“This is wonderful, Jase,” Maia said, warmth and enthusiasm spilling over into the room. “Like discovering a treasure box. How ever did you know it was up there?”
Cole let his breath out. “He managed to put up there when he was ten, right after he lost his mother.”
Maia looked up at the gruff note in Cole’s voice. “I’ll be very careful going through it, Jase, don’t worry.” She slipped off the couch and sat tailor fashion on the floor beside the box. “Do you remember what you put in here?”
Jase sank down beside her. “Yeah. I never went up to the attic, although I thought about it a lot, but I was afraid the old man would catch me and throw it all out.” He glanced at Cole fearfully as if he might be revealing too much.
“That was smart,” Cole said. “If he caught you, there would have been hell to pay. While you’re looking over what we have, why don’t I fix us something to eat. How’s the head feeling, Doc?” He needed her to look at him. He had to know Jase was safe with her, but he had to get out of the room before that box was opened.
His blue gaze met and clung to hers. Maia sat very still, letting the heat in his eyes wash through her. She saw into a part of him he tried so hard to hide. Ravaged. Damaged. A man struggling to overcome his own past in order to save a boy. She didn’t want to see it because it only drew her deeper into the lives of the Steeles and she didn’t want that. She’d disclosed too much to him already. Kissed him when she should have resisted. She ached for the boy he’d been and the man he’d become. “A bit of a headache, nothing serious,” she answered.
Jase watched Cole leave the room. “He says it’s okay to celebrate Christmas; I don’t think he really wants to.”
“Maybe he needs to celebrate it, Jase,” Maia said. “He’s a grown man, and he’s quite capable of deciding what he does and doesn’t want to do. If he’s given you the go-ahead, then he must want to celebrate the holiday as well. And isn’t it about time? Christmas is a special time of year. I love the way it brings everyone together. It’s a time for family. Cole never really had a chance to have a family before, but now he has you.” Carefully, she began to open the box.
“Do you have a family waiting for you to get home?”
“Not anymore. I was an only child. My parents died when I was sixteen, and I went to live with my grandmother. I lost her a few years ago. No cousins, no aunts or uncles. I’m pretty much it.”
“That must be awful for you not to have someone to be with when you love it so much.”
Maia smiled at him. “I would prefer to have a huge family, but since I don’t, I find ways to celebrate.”
“My father hated Christmas,” Jase began in a rush. “He was really mean around Christmas, and he forbade us to ever have a tree or presents or decorations. If Mom gave me a present, he threw it away and he . . .” Jase trailed off. “Mom was like you.”
“She loved Christmas?” Maia pulled open the flaps of the box, nearly holding her breath, careful not to look at Jase.
“Yeah. She used to sneak me presents, and when we were alone she’d show me the decorations her mother had given her. They’d been in her family a long time. She loved the ornaments and always wanted them on a tree. She used to tell me we’d put them on a tree together someday, but we never did. If she’d tried to do that, my father would have smashed them . . . and her.”
Maia took a deep breath and let it out slowly, praying she could come up with the right words for Jase. The pain and horror and guilt of a young boy being the cause of his adored mother being “smashed” by his abusive father were in Jase’s voice. Despair and helplessness, love and regret were in his eyes. She was determined to find a way to heal the pain in the boy she was growing so fond of.
“We can do it for her, Jase. This was her house too, wasn’t it? We can give it back to her. If you tell me the things she loved, we can redecorate and make it your mother’s home the way she wanted it. The way it should have been.” Maia leaned toward him. “You asked me how I celebrate. Well, I always do something fun, but I want to do something for someone. Let’s do it for your mother.”
“But she’s dead.”
“You think about her every day don’t you?”
Jase nodded.