by Debbie Mason
Matt sat back in the chair and crossed his arms. “Whatever you two are planning, the answer is no.”
Chloe pouted and batted her long eyelashes.
“Yeah, and that’s not going to work on me. Save it for your husband.”
“Diva, you’re looking divine as always.” The two air-kissed, and then Ty leaned in to do the same to Matt, sniffing him as he did. “Yum, you smell edible, McSexy.”
“I think it’s whatever you’ve got in the bag, Ty.”
The other man looked down and chuckled. “You see, that’s what happens when I’m around you. I forget myself.” He handed Matt the bag.
“What’s this?”
Ty frowned down at Chloe. “You didn’t fill him in on the plan?”
“He said no before I got a chance.”
“Is that right?” Ty wrapped one arm around his waist and used his other hand to cup his clean-shaven chin. Slowly moving his head from side to side, he tapped his forefinger on his lips.
He made Matt more nervous than Chloe did. “Look, Ty, I don’t know what you two are up to, but I don’t want any part of it.”
“Is that so? Well, if you don’t go along with our plan, I’ll have to bring in the big guns.”
Chloe sighed. “Nell’s retired, Ty. You know that.”
“I have my ways. So, what’s it going to be, McSexy, us or Nell?”
Nell McBride’s matchmaking schemes had a one hundred percent success rate. Any couple she set her sights on ended up married within the year. As much as Matt liked Charlotte, he didn’t want to marry the woman. He’d been down that road before, and it didn’t work out so well.
He stood up and looked into the bag. “Christmas cupcakes and cookies? What about real food?”
Ty shrugged. “That’s what Chloe told me to get. And chocolate’s an aphrodisiac.”
Matt reminded himself that Ty and Chloe were the lesser of two evils and kept his mouth shut. He’d pretend to go along with the plan. No harm, no foul. “I’m taking it Charlotte never left her office today. I’ll pick her up a couple of chicken wraps.”
She turned up her nose at pretty much everything else on the cafeteria menu. A few months ago, he’d challenged her to come up with a better one, but at the time, she’d been busy requisitioning new equipment for the cardiac unit. His own heart squeezed at the thought it would all be for naught if Jeremy had his way.
Matt didn’t know what he’d do if they closed the hospital. He’d been working here for more than five years. It was his home away from home. They were like one big, happy family. Not all the time, of course, but what family was? Certainly not his. He’d disowned his brother after his betrayal.
Ty waggled his eyebrows. “Chicken wraps? It sounds like the man knows his woman.”
“She’s not my woman.”
“Well—” At the sound of a low moan, Ty turned to Chloe. “Diva!” He took away the bag she’d slipped from Matt’s hand and held it protectively to his chest as he returned his attention to Matt. “Charlotte’s friends didn’t believe her any more than I believe you when she said you weren’t her man. Now come here and let Uncle Ty fix you up a bit.”
Before he realized what Ty was up to, the other man had his fingers in Matt’s hair. “So thick, and just, oh, what I wouldn’t do to get you in my chair. To think all of this male goodness is real. And you’re smart too, and nice.” He tousled Matt’s hair and then patted his chest. “Good God, your muscles have muscles.”
“Okay, I think I’m good now. I’ll just go up and…What exactly is it I’m supposed to do?”
He should’ve kept his mouth shut. After he picked up the chicken wraps, Chloe and Ty spent the elevator ride up to the eighth floor instructing him on the art of seduction. He sent them back down to the third before they decided to join him on his date.
There was no reason for Matt to be nervous. Okay, so there was when it came to the future of Christmas General, but not his future with Charlotte. He had to remind himself he was just playing along with Chloe and Ty to get them to back off. He’d shared coffees, lunches, even dinners with Charlotte on many occasions, and this was no different. Even if it sort of felt like it was because of Chloe and Ty’s romancing-the-CEO pep talk.
He knocked on her office door, cracking it open when she didn’t answer. “Charlotte, you got a minute?”
She was on the phone and waved him in. “Jeremy, I’m going to put you on speaker. Dr. Trainer is here representing Dr. McBride, our chief of staff.” She raised her eyebrows at Matt as though asking if that was okay. He nodded, and she put her ex on speaker. “I have a proposal I want you both to review. I’ve e-mailed you a copy. Dr. Trainer, here’s one for you. I realize it’s not ideal, but Jeremy, I think by closing the long-term beds and focusing on outpatient and emergency services, we can generate the profit you’re looking for while retaining at least fifty percent of the jobs and services the town has come to rely on.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Matt asked as he tossed the file on her desk. “This isn’t close to acceptable.”
“I agree, and I don’t appreciate you wasting my time or the board’s, Charlotte. I want notices to go out this week. Assets sold off and Christmas General closed by January first.”
“I’ll see you both in court. By the end of the day, I’ll have at least two hundred employees signed on to a class-action suit.”
“Matt,” Charlotte said, sounding shocked and hurt by his threat.
“On what grounds?” Her ex’s voice came through the speaker, his tone condescending and smug.
“The WARN Act. You’re required to notify local and state governments sixty days in advance when more than one hundred people will be put out of work.”
“Fine. Consider them notified. And Charlotte, as of now, I’m verbally extending your contract until February tenth. Paperwork to follow.”
Charlotte sat there without saying a word. Matt shook his head, disappointed that she didn’t try to intervene. He dropped the bag of cupcakes, cookies, and chicken wraps on her desk and strode to the door. He opened it, and Ty fell into him.
“Not a word,” he told the other man when he opened his mouth.
Ty sent both Matt and Charlotte a tight-lipped look before hurrying back to his desk and picking up the phone.
As Matt strode across the reception area, he heard him say, “Nell, it’s Ty. This is a direct order from your mayor. The town needs you. Get your butt over to Christmas General, ASAP.”
Chapter Five
Five long and agonizing days after Matt confirmed he officially hated her by threatening to sue Bailey Healthcare, Charlotte walked into her office and immediately walked back out. She glanced at the empty desk to her right. She wasn’t in the wrong office; it was definitely Ty’s desk. He wasn’t in yet—because God forbid he actually got to work on time—but there was no mistaking the dancing Santa and the bowl of neon candy canes.
She took a deep breath and once more opened her office door to slowly walk inside. Someone liked pink, a lot. Christmas, too. Feathery pink garland was looped from one end of the wall of windows to the other. At least fifty glass snowflakes dangled in a symmetrical line from the window frame. The heat pouring from the vents caused them to spin in the bright morning sunlight, turning her office into a glittering rainbow. She’d need to wear sunglasses if she hoped to make it through the day without developing a migraine.
As she made her way to her desk, she noted the ornaments strategically placed on the bookshelves. A pink tree in the corner was tastefully decorated with miniature white lights and glass icicles, which no doubt would glitter and shine once the sunlight made its way to that side of her office.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” blasted through the speakers, and she jumped. Even though she should be used to it by now. The onslaught of Christmas music signaled Ty’s arrival.
It had been the same routine every morning since Matt confirmed Charlotte’s worst fear that he hated her. She gave herself a mental sla
p. It was like she couldn’t stop thinking about how Matt felt about her. And it seemed to be getting worse. She supposed that shouldn’t be a surprise. Her days were getting worse, too.
But Ty was at least twenty minutes earlier than usual. She knew why when he ushered a woman into her office. He made a Vanna White gesture with his hands to the attractive woman with blond hair. “Christmas’s favorite New York girl, Madison McBride.”
Charlotte managed a smile and put down her briefcase to shake Madison’s hand or, as Kate referred to her, the butt-kicking heroine of book 1 in the series. Her best friend was officially addicted to both the books and the town of Christmas. Which was annoying when the citizens of said town hated Charlotte as much as Matt did.
She gave her head an exasperated shake. She’d done it again. It was like she was obsessed with the man. She wasn’t, was she?
She ignored the silent question. Losing her mind was apparently a consequence of living in a town where 99.9 percent of the population hated her. An image of He Who Shall No Longer Be Named popped into her head, and she pushed him out. Maybe it was a good thing Ty had once again ignored her no-more-appointments directive.
Over the course of four days, Chloe McBride had stopped by three times. And now that Charlotte thought about it, she had a fairly good idea who was behind her office re-do. The woman liked pink and was Ty’s best friend.
Charlotte also had the grave misfortune of dealing with Sheriff Jill Anderson on a daily basis. Several times a day, actually. Because that’s how often a member of the charming little mountain town (Kate’s words, not hers) leveled a fictitious charge against Charlotte. Yesterday, she had supposedly been seen in the grocery store fighting with someone over a head of lettuce, which resulted in an older woman falling and breaking her wrist. She also had reportedly been seen leaving the local bar under the influence and driving away in her car. Neither incident had taken place, of course.
Oddly enough, the one person who hadn’t demanded an appointment with Charlotte was Nell McBride. As Charlotte had been led to believe, nothing happened in Christmas without Nell getting involved. Kate had been even more surprised than Charlotte that the seventy-something woman hadn’t demanded an audience. Albeit for an entirely different reason.
As her best friend had learned, and shared, Charlotte’s new assistant had begged Nell to come out of retirement…She’d refused. According to Nell, via Ty, then Kate, the town’s matriarch’s gift couldn’t be forced. Unless the couple in question hit the top of her chemistry meter, she wouldn’t waste her time. Apparently, that was the case with Charlotte and Matt. They had no chemistry. He wasn’t her one and only, and she wasn’t his.
“Charlotte.” Ty nudged her. “You fell asleep with your eyes open again.”
“I wasn’t…Sorry, I just have a lot—”
Ty talked right over her. “She hasn’t been sleeping. All you have to do is look at her to know that, right? The bags under her eyes have turned into suitcases since yesterday. Look—” he said to Madison while pinching Charlotte’s cheeks—“the color disappears in seconds. She glows in the dark.”
Charlotte nudged him away, forcing an isn’t-he-cute smile on her face as she took a seat behind her desk. “Thanks, Ty. I think Madison gets it.”
“At least her hair looks fan-tab-u-lous, doesn’t it? I gave her the full treatment yesterday. We turned her office into a salon. Poor thing, it’s safer for her here than out on the streets.”
“I’m right here,” Charlotte reminded him.
Obviously Madison decided a distraction was in order. “Ty, I’d kill for a Sugarplum Bakery gingerbread latte. Charlotte, what about you?”
“Definitely. I’ll have a salted caramel latte, and—” Charlotte began.
Ty rolled his eyes. “I know, three of the bakery’s Christmas cupcakes. Might as well make it a half a dozen,” he said when Madison raised two fingers.
“I hope you don’t mind me stopping by, Charlotte,” Madison said once Ty closed the door behind him, taking a seat across from the desk. “My father-in-law asked me to check on you. He knows how hard you worked this past year for CGH, and he feels horrible that everyone has turned against you. They’re just scared, you know.”
Charlotte didn’t know what it was about Madison, maybe it was Dr. McBride’s words of support, or knowing the other woman was originally from New York, but she suddenly found herself spilling her guts about how awful the past week had been. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Well, of course the scandal with Jeremy and Samantha had been horrible, too, but this situation was so much worse. Madison was right. People were terrified about losing their jobs and not being able to find another one. And Charlotte had no idea how to fix it.
As she shared just how bad it had been, Madison nodded like she understood her plight completely. Once Charlotte fell silent, the other woman said, “You know when you’re talking to someone and sharing how crappy your life is and they can’t just listen and make sympathetic noises and tell you it’s going to be all right?”
Charlotte nodded.
“Well, I’m not that woman, Charlotte. I’m honestly not. But let me tell you, when I first came to Christmas, I couldn’t wait to leave it in my rearview mirror. People here were horrible to me. They basically ruined my reputation. I lost my job because of them. And as much as I hated small towns before, nothing compared to how I felt about this one. But everything changed once I got to know the people in town and they got to know me. You’ve been here a year, and none of us really know you. I’d like to, and my friends would, too. If you gave have us half a chance, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.”
“I’m sorry. It honestly wasn’t my intention to bury myself in work. I wasn’t in a good place when I first arrived, and it had nothing to do with the town. My marriage had just ended, and not happily.”
“I know. Ty told us. I’m sorry. Your ex sounds awful, and so does his new wife. Believe me, we’ve all dealt with jerks, and in the end, they get what they deserve. My friend Skye would say it’s karma.”
“You and your friends are all from New York, aren’t you?” At Madison’s nod, she said, “Don’t you miss New York? I’m not trying to be rude; I’m just trying to understand how you can go from living in New York to living here.”
“If it wasn’t for my husband, Gage, I might still be in New York. But I’m happy here. Happier than I ever thought possible. Of course that’s because of Gage and our children, and his family, who’ve become mine. We’ve all made great lives here. We have wonderful friends. If you gave Christmas a chance, I think the town would grow on you, too. And the people. They’re good, decent, hardworking folks. It’s like I said before, you just have to let them get to know you.”
“They might’ve been more open to getting to know me last year, but I’m pretty sure they’d be just as happy if I left town. Honestly, I don’t blame them. I understand why they’re angry. I am, too. I didn’t sign up for this. I’ve tried everything I can think of to stop them from closing CGH. Obviously, neither side was happy with my idea to keep the emergency and outpatient services running, but I haven’t been able to come up with anything else.” She lifted the piles of notes she’d made over the past couple of days. “I’ve heard you’re a financial genius and consult with local businesses. If you have any ideas, I’m open to them. I’ll take whatever help I can get.”
“I’m happy to hear you say that, because I’ve already had a look.”
Charlotte sighed. “Ty.”
“Ty, and my father-in-law. And just so you know, they weren’t questioning your ability or willingness to do the job. They just thought a second set of eyes would help.”
“Did they?” Charlotte asked hopefully.
“No, I would’ve suggested exactly what you did. Like you, I’m at a loss. And as much as people complained about your cost-saving measures, you did an incredible job turning CGH around. If I was a shareholder in Bailey Healthcare, I’d be recommending you for promotion.�
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“Thank you. I appreciate the vote of confidence. And you probably should know, I will be promoted, and my dad will be reinstated as chairman of the board if I wind down CGH by the deadline and at a profit. If I don’t, we’re both out.”
By the look of surprise on Madison’s face, that was news to her. And not happy news. Only Matt had overheard that part of Charlotte’s conversation with Jeremy the other day. She’d known all along she could trust him to keep her confidence, and this proved her right.
“I’m not going to lie: I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure my father and I don’t get ousted from my family’s company. The way I see it, I have a couple weeks to convince the other board members to vote Jeremy out and reinstate my father. If I can’t, I have no choice but to begin winding down operations at Christmas General.” She’d already begun closing long-term beds. It’s why people were picketing outside the hospital.
“If I were you, I’d probably do the same,” Madison said, although she didn’t look happy about the admission. “That’s more or less what I was doing when I first came to Christmas. Hartwell Enterprises, the company I worked for, wasn’t my own, but in some ways I felt like it was.” Madison frowned. “You know, maybe we’re looking at this all wrong. The deal Harrison, my boss’s nephew, was trying to push through for Christmas was a smoke screen for a get-quick rich scheme of his own. So maybe you have to figure out what’s in it for Jeremy. Why is he focused on Christmas General? Is he closing down any other hospitals?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I can’t think of any way closing Christmas General would benefit Jeremy personally.”
“You keep thinking, and I’ll have my friend Vivi look into Jeremy, too. She’s an investigative reporter and owns the Christmas Chronicle.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate it.” Charlotte smiled, looking up when Ty walked in carrying a bag and balancing a tray of coffees in one hand, his phone in the other.
