Grant gave her a quick kiss. “I’m sure we will.”
This time Emmie avoided looking over at Sam. Right now all she wanted to concentrate on was her boyfriend. Grant was here. Everything could now go ahead as planned. She was about to start telling Grant the plans for the day when he looked over at Sam.
“So, Sam, I really liked the lawyer in Mystic Heights, but he was crazy,” Grant said with a laugh. “How do you come up with all these wild characters?”
“You know what they say, truth is often stranger than fiction,” Sam said and took another bite of his pancake.
“So you’re saying a lot of your characters are based on real-life people?”
Sam glanced over at Emmie. “I get inspiration from a lot of places.”
“So you’re up here because your next book is set during Christmas?” Grant asked.
To Emmie, it was clear Grant was curious about Sam and what he was writing and wasn’t going to let up with the questions. She’d seen him like this before. His lawyer instincts kicked in, and he wouldn’t stop until he found out what he wanted to know. She only wished he was half as interested in hearing about the Christmas activities she’d planned for them.
“It actually is going to be set at Christmas,” Sam said.
Emmie smiled at him, thinking maybe she’d read this one of his books after all.
“So who’s the main character in this one?” Grant asked. “Another crazy lawyer?”
Emmie had to admit, she was curious, too.
“No, it’s not a lawyer this time,” Sam said.
“So who is it?” Grant asked.
Emmie sipped her coffee as she waited to hear what Sam was going to say.
Sam finally looked over at her when he answered. “My main character is a girl whose boyfriend never shows up for a Christmas vacation. He’s missing, and everyone’s trying to find him.”
Emmie almost spit up her coffee. “What?”
“Cool,” Grant said. “Sounds like a good one. A Christmas mystery.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Emmie gave Grant an incredulous look. She was about to clue him in when his phone rang. He quickly got up from the table and gave Emmie an apologetic look.
“Sorry, hon,” Grant said. “I have to get this. It’s my boss. I’ll be right back.” Grant walked off before Emmie could say another word, which was a good thing, because she was still too shocked and upset to say anything.
“He seems nice,” Sam said.
Emmie looked at him like he was an alien. “Are you kidding me? Don’t change the subject! Are you really writing your next book about a girl who has a missing boyfriend at Christmas?”
Sam, his expression impossible to read, put both elbows on the table and clasped his hands together, never taking his eyes off her.
“Yes.”
Emmie’s mouth dropped open. She just stared back at him as she searched for words. She was so stunned her head was spinning. “You can’t be serious?” was all that came out. Her voice cracked with stress.
“Why not? It’s a great story,” Sam said, very matter-of-fact.
Emmie all of a sudden felt exposed and embarrassed. She had thought Sam had genuinely enjoyed their time together, as she had. But now she felt like he’d just been using her to get ideas for his next book. Her heart was racing. She was upset and hurt and felt like such a fool. Refusing to let Sam see the hurt, she covered with anger.
She jumped up from her chair and put both hands on the table as she leaned in, locking eyes with him. “You’re writing about me!” Her voice had grown louder. “A girl with a missing boyfriend? You’re making fun of me!”
Sam stood up, too. “I’m not making fun of you. I’m just telling a story.”
“My story,” Emmie hurled back at him. “My personal story. Oh, now I get it.”
“Get what?” Sam asked.
“I get why you’ve been spending so much time with me, to get material for your book. This has all been just one big research project for you. You were just using me!”
“No!”
“This morning. The gazebo. The picnic.” Emmie stopped. The more she thought about it all, the sicker she felt. “This has all just been . . . research.”
Emmie knew she was spiraling out of control, but she couldn’t rein herself in. She felt like she had every right to be upset. She had actually thought she’d had this great connection with Sam now only to find out the whole thing had been a lie and the joke was on her. She knew she needed to get away from him before she made an even bigger fool of herself.
When she stormed out of the room, she could feel Sam’s eyes watching her. It just made her angrier thinking about how he’d probably put all this in his book. She wanted to stay mad because then it wouldn’t hurt so much, but the hurt was winning.
She didn’t slow down until she got outside. Once the inn door shut behind her, she collapsed against it, feeling emotionally exhausted. When she felt the start of tears, she clenched her fists and sucked it up, refusing to let one tear fall.
When she spotted Grant over by his car talking on his phone, she headed toward him, but when she got closer, he held up his hand to stop her. He pointed to his phone and held up five fingers.
“Seriously?” Emmie said to herself. She knew she was about to lose it. When she saw Dasher take off running behind the inn, she decided to follow him. She called out after him, but he just kept running.
“Why does everyone think it’s okay to ignore me?” Emmie said out loud, talking to herself. “Because it’s not okay.” She looked over at Grant. “Not okay.” She knew Grant couldn’t hear her, but it made her feel better saying it out loud.
When Dasher disappeared into the woods, she decided she better follow him. He was usually allowed outside only when he was with someone, and she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
“Dasher?” she called out loudly, but when he didn’t come racing back to her, she followed his paw prints in the snow and soon realized they were taking her right back to the gazebo she’d been to earlier with Sam. Only this time when she came upon the clearing and saw the gazebo, it didn’t fill her with joy. It crushed her heart. She saw Dasher sitting next to the Christmas tree all alone.
He barked.
Emmie stood her ground and patted both of her knees as she called to him. “Come on, Dasher. Let’s go.”
But instead Dasher stood up, barked, wagged his tail, and started running around in circles inside the gazebo.
“Great,” Emmie muttered as she headed that way. When she got to the gazebo, feeling drained, she sat down. Dasher sat at her feet and looked up at her. Emmie thought Dasher’s big brown eyes almost seemed . . . sympathetic. She laughed a little and shook herself mentally, realizing she was really starting to lose it if she was starting to think she could read a dog’s mind.
Dasher just sat there watching her.
When she leaned down to pet him, he licked her hand and wagged his tail.
Emmie, comforted, smiled at him. “You’re a good dog, Dasher. You’re a good boy.”
For the next fifteen minutes Emmie played with Dasher in the snow. Slowly she started to feel the stress ease out of her body and her head clear.
Basically, what she’d decided to do was put Sam and his book out of her mind and concentrate instead on making the next few days with Grant the most amazing days ever. She knew she needed to stop obsessing about Sam and start thinking about the best ways to get her boyfriend to put work aside for a few days, so they could finally have the holiday vacation she had dreamed about.
When her referee whistle from her app on her phone went off, Dasher howled.
Emmie rushed to turn the app off. “I know. Hold on. I’m trying to turn it off.”
When she finally got the app turned off, she looked up just in time to see the shadow of a man coming out of the woods. Her heart raced. She didn’t know what she was going to say to Sam, but she was actually thankful to see him. She needed some truthful answe
rs from him before she drove herself completely crazy.
But when the man stepped into the light, Emmie saw it wasn’t Sam but Grant. She felt a wave of disappointment hit her.
“There you are,” Grant said as he smiled at her. “Sam said this is where I’d probably find you.”
Emmie shook her head in disbelief. “Of course he did, because he knows so much about me.”
“What?” Grant asked, confused.
Emmie shook her head. “Nothing. Sorry. Let’s go.”
But when Grant started to move toward her, Dasher got in between them and barked at Grant and then started circling him.
“What’s going on?” Grant asked and looked nervous.
Emmie laughed. “Dasher’s only playing with you. It’s what he does.”
Grant didn’t look convinced or impressed. “Then make him stop. I’m not liking this game.”
“Grant,” Emmie said, putting her hands on her hips. She didn’t like his tone. “What’s the problem? Why are you being like this? Is something wrong at work?”
Grant gave her a look. “Uh, what’s wrong is I have this dog circling me. It won’t leave me alone.” Grant waved his hands at Dasher. “Go away, shoo. Go.”
Dasher just barked louder.
“You’re scaring him,” Emmie said. “Don’t shoo him.”
Grant laughed. “Well, what do you want me to do to get rid of him? You know I’m not a dog person. Seriously, can you just make him stop?”
Emmie bent over and called out to Dasher. “Dasher, come.”
Dasher immediately stopped barking and obediently ran over to Emmie and sat at her feet. Dasher looked back at Grant.
“See,” she said as she bent down to pet Dasher, “look how sweet he is. Does he look like a killer dog to you?”
Grant still wasn’t moving or smiling.
That’s when Emmie noticed he wasn’t wearing his Gucci shoes. “Where did you get those boots?” she asked, already fearing the answer.
“Sam said I could use them, remember?” Grant said. “They’re not the best, but they’re better than wrecking my Guccis.”
When Emmie’s referee whistle alert on her phone went off again, she glared at her phone. “Ugh, this app is driving me crazy,” she said.
Grant looked surprised. “I thought you loved our app? Is something wrong with it? Is it not working right?”
Emmie shook her head, finally getting the app to turn off. “It’s working fine. I’m just not sure if it’s still working fine for me.”
“Why?” Grant asked. “That makes no sense.”
Emmie gave up. “You know what? Let’s get going. We need to stay—”
“On track,” Grant finished for her. “Let’s go.” When Grant tried to put his arm around her, Dasher started barking at him again. He quickly took his arm off Emmie.
Emmie gave Dasher a look. “Dasher, be good.”
Dasher instantly stopped barking.
Emmie turned to Grant. “He’s just being protective.”
“Is that what you call it?” Grant asked.
“When you yelled at him before, you probably scared him,” Emmie said. “You need to make friends with him.”
Grant laughed. “I don’t see that happening.”
Emmie gave him a disappointed look.
“But I’ll try,” Grant said. “For you.”
Emmie smiled back at him. “Thank you.” When she took his hand, Dasher was about to bark again, but she gave him a warning look.
“So why did the app go off? Where are we supposed to be?” Grant asked.
“You’ll see.” Emmie smiled back at him. “But we gotta pick up the pace. Let’s go, Dasher. We’re going home.”
When Dasher took off like a shot, Grant quickly kissed her and then yelled after Dasher. “See what you missed there, dog. Gotcha.”
Emmie gave Grant an incredulous look. “Are you trying to one-up a dog? And his name is Dasher. Try calling him by his name, and it might help.”
Grant put his arm around Emmie. “I don’t have to win over a dog. I only need to win over you.” He looked into her eyes. “I am sorry for missing yesterday.”
Emmie nodded. She could tell his apology was sincere, and she knew she needed to let all the stress of the morning go and give Grant—and for that matter, herself—the special vacation she had planned. They both deserved that.
She smiled a sincere smile. “I know. I’m sorry, too, about the mix-up. So let’s do a reset. Let’s make this the start of our vacation right now.”
Grant got out his phone. “Let’s sync up our On Track apps and do this! Here, give me your phone.”
When Emmie handed over her phone, she was still smiling, but she really wanted to tell Grant to forget about the app. She knew it would hurt his feelings, though. She was the one who had introduced him to it, and now she knew he was hooked even more than she was. It had become their thing, and he always enjoyed syncing up their activities, as he was doing now.
The only problem was, for the first time, the app was starting to annoy her and make her feel more trapped than connected. She was thinking maybe Sam was right. Maybe the app was too limiting. Maybe it would be better to be more spontaneous.
“Here you go,” Grant said happily as he gave her back her phone. “We’re all synced up.”
Emmie forced a smile. “Great,” she said, making herself sound more excited than she actually felt. Mad at herself for being so stressed out, she took a deep breath before smiling up at Grant.
“We’re going to have a great day,” she said.
Grant kissed her. “I’m sure we are.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A half hour later, after Emmie and Grant had gone back to the inn and gotten ready for their day, they were walking down Candy Cane Lane.
When Grant read the road sign, he laughed. “Candy Cane Lane? Really?”
Emmie linked arms with him and smiled up at him. “Yes, really, and remember, you promised if I got you away from Dasher, you’d try and get into the Christmas spirit.”
Grant laughed. “Okay, you’re right. A deal’s a deal.”
“Besides, you’re in Christmas Point now, you better get used to it,” Emmie said. “Everything here is Christmas themed. That’s what makes it so fabulous.”
Grant kissed the top of her head. “If you say so.”
“I do,” she said, still smiling. She’d given herself an attitude adjustment on their way into town. While her scavenger hunt plan had backfired and the whole thing with Sam was a mess, at the end of the day, Grant was her boyfriend, and he’d finally shown up. She was determined to make the best of it. She had her Christmas activities list, and she was fired up and ready to go. It was time for them to finally start making some Christmas memories together.
When they’d gotten back to the inn, they didn’t see Sam, and that was just fine with her. She didn’t know how long he was staying, but she hoped he’d be headed back to Seattle by the time they returned. She didn’t know if she could trust him and worried anything she said or did could end up in his next book.
It still hurt thinking about how foolish she’d been and how she’d gotten caught up in something that was nothing more than research for a book. However, she refused to let it wreck the precious time she had with Grant. This was a fresh start to the vacation, and she was only moving forward. No more looking back. She was supposed to be celebrating Christmas and she wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of that anymore.
When they got to the town square, there was a lot of activity going on as people gathered around a giant Christmas tree. Emmie pointed at a sign that said: Tree Lighting Tonight at 7 P.M. “I’m so glad you didn’t miss the tree lighting. It’s one of my favorite things.”
Grant smiled at her. “It seems like you have a lot of favorite things.”
Emmie laughed. “I guess I do when it comes to Christmas.”
“Emmie, hello!”
Emmie looked over, and standing on a ladde
r next to the Christmas tree was Sandy from the shop where she’d bought Grant’s Christmas sweater.
Emmie grabbed Grant’s hand and walked over to her. “Hi, Sandy! Wow, you’re doing a great job.”
“Be careful,” Grant said. “You don’t want to fall.”
Sandy laughed and held up the lights she was holding. “I’ve been doing this for years. If I fall, I’ll make sure to fall into the tree.”
While Emmie laughed, Grant just looked confused.
“So you must be the boyfriend Emmie keeps talking about,” Sandy said.
Grant nodded. “That’s me.”
Sandy smiled back at him. “Well, we’re glad you made it up here.” Sandy studied Grant closely. “You’re tall.”
Grant laughed. “So I’ve been told.”
Sandy held up her strand of Christmas lights again. “How about giving us a hand hanging some of these lights?”
Grant looked skeptical. “I’m not much of a decorator.”
Emmie jumped in. “He’d love to.” She squeezed his hand and gave him a look. “You said you were up for anything.”
Grant looked from Emmie to Sandy. “Okay. Sure, I’ll give it a try. But I’m not making any promises about how good I’ll be.”
Sandy laughed. “That’s okay. We don’t need any promises, we just need the help.”
“Plus, I’ll show you what you need to do,” Emmie said. “We can do it together.”
Grant laughed. “Then it looks like I’m in. Where do you want me to start?”
Sandy got down from the ladder and walked over to a big box of Christmas lights. “How about you start with these? The first trick is to always test all the lights before you put them on the tree, so you don’t waste your time. Like this . . .” To demonstrate, Sandy took a strand of Christmas lights and plugged it into an extension cord connected to a generator. The lights came to life and sparkled.
Emmie’s eyes lit up. She was already starting to feel better.
AN HOUR LATER, Emmie took a picture of Grant as he helped finish putting up the last of the Christmas tree lights. She was impressed. He’d actually done a great job after she’d shown him a few tips. They had worked side by side and had made a great team. This was just the kind of simple thing, putting up Christmas lights together, that meant so much to her, and she was so thankful she was finally doing it with Grant.
Finding Christmas Page 20