Christmas Bride

by Noelle Adams

  Right now.

  Dinner with Lincoln and Summer.

  “We’re gonna do great,” she murmured.

  “Mm-hmm.” Carter slanted her a wry look.

  “We are. You’ll see. You might not believe it, but I can be a great adoring girlfriend. They’ll be completely convinced I believe you walk on water.”

  “All right. Don’t overdo it though. They’re both really smart. And observant. And they know me really well. If it’s too over the top, they won’t buy it.”

  “It’s not going to be too over the top. It will be exactly right. And don’t forget you’ve got to act like you’re into me too. If they think it’s one sided, you’ll have accomplished nothing but embarrassing me. Or rather, nothing but letting me embarrass myself.” She checked her outfit—slim pants, leather boots, and a pine-green top with a discreetly sexy V-neckline. “Not that it hasn’t happened before.”

  “Stop it,” Carter bit out, giving her an impatient look.

  She couldn’t have been more surprised if a pet kitten gave her a painful scratch across the face. In the three weeks she’d known him, she’d never heard Carter be anything but gentle and polite. “Stop what?”

  “Stop talking about yourself that way. Who cares if you messed up a little in past relationships? You think you’re the only one?”

  “No, I don’t think I’m the only one.” The elevator had reached the top floor more than a minute ago, and they were still standing inside, Carter holding open the doors with one hand, despite the way they kept trying to shut. “I just meant—”

  “I know what you meant.” He was holding her gaze with a strange intensity. It gave her weird flutters. Made her hands tremble slightly. “And it’s not going to happen. I know what I need to do, and I’d never let this crazy scheme embarrass you. I promise.”

  She took a ragged breath. Then released it and smiled at him. “Okay. Thanks. Let’s do this then.”

  She took his arm as they stepped off the elevator and was still holding it as they crossed the ornate foyer that led to the entrance of the condo. Carter knocked. After a moment, the door swung open, and Ruth and Carter were greeted by a sexy, grinning Lincoln Wilson—all vivid green eyes and lean, hard body in a black Henley and dark-washed jeans.

  They were also greeted by the warm, savory scent of lasagna and baking bread and loud, haunting, dramatic music.

  Ruth blinked in surprise at the blast of scent and sound and warm, knowing smile.

  “Why the hell do you have the music so loud?” Carter demanded, sharing a friendly half hug with his brother. Mostly just pounding each other on the back.

  “Hey Carter!” The voice was female and coming from the kitchen, although the woman speaking wasn’t in sight. “Please come on in, Ruth. I can’t wait to meet you. I’ll be out in just a minute.”

  Ruth had practiced (several times) a friendly, casual opening to conversation at their arrival, but she couldn’t get it out at the moment. She stared around at the spacious, beautifully furnished room—set off by huge glass doors that led out onto a balcony that looked out over the lake. The music really was very loud. She recognized it now. Les Mis. Fantine was currently on her deathbed. Ruth wouldn’t have expected Lincoln Wilson to be a big fan, but the emotional music was swelling out of high-end speakers. Ruth could feel it all the way down to her bones.

  “Hi, Ruth,” Lincoln said to her, loud enough to be heard over the music. He took her hand and held it in a gesture of playful, exaggerated gallantry. “It’s great to meet you. I’m hoping that for our first act of kinship, you’ll help me convince Carter to do a number.”

  Ruth blinked. “A number?” She shifted her eyes over to Carter, who was now glaring at his brother.

  “Oh no,” Carter muttered. “No way.”

  His brother flashed a very Lincoln-like smile. “You arrived just in time for our favorite duet. I refreshed my memory on the words, so I’m all ready to go.”

  “I said no. You planned this on purpose. You were watching the camera in the lobby and you timed it like this on purpose.” Carter was visibly outraged. “I can’t believe you.”

  Lincoln laughed irrepressibly. “As if I would do such a thing to my little brother. It’s just a happy accident.” Turning to Ruth, he added, “You want to hear our old duet, don’t you? It was always his favorite. He made me sing it over and over again when we were kids.”

  Thrilled by that unexpected piece of information on Carter, she clapped her hands excitedly. “Yes! Oh yes. You have to sing it, Carter!”

  “Lincoln, I could punch you in the face right now,” Carter said gruffly.

  “I know. But then we couldn’t serenade Ruth. It’s obvious she really wants to hear you. Fantine is just about dead here, so it’s almost time for us.”

  “Damn it, Lincoln.” Carter looked momentarily helpless, his eyes moving from Ruth to his brother and back. “I don’t remember the words anymore.”

  “Yes, you do.” Lincoln grabbed two remotes from near the television and handed one to Carter. “Here’s your microphone. Get ready. If you bail on me, you’re going to disappoint Ruth. And I know you don’t want to do that.”

  Carter’s face twisted. He was obviously torn. Reluctant. For a moment Ruth didn’t know what he was going to decide. Then he groaned and gave his brother another glare as the music faded between songs. “You’re going to pay for this.”

  Lincoln laughed again and flashed Ruth a victorious smile. “I knew he’d cave. He never could resist although he’ll never admit it to anyone anymore. He’s Javert. I’m Valjean. And here we go.”

  “Don’t start without me!” Summer called as she ran out of the kitchen, still wiping her hands on a dishcloth.

  Ruth knew Summer by sight. She was a quiet, pretty blonde and was currently dressed in an outfit that was basically a more expensive version of Ruth’s, with a pink top instead of a green one. She was flushed and smiling as she pulled Ruth down onto the couch so they could form the audience for the men, who were starting to sing “The Confrontation” with the recorded version coming through the speakers.

  They were good. Carter had a better voice than his brother, but Lincoln hammed it up on purpose in a way that was impossible not to enjoy. They had the words and the timing and every note exactly right. Carter was obviously self-conscious about performing unexpectedly like that in front of Ruth. He kept giving her sheepish looks during his brother’s parts. But he belted out every word into his fake microphone, glaring at his brother with a malevolence which was exactly right for Javert’s part.

  Ruth watched openmouthed, barely able to contain her delight at this new side of Carter and the pure fun of watching the brothers sing the dramatic duet. Summer was clearly just as thrilled. She was practically hugging herself as she watched. And both of them burst into loud applause and cheers as the song concluded.

  Carter went immediately to turn off the music, as if worried he’d be pressured into a second performance. Lincoln laughed and clapped his hands and then sank down onto the couch, wrapping an arm around his wife. “That was fun.”

  “That was ridiculous,” Carter said, taking the chair beside Ruth’s side of the couch. “I can’t believe you did that to me.” He cleared his throat and added to Ruth, “Sorry about that. I should have known my brother wouldn’t act like a normal host.”

  “No, it was great,” Ruth insisted.

  “I figured it might loosen him up a little,” Lincoln said, still grinning as he added to Ruth in a conspiratorial whisper, “He’s sometimes kind of uptight. Worries too much about doing the right thing and doesn’t let himself have fun.”

  “I am not uptight.” Carter scowled although it was clear he wasn’t genuinely annoyed.

  Lincoln mouthed to Ruth, “Uptight” again and made a gesture of buttoning an imaginary collar.

  Carter grabbed a cushion and threw it at his brother. It hit Lincoln’s head with a satisfying swoosh. “And I have plenty of fun. I just don’t always need to be the c
enter of attention, like some people I might mention.”

  “You’ve got a really great voice, Carter,” Summer said, her gentle voice stilling some of Lincoln’s laughter. “I remember you used to do choir in school, and you’d always do those community musicals in the summer. You’d usually get the lead roles. Why don’t you sing anymore?”

  Carter was wearing a blue button-up shirt and tailored trousers. He looked handsome and put-together and affluent and as relaxed as she’d ever seen him. He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just don’t have the opportunity. I work twelve hours a day. When would I have the time?”

  “I guess you can always sing in the shower,” Lincoln said. “Does he?”

  When she realized the question was aimed at her, Ruth straightened up. “What?”

  “Does he sing in the shower?”

  Summer gave him a little jab with her elbow. “Lincoln, stop.”

  “Yes, please stop,” Carter said with an eye roll.

  “Anyway, I’ll never tell what he does in the shower,” Ruth said, playing up the primness in a way that felt appropriate for her role as the new love of Carter’s life.

  It worked. They all laughed. And since dinner was ready, they moved to the table to eat.

  Dinner was delicious, and the wine was excellent. Summer was both sweet and smart, and Lincoln was clever and hilarious. Even Carter came alive in a way she hadn’t seen from him before, telling stories and arguing with his brother and making sure Ruth got plenty of attention. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much. Half the time, she forgot to act like she was completely in love with him.

  It didn’t seem to matter. The whole evening felt natural, and Summer and Lincoln didn’t appear to question the nature of Ruth’s relationship with Carter.

  After dessert, Ruth begged Carter to do one more song with his brother, so the men went to the other room to confer about possibilities while Ruth helped Summer rinse off the dishes and load the dishwasher.

  “This was really fun. Thanks so much for having me,” Ruth said. She really liked the other woman although Summer wasn’t anything like her. In fact, they were as different as they could get.

  Any man who’d been in love with Summer wasn’t going to fall in love with Ruth. That much was clear to Ruth. She’d already known it. She’d come to that conclusion after a ten-minute conversation with Carter. So she wasn’t sure why she felt a little heavy about it now.

  “You’re welcome. It’s really good to get to know you. I’m sure I must have seen you around some. Lincoln says you come into Milhouse a lot, so he knew who you were. But I’m sorry we hadn’t met before now.”

  “There’s no reason we would have met. We don’t move in the same circles, and I didn’t move to Green Valley until you were out of high school. But it’s been really nice to get to know you too. I know Carter loves you like family.”

  Ruth knew more than that, but it hardly seemed appropriate for a new girlfriend to mention that she was aware her boyfriend used to be in love with another woman (and probably still was).

  “We are like family. We grew up together. Carter was always my best friend.” Summer sighed as she leaned against the counter, her brown eyes slightly poignant. “Things have changed in the past year. For obvious reasons. I mean, I married Lincoln. Fell in love with him.”

  Ruth didn’t miss the unexpected order. Surely falling in love should have happened before marriage. But she didn’t have time to mull it over because Summer was still talking.

  “It was kind of hard. For all of us. It changed the balance of our relationships. I couldn’t be as close to Carter as I used to be.”

  “Yeah. That makes sense. I guess it was unavoidable.”

  “So I don’t get to spend as much time with him as I used to. He’s been stressed and busy since his father died, taking over the company and trying to turn it around. He’s been working so hard. I was worried he wasn’t happy.” Summer swallowed and gave Ruth a little smile. “But he seems happy tonight. I’m so glad he’s met you.”

  “Y-yeah. Me too.” For just a moment, Ruth felt a little guilty. This was a tenderhearted woman who obviously loved Carter dearly. It felt wrong to lie to her like that. Give her hope of Carter moving on when that wasn’t really what he was doing. But it was what Carter wanted, and Ruth was on his side. She was going to do what he asked.

  Summer slanted her a quick look. “He’s always tried to be good at everything. Do everything other people need of him. He’s done that in relationships too. Even with me. Even when...” She didn’t finish that thought although Ruth really wanted to know what it was. “He’s always gone down the road that’s been laid out for him even if it wasn’t the one he wanted. I always hoped he’d finally go his own way. Find someone he could really let go with. I think he needs that, and he never really did with me.”

  Ruth had no idea what to say to that. It felt like Summer was telling her something, but she wasn’t sure if it was good or not. So all she said was, “Yeah. Yeah.”

  Then Lincoln called out for them, summoning them to the living room so he and Carter could perform “Mr. Mistoffelees” for them. Carter sang Rum Tum Tugger’s part. Lincoln was Mistoffelees and did a lot of comical dance moves that made Ruth laugh until she almost peed in her pants.

  They were all still laughing as they said goodbye, and Ruth couldn’t stop smiling as she rode down in the elevator with Carter.

  “It wasn’t that funny,” he said after a minute.

  “It was brilliant. You guys were really good.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You were! I never would have believed it. How long have you been singing?”

  “It feels like all my life.” He wasn’t meeting her eyes.

  “Summer said you did musical theater?”

  “Yeah. I did a lot of it.”

  “Why did you stop?”

  “I grew up.”

  She frowned, since he still wasn’t looking at her as they exited the elevator and headed outside, and it felt like he was hiding. “Carter.”

  Her tone drew his gaze to hers. Something softened on his face as he stopped just outside the main entrance of a building. “My dad got me to stop in high school.”

  “What? Why?”

  “He didn’t think it was... I don’t know.” Carter shrugged and glanced down. “It wasn’t manly enough or something. His reasons were all wrong. I knew it even then. But I caved. I was always trying to get that man to love me.”

  Her heart ached at the faint hint of pain she heard hidden beneath the dry resignation of his tone. She put a hand on his chest and didn’t say anything.

  After a moment, he cleared his throat and gave her a sardonic half smile. “So I gave it up and focused on sports instead. I was pretty good at sports too, but I never really enjoyed them. I didn’t give up my friends in theater though. I wasn’t that kind of person.” He added the last bit hurriedly, as if he were worried she’d think badly of him.

  “I know that. Even if I hadn’t gotten to know you, I still would have known that. People in Green Valley don’t just love you because you’re rich and good-looking. They love you because you’re good.”

  He darted her a quick, questioning look and mumbled something that sounded embarrassed.

  She laughed and asked, “And you never wanted to get back into it? After high school, I mean.”

  “No. To tell you the truth, it never even occurred to me. It’s not like I was ever good enough for a career. I just had fun with it.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with just having fun. Even now that you’re an adult. Aren’t there community theaters and opportunities like that?”

  “I honestly don’t have time, even if I...” He shook his head and started walking toward the car.

  She fell in step with him. “Well, maybe you will someday. You shouldn’t have to work all the time. You should do some things just for fun. Just because you enjoy it.”

  “Yeah. Well. It was kind of fun tonight. But I don’t e
xpect it to become a habit.” He was flushed and relaxed and a little rumpled. So sexy that Ruth gulped and glanced away.

  “I had a really good time. Summer and Lincoln are both really great.”

  “Yeah. They are.”

  She checked Carter’s face. He looked slightly subdued but not hurt or particularly sad. She took his arm as they neared his car. “Summer thinks you need to let go.”

  “What?” The muscles of his arm tensed beneath her hand. “Let go of what?”

  “Oh, not like that. She didn’t mean let go of someone. She said she’s always wanted you to go down your own road. Not the road laid out for you. She wants you to find someone that you’ll let yourself go with. That’s what she said.”

  “What did she mean by that?”

  “I don’t know exactly. But I...” She hesitated before she finished the thought but then just went for it. “I can see why you wanted to do this. Fake the relationship.”

  His eyes were sober as he turned toward her. They were standing beside the car now. He’d unlocked it but not opened the door. “You do? You understand?”

  “I think so. It was really clear how much Lincoln and Summer both love you. They love you so, so much. But it’s also like... like they...”

  “Feel sorry for me,” Carter murmured. Very softly. He’d turned his eyes away from her.

  “No. Not exactly that. Maybe a little, but it’s more like they feel... guilty.” She swallowed. “Would they have reason to feel that way?” She held her breath, having no idea if he’d answer her intrusive question.

  He didn’t immediately. It was almost a full minute before he said hoarsely, “Yes. I mean, they think they have reason. Lincoln felt like he was taking her away from me. In fact, he wasn’t going to... he was going to give her up for me. He loves her more than anything, and he was going to give her up for me.” His voice was soft, but it ached. Filled the cool air around them.

  Ruth reached over to put a hand on his arm, needing to comfort him somehow. “I’m sure you wouldn’t have let him do that. Not when they’re so in love.”

  Carter cut his head to the side quickly. “I... I almost did. I told you before. Everything that happened is my fault. I made all the mistakes. So I do think they might feel a little guilty still, but they shouldn’t. I can’t let them. They didn’t do anything wrong. I need them to believe...” He took a weird breath.