The Corner of Holly and Ivy--A feel-good Christmas romance

by Debbie Mason

  “You’ve got the primary in the bag, darling.”

  “You’re grandmother’s right, Arianna. Every person we talked to said they were writing you in on the ballot.”

  Connor leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Breathe, honey. Let them have their moment in the sun. No one ever tells anyone who they’re really voting for. Besides, they’ve been out there for less than an hour. No way is that a big enough sample for them to make a prediction.”

  Ten hours later, Arianna discovered Sean and Helen were right, while Connor was very, very wrong.

  * * *

  Colleen sat with Simon tucked in beside her on the brown leather wingback chair by the fire in what she referred to as the manor’s great room. The rest of the family (guests too) referred to it as the lobby. It’s where they had gathered tonight to watch the results come in for the primary election and to celebrate Daniel’s win. His face had been a picture when they’d learned Arianna was less than forty-three votes behind him. The results had been so close that Sean had asked for a recount in one of the districts. Still, it seemed likely they would be pitted against each other in the race for mayor. The new numbers were promised at eleven.

  Daniel looked calm as you please sitting beside Maura, watching himself talking to the reporter on the TV, chuckling a little at a quip he’d made. Colleen could see through him though. All you had to do was look in his eyes to know that he wasn’t happy about the turn of events.

  As far as she knew, he didn’t have anything against Arianna. His problem was with her self-appointed campaign manager—his brother, Sean. Which meant it would soon become a problem for all of them. Already the fault lines were appearing in the family; the younger generation sneaking over to the Salty Dog for Arianna’s after-party was a prime example.

  Daniel had insisted they hold his party here so he could count the hotel guests as attendees. Although his plan probably hadn’t gone as well as he expected. Tuesdays weren’t busy at the manor. Jasper was working the bar, as they were short staffed, and a handful of guests were seated on barstools, uninterested in the evening news or the family gathered around the stone fireplace and TV. All except one, who appeared riveted by the whole affair.

  The lass appeared to be in her thirties, a beauty with short dark hair and luminous blue eyes. She’d arrived at the manor this morning. There was something about the girl that seemed familiar. She wasn’t sure why. The staff said she wasn’t from around here. She had her own plane and flew private charters. Supposedly Sophie, the manager of the manor and Colleen’s great-grandson Liam’s wife, was meeting with the woman on the morrow. Colleen thought that a grand idea. It would provide a way for them to ferry the moneyed crowd to and from the manor, a new tour for the guests.

  “You hear that? Even the reporter thinks it’s bollocks that my brother is supporting someone other than me,” Daniel blustered.

  “Watch your language, darling,” Kitty said to her son, patting his hand. “Don’t take it personally. Your brother has always championed the underdog.”

  “Don’t take it personally? Are you daft? Daniel’s sitting here bold as brass with his arm around his brother’s wife,” Colleen said with feeling.

  “There he is, the turncoat. Grinning like a fool with his arm around the lass.” Daniel gestured at the screen.

  Sean was indeed grinning on the television, but he looked far from a fool. He looked happier than Colleen had seen him in months. As handsome as Daniel, Sean wore his distinguished mane of silver hair brushed back from his face, his blue eyes bright and teeth ultrawhite. He had a smooth and polished look about him, whereas Daniel was more rough-and-tumble. And while Daniel was a neophyte in the game of politics, Sean was a dab hand.

  He’d spent the majority of his married life in the political arena, his last years spent as governor before he returned to practicing law. Looking at him now, smiling on the big screen with his arm around Arianna’s shoulders, Colleen wondered if he missed it. His wife certainly had. Maura had jumped at the chance to head up Daniel’s campaign. Then again, maybe it was love for the man and not politics that was behind her decision to remain in Harmony Harbor.

  Daniel leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyeing the scene unfolding on the screen.

  “Oh, ho, there may be more to this than meets the eye. My brother appears quite taken with the lass. She is a beauty. I’ll give him that.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Daniel. Arianna is young enough to be his daughter. Besides, Connor clearly has feelings for her,” Maura said, obviously perturbed at Daniel’s assertion.

  Colleen smiled, pleased with her granddaughter-in-law’s jealous display. Maybe Maura’s decision to remain at the manor had to do with politics after all. But that wasn’t all that made Colleen happy. It was seeing Arianna and Connor on the screen. She’d known almost from the first moment she’d seen Arianna and Connor together that the young couple were meant to be. And for almost two decades, Colleen had lived with the regret that her meddling in Arianna’s father and Jenna’s mother’s affair had most likely played a role in Arianna breaking Connor’s heart. By the time Colleen had learned the reason for her great-grandson’s hangdog expression, it had been too late for her to get involved. Arianna had left Harmony Harbor to study design in California.

  “Another turncoat, just like his father,” Daniel grumbled.

  “Do not speak about my son that way, Daniel. He was aboveboard with you from the very start. He told you exactly what he planned to do and why. He’s a good boy.”

  “Well done, Maura. You stick up for your son.” He’d be glad to hear it, Colleen thought. Growing up, Connor had been overshadowed by his brothers and his parents’ political aspirations. She’d never understood why Sean and Maura had pinned their hopes on Logan and then Michael following in their father’s footsteps. It had always been clear to her that Connor was more suited to the life than both his brothers combined.

  “Maura’s right, Daniel. And I for one am very proud of both my son and my grandson. I think it’s marvelous what they’ve done for Helen and Arianna. After all they’ve been through, it’s about time they have something to celebrate,” Kitty said, smiling at the television when a cheer went up from the crowd gathered at the Salty Dog.

  Colleen chuckled. Kitty never failed to surprise her.

  “Well, going by the look of the lass”—Daniel pointed at Arianna, who was having a difficult time keeping a smile on her pale face—“she’ll be bowing out of the race before the week is out.”

  Sadly, Colleen thought he might be right. Especially when Arianna pulled away from Sean and disappeared from view.

  “It looks like they’ve received the final results,” Maura said, pointing at the TV.

  On the screen, Sean held up his phone and said to the reporter and the crowd at the Salty Dog, “We just got word that, after the recount, Delaney Davis finished four hundred and seventy-three votes behind Daniel Gallagher, with Arianna pulling ahead of Daniel by five votes.” A cheer went up in the pub at the news. Sean waited for the crowd to quiet down before saying, “You all know what a difficult time Arianna has had of late, so I’m sure you understand she’s overwhelmed—”

  Helen leaned in and grabbed the microphone. “Arianna’s overwhelmed with gratitude and asked me to thank you all from the bottom of her heart. Over the next few weeks, she plans to stop at every business and residence in town to personally thank you and share with you her vision for Harmony Harbor’s future. You’ve all been there for us. Now we’ll be there for all of you. Fighting—”

  “Thank you.” The reporter smiled tightly and wrestled the microphone from Helen. “Your Excellency—”

  “Please, just call me Sean. I haven’t been governor for years.”

  Daniel snorted as he brought his phone to his ear. No doubt to find out if the recount really had pushed the vote in Arianna’s favor.

  The reporter fluffed her hair and gave Colleen’s grandson a winning smile. “All right, Sean. I’m sure our viewer
s would like to know why it is you’re not supporting your brother in the mayoral race and your wife is.”

  Connor intervened, drawing the mic his way. “It’s pretty simple and not nearly as controversial as people might think. My father’s soon-to-be-daughter-in-law is Arianna’s sister. In our eyes, that makes Arianna family too, and her vision for Harmony Harbor’s waterfront and Main Street aligns with my father’s. Besides that, after forty years of marriage, my parents like to spice things up every now and again with a little competition.” He winked at the reporter. “I guess I was wrong. There might be something a bit salacious to it after all. What do you say, Dad? Do you want to share what the winner gets?”

  “You know me, son. I’ll never tell.” Sean chuckled. “But, folks, the results tonight proved one thing. Every vote counts, and Arianna and Helen will be counting on you on November sixth. Drinks are on me, Shay darlin’!”

  “Well played, Connor my boy. Well played.” Colleen nudged Simon. “If anyone can beat Daniel at his own game, it’s Connor. This may not turn out to be the disaster I had imagined. Maybe this election is just what’s needed to get Connor and Arianna back together and to do the same for Sean and Maura.”

  Daniel, who was still on the phone, picked up the remote and turned off the television. Kitty and Maura said their good nights and then headed for their rooms.

  Looking dejected, Daniel put his phone in his pocket.

  The young pilot who’d captured Colleen’s attention earlier walked over. “You look like you could use this,” she said, handing Daniel a beer.

  He straightened on the couch, flashing the girl a weak version of his usual roguish grin as he accepted the bottle. He was feeling left out and alone, and Colleen felt a twinge of sympathy for him. She wasn’t happy with how he was behaving, neither him nor Maura, but she at least had an idea about what motivated her granddaughter-in-law.

  Maura had arrived at the manor back in February a changed woman. Looking your own mortality in the face could do that to a person. All she’d cared about at the time was ensuring her sons were happily married and settled before she died. But Colleen had also seen signs that Sean had become complacent about his marriage and that Maura missed the life they used to have. As for Daniel, she had no idea what had set him on this course or what had happened to his own marriage and his life in Ireland.

  The girl took a seat on the ledge of the fireplace. She wore a cream cable-knit sweater with jeans and short black boots. She had an interesting way about her. She seemed confident and aware of her surroundings. “Theia Lawson,” she said in a low, smoky voice, offering Daniel her hand.

  “Theia, Goddess of Light. Your parents named you well. Daniel Gallagher.” He gave her hand a brief shake. “And as lovely as you are and as much as I hate to admit it, you’re too young for me, lass.”

  Her laugh was as husky as her voice and caused several male heads to turn their way. “I’m glad to hear that, Daniel. I’m sure Mr. Elliot will be too.”

  Daniel stiffened and straightened on the couch, casting a nervous look around. He lowered his voice. “Is it Caine Elliot you’d be referring to?”

  “Aye,” she said, laying on the Irish, “it is indeed.”

  “You tell him I’ll have no problem beating the Bell lass.”

  “Mr. Elliot has sent me to ensure that you don’t.”

  “You work for the Wicklow Group, then?”

  If Colleen’s heart had been beating, it would have stopped. She’d thought Daniel slick as a snake-oil salesman with the gift of gab, a man of questionable moral character because he’d go after his own brother’s wife, but never in her wildest dreams would she peg him as a traitor. Yet that’s exactly what he was. The Wicklow Group was the corporation trying to buy the estate out from under them.

  Chapter Nine

  The morning after the primary, Connor sat in his Porsche just down from Arianna’s house having an imaginary conversation with her in his head. Of course he was winning his argument as to why she should stop giving him the silent treatment because arguing was what he did for a living, a lucrative living. But she blamed him that she’d ended up in the race for mayor, for promising her she didn’t stand a chance in the primary when she obviously did. And no matter how good he was at presenting a compelling argument in the courtroom, Arianna was an expert at the silent treatment, the cold shoulder, and the glacial stare. She should be. She’d been practicing on him for years.

  Which meant he should be used to it by now and should just go with the flow. Play it cool and give her some space. Obviously parking two doors down from her place at nine in the morning didn’t equate to giving her space and playing it cool. He was disappointed in himself. Since when did he crowd a woman? Never, that’s when. He wasn’t that guy.

  “Just a purr, baby, not a roar,” he told the Porsche’s engine as he pressed the button, fighting the urge to floor it and get rid of some of the pent-up tension he’d been carrying around from the moment it became clear Arianna was going to be a contender for mayor. The last thing he wanted was her to look out the window and see him sitting there. Stalker much?

  He slowly drove up the road, unable to resist looking at her house in the rearview mirror, wondering what she was doing. The word loser popped into his head, and he crushed it, even though yeah, he might be feeling a little like the teenager she’d dumped almost two decades before.

  “You need to get a life,” he muttered increasing the volume on the radio. He felt better at the reminder. The only reason he was obsessing about Arianna was because he didn’t have enough to occupy his mind. He was bored.

  He called Mike. “Hey, bro, you wanna hit the links? It’s going to be a beauty of a day.” Connor loved to golf any time of year, but fall was his favorite.

  “Some of us have to work for a living, Con.”

  “How about this? I’ll handle a couple client meetings for you, and then we can get in a round before the end of the day.”

  “You need to get back to work. Call a meeting with the partners.”

  No matter how much he wanted to, Connor couldn’t cave. It was the principle of the matter. He’d been unfairly treated. He’d worked his ass off for the firm, and yes, indirectly it was for himself, but when push came to shove, they hadn’t stood by him. They’d sold him out for Summers.

  “No. If they want me back, they’ll call.” They should have called by now. “I’ll set up a meet with Steve.” He was a big-deal headhunter who’d reached out as soon as word had hit the street that Connor had been fired. It wasn’t the first time they’d talked. Steve had tried to bring Connor over to their major competitor years before. If they were still interested and the compensation package was where it should be, Connor would take the meet.

  “Good. Just don’t be surprised if the interest has cooled a bit, okay?” Mike said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  His brother’s voice was muffled as he talked to someone, someone who sounded like Mike’s soon-to-be-wife, Shay. Shay was a private investigator who’d done work for Connor in the past. There was no one better. Which made Connor nervous, because obviously Shay had been the one to convey the reason to his brother. Information they weren’t sure they should share with him, as evidenced by the muffled conversation.

  “Hello?”

  “Sorry. I just wanted to make sure Shay was good with me telling you. Your firm called her on Monday to do some investigative work for them. While she was there, several people came to talk to her. People who care about you. They’re upset about the way you’ve been treated. She’s got a bunch of business cards for you from paralegals and admin assistants who intimated they’d hand in their notice that day if you’d take them on.”

  “That’s nice to hear.” Was he surprised? No. He knew how the majority of the employees at the firm felt about him. He might be a driven workaholic with a healthy ego, but he made sure everyone was treated with respect and their work acknowledged and appreciated, from the support staff to the cl
eaning crew. “But obviously there’s more.”

  There was a click. “I’ve got you on speaker.”

  Shay’s voice came over the line. “Hey, Connor, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I would have told you as soon as I heard, but I wanted to check out the rumors first.”

  He pulled to the side of the road. “And…?”

  “They weren’t exaggerating. Because you didn’t fold and the partners were unable to deliver on their promise to Summers, which was you, he and his family are actively in talks with other firms. Their one caveat is that you don’t work there.”

  They were blackballing him. Now it made sense why he hadn’t heard from any of the partners. They blamed him. Come to think of it, he hadn’t heard from Steve for a couple of weeks either. A little less than a month ago, he’d been calling Connor practically every day.

  “Looks like I might be coming to work with you after all, Mike. Unless you don’t want me anymore. Which, bro, I’d totally understand,” he said, keeping his voice light and jokey. He didn’t want them to guess how he was feeling right now.

  “Don’t joke about this. It’s serious. You, me, and Dad will sit down and talk it through tonight. Figure out how you want to move forward and what your options are. Give Steve a call and get the lay of the land.”

  “Look, don’t worry about me. Up until now I hadn’t realized I had a problem.” Because for the past eight weeks he’d been preoccupied with thoughts of Arianna. Ever since the night he’d stood by her bed at the hospital, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head. “Now that I know I do, I’ll take care of it.”

  “What are you going to do?” Mike asked.