Plain Christmas (Plain Fame Book 6) Page 24

  Alejandro gave Nicolas a sideways glance.

  “I mean . . . uh . . .” Nicolas frowned and leaned over the table toward Sofia, whispering in her ear. “What was I supposed to say?”

  “School!”

  “Oh yeah.” He turned toward his mother. “And school!”

  Amanda said incredulously, “Now I know something is going on! You fuss over school all the time, Nicolas.”

  He held up his hands and looked at his father with an I-told-you-so look on his face. “I knew she wouldn’t believe that one.”

  “What on earth is going on here?” Amanda demanded as she looked at everyone staring at her. “Alejandro? Can you please explain?”

  He placed his hands on the table and, with an overly dramatic exhalation, stood up. “Perhaps it’s time to bring in the present, sí?” He directed the question toward the children, who eagerly jumped up and left the kitchen with their father.

  Amanda glanced at her sister and then her mother, wondering if they knew what Alejandro was up to. Anna focused on Samuel, as if intentionally avoiding Amanda’s inquisitive look while Lizzie stared straight ahead, both of them obviously intent on avoiding her eyes. Even Alecia seemed preoccupied, her finger tracing an imaginary line on the tablecloth. Clearly, they know something I don’t, Amanda realized.

  From the mudroom, she heard the sound of Alejandro moving something and the hushed whispers from the children. Whatever it was seemed to be heavy. When they finally walked into the room, the four of them carried a box, the children holding a corner while Alejandro carried the bulk of it. As he set it down in the center of the floor, she could see that whatever was inside wasn’t truly that heavy, but he had wanted the children to participate.

  Amanda felt uncomfortable as she realized that, now, everyone was directing their attention at her.

  “I . . . I thought we discussed the no-gifts policy this year,” she said, directing her statement to Alejandro.

  “Perhaps it’s not just for you, Princesa,” he said playfully. “But I do think we all agree that you are the one who should open it.”

  A chorus of different voices, a mixture of enthusiastic “yes” and “ja,” responded to his statement.

  “Well, this is a little more than unexpected,” she said reluctantly as she slowly got up from the table. “And more than a little awkward.”

  Isadora stood back and pulled Sofia and Nicolas to stand on either side of her. She held their hands as they watched their mother move toward the box. Amanda paused in front of them and wagged her finger at them. “You know I don’t like surprises,” she whispered, which only caused her children to giggle.

  “Now, before you open this,” Alejandro said, using what Amanda called his professional interview voice. “This is a gift for everyone in the family.” His glanced in the direction of the bishop and his wife. “Well, almost everyone,” he said in a joking manner that caused the bishop to chuckle.

  Amanda was confused. “Well, then I don’t understand why I didn’t know about this.”

  He leaned over and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, “Because we all know you don’t like surprises, which is the very reason why we wanted to surprise you, Princesa.”

  This time, Hannah and Rachel joined her children when they began to giggle again, and Amanda thought she even saw Jonas snicker.

  “So, without further ado . . .” Alejandro looked at the children. “Drumroll, please?”

  Nicolas did the honors and made a noise with his tongue as he pretended to be tapping the top of an imaginary drum.

  Oh help, Amanda thought as she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She didn’t like this at all. It was one thing when she was the center of attention among strangers because it helped Alejandro. Being the center of attention within her family was quite another. But she knew that refusing to play along with Alejandro would be fruitless. Not only would that cause an unpleasant (and unwanted) scene, it would also disappoint not just her children but, from the looks of it, her nieces and the others smiling and watching her, too.

  “Oh, very well then,” she said with an exasperated sigh of defeat.

  She stood by the side of the box, which was almost three feet tall and wide. The top was taped, and she looked around for a knife to slice through it. Alejandro cleared his throat and handed her a pocketknife that he had had tucked in his pocket.

  “So prepared,” she teased.

  “Like a Boy Scout.”

  Slicing the length of the tape, Amanda felt her heart beating rapidly. Whatever the gift was, she knew that Alejandro had put a lot of planning into it. He had never made such a public display of a gift to her. Well, she thought as she carefully handed the knife back to him and caught the mischievous smirk on his face, at least not since he had given her an engagement ring at that awards dinner in Los Angeles nine years ago.

  She pushed aside the two flaps of the box and saw the edges of white packing foam.

  “Oh help!”

  She tried to pull at it but couldn’t. Whatever was inside was too cumbersome for her to lift.

  Jonas got up and joined them, helping Alejandro lift the foam packaging from the box. That, too, was taped, and Alejandro again held out the knife.

  “Such mystery,” she said, trying to sound good-natured.

  As she started to slice the last pieces of tape, she heard Anna stand up and join Jonas so that she could see. When Amanda glanced up at her, she saw that her mother, Alecia, the bishop, and his wife were doing the same.

  Once again, she handed the pocketknife to Alejandro, and he promptly shut it before sliding it into his front pocket.

  With all eyes watching her, Amanda lifted the packaging to see what this over-the-top display had been all about.

  Gasping, Amanda dropped the piece of foam onto the floor near her feet. For a moment, she could only stare at what was tucked so carefully inside. Raising her hand to cover her mouth, she felt it trembling as she tried to make sense of what she saw.

  A mailbox.

  A dark-hunter-green mailbox with a red flag and white lettering that spelled three names: Beiler, Wheeler, Diaz.

  Stunned, not just by the present itself—for surely it had required much planning and thought—but because she was suddenly hopeful about what the gift meant. At the same time, she was frightened in case she was mistaken. Amanda pressed her lips together and blinked her eyes. She felt that all-too-telling sensation of tears welling up and threatening to trail down her cheeks. When Alejandro placed his hands on her shoulders and bent down to peer into her face, she stared at him and whispered in a voice that was both hopeful and incredulous, “What does this mean?”

  He reached up and brushed aside a stray tear that had escaped. “It means, Princesa, that you are home.” He paused, glancing around the room at everyone who stood around them. “We all are home.”

  “I . . . I don’t understand. What are you saying, Alejandro?”

  “It means that I heard what you were saying, Amanda. I listened to Isadora, too. And I saw what you saw when we were at the school pageant. There is more in life than just a constant push for more success, more money, more things. And our children need to have the chance to experience the balance.” He gave her a tender smile. “To be with their family.” He glanced at Alecia, who stood behind Isadora. “All of their family.”

  “But . . .” Her mind struggled to grasp what he was saying. “But . . . but you can’t just move away from everything!”

  He raised an eyebrow, giving her a sideways glance. “No? Says who?”

  Her mind whirled with conflicting thoughts and emotions. “Well, for one, you have contracts, Alejandro.” For a moment, Amanda forgot that the rest of the family stood there, listening to their conversation. “And your production company. All of that is in Miami.” She began to think of all his commitments, which made what he was suggesting seem even more impossible. “And concerts. Why, on New Year’s Eve, you have to perform in Atlanta and Miami!”

  “Esc
úchame, mi amor,” he said in a soft but pointed tone. “There are some things that are more important than success, no? Being with my family is one of those things. From the very beginning, you have taught me that.” He hesitated before he continued speaking, taking a moment to study her reaction. “It won’t be easy to juggle everything, I know that. But there is no reason why Lititz, Pennsylvania, cannot be our home, too.” He glanced around the room, his eyes pausing on his children first and then on the rest of Amanda’s family. “This is where our family is.”

  Amanda’s gaze darted in Alecia’s direction. “But . . .”

  “Princesa,” Alejandro said, redirecting her attention back to him. “I said that all of us made this decision. And that includes Mami.”

  None of what he said made any sense to Amanda. “Where . . . where will we live?”

  This time, it was Lizzie who answered her. “That patch of land at the end of the lane? Your daed never cleared it of trees. Seems like it’s high time to put it to good use, Amanda.”

  “And Papi’s going to build us a brand-new house,” Sofia chimed in.

  “With a room for Abuela to come visit whenever she wants,” Isadora said.

  “But I have to keep going to school,” Nicolas added in a disappointed voice.

  “We all have to go to school, you goose,” Sofia added lightly. “Even Izzie!”

  Amanda looked at each one of them, realizing that this was not an idea that had just occurred overnight. It was something, perhaps just a small seed, that had been growing in Alejandro’s mind. For how long, she couldn’t speculate. She did, however, wonder if that had been part of the reason why he’d agreed so readily to coming to Lititz for the holidays.

  “Alejandro,” she said in a soft voice, “you’ve worked so hard and for so long to build your career.”

  “Now it’s time for me to enjoy the fruits of my labor,” he pointed out. “And with the people I love the most: my family.”

  “But . . .” Amanda looked down as the words faded from her mouth.

  “You are happier here with your family, no? The children are freer here, too. And I can breathe easier without the press and public hounding me all of the time. And just because this is our home base doesn’t mean we won’t spend time in Florida. So what is your ‘but’?”

  Amanda looked up into his eyes and resolved to tell him the truth.

  “What if you regret this decision? Aren’t you worried that your fans will forget you if you aren’t as active and visible?” she asked with concern.

  “Are you worried I will be like Banff, so six months ago?” he teased, winking at Isadora, who laughed at his words.

  Amanda shook her head, dismissing his attempts at humor. This was, after all, a decision that would have long-lasting consequences in their lives. As much as she wanted this—the opportunity to provide her children with the chance to grow up in a world that did not include paparazzi and fame, constant change, and travel—it was a huge decision.

  “I’m being serious, Alejandro,” she said sternly.

  Alejandro pulled her into his arms and gently brushed away a strand of hair from her face. He spoke his next words very carefully. “The only regret I could ever have is not spending more time with you or my family. And as for my career, I’ve done all that I set out to do. I’ve lived a life most people could only dream of. But that gets tiring. I realized how much I was missing from my children’s lives. I want to be part of watching them grow up. No, Princesa, you are wrong. It’s time to begin putting that chapter of my life behind me. Slowing down a bit and enjoying life with you, with the children, and with the rest of our family.”

  Just as Amanda began to protest once again, she felt Alejandro’s lips softly pressed against her own, silencing her words with a quick kiss. When he pulled back, she stared into his eyes, looking for any hint of uncertainty, any doubt, but she found none. Instead, she saw genuine happiness on his face.

  “Welcome home, Princesa. You are where you belong.” He glanced around the room, his eyes looking at each of the people who watched them: her mother, her sister and her husband, her nieces and nephew, her children, his mother, and even her former bishop and his wife. When he returned his gaze to meet hers, he gave her a smile and gestured toward them. “We all are.”

  Epilogue

  The metal wheels made a rumbling sound against the pavement as the large black gelding maneuvered the gray-topped buggy past the new mailbox and down the long driveway. The woman driving the buggy wore a simple blue dress with a small floral pattern, and her hair was pulled back into a neat, tight bun at the nape of her slender neck. She held the worn leather reins loosely in her hands, occasionally tugging at them just a little to remind the horse that she was in control. In truth, the horse was casually guiding itself. Strange and gut, she mused, how horses, so independent and curious by nature, enjoy doing certain things over and over again: the same meals at the same hours, the same routes on which to travel, the same time to be turned out in their paddocks, the same routine, day in and day out.

  As she neared the old farmhouse, a man suddenly opened the screen door, distracting her from her thoughts. Alejandro stepped outside onto the weather-worn porch, with the door slightly ajar, held open only with his foot, while he leaned against the doorjamb. With his arms crossed over his chest, he watched her. There was the slightest hint of a smile on his lips. Her heartbeat quickened at the sight of him.

  She lifted her hand and waved through the open side window of the buggy.

  Stopping the horse near the barn, she jumped down, careful to hold the bottom of her long dress so that she wouldn’t stumble or trip on it. Once her feet were firmly set on the ground, she ran her hand down the front of her skirt, brushing away some of the horsehair that had floated through the open buggy window while she had been driving.

  Grabbing the reins so that the horse wouldn’t move, she began to unhitch the gelding from the buggy. When she glanced over the sweaty neck of the horse, she saw that Alejandro had joined her. Without being asked, he unsnapped the tug line from the shaft on the other side so that they could gently roll the buggy backward.

  Once the buggy was a safe distance away and the horse could back up without hitting the shafts, they worked together and finished unharnessing the horse, removing the driving saddle and the breastplate before unbuckling the reins. He pulled the right rein through the small metal rings of the harness before he reached for hers. When she handed it to him, he folded them both in a way that they could easily be hung from the hook inside the barn’s small tack room.

  Amanda removed the horse’s bridle and led the animal through the open barn door, guiding the gelding into its stall for the night. As she went to get some hay, she noticed Isadora’s orange cat sleeping on top of several bales. Amanda paused and rubbed the cat’s head, smiling as she thought of the irony. Almost ten years ago, Katie Cat had slept in the very same place when just a kitten. Now, after a decade, she, too, had returned to the farm and, like the rest of Amanda’s family, seemed much more content.

  “Excuse me, Katie Cat,” Amanda said as she tore two flakes of hay from the bale, resulting in a scornful look from the cat, who clearly did not appreciate the disruption to her sleep. Amanda carried the hay to the horse stall and tossed it into the stable before checking to make certain that the horse had enough water until morning.

  “¿Todo bien?”

  She peered over her shoulder again and smiled at his short-sleeved white shirt; with the two top buttons undone, she caught a glimpse of his tanned skin just slightly marred by the blue line of a tattoo. When he stood before her, she reached her hand out toward him and traced the outline of the ink on his bare chest, her finger lightly tickling his skin.

  He reached for her hand, holding it tightly for a long moment before raising it to his lips and kissing her fingertips.

  “Don’t,” she whispered in a soft voice while trying to hide her grin.

  “Ay, Princesa,” he murmured warmly as he put
his arms around her waist and pulled her closer against him. “You were gone too long. ¡Mucho tiempo!”

  She gave a little laugh. “Not even two hours. If that.”

  “As I said, too long.”

  “You survived, I see,” she said with a teasing smile on her face.

  “Sí, mi amor, I survived.”

  From behind him, the noise of a child’s laughter caused them both to glance toward the house at the same time.

  “But barely,” he went on.

  Leaning forward, she placed a soft peck on his cheek. “It’s good to have you back, Alejandro,” she whispered. “I missed you while you were in Miami last week.”

  “You survived,” he quipped, teasingly tossing back her own words.

  “But barely.” She smiled.

  He laughed and leaned over to brush his lips against hers.

  When he pulled back, she reached up and pushed his hair back from his forehead so that she could see his blue eyes. “It’s been good this spring, hasn’t it?”

  “I think so, sí.”

  “You like helping Jonas.”

  It wasn’t a question, but he answered her anyway. “I do, Princesa.” He turned his head toward the back paddock, where the frame of their future home stood. “It will be nice when the house is finished, no?”

  She nodded her head. “Yes, but I will miss all of us being together in the evenings. It’s nice to be surrounded by family.”

  He returned his attention to her, staring down into her face. He raised his hand and brushed a stray piece of hair from her cheek. “It’s nice to just be with you, Amanda. While I like being here as much as I can, I must confess that I’m looking forward to you returning to Miami with me next month. Time with you, alone.”

  Truth be told, she was looking forward to that, too. Over the past few months, she felt as if she spent more time away from him than with him. While he got everything situated, flying back and forth to Miami and Los Angeles, Amanda had stayed with the children at the farm. Next week, however, she would leave them for the first time since they had made the move to Lititz. She would travel with Alejandro to their home in Florida. Both of them had meetings, but she had managed to schedule hers to fall during a two-week period of time. And for one week, Alejandro had insisted she spend some time with him alone on their yacht before they returned to Pennsylvania for the rest of the summer.