Our First Christmas (14 page)

Dani pulled up to her parents' house. She half-expected to see them sitting out on the screened-in porch, but the rocking chairs were still. There was a new Lexus in the driveway. Either Santa was early and way generous this year, or they had company. Dani still had her key from the last visit, and she loved the idea of just walking in and surprising them. She opened the door and stepped inside. Voices and laughter filtered in from the kitchen. She had just stepped into the living room when something flew at her. She saw only moving limbs, and long dark hair, and before she knew it powerful hands were squeezing her shoulders and someone was straddling her, and screaming, and punching her with bony fists.

“Intruder, intruder, intruder,” the thing on top of her screamed. It had a British accent.

Dani grabbed her wrists and tried to push her away. “I live here!” Dani screamed back.

“Victoria, stop!” a male voice cried out. Soon arms wrapped around Victoria from behind and pulled her kicking and screaming off Dani.

Then a face appeared from behind the writhing girl. A handsome face. A kind face. A face she hadn't seen in two years. A face she had really, really missed. Dani's eyes immediately welled with tears. “Nate?”

“Dani?” He looked just as shocked as she was.

“Nate?” He was here, in her house. It was her Christmas miracle. The girl stopped wriggling.

“Who is she?” Victoria screeched. Now that she had stopped flailing, Dani could see it was a very pretty teenaged girl.

“This is Danielle. She lives here. Or at least she used to,” Nate said.

“Oh,” Victoria said. “How do you do?” Nate let the girl down. She stood over Dani with her hand outstretched. The little beast now wanted to shake hands?

“Give her a minute,” Nate said. He gently pushed Victoria out of the way. Soon an older couple entered the room.

“What on earth is all the fuss?” the woman said.

“I thought she was an intruder,” Victoria said. “I tackled her.”

“Well done,” the man said.

“Seriously?” Dani said. Nate held his hand out, and Dani took it. When she was on her feet, she swayed a little. Nate's arm encircled her waist and remained there until she was steady. Then he yanked his arm away as if it had caught fire. That was a good sign, wasn't it? It was him. Her Nate. It took everything in her power not to turn around in his arms and kiss him.

He introduced her to Anya's parents, Margaret and Richard Pennington. Then he crossed his arms and turned to her. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to surprise my parents,” she said.

“Oh,” Nate said. “They're in California with your sister.”

“What?” They didn't tell her they were spending Christmas with Pauline. Then again she'd missed several calls from her mother. She hadn't answered them because she was lousy at keeping secrets, and she didn't want to give her visit away.

“I still don't understand what
you're
doing here,” Dani said.

Nate actually turned red. “The Penningtons are renting your parents' house for a few weeks.”

“Why?”

“Hotels are slammed.”

“In Wilmington? In the winter?”

“There's a big action flick filming for Christmas and the tourism board capitalized on it by offering all these great rates. It's been like the summertime around here lately.”

“I was just downtown,” Dani said. “It didn't seem crowded.”

“Screen Gems is doing a lot of tours during the day. Plus people are going to Airlee Gardens and the beaches. You'll see the cars return in the evening.” EUE Screen Gems was one of the largest filming lots east of California. Over 340 films, television series, and commercials had been shot on the fifty-acre lot. It attracted a lot of tourists. And Airlee Gardens held stunning light displays every Christmas. Those two destinations alone were enough to keep most tourists happy. Dani couldn't believe she was just standing here having a normal conversation with Nate about tourists.

“Are you his ex-girlfriend?” Victoria said. “The one who—”

“Victoria, why don't we go into the kitchen and have a nice cup of tea,” Mrs. Pennington said.

“I hate tea,” Victoria said.

“Come along anyway,” Mrs. Pennington said. They were so polite. Dani hated them.

“I'm sorry,” Nate said.

A sudden rush of anger and pain enveloped Dani. “You should be,” she said. “You haven't spoken to me in two years.” Nate glanced toward the kitchen. Dani couldn't help but notice that he was always worried about what other people thought. No wonder he liked Anya. She probably never spoke too loud or impulsively, or even raised her voice. Victoria, on the other hand, broke the mold. Except for giving her a lump on the back of her head, Danielle kind of liked the girl.

Nate threw his arms open. “I had to move forward,” he said. “I wasn't ready to deal with the past.”

“I know I hurt you, Nate. But I didn't reject you—”

“Oh, you didn't?”

“No. I was just delaying the proposal. Delaying it.”

“It doesn't matter, Dani. It all worked out for the best. I actually have some news—”

“Oh, I know all about your news, Nate. And thank you very much for letting me find out through an iPad.”

“What?”

“You should have told me before I read about it online.”

“It was online?”

“Everything is online!”

“I thought your parents would have told you,” he said.

Another reason she should have answered her mother's calls. “I can't believe your grandmother is letting you marry a Brit,” Dani said. She knew how it sounded, but it was true. Whereas some Southerners were still bitter about the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression as they still referred to it in the South, Ruth Hathaway was equally triumphant about the Revolutionary War. To her, it was as if the British had invaded just yesterday. She was not shy about her feelings about those “across the pond.” She delved into Revolutionary victories at every occasion.

“She's coming around to the idea,” Nate said. Dani tried to hold in a laugh but ended up snorting. “Please, don't.”

“You wouldn't move to New York for me—”

“I wasn't ready for such a big change.”

“But now you're moving to London.”

“Dani.”

“Funny. Because you said you were a homebody.”

“I meant it at the time.”

“So I just wasn't the right girl, then, was I?”

“I really don't want to do this here.”

“You don't want to do it at all or you would have faced up to me like a man and picked up the phone and called me.”

“Believe it or not, it's because of you that I'm willing to expand my horizons.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I regretted saying no. I should have at least considered New York.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course.”

“Then why didn't you answer my calls, or e-mails, or letters? I tried everything, Nate. Everything. Why didn't you get on a plane and come?”

“Because I spent months planning that proposal, Dani. You don't know the half of it. The entire town pitied me, looked after me as if I was wounded in war. I couldn't just go running back to you after all they did for me—”

Worried about what other people think. Again. Dani knew well enough not to say it. She was already hot under the collar, and getting into things she hadn't meant to get into. And Anya's parents and sister were listening from the kitchen. Tea, her ass; she didn't even hear the kettle. Sawyer's advice tackled her.
Just tell him you love him.

Dani stepped up, and before she ruined it by thinking it through, she put her hands on the side of his face. “You're mine,” she said. She didn't get to finish the rest of it. Nate took her hands off his face and stepped back. He was furious with her.

“I'm getting married on Christmas Eve,” he said. He glanced toward the kitchen.

“And I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past. And I'm standing in front of you. And I'm telling you I love you. I'm telling you you're making a mistake. And I'm telling you it's not too late for you and me.” Dani hadn't meant to say any of this, let alone sound so desperate, but somewhere inside this man was the Nate she used to know, and more than anything, she just wanted to get a glimpse of him.

“Tea for everyone!” Mrs. Pennington sang as she burst through the door with two cups in her hands. Her mother's best china. Her mother never let anyone touch it. These Brits were ruining everything.

“Wonderful!” Nate said. He practically lunged for the cups.

The door opened. “Toodaloo!” It was Anya. In that moment, Dani could envision Nate's life without her. Instead, this woman would walk in the door every night yelling, “Toodaloo!” They would drink tea, and cuddle, and smooch by the fireplace, and probably eat crumpets. What the heck was a crumpet? And this season they were going to do it in her house with her mother's finest china. Anya swept into the room. She stopped short when she saw Dani. “You,” she said. “How did you? I know I said you'd better act fast, but this is a bit far—”

“You've met?” Nate asked.

“Of course. She's here for you,” Anya said. “I guess she couldn't wait to see you.”

“And you're all right with this?” Nate said. Dani knew she should say something, but her tongue was made of lead.

“I think it's a fabulous idea,” Anya said. “She promised me it's going to be a spectacular spread.”

Nate choked on his tea. Luckily, Dani had turned hers down. She still couldn't bring herself to touch the china.

“Nate's ex-girlfriend is going to spread what?” Victoria shouted.

“Nate's what?” Anya said. She frowned, looked at Dani again. “You said you were from a magazine,” she said.

“I am,” Dani said.
“The Softer Side.”
She turned to Nate. “We're doing a feature on A Southern Christmas and I want to get you and your sculptures into the feature,” Dani said.

“That's Nate's ex,” Victoria said. “And I tackled her.”

“You're Nate's ex?” Anya said. “The one who—”

“Would you like some tea, Anya, love?” Mrs. Pennington said.

We overthrew your tea once before, we can do it again!
Dani wanted to shout. “I'd better go,” Dani said. Before she scalded them all.

“Why didn't you tell me who you were?” Anya said. She was following right behind Dani.

“I wanted to see Nate first,” Dani said. “I'm sure you understand.” She'd learned that from Adel. Whenever Adel had to tell someone something that they didn't want to hear, she always added, “I'm sure you understand.”

“Where's your handsome sidekick?” Anya asked.

“Who?” Nate said.

“She's traveling with a gentleman friend,” Anya said.

“He's just the photographer,” Dani said. A little flush of guilt invaded her cheeks. This wasn't Sawyer's fault. She didn't mean to be so dismissive.

“You two must come to the wedding,” Anya said. “Mustn't they, Nathaniel?” She turned to Dani, beaming. “It's going to be at his grandmother's house on Christmas Eve.”

Dani felt as if she'd been slammed by a pack of reindeer. She could not possibly have heard that right. His grandmother's house? Ruth's home? Dani wanted to cry. She loved Ruth's home. It was
her
favorite house. How could he? She wanted to beat someone. She wondered where Sawyer was.

“I doubt Dani wants to—”

Anya suddenly grabbed Dani's hands. “This is the best thing that could have happened,” she said.

“It is?” Dani and Nate said.

“Yes! Time to heal. And because of you, Nate was single again when I came to town. It was meant to be. You're our Christmas angel.”

“Please, don't say that,” Dani said. “I came here—”

“For the article, right. But you really came to see Nate, didn't you?” Anya said.

“Yes,” Dani said.

“To tell him you wish him well. And to see for yourself. No matter how painful it was for the two of you, it was meant to be. Nate has me now. And you must be thrilled that his artwork is being recognized on an international scale now.”

“I've always believed in Nate's talent,” Dani said.

“Of course you have. I'm sure if you had the connections I do, he would have been a star already.”

“Anya,” Nate said. “Let's not—”

“He's so down to earth,” Anya said. “I love that about him.” Anya strode over and stroked his cheek. Nate didn't take her hand away. “Will we see you at the gala? Or as we're calling it—our wedding?”

“I wouldn't miss it,” Dani said.
Because it's not going to happen
. “But remember, I want to feature Nate in my article. So of course I was hoping to see a lot of him before that.”

“Of course,” Anya said. “I think you should.”

“I don't think I have the time,” Nate said.

“Why? Your grandmother and I have the gala and the wedding all in hand. The exposure will be wonderful, darling.”

“Wonderful,” Nate said. He looked as if he was going to be ill.

“Take as many pictures of my man as you need to,” Anya said. Then, Anya gave Dani a look. It was the equivalent of a school-yard taunt.
Take a picture. It lasts longer
.