by Liz Isaacson
He’d learned all about the holiday traditions here at the lodge, but they hadn’t come up on the twenty-first with the rest of the Whittakers.
No, today was Christmas Eve, and apparently, there were gifts to exchange and a tree to light. Then dinner. Wes didn’t care about any of it. He actually thought Christmas was a great big waste of time if he didn’t have anyone to spend it with.
You’re spending it with your family, he thought as one Christmas song ended and another began. Colton cut the engine though, before the song could really get going.
But Hunter kept right on singing. “…and Prancer and Vixen. Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen.”
“But do you recall?” Gray sang, joining in with his son.
“The most famous reindeer of all?” everyone chorused. Everyone except Wes, that was.
He did smile as they started in on, “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.”
“Reindeer,” Colton shouted, sending a wave of annoyance through Wes.
He opened his door and got out of the vehicle, ready to be back in his own house already, and they’d committed to staying at the lodge for a week.
A whole blasted week.
He had gone back to Denver after Thanksgiving, and he’d been staying at the farm with his parents. He still had his house here in Coral Canyon, and he was trying to decide how often he’d see Bree now that she wasn’t working in town anymore.
At least he’d benefited a bit from running into Willie last night. She’d told him that Bree had quit last week, and that she’d just be back to her one job at the lodge. She lived up here, and she worked up here, and maybe they’d never see each other again, even if he did move back into the house he’d bought over the summer.
Gray opened the back of the SUV, and Wes took his bag. He did not want to be the first to enter the lodge, so he let Colton and Annie go first, and when they opened the front door, a literal wall of noise hit them.
A cheer went up, and calls of “Hello,” and “Welcome” came from inside. Wes entered last, immediately swallowed up by the enthusiasm and energy pulsing through the huge living room. Most people seemed to have gathered there, and a couple of them were still hanging ornaments at the top of the tallest, broadest pine tree Wes had ever seen.
“Ho-ly cow,” he said, tipping his head back to look up at it. “That thing is incredible.”
Graham laughed and drew Wes into a hug. He clapped him on the back and said, “It’s so good to see you. How have you been?”
“Good,” Wes said, but he couldn’t help feeling like it was a lie.
“How were the other ten states?”
“I only went to nine,” Wes said. “Still have Hawaii on my list.”
“Oh, maybe Laney and I will go with you.” Graham beamed at him. “We’ve been wanting to get out of the snow for a while.”
“Deal,” Wes said. He liked Graham a whole lot, and he wouldn’t mind lying on the beach next to the man. His kids were calm, and his wife was kind, and Wes maybe needed to trade in his annoying, loud brother for someone like Graham.
“Come in, come in,” Graham said. “The stockings are all around the hearth and the walls. We’re going to start in about a half an hour.”
Wes glanced around, finding several people carrying boxes that they removed small gifts from and dipped them into the stockings. Annie and Colton had warned him, Hunter, and Gray of this, so they had little trinkets for everyone too. Wes fully expected to find a stocking with his name on it, but a slip of surprise still stole through him when he did.
“This is amazing,” Hunter said from behind him. “Dad, was it like this when you came a few years ago?”
“No, son,” Gray said. “Not quite.” He seemed filled with wonder too, and Wes knew the feeling. “Grab Uncle Wes’s bag and take them downstairs for us, okay, son?”
“Yes, sir.”
Wes handed his bag to Hunter, who did as his father asked. Wes didn’t know where to stand or where he belonged. So he stuck close to Gray as his brother went around and passed out the Hammond candy they’d brought from Denver. Hunter returned, but he got swept up by Annie, who was standing with Graham’s oldest daughter and Eli’s oldest son. They were a few years older than Hunter, but they were the closest to his age.
Everything blurred, and finally, Gray said, “Okay, let’s sit by Colton.”
Their brother had saved a few spots in the back, and Wes was glad for a chair as more people started piling into the room.
The speaker system dinged and donged, and Pasty said, “It’s time for the tree-lighting. Please gather in the great room for our annual Christmas Eve celebration.”
Wes’s heart started to tingle with the magic of Christmas, and he could grudgingly admit he was glad he’d come to the lodge for this.
Graham stood and raised both hands, which started to calm the loud crowd. “Welcome to Whiskey Mountain Lodge,” he said, his voice booming over everyone. A toddler fussed somewhere, but Wes didn’t try to find where.
“We’re thrilled to have even more Hammonds with us this year, and we welcome them.” He grinned at the corner where Wes, Colton, and Gray sat with Hunter, and Wes did his best to put a smile on his face. Everyone here seemed so happy, and he wondered how they did it.
“Oh, there’s Elise,” Colton whispered, and Wes watched Gray jerk to attention, his eyes immediately tracking the blonde woman as she scurried toward the front of the crowd and sat on the floor in front of a couch. She took a little girl from someone, and Wes lost sight of her.
Graham continued with, “And we have more visitors I’ll introduce in a second. Most of you know we do a tree-lighting every Christmas Eve. A lot of us have had a turn to flip that switch and make this behemoth shine for all the world to see. Every year, it’s a chore to try to decide who should light the tree.”
He surveyed the crowd. “Someone even suggested we should have a contest to see who should do it.” Laughter and chuckles raced through the crowd. “But then I was informed that we do far too many contests, and we’re doing Cupcake Wars this year, so Laney and I simply wrote down all the names and put them in our Bingo basket.”
Wes knew it wasn’t going to be him, so he didn’t much care who flipped the switch. His stomach growled, and he knew that after this, he’d get his gifts and get to eat. Honestly, sometimes he forgot to eat, and the only way he remembered was with an alarm on his phone or his mother telling him it was time for dinner.
“And our winner this year was Bree,” Graham said, and that got Wes to come back to life. His heart jumped and jolted as if someone had attached him to a live battery. He expected Graham to say, But she’s not here. So someone else will have to flip the switch.
But he didn’t.
He waited a second, then two, then three. The time dragged on and on, and Wes grew more and more nervous.
“So let’s get her out here to do the honors.”
He pulled in a breath, very aware of both of his brother’s eyes on him. In fact, as Wes searched the only two entrances in this room—the front door to his right, which also allowed him to see the staircase coming down from the second floor—and the wide doorway that led back into the kitchen—more and more people looked at him.
Until everyone was looking at him.
And he still didn’t see Bree.
She couldn’t be here.
He couldn’t be in the same room with her and not be with her. It was too hard, too painful, simply too much.
He stood up to leave at the same time Bree walked through the doorway from the kitchen.
Time froze, stilling Wes with it.
She looked amazing in a tight pair of dark jeans and a bright red sweater with snowflakes on it. Her hair was dark, and long, and held the wave he loved to run his fingers through when he kissed her.
She seemed to shine with an inner light he hadn’t seen before, making her more beautiful than even he remembered. In her hands, she carried a box about the size of a loaf of bread, and she
didn’t have to look very hard to find him.
He had to leave.
Now.
“Excuse me,” he said, practically shouting the words as he tried to step over one of the Everett sisters. Then their parents. Only a few more people to go, and he’d have a free path to the front door.
His lungs hurt, and he started to see spots in his vision.
Free of the row of people, he took one step before he met a wall of cowboys. Graham, Eli, Andrew, and Beau all blocked his exit now. Todd stood up too, a little boy in his arms, and behind him came Colton and Gray.
“Wes,” Bree said. “Could you stay for a second?”
He spun toward her, the feelings of being trapped escalating, growing, choking him. Their eyes met, and something inside Wes calmed. A voice shouted at him that he’d said his name. That same voice reminded him that he’d told her all she had to do was call or text.
This was in-person, and so much better.
Or is it? he wondered. Maybe it would be so much worse.
She raised the gift in her hands slightly. “I got this for you, and I was hoping you’d open it in front of everyone.”
Wes felt the weight of dozens of eyes, but he couldn’t look away from Bree. She was the same woman he’d fallen in love with, but…better. Happier. So much more beautiful, and not only physically.
He found himself picking his way through the people in the room until he stood four feet from Bree, both of them standing in front of the magnificent Christmas tree. He looked at her, his cells vibrating at her nearness.
The hope inside him that had gone dormant screamed now, lifting and shooting toward the sky.
“I know gifts don’t make up for mistakes,” she said. “Heaven knows I know that better than most people.” She spoke in an even tone, not a hitch of emotion in her voice at all. She moved the gift closer to him. “I know it won’t make up for everything, but I’m hoping it’s a start. And I’m hoping that you and I can start over. A fresh start. A second start.”
She swallowed as Wes took the package. It was much heavier than he expected it to be, and he looked down at the bright green bow and back to her. “I don’t—”
“I know you don’t need it,” she said. “After all, what does one buy a cowboy billionaire?” She grinned and looked out at the crowd. “Thankfully, there’s a few women here who understand my dilemma, and we’ve been brainstorming for a few weeks.”
“Just women?” a man asked, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Wes knew it was Colton.
“Not just women,” Bree said. “Colton has helped a lot, actually.”
“No wonder he wouldn’t let me stay home,” Wes muttered, and Bree giggled.
Wes was completely entranced by her, and he wondered if he could skip the presents and the apologies and go right to kissing her.
“I hope you can forgive me,” Bree said. “For my silence. For any hurt I’ve caused. For being so dang slow to figure things out.” Her voice broke then, and Wes balanced the gift in one hand and swept the other around her.
The crowd sighed then, and Wes did too. In fact, everything inside him sighed in absolute relief that she was here.
“Come here,” he whispered, and he drew her to his chest while she cried.
“I’m fine,” she said, but she clung to him like she wasn’t fine.
Someone cleared their throat, but Wes had pressed his eyes closed so he could memorize the way this woman felt next to him.
“Okay, that’s a lie,” Bree said, stepping back slightly. She kept her arms wrapped right around him though. Looking up at him, she said, “I’m not fine, nor will I ever be fine, without you. I love you.” She smiled a wobbly grin at him. “I love you so much, and I really just need a yes or no answer.”
“What’s the question?” Colton called.
“Can you forgive me?” Bree asked.
“And a follow-up question,” Elise said.
Wes knew then that she’d planned this with them. Joy burst through him, and he let it spill onto his face in the form of a smile.
“Can we please start again?” Bree asked.
Wes couldn’t imagine ever telling her no. Not to these two questions, and not ever.
“Yes or no answer?” he asked.
“That’s right.”
“And I can keep the gift no matter what?”
Bree giggled again and swatted his chest. “Yes.”
“Oh, all right,” Wes said. “Then I guess my answer is yes.”
Cheers like he’d never heard filled the air, with loud men whooping, and applause that could deafen anyone. Wes grinned at her, handed the gift to someone else—he didn’t know who—and lowered his mouth to Bree’s.
Heaven, he thought as he kissed her, this woman he loved so much and hadn’t stopped loving despite their three months apart. This is what heaven feels like.
Chapter Thirty
Bree had forgotten how beautiful and wonderful it felt to be kissed by Wes. She didn’t mind that literally everyone she knew—including her parents—was watching, and she kissed him back with as much passion as she dared.
“All right,” Graham finally said. “All right. Let’s settle down again.”
Bree broke the kiss with Wes, who leaned his forehead against hers, the very real presence of his body next to hers almost too much to fathom. She’d dreamt of it for so long, and while she’d been over every scenario of what might happen when Graham said she got to light the tree, she had not imagined Wes wouldn’t even open the gift before he accepted her and forgave her.
And she knew it was because he’d already accepted her, forgiven her, and loved her.
No gift needed.
She was still going to make him open it though.
“I love you,” he whispered while Graham said Bree really did get to light the tree.
“Come flip the switch with me,” she said, slipping her fingers into his and tugging him toward the bank of light switches near the doorway she’d come through. Standing on the other side of that wall had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done, and she knew she still had a couple of hard conversations to have with Wes.
“Okay,” she called to the room, her voice nowhere near as loud as Graham’s. “One…two…three!” She pushed the switch, and the Christmas tree lights burst to life, filling the branches and boughs with heavenly, white light.
A chorus of oooh’s filled the air, and Bree took a few moments to admire the tree before she turned her attention back to the man she admired.
“This is great,” he said.
“Is it?” she asked. “Because I think Colton told me, and I quote, that you were ‘being a wolf’ about coming.”
Wes rolled his eyes, a stitch of tension coming from him. “He’s been annoying me lately.”
“That’s because you need your own place,” Bree said.
“So you know everything, then. Is that it?” A flicker of hurt entered his expression. “Everyone knew you were going to be here but me.”
“Yes,” she said. “But that was because we all thought you wouldn’t come if you knew.”
“I told you all you had to do was call or text.”
“I know,” she said, her own hurt feelings and fluttering anxiety pulsing through her. “But I didn’t know how. This—I knew how to do this.”
Wes just looked at her, those dark eyes devouring her over and over and over.
“Are you going to open your present?” she asked as Laney, Vi, and Amanda started handing out the stockings.
“If you want me to,” he said. “I have something I want to ask you first.”
“All right.”
“Are you going to tell me about your family?”
“Yes,” she said with certainty. “And if you don’t mind waiting to open the present, you can meet my parents right now.”
Hope lit Wes’s face. “Is that right?”
Bree looked over her shoulder, where her mom and dad had their eyes glued to her and Wes. “That’
s right. They’re right there.”
He followed her gaze, and she felt him shake off his nerves and tighten his hand in hers. “What are their names?”
“Come find out.” Bree led him over to her parents, and she grinned at them and then him. “Mom, Dad, this is Wesley Hammond. Wes, this is my mom and dad, Julie and Jerry Richards.”
“It’s so great to meet you,” he said, his voice rich and rolling with pure sophistication. “I’d say Bree has told me a lot about you, but she hasn’t.”
“Oh, we know,” Dad said, grinning. “She’s going to fix that, though.” Dad shook Wes’s hand, and looked at Bree with little bolts of electricity in his eyes. “He’s amazing, Bree.”
“He’s standing right here, Dad.”
“Yeah, and he should know he’s amazing.” Her father smiled at Wes again, but he was shaking her mom’s hand.
“Ma’am,” he said.
“So nice to meet the love of Bree’s life,” Mom said, and Bree thought she might be laying it on a bit thick. “We have heard a whole lot about you, Wes, and it’s all been wonderful.”
Wes glanced at her. “Is that right?”
“One-hundred percent right,” Bree said. “I told them you’re the reason all of this started. The reason I’m able to talk to them. The reason I went home to Vermont for the first time in twenty years. The reason we have our family back.”
Wes did not smile. In fact, his eyes grew more serious. “What? Why?”
“Without you,” Mom said. “Bree would still be limping through each day. But you showed up, and fell in love with her—a woman who has never felt loved—and she wanted to be the woman you thought she was.”
Wes shifted his feet, glancing at her and back to her parents, still searching for an answer Bree knew made no sense.
“Wes,” she said gently. “When you refused to just let me keep my secrets, you forced me to examine what I really wanted. Who I really was. What I’d really done.” Bree’s first instinct kicked in again, and that was to shut down this conversation and hurry back to her cabin. She fought against the feeling, and she’d won several times before, so she knew she would again.
