Her Wish Before Christmas (Holiday Hearts) (7 page)

“This way please.”

She followed the girl through the restaurant to one of the back rooms where Connor sat at the only occupied table. He stood as they got closer. His mouth split into a wide smile that held a hint of nervousness, devastating to her already on edge nerves. Clasping shaking fingers around the strap of her purse, she approached the table.
Should I hug him? Give him a peck on the cheek?
Awkward worry had her questioning her every move. The hostess stepped aside and all thought flew out of her head when Connor embraced her in a quick hug. His spice and woods scent encircled her, calming her.

“Thank you for coming.” His simple words against her ear stoked a deep hunger. He released her to pull a chair out for her. Connor sat next to her instead of across from her, close enough his knee brushed hers under the table.

She seemed to have no defense against him inching his way into her heart one sweet gesture at a time.

Thankfully the hostess had left them alone. She was sure her face was flaming red from the heat of her skin and her thoughts. Her heart pounded against her lungs, requiring several more deep breaths to bring her nervousness under control. Connor was either oblivious or was taking great pains to give her a minute, keeping his interest glued to the menu while she fidgeted in her seat.

Genny took a sip of water, the cold liquid sliding down and pooling in her stomach when his gaze caught hers. Not even ice water could cool the desire building a bonfire in her belly.

“I mean it. Thank you for coming. I half expected you wouldn’t,” he said, eyes dancing with a light she couldn’t quite name.

“We can’t avoid each other. Besides. I wanted to come.”
Damn, didn’t mean to blurt that out
. His eyes widened a second before narrowing, roaming over every inch of her visible above the table.

Ordering their food offered her a respite from the intensity of her tangled-up emotions.
Just go with it and see what happens
. Genny willed herself to loosen up and enjoy reconnecting with an old friend. Conversation flowed easy and smooth. The pizza was as good as remembered, and she was able to relax enough to laugh at some of his stories of being a single dad. His attention on her was mesmerizing. She didn’t even pause when he suggested dessert.

“Their tiramisu is even better than it used to be.” She licked the last of the espresso-laced cream from her fork and leaned back in her chair. “I’m not going to be any help at the store without a nap now.”

His gaze lingered on her mouth and she fought the urge to brush her hand through his hair and caress his smooth-shaven cheeks.

“Your mother must be so proud of you,” he said.

“Hardly.”

His expression changed from open and easy to still and serious. Apprehension slid up her spine, drowning out the warm comfort that had settled over her. The mood shifted, increasing her self-consciousness.

“She wanted you to find your passion, and it seems you have.”

“She wanted me to find my passion in Laurel Cove, not traveling around the world. She’s pretty much disapproved of all my choices. I’m too much like my father, I guess. Nona was the one who was the most proud.”

A flash of something crossed his features.
Anger?
Connor had a lot to be angry about when they were together, and she’d been an expert at reading his moods.

“What about your parents? Their son becoming a doctor. What parents wouldn’t love that?”

She smiled through the awkwardness filtering into their companionable bubble.

“They never could agree on anything so if one is happy about something, the other makes an excuse to dislike it. Same goes for my being a doctor. Mom can’t understand why I would come back here, and Dad can’t understand why I haven’t found a wife yet.”

The waitress placed their check on the table, giving Genny time to recover from the turn in conversation. The shift to words like “wife” made her earlier discomfort return.

He pulled the check toward him. “I owe you. More than what one lunch can make up for.”

What does he mean by that?
Another devastating grin sent her mind careening in a whole other direction. Her heart slammed against her rib cage as he stood and held out his hand to help her with her coat. He slid the soft wool over her shoulders. Ripples of awareness pinged every nerve ending when the tips of his fingers caressed her neck. He slipped his hand under the collar, pulled her ponytail out, and gently smoothed it down her back. The intimate act stoked a need so intense she leaned into his touch, her body begging for closer contact. She could simply turn her face to his and kiss him, show him every unsaid emotion. Satisfy the almost undeniable urge to lose herself in his embrace.

The hostess walked in to seat a large group, shattering the moment. Genny stiffened but Connor’s hand never left the small of her back as he ushered her toward the exit.

“Have a good day,” he said as they passed the newcomers.

Tongue-tied from embarrassment, Genny nodded and mumbled something similar to “good day.”
What the hell was I about to do?

They walked to the front of the restaurant, the pressure of his hand burning straight to the skin underneath. He stopped to pay at the counter, and Genny kept going out the door.

Cold air rushed into her lungs, the shock calming her briefly. The pounding of her heart practically vibrated through her making her hands and lips tremble. She was no less confused about what to do. They had talked about all kinds of things, but had avoided the main issue between them. She needed to make a decision about her job that day. Her heart was telling her to give him a chance, but her mind was telling her to run.

She was half-a-dozen steps from her car when he called her name.

“Hey, don’t run out on me now. Please.”

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Shoving her hands into her coat pockets, she took another step toward her car.

“This is all a little overwhelming.”
I will not start blubbering like a child. I will hold myself together
.

“Hey. For me, too. Can we do this? Can we take this one step at a time, together?”

In two long strides he had covered the distance between them. His warmth blocked the cold breeze. Genny didn’t back away this time. He was enticing, offering her what she had been missing.

“I have so much I want to make up to you.” His warm hands cupped each side of her face, his fingers sliding into her hair. It would be so easy to lean into him, give up, and let her desire take over. “I never should have left you. I should have ignored your mom, my mom, my stupid fears, and told you then I didn’t want to lose you.”

Tears tickled her lips despite her resolve. “My mom?”

He cursed as she stepped out of his touch. “Look. Why don’t you come over to my house and let’s talk. Really talk.”

“What does my mom have to do with anything that happened?”

“Not here. My house is just down the block. Please. Come with me.”

She wasn’t going to leave Laurel Cove again until everything was out and on the table. She owed herself that much.

Good girl.

Not now, Nona
.

They walked the block toward an older street off the main square. Her thoughts raced with questions. Her mom had adored Connor when they were dating, but as soon as he left, she never brought him up again. Instead, she focused her attention on Genny and her sister finding something else to do in Laurel Cove besides help Nona with the store. While Genny’s uncle had done the opposite with her cousins by encouraging them to get out and explore the world. Yet, there they all were, back in town and drawn to Nona’s store.

They stopped in front of a small two-story cottage with a tall bay window jutting out the front. The house was familiar, but she couldn’t place how until they stepped inside the front door.

“You bought the Framptons’ house. I played here several times when I was a kid.” Genny stood in the foyer, taking in the changes from time and renovation. “I loved this house.”

The Framptons were the kind of family she’d wished she had, and the way Mrs. Frampton made the house so inviting was exactly how she wanted her own house to be. She and Sandy, their daughter, were allowed to play anywhere in the house, and they always seemed to be happy people.

“I wonder what happened to them? Their daughter and I lost touch in middle school.” She didn’t miss Sandy as much as the house. Another memory hit her as she stepped into the living room behind Connor. This was the house she used to dream about her and Connor raising a family and growing old in together. The inside was basically the same as she remembered—the grand staircase, the cozy kitchen. She bet the big climbing trees in the back with room for a tree house were still there, in a yard big enough for an ice rink in the winter.

Fate. Fortune. Rarely are they separate
.

Whoa. No
. She stumbled over something on the floor. Connor caught her, his arms encircling her, pulling her closer.

“Sorry. Jake doesn’t always pick up his trains.”

His arms tightened around her waist. She leaned forward, enjoying the strength of his embrace. He abruptly let her go and stepped back, sweeping the scattered metal toys under the coffee table with his foot.
Right. We need to stay on target
.

“Let’s get it all out. I can’t take guessing anymore.”

“I don’t know where to start.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and laced his fingers behind his head.

“You broke up with me on Christmas Eve, and I never saw you again. How about you start with what my mother had to do with anything.” The hurt came tumbling out with her words.

He blew out a deep breath. “I went to your house that afternoon. You were out shopping, but your mom was home. She asked me to come in and talk. I had just had a big fight with my parents and needed to get away, so I was willing to wait for you.”

Genny sat on the sofa and watched as he busied himself making a fire in the fireplace.

“She asked me point-blank what my intentions with you were. I told her how I felt about you. I always looked to her as the kind of mom who would understand.”

“What did you say?”

“I told her I wasn’t sure if being together was the right thing for you, but I loved you. I was a kid. I didn’t know what kind of plans to make. How we would work after you graduated that spring. I was barely surviving and finding time to keep up with my homework and come home most weekends to see you.”

“What did she say?”

“She told me to leave you. That it would be best for everyone if I broke up with you.”

“What?” Genny stood, confusion sending restless energy through her. “Why would she say that?” She needed to move. Her body itched to let loose some of its tension.

He stopped his own pacing and faced her. “I don’t know. But at the time, I thought she was right. It was the same thing my own parents were saying. I didn’t know how to stay with you and make you happy, but I did know how to leave.”

Shock held the tears at bay as she took in what he had revealed. Did everyone think she had been some spineless waif unable to take care of herself? Anger laced with sadness pushed through every other emotion pummeling her.

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have taken such stupid advice.” She grabbed her purse and raced out the door and down the steps.

“Genny, wait,” Connor called after her.

“Leave me alone, Connor. I need to think.” Looking back, she watched him slump against the door. The door to the house she had dreamed of one day living in and the man she had wished to marry and raise a family with. Her former best friend. Her first lover. Pain squeezed her lungs. Her breath shortened. She could barely see through the pool of tears.

What did he expect her to say? What boy takes his girlfriend’s parents’ advice to stop seeing their daughter? Wasn’t that supposed to make him want her more? Why the hell hadn’t anyone given her the chance to decide anything for herself?

Because you wouldn’t. But you can now
.

***

“More tinsel,” Jake exclaimed from his perch on his dad’s shoulders. “Do we have any more ornaments?”

“We went through all we’ve got. Here’s the last bit.” Connor handed him the box of shiny silver threads. Half landed on his head, and half made their way to the tree. He set Jake down and tried to spread out the clumps.

“What do you think?” He dropped next to Jake on the sofa and admired the tree they had spent all afternoon setting up and decorating. The large window in the front of the house showcased the eight-foot monstrosity that hardly fit without the star scraping the ceiling. The tree’s width took up most of the view of the front yard.

With cups of warm cocoa, mostly marshmallows, the Christmas-all-the-time station on the radio, and the fire blazing, it felt like a real holiday for the first time in years. This holiday he didn’t have to work at the ER to make extra money. No arguments with the grandparents over whose house Jake would sleep at on Christmas Eve while he worked. He was off, and they had a new home. A new start.

“It’s perfect, Daddy.”

Everything was almost perfect.

The empty spot next to him was waiting to be filled by Genny. She had always been the one, and he’d been too stupid and scared to commit and maybe make the mistakes his parents had made.

Not anymore, and if this year wasn’t the best yet, she was here and she was single. Leaving after Christmas. And she hated him. His confidence deflated. Maybe Cilla would help him figure out a way to make her stay. He could get her to talk to Genny for him. No. Not talking to her himself wasn’t the answer.

“I need more marshmallows.” Jake’s voice shook him out of his considerations.

“Sure thing; I think I need some more, too.” Connor took the mugs into the kitchen.

The doorbell rang as he was putting cocoa in the cups. Jake was unlocking the door as he walked out of the kitchen.

“Whoa, buddy, wait for me.” He opened the door and froze at the sight of Genny shivering on the doorstep, half turned away as if to leave.