“Maybe a new coat of paint?” he asked.
She nodded. “A red door.”
“And a welcome sign,” he said.
She could see it in her mind.
They stood in silence for a few more minutes, taking in the house covered in snow, imagining the possibilities.
“Did you ever find out who won the competition?” she asked.
He tilted his head at her, then nodded. “I did.” He pulled out a bright red envelope and handed it to her.
She took it and read the enclosed letter. “Wow,” she said, when she’d finished reading the letter.
“The money is ready to go.”
“You’re giving it to the Forest Festival?” she asked, trying to make sense of the last part of the letter.
He shook his head. “It’s the first deposit into your charity. Call it what you want, but I have a few ideas on how we can partner with the hospital to help more families.”
“You’re doing this for me?”
“Of course it’s for you. Anything you want. I love you, Hailey.”
This time when the tears formed they fell. She sniffed, wiping her tears away with her glove. “I love you too,” she said.
He pulled a Christmas handkerchief out of his coat pocket, handing it to her.
“Thanks,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “A handkerchief? Really?”
“I’m the man you can’t live without, remember? Of course I’m always prepared.” He grinned.
She rolled her eyes. “You really are a Boy Scout.”
She kissed him, pouring in all of the gratitude that she felt for someone who’d completely changed her life. He wrapped her up in his arms and the moment was as perfect as she could imagine.
Epilogue
December, Two Years Later
Santa led Mrs. Claus up the three stairs toward the front door of the beautifully redone Victorian mansion that stood on the corner of Main Street in Red Oaks. The sign on the dark red door said, “Welcome to Santa’s.”
He paused in front of the door, and she pulled his hat down on his head. “Perfect,” Mrs. Claus said.
He stroked her face with his gloved hand. “You’re beautiful dressed as Mrs. Claus. I can’t believe this is our second Christmas together,” he said.
“Technically, it’s our third,” she said.
He laughed, the jolly ho-ho-ho laugh that had become more natural to him after two years of playing Santa. “Yes, but I mean since we’ve been married. As I recall, our first Christmas we knew each other, we weren’t really together.”
“Fair point.” She laughed. “I feel like I’m going to need a new costume, especially with our Christmas bundle on the way.” She patted her rounding belly.
“We don’t have to stay for the full month this time,” he said. “We can make this visit shorter.”
She shook her head. “Santa’s house needs to have Santa visiting. Besides, it’s great for the families who have children who’ve been on long-term treatment in the hospital. I know the brothers and sisters of those kids love the interaction.” She stood closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her.
He glanced at his watch. “At any minute, we can make our entrance,” he said. He opened up the ice box on the porch, next to the front door and pulled out his worn present sack. It was already full of gifts, labeled with the children who were currently staying at the house.
Santa leaned down and gave his wife a kiss. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too,” she whispered back.
All of a sudden, the Christmas lights decorating the entire porch, and all of the eve lighting turned on. Patterns of red, white, and green lights reflected off the house and against the snow. “That’s our cue,” she said. He gave her another quick peck. She laughed. “Santa, they’re waiting.”
“Right,” he said and turned the knob. He stepped onto the rug and stamped his feet. “Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, everyone!”
* * *
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Sneak Peek: Her Fake Christmas Eve Billionaire Boyfriend - Chapter One
Emery knew it was a bad idea to pick up the phone. But there was a part of her that knew she’d feel guilty if her mother’s phone call was actually an emergency when she called before 6:00 a.m. She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand. Her alarm was about to wake her. She cleared her throat and managed to answer in a perky voice. “Mom? Is everything okay?”
“Oh, good, you’re up. So glad you’re out of that nasty habit of sleeping in.”
Emery stifled a yawn. It wasn’t an emergency after all. She rolled her eyes and let her head sink back into her feather pillow. “Was there something I could do for you?”
“Yes, now that you mention it. You can take my R.S.V.P’s seriously when I give you a date and let me know if you’ll be here for Christmas.” Her mom’s voice sounded urgent.
Emery rubbed at her temples. She would have headache before she was at work today.
Christmas was three weeks away. Emery had made enough excuses through Thanksgiving, she had thought she’d be cleared of all holidays, but somehow Christmas was sneaking up on her anyway.
She knew she should want to be with her family at Christmas time, but last Christmas had held nothing but pain. Dumping her ex on Christmas Eve hadn’t been ideal. But she had had little choice when she found her boyfriend lip-locked with her sister under the mistletoe.
By New Year’s Eve, he’d hooked up with her sister and now that holiday had been tainted too. It was easy to give him all of his presents back. It was harder to see that her sister had worn some of the earrings and a scarf he’d originally given Emery before she had even left town.
“You know, I’m really not in the mood this year, Mom.”
She heard her mom gasp from the other end. Why was it surprising that Emery didn’t want to be there? Her ex was still with her sister, and it had been almost a year of strained relations because of it.
“Em,” her mom said, her voice softening when she used Emery’s nickname. “I know this is hard for you, but you need to let this be in the past and put it behind you.”
Easier said than done. Her sister was always competing with her. But stealing her boyfriend—her almost fiancé—that was low. She didn’t need to be in the same room as her sister. Not this year.
“Is Kristi still with Owen?”
There was silence on the other end, but Emery already knew the answer anyway. “Emery, Kristi is engaged to Owen. Look, I know it’s probably a shock to you, but Owen is sticking around, and he and Kristi are so cute together. They have such a spark around them.”
It was as if her mom had completely forgotten what they’d done to her. “Sorry, mom. I can’t take that on right now. I’m finally making headway in my career, and I should really focus on that for the rest of the year, so I can push for my end of year bonus.” Which she totally had in the bag. She’d done nothing else but work for a full year, and it paid off with losing ten pounds and getting a promotion.
“Emery, you need to get out, you need to meet people.”
“Mom—”
“No, really, Emery listen to me. You need to stop mourning the loss of Owen and move on in your life. Forgive your sister and your soon-to-be brother-in-law and find someone to help you do that.”
Like who—her therapist? Because she’d gone through the whole cycle, and mostly she kept coming back to anger. It had fueled her for her job and had helped her not fall into a depression space again. “I’m fine.”
“Have you even gone on one date in the last year?”
Is that what this was coming down to? Her love life? Her mom thought that if she had a boyfriend that Emery would want to show up for Christmas and be okay with it. No, thank you.
Before Emery could think through the ramification of her words she said, “Actually, I’ve been dating a guy for a while now, mom, and since it’s getting serious I think I might be going to his family’s for Christmas. I’m over Kristi stabbing me in the back and Owen cheating with my younger sister. In fact, I wish them all the happiness that two cheating people can have in the world.”
Her mom tried to say something, but Emery gripped the phone harder. “I think it’s best if I don’t bring my boyfriend home this year. I’d hate for something to happen. Again.” With that she hung up the phone and reset her alarm. She deserved another 45 minutes after having to relive last year’s nightmare again.
* * *
Emery opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. How long had she slept in? She looked at her clock. 7:50 a.m. It was over an hour past the forty-five minutes she’d set her alarm for. She blinked away the conversation with her mom.
Had she really told her mom that she had a boyfriend? What? Well, she’d at least gone on a few dates over the last several months, though none of them felt as natural as even an awkward first date.
The last date she had had been a gem of a guy she officially termed “Pyro-Guy.” He decided it would be loads of fun to show her his expertise with fire.
After setting his sleeve on fire from the tea light candle in a semi-formal restaurant, “Pyro-Guy” insisted on using his hand to magically put out the flames instead of using a glass of water, or a napkin.
Thankfully the ER was only two blocks away. First and second-degree burns covered his hand, and in his shocked state he threatened to sue both the restaurant and the hospital.
That was the same night, coincidently, Emery decided to put her career first and her love life on the very back burner where the heat was solidly turned off.
Now she had less than ten minutes to get ready for work. She pulled her dark brown hair back into a chic bun at the nape of her neck and threw on some clothes. She applied her mascara but took her lipstick with her to go. If she ordered her coffee from the cheap stand on the first floor of her office building she’d be just in time for her 9:00 a.m. meeting.
Emery flew through her office doors and jumped into the line for the coffee. It was longer than usual. She poked her head around, wondering if she should just skip it. But the caffeine would do wonders for her, especially after her conversation with her mother.
A tap on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts. “Matt. Hi.”
“You didn’t text me when you woke up with a sassy remark to make sure I was on time for the meeting today.” Matt handed her a cup holder holding two cups with the Starbucks logo clearly displayed on them. “I figured you were running late.”
“Thanks, Matt. You’re the best. I wouldn’t have slept in except my mother called me this morning.”
“Your mom called?” Matt knew all about her drama from last year.
Emery nodded. “Before 6:00 a.m. I thought maybe she was in the hospital or something had happened, but nope, she was just calling about Christmas. Again.”
Matt gave a sympathetic smile and nodded his understanding. “Take that one then,” he said, pointing to one of the cups. “It has an extra caramel creamer mixed into it.”
Emery took a sip of her coffee as they headed to the elevator. “This hits the spot.”
Matt smiled. “I’m glad. We have exactly three minutes to make it to the meeting.”
“We’ll make it.” The elevator doors opened, and Matt pushed their floor.
“So, what did you tell your mom this time?”
Emery put a hand to her throat, almost choking on the hot liquid as her brain processed his question. “Oh no. I told her I had a boyfriend, and I was going to his families for Christmas this year.” Her eyes widened.
Matt’s eyes scanned her. “You’re not dating anyone though.” He took a drink of his own coffee.
She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to release the tension building behind her left ear. “I know that. The words just came out. I was sleepy and tired of her bothering me about it. But thankfully I’m not headed home for Christmas, so it doesn’t matter anyway.”
“What if she comes to your house and finds you home alone, without your boyfriend over the Christmas break?”
That sounded like something her mother would do, except, she lived hundreds of miles away from her. It was unlikely, but still. “Maybe I’ll stay at a hotel for a few days—stay closer to work, or something.”
Matt nodded. “Well, at least you don’t have to put up with your sister this Christmas.”
“Exactly, which considering my mom just told me that she and Owen got engaged, of course I’d rather not be there.”
The elevator doors opened, but Matt put his arm out for her to stop. “Don’t stress about your family for the next hour. Let’s go crush this meeting, win the client, and celebrate.”
She knocked her coffee cup against his. “I’ll drink to that.”
* * *
One week later, Emery's mom called again. Emery pushed the ignore button but listened to the voicemail as soon as her notification came up. It was a long message, and Emery closed her eyes as she listened to her mom’s voice.
“Emery, dear, it’s me. I know you said you were going to go to your boyfriend’s for Christmas this year, and I understand that, but Grandpa hasn’t been himself lately. He didn’t make it for Thanksgiving and was hoping to see you at Christmas.
“He’s been down in New York a lot more lately. Anyway, I don’t want to worry you, but I wonder if you could stop up here on the way to your boyfriend’s house, even just for a little bit. I know Grandpa would love to see you. And he wants to meet your new boyfriend. You know how he gets.”
Emery put her head down on the desk, banging it with her forehead. “I’m in so much trouble. So much trouble.”
Matt cleared his throat. “Are you okay? Did you misfile some paperwork or something?”
Emery groaned. “It’s so much worse than that. I lied to my mom about my non-existent boyfriend.”
Matt nodded. “But thankfully, you can stage a pretend fight and get rid of him after Christmas. That way you’ll still be attached during the holidays and you never have to introduce them.”
“I thought it was going to be that easy too. After all, who was going to know any different, right?”
“Right.”
“Wrong. My mother just called back.” Emery banged her head again for emphasis. “She didn’t give me a lot of details, but my grandpa apparently missed Thanksgiving and he’s been down in New York a lot.
“The last time that happened after my grandma passed away they were running all sorts of tests on him. They found some benign tumors, but nothing to give us too much alarm. But if he’s back in New York … and missing family holidays …” Her voice faded.
Emery couldn’t stay away if her grandpa was sick. What if it was cancer? Cancer had claimed her grandma’s life a few years ago. She couldn’t let what happened last year come in between seeing her grandpa if he was ill. She would be there for Christmas, even if it was just to stop by to see her grandpa.
“What am I going to do?” she asked Matt. “I’ve got to go and see him. My mom probably didn’t want to give me his health details over the phone. I have to go now.”
“So, go. You have the vacation time.�
�
She shook her head. “You don’t understand. My grandpa wants to meet my boyfriend. Lying to my mother about my issues with my sister is one thing. She supports my sister and that frustrates me. But I can’t lie to my grandpa. He’ll wonder why I came alone, and he wants me to come visit him. I can’t tell him no, and I can’t show up without a date.”
Matt nodded.
Emery suddenly got a brilliant idea. She and Matt had been working together for a few years now. They’d never dated, but she knew all about him. It’d make the whole fake dating thing a cinch. She sweetened her voice a notch. “Matt, what are you doing for Christmas?”
“Emery, you’re crazy. Someone as amazing as you would never fall for me.” He shook his head.
She pursed her lips. “That’s not true.”
“It’s mostly true, but I have a cousin’s wedding I have to attend in California. I’ve got to be there for the whole week. I’m the best man.”
“Right. I knew that.” She waved her hand in the air.
He looked uncomfortable as he shifted from one foot to the other. “I suppose if we went before Christmas Eve and only stayed for a day I could go with you.”
“I don’t want you to miss time with your family, especially if you really want to be with them. Besides, I didn’t mention anything about a wedding for my boyfriend’s extended family when I talked to my mom the first time. She’d know I was making it up.”
Matt put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’ll think of something.”
“I don’t suppose there is a fakeboyfriend.com that I can pay someone for the weekend to come with me,” she said. She poised her fingers over her keyboard like she might actually try such a ridiculous name for a website.
Matt laughed. “Never heard of one, but at least you’re thinking outside the box.”
Emery blew out a breath. “Thanks, Matt.”
The Billionaire’s Christmas Miracle: The Billionaires’ Christmas Gifts Romance Page 21
