by Helen Lacey
They sat at the table reserved for them next to Luke’s, as Jack helped Lindsay and James into the chair closest to Marnie.
* * *
MARNIE COULDN’T BELIEVE how relaxed Lindsay looked as she sat there, holding her son after what had to have been an exhausting twenty-four hours. “He’s beautiful,” Marnie whispered, reaching out to touch the tiny fingers peeking out of the blue blanket wrapped around his tiny form.
“Thank you,” Lindsay murmured, her full attention on her baby as she tucked the blanket around James’s face, his lips pursed in sleep.
Marnie had to confess she wasn’t very good when it came to discussing the birthing experience, but she was sincerely pleased that Lindsay seemed to have come through it very well. “I’m so glad everything went okay.”
“Me, too.” Lindsay gave her a grateful smile. “We’re very lucky, Jack and I. And James is…everything we could have hoped for.”
She cradled the baby close to her body, her fingers gently stroking his cheek. “And what about you? I hear from Luke that you took over with Ethan like a pro.”
“I’ve had lots of practice with my nieces and nephews, and Ethan is so much fun.”
“Yes, he is.” She rested James on her shoulder, steadying him as she patted his back. “You’ve been really kind to Luke, and we want you to know how much we appreciate you. He needs someone like you in his life.” She spoke quietly, her expression conveying her sincerity.
She glanced over at him, but he was engrossed in conversation with Jack. “Thank you for saying that.”
“You’re welcome, and I mean it,” Lindsay said.
“Daddy, where did Lindsay get the baby?” Ethan asked, his voice rising well above everyone else’s.
“Can’t wait to hear how you get out of that one, Harrison,” Jack teased.
“Why don’t you give it a try? It’s your baby,” Luke countered.
“Ethan, James is a Christmas baby,” Marnie blurted, and exchanged quick glances with Luke and Jack. They both gave her a nod.
“Like Baby Jesus?” Ethan asked, excitedly rubbing his hands together as he peeked around Marnie at the baby in Lindsay’s arms.
Marnie looked to Luke for support. “Yes, a little like that, I guess.”
“And a bit of a Christmas miracle,” Lindsay added, smiling.
“Will you put him under the tree?” Ethan asked.
“No, I don’t think so.” Lindsay grinned at Jack.
“Will you be here when Santa arrives?”
“We’ll be here on Christmas Day to see what Santa brought you, Ethan.” Jack took James from Lindsay’s arms and held him upright against his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek.
“Will Santa bring James’s presents here?” Ethan asked, his expression now one of concern.
“Santa will find James at his house,” Jack said.
Ethan slumped back in his chair, a look of satisfaction on his face. “I want Santa to come. How much longer, Dad?”
“Just one more sleep until you get to open your presents,” he said.
Ethan turned to Marnie. “Will you be here with me when I open my presents?”
The question took her completely by surprise, which she quickly did her best to hide. Until she had a better indication from Luke that she was more than a reliable assistant, the question of Christmas was pointless.
“I’m not sure, Ethan. Besides you’ll have lots of other people here to play with at Christmas.”
“But, Daddy! I want her to play with me when Santa brings my train,” Ethan howled.
“Is Santa bringing you a train?” Marnie asked.
“Yes! Daddy promised me.”
“Marnie has to be home for Christmas at her house.” Faced with the fact that she could leave whenever she wanted, he was more aware than ever of how much he would miss her. How much he needed her in his life.
“We wrote a letter to Santa, and asked for Thomas the Tank Engine train,” Luke said to Marnie, meeting her questioning look.
“Yeah! Thomas!” Ethan squealed as he got off the chair and ran to the window. “Is Santa coming in the sky? Can I see him?”
“Not yet, buddy. But soon.” This would be Ethan’s fifth Christmas, and although Luke loved seeing his son’s happiness over the season, Christmas still held a sense of loss for him. Would having Marnie here change that? he wondered.
Yet he did have family here at the inn. And he was now the godfather of a beautiful, much-anticipated little boy.
“Christmas here must be so special,” Marnie said, her voice trailing off as her eyes met his.
Physical desire engulfed him, and a deeper, more immediate need held him captive. In that instant he realized that if she was willing to stay, he wanted her there with him. For better or worse, no matter what life held for him over the next few months, he wanted Marnie here with him.
He wanted another chance at happiness. “Would you like to stay for Christmas?”
She remained perfectly still. “I…I’m not sure.”
“Is there anything I can say or do to convince you to stay here with us? I realize you have a family back in Boston, and they’ll be expecting you. But if there’s any chance you’d consider it…” He shrugged, his dismal attempt to say what was on his mind and in his heart falling flat as a pancake.
She squinted at him. “Would I be expected to do anything?”
Luke glanced from Jack and Lindsay, who both smiled and shrugged, then back at Marnie. “No, definitely not. You would have absolutely nothing to do. Unless you wanted to do something, that is, like snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing, or downhill skiing at one of the downhill skiing resorts nearby, or playing with Ethan.... I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
“You are.” A huge grin lit her face. “But you’re in luck. I’ve never had a responsibility-free Christmas since I was a kid.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Then, as far as I can tell, you deserve a Christmas here at the inn.”
His words were met by clapping from Lindsay and Jack, which made Marnie giggle, and happiness flooded over him. Yep, he was happy and he intended to stay that way.
* * *
MARNIE’S FEET BARELY touched the stairs as she all but floated up to her room. She felt absolutely wonderful, delighted and happy, the excitement of Luke’s invitation hovering in her mind. An invitation that had made it impossible for her to concentrate. She changed into her best pair of jeans, in honor of a day that suddenly held such promise.
During lunch, the plows had done their job, and everything was back to normal. All she had to do was decide if she would stay another night here tonight—Christmas Eve. If she was staying, she had to explain her change of plans to her parents. It wouldn’t be easy, but somehow she had to find a way. She was as much a fixture at her parents’ house during the holiday season as the eight-foot tree in the living room.
She sighed. She didn’t mean to be ungrateful. But this chance to be with Luke was important to her, and yet she still felt a responsibility to her family around their Christmas celebration.
And what if Luke had made the offer as a thank-you for babysitting? Maybe he was simply being nice? She shook her head at the thought. She was picturing the way he’d looked at her when he’d asked her to stay when her cell phone rang.
Shane?
“Hi, how are you?” she asked.
“When are you coming home?” he said, not responding to her questio
n.
“We’ve had a storm up here, and they’re just getting the roads cleared today, so I’m not a hundred percent sure when I’ll be back in Boston.”
“I got your fax, but I need to talk to you about the business.”
“Shane, it’s no longer my business—”
“I know,” he said. “But, you see…a bit of a problem has developed since you left.”
She really didn’t want to hear about his problems with Gina, but he was still her friend, and she cared about him. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve… A few employees have quit.”
So Julie was right. “Quit? Why?”
“Between you and me, I think it’s because Gina’s being a little…bossy. She doesn’t mean to be. It’s just that she’s new at the job, and she does things a little differently from you. I tried to convince them to give her a chance.”
“Did you talk to Julie about this? She’s really good at dealing with people.”
“I did. She’s been great.” His long sigh filled the line. “I had no idea how much Julie knows about this business.... Guess I hadn’t given it much thought before because you were here.”
“You’re really lucky to have Julie there, and she really wants you to succeed.”
“Yeah, she told me that, but she says it’s for me to decide how to manage the place.”
The silence on the line was punctuated by the sound of Shane tapping his pen on a desk, clear evidence of his anxiety. “Marnie, I realize we spent hours working out the agreement between us, but I assumed that Gina would be good at managing the place, the way you were, and I’d be able to concentrate on styling. I was wondering if we might rewrite the agreement to have you stay on and manage the salon.”
God himself couldn’t work with Gina, and everyone in the salon had come to that conclusion about three weeks after she’d arrived. And sure, she’d like to help Shane. They’d been good partners, but now he had another partner. And with his new partner came a new set of problems.
She and Shane were friends. He’d help her out if she needed him, but she couldn’t get caught between Gina and him, no matter how much she cared about Shane. No, she couldn’t go back there regardless of what he offered. It was over for her. A few days ago, she couldn’t have said those words with such certainty. But today…she had plans for a different life.
“Shane, I’m flattered that you’d want me to come back—”
“I take it you don’t want the job,” he interrupted, sounding defeated.
“Shane, if I were you, I’d run this whole management thing past Julie.”
“Meaning?”
“She’s very bright, and she really cares about you and your success.”
“You don’t think she’d leave me, do you?”
“I can’t speak for Julie, but why don’t you talk to her, get her input?”
“Now that you say that, Julie has been so great these last few days. She’s been such a good friend through all this—the whole changeover with Gina and everything. I had no idea that Julie and I have so much in common. Did you know that we both like country music?”
So they’d been talking—that was a really good sign. Dare she hope that there was still time for Shane to come to his senses and see how Julie trumped Gina in every category that mattered? “There are a whole lot of really nice things you don’t know about Julie.”
“She’s pretty special.”
“Maybe it’s time you really paid attention to her. She’s one smart lady.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but let’s get back to you. Is there anything I can say to change your mind?”
“No, sorry. But it has nothing to do with you or the salon. It has to do with me. I’m thinking I’d like to manage another kind of business.”
“Have you been looking?”
“No. I’ve been having a break, and I discovered something. I don’t want the life I have in Boston anymore.”
“You’re kidding! What will your family say?”
“I haven’t told them, but I will, as soon as I know for sure what I’m going to do.”
“So you’re about to break away from the family. I’m so proud of you.”
“Yeah, I love my family, but they need to let me be for a while.”
After a moment’s pause, he said, “Love ya, gal. You know that. I wish you’d come back here with me, but you deserve to find your place in this world.”
Tears blurred her vision. In all the time that she and Shane had discussed business, argued and sometimes fought, there had always been room for honesty between them. Maybe she should have told him what a pain Gina was to work with, but would he have listened? She didn’t think so. “I’ll come see you right after Christmas. I promise.”
“Can’t wait. We’ll do dinner, maybe a movie, like old times.”
Had Shane begun to see Gina for who she really was? And if he had, would it change anything? No. She and Shane were friends, but only friends, not business partners. And that wouldn’t change. “Like old times. And Shane, have a great Christmas.”
“You, too.”
“I plan to.”
She hung up the phone, and pushed the questionnaires aside to make room for her to stretch out on the bed and consider what she’d said to her ex-partner. She’d told Shane the truth. Her plans no longer included being involved in the hairdressing business, not his or anyone else’s. All she wanted now was to spend time with Luke, get to know him better and see if they had a future together. And his invitation to spend Christmas with him was a great way to start. Wow! She still couldn’t believe that he’d asked her....
She’d stay for Christmas, offer him any help she could to get his whole operation running even better than before, and she would come clean about the survey and about Advantage’s plans to sell the inn. He deserved to be prepared, and he might find someone to finance an offer to buy the inn if he had the opportunity. She was still thinking about how she’d tell him, what she’d say and how she’d say it when someone knocked on the door.
She opened the door to Luke, who was standing there, smiling that smile of his that did it for her. “Hi, come on in,” she said, happy to see him, to smell his cologne and, most of all, to see that he had come alone.
This was a day for celebration, and never more than this instant. Was he about to share his plan for how they’d celebrate Christmas?
“I came to ask if you could help out at the reception desk for a couple of hours.”
Not exactly what she’d wanted to hear, but then again, he could have called, and instead he came all the way up the stairs to ask her in person....
Oh, how she’d love to wrap all her limbs around this man and let him carry her to her bed—but there would be lots of time for that later. She’d see to it. “Absolutely. Just give me a minute.” She ducked into the bathroom, pulled a comb through her short hair, touched up her lipstick and checked her appearance in the mirror. She opened the door, ready to walk as seductively as her jeans would allow, right to the spot where he stood, and breathe in his sexy cologne before she headed down to reception.
“What’s this?” he asked, anger simmering behind his words.
She stopped, blinked and stared at the papers he held in his hands. Survey forms. Oh. No. This was it. No turning back. No way out now. “They’re questionnaires.”
“Who asked you to fill them out?” His voice was eerily quiet.
“Scott. It’s a contract he has w
ith Advantage Corporation.”
“You’re working for the owners. You went behind my back and collected this information without telling me. Your brother’s marketing research company is being paid—and so are you—paid to spy on me.”
“No! I never meant to spy on you. I was only doing a favor for Scott. I didn’t want to do it. I told Scott that, but he needed me. It was all last-minute, and he really needed me,” she repeated.
“And you never stopped to think that I might lose my job here as a result of this, have to give up my friends and move my son from the only home he’s ever known?”
She shook her head, gasped for air, tears spilling over her cheeks. “I never meant to hurt you, or Ethan or anyone else. I didn’t know you when I came here, but if I had I never would have taken this job, I swear. You have to understand that. I would never do something to hurt you. I—”
“Have the results gone to the owners?”
“No. Scott’s been on my case to send them to him, but with the storm and all that’s been happening, I haven’t had a chance to send him anything—”
“I can’t believe you’d do this to me. I don’t see any reason why you should remain here any longer. And you don’t have to worry about your bill. Your brother left his credit card number when he made the reservation.”
“Don’t! You need to listen to me. Luke, I didn’t do this to damage your career. I could have sent those results, but I didn’t.”
“You will, but that’s not really the point. The point is you deceived me. I trusted you with my work. I allowed you access to my office, and all the confidential information in there. I even trusted you with my friends and my son.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Why would you do this to me? To Ethan?” The hurt in his eyes pierced her.
She’d made a terrible mistake and now there was no way out. “Luke, please let me explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain.” With that, he walked out of the room and slammed the door.
The door rattled in its frame, the sound shattering Marnie’s hope. She’d never felt so awful in her entire life—so scared, so afraid that she had lost everything she’d ever dreamed of. She’d let her need to please her brothers and her family, to return their kindness, and to prove herself worthy of their respect, keep her from telling Luke the truth.
