One Complicated Christmas

by Ciara Knight

  Seth’s lips tightened. “Yes, well, since then I discovered that I want more than that. I want a woman who challenges me, keeps me guessing, and who is strong, brave, and talented. That is Em.”

  Her eyebrow twitched at that name. In that moment, my two worlds collided, and I watched Mother reconcile the possibility of a rich, successful, important man to a person of my choice who would allow me to continue my frivolous path. I didn’t know if what he said was true or if he only wanted to stick it to my mother after the way she’d treated him last year with her dismissiveness, but it felt good. I stood taller, calmer, happier.

  “Does this mean you’ll be staying this time, or will you run off when things become difficult? With Emmeline, things can be challenging.”

  “That is what Em and I will be discussing.” He stepped into the center of the room, Souffle obediently at his side. “Em, we need to go over something for the event. If you’ll excuse us. I’m sure you have a tight schedule today.”

  Mother’s mouth fell open. As in chin to chest. I’d never seen anything like it, and I had to stifle a cheer. I was totally on team Seth at the moment. She recovered, retrieved her bag, and kissed each of my cheeks. “I will send a car to pick you up for a proper afternoon tea shortly.” She didn’t wait for my response. She only tap-clicked out of the room and out of my world.

  After the door closed, I collapsed.

  “Well, that clarifies things.” Seth sat next to me, rubbing Souffle’s ears as if praising her for making my mother uncomfortable. She remained on the opposite side of him, as if she was worried about getting cooties from me. Which worked well for the both of us.

  “What?”

  “You. You’re just like her.”

  I shot a foot away from him and smacked him in the arm as if we were old friends. “You take that back.”

  He reached around me and scooted me into his side. “Relax. I only mean that in your way of being in control. Other than that, you are opposites. Tell me, did I rescue you at the expense of being uninvited to all future family dinners?”

  “Next time, try harder so that I’m uninvited to all future family dinners.” I snagged the tea tray and headed for the kitchen. “Thanks for rescuing me, though.”

  “I meant every word. I’m here to win you back, Em.”

  Chapter 8

  A dusting of snow flittered down from a clear evening sky. It was the first of the season. I stood outside for a moment to collect myself before facing a forty-five-minute car ride to Christmas Mountain alone with Seth. His words still echoed through my mind. Was it true? Did he really return to win me back? No, he’d taken the opportunity to put mother in her place. That was the Seth I knew.

  I closed my eyes and lifted my head so the light flakes tickled my cheeks and nose.

  “You still look like a child when the first snow arrives.” Seth cut through my moment of serenity, and I snapped back to the here and now with a jolt.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I love watching you enjoy life in a way that most people don’t make time for. Although, I must admit, this is the first hint I’ve seen of it since I arrived. When I met you, even the mention of cooking sent you to your apron. And you’d live for the next creation.”

  He joined me with Souffle at his side. I patted her head twice, but she growled low. Not in an aggressive way, more like a I-know-you-don’t-like-me way.

  I stepped back.

  Seth’s brows furrowed. “Souffle…”

  She lowered her head, and I felt bad. “It’s okay. I’m not great with animals.”

  He nudged closer. “I don’t think it’s the animal you don’t like.” He stayed my fingers plucking lint from my skirt. “Same ol’ Em.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I huffed.

  He held up both hands. “Nothing. Your attention to detail is what makes you an amazing chef. I think it’s adorable the way you can’t stand anything out of place. Even if I was the one who was out of place in your world.”

  “No, the woman I saw you with the day you left probably had something to do with that.” I found myself defensive, but was it about his accusation of my OCD ways or because I didn’t want to allow him close to me?

  He pursed his lips together and nodded. “I’ll give you that, but you had told me you wouldn’t leave to go with me to Los Angeles.”

  “Beaches aren’t my thing.”

  Souffle sat and looked up at me. I had to admit her blue eyes were precious and her fur was at least short. I smiled at her, and she tilted her head as if to ask me why I was looking at her.

  Seth closed the space between us as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear what he had to say next. Was that a sign?

  “Is it me? You look unhappy and even uninterested in cooking. Last I saw you, I couldn’t get your apron off long enough to get your attention.”

  He had a point. It had been a while since creating food had brought me pleasure, but he didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to know that I had decided to stay, yet my heart, my inspiration, had left with him. “I’m good. We should head out if we’re going to make it back at a decent time. Who’s going to watch Souffle?”

  She moaned at me. At least it wasn’t a growl.

  “I don’t leave Souffle anywhere. She goes with me.” He passed the pink leash to his other hand and offered his arm as if he were to escort me instead of walk with me to a car.

  I sauntered past him, my bag with the new menu plans held tight to my chest. Souffle whined. “We can go over my ideas on the way.”

  “Sure. Why not.” Seth led me to his black car that probably cost more than I made annually, and it was only a rental or one of his company vehicles. He opened the back door, and Souffle obediently jumped up and settled into the seat with head on her paws. I slid into the passenger seat in the front, hoping the seat would be a fur barrier. Inside it was spotless. How did a man never have lint on his clothes or his seats, especially a man with a dog? I swore he had a valet hiding in his pocket with a lint brush. One I wanted to borrow.

  I picked off the three pieces of hair I found on my jacket and put them on the floorboard before he rounded the car and hopped into the driver’s seat.

  “No driver today?” I asked, thankful we weren’t nestled together in the back seat with a dog between us.

  “I thought it would be better if we were alone. Especially after yesterday.”

  I swallowed, hard and fast. Alone was the one thing I never wanted to be again with Seth. I had to know now of his intentions. Why he’d truly returned. “Are you insinuating that what you said to my mother wasn’t just a way to get back at her for her snooty dismissal and that you are here to win me back? Do you expect me to believe that?”

  I attempted to remain focused on the job, not on him, but it was difficult when he was dressed in perfectly fitting clothes that didn’t hide his broad shoulders and thin waist, with his hair perfectly styled in a movie star way, and not with his perfect eyes, perfect teeth, perfect lips. And not after his words to my mother yesterday.

  Oh God… He’d caught me staring at his lips. I unzipped my bag and pulled out the notes I’d taken on the menu, but not before I saw that smirk. That I-know-what-you-were-thinking smirk.

  Great, I’d already fallen under the Seth Mason spell. The man didn’t just kiss well. He kissed like a professionally certified first-place winner of the world’s best kisser award. The kind that a woman would compare all other kisses to in her future.

  “If I say yes, then you’ll send me away. If I say no, then I shut this down. I take the fifth.”

  “We’re not in court. And this isn’t a game. It’s my job,” I said.

  He nodded. “Then let’s focus on the job for now."

  Yes, the job was what I needed to focus on right now. I wouldn’t give in to a little physical attraction. Not this time. Not when I knew better. This wouldn’t be a quick romance, where he won my heart in a matter of a couple of weeks and then ended in a day. “So, I w
as thinking about doing a traditional turkey that is flavorful and elegant. Then I’ll add in colorful sides like candied apples, corn, mashed potatoes, pumpkin bread. And then on the dessert table, they could do cookie decorating while the staff enjoys coffee and crème brûlée and chocolate lava cakes.”

  “They?” Seth revved the car and pulled out of the front space reserved for important clients such as himself.

  Souffle moaned, stretched, and then closed her eyes. I caught a glimpse of Frank peeking through his office window at us, which sent a chill through me.

  “Geesh. You hate kids that much?” Seth asked.

  “What?” I blinked.

  “Children? Do you hate them that much? Are you scared they will smear jelly on you?”

  “No.” I caught my hand at my belly again. Darn arm still didn’t get the message that there would never be anything there. Not now, not ever.

  “Then why isn’t your heart into this? I know you, Emma Winters. You are a passionate, creative, talented chef who would jump at the chance to create something new and exciting. This isn’t it.” He pointed at the menu in my lap.

  “Wow, okay.” I shoved my papers inside the bag and zipped it up. “I’m sorry I’m not the right chef for you. If you want to leave me here, I can let Ashley know that you’ll be there in about an hour.”

  “No matter how hard you work to run me out of town, I won’t let you do it this time.” He turned onto the main road that lead to Christmas Mountain.

  “Run you out of town?” I twisted my bag strap mercilessly. “You ran out so fast you made my souffle fall when you slammed the door behind you.”

  Souffle bolted upright and made a noise.

  Seth laughed.

  “It isn’t funny.” I forced a breath into my lungs that were tight and constricting.

  “When I left, it was because I knew you cared about being a chef more than you cared about being with me. It was difficult to face. I’d never had a woman reject me like that before. I thought that choice meant that you didn’t care, and that stung. Let’s say I didn’t handle it well.”

  A smidgen of sympathy tapped at my ten-foot wall. “You left, not me.”

  He pulled off the road, sending me sliding into the door. Souffle collapsed with a whine. The car rolled to a stop. “Only because you told me that you wouldn’t go with me. That you would never go with me. That you’d never leave Montana, and my job is everywhere but on this mountain.”

  “I thought you understood that I didn’t want to give up being a chef so that I could follow you around the world. I worked too hard to give up my dreams for yours.”

  He shook his head, but his eyes remained trained on the road ahead. A car passed, headed toward the city limits. “I don’t expect you to give up your dreams for me.”

  Clack, clack, clack. I realized the noise came from my hands twisting the bag strap, causing the zipper to hit the door. I fisted my hands to stop my nervous habit. “It wouldn’t have worked. You’d be gone all the time to LA, and I’d be here.”

  He gripped the steering wheel, as if to subdue his frustration. “You’re a chef. Do you know how many amazing restaurants are in LA, New York, Paris?”

  “That’s it. You want me to move to where your job is, but mine is here.”

  “You’re right. I did.” He slid the car into gear and pulled out from the shoulder. “Answer me one question. Why on earth do you want to remain here working for that man in a small resort in Blacktail? Explain it to me, because I don’t understand. Why are you hiding here?”

  “I’m not hiding. I’m working.” I set my bag on the floor and clasped my fingers together to keep from fidgeting.

  “I’ll let you use that as an excuse for now if you admit one thing to me.”

  A siren went off in warning for me not to go there. I glanced behind me at Souffle, but she’d fallen asleep, so no help there. I never listened to my internal warnings like I should. “What’s that?”

  “That if my job wasn’t in the big cities and you didn’t work here, that you’d want to be with me.”

  “Why would you think that? What we had is over. It won’t work.”

  “Pretend last year didn’t happen. I didn’t leave after you sent me away and we are meeting now. Would we have a possibility of a happily ever after?”

  I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t talk, but I could cry. Cry for the real reason I could never be with a man. Facing the front, I forced an indifferent tone to my voice. “It doesn’t matter because my job is here and yours is not. There is no reason to ‘what if’ us again. Nothing has changed.”

  He smiled, as if I’d told him that he was everything to me. The only sounds were the wheels on the road and Souffle’s snores.

  “Nothing. It’s just you didn’t say no. You only gave the same excuse.”

  I threw my hands up. “You’re not listening.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been told I’m not a great listener.”

  I hit my head back on the headrest, closed my eyes, and counted to ten. “Is that why you chose the lodge to have this event? I mean, why isn’t it in one of the big cities? Wouldn’t that provide better publicity if you’re trying to change the optics?”

  “No, that is the reason I want it here. I don’t want the publicity. This is all for the children. It is not to enhance our company image.”

  “Really?”

  “Believe it or not, I do care about more than business. I do care about other people.”

  I relaxed a little with his explanation. Good. I didn’t need to think about us since he wasn’t here for me. That made everything easier.

  “Of course, there are other lodges on other mountains that are private, so maybe you’re on to something. Maybe I am here to win you back.” He winked.

  Chapter 9

  Ashley and Brent sat with Seth and me at a cedar table at their store, Overlook Adventure—a store that had been transformed into a mountain lodge on the inside, with large tree poles, animal-print area rugs, and kayaks and oars hanging on the walls. The roaring fire made it cozy, so cozy Souffle rolled over and stretched, showing her belly. Yet Seth kept sliding closer to me as if we were snuggled close to keep warm.

  His movement wasn’t lost on Ash, who kept winking when no one was looking.

  “I think the sleigh ride will be the highlight for the children.” Seth pointed to the image of a horse-drawn red sleigh with children tucked into blankets and bells strewn along the sides.

  I wilted away from him, but instead of letting me go, he grabbed my hand and squeezed. All eyes were on us. “What do you think? Will kids enjoy the rock climbing, snow fight, sledding, and the sleigh ride?”

  “Children?” I shrugged. “I guess.”

  I looked to Ash to save me from this conversation, and she obliged. “Then you want everything we proposed here?” she asked with a glimmer in her eyes. Too bad I couldn’t please him as easily with my menu choices. What did the man want? Did he even know?

  Brent sat tall and gathered the price list with the photos and put them inside the fancy folder to pass off to Seth.

  “Yes, I think that all looks great.” Seth scooted the wood bench back but didn’t let go of my hand. Instead, he pulled me to stand. “I’ll have my assistant finish all the paperwork on Monday when she arrives.”

  “Perfect.” Brent offered his hand, which meant Seth had no choice but to release me, so I scurried to Ash for a hug good-bye.

  “I had forgotten how good-looking he is,” she whispered in my ear before nudging me toward the door.

  I hadn’t.

  “We’ve got to go pick up my parents, and then we’ll see you at the tree-lighting ceremony.” She snuggled into Brent’s side and waved.

  Seth held up my coat, and I slid my arms inside, but he didn’t stop there. He wrapped his scarf around my neck and tucked it under my chin. “I wouldn’t want my chef to get sick before the event.”

  Souffle obediently ran to Seth’s side and waited for him to attach the leash
. She seemed a little more friendly, but I wasn’t going to chance it.

  “Wow. She is such a well-behaved dog. Is she a purebred?”

  “No.” Seth chuckled. “Did you hear that, girl? I told you how special you are.” He rubbed her ears. “She’s actually a mutt. The owner didn’t want her. Said she was damaged goods and they were going to turn her over to a shelter. I couldn’t let that happen. She’s been with me ever since.”

  “You rescued her?” Ashley asked in a louder tone than necessary. “You are obviously a good man.”

  A hint of scarlet pinked his ears, and I thought I’d fall over at the sight. Seth didn’t blush about anything. At least not the old Seth.

  After waves and byes, we made our way out into the quiet night. Seth and I walked up Main toward the town square for the tree lighting with Souffle trotting along between us. “Is your mother going to be at the tree lighting?”

  “My mother? Are you kidding? You don’t know her at all, do you? This would be beneath her.” I scanned the area just in case, though. Mother had never shown up to work before, either. “Why you want a round two with her?”

  “I think we should give it some time. I’ve got to prove myself to you before I can win her over.”

  I opted to ignore his comment and watched the residents gather in the square. The aroma of fresh-baked cookies and hot chocolate promised a down-home good event.

  “Did you know that when I met her last year and she discovered I was a business tycoon, she asked when I’d pop the question.”

  I choked and coughed. “She what?”

  “It’s true. She spouted off your resume of accomplishments—of course, none of them included cooking.”

  “No, she wouldn’t mention that. She still thinks that’s a servant’s job.” I waved at Morgan and longed to go chat with her, but it would only generate more questions about Seth. Questions I had no clue how to answer. She lifted her Styrofoam cup of hot cocoa at me before I lost her in the crowd. “What did you say to her?”

  “That I would’ve already asked, but you would’ve turned me down flat.”