Sweet Tidings

by Jean C. Gordon

“Go.” She pushed his shoulder and laughed.

  The tinkle of her laughter stayed with him all the way to her mother’s house.

  Lucille was waiting for her when Amanda reached her cottage.

  “I have to talk with you,” she called.

  Amanda groaned. She’d just seen her at the animal shelter adoption clinic where Lucille had been fussing about the fundraising activities and amount raised. She didn’t need more doom and gloom. Not after her disappointment with the silent auction proceeds and Kittim saying the gala committee was having trouble getting hold of the winner of Eric’s prize—the highest bid of the evening. The winner was someone from out of town, and the second highest bid was significantly lower. She didn’t know yet how the adoption clinic had fared.

  Amanda mustered her patience. “We can sit on the deck.” Amanda let the older woman and her Princess up the stairs. “I’ll get us a drink.” That would allow her to put up her mayoral complaint guard, too.

  When she returned to the deck, Lucille had two magazines laid out on the table.

  “I didn’t want to say anything to you in public at the adoption clinic, but it’s as I suspected from the start.” Lucille punched her finger to a picture in one of the magazines. “Eric Slade has been toying with you, dear.”

  Amanda breathed deeply and counted to three. She’d asked Eric to run any publicity by her first before letting his PR people release it. She looked at the picture. This wasn’t official PR. It was a shot that was part of a collage titled “Spotted this Weekend.” She fingered her bracelet from Eric and checked the other magazine.

  The same shot. Of Eric and Maya. Her heart splintered. They were in a jewelry store. He was slipping an engagement ring on her finger. Smiling, the smile she thought of as her smile.

  Her cell phone rang. She took it out and glanced at the screen. A spam call, but Lucille didn’t need to know that. “Sorry, I have to take this.” She fled into the cottage, dropped onto the couch, and waited until she heard Lucille descending the steps. Then she burst into tears. She’d trusted him. Loved him. It was all fake. Their fake holiday romance was nothing more than that. For Eric, at least. She’d genuinely believed that he was his real self with her, and that he loved her. But it had all been an act.

  An idea popped into her head. She gathered what pieces of her heart she could and went online. She wanted to resurrect some hope that she was overreacting. That the pictures were wrong. His official social media account didn’t have anything confirming or denying it. All his fan club groups had the picture posted.

  Maya’s accounts. She’d have something if it were true, wouldn’t she? Posts were sparse, but she did have one from the weekend that said, “TEASER! Look for some big news from me soon.” It didn’t have a picture.

  Amanda went to Chris’s account. Again, posts were few, except for a new one: “Out of the hospital with plans to celebrate the holidays with my dad. Expect a big announcement afterwards.” The accompanying photo showed Chris leaving the hospital with Eric and Maya.

  Her head pounded. Now she wouldn’t have to lie to Sonja when she said she wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t make it for supper. After she texted Sonja, Amanda took some headache medicine, put on some soothing, music, and stretched out on the couch. Why did he do it? She’d agreed to the friendly fake romance and would have kept it to that if he’d been honest. His betrayal went far beyond blowing up her feelings. It could affect her friendship with Sonja since Eric and Jeff were so close. And what about her mother?

  The headache medicine took effect and stilled her swirling thoughts. But not before she admitted defeat in ever finding true love and vowed not to try again. She’d been happy single. She’d be happy again.

  So why was “Right!” in Eric’s voice mocking her as she finally fell asleep.

  “Hi, beautiful,” Eric said as Amanda rustled and opened her eye.

  She bolted upright. “You! How did you get in? And what are you doing here?

  He gave her a moment to be fully awake before speaking. “The door was open, and I wanted to see how you were feeling.”

  She rubbed her temples. “The pain’s gone, but the headache is still here.”

  What was that supposed to mean? He reached to touch her forehead, see if she had a fever and was delirious.

  Amanda batted his hand away. “I’m done being part of your little drama.”

  He straightened and raised his hands in surrender. “What drama?” He was getting a headache now from his confusion.

  She took her tablet from the table, powered it up, and tapped the screen. “This drama.”

  When he saw the picture of him and Maya, his stomach churned, and he thought he might upchuck his supper. He should have known better than to have gone out in public with her. But when he’d shared his plan with Chris, his son had encouraged him.

  He calmed his agitation enough to speak. “I can explain. We were…” How could he explain without lying or giving away—

  “Of course you can,” she interrupted his thought with a shot that carried enough angry force for him to feel the hit physically. “But I’ve had enough of your subterfuge, your holiday play.”

  “What?” he demanded, unable to keep his frustration at bay while trying to stomp out the dual fires of dread and hurt flaring inside him.

  “One of your personas says something, and another contradicts it. I’m supposed to believe both. I thought I knew the game rules when we dropped the fake romance. When I foolishly let my heart get involved.”

  Let her heart get involved, as if she had control of it? He hadn’t any control. When it came to loving Amanda, his heart had a power of its own that he couldn’t subdue. But he wasn’t going to tell her that, give her more advantage over him.

  “You’re a chameleon. I believed I knew the real Eric Slade but know now that I’ve never seen him.”

  Eric’s angry frustration exploded. “You’ve seen him. You’ve just refused to accept him. If you had, you’d hear me out.”

  Amanda massaged her temples again with enough pain in her expression that he almost pulled her up from the couch and into his arms to let physical closeness say what she refused to hear in words.

  She lifted her head and assumed a posture and expression that looked as brittle as it was steely. “Our deal is done. You gave me what I wanted, help with the fundraising, and I gave what you wanted—a fake romance. Please leave and don’t contact me for the rest of the time you’re in Indigo Bay.”

  Eric shook his head. She hadn’t given him what he’d wanted. He’d thought she had, but she’d just taken it away. Maybe if he left and cruised around, he could get his head back on straight and figure out how to fix this.

  “Go!” she repeated.

  He clenched and unclenched his fists. “One last thing. You know how I said I didn’t know if I’d ever truly loved a woman?”

  She blanched but not a muscle in her face moved.

  “The way you just ripped my heart apart. I know now.” He stormed out, slamming the door behind him, but paused on the deck for a couple minutes to see if she’d come after him.

  She didn’t, shredding his last bit of hope.

  Chapter 15

  The next morning when Amanda quickly ran out of things to do at the cottage, she went to her city hall office. There was always busywork there she could use to keep her mind off what Eric had done to her. “And you to him,” her conscience said. But what did it know? It hadn’t ever been in love and been betrayed.

  “Hi, Amanda,” Tracey said with an expression on her face that was surprised and something more Amanda couldn’t read.

  “Good morning. I needed to check on a couple things before the tree lighting tomorrow.” She brushed by Tracey. Had she seen the picture? Probably everyone in Indigo Bay had, thanks to Lucille’s helpful sharing. Amanda knew the older woman meant well, and she should be glad she found out before she and Eric took things any further.

  Amanda released a dry laugh. He was engaged to anoth
er women. How could they have taken things further? She sat behind her desk, turned on her computer, and called public works to check on the city tree lights, something she could have done from home.

  “Hi, Mayor,” the department head answered. “I know why you’re calling. Those replacement light strings are guaranteed to arrive by end of day today. We can add them to the tree tomorrow morning and give it a final check.”

  “What time? I may stroll by to see them.” She had time to kill tomorrow until the lighting, then only Christmas and the morning after before Eric would be off to Jackson Hole again with Chris.

  “Sure. About 9:30.”

  “Okay.” She hung up and found a few more things to do—among them checking Eric’s official fan sites. The photo of him and Maya had been deleted on all of them. His doing? Her heart softened. But she stopped it. The photo not being on the sites didn’t mean it didn’t exist.

  She rummaged around for work to fill the emptiness inside her. But the more she found and finished, the more the emptiness seemed to grow. Eric had become a big part of her life. Maybe she should have let him explain before she’d made her decision. As she reached for her cell phone to call him, she realized he’d be in Charleston now picking up Chris. She’d try him later if she felt the same. It could be a momentary weakening that would go away.

  The phone rang under her hovering hand, sending her heart into a pitter-patter until she saw it was only Sonja. “Huh.” What did she mean only? Sonja was one of her closest friends.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello, yourself. Is there something you want share?” Sonja’s question ended in a rising lilt.

  The picture! No Sonja wouldn’t be teasing her about that. “I don’t think so.”

  “So you wouldn’t be the reason Eric left after supper ostensibly to check on you and didn’t return until this morning?”

  Amanda’s shoulders shook involuntarily. Not in the way Sonja was thinking.

  “He barely had time to switch his bike for the rental car and go pickup Chris and Maya in Charleston.”

  Amanda’s throat closed. “Maya came, too,” she got out in an almost a normal voice.

  “Yes, we had an extra room free in addition to the suite, so it was no problem.”

  Amanda’s mind went to the possible rooming arrangements, and she missed whatever Sonja said next, catching only her, “If I don’t see you at the tree lighting tomorrow, we’ll see you and your mother for Christmas dinner.”

  “Yeah, see you then.” She leaned back, head on the chair’s headrest and closed her eyes. She’d forgotten that she’d accepted Sonja’s invitation to Christmas dinner before Eric had even arrived. She pushed the chair back and stood. Being outside might help. She buzzed Tracey and said she was leaving.

  The breeze off the bay felt good as she headed for her first stop. The Emporium, Miss Eulalie’s candy shop. The older woman’s shop was a fixture in Indigo Bay, selling the best homemade candies for miles around.

  “Hi, Amanda, what can I get you today?” Miss Eulalie, herself, said from behind the counter.

  “I need to fill three. No make that two Christmas stockings.” Her plan had been to fill stockings for her mother, Eric, and Chris.

  “Two stockings coming up.”

  “I mean one.” The other candy was for her and might not make it to Christmas. Miss Eulalie showed her the stocking selections they had. Amanda picked one, along with all her mother’s favorite candies and hers. Miss Eulalie packed them up, and Amanda turned to leave, her mood boosted by the store’s cheery holiday decorations and Miss Eulalie’s cheerful help.

  The door opened and her mother’s next-door neighbor greeted her with the same expression Tracey had.

  “Hi.” Amanda brushed by her, her stomach sinking. It was pity. She set her mouth, all the joy of candy shopping gone, and marched toward her next destination. Indigo Bay Accounting.

  “Good afternoon, Mayor,” the office assistant said.

  “Is Kittim available?”

  “Yes, go right in.”

  Amanda felt, or thought she felt, the assistant’s gaze drilling into her back as she walked to Kittim’s office. She knocked and went in. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d pop in to check on the donations instead of calling. How are we doing?”

  “Better since the open house. I hear you and Eric Slade were great.”

  Key word, were. “It was fun. I’m adopting two cats.”

  Kittim laughed. “You’re the third volunteer who’s told me they’re adopting pets. Back to business, we still haven’t received a response from the winner of Eric’s prize. If we have to award it to the next highest bidder, do you think he might throw in the difference?”

  “I don’t know.” The Eric she’d thought she knew would. “He’s staying at the Mansion B&B if you want to check with him. Sonja will put you through to him.”

  “I’ll do that. Do you want me to print you the latest report?”

  “No just send it to my email. I’m off to get cat stuff.”

  “Have fun.”

  Amanda shouldn’t have felt the relief she did that the assistant wasn’t at her desk when she passed by on her way out. She shook her arms, but that didn’t shake the uneasiness. Nor did the happy prospect of getting another cat … cats.

  “Hi, I’ll be right with you,” Violet called out from where she was helping another customer when Amanda made her last stop at the Happy Paws.

  She nodded and browsed the cat supplies.

  A voice drifted from the next aisle. “I feel sorry for the mayor that he took advantage of her like that.”

  Another responded, “Maybe she knew all along. Look at her mother. You know the saying about apples not falling far from the tree.”

  Amanda swallowed the bile in her throat. “Violet. I just realized I need to be somewhere. Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” She fled the store.

  The feeling she’d been having. She recognized it. It was the same one she had when she’d visited her mother in Indigo Bay before she’d moved here herself. When Mom was caring for Amanda’s birth father. A feeling of people staring, pitying her, judging her mother, talking about her. But she hadn’t felt it after she’d moved here.

  She took a route home along the empty beach. Her thoughts were so jumbled. She wanted to talk with someone. Amanda kicked a small piece of driftwood. Not her mother. Mom had loved a married man for years and had never voiced any regrets to her. Not Sonja. She was too close to Eric, and Amanda didn’t want to put her in a spot.

  Amanda glimpsed a starfish struggling its way to the sea on the wet sand. She gently picked it up and put it in the water. Staring at the wave pattern, she longed to have someone by her side to talk to. Not someone. Eric. Hope flared. He’d wanted to explain but she hadn’t let him.

  Stars twinkled in the dark winter sky with a promise of tomorrow. She’d talk with Eric. Tomorrow. After she unjumbled her mind and emotions. And had a chance to peel off her past fears of love.

  If she wasn’t already too late.

  “Breakfast ended at 10:00,” Jeff gave Eric grief he didn’t need when he walked into the breakfast room at the B&B.

  He had enough grief already. “Coffee. Hot and strong will do me. You do still serve that 24/7?”

  “We do.” Jeff turned a mug right side up and poured a cup from the carafe in front of Chris. “What’s with you? You’ve been like a grizzly bear with a hangnail banging around here since you picked Chris up at the airport yesterday morning.”

  “Hey, it had nothing to do with me,” Chris said.

  Eric gulped half the mug. Saying he’d gotten more than five hours sleep total the past two nights would be generous. “No, it has nothing to do with you, son. It’s me. You know Jeff, when you said not to do anything stupid to mess up me and Amanda?”

  Jeff huffed. “You did stupid.”

  Eric finished the rest of his coffee and held the mug out to Jeff. “I did mega stupid.” He looked around. “Where are Sonja and May
a?”

  “Freshening the evergreen branches Sonja has all around the place.”

  “Good. I need some help, but not theirs.”

  “What did you do?” Jeff asked while Chris looked on avidly.

  Eric rubbed his neck. “I took Maya with me to help shop for a Christmas present for Amanda and someone took a photo. It looked like Maya and I were together, and the present was for her. The picture got posted all over social media.”

  Jeff shrugged. “Did you tell Amanda that.”

  “You’d think. I tried Tuesday evening when she confronted me, but Amanda wouldn’t let me explain.” For reasons colored by her past, he’d understood after he’d cooled down. “She’s not taking my calls and doesn’t respond to my texts. I think she’s blocked me.”

  “That’s tough, Dad.”

  Chris had a better overview of the situation than Jeff did. But Eric needed Jeff’s help without getting down and dirty about his and Amanda’s relationship and how he’d let his insecurity get the best of him and feel she was rejecting him.

  Eric fortified himself with more of his coffee. “I have a plan.”

  “Does it involve you telling her you were stupid?” Jeff asked. “That’s my go-to. Flowers also help.”

  Chris laughed.

  “Listen and learn, young man,” Jeff said. “Maybe jewelry for mega stupid.”

  “He has that covered,” Chris said putting his hand over his mouth when Eric frowned at him.

  “My plan involves admitting my wrongs,” Eric said to answer Jeff. “That’s not where I need your help. I need you to come up with a way to get Amanda to stick around after the tree lighting this evening until people are done hanging around the tree.”

  “Can I bring Sonja in on that?”

  Eric tightened his grip on the coffee mug. “If you must.” He wanted as few people involved as possible. “Ask Amanda to meet you or Sonja at the tree at, what? Six? Will people be cleared out by then?”

  “Should be.”

  “Chris, I need you and Maya as props.”