly Wyatt













                                                                           

          The snow was falling heavily; Callie Grayson didn’t think it was supposed to start until later in the evening. Great, she thought, I better get out and take care of the horses before it gets too bad. She stood in the window looking out of her two story cape cod. She loved this house; she and her husband had built it together. She starred out at the snowflakes, not seeing anything.

Callie remembered the day that she met her late husband. She was coming out of the local grocery store with an armload of groceries and ran smack into him. It was a cold winter day much like this one, she thought he was going to be mad but instead he smiled, and helped her pick up her groceries. He introduced himself and then proceeded to ask her out. She had to smile at the memory; it was the start of a wonderful relationship, filled with ups, downs and lots of love. It was the kind of love that is comfortable, reliable and safe.

One year later Callie Johnson married James Grayson, they had been married for almost nine years when he was injured falling off his favorite horse, Midnight. Later he confessed to her that he had been having dizzy spells and that was the reason he fell. The doctors ran all kinds of tests; the results were life changing. He was diagnosed with in-operable brain cancer, and was given six months to live. They cried together, and then vowed to fight it together but in the end they lost the battle, he died one year after being diagnosed. It was six months more than they gave him, and she was thankful for that. Now Callie was alone, it had been almost two years since his death and she still had not found the courage to move on with her life.

    Looking around the house she realized that it was Christmas Eve, and she hadn’t even put up a tree, no decorations adorned the mantle over the fire place, something that she and James did every year. They would bring in the fresh cut evergreen tree, play Christmas music and decorate. The night always ended with dinner, wine, and lovemaking. She had been so happy. Now, she thought, here I am with no one to share the season with but my beautiful dog, Grey. He was a German Sheppard mix that James brought home on their anniversary to surprise her, and it was love at first sight for her. Maybe I should get the decorations out, she thought, but why? It was just her and Grey, he didn’t know or care that it was Christmas. The sun was starting to set; however, and she needed to take care of the horses, and it might take her awhile to get back out to them after the storm.

    She went to the mudroom and began dressing for the cold, “Grey! Let’s go buddy, you better get your exercise now before the snow gets over your head.” Grey came around the corner, wagging his tail, and eager to play, he always joined her when she fed the horses. She would have died from loneliness if it hadn’t been for Grey and the horses. Thinking back she suspected that James knew something wasn’t right with his body. He always seemed to know what she needed and provided it; he came through for her even in death by way of Grey. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, she dashed them away quickly. She had vowed that she would not spend another holiday crying for something lost, she needed to get on with her life; James would have wanted that for her. She just didn’t know where to start. Maybe when I go back in I will put up some decorations and call some old friends, with a new resolve she started out into the fresh snow.

    It really was beautiful she realized, it had been a very long time since she had really paid any attention to things around her, she had been a walking shell. It was time to live again. She entered the barn and the horses greeted her with soft whinnies of welcome. She had always felt that horses were very smart; she loved the soft brown eyes that watched her with curiosity and affection. She remembered how much James loved the horses and how they responded to him in return. He was a wonderful man; there was no doubt about that. But he was dead and she was not, it was time to stop acting as if she were dead to.

She felt like a weight had lifted, she could feel that James approved. Smiling she began the task of caring for the horses. She loved the smell of the horse barn, the fresh hay, the smell of the horses, all made her feel like home. When was the last time she really paid attention to anything she wondered? She went through the barn and greeted each horse rubbing their necks and velvety noses, speaking softly to each one she realized just how lucky she really was and how much she had taken for granted. “No more” she said to Midnight, the beautiful black gelding that once belonged to her husband. “From now on I am living my life” Midnight snorted as if in agreement. She rubbed his velvet nose “life is just too short to take for granted.”

    The snow had picked up as she made her way back to the house, she lifted her face to the snowflakes that fell, closed her eyes and smiled. It was Christmas Eve and she was alive again! It was a Christmas miracle and Callie knew it. She couldn’t wait to get inside, turn on the Christmas music, call her friends and family and decorate! This was always her favorite time of year and it would be again. Grey was barking and playing in the snow, he had always loved the snow. Lighthearted she began to run and play with Grey, finally she fell to the ground exhausted and laughing. Grey came and sat beside her; she threw her arms around him and cried tears of joy. She sat there until her butt began to get cold, standing up she dusted herself off. “Come on Grey, we have worked to do in the house!” they ran together into the house.

    “Ok Grey, how about we get the tree and decorations out of the attic? First, how about some Christmas music” she went over to the stereo and looked for some music. “Ah here we go, just what Santa ordered.”  Music began to play and Callie smiled; the first real smile in years, she felt as if a weight had been lifted. She had not been in the attic for some time, but she was sure that everything she needed was there. Now to just get it down to the living room that would be the trick. Looking out the window the snow had picked up as had the wind. She could hear it howling around the windows.  A fire, she thought that is what I need just in case the electric goes out, I will have heat and light. She set to the task of starting a fire, while humming to the music playing softly on the stereo. Grey was sleeping on his bed and began to whine in his sleep, he did that sometimes. She smiled at him thinking about how lucky she was to have him.

    The fire was crackling nicely when she started to the attic to get the Christmas decorations. From this day forward she was going to live. Entering the attic she glanced around, where is that box she wondered. There it is, she dusted the top of the box off and sneezed. Wow it is dusty up here I need to come up and do some cleaning after Christmas. Looking around she noticed the tree, “there you are, and I bet you thought I had forgot about you.” She hadn’t used the fake tree in years but it would have to do this year.  Callie began to drag the boxes down the steps, when a strange feeling came over her. She felt like she wasn’t alone, but that was impossible.  She shook off the sensation went down stairs with her decorations.

    Music playing in the background, large, fluffy snowflakes falling she felt at peace and as she decorated the house. The wind was still howling around the windows but Callie felt safe and warm.  It was about that time the electric went out. Time for the candles, she thought about starting the generator but decided against it. After all she had a fire, candles and it added to the atmosphere. Anyone looking in would see a cozy scene.

    That is exactly what he saw when he looked in the window. It looked warm and inviting, but he was sure that she would never welcome him into her home. As a matter of fact he was sure that she would never want him anywhere near her, and that was why he needed to be there. It wasn’t just a coincidence that his truck broke down right in front of her house. It was fate, he was sure of that too. He was just going to drive by and check on her but fate had stepped in. Fate had brought him here to her door and fate would decide how this would end, he just had to knock on the door and hope she didn’t slam it in his face. He really wouldn’t blame her, but if he could just get her to listen for a minute, maybe just maybe he could get her to see the truth. He would give it everything he had because if he knew anything, he knew that he had been given this chance to make things right. That is just what Jake Pennington was going to do, make things right, his life depended on it.

    She was still so beautiful, when she was seventeen she was cute and he could see then, that the woman was going to be stunning. She took his breath away as he watched her, her honey blond hair was longer now than it had been, reaching her mid back, he remember her golden brown eyes that flashed with mischief, her perfect skin glowed in the light of the fire she had in the fireplace.

    Callie was lost in the magic of Christmas when she heard a knock at her door. Who in the world would be out in this storm she wondered. Grey lifted his head and barked.  “That ok Grey don’t bother to get up, I got this.” She laughed as she went to the door. Looking out the window she was shocked, what is he doing here? No way was she letting him in her house! She opened the door, “what are you doing here?” she demanded.

    “Nice to see you to Callie, you still look beautiful as I remember.” Leaning against the door jam, a slow sexy smile played across his lips. “How have you been?”

    “What do you want?” she asked.

    Ignoring her question he asked “how long has it been?” Answering his own question he replied “to long I know that. Are you going to let me in?”

    “Why would I do that, I would rather see you freeze your ass off.” She started to slam the door in his face but he stopped it with his foot.

    “I know that you are way to kind to let me stand out here and freeze, even though you would love to, you would feel guilty. No way Callie Johnson can live with that.”

    “It’s Callie Grayson, has been for ten years now.”

    “My truck broke down in front of your house and I don’t know if you have looked outside lately but no one is getting in or out of here for some time. Do you think I could come in before we let all the cold air in?”

    Callie sighed and stepped aside letting him come in. “Take off your shoes.” Crossing her arms she went into the living room, leaving him removing his shoes. “I was in a good mood.”

    “What? I didn’t hear you, sorry.”

    “You were not supposed to hear me; you are not supposed to be here. Why are you here anyway?”

    “I told you my truck broke down.”

    “Maybe, but there would be no reason for you to be out this way, there is nothing out here but my farm. Now try again.”

    “Do you have any coffee, I am frozen” he asked, rubbing his hands together at the fire place.

    “You will not change the subject; I will throw you back out into the snow. If you remember we did not part on any terms, good or bad you left without a word and I am not inclined to be very forgiving.”

    “I do remember that about you, all fire and passion.”

    Callie’s face turned bright red. “That’s funny I don’t remember much about you.”

    “Touché, I guess I deserve that.”

    Callie didn’t reply.

    “Need some help with that tree?”

    “No I do not need your help with anything. You need to leave as soon as you can I don’t want you here.”

    He stood looking out the window at the falling snow, “looks like it will be awhile before I can do that.”

    She couldn’t help but notice is profile, tall, dark hair, strong chin, the definition of tall dark and handsome. That was what had attracted her in the first place all those years ago. The man before her was so much more. More attractive, more compelling, more mysterious, it that was possible, he was trouble that much she did know.

    Twelve Years Ago

    She was sixteen and she was spending the summer on her Uncle’s farm. It really wasn’t far from where she actually lived but she would do anything other than stay with her parents. They fought all the time. Sometimes when they thought she was asleep she could hear them fighting. Callie often wondered why they stayed together. She really hoped it wasn’t for her because she would be better off without them at each other’s throats. When she was at her uncle’s farm she could be herself, and she really loved being with the animals, especially horses. They were her favorite, one day she vowed that she would have a horse farm and a wonderful marriage. She swore she would not live the life her parents were living.

    The day was smoldering, the heat was almost more than she could stand. She thought after she took care of the animals she would go for a swim in the creek. The thought of that kept her going on a day like this. An hour later she was in her swimsuit and on her way to the creek. She loved being outside and she didn’t mind being alone, sometimes she preferred it. It was peaceful. Today was no exception, she was at the creek in to time, and she was alone. She stripped out of her shorts and jumped into the deepest part of the water. It felt refreshing to her over heated skin; diving under she enjoyed the feel of water caressing her skin. She made her way to the edge of the water and dropped down onto her towel. She lay splayed out on the towel, with her eyes closed enjoying the heat of the day and fell asleep.

    When she woke up, and the sun was beginning to set; how long had she slept she wondered. Callie decided to go for one more dip in the water and head home for dinner.  Once again she dove into the water, feeling refreshed, she started back to the house. That’s when she saw him; he was beautiful, tall, handsome and sexy. He wasn’t much older than she was, she stopped and watched him. He moved like a cat, athletic and graceful. Callie was spellbound. Their eyes met and Callie was unable to draw a breath, he smiled a slow, sexy smile and she was done. From that day on they were inseparable; Callie was in love for the first time. She found out that he had just moved here from somewhere in Pennsylvania. Life was good until the day he left without a word to her. She was crushed and swore she would never love again. But she had loved again, it wasn’t the same hot passionate love they had shared, but it was love, nonetheless.

    “Hey do you have coffee, I am really cold.”

    Callie came back to the present, he was here once again and she didn’t have any desire to go down that road for a second time. “Yes I have coffee; will that make you to go away?”

    “How far away do you think I would get before I froze to death?”

    Callie didn’t reply, she went to the kitchen and pointed out a pot of coffee. “I don’t know how hot it is I made it just before the power went out so it should still be warm. You can make it yourself I have no idea how you like your coffee. The cream and sugar are on the counter, help yourself.”

    “You say that like you wish it were arsenic.”

    She just looked at him with a look that said yes and…your point? He had to laugh, she was still that wonderful girl that he was forced to leave all those years ago. “We need to talk, that is why I am out this way, I came to see you.”

    “After all these years what could we have to say to each other? You left without a word, in my opinion that says it all.”

    You would think that, but there is so much more than you know and I really need to talk to you about it.”

    “Why now? Why not twelve years ago, why not ten years ago?”

    “When I came back you were married, and I didn’t want to cause a problem, so I left.”

    “What makes you think you would have caused a problem” she shrugged, “you would have had to matter to me for you to cause a problem and that’s not the case.”

    “Well, any way I left and never came back until now.” He stood looking out at the snow falling, it was coming down harder, he couldn’t see his truck, he hoped she didn’t throw him out. Turning he looked her in the eyes, those eyes that haunted his dreams for so long, “I love you, I have never stopped I am here because I want another chance, there I said it.”

    Callie was completely taken off guard, her mouth hung open with shock. He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “I have wanted to do that since you opened the door. Give me a chance and let me explain what happened all those years ago.”

    Suddenly she was so angry, “What is wrong with you!” she demanded, shoving him away.”You leave without any explanation and I never hear from you again until now and you have the nerve to come into my home and say this to me? Get out! I don’t care if you freeze to death, get out now!” she turned away from him before he could see the tears flowing down her cheeks. She had waited for this now it was ten years too late.   

    “I will leave when you hear me out. If you want me to leave after that I will, but I came a long way to talk to you and damn it I will get to say what I need to say. I need to know how you really feel about me, so we can move on together or I can move on without you.”

    “Together!” she said with a bitter laugh. “How can you think I can trust you not to leave without a word again?”

    “If you would just listen to me, and let me explain it may not make a difference but it just might.”

    Crossing her arms she glared at him. “Fine, I will give you about ten minutes to get my attention after that you’re out of here, got it?”

    “Good, thank you. Why don’t we have a glass of wine and sit in the living room. You do have some wine?”

    “Yes of course I do, but I might need something a little stronger. I thought I was getting a new start then you show up on my door. Did you know that when you left I was pregnant?” the look on his face told her that he had never considered that possibility. “Yes, I was pregnant with your child. Don’t you want to know what happened? After all I have to hear you out, now you will hear me out, I want you to know everything that I went through when you left. So, yes let’s sit down and talk. I think I might need this as much as you say you do.”

    She dangled the wine glass from her finger tips while she tried to relax on the couch next to the fire. “Yes I was pregnant, I was young and naive I actually thought we would be together. I was going to tell you the night you disappeared. I went to your Grandmother’s house and she told me you were gone. She wouldn’t tell me where you had gone. So why don’t you fill in the blanks, after all that’s what you came here for isn’t it?” The fire put off a warm glow, the crackling filled the silence as they stared at each other.

    “What happened to our child Callie?”

    “I had a miscarriage about three months into the pregnancy. The doctor thought it was from stress.”

    “I am so sorry Callie, if I had known I would have tried to do things differently.”

    “Don’t talk to me about sorry, that was over ten years ago. I am past that now. Why don’t you just tell me what you have to say and get out of my house?”

    “I didn’t leave on my own, Callie. I was arrested for attempted murder. I spent five years in jail.  I never wanted you to find out. You deserved better and I just couldn’t give it to you at that time. I made my grandmother promise not to tell you.”

    “You think you can give me something better this time? Who did you try to kill, and what has changed now that you decided to tell me this?”

    “I have come to realize that I will never get you out of my heart and life is too short to not to act on something this important. So I decided it was past time to talk to you. To answer your other question, I was charged with trying to kill my step father. He was abusing my mother and one night he was beating her and I just couldn’t take it anymore. This had been going on for years; I would just stay in my room and listen. There were many nights I would lay in my bed and listen to her cry herself to sleep. I was too small to do anything about it, this night I realized that I was bigger than him and I could put a stop to the abuse. So I went out into the living room where they were and I beat him unconscious. My mother, having been abused for so long was angry with me. I didn’t understand, anyway she called the cops on me. That was when I went to my grandmother’s, where we met. I was able to stay under the radar but eventually they found me and I had to deal with the consequences of my actions.” He looked down at the scar on his hand, “I have this to remind me of that night.”

    “What did you do when you got out of jail? It’s been several years since you were released, right? Why did you wait so long to come and talk to me?”

    “I heard through the grapevine that you were happily married and I didn’t think it was the time to talk to you. I wanted you to have a shot at a good marriage and a happy life. I was so angry for the longest time, things had been stolen from me, you know? So I wandered around for awhile, then I decided to do something with my life, I moved back to Maryland and got a job training horses. I could have moved anywhere but I needed to be near you, I wanted to make sure that you were alright.”

    “How long have you been back in Maryland?”

    “About 3 years.”   

    “What happened to your Mother and Step Father?”

    “My mother died two years ago from falling down the steps, right, I know that he pushed her but I can’t prove it. He is a police officer and he can cover up so many things. She chose to live the way she did and I couldn’t do a thing about it. He is still alive and living in the same house, he has a girlfriend now. I am pretty sure she is being abused.”

    “Well, this is an interesting story Jake. I am sorry for all that you have been through. You could have shared with me, I was young but I would have stood by you, I loved you.”

    “No I couldn’t let the ugliness of what I was going through touch you, you were the one perfect, and beautiful thing in my life. My step father wanted to destroy me and he would have brought you down with me. What I need to know now, Callie is do we have a chance now, can we try again? I never stopped loving you, thinking about you, your memory is what has kept me from going crazy. Please tell me that you still have some feelings for me. I can live with that, I can make you fall in love with me again.”

    “After you left Jake, I was devastated. I couldn’t get out of bed; my Aunt was so worried about me. Finally she decided to take me to the family doctor, that’s when she found out that I was pregnant, I already knew. Part of me wanted to get rid of the baby, but the other part of me wanted a piece of you.  If I couldn’t have you I wanted something of you I could hold forever. I was confused; I didn’t understand what I had done to you to make you leave. I thought we were happy and that we wanted the same things in life, I know I was young but I really thought we would build a life together. Then when I lost the baby, it was as if everything good in my life died with it. I became very depressed, it took a very long time for me to pull out of it, and I was never the same trusting person after that. Then I met James, he helped me and loved me and we trusted each other we built a life together. How do I know that when things get tough you will stick around?”

    “You don’t, you have nothing but my word and I know right now that my word means nothing but I will spend the rest of my life proving it to you. That is my promise to you. Will you let me; do you have any feeling left for me at all?”

    “Just before you came to my door I decided that it was time for me to stop grieving and live again. Now here you are asking me to go out on a limb and trust again? I don’t know that’s a lot to ask of me. To answer your question, yes I still have feelings for you. You have always been in my heart; I think on some level James knew that. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my husband very much. After you left he put me back together, I am the person I am today because of him. Do I have feelings for you? Yes I do. Can I trust you again, I am not sure. Am I willing to give it a try, that’s the question isn’t it?”  Callie stood and went to the window; she starred out for the longest time. Silence filled the room as Jake watched her wrestle with herself. He could see the conflict in her and he prayed that he had another chance to love this incredible woman. She turned and walked over to him. He stood to face her, the glow of the fire made her face angelic. It was Christmas Eve, would they have another chance? Would the magic of Christmas be enough?

    “Do you think you could help me decorate the tree? Christmas eve is not a time to be alone.”

    “Sure, I think I can do that. Where do we start?”

    “Why not at the beginning, Hello, my name is Callie Grayson.” She held out her hand.

      He took her hand in his and he was home, “Hi I’m Jake Pennington, nice to meet you.” That slow sexy smile spread across his face, it sent warm sensations through her and she smiled back at him. “Merry Christmas Callie.”

    “Merry Christmas Jake.”  The clock on the mantle struck midnight, Callie smiled, and “I guess that makes you my midnight Santa.”

    .