Hell on Heels Christmas Read online

  Hell On Heels

  Christmas

  A.P. Jensen

  DEDICATION

  To everyone who has had a homecoming, to those who have a dream burning in their heart. This is for those who believe.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  A beat up Honda drove into White Mist, Montana as the sun began to set. Regan navigated slowly through a neighborhood that was so hauntingly unchanged that nostalgia assailed her. The compulsion that made her drive two days straight to reach here now faded into background noise. She should be driving to the nearest inn to see if there was a room available where she could crash but she had to see the house first.

  Regan pulled off the road in front of an old home with a sage green fence and tall maple trees in the front yard. Yellow leaves covered the sidewalk and street. Regan’s chest seized and her hands clenched on the wheel. Everything looked the same from the knee high rubber boots on the porch to the kitchen curtains but there was no sign of life in the house. She took a deep, shaky breath and watched the kids dressed as Harry Potter, the Hulk, Barbie and other characters walk hand in hand with adults as they went from door to door to do some early trick or treating. Regan willed someone to knock on the door to see if someone would answer but people walked past as if they knew no one was home. Regan ran a hand through her chic bob and rubbed gritty eyes.

  A guy walked towards her holding the hand of a kid on either side of him. The kid’s squeaky voices echoed down the street. The girl was dressed as Rapunzel and the little boy was dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow. The adult male wore dark jeans and a long sleeve shirt with a worn jacket. He smiled down at the kids and when he raised his head his eyes fell on the car. Regan’s heart leapt in recognition and she turned her face away, started up the car and pulled away from the curb. Her heart was pounding and an ache she shoved down for ten years flared in her chest. As she drove away she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the man standing stock still, watching her drive away. Had he known who she was at a glance even after all this time? The kids were tugging on his arms, demanding attention and her anxiety sky rocketed. She shouldn’t be here. She vowed she would never come back to White Mist and therefore be in the same vicinity as Brooks Hawking.

  She drove slowly out of the neighborhood, making sure to keep a lookout for crazy kids hyped on candy and parked at a small shopping center where a sign promised a cup of the elixir of life- coffee. She stepped out of the car in a rumpled pencil skirt, silk blouse and bare feet. She shivered in the chilly wind, shrugged into a trench coat and pulled on her knee high stiletto boots. She made her way to the café where a bell tinkled over the door as she walked in. She paused to soak in the warmth and focus her exhausted mind. She was so tired she could barely walk a straight line. Teen boys dressed in a costume that gave them the illusion of six pack abs tried to impress a bunch of girls dressed as Charlie's Angels. The girl behind the counter who sported red contacts and devil horns raised her brows at Regan.

  "What can I get you?"

  "Espresso macchiato with three shots."

  As the girl got to work a geisha came out of the storage room. The geisha’s red mouth formed an O as she stared at Regan.

  "Regan?"

  Regan’s bloodshot eyes narrowed as she stared without recognition at the woman. “Do I know you?”

  “It’s Sam!” the geisha shrieked.

  Regan had a moment to register the name before the geisha rushed around the counter to engulf Regan in a tight hug.

  "Oh my God. How long has it been?" Sam demanded when she pulled away.

  Regan smiled tiredly. "Ten years."

  Sam took in the dark circles under her eyes. "Does your family know you're here?"

  Regan’s stomach lurched. “No. They still live here?”

  “Of course.”

  Regan didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. Sam took a step back and took in the tailored clothes, stiletto boots and sleek haircut.

  "That is some costume you have on."

  Regan blinked. "Costume?"

  "What are you supposed to be? A sexy secretary or something?"

  An ironic smile curved Regan’s mouth. "Yeah."

  The girl behind the counter handed her the espresso and Sam put her arm around the girl. "This is my daughter, Jericha. Jericha, this is Regan Delaney."

  Jericha's eyes went wide and she looked Regan up and down. "You’re the one that shaved Mrs. Mullan's head?"

  Regan turned to Sam who was grinning like an idiot. "You're still telling that story?"

  "It's a great story." Sam’s eyes slid behind Regan and she beamed. “Well look who’s here.”

  A big man dressed in jeans, work boots and flannel walked towards them. He had a trucker’s hat low over his eyes and he smiled at Sam but there was no recognition in his eyes when he looked at Regan. For a moment Regan couldn’t place him but the coffee working its way through her veins tickled her memory and she gasped.

  “Wade?”

  The man considered her. “Yeah. Do I know you?”

  “You should, fool,” Sam giggled. “You dated her in high school.”

  “You can’t be…” Wade looked her up and down. “Regan?”

  She gripped her cup nervously. “Guilty.”

  Wade leapt forward and wrapped her in a bear hug. Sam saved Regan’s coffee before it splattered on the floor. Wade rocked her from side to side and when Regan tried to pull away he didn’t release her.

  “Can you tell how much I missed you?” Wade said into her hair.

  Regan giggled and relaxed in Wade’s hold. How long had it been since she had been hugged like this? Too many years. Wade smelled like wood and paint, courtesy of the hardware store his family owned. Wade finally pulled away and looked down at her.

  “Regan Lee, I didn’t even recognize you.”

  She winced. Ten years she’d been able to avoid being called Regan Lee and within ten minutes of arriving in White Mist that damn middle name was popping up.

  “It took me a second too,” she said and teasingly squeezed his muscular arms. “You’re not scrawny anymore.”

  “I didn’t recognize you without pink hair.”

  Regan grimaced and Sam and Wade laughed.

  “So what are you doing here? Have you seen your mom yet?”

  A worry she’d carried around for ten years throbbed in her chest making it hard to breathe. She pasted a smile on her face and had to force herself to stay put when she felt like jumping in her car and driving as far away from White Mist as possible. Her classmates were looking at her with a knowledge that made her want to squirm. Everyone knew what happened the night she left.

  “Not yet.” Regan took her coffee back from Sam and tried not to be affected by the expectant looks on their faces.

  “She’ll be closing up the shop soon. Maybe you can catch her,” Sam suggested.

  “Yeah, I think I’ll do that,” Regan said although she had no intention of doing so. “It was nice seeing you guys. We’ll catch up.”

  It was an empty promise. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see her mom, much less stay in a town that had way too many memories around every corner. For God’s sake she’d already seen Brooks, a man she promised to avoid at all costs for the rest of her life. All she wanted was a cup of coffee and she bumped into two peop
le that knew her. In New York she walked the same route to work every day and never saw the same person twice.

  “Wait.” Wade caught her arm to stop her. “Have dinner with me tomorrow.”

  Sam stood behind Wade, wagging her brows and fanning herself. Jericha copied her mom and mouthed, “hot.” Despite everything, Regan found her mouth curving into a reluctant grin. This was absurd. She looked up at Wade who hadn’t released her arm. She dated him her freshmen year of high school and he’d been so sweet. She and Wade remained friends even after she broke up with him and started dating…

  “Okay.”

  She may not want to stay in White Mist but she was too sleep deprived to risk getting on the road again. She had no choice but to bed down in her hometown for the night. She looked into Wade’s eyes and had so many memories of their times together in high school that she softened. She could stay the night and have dinner with Wade for old time’s sake before she got on the road again. What was the worst that could happen in twenty four hours?

  “Here’s my number.”

  Wade pulled out an old receipt from his pocket and used a pen Sam helpfully supplied to write his number down and hand it to her.

  “Text me where and when,” Regan said and received another hug from Sam before she walked out of the café.

  Because she knew they were watching she walked down the sidewalk towards her mom’s shop. She took big gulps of coffee as she looked around. White Mist hadn’t changed in the time she’d been away. The town seemed smaller but after backpacking across Europe and living in New York for the past five years White Mist probably had the same population as her apartment building in New York. She turned up the collar on her coat and stopped across the sidewalk from her mother’s shop.

  Valerie & Paula’s was a mix of local handmade crafts, teas, candles and souvenirs. The shop window was decorated with holiday candles, spider webs and a beautiful hand painted tea set. Even as she watched a figure inside the shop walked to the front door. Her heart leapt but the woman’s face that appeared in the glass wasn’t her mothers. The woman spun the open sign to closed and their eyes met for a second. Regan continued down the sidewalk, sucked in a deep breath and wished she had a cigarette. She quit after she left France but at the moment she would kill for a pack of-

  “Regan Lee! Wait!”

  Regan stopped but didn’t turn as Paula hurried across the street. The older woman stepped onto the sidewalk facing Regan. Out of all the people she could run into in White Mist anyone with the last name Hawking was to be avoided at all costs yet she’d seen two so far. First Brooks with his kids and now his mother who stared at her as if she was seeing a ghost.

  “You’re back,” Paula said quietly.

  “I’m not,” Regan said flatly.

  This woman had been best friends with her mom since they were in high school. Once upon a time Regan thought of Paula as a second mother but those days were long gone. She couldn’t forget the harsh words Paula said the last time she’d been in White Mist.

  “You don’t belong here. You’ve caused so many problems the least you can do is take this money and get out of here.”

  She wasn’t nineteen anymore- frightened, penniless and broken. She was almost thirty and she’d done everything Paula and her mother tried to talk her out of. She and Paula eyed one another, both thinking of the last time they’d seen each other.

  “Why are you here?” Paula asked.

  Regan narrowed her eyes. “Do I need a reason to come back to White Mist?”

  Paula took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean that. It’s just… It’s been ten years, Regan.”

  “I know that.”

  “She’s been waiting for so long-” Paula’s eyes filled with tears. “What I said to you was wrong-”

  “No. You were right. I don’t belong here.”

  Seeing Paula stirred up so many bitter memories that she was thinking maybe her espresso gave her enough juice to get back on the road. She turned to walk back to her car. She couldn’t do this. She never should have come back here.

  “Regan, please.” Paula rushed to block her way and held her hands out in a placating gesture. “She’s been waiting for you to come back.”

  Regan stared into Paula’s pleading eyes and took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking in the folds of her coat. She tossed the now empty cup into the trash and strode across the street, boots clicking on the cement as she crossed to the shop with Paula following behind. Regan stepped into the shop which smelled the same- like heaven and her mother. Tears pricked her eyes as she walked through the cluttered shelves and passed the front counter to the office/ storage room where she knew her mother would be. How she’d hated this shop with a passion when she was a teenager because her mom spent all of her time here.

  Valerie had her back to the door. Regan’s mom was dressed as Martha Stewart, complete with a shoulder length wig that she batted at irritably as she typed an email. Regan stood for a moment in the doorway, frozen. The last time she faced her mother they’d been shouting at each other. Valerie chucked Regan’s stuff out of her room and into the front yard covered in three feet of snow. Regan wasn’t sure how her mom was going to react to seeing her. Would Valerie coolly ask her why Regan bothered to come back after all these years? This was why she’d come, wasn’t it? Regan took a deep breath and told herself no matter what the outcome of this meeting she would be okay. She wasn’t a homeless teen anymore.

  Before she mustered the courage to speak, Valerie turned, adjusting her fake glasses. Valerie stared at Regan for a blank moment and then recognition hit. Valerie jumped up so fast her chair fell back and with a shrill scream launched herself at Regan. Regan stumbled back into the wall and didn’t move as her mom spoke incoherently, clutching her so hard Regan couldn’t breathe. Valerie’s face was streaked with tears as she pulled back, framed Regan’s face with shaking hands and stared at her.

  “Welcome home, honey.”

  Tears trickled down Regan’s cheeks. She imagined this reunion so many times in her mind and never expected this. The harsh words she received from everyone the night she left on Christmas Eve ten years ago was so painful she refused to think about it. She left White Mist with her heart in tatters and the car she drove back into town today. That tight ball of dread in her stomach loosened.

  “Have you had dinner yet?” Valerie asked.

  Regan blinked and shook her head.

  “Paula, I’m taking off,” Valerie said to Paula who watched mother and daughter with tears in her eyes.

  Valerie put an arm around Regan and walked towards the front of the shop. Regan was in shock as her mom pulled her onto the sidewalk.

  “I have stew in the slow cooker at home,” Valerie said.

  “Oh.”

  Was this really happening? Regan felt as if she were dreaming. Her mom was acting so nonchalant, as if the ten years since they’d laid eyes on each other didn’t exist.

  “Are you here alone?”

  Regan cocked her head to the side, frowning. What did that mean? “Yeah. Why?”

  Valerie waved her hands nervously. “Oh. I didn’t know if you had a husband or kids or something.”

  Regan ran a shaking hand through her hair. “No.”

  An awkward moment passed as they stared at one another.

  “I drove the car,” Regan said and pointed out the old Honda up the street.

  “It’s still running?” Valerie said, dumbfounded.

  They walked in silence to the car and Valerie got into the passenger seat and waved at Sam and Jericha who watched avidly from the café window.

  “You still walk to work?” Regan asked, attempting to ignore their audience.

  “I like to walk.”

  “I remember. You still live in the same house?”

  “Yeah.”

  Regan drove in silence and for the second time in an hour parked in front of the house she’d grown up in. With her luck she half expected to see Brooks and his kids still standing in
front of her mom’s house but he was gone. Unfortunately, the trick or treaters had multiplied in the past hour. They all hollered to Valerie as she got out of the car. Regan stayed in the car and wondered if she should drive to the inn without her mom noticing but her door opened and Valerie dragged her out of the car before she could get away.

  “Regan Lee?”

  Regan was attacked by a swarm of classmates, neighbors, teachers and church members that she couldn’t begin to place because they wore masks and costumes. Regan escaped into the house and automatically turned towards the kitchen, the Delaney gathering place. Valerie shoved Regan into a chair and plopped a bowl of stew in front of her.

  “Now you sit here and eat while I take care of the kids,” Valerie said and shuffled to the front door.

  Now that the confrontation with her mom was over she felt more drained than ever. She stared at the bowl of soup and pulled out her cell which she hadn’t looked at since she left New York. Thirty five voicemails, one hundred seventy two emails and eighty six texts. She turned the cell off and tugged off her expensive watch as Valerie walked in again.

  “Eat, Regan. You’re too skinny,” Valerie said.

  She didn’t have the energy to contradict her mom so she put a spoonful of stew in her mouth. A woman dressed as Cleopatra strutted into the kitchen with a costumed fairy and jellyfish. Cleopatra gaped at Regan and then Valerie, the heavy liner around her eyes highlighting her astonishment.

  “What are you doing here?” Cleopatra demanded.

  Regan swallowed the hot stew and looked from her older sister to the girl’s on either side of her. The one dressed as a jellyfish was a blue blob with an umbrella that had tentacles hanging around her. The jellyfish shuffled over to Valerie while the fairy got a closer look at Regan’s stiletto boots. Once more Regan felt a sense of unreality. This was too much too soon. She hadn’t seen a family member for ten years but within an hour of driving into town she was sitting at her mother’s kitchen table eating stew while she stared dumbfounded at nieces she didn’t know existed.