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Jax and Tara's Unexpected Christmas

12/10/2020 With the world being such a different and grim place, I decided I would try to cheer people up a bit by doing a repost of this story. I have added a little more on the end, but I don't want to mislead you into thinking it's a brand new story. There aren't many holiday stories and when a story gets buried deep into the listing, it goes undiscovered. I wanted to give this story a greater chance to be seen and hopefully it will give at least one person a few happy moments.

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Author's Note: If you haven't read Tara's Story or Tara's Perfectly Imperfect Christmas, you can still understand this story. I'll fill in the information you need to understand the story, but this story fits into all the stories that I write and it also stands alone. And, there's a guaranteed happy ending or your money back.

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Chapter 1 Purple Hair

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I thought when I left Charming, I would have this wonderful, amazing life. All I really had was heartbreak. Losing Jax had crushed me. I left Charming a screwed up, nerdy, mess of a girl and I was returning a little over a year later in even worse shape.I was still a nerdy, mess of a girl, only now I had purple hair and I dressed only in black.

I decided my life would be better if I just changed my appearance. That's how I ended up with purple hair. The hair color box described the color as plum and the picture showed a plum red color. My hair came out black with a purple sheen—more eggplant than plum. If I'd had some self-esteem, I would have felt horrible over the way it looked. Instead, I looked in the mirror and I discovered I didn't a damn about my appearance.

At least dressing in all black was working for me. I never had to worry about clothes matching. In some weird, new-age, So-Cal way, wearing black provided balm to my soul. It calmed me down. I didn't have to worry about wild colors. Life and laundry were easier when all your clothes were one color.

A week after my hair color debacle, my father surprised me with a round trip plane ticket to Charming. It was non-refundable and he added that he had something important to tell me. I thought he was going to tell me that he had some terminal illness, so as much as I didn't want to go, I had to go to Charming to see him. All I had to do was avoid Gemma and Jax.

I didn't want Jax to know that I was more of a mess now than I was when I left Charming. I had a little pride left. I also didn't want to see Gemma's smug look of satisfaction when she saw I'd returned to Charming looking worse than when I'd left.

My father always managed to undo any good he did almost immediately. He picked me up at the airport and then told me he had taken a last minute gig on Christmas Eve with his 80's cover band, the Fire Ants. He wouldn't be back until late afternoon on was like a knife to my heart, but not because I would miss brought back memories of the first Christmas Jax and I had spent as a couple. (Tara's Perfectly Imperfect Christmas)

ThatChristmas, my father also took a last minute gig on Christmas Eve. I'd fallen asleep on the couch and Jax had come by after midnight, so it was Christmas. We exchanged gifts and it had been the most perfectly romantic Christmas.

Being alone on Christmas Eve was easier than being with my father. He would tell me about his gigs and I would pretend to listen. He never asked about my life and I'd quit listening to him years ago. Music was the love of his life and that was never going to change. I'd keep myself busy. Maybe, I'd cut my hair or figure out something equally self-destructive to do to myself.

I decided if I baked, I'd be less likely to try to cut my hair. Going to the grocery store was risky. I could run into Gemma. I was hoping with my black clothes, purple hair and sunglasses, she might not recognize me. Gemma was not very smart, so I thought it was possible. That was me, always the optimist.

I made up a grocery list so I could get out of the grocery store as quickly as possible reducing the amount of time that I could potentially run into Gemma. I knew it was dangerous, but deep down inside I think I wanted to run into Gemma. It was just more self-destructive behavior.

I'd gone to the grocery store in the good old Cutlass. It was black, so it matched my skirt, boots, T-shirt and mood. I was so close to escaping. I had to just get some cheese for a cheese ball I always made for Christmas when she saw me.

I'd underestimated Gemma's intelligence because she recognized me right away. By the time I left Charming, I had a deep hatred for Gemma. It was so bad, I had death fantasies about her.

In one of my favorites, she was in the middle of the Pacific and I was in a boat. I had a life preserver and she was drowning. Before I could decidewhether I should drive the boat away or wait and watch her drown, I find a bucket of chum. I dump it out and the sharks come and eat her while I watch. In none of my fantasies do I ever save her life.

"Hello, Tara," Gemma said, spitting my name out like it tasted bad. "Nice hair color. Back for Christmas?"

She looked me up and down and smiled that smug smile that made me feel like dirt under her feet.

I decided to give myself a Christmas present. I was going to wipe the smile off that bitch's face.

"Yes and no. I'm back for Christmas, but as soon as the semester is over, I'm moving back to Charming for good."

I wiped the smile off her face. She sucked in her breath and looked stunned. That was the worst thing I could say to her. I gave her a big smile and left her standing speechless in the cheese aisle.

I wasn't worried about Gemma telling Jax what I'd said. She wouldn't even tell him she'd seen me.

I returned and mixed up sugar cookies. I couldn't get the flood of memories out of my head. That first Christmas together, I had made a lot of cookies and sandwiches. Jax would watch me and help a little. He would kiss me dizzy. All those damned memories. Each one was like a stake to the heart.

I shouldn't have come back to Charming. To hell with my father. He only cared about himself. I should have insisted he tell me whatever he needed to tell me over the phone. No, I had to be the good little daughter and come back to Charming, hoping that maybe this time my father would want to finally be a father. Stupid me.

I'd just finished icing the last batch of sugar cookies when there was a knock at the door.

My heart began to beat hard and fast. I'd eaten some raw cookie dough and I thought I was going to throw up.

Don't be Jax. Don't be Jax. Don't be Jax. Be Jax. Please be Jax. Please be Jax. No. Don't be Jax. I'm so fucked. My hair is purple. Please don't be Jax.

Time slowed down and stopped. The distance from the kitchen table to the front door felt like thirty miles. My legs felt so shaky, I thought they were going to buckle.

Don't be Jax. Don't be Jax. Please don't be Jax. Please, please be Jax.

I didn't even look out the peephole before opening the door. It was Jax.

Oh, dear God, he looked good. Shaggy blonde hair, jeans, long sleeved blue flannel shirt and his cut. Sexy, dangerous and irresistible. I melted inside.

He came in and looked around.

"Where's your father?"

"Last minute gig. He won't be back until late tomorrow afternoon."

"Sounds familiar," he said.

"Can you stay tonight?" I whispered softly.

Jax looked at me, his gaze seemed to linger on my purple hair.

"Yeah, I can do that."

I didn't know whether the purple hair was what sealed the deal or if he felt sorry for me and he was staying over out of pity. It didn't matter. All that mattered was he was staying with me.