Beyond the Mistletoe: A Christmas Romance (Beyond Love Book 7) (22 page)

Chapter Nineteen

This was why I never let anyone in. It was Bodie and me against the world. By the time I got home last night, the sadness had quickly turned to anger. I felt like I’d been possessed by the ice queen, and I was grateful for it. Even the blood flowing through my veins was frigid. I was officially done with men.

Now his words about love being nothing but betrayal made perfect sense. He was the betrayer. I should have known a teen idol, wrestler, and screenwriter meant nothing but trouble. And his whole Santa ploy? Psh.

If I’d just left it at sex and nothing more, I would have been fine seeing a cover like that.

I totally would have been fine.

Everything about the last month of being with Derek dried up in under a second when I saw him with another woman. The photograph on the front cover was plain as day. He was kissing a brunette’s cheek with his arm draped over her shoulders. She looked at him with pure love in her eyes. At least I figured out the real reason he moved to Montana before I went to visit.

My parents and sister were minutes away, and thankfully, I hadn’t divulged too much information about my relationship with Derek. Days ago, I told them I’d fill them in when they got here. The conversation certainly wouldn’t be headed in the direction I’d thought it would.

It didn’t help that the headline on the magazine read, “Elusive Screenwriter and Former Teen Heartthrob Finds his Muse in Montana” and then in smaller caps, “Does that mean
The Fighters
sequel will finally be released?”

Derek had texted several times last night and this morning, but I refused to answer any of them. It was done, and anything he had to say wouldn’t matter. I was foolish believing that true love existed, especially with him.

In my fury last night I’d managed to whip up several batches of cookies, quiche, and cranberry weenies for today. I’d just put the finishing touch on a turkey casserole and shoved it in the oven.

One thing was for sure. I needed my family now more than ever.

The doorbell rang and Bodie sprang off the couch and barked his way to the foyer. I wiped my hands off on a kitchen towel and ran to answer the door. The moment I flung it open, my sister dove into my arms, followed by mom and dad giving me a bear hug. This was what the holidays were about.

“Come on, get inside,” I told them, helping my mom with her bag. “At least most of the snow has melted. Was the drive over the pass an easy one?”

“It would have been if dad had put on the studded tires, but he had to get out and put on the chains because he refused to listen to his daughter,” my sister Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes.

“It scares me to death having him do that. Those big semitrucks speeding by and splashing everything with dirty snow. Next time your father will listen to me. Won’t you?” My mom questioned, eyeing my father as he beamed.

“Why start now? My way has worked for the last forty years.”

Bodie was jumping in circles, and I ushered everyone into the living room to get him to calm down. They arranged their bags in the hall, and my dad whistled when he saw the Christmas tree.

“Say, I noticed you have a whole bunch of lights outside on your house, but they’re not turned on. Is a bulb out?” he asked.

I was hoping my dad wouldn’t notice. As childish as it sounded, I didn’t want anything to do with Derek, including his Christmas lights.

“Probably, I just gave up,” I fibbed and felt extremely guilty, especially as my father began slipping his jacket back on to go find the cause. “Actually, it just dawned on me what happened. I plugged them into the wrong outlet. I’ll go try it again.”

My dad nodded approvingly and followed me outside. I wandered around the corner of the house, and my stomach knotted as I thought about the joy that had washed over me when I saw Derek hanging all the lights. The anger I wanted to feel slipped into an overwhelming sadness as I plugged in the lights.

“Wow, Em. You put these up yourself? This puts my show to shame.”

“Oh, daddy, nothing could put your shows to shame. But no. I didn’t do it. Someone else did it for me.”

“Maybe I ought to hire him for my house next year. Got his number?” My dad gave the jolliest of chuckles and patted my back.

“I thought you loved doing your Christmas lights.”

“The first year or two it was fun… What was that? Thirty-eight years ago?” He grimaced. “And then when you married that turkey there was an element of fun in it. I just liked crushing him in competitions, but no. I’d like to hire it out next year. Too bad I wouldn’t be able to get this guy to drive six hours to put ‘em up. I’d have the best ones in the neighborhood.”

“You already do.”

He winked and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we stared at the twinkling lights. I tried to focus on the lights, not the person who strung them.

“I’m getting cold. Do you mind if we head back in? The casserole’s probably close to being done.”

“Of course.” He gave me one last squeeze. “But I’m going to stop off at the car first and bring in some of the gifts.”

“Want help?”

“No. Get inside and get warm. I know your mom and sister have been dying to ask you about your mystery man, and my gut tells me he has something to do with the lights.” My dad’s eyes glimmered with hope, and I actually felt bad. Once again, I was about to relay the same story. I thought I liked a guy, but I was wrong.

I shuffled inside, feeling completely defeated when I rounded the bend and saw my mom staring at the casserole dish.

“Honey, what did you put in this?”

“What do you mean? It’s a turkey casserole. I just put some breadcrumbs on top.”

“I don’t think you used breadcrumbs,” my sister said, staring at the casserole.

“It smells really sweet in here.” I glanced at the casserole and instead of seeing golden breadcrumbs, I saw a glistening substance coating the top of the dish. I looked on the counter and my stomach plummeted.

“I used brown sugar instead of breadcrumbs.”

My mom furrowed her brows and eyed my sister before looking over at me.

“How in the world did you manage that one?”

Because I was crying so hard, I didn’t pay attention to which canister I grabbed, but I kept that bit of information to myself and just stared at them.

“Maybe it’s time to get my vision checked.”

“Maybe your sniffer too. How could you not smell the sugar? You work in a bakery.” My sister looked at me suspiciously, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid things for much longer.

I heard my dad come inside, which gave me the perfect excuse to call for pizza.

“What kind of pizza does everyone want?” I asked, as my dad carried his armful of presents to the tree.

“I want everything,” Dad mumbled with the packages squishing his lips as he bent down.

“I just want cheese,” my mom said, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

“I’d like one with chicken. Do they have anything with chicken?” My sister’s eyes were glued to me. I could never hide anything from her. I glanced at my mom and saw the same look. I could never hide anything from anyone in my family. Period.

“What happened to the casserole?” my dad asked.

“I accidentally poured brown sugar on top, instead of breadcrumbs,” I muttered, glancing at the pizza menu I knew by heart.

“Does that have to do with all the tissue in your wastebasket?” My dad wandered over to the sink and washed his hands.

My phone beeped on the counter, and my sister looked far too interested in the sender for her own good.

“Who’s that?” she asked, scooting forward.

I picked up my cell and glanced at the screen. It was Derek.

Again.

“Just someone I met at Gabby’s wedding. You remember her, right? My boss?”

“She’s a doll,” my mom answered for them all.

I dialed the pizza place and ordered enough pizza to last through the holidays, but at least everyone got what they wanted.

“You should see the Christmas lights outside,” my dad began. “They rival my best work.”

“You put them up?” my mom asked.

“Nope.”

“Who did?” my sister asked.

“Just a friend.”

“Will we be meeting him?” My mom looked so excited about the prospect, it made my heart hurt.

“Not that kind of friend, and he’s actually in the ex-friend category.” I flipped on the stereo and Eartha Kitt began singing her heart out.

“So are you going to make us drag this out of you in a slow and painful way or are you just going to tell us?” My mom opened the cookie jar and reached inside. “Hopefully you didn’t put breadcrumbs in these instead of brown sugar.”

“Here’s hopin’.” I reached in and grabbed two for myself and poured us all a glass of milk.

My phone beeped again with another text, and I grabbed it and turned it off without even bothering to read the text. The holidays were about family, and I was lucky to have mine here tonight. I wasn’t going to ignore them so I could take part in someone else’s foolishness. I glanced up and noticed they were all looking at me, wearing the same odd expression. There was no denying we were all related.

“Well, I tried online dating and chickened out. Turns out the person I stood up was also the same person my friends set me up with. I thought there was going to be something there, but I was very wrong. Not to mention he moved to Montana ten days ago so the rest is history.”

“And he’s the same fellow who put up the lights?” my dad questioned.

My mom and sister started laughing, and I couldn’t help but join in.

“Yeah, dad. He’s the one who put up the lights.”

“Damn shame it’s not gonna work out.” He rubbed my back and shook his head. “But things will work out in the end. They always do. What’s most important is family, health, and happiness. If we’ve got any one of the three at any given time we’re ahead.”

“Cheers,” my mom said, holding up her milk glass.

We toasted to that just as my home phone rang its shrill scream, and I almost jumped out of my skin. No one ever called me on that. The only three who did were standing in my kitchen. As it continued to ring, my dad looked at me cautiously, his neck craning forward.

“Is there a reason we’re not answering the phone?” he whispered.

I shrugged.

“Don’t be silly. It’s probably the guy,” my sister surmised.

Before I could stop him, my dad picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

There was a few seconds of silence on my dad’s end followed by a deep scowl surfacing on his face before he pressed the receiver to his mouth.

“There’s no room at the inn, but you did a hell of job stringing the lights,” he yelled before hanging up.

Chapter Twenty

It was Christmas Eve, and my mother and I were at the grocery store. She was down the baking aisle, and I was approaching the coffee section. One of the things I forgot yesterday was coffee, and now I was paying the price with a pounding headache. A woman cleared her throat down the aisle when I spotted him.

Derek Binter.

He was holding a bouquet of white roses and staring at the instant coffee blends. My body immediately became hot and clammy. What was he doing here? Whatever it was, roses wouldn’t fix the situation.

I slowly turned on my heels to not draw attention to myself and snuck over to my mom’s aisle. She was happily putting various colored baking chips in the cart without a care in the world. I slinked over to her and pulled the hoodie over my head. My mom’s brow rose as she watched me glance over my shoulder a couple times.

“What’s going on?” she whispered, catching the horrified look on my face. “Is everything okay?”

“Nothing we can’t handle. But I’m going to need you to take my debit card and check out for us.”

“Is there a reason you can’t stay with me while we pay?” she asked, puzzled.

“My headache’s getting worse. I just need a latte like yesterday.”

“Okay, honey. Whatever you say.” I knew she didn’t believe one word coming out of my mouth, but I would explain later.

I constantly looked over my shoulder and slid in and out of the aisles with quiet precision until I arrived at the coffee stand in the far corner. It was nothing like what Gabby and I had planned on opening up. It had three drinks listed: Espresso, Lattes, and Cappuccinos. But it would do. After seeing Derek, my head not only throbbed, it spun. I needed caffeine. There was no line so I walked right up, placed my order, and paid with cash. I tugged on the strings of my hood and glanced over my shoulder.

We were in the clear. No Derek.

Just as I reached for my latte, the loudspeaker for the store came on with crackles, and then a woman’s voice boomed through the air.

“Emily, Emily to register four, please. Your mother needs to know if you want to donate the turkey or keep the turkey for your freezer. Again, Emily, please come to register four. Do you want to keep the turkey or donate it?”

I turned around slowly and saw my mom waving at me as she stood at register four. The checker turned around and smiled.

There were many wonderful things about living in a small town, but this wasn’t one of them. I grabbed my latte and prayed that Derek wouldn’t pay attention to the blaring woman overhead begging for an Emily to appear. I kept my head down until I got to my mom and looked up at the cashier.