Gifts of Love

by Natalie Ann

  “Well,” he said. “Do they have the same parents?”

  “They do,” she said. “Imagine that.”

  “What do you know. We’ve got a ready-made family here.”

  10

  Live Up To

  Brendan now had a better understanding of Holly and why she was the way she was.

  There was a part of him that figured she was still keeping something from him, on why he suspected her big distrust issues, but he knew when to push and when to pull back.

  He’d pushed with the liplock and was glad he did. He’d have time to push about other issues when the time came.

  “What are the chances of that?” Holly asked, looking at Reese, then leaning down to rub his head. “Did you know Rosie was your sister? Is that why the two of you haven’t left each other’s side?”

  “It is sort of funny when you think of it. I wonder if you’ll have a hard time getting Reese to leave.”

  “Well, he’s not staying,” she said firmly. He took that as she wasn’t either, not that he expected any differently.

  “But they can see each other again. Another reason to prove to you this isn’t a short-term thing.”

  She squinted one eye at him. “One date and some conversation. I’m not crazy enough to wish for more.”

  “Because you think we have so little in common,” he said.

  “You do live in this house.”

  “Are you going to show me your place?”

  She snorted. “I’m almost embarrassed to.”

  “No need to be. You know where I came from. I told you money was tight when I was growing up and that is why I want to give back so much.”

  “Is that why you picked our business?” she asked. “Because we are struggling? You said you knew about my grandmother.”

  He didn’t like that she figured that out. “Yes and no. I’ve had this idea for years to do the toy drive at a tree farm. What could be more Christmas than that? Winter, snow, Christmas trees, toys, and Santa.”

  “Do you dress up like Santa?” she asked, smirking.

  He snorted. “No. I’ll have a Santa there one weekend. You talked to Kat today, right?” he asked. He knew she did. Kat had come to his office after the conversation all but ready to wet herself over her excitement. He was glad her vision was the same as his.

  “I did. She had a lot of ideas and was making my head spin. Most of them were great ideas though.”

  “Most?” he asked. “What wasn’t?”

  “Not so much a bad idea, just that I’m a little overwhelmed. We aren’t used to media. We do promotions but nothing like what she was talking about. We’re just small peanuts for what she wants to do. I worry that...”

  “That maybe you won’t live up to what we are trying to accomplish?” he guessed.

  “Yeah. That’s it.”

  “The way you do things is part of the charm. That is part of what people can relate to. Kat said she has an idea to bring in a big sled and have rides on the property. I understand that might be hard though.”

  “It’s doable. We’ve got a lot of acreage and my father and brother would make it work.”

  “Why aren’t you utilizing all of your land?” he asked.

  “Lots of reasons. Money, manpower. Some of it has to be cleared and then planted. It takes years for the trees to grow, so it’s not an immediate turnaround. I’ve been asking my family to expand for years.”

  “But your grandmother’s health came first,” he finished for her.

  “Among other things. Ryan is using some of the land for growing hops now. He’s into craft beer and though my father wasn’t too keen on the idea, I was all for it. I think it’s best to not put all our eggs in one basket.”

  Smart on the sibling’s part. “Good idea. Was it a big investment?”

  “Time and money again. Manpower, but Ryan has been pulling longer days. It’s his pet project you could say. We got the investment back in full this year. So anything going forward is extra. He knew it and though I was skeptical, just like everyone is giving me a chance, we had to give him one. He’s expanding the landscaping too. More than my father did.”

  “How’s that?”

  “He puts fliers in mailboxes in developments. He’s reached out to local businesses about having a maintenance-type contract. So far we’ve got a few, but that is fine because if we have too many we’d have to hire staff. Over the summer we can bring in college kids. I submitted bids to Harper’s this week for the development.”

  “That could be big for Lane’s.”

  “I know. They reached out to us and I was shocked.”

  “Why were you shocked?” He wondered why she seemed so stunned that other businesses were reaching out to them.

  “Because they are bigger names than us. We’re kind of small time.”

  “But you’re family run like they are,” he said. “I like how your family works. Just another reason I chose you. Don’t you think other businesses would feel the same way?”

  She dipped her head down. “You said your father works with you. And your sister. What about your mother?”

  Guess she was done talking about her family for now.

  “She does too.” He pulled another slice of pizza out and added some wings to his plate. She seemed to be done eating. “She works in HR, does new hire orientations, organizing parties, and conferences. She does what she wants to do and she does it well.”

  “That is kind of like my mother. She has her niche and we just let her go with it.”

  “Speaking of your mother. I had another idea. What do you think about her decorating our offices? The main entry and some other places with trees. The themed trees she talked about.”

  “I’m sure you have staff that does that.”

  “I’ve got staff, but they don’t do stuff like what I’ve got in mind. We just put up trees here and there, not a lot of decorations or plants. I encourage my staff to help with the toy drive. They collect from their friends and family and we have a contest of sorts. Several people come in and drop gifts off at the main office, and I thought maybe it’d be nice if we could tie the trees back to your place.”

  “Are you Superman?” she asked, grinning at him.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Do you make it a habit of saving people? It seems to me that is your thing.”

  He’d never had anyone point that out to him before in quite that way and felt a bit of heat fill his face. “I told you why. I felt like I was given a lot and a second chance at life. I just want to give back.”

  “So tell me about this second chance.”

  “Not tonight,” he said. “But I will tell you all the time I spent in the hospital I saw kids and families that had much less than me and struggled. The holidays are supposed to be a time for joy and if I can give a little bit of that, then why not?”

  “I suppose that is a good outlook to have. I know my mother is excited over some of Kat’s ideas. I know she’ll be thrilled about decorating your office. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to.”

  “I don’t have to do anything,” he said.

  “No, you don’t. But I already feel like we are so indebted to you and this hasn’t even started.”

  He didn’t want her to feel that way. “Is that why you are here? Because you don’t want to risk losing this for your business?” She’d said it once and he kind of took it as a joke, but maybe he should get more clarification.

  “No. I’m not that way. Of course I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our business, but I’m not for sale.”

  He didn’t like the way her eyes narrowed at him and knew he put his foot in his mouth. Again, she’d brought up sex before but not the way she was stating it now.

  “I never thought you were. And I don’t do anything that I don’t want to do.”

  “So where does that leave us?” she asked.

  She picked her plate up and carried it to the sink to rinse off. He moved over and took it out of her
hand and put it in the dishwasher. “It leaves us with getting to know each other better while we try to collaborate on making this the best toy drive I’ve had.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “What does this have to do with collaborating?” she asked with a silly grin on her face.

  “This has more to do with getting to know each other. Like my mouth wanting to be on yours again,” he said right before he lowered his lips to hers.

  11

  Thrilled and Terrified

  So much for wanting to get to know each other better, Holly thought. A week and a half had gone by and she hadn’t heard one word verbally from Brendan. He shot her a text the next day after their date, said he had a good time, and that was it.

  If she was excited for more, she quickly squashed those disappointing thoughts like a woman who had PMS and was dying for chocolate only to run to the store and find there wasn’t one candy bar in stock.

  She’d talked to Kat a few times. The greenhouse was all cleaned out and ready to go. They had an idea and flow on how to decorate. Her mother was working hard on that and the goal was to be set up by next week.

  Photographers would be coming over, fliers would be printed, and blasts to social media would be flying.

  She was both thrilled and terrified at the same time.

  What if they weren’t prepared?

  What if they couldn’t handle the rush? Nah, that wasn’t likely to happen as they were putting more staff on starting soon.

  What if they were a let down to Brendan and his toy drive though?

  That was the biggest problem. She wanted to be successful not just for him and his cause but also for her family business. Even if she was ticked off and felt used by him already, it wouldn’t stop her from doing her best and then walking away from him when this was over.

  How dare he play on her emotions like he had. Talking about a ready-made family, then ignoring her for ten days, sixteen hours and twenty-three minutes. Not that she was counting.

  But today Holly and her mother were going to St. Nick’s to look around the offices and get an idea of what her mother could do in terms of decorations.

  She didn’t want any part of this and knew there was a chance of seeing Brendan. Then she reminded herself she couldn’t avoid him completely.

  Though he did say he was very hands-on and so far had proven her wrong there.

  That distrust she had for him, yep, it was shoving its way to the front of the line and saying “look at me, I was right.”

  Now she had to put a smile on her face and try to rein her mother in over her excitement in decorating Brendan’s business. Talk about an impossible task!

  They pulled into the large parking lot and parked in the visitor’s spot out front. Yep, Brendan was there with his Range Rover in the reserved spot. Chances are she wouldn’t see him anyway.

  “Can I help you?” the young woman at the front desk asked when they walked up.

  “Hi. Holly and Nancy Lane from Lane Tree Farm. We’re here to see Kat.”

  “Oh, we are so excited to see what you are going to do. We’ve heard nothing but good things about Lane’s from Kat and Brendan.”

  She was guessing it was from Kat more than Brendan but kept her lips sealed tighter than a five-year-old crossing her legs when she had to pee and just wanted to keep playing.

  “That’s good,” Holly said. “We’re excited to be partnering for this toy drive.”

  “Let me call Kat right now.”

  Her mother and she moved off to the side to look around. “There is so much space here,” her mother said. “Do you think they will want it all filled with trees and plants?”

  “I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so, but I’m sure Kat will tell you what she thinks and hopes for.”

  “She’s been really nice so far. I thought for sure she’d be controlling, but I’ve been able to voice my opinions and most of the time she goes with it.”

  Holly smiled. “You know what you are doing when it comes to things. Remember though, that is what we are doing for the toy drive on our property. Brendan had said he had a vision of something with charm that would be like visiting Grandma’s house.” She looked around the newer building. “This place isn’t that.”

  “That’s true.” Her mother frowned. “I’m not sure I’m into modern. That isn’t my strong suit.”

  Holly put her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “You can do anything you put your mind to. I’m sure it’s going to be just fine.”

  “Holly, Nancy, so glad you both could take time out of your day to come here,” Kat said, walking forward.

  Talk about night and day. Holly and her mother were dressed close to the same, the way they always were when they were working at Lane’s. Kat had on a slim skirt, a pretty purple sweater, and black heels. Holly wasn’t sure she even owned a skirt.

  “Never a problem,” Holly said.

  “I’m so excited to get started,” her mother said. “Do you have an idea of what you are looking for?”

  Kat started to rub her hands together. “I do. Let me walk you around the building and show you what I’m thinking of and then you let me know what you are able to do. It might be too much and I understand that, but we want to make the building festive this year.”

  An hour later, Holly’s head was spinning but not her mother’s. Her mother and Kat were throwing ideas back and forth like a ping pong ball and Holly felt like the paddle trying to keep up. When they reached the fourth floor where the executive offices were, she was hoping Brendan was in a meeting.

  There was a bark and then scrambling feet and Rosie came charging out of an office toward her. She crouched down to welcome the dog and give her a big brisk rub the same as she did Reese every day. She could be mad at Rosie’s owner, but she wouldn’t take it out on her furry friend.

  “Brendan,” Kat said, causing Holly to look up into the doorway to see him standing there, jeans, a T-shirt, his arms crossed with a sexy lean of his shoulder against the wall. “You need to have better control over Rosie so she isn’t running after people.”

  “It’s fine,” Holly said, standing up and looking at Brendan. He had a smirk on his face and she wasn’t sure the reason for it.

  “Rosie and Holly are well acquainted,” he said.

  Kat looked at her but didn’t say anything. Her mother wanted to, she could see, but held her tongue too. She wouldn’t be so lucky on the drive home, she knew.

  “Brendan,” she said, no emotion in her voice.

  “Holly,” he said back. “If you’ve got a minute, can we talk? I’m sure Kat and your mother have plenty to still discuss.”

  Her mother reached over and took the notebook out of her hand. “I’ll jot down anything else we talk about so you can firm up a quote.”

  There was no getting out of it at this point, so she nodded her head and followed Brendan into his office.

  Brendan shut the door and prepared to pretty much beg Holly to forgive him for not contacting her for over a week.

  He knew he had to get her trust and here he went and put a divide longer than the parting of the seas between them, losing everything he’d gained.

  “How have you been?” he asked while she stood in his office and just looked around. “Have a seat.”

  “I’m fine,” she said standing where she was.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch.”

  “Why haven’t you?”

  “Work. I’ve had some issues, some emergencies, I had to fly out of town for three days unexpectedly. Boring things to you, but stuff that has me putting in more than twelve-hour days.”

  She lifted her eyebrow at him. “We’re all busy.”

  He snorted. He liked that she was direct. “We are. It’s no excuse to not at least drop you a line or a text. I could have done it at night when I was getting ready for bed if my mind was thinking straight, but it hasn’t been.”

  “I get it,” she said. “You’re an important man. You run a large company, you’v
e got a big fundraising event that you are heading up. I told you before that we are worlds apart and you are just proving my case.”

  Not the words he wanted to hear and wondered why the thought of losing something he barely had bothered him so much when with other women he would have just shown her the door. “I’d like a second chance. I’d like to make it up to you.”

  “There’s nothing to make up to me. Don’t worry about second chances. We had one date, Brendan. Nothing more. I’m not holding you to anything.”

  Worse and worse. “I want more than one date.”

  “We don’t always get what we want in life, now do we?”

  He smirked. “See, it’s things like that, you putting me in my place, that make me want to fight for more.”

  She looked stunned by his words. Probably was as stunned as he was they tumbled out of his mouth without thought or consequence. “So I’m a challenge to you?”

  “I can’t say the right things to save my soul from the devil. I feel like you are standing at the gates of hell with a pitchfork just ready to stab me in the eye.”

  “That’s one place I might stab you.”

  He burst out laughing and moved toward her. “Damn, I need to get my hands on you.”

  She held hers up. “Don’t. I’m not a plaything. I’m not here for when you want something. I told you that before. You’re just proving everything I said was right.”

  “I know. Completely wrong of me. What do I have to do to make you believe that I’m truly sorry? That time got away from me and I’ve been busy.”

  “How many relationships have you been in?” she asked.

  He thought that was an odd question. “Not many.”

  “Because of this? Because you can’t focus on anyone but yourself.”

  “That’s low,” he said, frowning. “I give back to a lot of people. I’m not selfish.”

  “You give back time and money to the community and organizations. No one ever doubts that. But what do you give of yourself to someone?”

  He paused and heard her words, then felt some shame in them. That she was right. That he never put a woman first because most women were after him for his money and he figured why not just give them what they wanted? Why take it seriously when he had no intention of tying himself down with someone that didn’t want him for him?