Marriage Under the Mistletoe

by Helen Lacey

  Just not me...

  Scott got the message. He lingered in the living room for about three seconds before he turned on his heel and left.

  Chapter Nine

  While she was having her fitting for her bridesmaid dress on Monday afternoon, Evie did her best to appear as much her usual self as possible. Her friend Fiona wasn’t fooled, though, and asked her straight-out what was going on with her. Evie shrugged off the question and avoided making eye contact with Callie.

  But Fiona didn’t give up. “You’re distracted.”

  Evie stood in the dressing cubicle and unzipped the pale gold satin gown and allowed the strapless bodice to hang on one hip. “I’m fine,” she replied.

  In truth, she was so far from being fine, and her head hurt thinking about it.

  “You know,” Fiona said with a laugh, “that new teacher at school asked about you again.”

  The third time in as many months. Maybe she should go out with him. At least it might take her mind off Scott. “So set me up.”

  Her friend’s eyes popped wide. “You want a date?”

  Evie shrugged. “Don’t look so shocked.”

  “I am shocked,” Fiona replied.

  “Me, too,” Callie said, tapping on the door.

  “Well, don’t be,” Evie said sharply, and pushed at the cubicle doors. “So, can you wrangle it?”

  Fiona nodded. “For sure. I just can’t believe you’re actually going to go on a date with him.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you don’t date,” Fiona replied. “Ever.”

  She experienced a weird dip in her stomach. “Maybe I’m tired of being predictable.”

  “Ha...not likely. Anyway, he’s nice enough. He’s a little...”

  “A little what?” Callie prompted.

  Fiona made a clucking sound. “Dull,” she said finally.

  Well, what’s wrong with being dull? At least he’s my own age, lives in the same town and isn’t likely to go running into burning buildings any time soon. “Dull suits me just fine. I like dull.”

  Fiona snorted and Callie laughed and when Evie finally emerged from the dressing cubicle, both her friends were staring at her with lifted brows.

  “You don’t actually believe that?” Callie asked, and took the dress from Evie’s hands.

  “Sure I do,” she said, and stepped out to allow Fiona inside to try her gown on. “Dull isn’t as bad as it sounds. Dull is...” Safe, reliable, not likely to break my heart. “Besides, I’ve met him several times when I’ve dropped the twins to school and he seemed friendly and pleasant and—”

  “Pleasant?” Callie groaned. “Now I know you must be joking.”

  Evie stood her ground. “Not everyone gets fireworks,” she said, holding her ground. “Or wants them.”

  “What about plain old he-makes-me-weak-at-the-knees lust?” Fiona piped in from behind the door. “That’s gotta count.”

  “Overrated,” Evie replied, and tried not to have a flashback about making love with Scott.

  “I used to think so,” Callie said with a dreamy grin. “I don’t think I ever believed in all that romantic stuff before I met Noah—I was always practical and levelheaded when it came to romance. And then I met your brother and whoosh...all my practicalities went out the window.”

  Evie made a face. “Have you been reading Fiona’s bodice ripper novels again?”

  “You can scorn all you like,” Callie said. “But when it happens...watch out.”

  “I believe in it,” Fiona said as she opened the door and stuck out her head and looked directly at Evie. “And however much you deny it, so do you.”

  “Just ask him, will you?” she said flatly.

  Neither woman said anything else.

  * * *

  When she arrived home, Trevor was in the upstairs kitchen making a snack. Evie plonked her bag on the table and took the half ham-and-cheese sandwich he offered. The school term was over, and once the wedding and Christmas were done, her son would be taking his annual trip north to spend a few weeks with Gordon’s parents. She always missed him terribly but knew how much her in-laws loved seeing their only grandson. They still invited Evie every year. In the early years after Gordon’s death, she’d made the trip several times. But the Dunns’ grief was still inconsolable and each year it became harder to face. So she took the coward’s way and used the B and B as an excuse to stay behind. She knew they adored having Trevor for those few weeks and wanted her son to have a strong relationship with both sets of grandparents.

  “How’s the hoop shooting going?” she asked, and took a bite of sandwich.

  “Scott reckons I’m a natural,” he boasted with a broad grin. “Tryouts are on soon.”

  “You guys seem to be getting along okay.”

  Trevor shrugged. “Sure. He’s really cool. He knows about computers, too. And mechanics.”

  The hero worship in her son’s voice was glaringly obvious. And she couldn’t blame Trevor for feeling like that. Other than her own father and Noah, her son had spent years without having a man’s regular influence in his life. “I’m glad you get along.”

  “Yeah...it’s too bad he’s leaving soon.”

  Too bad. Evie couldn’t stop her heart tightening up. “Well, Callie lives here now, so the chances are he’ll come back to visit his sister.”

  Even as she said it Evie didn’t believe it. Maybe she didn’t want to believe it. She’d put the stops on their relationship. She was the one who couldn’t do casual. Now the idea of Scott returning to Crystal Point in the future wasn’t something she wanted to face. Especially if he didn’t come alone. That would be the inevitable future, right? He’d go home, meet someone suitable, eventually fall in love and discard all his protestations about the job and relationships not working for him.

  And I’ll still be alone.

  “I hope so,” Trevor said cheerfully.

  Evie took a deep breath. “So, how about helping me wrap some gifts?” she suggested, eager to do anything to dislodge the heavy pain inside. “I picked up a few things before my dress fitting today. I could use a hand getting them done.”

  “Sure,” her son said. “But I’m heading to Cody’s tonight if that’s okay. His dad got him this new computer game for Christmas.”

  Cody’s father was a soldier on tour in Afghanistan. She knew her son’s best friend would rather have had his dad home for Christmas than a game for his computer, and was glad her son could be there for his friend.

  Evie didn’t see Scott that evening. By the time she heard his motorcycle in the driveway, it was well past ten o’clock. She knew he’d been at Callie and Noah’s. His mother had arrived from L.A. and it wasn’t hard to figure they would want to spend some time together as a family. Evie knew her parents were there, too, which didn’t help the tiny stab of exclusion she experienced every time she thought about it.

  As it got closer to Christmas Eve she had her routine down. She saw Scott briefly each morning, though they rarely met for breakfast. He spent some time with Trevor and disappeared most days and evenings. So she got exactly what she wanted. They spent a week barely exchanging words, passing each other in the stairway or kitchen. And Evie had also spent the week pulling mistletoe down from around the house. The Manning sisters were clearly the culprits. Evie tossed the stuff in the garbage every time she got her hands on it, much to Flora’s and Amelia’s amusement.

  She had a last-minute panicked phone call from the wedding caterers, but everything else associated with her brother’s Christmas Eve wedding went to plan and Evie was convinced that the ceremony would go off without a hitch. Until the day before the wedding. And it wasn’t exactly a hitch...just a minor catastrophe. One of the groomsmen broke his foot in a boating accident and Callie insisted Scott fill in the role, as well as giving the bride away. Which meant she would be partnered with him all evening...at the ceremony, at the reception...and on the dance floor.

  The bride and maids were all dressing at D
unn Inn, and the ceremony and reception were being held at the local country club under a huge white silk marquee. Beneath the marquee were hundreds of tiny lights, tables, chairs, a dance floor and a team of smartly attired wait staff.

  At the house, Grace was on hand, helping the attendants with hair and makeup. Evie’s dress fit like a glove and as Grace fussed with her hair Evie stood compliant and silent. But her sister wasn’t fooled.

  “Why do you look like you want to be somewhere else?” Grace remarked in a soft voice close to her ear. “Trouble in paradise?”

  With Callie on the other side of the room, looking perfectly beautiful in her pale ivory organza gown, Evie knew it wasn’t the time for a heart-to-heart with her sister. Fiona and Lily were fiddling with Callie’s veil, and Noah’s youngest daughter, Hayley, stood by the armoire in the corner twirling on her gold slippers.

  There was a short rap on the door, and Grace invited whoever it was to open up. The door swung back and Scott stood beneath the threshold. Evie’s skin warmed instantly. He looked incredible in the dark suit, shirt and pale gold tie, and his gaze traveled over her in that way she’d become accustomed to. It had been days since they’d shared such a look, and the silence that overtook the room was suddenly deafening. Everyone noticed. How could they not?

  Grace said something and Evie quickly scrambled her wits together. “Yes...we’re all ready,” she said, and ushered Hayley from the corner.

  Callie came forward and took his arm. “You look amazing,” Scott said to his sister as he kissed her cheek.

  “Noah’s a lucky man.”

  Eve’s throat tightened. She knew how much Noah and Callie loved each other. She’d watched their relationship blossom barely months ago and couldn’t be happier for her brother and soon-to-be bride.

  And that thought only made her yearn, suddenly, for happiness of her own.

  * * *

  Watching his sister get married, Scott experienced varying degrees of emotion. As he gave the bride away and stepped aside to stand next to Evie, tightness uncurled in his chest. They were close and he couldn’t push away the need to touch her. So he rested the back of his hand against her arm and traced a little path up and down. She shivered but didn’t move, didn’t do anything that might distract from the bride and groom exchanging their vows.

  Once the vows were over, the bridal party disappeared for an hour with the photographer. They were ferried away in golf carts to a spot in the grounds of the country club where they could get the best shots. When they returned to the marquee, most of the guests were already seated.

  After dinner there were speeches, the traditional cutting of the cake and then dancing. His sister and new husband took to the floor before the rest of the bridal party followed. To have Evie in his arms felt good.

  “I have two left feet,” Evie warned, moving to the dance floor with him.

  Scott grinned when she began to move in an awkward way. Okay, so Evie couldn’t dance. She had other talents. She could cook. And paint. And she was a great kisser.

  “You’re smiling,” she said, and tightened her grip on his shoulder. “Am I that bad?”

  “Yep.” He chuckled. “Follow my lead and no one will notice. Besides, the bride and groom get all the attention.”

  She looked across the dance floor to where Noah and Callie swayed together. “Yes, I suppose they do.”

  He heard a break in her voice. “Evie,” he said softly. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. Just tired, I guess.”

  He wondered if she was thinking about her own wedding. That was normal, right? She looked lost and a little sad. She was probably thinking about her husband. The one man she’d loved. The urge to make it better for her drummed through Scott’s blood. Not that he knew how. He didn’t know much of anything when it came to Evie. The last week had been hell. Living with her but barely speaking, walking into rooms that held the lingering scent of her fragrance, working out ways to avoid being alone with her...the whole damn thing had become exhausting.

  The truth was he missed her.

  And hadn’t a clue what to do about it. Another week and he’d be gone. Back to his life and his job and he could forget all about Evie Dunn. He could forget how she felt in his arms and the taste of her kiss. Every ounce of good sense he possessed warned him away from Evie. But the pull back toward her was intense and impossible to ignore.

  They danced for a while longer, not speaking, only moving together. At one point he switched partners with Cameron, the best man, and ended up dancing with a bubbly redhead whose name he didn’t quite recall. Later he tried to get Evie alone again. Instead, his sister cornered him by the drinks table.

  “Is something going on you’re not telling me?” she asked suspiciously.

  Scott shrugged and took an imported beer from the bar attendant. “Not a thing.”

  “You always were a terrible liar.”

  “Nothing to tell,” he assured his sister. “Wanna dance?”

  Callie gripped his arm. “I just don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

  Neither do I. “No one’s getting hurt,” he said, and took Callie’s arm. “Promise.”

  But as he took his sister to the dance floor, the word felt flat and empty. Because people were getting hurt. He was hurting Evie simply by being himself. She’d let him off the hook and he was glad for it...right? He didn’t want commitment or anything resembling a relationship.

  Only...watching Evie beneath the marquee, shimmering so beautifully in her gold dress, with her magnificent hair curling around her shoulders, it sure as hell felt as though he did.

  * * *

  Because it was Christmas Eve, the wedding was over by nine o’clock. Callie and Noah had planned to spend the next few days at home and were flying out to Hawaii for their honeymoon after New Year’s. While they were gone, Mary-Jayne and Callie’s mother, Eleanor, would be staying at their place to look after the children.

  Evie arrived home at nine-thirty, achingly aware of Scott’s presence beside her as he drove her car, and with Trevor in tow, complaining about the penguin suit he’d been forced to wear all afternoon. The Manning sisters were still awake, eager to know all about the wedding, and she remained downstairs for a while to chat with them. Scott and Trevor headed upstairs, presumably to ditch the suits in favor of something less formal. But Evie was reluctant to take off the pale gold satin dress she knew was a flattering fit and color. And the pumps on her feet gave her an extra three inches of height.

  The Manning sisters were well into the Christmas cake and cranberry punch Evie had left out earlier, and she joined them for a glass. When Trevor returned downstairs he swiped some cake and dropped into a chair. It was their usual Christmas Eve tradition—drinks with Flora and Amelia, the retelling of old stories, the exchange of gifts with the sisters and then bed at a respectable hour.

  Scott came back downstairs, still in his suit minus the tie, and Evie’s pulse jumped about erratically. She wondered how she’d ever find any man attractive again after he disappeared from her life. He held a carry bag and she recognized the name of the gift store in Bellandale. The sisters were delighted he had joined them and they all found a spot in the living room around the big tree and began exchanging gifts.

  Trevor was blown away by the newest computer game Scott gave him, and the sisters appreciated the trinkets he gifted them with. Evie was touched, imagining him selecting presents for the elderly women. She didn’t say much as she accepted a beautiful linen tablecloth from the sisters and watched as each opened the set of small watercolors she’d painted years earlier of various scenes from Crystal Point.

  “This is for you.”

  Evie looked up. Scott held out a small parcel and she took it with tentative fingers. Instead of ripping open the wrapping as she was tempted to do, she passed him the gift she’d bought him, but had wondered if she’d have the courage to give him. It was nothing particularly personal—a traveler’s guide to historical facts of the loca
l area, but he seemed to like it. Once everyone had finished unwrapping she felt all four sets of eyes focused on her. The gift in her hands remained unopened.

  “Oh, of course.” She pried open the paper and then lifted the lid on the small box. On a cushion of blue velvet lay a ball of crystal, with an image of a woman cleverly engraved within. “How...lovely.”

  “It’s Catherine of Bologna,” he explained. “Patron Saint of Artists.”

  Evie’s heart flipped over. “Thank you.” She popped the lid back and stood. “Trevor—time for bed.” She looked toward the Manning sisters and not once in Scott’s direction. “Well, good night. I’ll see you in the morning. Breakfast will be at nine.”

  She walked from the room with a stiff back, clutching the gift against her ribs. Any moment now, she thought...any second and I will burst into tears. She got to the kitchen in record time and didn’t relax until she heard the familiar thud of feet heading upstairs and the sound of doors closing at the front of the house.

  Now I can breathe.

  She snuck another look at the crystal globe and shut the box just as quickly. It was too much. That he should know her like this and enter her world with a gift so personal to her, a gift she somehow knew he’d chosen because it was personal. No one did that for Evie. No one saw deep inside her or thought to wonder what she needed. Her family and friends gave her crockery and linen and CDs. People who’d known her forever but didn’t really know her at all. Didn’t know how much pain she felt because her creativity had been zapped. Didn’t know how much she longed to be able to put all of her heart into her painting again and feel the passion in each brushstroke.

  “You look really beautiful in that dress.”

  She swiveled around. Scott stood in the doorway.

  “I should have said so earlier.”

  Evie clutched the gift and shrugged a little. “It’s okay. Everyone looks at the bride.”

  He leaned against the doorjamb. “I was looking at you.”

  Her feelings for him lurched forward, catching her breath with an unexpected intensity. “I thought you might have spent the evening at your sister’s. Your mother’s there and Callie would—”