I frown at her, wondering what awful secret Greyson might be harboring. Emily notices my mind working overtime and sighs.
“I really shouldn’t have said anything. Look, it’s nothing huge. He had a girlfriend when he was younger. He broke it off to go off to college and she got into some trouble. Drugs.”
“Oh, no,” I say.
“Yeah. He spent the next few years trying to fix her, and… well, you know how that goes with addicts.”
I just nod in response. I don’t really know, not first-hand, but there’s enough conventional wisdom built up around addiction that I can make my own assumptions.
“And I just don’t think he ever forgave himself for it. Until now, maybe.”
She falls silent as we notice Greyson break off from the snowball fight and start jogging over towards us.
“What are you two talking about?” he says as he reaches us, breathing heavily.
“Oh, I was just telling her all your secrets,” says Emily, lightly, and she gives me a wink. “Had enough, Greyson?”
“Oh, yeah,” he says, bent over with his hands on his knees, panting. “I’m no glutton for punishment. They beat us, hands down.”
“I’d better go make sure the kids aren’t getting into too much trouble,” says Emily, giving my arm a little squeeze. “Great talking to you, Allie.”
As she heads off, Greyson straightens up and grabs my hand, lacing his fingers between mine again. A warm glow swells up inside me and I lean into him, landing a kiss on his upper arm. I don’t mention anything that Emily said, even though I have a million questions about it.
“Hey,” he says, then gestures towards our surroundings. “This is nice, huh?”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” I tell him with a knowing smile. “Wait ‘til we get to the top.”
“Oh yeah?” he grins. He pulls my hand up to his mouth and kisses it, and we tromp happily up the path, bathing in the evening sunlight as the kids run around us and laugh excitedly.
He can see over the summit a couple of steps before I can, and I hear him gasp.
“Oh, wow,” he says.
“It’s pretty special, huh?” I grin as we reach the top.
The view is spectacular. The other side of the hill dips down into a deep valley, where the river glistens blue and gold as it wends lazily around a series of huge boulders on either side. The steep inclines are full of evergreens on one side and fields on the other, and the sun is suspended in the v-shape between the mountains on the far side of the valley, painting the sky in vibrant shades of orange and pink as it sets.
“Stunning,” I hear Ethan say across the way. He pulls Emily toward him and wraps his arms around her. I understand the impulse—it’s a pretty romantic setting. And then I feel Greyson’s arms wrap around me as he pulls me into the same embrace. It feels warm and safe, and I could stay here forever.
We all stand there a while, soothed into silence by the beauty of the scene before us. And then Sam clears his throat.
When I look over I can see him unlinking his arm from Drew’s. He still doesn’t look himself. The nervous energy that’s been running through him all day has appeared on his face, and he licks his lips like his mouth is dry.
“What’s up?” Drew asks him.
“Uh…” says Sam. He looks awkward for a moment, and then reaches into his pocket.
Sadie is the first one to gasp. I don’t understand why until I see the little ring box in Sam’s hand.
“Oh my God!” I whisper, nudging Greyson to get his attention.
The reaction of the adults silences the kids, and we all gather a little closer as Sam drops down to one knee on the summit.
“Andrew Archibald,” he says, his voice a little shaky.
Greyson wraps his arm around me and tucks me into his side.
“I love you. Because you’re kind and generous and smart. And I can’t promise it’ll be easy because, well… I’m not easy. But you’re the first person I want to see in the morning, the first person I think of whenever something special happens, and possibly the only person who’d put up with me anyway.”
We all laugh at that, including Drew.
“And I want to grow old with you and share a glass for our dentures.”
Even more laughter, and Leo pipes up: “Gross.”
“So will you do me the honor of being my husband? Will you marry me?”
He pops the box open to reveal a white gold ring with a Celtic pattern running around it. It suits Drew, who’s nearly the same height as Greyson and almost as broad.
Drew is smiling.
“Yes,” he answers, simply, and Sam lets all his nervous energy out as a loud laugh.
“Thank God for that!” he chuckles, pushing the ring onto Drew’s finger. Drew yanks Sam to his feet, then pulls him into a tight hug while the rest of us clap and fawn over them.
I’m delighted for them. Drew is so good for Sam, and they’re so well suited that the idea of them not being together is just… strange. Making it official seems just right.
“They been together long?” Greyson asks.
“About four years,” I say, nodding.
He squeezes me a little tighter and kisses the top of my head, and I lean back against him, enjoying the warmth of his body against mine.
“I’m thankful for you,” he whispers, and my tummy flips over.
After the obligatory ring inspection, we all watch the sun set below the far-off peaks, quiet but for the children’s chatter, and then Eddie guides us back down to the house with a huge, bright flashlight. We have a few more drinks and play a few games of charades, and then it’s time for everyone to head off.
Greyson steals me off to the side while Ethan and Emily, each carrying a sleeping child, say their goodbyes.
“Thanks for making this happen,” he says, lifting my chin with his finger. Every time he does that I feel a thrum of lust between my thighs.
“Oh, it wasn’t me, it was… it… w…”
I trail off as he leans down, and he silences me with his kiss, gently pressing his lips against mine and coaxing them apart. I know he has to go back with his brother and I know I have to go home with the kids, and I have definitely drawn a mental line in the sand where him staying over at my house with the girls is just not allowed. But good heavens, I want him. Every inch of my body is screaming at me to find a way to be with him again, naked and panting and sweaty, and it’s betrayed in the way I’m slightly breathless when he pulls back from the kiss.
“It was you,” he says. “And it was amazing.”
I bite my bottom lip and give a little shrug, not knowing how to respond to the compliment. So I opt for changing the subject entirely.
“So you don’t need me next week?” I ask.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” he grins, mischievously. “But we won’t be able to work on the house. They’re fitting the bathroom and some new utilities. It’ll be too much of a mess for us to get anything else done.”
“Yeah,” I nod. And then, before I realize I’m doing it, something about the romance of Sam’s proposal, or the amazing day we’ve had, or our families being together like this, makes me throw caution to the wind.
“I’m going to get a Christmas tree on Tuesday morning, while the girls are at school,” I say.
His brows lift immediately.
“I could use—”
“Yes,” he says.
I laugh. “You don’t even know what I was going to say!”
“I don’t care what you were going to say,” he grins. “The answer is yes.”
I laugh again, shaking my head. “Fine. Come by at nine sharp.”
“Yes ma’am,” he says, leaning down to kiss me quickly again.
The hallway is suddenly flooded with people, and we spend at least five minutes saying our goodbyes.
“It was so lovely to meet you, Allie,” Emily says, leaning over to kiss my cheek with a sleeping Riley in her arms. “You must come and visit us some time.
”
“I… uh...”
“She will,” Greyson cuts in, and ushers her toward the door. He turns and gives me one last peck before disappearing into the night.
I stand there for a long moment, in stunned silence. Am I reading too much into that? Was it just an attempt to rescue me from an awkward conversation and get Emily out the door? Or did Greyson really just say that he’d take me to see his family in the city, someday? Is he… imagining a future for us? One that extends beyond Sunrise Valley House?
I think back to that first day in the diner, with my face crammed against Bet’s and Sam’s in the porthole window of the kitchen door, giggling as we tried to catch a glimpse of the handsome new stranger in town, and it suddenly feels like a million years ago.
Chapter 16
Greyson
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.
It’s never-ending. The workmen arrived yesterday to start the bathroom refit, and all they did all day was bang. It’s 8:30 am Tuesday and they’ve been banging again since eight. I’m glad Ethan, Emily, and the kids got out of dodge on Sunday. This is enough to drive a person mad.
Not me, though. I’m not going to be here much longer, and the prospect of meeting Allie today has been enough to keep me sane. I pull on my coat and scarf, run my hand through my hair in the mirror, and grab my keys.
“BACK LATER!” I yell up the stairs.
There’s a muffled response between bangs, and I take that as acknowledgment enough. I already told them I’d be going out today. I also told Ethan when he called. And Ben. And pretty much anyone else I’ve had contact with since Thanksgiving last week. I do not want any interruptions.
I’m trying to play it cool, and my conscience does occasionally give me a little prick and tell me to stop enjoying myself so much. But for now, it’s nice to be swept up in the excitement of a new relationship. Spending time with her over Thanksgiving was great, and today will be the first time we’ve been together, just the two of us, since being snowed into the mansion.
By the time I pull up to Allie’s house less than ten minutes later, I can feel the nervous energy starting to build up inside me at the prospect of seeing her. There’s no answer at the door when I knock, so I head back to my car and lean against it with my hands in my pockets.
As I’m standing there, wondering what exactly the word “sharp” means in this town, I notice the curtains twitch in the house next door. I think nothing of it and pull out my phone, flicking through emails and trying to avoid even noticing Peterson’s. He’s the type to set up read notices—so he gets notified when you read the emails he sends you—and take umbrage when he doesn’t get a call back within the hour. I should probably be taking him and his demands for a meeting more seriously, but he’s such an unbelievable douchebag that it’s hard to take him seriously at the best of times. And here in Sunrise Valley, it feels like I’m beyond his reach.
I glance up and the curtains twitch again. I can see an old lady’s pinched frown just before the curtains fall, and then I almost jump out of my skin when there’s a loud WHOOP WHOOP! from a police siren behind me. I spin around to see the officer getting out of the car and heading right for me.
“Officer,” I say with a nod.
It’s not until he lifts his head and I can see under the brim of his hat that I realize it’s Eddie.
“Greyson,” he says and holds out his hand. I shake it, giving him a smile paired with a confused frown.
“Hey! I didn’t know you were a cop.”
“Yup,” he says, nodding toward the house where the curtains have been twitching. “Old Mrs. Lisham next door called and said there was a strange man hanging around Allie’s place.”
“Ah,” I say, glancing that way.
Now that she’s seen Eddie shake my hand in a friendly manner, she seems much more amiable. She waves through the window, and Eddie and I both lift our hands to wave back.
“Here to see Allie?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m supposed to be helping her get a—”
“Christmas tree?” he cuts in. “Yeah, no way she’d ever leave it ‘til after the first. It’s—”
“Tradition?” I cut back in.
Eddie grins back at me. “You’re a fast learner.”
“Morning, Eddie!”
I turn around to see the woman from next door is in her yard, wearing a long, quilted robe and curlers in her hair.
“Morning, Mrs. Lisham,” says Eddie with a nod. “This is Greyson. A friend of Allie’s.”
“Oh,” she says, smiling at me. “Oh, I see. Well, I’m sorry to have bothered you. You can’t be too careful though!”
“That’s right, Mrs. Lisham,” says Eddie, indulgently. “You go on inside now before you catch yourself a cold.”
“All right,” she says. “Thanks, Eddie.”
“Always here for you, Mrs. Lisham,” says Eddie.
As soon as she closes the door, he turns to me and lowers his voice.
“Last time there was a burglary in this town was two years ago. The way Mrs. Lisham goes on, you’d think we were living in a game of GTA.”
I laugh. That took me a little by surprise—Eddie doesn’t seem like the gamer type.
“So Allie’s not here,” I say, a statement more than a question.
“She will be,” he says, heading back to his car. “She’s dropping the girls at school.”
“Ahhhhh,” I say, as it dawns on me. She said we’d be going to pick up the tree while the girls were at school. She must just be running late.
“See you ‘round, Greyson,” he calls with a wave, as he gets back into his car.
He’s barely out of sight before I hear a couple of beeps, and Allie’s car pulls into view.
“Hey!” she says as she gets out. She leans up to kiss me, and just as I bend down to wrap my arm around her waist and kiss her properly, I notice Mrs. Lisham’s curtain twitching again.
“Hey,” I say as I pull back to get a good look at her. “I just got in trouble with the law.”
She laughs and jabs a thumb over her shoulder.
“I saw Eddie on the way in. Was he here for you?” She fixes me with a dark look. “Were you up to no good?”
“Yeah,” I say, laughing. “Mrs. Lisham told him a suspicious man was skulking around your house.” I give her a dark look of my own. “Are you aware, Ms. Brooks, that you’re being stalked by a mysterious and irresistible stranger?”
She laughs a beautiful, amused laugh. “Mrs. Lisham would call Eddie if the leaves were rustling too loud,” she says. “But sure, if it makes you happy. You’re very mysterious and sexy.”
She pats me on the shoulder, an expression of mock-encouragement on her face, and I find myself wanting to just pick her up, sling her over my shoulder, and carry her inside like some sort of caveman. Me man. She woman.
“Want to take my car?” she asks, oblivious to my Neanderthal daydreams. “You’ll get pine needles all over your rental otherwise.”
“Okay,” I nod. I hit the button on my keychain to lock my car, and we walk over to hers
“Oh,” she says. “You’ll have to get in this side. That door doesn’t work.”
I look down at the passenger-side door and pull the handle, like I’m expecting it to open despite what Allie has just told me, and of course, it doesn’t budge.
“You can climb through from the back if you’d prefer,” she says, and when I look over she’s wearing a sarcastic little smile.
I head around to the driver’s side, leaning down to steal a quick kiss on the way, and then with great difficulty, I manage to maneuver my limbs inside her tiny car until I’m tucked into the passenger seat like a trussed turkey.
Allie gets into the driver’s seat, looks over at me, and immediately lets out a burst of laughter.
“Move the seat back,” she says like I’m an idiot.
“We should take my rental,” I tell her grumpily.
“Needles,” she reminds me. “And besides,” she goes on wit
h a twinkle in her eye. “You’re stuck, now, sexy mystery man.” She grins wickedly and turns the key to start the car.
It’s a short trip to the tree farm, but by the time we get there I feel like I’ve been stuck in a trash compactor. I crawl out of the car like the girl from The Ring and stretch myself out with my hands on the back of my hips like an eighty-year-old. Allie, meanwhile, is collapsing in giggles.
“It’s not funny,” I say.
“It’s quite funny,” she replies, and she practically skips along in front of me to the front desk.
“Now, we need to be pretty fast,” she continues. “Sadie’s picking the girls up from school, but she’ll be dropping them home at around noon.”
I glance at my watch and it’s 9:30. That means that it took 30 minutes to get here. The faster I get the tree in the car, the faster we get back to Allie’s house and the more time we have. Alone.
I can feel my heart quicken at the very prospect of what I could do with an hour alone with Alora Brooks.
“Thank you,” I say, interrupting the attendant who’s giving us instructions about how we select and cut our tree. He pauses mid-sentence and Allie looks up to me with a puzzled expression, which only intensifies when I take her hand and pull her into the back lot, grabbing a saw on the way.
“Hey!” she says, “What’s the rush?”
I come to a halt and turn to face her.
“Allie,” I say, wearing my most serious face. “If we get this tree in, say, twenty minutes, get in the car, and drive back to your house, we’ll have one hundred minutes.”
She frowns and her eyes go up like she’s doing the calculation herself.
“Together,” I say.
“Uh,”
“Alone.”
“Oh. Oh!” she says, as realization dawns.
Her face changes suddenly, sets with determination, and she grabs the saw out of my hand.
“Well come on,” she says, as she starts stomping up the hill. “What are you waiting for?”
Good lord in heaven above, what did I do to deserve this woman? A broad grin appears on my face and I jog a few steps to catch up to her.
My Smalltown C.E.O. Scrooge: A Festive Romantic Comedy Page 12
