Deck the Halls

by Leah Sanders

  Reluctantly, Kate turned to Mrs. Hall, who stood beside an empty chair on Kate’s right. “May we join you, Kate?” she asked. The request was pleasant enough, but the memory of what Kate had overheard only moments before was very raw. Every muscle in Kate’s body tensed.

  Luca stood briefly while Jake held the chair for his mother. When he sat back down, he slipped his hand onto Kate’s under the table and squeezed it. He didn’t know what had happened earlier, but he seemed to sense that Kate needed his support.

  Mrs. Hall angled toward Kate, and making no pretense, she let her gaze run the full length of Kate’s gown. By sheer force of habit, Kate held her breath, hoping Mrs. Hall would approve, but instead of appreciation in her eyes, Kate saw resentment.

  “What is this?” She gestured toward the gown. “A gift from Tori, I suppose? She’s trying to manipulate you with extravagant gifts, Kate. Tell me you’re intelligent enough to see through her superficial schemes.”

  Kate felt the last shred of her restraint stretch to the breaking point, and she made a desperate attempt to maintain control.

  “Mrs. Hall, I designed this dress. It’s the one I had made for you for the Christmas ball.” It came out more forceful than she meant it to be.

  “What? Well, that’s ridiculous, Kate. I’ve never seen this dress before. I think I would know.” There was enough noise coming from the other people in the room, that Mrs. Hall didn’t bother to lower her voice either.

  “I know you haven’t. You refused to look at it.” Even louder. People were starting to look at them. “Don’t you remember? I believe your exact words were ‘Cynthia Skye-Adams cannot be caught wearing something off the rack of a local shop.’ It was your last word on the subject. I remember specifically because you spoke slowly so I. Would. Under. Stand.”

  Luca released her hand under the table and moved his hand to her shoulder. Was he trying to hold her back?

  Mrs. Hall’s face began to turn red. Jake leaned toward her and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was, she glanced around at the tables, and then smiled sweetly and relaxed into her chair.

  “Perhaps we can continue this discussion later, Kate.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Mrs. Hall. I’ve made up my mind about your offer.” Kate reached for her clutch. “I am going to have to decline.” She opened her purse and pulled the folded letter she had been carrying around with her for the past two years.

  “Kate,” Mrs. Hall began, “I really think you should take until we get back to New York to think about that. Leave time to negotiate.”

  Kate slid the folded paper across the table.

  “What is this?” Mrs. Hall asked, reaching for the letter.

  “My resignation.”

  “Kate…”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Hall, for the valuable learning experience, but I feel like I’ve reached a point in my employment that I have gleaned all I can from you.”

  Mrs. Hall stared at her in utter disbelief.

  As if on cue, the string quartet began playing Deck the Halls.

  Kate turned to Luca, who seemed to be hiding his amusement beneath a calm exterior. He held out his hand to her. “Would you like to dance?”

  “I would love to.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Fast Away the Old Year Passes

  “JOYEUX NOËL,” LUCA SAID WHEN KATE opened her door on Christmas morning. “I come bearing gifts.” He held up a cup of hot coffee. “This is from me, and this…” He handed Kate a manila envelope with her name on it. “…is from Tori Van Nuys.”

  “Coffee! Oh, thank God!” She grabbed the cup with both hands and let the aroma wash over her, awaking her senses. The thought of the envelope, however, was another matter, and she refused to touch it.

  “Um…” Luca quirked an eyebrow and frowned in confusion. “Did you hear me? Tori Van Nuys!” He waved the packet in front of her.

  “Yeah, I heard you.” She cringed and took it.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?”

  She shuffled to the kitchen counter and dropped the envelope there like it was a hot potato, shaking her head. “I’m afraid. Good news never comes in big envelopes.” She sat on a stool and took a sip of her coffee, staring at the envelope like it was loaded with Anthrax.

  Luca sat on the other stool and leveled his gaze on her. “What if it’s good news?”

  That was a trick question, Kate was sure. Because good to Luca might mean not getting the job because then there would be no reason for her to return to New York and she could stay there with him. If she were honest with herself, that wouldn’t be so bad. Meeting Luca had changed her life. She just wasn’t so sure it had changed her dream.

  He pushed the envelope toward her. “No use living in fear. Let’s find out.”

  She nodded. Butterflies danced in her stomach. Kate took a deep breath and let it out slowly, lifting the envelope and breaking the seal. She closed her eyes as she reached inside and slid the papers out.

  “I can’t look,” she said, eyes clenched tight. She thrust the stack of papers in Luca’s direction.

  Gently, he took them from her. She waited in silence, holding her breath.

  The silence stretched out much longer than she thought it should. Not a good sign. Suspense began to eat through her carefully constructed composure, so cautiously, she opened one eye to peek at Luca, to study his reaction. His face was void of expression.

  No smile. No sadness. Nothing.

  Both eyes open wide, she stared at him, staring at her.

  “Well, what does it say!?” Kate swatted at Luca’s arm.

  “‘Dear Ms. Curtis, thank you for submitting your portfolio for review…’” He paused and directed his gaze back at Kate. She wasn’t sure if it was for dramatic effect or if he was gauging how heartbroken she would be, but she couldn’t wait any longer to find out.

  “Oh, my word! Give me that!” She snatched the letter out of his hand and quickly scanned the page. “She loved it.” It was barely a whisper. Then her eyes shot to Luca. “She loved it!” Kate leaped off her stool and bounced around the room. “Tori Van Nuys loves my portfolio! She wants to offer me a contract… on the design floor… in New York!”

  Luca clapped his hands and laughed. “See? I knew it was good news! You are amazing, and now everyone knows it.”

  Kate wrapped her arms around him and gazed up into his eyes. He slid his arms around her waist.

  “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered.

  “Thank you.” Her heart was full with the realization of her dreams. So why did it seem so bittersweet?

  Kate knew the answer. This would be the last time she’d be wrapped up in Luca’s arms, and it was a goodbye she didn’t want to make.

  IT WAS TRUE. LUCA was proud of her, of how she had worked to earn her dreams. It wasn’t just dropped in her lap. That made it worth so much more. The fruit of her labors. She was amazing, and she deserved this.

  He wouldn’t allow himself to be selfish.

  But even in his resolution, Kate’s excitement seemed to fade when she looked in his eyes. Did he seem sad to her?

  “This isn’t goodbye, you know. I’ll be back, Luca, I promise.”

  And Luca believed her.

  Because that is what his heart wanted to believe.

  Luca drove Kate to the airport himself, and they talked the whole way, making plans about how their relationship could work over such a long distance.

  As he kissed her goodbye for the last time and climbed into his car for the long drive back alone, he comforted himself with the old adage, Absence makes the heart grow fonder. If that were true, he’d be pining for Kate by the time he got back to the resort.

  BACK IN NEW YORK, Kate threw herself heart and soul into her new career. Kate quickly found that Tori Van Nuys was an amazing mentor, working closely with Kate as a protégé and guiding her through the world of fashion. Tori was every bit the workaholic Mrs. Hall had been, and Kate knew that the woman’s assistant was overwo
rked too. And at times, the fashion industry could be cutthroat, but when one of Kate’s designs made the cover of Being Beautiful for the first time, Tori threw a party to celebrate her triumph.

  But Kate’s first thought was to share her success with Luca.

  The demands of her schedule were intense though, and as much as she’d wanted to take a trip out to Huckleberry Falls to see him, she couldn’t. So, she called him, but it wasn’t the same as being there.

  Kate loved what she did. She loved working for Tori and the feeling she got when her designs were on the catwalk in a showcase. But always there was the longing in her soul to be with Luca.

  When her first year was almost up, she was called into Tori’s office for a meeting.

  “As you know, your contract is due for renegotiation this month.” Tori indicated the chair across from her. “I just thought we could have a frank discussion about your work and your future.”

  Kate’s stomach flipped. She thought she’d been doing well. Was Tori dissatisfied?

  Tori grinned. “Not to worry, Kate, it’s a good thing.”

  The fact that Tori read her so well was one more reason that Kate enjoyed working with her so much. Her sensitivity to the people around her was a novelty, actually. And Kate had noticed over the last year that there was little to no turnover in Tori’s studio. Everyone loved her. Even the overworked assistant.

  Kate relaxed.

  “First, I want to make sure you know that I know how talented you are. I have never had a first-year designer win a cover of Being Beautiful. In fact, I’m not sure that’s ever happened in the history of the magazine. The feature brought a lot of attention to our firm, and with it, I’ve been hearing a lot of rumblings in the industry of people planning to steal you away from us.”

  Kate nodded. She had already received several calls from headhunters since the feature had come out.

  “Listen, Kate. I’m all about helping people achieve their best success. And I want you to know that wherever your dream takes you, I’ll support you. Even if that takes you away from here.” Tori reached out and rested her hand on Kate’s for a moment. When she released it, she leaned back in her chair and leveled her gaze at Kate. “That being said, I have an offer of my own to keep that from happening.” She rose from her seat and went to her desk. She rustled through a stack of paperwork on her desk until she found what she was looking for. Then she tapped the intercom on her phone.

  “Lizzie, can you send in our guest?” Tori said into the speaker. Then she returned to her chair. “I did a little digging, Kate, and a lot of work—and trust me when I say, it was hard to keep this a secret from you—but I think I’ve put together a deal that will make you happy.”

  Kate felt like she was on pins and needles. She was already happy. The happiest she had ever been in a job her entire life. She was living the dream already.

  The door opened and Lizzie entered with a woman right on her heels.

  Kate stood in surprise. “Mrs. Stradley?

  Mrs. Stradley grinned and pulled Kate in for a warm hug.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Mrs. Stradley glanced at Tori, who nodded. “Well, I’m here to make a deal.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Hail the New Year, Lads and Lasses

  IT HAD BEEN ALMOST A WEEK since Kate had called. Of course, she had texted a few times, but the renegotiations of her contract had been taking a lot of her time, and it was only going to get worse once the preparations for the next fashion season began.

  In the year since they had met, Kate’s dream career had taken off. Luca was proud of her—of her success—but she had only been able to visit a handful of times. And her travel to Europe the past few months had kept her away for longer periods at a time.

  Luca missed Kate.

  Fortunately, the preparations for the Edelweiss New Year’s Eve party had kept him occupied enough that he hadn’t been able to dwell on how much he missed her—how much he wished she could have been here for Christmas—and on the fact that he hadn’t heard from her recently, which accounted for his foul mood when the elevator door slid open to the lobby.

  “Good morning, Renate,” he grunted. “Any messages?”

  Renate smiled brightly. She had been trying to cheer him up for the last several days, and he made an effort to oblige her, but it was no use. Especially not today.

  “There’s a new shop opening in the village,” she said.

  “Oh? That’s nice.” Luca pulled the mail out of the tray and sorted through it. He didn’t care about a new shop. He didn’t care about any shop.

  “The owner wants to meet with you to discuss some cross-promotion ideas.”

  “It seems like that would be a conversation to have with the resort’s owner, not a manager.”

  “Oh. Probably. I didn’t think of that when she made the appointment.”

  “She made an appointment?” It came out rougher than he had intended, but he made no apology.

  “Yes.” Renate winced as if Luca appeared that he might come unglued at any moment. “You were talking to the chef about the party, and it happened so fast. I’m sorry.”

  Luca exhaled in resignation. “It’s okay, Renate. We’ll just call her and reschedule a meeting with Gretchen for next week.”

  Renate bit her lip and frowned. “Um…” Her eyes darted to the manager’s office door and back to Luca.

  “Oh no… Don’t tell me she’s here now.” His shoulders slumped in frustration. “Renate, I don’t have time today, the party… and Gretchen’s not even here. Why didn’t you tell me about this appointment yesterday?”

  Renate shrugged. “I’m sorry, Luca. If it helps, the new shop seems like it’ll offer some amazing new services for our guests. Can’t you just meet with her? Might put you in a better mood. Besides, it couldn’t hurt to be the one bringing the information to Gretchen, right?”

  “I’ll meet with her because she’s already here, but we aren’t through talking about this.” He pointed a finger of warning toward Renate. Luca didn’t relish dealing with the kind of people that pandered to the same clientele the resort had. They were often just as difficult as the people they served, especially when they came to Huckleberry Falls from out of state.

  Clearly, Luca was going to need a holiday after the holidays were over. Maybe a trip to New York.

  He trudged toward the door.

  “Luca?” Renate said, drawing his attention just as his hand grasped the doorknob.

  “What?”

  “Smile.” A bright grin spread across her lips as if she was showing him what it should look like.

  He shot her a mocking smirk, turned the knob, and stepped into his office. The woman was in a chair with her back to him.

  “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, mademoiselle,” he said, as he moved to the other side of the desk, focused on the stack of mail in his hands. “Renate tells me you’re opening a new shop in the village and you wish to discuss cross-promotion with the resort. Is that right?” When she didn’t answer, he glanced up and his heart came skidding to a stop.

  “Kate?” It came out as a squeak, and for a moment he was frozen where he stood.

  “Hi.” She gazed up at him and her emerald eyes twinkled, like she was something straight out of his dreams.

  “Kate!” Suddenly he was on the other side of the desk pulling her into his arms, and he wasn’t sure if he had leaped the desk in a single bound or if he taken one step at a time like a civilized person. It didn’t matter. Kate was there. In Huckleberry Falls. He crushed his lips to hers, like a starving man finding food in the wilderness.

  Her hands slid around his neck and her fingers wove through his hair, and it seemed to Luca that she had been starving too.

  Luca didn’t know how long they held each other. Time seemed to stand still. He wanted to stay in that moment forever.

  When Kate broke the seal of their kiss, breathless, Luca found his way back to his senses.

  “But ho
w—? Why—? How did you get here?”

  “The usual way… three flights, a two-hour train ride, a twenty-minute shuttle, and here I am.” She rubbed at the side of his mouth with her thumb as if wiping off a smudge of wayward lipstick. “Actually, it was the strangest thing. I was in the middle of renegotiating my contract with Tori when I suddenly realized I didn’t want to be in New York anymore.”

  Luca felt sick to his stomach. “Kate, that has been your dream forever. And you were doing so well. How—I don’t understand—how could you give it up?”

  “I didn’t give up my dream, Luca. I made it better.” She rested her hands on his chest and gazed up at him. “You are looking at the new owner of Le Bisou Boutique. Well, co-owner. Mrs. Stradley and I are partners.”

  “Le Bisou. The Kiss. I like the sound of that. So, if you and Mrs. Stradley are partners, what does that make you and me?” he asked, pulling her closer.

  “Happy,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and stretching up on her tiptoes to kiss him again.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  LEAH SANDERS is a USA Today bestselling author and the middle child in a family of seven children. As a true middle child, she went from high school in Alaska to college in Florida, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Southeastern University. She also holds a master’s degree in educational technology from Boise State University. She makes her home in Idaho with her husband and four children and teaches high school English.

  BOOKS BY LEAH SANDERS

  Waltzing with the Wallflower Trilogy

  Waltzing with the Wallflower

  Beguiling Bridget

  Taming Wilde

  Two Turtledoves

  Sacred Ring

  All We See or Seem

  Discord

  The Parting Gift

  The Trouble with Frogs