Author’s Note: I didn’t do any rewriting or editing on this so there might be some typos… I’m not perfect (LOL). Have fun!
A Christmas of Miracles
An Alternate Look at the book “I Wish You Were Mine.”
Chapter 1: 6 Years Ago
Jackson Burke exhaled shakily as he pulled up to the house where his girlfriend of three weeks, Madison Carrington lived with her younger sister, Mollie. Now, he wasn’t really supposed to be here. Madison had attempted to keep him from picking her up for dates, and seemed cagey about where she lived, but after a date to the movies one night in late October, she’d left her sweater in his car and he needed to return it to her, so she finally relented, letting him drop by. He wasn’t returning a sweater this time. To be honest, there really wasn’t much of a reason for him to be here… he just felt like visiting.
Perhaps it was an abuse of her confidence… but she’d blown off their Sunday date, and he missed her.
But as soon as he approached the house, he began to rethink not only his decision to come; but his entire relationship with Madison Carrington. She was in what he assumed was her bedroom, and he could hear her obviously getting it on with some other guy. He couldn’t exactly see her, but he knew that it was Madison.
What was worse was that Jackson could tell that the sister, who he hadn’t gotten to meet yet- was trying to do her homework at the kitchen table. It was clear she could hear her sister… which obviously bothered her; but there was a look of irritation and anger on her face. She evidently knew her sister was already in a relationship.
Finally, just as he was getting in his car to leave, he heard the front door click open. And he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Mollie was no longer at the table, but on the front porch, walking towards his car.
“I’m so sorry. I keep telling her that what she’s doing isn’t fair to anyone… but I’m 14. What do I know?”
“None of this is your fault. I knew it couldn’t be a good thing if a girl just refused and refused to go out with me and then finally relented one day… obviously, there had to be a reason… and I’m guessing it wasn’t because she had feelings for me… I should have seen it earlier.”
Mollie bit her lip. “I probably shouldn’t say this but…” she took a deep breath. “She’s seen how good you are at football and she thinks you’ll be a draft pick… so she has you on her hook. Believe me, I’ve tried to hit that it’s wrong to do that kind of stuff… but she’s shrewd and Maddy- I don’t think she really cares about anyone but herself.”
“I was afraid of that.” He nodded solemnly. Eventually, he thanked Mollie and told her that he was going to break things off with Madison, he’d ask to meet with her after class the following day.
Mollie nodded that she understood and somehow, he knew he could trust her.
Present Day
Mollie Carrington was done with her studying and homework for the evening. It was Thanksgiving, but Madison had blown her off, and her dad with his new family had decided to go on a cruise… she wasn’t invited, not that she would have wanted to go anyway…
She’d gone home from school, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She was a bit of a traditionalist. She wanted turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes… but Mollie wasn’t much of a cook. She couldn’t afford to go out, so she was almost resigned to buying ready-made mashed potatoes, and some thick-sliced turkey lunchmeat to get her somewhere close to Thanksgiving dinner.
To her surprise however, the doorbell rang right around 2:00 in the afternoon after a few weird text messages from an unknown number.
The messages had said, “Got Turkey?” and “Will bring some.”
It didn’t make sense and she hadn’t answered because she didn’t know who sent the messages. But when she went to the door, there was a middle-aged lady, she seemed to be a few years older than her father… a handsome woman, well-dressed and agreeable.
She was holding a casserole dish..
“You’re Mollie, right? Mollie Carrington?”
“Um, yes… Who are you?” she said in a timid voice.
The woman laughed nervously. “My, my… I suppose my son didn’t get in touch with you after all.” Then upon seeing Mollie’s continued confusion, the woman told Mollie, “I’m Jackson Burke’s mother, Sylvia.”
Things sort of began to click into place.
When Sylvia saw realization dawn on Mollie’s face, she breathed a sigh of relief. “So, he did get in touch?”
“Um, maybe…” Mollie pulled out her phone and showed Sylvia the texts and the number.
“Good gracious, no wonder you had no idea I was coming…”
Mollie let the woman in.
“This may seem odd because he only met you once, and not under wonderful circumstances; but my son thinks very highly of you…”
“I’m just curious how he got my number. I mean, we’d met, but barely- and we certainly didn’t exchange numbers.”
“Well, he knows the guy your sister’s dating now. And apparently, the guy felt bad that you were going to be alone since his parents invited Madison for Thanksgiving… and Jackson’s ears apparently perked up. He asked for your number…”
Sylvia proceeded to explain that Jackson was recovering from some bruised ribs in last week’s game and would be over as soon as he could. Normally, he’d be playing football today.
She explained that she was bringing Thanksgiving to Mollie.
“That’s just- so incredibly sweet, both of him… and of you… I mean, you don’t even know me.”
“My son has a good sense of people… his one slip-up was technically your sister, but in a way, it led him to meeting you… and even though it’s been quite a while, I know he’ll be glad to see you.”
–
Jackson Burke arrived at the house he’d visited six years ago- when he was still in college… and the girl he was having dinner with, alongside his parents- had been only fourteen at the time of their meeting… not, she was 20 and in college.
He rang the doorbell and entered the house when Mollie opened the front door. She was wearing a cranberry-colored dress with a dark brown fly-away cardigan, black tights, and little brown flats.
Her long light brown hair was up in a high ponytail.
Jackson nearly gasped when he saw her. She’d really grown up. And she was lovely. He was thrilled to realize that she was getting along wonderfully with his mother and father. The meal was lovely and the conversation lively. Eventually, he and Mollie got into a conversation about life and before he knew it, his parents had left the two of them alone together, and it was into the wee hours of the morning. Mollie had mentioned that Madison’s new boyfriend, Chad’s parents lived in Vermont so her sister would be there until the beginning of the next week.
Turns out that Jackson didn’t want to leave Mollie and found himself crashing on the couch. Well after he went home the following day; he kept thinking about her.
And even once he healed and got back on the football field, as Christmas fast approached, he remained unable to think of anyone else.
Whenever Jackson spoke to his parents, they would tell him about something they’d done with Mollie, and that she seemed to think well of him… at first, he wondered why they seemed so interested, and intent on getting them together; but it didn’t matter. The important thing was that they saw that same, special something in Mollie that he had.
His parents were even better judges of character than he was. If they liked her, then that was all he needed to decide his course of action.
–
Mollie Carrington wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the time Jackson Burke spent with her on Thanksgiving. They were barely acquaintances… but there was an unmistakable ease between them even when Mollie felt little tugs at her heartstrings and the slight jittering of nerves.
He wax devastatingly handsome. Rugged good looks, and a strong build. He looked every bit the football player he was; 6’3 and just enough Texas cowboy in him to make Mollie’s breath catch. While she wasn’t much for football, Mollie found herself turning on a few games just to watch him. And she learned how good a quarterback he was, and how nice a man he really was under the tough-guy persona he’d developed because of his job.
Another thing which began to affect her was that his parents liked her and wanted her to spend time with her. In just the short amount of time since Thanksgiving, the Burke’s had become a sort of surrogate family to her much to the irritation of Madison.
It’d begun to come out that Madison, while she saw that Jackson was attractive and talented; didn’t ever think much of him beyond that. That clawed at Mollie from the inside out, threatening to undo her.
Even though Mollie couldn’t completely sever the relationship with her sister- because they were the only family the other had, at least by blood; their correspondence and contact had been very sparse for months.
If she were to have an honest recollection of the events, she’d have to admit that her relationship with her sister had faltered long before… it was only of late that she’d truly begun to see it for what it was.
Madison spent most of her time with whatever boyfriend she had at the moment and Mollie spent most of her time at college. She’d originally lived at home, but now, she found herself wanting to go anywhere else.
It wasn’t really home anymore, if it ever had been to begin with.
Luckily, on a Tuesday- before Winter Break- after a long day of exams and a long line of mostly-sleepless nights; Mollie was stunned to get a text from Jackson asking if she could spare a few minutes for him to pop by. He had something he wanted to discuss with her.
His phrasing was odd and he sounded nervous, but she wanted to see him and to figure out what was on his mind.
And within an hour, he was at the house, something behind his back. She wondered what it was, but didn’t have long to wait.
After inviting him in, he saw a hook on the ceiling where an old lamp used to hang in the seventies, way before her family ever lived there… and Jackson Burke hung some mistletoe from it. And somehow, even though he didn’t say anything, Mollie took his meaning. She kissed him, and he kissed her back, lifting her off her feet, cradling her head in his big hands.
She wondered when the shift from acquaintance to love-interest had occurred, but she was grateful it had.
When he finally put her down and the kiss ended, Jackson told her that he couldn’t stop thinking about her and that she was the kindest, most honest person he’d ever met.
“And you’re truly beautiful, both inside and out- as cliché as it sounds… I’ve never known anyone who made me want to be so good… but who torments me in subtle ways, making me want things I have no right to ask for.”
Before she could say anything to that, he added that he wasn’t perfect, and perhaps he was too old for her, too broken, but he hoped she could accept him.
Mollie was a bit confused by that, but she was pretty sure she understood what he meant… And she told him, “I think I’m the lucky one… I’ll do more than merely accept you. I’ll revel in being near and dear to you.”
Jackson looked more emotional than she would have ever expected him to be.
And for the first time in a long time, Mollie knew this Christmas was going to be special… Sure, Jackson would still have football and Mollie still had school, but this wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle.
After that first night, Jackson took Mollie to the Christmas tree farm and helped pick out a tree for her place as well as his. She liked doing even just this simple thing with him. There was an ease of intimacy, a feeling of normalcy surrounding it. In fact, it felt so normal that Mollie had to consciously remind herself that they were at the beginning of their relationship and so many things were just starting…
They spent as much time together as their schedules allowed. When Madison discovered that Mollie was dating her ex-boyfriend, she was furious, and instead of just yelling at her and slamming her bedroom door shut or something; Madison screamed at her younger sister to leave the house and not to come back unless she broke up with him…
At first, Mollie froze, unsure if her sister was joking or sincere. That was often the way it was with Madison.
To her horror, Mollie realized that her sister wasn’t kidding, she wasn’t just angry and this would blow over… Madison was blinded by fury and jealousy- that was pretty obvious once Mollie took a step back and really looked at the situation.
Madison grabbed a overnight bag and unceremoniously grabbed fistfuls of her sister’s toiletries, shoving them into it. She proceeded to scream that she was going to give Mollie all of ten minutes to get out of her sight and that she best be packing as much as she could possibly fit into her suitcase and backpack.
So, Mollie packed, lip trembling, watching the vein in her sister’s forehead bulge as it always did when she was angry.
When she was all packed, Mollie got into her car, unsure of where she was to go… and she ended up at the only place she could think of.
–
Chapter 2
Jackson heard a car pull into his driveway, and saw headlights in the front window of his home. But no one got out of the car for a long minute, and he saw his phone light up with a text message… it was from Mollie…
“I’m sorry if I’m barging in on something… but may I come in? I have to talk to you.”
Jackson didn’t bother to reply to the message, he just went to the door, and ran down to her car. This version of Mollie was new to him, and Jackson hoped it wasn’t something he’d done to put her in such a state.
He cursed under his breath when he saw the tears streaming down her face.
He opened her car door, and pulled her to her feet, shutting the door behind her and taking her up the walk to the front door and into the living room. He sat her down on the black leather sofa and knelt on the tasteful maroon rug the decorator had picked out when he purchased the Houston mansion…
Jackson spoke to her in soothing tones. Not patronizing, not placatingly… just interested and concerned.
“Mollie, babe; what’s the matter?”
She took a shaky breath. “My sister found out we were dating… and I guess she got jealous… even though you two only dated for a brief time six years ago… and she kicked me out… actually grabbed my bags and shoved things into them and forbade me to come back until we’d broken up…”
Jackson was furious, but then that fury at Madison turned to wariness, and a feeling in his gut that he hoped she wasn’t going to do that… break things off with him.
Because he wanted to keep this conversation as open and honest as possible, Jackson took a breath in a voice he barely recognized as his own, he spoke the words, “Please don’t end this…”
She opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything.
Jackson thought it was because she was afraid that it was her only option if she didn’t want to be homeless. He soon discovered however that breaking things off with him was the last thing she wanted to do… she just didn’t know how to proceed.
Mollie put a hand on his face, and told him that she couldn’t give him up.
Jackson breathed a sigh of relief and kissed her tenderly.
“Well then… move in with me.”
Mollie’s mouth dropped in shock, and she exclaimed, “Jackson Burke! We’ve been dating just over two weeks. Why would you do this?”
Jackson knew how crazy it sounded, but he didn’t think it was wrong… he felt good about it, and she needed a place to stay. He had plenty of room.
He told her as much.
“But, I’ll be putting you out…” she said timidly.
Jackson rose to his feet, pulling her up with him, then tossing her gently over his shoulder, bringing her to his room, setting her on his bed.
“Look, Mollie… you’ll never put me out. Besides, I care about you. Even if we were just friends, I’ve plenty of bedrooms… The house is paid for… I’ve have to pay for utilities anyway, regardless of whether or not anyone lives with me… honestly, I think it’d be better if someone else lived here. It’s so large… and I’m a lonely old man.”
This was his bit, and it never failed him. Mollie couldn’t stifle a giggle and relented. “Ok… ok… I’ll move in… I was just gonna ask for a room until I could find another place… but this is better.”
“Ya think?” He turned a rakish grin her way and Mollie smiled brightly.
“So, why’d you bring me in here?” she asked him.
“I felt it made my point a bit stronger… I mean, I don’t know that you’re quite ready for intimacy like most couples who live together have and do… since we’ve only just started dating… and from what you’ve told me; I’m your first real boyfriend… but I want you here regardless. If it makes you feel better, I can make up one of the guest rooms… but if…”
Mollie smiled. “You’re sweet, Jackson… trying to tell me that you’ll be a gentleman and that we don’t have to do anything I don’t want…” she caressed his face, fingers tracing his jawline. “It’s so lovely of you… but I already know you would never hurt me or push me to do anything I was uncomfortable with.”
And with that, they kissed and soon, Jackson went out to the car to get her stuff. And over the next few days, as Christmas fast approached, Jackson Burke had a lovely, wonderful woman by his side.
They had breakfast in bed, Mollie decorated the tree they’d bought together, and one day when she was off school and he was at practice, she managed to dig out some fancy dishes the designer had picked for the cupboards. Jackson never used them, too fancy, but Mollie surprised him by having some food delivered from one of his favorite restaurants in town. She lit some tapered candles in the middle of the table, even used chargers under the plates, poured herself some sparkling cider, and Jackson his favorite beer using the wine glasses… and she wore a fabulous forest green velour dress with a mostly-open back and long sleeves with a waist cinched perfectly with a gold belt.
She’d straightened and then curled her hair in loose, cascading curls, wearing some pumps which might not be expensive, but gave the appearance of being expensive… they lengthened her already-long legs, and Jackson had to force himself to remain a gentleman with her. Dinner was superb and Jackson was grateful for his beautiful Mollie. They ate while listening to some smooth Christmas jazz. When he asked where that came from, she told him that it was on her iPhone… Mollie liked a lot of different kinds of music and had an expansive collection. It was ever-growing.
After clearing the table and washing the dishes, Jackson wanted to ask her why she went to all this trouble, but he got the sense that it was sort of a ‘thank you’ for the last few days, as well as just being something Mollie wanted to do.
So far, the two of them had only kissed and embraced… held hands… linked arms together… that kind of innocent interaction… and every night since she’d been here, they’d slept in the same bed, but not done anything. Tonight, Mollie seemed to have something more on her mind. She asked him to help get her out of the green dress she wore. Now, that was a request which she probably would still have made even if he were just a friend and not a boyfriend… but the way she asked the question- with a lower tone than she usually spoke, and the inflection… Jackson knew what Mollie wanted, and while he wanted that, more than a lot of other things; he didn’t want her to do anything without thinking first…
He was about to ask her if she really wanted this when she murmured that she’d never wanted anything more…
“These last few days living with you have been the best of my life. Even before Madison blew up at me and forced me out, I’d been feeling more and more that I needed to put more distance between us… and I never expected you’d take me in like this although I should have realized that you’re a wonderful man and that you care about me and wouldn’t want me to be homeless and destitute…”
Jackson smiled slightly, tugging on the zipper which landed just a few inches above her tailbone, loving every millimeter of skin he was exposing with every little pull. When the dress slid off, it revealed that she was only wearing black, lacy panties and no bra… but he didn’t know how she would have been able to wear a bra with that dress.
His breath caught and he could already tell that making love to this woman would be spectacular.
Before too long, he was climbing out of his own clothes, and Mollie murmured that she was on the pill.
For a moment, it confused him because Jackson knew that she’d never been with a man before… she’d flat-out told him that… and Mollie wasn’t a liar. “I’ll explain it after…” she told him. He was perfectly alright with that.
And he didn’t think of questions while they made love to each other.
He didn’t ask, but late into the night, when they were both too exhausted and in sex-induced haze, flipping through channels on the flat screen TV in the bedroom, Mollie murmured that when she started college, her body reacted strangely to the stress… even though she was very used to applying herself; somehow college threw her entire routine for a loop and she began to experience weird mood swings, irregular cycles, and really painful ones… birth control helped that.
“I’ve heard of things like that happening before… I’m glad it seems to have worked for you, and that you’re healthy.”
Mollie smiled, kissing his chest over his heart.
There ended up not really being anything on, so Jackson switched off the TV and asked if she would want to come with him to Christmas at his parents’ house. Mollie looked a little surprised, but obviously, she was all for it.
“I’d love to. I adore your folks. They’re so warm and inviting. You can be completely honest and they never judge you. They’re not drunk or on a drug trip like my mother usually was… and they didn’t abandon you…”
Normally, if someone said something to the effect of what his girl had said, Jackson would expect to see them crying; but Mollie wasn’t crying. He didn’t even have to look at her to know that. Everything with her parents had been a long time ago, and most of it was just a painful memory from the past that Mollie had mostly gotten over and worked through over the years.
“They love you.” He told her honestly.
As soon as he said it though, Jackson wondered if that was too close to telling Mollie that he loved her. To be honest, he hadn’t quite sorted all his feelings out yet… but he felt very strongly for Mollie Carrington. He knew that for sure. There was no one quite like her.
A part of him- the bachelor part- didn’t want to admit how strongly he felt for her. Didn’t want to be in love; especially not so early… but living alone all these years helped Jackson to realize how lonely life could be if you didn’t choose to spend it with anyone.
Sure, Jackson had friends and acquaintances, as well as a bunch of fans; but none of that compared to having the love of a good woman. And Mollie was without a doubt a good woman… a very good woman.
Another thing Jackson loved about having Mollie here was that she had a talent for taking something nice and turning it into something spectacular. His house for instance… The interior decorator had done a great job, but Mollie made everything look homey. For someone so young, Mollie was surprisingly domestic. A part of that was probably because of how she grew up… Her mom was so self-absorbed and chose drugs and alcohol over her family. So Mollie decided to do exactly the opposite. Every day when he came home, a new surprise was waiting for him. Either she’d hung up some artwork he’d forgotten about, or put photographs of him and his family in frames. Other times, she had a stack of Christmas movies sitting by the Blu-Ray player, as well as some pizza and beer for him, diet Coke for her.
To Jackson, it was kind of charming the way Mollie didn’t like to break rules. She was so good.
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