Miracle on 34th Floor Read online

  Her eyes found Decker’s as they always did. His returning gaze made promises. This time deeper and more real. And she couldn’t wait to hear them verbalized little by little over the course of their relationship.

  At last, when everyone had left and the party staff were cleaning up, Decker put his arms around her from behind. His soft breath on her neck brought happy tingles. “Can we go up to the 34th floor for a minute?”

  She nodded. “Mmm. That sounds nice.”

  “There’s that sexy hum. You’re killing me, woman.”

  She laughed. “I am not.”

  “Well, you kind of are. Let’s go.” He reached for her hand, and they made their way to the elevator.

  The night sky felt close, and it wasn’t as cold as she’d thought. They exited the stairwell and turned the corner to find a rooftop full of candles and soft music playing. Lights were strung above, a Christmas tree was decorated in the center, and a table was set amidst a circle of heat lamps. It was magic, plain and simple.

  “This is gorgeous! Did you do this?”

  He nodded. “Would you like something to eat?”

  “I’m starving, actually.”

  “Me too. I don’t think either of us got any food.”

  They sat and lifted lids off plates full of pasta, soup, and warm bread.

  After only a few bites, Decker’s phone buzzed. “I’m sorry, I’ve been leaving this on because of one of the kids from Gimbels.” He read the message and then stood. “And this is why.” His eyes held an apologetic excitement. “We gotta take this. You in? Little Judy’s dad needs to get back to the hospital, and they don’t want to take him ’cause they can’t afford—”

  She stood. “Tell me on the way.” Her napkin fell to the table, and she rushed back toward the stairs.

  Decker was able to call an ambulance for Judy’s dad and then talked to her aunt, promising to meet them at the hospital.

  “What if it’s too much money?” Joylin’s concerned pucker on her upper lip drew his eye more than once, and he smiled at the beauty beside him. “I’ll take care of it. We’ll see what the situation is first, of course.”

  They rushed in, and as soon as Judy saw them, she ran up to them. “Are you Santa’s helpers?”

  “We sure are, little friend. Santa told me your daddy needed some help.”

  “He’s real sick, but they can make him better. I know it.”

  Joylin sat with little Judy in the chairs to wait while Decker figured out what her daddy might need. Coloring soothed them both while they waited for news. Sooner than she would have thought, Decker came back with a smile. “Judy, your daddy’s gonna be just fine.”

  He winked at Joylin’s silent questions. “And we’re gonna leave you here with your aunt to give him a big hug when they’re finished fixing him up.”

  “Okay!” She jumped up and threw her arms around Decker’s legs. “Thank you!”

  “Hey, don’t thank me. Be a good girl for Santa.” He brushed his eyes, and Joylin almost couldn’t stand the distance between them. She loved this man so much. She gasped at her own realization. She loved Decker.

  As he took her hand in his and they walked out of the hospital, he smiled at her. “What is it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You look different or something.”

  “I’m just happy. My boyfriend is a good man.”

  “About that.” He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “I love you, Joylin. I’m not going anywhere for a long, long time—possibly not ever. You okay with that?”

  She nodded. “I don’t want you going anywhere. I love you, too.” She lifted her chin so she could look at all of him. “We on at Gimbels tomorrow?”

  “You know it.” He cradled her close, wrapping his arms around her even tighter, and she didn’t want to ever leave this space. When he lowered his mouth to hers, his kisses were different, caring, full of love. His slow mouth made love to hers, and she knew that one day they could be one. A life of love flashed before her eyes, and she saw them looking like Herald and Darlene, after years of taking care of their love, and the beauty stole her breath. Her kisses became sweeter, and she cherished him like she never had before.

  The end.

  Chapter 1-2 Invited Home for Christmas

  Chapter One

  Xander tensed.

  His old teammates, Colton and Jay, walked into the gym. Xander tried to ignore them. He ran faster, the treadmill almost at its limit. He cranked up the incline. Maybe they’d leave him alone.

  “Hey it’s the Xan man. How are you doing, old man?” Colton stood at the front of his treadmill, begging to be run over.

  “Funny.” Xander grunted.

  “Dude, I’m just kidding. Hey, are we gonna see you at the alumni dinner?”

  He nodded.

  Jay kept walking and then whistled, and Colton ran to follow him. They were on the prowl. If Xander were to guess, they were here to find dates for the dinner.

  Current NFL and alumni player dinner was the ultimate place to show off your babe.

  This was Xander’s first year as an Alum and not an actual player and he was already feeling on the outs. Which he didn’t mind.

  Or he did.

  He couldn’t tell how much he minded. He pounded out his run, lengthening his pain. He just didn’t know what else to do with his life. He’d always been a football player. In his town, they started flag football when you were four. Tackle when you were seven. He played through middle and high school, doing year round training from the time he was thirteen. Now what? He had tried traveling. It was boring. He tried taking an online class. He might get back to that later. He’d shown up at the practice fields just to stay in shape. At first the coaches and players thought it was cool, but then they started to ask him what he was going to do with his life. And they asked if he had a gym membership.

  Fine. Point taken.

  So here he was, working out in the gym. Before alumni status, he’d only come to the gym to pick up girls, like the guys were doing now.

  He leaned back so he could see them. Yep. Colton had a long, dark haired beauty laughing while Jay walked slowly in front of all the machines, stretching now and then. He pulled off his shirt and a couple women nearby rolled their eyes. But a few others were openly vying for attention, and one redhead called him over. While Xander watched Colton primp, he hoped that he had never ever acted in such an obvious and superficial manner. But he was sure he had.

  In fact, he’d better hurry and find himself a date. How did he get a date without the guys around? No one went to the dinner without a date. If he showed up alone, it would solidify his old man status.

  Old man-has been. He cringed. He had to get a life.

  A woman walked in on his left, and Xander’s interest piqued. He tipped his water bottle up and took a long drink. Wow, she was something. Just the kind of girl he would take to the dinner and maybe even keep seeing after. She was strong. Her biceps had literal structure. Her thighs were tight. She obviously knew her way around a weight room. And her hair fell in sheets all around her. Yellow blond. He watched, mesmerized while she wrapped it and tied it so it sat up on top of her head and then he had to look away while she stretched out or he might have fallen off his own treadmill. She was incredible. And Xander was entranced. Then she got on the machine and the power of her movement, her deep stride, long legged run pulsed through him and he knew he had to know this woman.

  Dinner or no, he had a whole new interest in being a part of her life.

  Then Jay walked up, and Xander wanted to send a fist into his face.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  She ignored him.

  Xander tried to hide his grin of delight.

  Jay tried again, leaning on the top of her machine, his biceps flexing. “I love what you got going here.”

  No response at all from her.

  “So, do you come here often?”

  Xander snorted, and Jay scowled at him.
>
  When the woman’s shoulders tensed, Xander wanted to tell Jay to creep off. “Leave the lady alone. Can’t you see she’s busy?”

  A small smile lifted one corner of her mouth, and Xander wanted to pump the air with his fists.

  “She’s only pretending to be busy. What she really wants is some attention from the Jay box.”

  She picked up her pace.

  “Nah. I think she just wants to work out.”

  That earned Xander a nod.

  And pretty soon, Jay gave up.

  But Xander kept running. He wanted to know how long she would run. His body was screaming for him to stop. He had already run a solid ten-k when she arrived. But he had to have a reason to stick around until she was done, so he kept going.

  And going.

  The guys left, raising a hand in his direction. He was still running.

  She kept a mean pace, her legs powering through some solid elevation.

  He lowered his, every bone screaming in rebellion against the abuse. And he slowed down.

  And to his surprise, she slowed down too.

  He hung the towel around his neck, dabbing his face. And moved to a walk. Ten miles. Wow, he could have run a half if he wanted.

  He didn’t want.

  His legs wobbled and screamed when he stepped off his machine and as he moved to fill up his water bottle, he did feel like an old man. The hips and knees would never be totally limber after his years of football. But running a surprise ten miles wasn’t helping either.

  He stumbled his way to the drinking fountain. Her machine stopped behind him. He glanced back over his shoulder and nearly tripped when he realized she was now right behind him. “Oh, hey.”

  She raised an eyebrow but just waited behind him.

  “This is a great gym.”

  She nodded.

  And he stared, and she waited. Until finally she pointed behind him. “You gonna get a drink?”

  “Oh, right. Yeah.” He held up his water bottle. “Gotta get a refill.”

  She didn’t say anything, and he was kind of at a loss. Usually the girls around him were more giggly or something. They would laugh or talk more or, maybe try. They would try. She obviously had no interest in pursuing anything with him. Had she even said anything to him at all? You gonna get a drink didn’t seem to count.

  So he stepped out of the way, but he waited for her to finish and when she did, he said, “So I was watching you run.”

  Her eyes widened and she started to scoot away.

  “No, not like that. I just mean. You have great form. I can tell you run a lot. I respect that.”

  She nodded, a small light returning to her face. “Yeah. Thanks.”

  He laughed. “Do you come here a lot?”

  “Just moved in so I might, you know? Today’s my first day.”

  “Oh great. Welcome then.”

  “Thanks. Is this your regular place?”

  “Sort of. When I retired, they kicked me out of the old gym so now I come here.”

  She tilted her head. “Retired? Like military?”

  “No, nothing like that. From football, NFL.”

  Her eyebrows rose up even higher and she nodded before moving away.

  “Wait. Where are you going?”

  “Um, over here. To finish my workout.”

  “You don’t like football players?”

  “What? I’m completely indifferent to football players, but I have to finish my workout.” She walked away. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  That was not how the conversation was supposed to go. Most girls made it easy on him. But not her. He didn’t even know her name yet. And now that he’d talked to her, he decided she was the only one he wanted to take to the dinner. She was perfect. Super pretty, just enough on the flashy side, could dish out whatever they throw her way, and maybe had just a hint of something more. He hoped.

  But she was absolutely not at all into him.

  She was in the weight room now, working on a machine for arms and hadn’t once looked in his direction.

  He could bench a few. Maybe he’d go spend some time next to her to see what happened.

  Nothing happened.

  She didn’t look at him once. And then she got up and left when he was in the middle of a set of reps with an extra heavy bar.

  As soon as he could, he rushed out of the gym, hoping to catch her in the parking lot, but she was gone.

  Chapter Two

  Sam watched the big guy look all over the parking lot for something or someone and she wondered if he was looking for her. He’d followed her into the weight room. She suspected. And then left soon after she left. But what had him fascinated enough to follow her out? Especially when she hadn’t even given him any reason to think she was interested.

  He hadn’t given up yet on whatever he was looking for. His neck craned in all directions. She imagined he really was looking for her, and she smiled at the blessing of belonging to someone, or at least catching their eye enough for them to stick around, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She could tell the moment he gave up and stopped looking. His face fell in a charming disappointment and then he moved away. She leaned back twisting to see what he drove.

  A sweet bike. Of course.

  She might have fallen a little bit in love.

  He put the helmet on. He was one big guy, his thighs stretching across his shorts, his broad chest stretching his shirt tight. MM. She could be all over this guy if he were actually a good guy.

  She massaged her knee absent mindedly. Her old familiar ache started up. She rubbed the bullet hole scar in her thigh. Every now and then the muscle seized up. She’d been showing off a little in front of the big guy after he scared off the creep. She hadn’t run that long and that fast since she’d been in basic training. She laughed at herself.

  His bike started up with the powerful revving of his engine. Was she gonna let him drive away? What if she never saw him again? She started up her car engine, happy it only turned over once before starting. “I’ll be home for Christmas” started up on the radio and for the first time in a long time, she let it play without switching the channel. While serving overseas, that carol had both filled her with both hope and despair and then since her parents had passed away and her sister all by disowned her, she hadn’t been able to stomach it. All she wanted was to one day feel the message of that song in her life. But she knew that would never happen again. All the same, listening while she watched the bike pull out of the parking lot made her grin instead of frown.

  Was she just gonna let him drive away? She was. Cause all these guys were the same. He wasn’t her ‘home for Christmas’ guy, and she didn’t have time or spare heart to spend on anyone but a ‘home for Christmas’ guy. He was former NFL. That right there should scare her away if nothing else. She clenched her hands together and made herself sit still until he’d left the parking lot and driven down the street.

  And then she tailed him. Because she couldn’t help herself. Even though she was never ever going to date this guy, she had to know a little bit more about him—Proof that she sadistically liked to torture herself.

  But he drove a long ways without stopping, and she started to worry about her gas. She wasn’t getting paid for another two weeks and that’s about how long the gas had to last. So she pulled over and then turned around and drove to work.

  Her shift at Walmart was long, so long she thought for sure the day had stretched into two. Once she clocked out of her first job, she changed in the bathroom, her feet aching, and her head calling out for a break. She used the car ride over to Smelters to unwind. She cranked the radio up high and sang every song that came on as loud as she could. It worked. By the time she’d pulled into the parking lot of the town’s only bar and dance club, she felt a bit more energized and ready to waitress. As she finished singing the last drawn out notes to the latest love ballad, she laughed at herself. If anyone could see her now, they’d lose
all respect.

  She closed and locked her door, humming as she walked across the parking lot.

  “That’s some singing.”

  She froze then turned.

  The big guy stood there, leaning up against his car, laughing.

  “Uh, right. Just unwinding a little bit before work.”

  “Right. Unwinding. I’d like to hear you in the shower.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Excuse me.” She picked up her pace into Smelters.

  “No, wait. That’s not what I’m getting at.”

  “Hm.” She kept walking.”

  He stepped in beside her. “I’m just messing with you. You know, everyone sings in the shower. Badly.” He cringed. “Not that you sing badly. You’re actually pretty good.”

  “Well some jokes just aren’t as funny as maybe you think.” Then she snorted. “Pretty good?” She was awful. She knew it.

  “Yeah, you hit a couple of those notes.” His shoulders shook. “I think.”

  “You do? So are you a good judge of singing? I bet you were a choir boy in high school.”

  He shook his head. “I do know how to sing believe it or not, but no time for choir in school.”

  “Oh right, football.” And then the tiny bit of connection she was starting to feel for this guy fizzled. NFL.

  They approached the door. He reached for the handle but paused. “So, you work here?”

  “Yep. Maybe I’ll get lucky and buss your table.”

  “I’d like that.” He held open the door.

  She didn’t answer, just kept walking to the back room where she needed to clock in. But her mouth lifted in a smile. What were the chances? Here he was! She wanted to scream. But she had to play it cool. And stay away.

  Her boss, Joe, frowned at her when she walked in,

  but she knew her boss was happy to see her. He’d have to be. She brought business to this bar. And her section always brought in the most money. She could talk anyone into just one more drink, onions rings, fries, or more dessert. And her tips were awesome too, which was important. She grabbed an apron and tied it around her waist. Then she checked the seam on her long black tights. It was straight, down the back of her legs. Her skirt sat just below her backside and her tight shirt left not much to the imagination. She pulled her hair up into a knot on top of her head and brought strands down at the sides of her ears. She applied bright red lipstick, grabbed her notepad and pen and headed out onto the floor.