One more for christmas, p.21
One More for Christmas, page 21
“Your girls don’t come home?”
“No, but that’s my fault. I’ve never made a fuss of the holidays.” This was the perfect time to confess to the messy nature of their family relationships. To tell Mary they’d been estranged for five years. But she, who so rarely cared what anyone thought of her, didn’t want Mary to judge her harshly. “They’re busy with their own lives.”
“That’s hard, isn’t it? Because you don’t want to pressure them, but at the same time you want them to know they’re welcome. And family matters. I always think that whatever else it does, Christmas gives families a nudge to get together no matter how busy their lives. I suppose that will change when they’re seriously involved. Neither of mine are in serious relationships. Brodie was seeing someone in London for a while I think, but it ended when he had to come back to Scotland.”
Gayle gave a vague murmur of sympathy. Her girls had never involved her in their relationships, and that was her fault. And now she could understand why Ella hadn’t felt inclined to invite her to her wedding.
She’d already been pregnant that last time they’d met. She’d been afraid that her mother would have said or done something to spoil the happiness of her special day.
Would she have said the wrong thing?
Possibly. Probably.
She would have worried that her daughter was pregnant. And worried that she was getting married for the wrong reasons.
But the fact that Ella hadn’t felt able to tell her didn’t make her proud.
Mary was still talking about Brodie’s last relationship. “Not that I thought she was right for him. He brought her back here for a weekend, but she found it remote and isolated. She wanted shopping, and there’s not a lot of that around here. And then Bear, who was a puppy then, jumped on her coat with muddy paws and poor Brodie spent an entire day driving it to the dry cleaner.”
“The dog?”
“The coat. They broke up soon after. Not that he ever discussed it. But I think she was one of the other reasons Kirstie was nervous about this plan to have guests. She was left with the impression that city people weren’t going to like the wildness of this place.”
“Or maybe the wildness is exactly what they will like,” Gayle said.
“I don’t know, but Brodie is convinced your daughter Samantha does know and should be able to help. Do you think she will, Gayle?”
Should she admit that she knew almost nothing about her daughter’s business? She’d done an internet search, of course. The website was impressive. The testimonials equally good. Really Festive Holidays.
Who would have thought that would be a sound business proposition?
“My daughter will be able to help—I’m sure of it.”
“I hope so. Brodie is my strong one. He does what has to be done. But I know when he’s hurting. He’s pinning a lot of hope on your daughter. He showed me her website. The photography alone made me want to book something myself. You must be very proud of her.”
“I am proud.”
“Did she always love Christmas as a child?”
Gayle put her cup down. “Yes.”
And she’d never understood it. Her girls had imagined it to be a mystical, magical time of year. Gayle saw it as part of a commercial conspiracy designed to tempt innocent people to spend a fortune in order to create the type of holiday celebration showcased by the media. Buy this and your Christmas will be perfect. Life was rarely dreamy, and you did a child no favors by pretending that it was. The one gift she hadn’t wanted to give her girls was that of unrealistic expectations.
She still remembered the moment when her rosy view of life had been exploded by reality.
But apparently there were people prepared to pay what seemed to Gayle to be outrageous sums of money to experience her daughter’s vision of a romantic winter vacation.
She’d looked at the website and almost been tempted to book a week visiting the European Christmas markets, an activity that would normally make her want to run fast in the opposite direction.
Mary stood up and cleared the cups. “If you don’t normally spend Christmas together, this trip must be extra special for you.”
“It is.” Extra special and extra stressful.
“Well, we’ll do what we can to make it memorable. Do you work, Gayle?”
Gayle thought about the award in her office—that wretched award—the book sales, her enviable list of clients. Her agent had called her several times in the past few weeks to let her know that her new book was outselling her last.
For once, she had no desire to talk about her work. “I run a boutique consulting business.” It was clear from Mary’s interested expression that she had no idea what that would involve but was too polite to say so.
“That sounds impressive.”
“Not really.” Normally she’d be asking questions and helping Mary examine and possibly redefine her life. But right now it seemed to her that Mary was far more confident about her choices than Gayle was.
There was no chance to say anything more because at that moment Ella walked into the room.
Gayle tensed but Mary gave a quick smile.
“You must be hungry after being out in the snow. I’ll fetch you a cooked breakfast.” She made a rapid, tactful exit. Gayle almost begged her to stay. She wasn’t sure she could handle more questions at the moment.
Ella hesitated. “Good breakfast?”
“Delicious.”
“I’m sorry if my questions made you feel uncomfortable, Mom.” She sat down in the empty chair next to Gayle. “You seemed upset and I wanted you to feel able to talk about it, but I understand that not everyone wants to do that. And given that I didn’t talk to you about Michael, it’s hypocritical of me to expect you to do the same about Dad. I’m sure there are many things that you want to keep private, and I’m going to stop asking you. But I want you to know that if you want to talk, then I’m here to listen.”
Gayle was totally wrong-footed.
How did Ella do that so easily? She’d apologized, unreservedly, for making Gayle feel uncomfortable. And perhaps her questions were understandable. Both her daughters deserved answers. But how, when you’d covered something up for such a long time, did you begin to tell the truth?
Samantha
Samantha sat in the suffocating intimacy of the car, gripping her phone.
She kept her gaze fixed forward, but avoiding awkward eye contact did nothing to dilute the tension. Did he feel it, too? Was he nervous to be sitting next to a self-confessed sexually frustrated woman?
Or maybe he wasn’t tense. Maybe he was feeling pity that her sex life was so unfulfilling. Maybe he was wondering if it was her fault.
Even her sister seemed to think that was the case. You’re terrified of feelings, which is why instead of experiencing wild abandoned passion, you spend your nights reading about wild abandoned passion. It’s the very definition of safe sex.
The words hurt, but words often hurt more when they were true.
Her head was fuzzy with jet lag. Her heart beating just a little too fast.
The coffee she’d drunk at breakfast might have been a mistake.
She was painfully conscious of Brodie McIntyre sitting within touching distance in the driver’s seat. It would have been easier if she hadn’t been so ridiculously attracted to him. It was enough that he knew her innermost thoughts in embarrassing detail, without having to deal with the added layer of complexity that came with sexual chemistry.
Laid by the Laird.
Samantha closed her eyes briefly. She was going to kill Charlotte.
In the meantime, she’d handle this situation the same way she handled any other crisis. She’d stay calm and work the problem.
Her body felt hot. Tight. Appalled, she sat up a little straighter and felt him glance at her.
“Everything all right?” His attention stoked the heat a little higher.
“Perfect. I’m excited to see what you have to offer—” Oh Samantha. “I mean on the estate, obviously.”
There was a pause.
“Is there anywhere in particular you want to start?”
“You decide. You’re the local expert.” She grabbed her phone from her lap and opened a notes file. She typed Brodie and then immediately deleted it and changed the heading to Kinleven, Day 1. She was going to focus on the place, not the person next to her.
Professional Samantha was going to smother wild Samantha.
He adjusted the heater. “This is the only vehicle we have that can handle the snow and rough terrain, but it’s pretty basic. No heated seats. Are you cold?”
“No. I’m hot. I mean—I’m warm enough. These are ski pants, and I have lightweight thermals under my sweater. I know a great deal about dressing for winter. Advising on appropriate clothing is one of the things we offer as part of our service to clients. We try not to recommend specific brands, but we give examples and—”
“Samantha—” he stopped the car in front of the gates “—could you relax? Your tension is making me tense.” Without waiting for her to reply, he sprang from the car and pushed open the gate.
Relax.
As if that was something one could do on command. As if she had chosen shallow breathing and tense muscles over the infinitely more comfortable alternative.
She watched as he secured the gates, then stamped down a pile of snow. He looked so comfortable in his surroundings it was hard to picture him living in a city, spending his days hunched over a computer screen.
Data analyst.
He climbed back into the car, drove through the gate and stopped so that he could close it behind them.
Needing air, Samantha opened the door. “My turn.” She dragged the gates shut, grateful for the freezing air that cooled her heated skin. She’d never minded cold weather. Others complained, but she found it invigorating. Deep in the Highlands it was also clean and fresh. Snow in Boston meant inconvenience and dangerous driving, and snow darkened by footprints. Here it meant quiet.
When they’d arrived, the beauty of their surroundings had been shrouded by dusky light, but today they’d woken to bright sunshine. There was a clarity to the view, and a sharpness to the outline of the mountains.
She had an urge to walk a few steps, to feel her boots break through the hard top layer to the softness beneath, but Brodie was watching, hands resting on the wheel as he waited for her to climb back into the vehicle.
She checked the gate was secure and then joined him.
“Thanks for that.” He waited for her to fasten her seat belt before pulling away. “In an ideal world we’d have electric gates, but this isn’t an ideal world and round here we end up doing a fair amount of manual labor.”
“I guess that explains your muscles.” And now it sounded as if she’d been staring at his body. “I mean, it must be a great way of keeping in shape.” Shut up, Samantha.
“Are you always this nervous?”
“Nervous? I’m focused, that’s all, and maybe that sometimes comes across as nervous energy. This is me. This is who I am.”
“So this isn’t about that phone call?”
“What phone call? I’m thinking about work. I take it seriously. I assume that’s why you invited me here.”
“It is, but if we have an issue then I think we should address it, don’t you?”
She did not.
“There’s no issue.”
How was she going to survive a whole day of this? On the other hand, the alternative was spending the day with her mother, and that was an even less appealing option. She didn’t envy her sister, having to smile and build a snowman as if nothing was wrong.
Not for the first time in her life, Samantha was happy to use her work as an avoidance strategy.
She’d done her best to prepare herself, using makeup as armor. Ella was right that she’d taken ages over it, but not because she was hoping to attract Brodie McIntyre. Dressing in a professional manner made her feel professional. People judged on appearances—that was a fact of life. She was confident that no one looking at her would guess that her personal life was a hot mess. Her “natural” look had taken so long to achieve she thought she might have visibly aged during the process. She’d half expected to have to deal with crow’s feet and wrinkles.
“Tell me more about your reindeer herd. They are going to be a real draw for clients. Are we going to see them?”
“That’s the plan.” Brodie drove along the narrow track that followed the winding river to the loch. “In the summer they roam wild, but in winter we keep them fairly close. We might have to walk a little way but the boots you gave me to put in the car look pretty sturdy.”
“I don’t have a problem with snow.” She glanced up from her notes. “I’d like to see as much of the surrounding area as possible. My objective today is to get a real feel for the place so that I can evaluate our options.”
“Right.” He hesitated. “It’s pretty wild around here. I’m sure not all of it will be a draw.”
“You’re worried it’s too remote? I picked up on that last night.”
“Because of my mother?” He fiddled with the heater. “She was trying a little too hard to convince you, wasn’t she? How did she describe this place...?”
“I think her exact description was the hub of civilization.”
He groaned. “She won’t be in charge of marketing, I promise.”
“I thought she was charming.” She was quick to offer reassurance. “And Kinleven might not be the hub of civilization but I can assure you that’s a benefit.”
“You’re sure about that? We are pretty remote.”
“Yes, I’m sure.” She smiled. “This is my job. This is what I do.”
“Not all of the estate will appeal to visitors. I need to know what you think will work and what won’t.”
“You’d be surprised what appeals to people. That’s why I’d like to see as much as possible. When I’ve had time to digest the information, we’ll talk about it. I’ll prepare a full proposal. And we’ll need to consider costings of course.” She made a few notes on her phone. “We need to discuss your staffing, and logistics in the event of severe weather. In the meantime, show me everything, unfiltered, including Rudolph and his teammates. Although it seems a shame not to include Tab for that part.”
He drove carefully as they hit a bumpy part of the track. “We’ll make sure she spends time with them. The forecast is good for the next few days. I have an idea that might work.”
“If it’s anything to do with reindeer, she’ll love it.”
He glanced at her. “You’re a doting aunt.”
“You’ve met her. How could I not be? Also, being an aunt is perfect. I get all the fun and none of the responsibility.”
“You and your sister are close.”
“It’s obvious?”
“Yes. And also you mentioned it on the phone. You said you spoke every day.”
Was there anything about that phone call that he’d forgotten? She felt herself blush. “Kyle used to get a little frustrated that Ella and I were always talking.”
Brodie made no comment.
But what was there to say?
“Ella and I are close in age, too.” She made no reference to the rest of that conversation. “There’s only ten months between us, although I’m still the oldest and the bossiest. You’re the oldest, too?”
“By four years. But Kirstie is definitely the bossiest. So I know you’re the protective older sister. I know you run a successful company. What do you do when you’re not working?”
“Not working?”
“I assume there are moments when you do other things.” He gave her a quick smile. “I already know you like opera and champagne.”
She sighed. “Mr. McIntyre—”
“Brodie. And I like opera and champagne too, by the way.”
“Brodie—if we could just forget that conversation ever happened, I’d appreciate it.”
“Why? That conversation is part of the reason you’re here.”
“Excuse me?”
“Did that sound suggestive?” It was his turn to be embarrassed. “I apologize. What I meant was, you were open and honest. Authentic. It was unbelievably refreshing. These days people filter everything, as if only perfection is acceptable even though we all know that doesn’t exist. Flaws are not allowed. Before you got in touch, I was contacted by another company who were interested in using the lodge for house parties.”
“You were?”
“Yes. I turned them down. They didn’t understand what we’re trying to do here. Kirstie always accuses me of being insensitive and responding to nothing but numbers, but it isn’t true. I know that if this plan is going to bring in what we need financially, then we have to look beyond the numbers. We need someone who understands this place. Someone who will bring in the right people. People who will love what we have here and want to come back. People who will appreciate it the way it already is. The company I contacted weren’t interested in our goals, or in the history of this land. They asked questions about Wi-Fi signal, phone signal, how we handle snow clearing, how we could try and minimize the fact that we’re remote.”
“That’s where your anxiety about the location came from?”
“It was part of it. I don’t want this place to be presented through a filter, and then have to deal with people who were expecting something different.”
“Sensible. It’s the way to ensure satisfied clients.”
“And that’s what we need. I know nothing about your job, but presumably it’s a relationship. Like all relationships, to be successful it has to be based on trust and honesty. If you’re hiding who you really are, how is that ever going to work?”
