Home for Christmas (18 page)

Belatedly shaking hands, Robert
moved on through the line toward the dining room, waylaid by acquaintances, he
drifted into the living room. Austin was relieved for Savannah’s sake as well
as his own. Now if he could just make it through this evening, he planned to
put Robert Winslow as far from his mind as possible. He would make sure the man
wasn’t invited to any future gatherings at this house. Austin couldn’t handle
it and he couldn’t afford to be distracted at this stage of the game.

The house was crammed with people
to its absolute capacity, in an
oh so
polite way, of course. Although by
nature, an open house meant guests came and went throughout the evening, that
wasn’t the case this night, the fourteen of December. Very few were leaving and
even more were arriving.

Savannah kept busy chatting with
old friends all the while keeping an eye on the flow of people and food, as any
competent hostess would do. Entertaining was second nature to her, but this
evening was a bit of a crush; challenging even a veteran like her. Graciously
floating between groups, managing and fielding questions; she was always aware
of who was in what room and with whom. Therefore, she knew almost to the minute
when Elise arrived, nearly an hour and a half later.

It was an odd sensation, watching
her waltz into the room, throw her coat to a waiting attendant, air kiss a few
acquaintances, and garner immediate attention. Savannah felt her hair stand on
end, piqued by a tiny bit of jealousy. Not for the attention of the group, but
for the attention of one man in particular.

Elise was getting a wonderful guy.
A guy Savannah felt confident she didn’t deserve. Unfairly, perhaps, Savannah
had known too many women like her in her life and Austin could do better.
Inexplicably, a vision of his mother floated through her mind; a strong woman,
confidant and caring. Elise seemed to be a polar opposite. Savannah had already
wrapped the retouched photograph framed in a stunning beautifully
vintage-inspired frame referencing the period. It was to be for Christmas,
perhaps he should have it sooner, she mused.

Protective? Yes. She couldn’t help
it. He was kind and good and strong. Concerned? Absolutely. For him … and for
herself. Her heart was more involved than it should be … than it could be.

Savannah graciously exited the
living room through the back entry and headed toward the kitchen as she heard
Elise’s piercing, grating laugh above the din of people as she moved into the
same room Savannah had exited. There was no hope for it; she would just have to
avoid her if she was to get through the evening. Elise was one person she had
no interest in meeting.

That, however, wasn’t to be.

Bracing against one of the
countertops in the kitchen, out of the way of the chefs and food prep areas,
Savannah noticed Courtney pop her head around the Butler Pantry doorway, eyes
lighting up when she spotted her in the midst of the crazily busy workspace.

Kicking her shoes off as she
approached Savannah and grinning she exclaimed, “What a party!” Weary yet
excited, she also leaned against the marbled edged counter, picking up her
crystal goblet and downing the liquid inside.

“It’s not over yet,” Savannah said
with amusement, pointing toward her discarded pumps.

“I need a breather!” she said.
“Many of the guests are sequestered in the library with Austin, peppering him
with questions. He’s doing great.” And with barely a discernible pause, she
continued, “You know, this place,” she said waving her hand around over her
head, “really fits him. Everyone is talking about how great the house looks,
Savannah. You should be proud. I mean, it was beautiful before, but this is so
…
today
. It’s so …
him
. I can’t believe you pulled this whole
thing off as quickly as you did.”

“Thanks, Courtney,” Savannah said
sincerely. “That means a lot. I think it turned out well too. And I think it
fits him as well.”

“Ah … here you are, Courtney,” came
a jarringly familiar voice from the dining room pocket door entrance across
from where Savannah and Courtney were chatting.

“Great,” said Courtney under her
breath.

“I was hoping to speak with the
person who threw this little party together, last minute as I’ve heard,” she
said.

“You mean, me?” Courtney asked
rudely.

“No, not you,” she answered in a
fake sweet voice, dismissing her with a hand wave. “I wanted to speak with the
person who, I guess, redecorated the house and … put all this together.”

Savannah straightened wondering if
she’d misjudged her; glad, however, that she’d kept her shoes on, unlike her
friend, so that Elise didn’t tower over her. “That would be me,” she said,
extending her hand.  “Savannah Wentworth.”

“Elise Pasternak,” she coolly
responded, ignoring her hand. “I’m sure for Seattle, you’ve done a splendid
job,” she said, glancing around the kitchen. “I’m from the east coast and you
know, we do things a little bit different,” she said raising her thumb and
finger, spacing them a distance apart. “But you are to be commended.”

“Thank you,” Savannah answered
simply, remembering afresh that first impressions were most often very
accurate.

Elise’s eyes narrowed as she looked
at Savannah from the top of her head to the toes of her expensive shoes. “I’ve
seen you somewhere before.”

Savannah shrugged, unwilling to
admit she knew the exact time and place. Courtney continued to lean against the
counter, silently enjoying the exchange, head bopping back and forth between
the two.

“Oh, that’s right,” she said, as if
she’d just placed her, “You’re the girl with the cookies.”

Courtney raised confused eyebrows
to Savannah, smothering a grin.

“I think it was,” Elise continued,
“the Nutcracker.”

“Oh, were you there?” Savannah
asked cordially.

“I think you know I was,” she
answered coyly and confidently. “I don’t want to interrupt your little
tête-à-tête, but I wanted to extend myself and thank you for your little
decorating job. Of course, I’ll be moving in soon and will want to completely
redo the house, more to Austin’s tastes, you know. But for a quick fix, it’s
not horrible.”

“You know, Elise, Austin actually
picked out a lot of the furniture for this house. You may want to check with
him before you change anything,” she said, feeling defensive and irritated.

“Oh, I know all about that,” she
said dismissively. “He’s the one who told me I needed to get it up to snuff.
For an amateur, you didn’t do such a bad job. Although, it was probably wasn’t
that difficult in that you’ve lived here your entire life. Oh,
oops
, I
wasn’t supposed to know that. Austin told me to be sensitive around you. I’m so
sorry for your loss,” she said insincerely.

Savannah eyed her for a moment. A
moment long enough to make Courtney squirm. “So, you’re moving in?” she asked.

“Austin wants me to move in before
Christmas,” she confessed. “With the wedding in the spring, I’m not sure I can
make the move that soon. I’ve got so many clients in the east,” she said,
looking at Courtney, “that I’m not sure I can free myself. But you know men,
they can be very demanding. Well, ta-ta,” she said, smiling evilly as she
sashayed toward the door.

Courtney’s eyes slid to Savannah.
But Savannah couldn’t meet them. In fact, she was biting her bottom lip so hard
she feared she’d already broken the skin. A cavalcade of thoughts flew through
her mind all at once, snippets extracted from the woman’s conversation;
separate … but connected. Weirdly, all she could think about was that Sunday.
That Sunday … in
church
. She thought of his attendance, his men’s Bible
study. He seemed so sincere. Would he actually
move in
with her … or her
with him, rather?
Get it up to snuff?
Had he actually shopped all over
Seattle for furniture just to amuse her … because he felt
sorry
for her?

And then horror of all horrors, her
eyes began to mist and then well up. Excusing herself, she fled up the back
staircase that lead to the second floor. Tripping on the top stair tread, she
nearly ran down the hall toward her old room, jerking open the door, relieved
after a quick scan confirmed the room was empty of errant party attendees.

Shutting the door, she securely
locked it. Safe now and alone, she let her guard down. Pressing her hand to her
mouth, she dropped down onto the edge of the bed, trying to stifle a sob,
miserably failing as a flood of tears unleashed that had been building since
she first set eyes on that woman and subsequently learned that Austin was to
marry her.

Head in hand, Savannah shuddered as
the sobs began to finally subside. Embarrassed, now, as she began to get
control, she remembered Courtney’s surprised expression as she’d run up the
stairs. Then she amended that thought. It had been a surprised yet
knowing
look. And a fresh wave of grief overcame her as she lay back on her old bed and
rolled to the side. She cried so hard, it soaked the bed.

It had been too much to ask of her.
She cried for the loss of her parents, her home, her business … even her
friends. It was like a death, yet she lived. Everything she had known … was no
longer. She hadn’t cried a tear as it had all begun to slip away. Until
tonight. And it was a deluge. And as the tears of her loss began to subside, it
made room for a different kind of pain, a deep, sharp, twisting kind of pain.

She’d suspected. In fact, she’d
known
,
but had buried the knowledge so deeply she thought it could remain undetected.
Savannah believed it so illusive that even a treasure hunter wouldn’t have been
able to find it. And now, it bubbled to the surface at the very worst of times.

Austin Douglass had become the man of
her dreams. Worse yet, she was desperately in love with him. Yes, within the
space of a couple of months, she’d fallen hard and fast. She should have felt
this for Robert. She was
supposed
to feel this for Robert. But she
hadn’t. She’d fallen for the one man she couldn’t have, just as she was leaving
the city and the home she loved.

It had taken that woman, that Elise
Pasternak, for her to finally admit that love. It had begun that first night,
stuffing pumpkins into black plastic bags and grown with each subsequent
encounter; candlelit dinners in the rain, soaring over the Seattle skyline on
The Great Wheel, the insignificant little meetings they’d had … sharing
Thanksgiving. The first kiss should have warned her away, but it hadn’t.
Fearlessly, she stayed the course until love had blossom fully when they shared
that Friday following Thanksgiving together. Cutting the Christmas tree,
decorating it together, sipping Hot Chocolate … that
kiss in the snow
,
it was like a nail in her coffin. 

Church on Advent Sunday had taken
her relationship with Austin deeper, yet even still she wouldn’t recognize it
for what it was. Stubbornly naïve. The notes they’d passed back and forth. She
would never look at those yellow post-it-notes the same way again.

And yet, why had he kept up the
pretense if he hadn’t cared for her as well, even just a tiny bit? Why had he
flirted? Attended church with her? If he cared, why hadn’t he asked her about
Robert? Perhaps that was most telling of all.

Naïve? She’d been stupid.

It had taken the other woman to
make her see things as clearly as she should have a long time ago.

Pretty soon, she heard a knock on
the door. Holding her breath, Savannah waited for the person to walk away.
Blessedly, she heard muted footsteps leaving the door. Sighing in relief that
was short lived, she sprang to a sitting position just as a key was slipped
into the lock and opened.

“Savannah,” Courtney said sadly,
slipping quickly into the room, closing the door behind her. Coming to sit down
next to her on the bed, she simply handed her another Kleenex.

“What is it with us? Always handing
each other tissues?”

Savannah chuckled in spite of
herself, shrugging.

“How did you get in?”

“I remembered where the key was
kept,” she said rolling her eyes. “Like back when you were twelve.”

Savannah dabbed her face with the
tissue.

“Want to tell me about it?”

“Not really,” she said softly. “I
think … everything’s just catching up with me.”

“I think it’s more than that.”

Looking at herself in the mirror,
Savannah said, “I can’t go back down there.”

Courtney looked closely. “Nope. You
can’t. You’ll be puffy until at least morning.”

“Thanks,” Savannah responded
rolling her eyes.

“What are friends for?” she replied
impishly. “Most everyone is gone now anyway except for a few diehards talking
Austin’s ear off in the Library. Now, listen to me. You have a headache and
have to go home, alright? I’ll cover for you until you can get to your car.”

Savannah fiddled with the hem of
her dress before asking cautiously. “Is she still here?”

“No. Pack your things and scoot.”

“What about the cleanup?”

“You have a crew coming back?”

“Yes, but it will be late.”

“Austin can handle it.”

“No. It’s my responsibility.”

“And … I’ll be here too.”

Austin sighed deeply as he closed the
front door after the last tenacious guest left for the evening. The house was
blessedly quiet except for the caterers muted banging around in the kitchen.
Undoing his tie and the top buttons of his shirt, he slipped into the kitchen
to thank them for their hard work. He was also famished. The guests had praised
him for the scrumptious fare served that evening. He had Savannah to thank for
that. His greatest hope was there was a tiny bit left over for he hadn’t been
able to even sample it.

Sitting himself down at the island
to eat a plate that one of the chefs had graciously made for him, he chatted
with some of the service staff as they were cleaning up and setting things to
right. A little amazed that he would sit and converse with them, it didn’t take
long to warm up and continue their reviews of the evening; what had gone right
and what had gone wrong … and of course, gossip about the guests. Austin felt
himself truly entertained for the first time that evening, enjoying the meal
that was definitely five-star worthy.