by Jenny Hale
Theo replied, “Because I had my accountant convert it all to legal income, saying that I’d paid him, and then I paid taxes on his extra income for him. It took every cent I had in my bank account to do it.”
“Oh my gosh, Theo. Why did you cover all that up?”
“Because he’s a train wreck, but I love him. He’s my dad, after all. When I confronted him about his spending and taking the money, he cut me off, and kicked me out of the partnership. When I sold the business, we went our separate ways. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t see me.” Theo ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve dealt with that kind of stuff my whole life, and this was the tipping point. I’d had it. I didn’t want any part of it anymore.”
“I’m so sorry, Theo,” Lila said, her chest heavy with sadness for him.
“When I had no money, Alexa was angry and embarrassed because of the way things had ended, and she spread rumors to all our friends that the family was bankrupt, that she didn’t believe I’d had any money in the first place, and that I was a fraud. Alexa threatened that she’d find a way to take everything I had left—even if it was through unnecessary lawyer fees. Me being broke would make it look like her claims about me were true. Then she could save face as the deceived, poor Alexa, and I’d be the bad guy.
“I did an online search and found the coffee shop. It looked exactly like the kind of place where I could disappear. I promised myself that I wouldn’t get close to anyone again. Self-preservation, you know? And I make a decent living. I have to have money to live—I won’t let her take what I’ve earned, and I think she’s going to try, just to spite me.
“But the big issue here,” he continued, “is that if I’m seeing someone while I’m married, Alexa might seize the opportunity to try to win a case against me. The last thing she wants is her reputation ruined. She’ll do anything to protect it.”
“This is insane,” Lila said. She folded her legs under herself on the sofa and sat back on her knees with her glass of white wine in her hand. “You need to set the record straight.”
He stared at her fondly. “I wish I could see the world like you do. Just once. I’ll bet it’s amazing.”
“Sometimes, my way of thinking gets me hurt.”
He nodded, listening.
“Look, it’s Christmas. I don’t have a family—I didn’t get to choose that—but you do. And I really think you need to talk to your dad, clear things up with Alexa, and if you really want my opinion, you should call your mom too.”
“Anything else?” he asked.
“Take the coffee shop off the market and reopen.”
“Wow, you want a lot.”
“It could be your Christmas gift to me.”
“Great. Way to make it difficult.”
“I’m not finished,” she said, scooting over to him. “I want a big, giant Christmas tree in the coffee shop, and festive music, and reindeer rides…” She reached over him and set her wine down on the side table beside him, before snuggling into his warm broad chest and inhaling his spicy scent. She looked up at him. “And I want us to fill Eleanor’s cabins with people, give them horseback riding lessons, cut trees for them over at the farm…”
Theo laughed and then leaned down and kissed her. “I think you might actually be crazy,” he said. “But I love it.”
Twenty-Six
Having divulged to Lila that he’d been sleeping in a motel in the next town, Theo had slept on her sofa in the cabin last night. She’d offered him one of the beds in the other rooms, but she’d gone to get ready for bed and when she came back, he’d fallen asleep on the sofa. This morning, she’d walked into the living room, yawning, forgetting for a split second that he was there.
Lila stopped, her breath catching at the sight of him sleeping. The little cabin sofa was no match for his tall stature, one leg stretched out and the other bent, with his sock-clad foot on the floor. His arms were covered up to his biceps with the blanket from the arm of the sofa, and he’d wadded one of the decorative pillows under his head. His eyes were closed, the most peaceful expression on his stubbled face.
Evidently sensing her presence, he opened his eyes. “Morning,” he said in a husky voice with a groggy stretch as he sat up. He blinked a few times before his gaze landed on her, drinking her in, a warm smile forming.
Only then did she realize her hair was still drawn up into a haphazard ponytail from when she’d taken off her makeup last night, and she was wearing her red-and-white flannel pajamas with little Christmas trees on them. She pulled the band from her hair and ran her fingers through it, self-conscious.
“Don’t,” he said, reaching out and taking her hand, pulling her toward him so he could scoop her into his arms. “You’re gorgeous.” But then he sobered, his breathing deepening as something crossed his mind.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“You and I can’t move forward until I get things straight with Alexa. I’ve been afraid to serve her with divorce papers because once I do that, she’ll try to ruin me. I think she truly believes I lied to her about everything. And the main thing she cares about is her reputation. She won’t let me get away with it easily.”
“Eventually, she’ll want to get married to someone else, and this will have to happen anyway,” Lila told him. “You need to talk to her.”
“Are you sure you want to get involved with all this? It’s not for the faint of heart.”
“All relationships have to start somewhere,” she told him. “I won’t be put off that easily…”
“Relationships?” His smile gave her a flutter.
“What else should we call this?” She waggled a finger between them.
He pulled her into him and nuzzled her neck. “How did I get so lucky? I didn’t do anything to deserve you.”
She twisted around and gave him a kiss.
Theo stood up, grabbed Lila’s hands and pulled her up. “I’m starving. Let’s get some breakfast.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the market to buy ingredients. I’m cooking.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, his gaze more delicious than anything he could make in the kitchen.
“You haven’t lived until you’ve had my breakfast pizza,” Theo teased as he stir-fried the mushrooms, green peppers, and onions they’d bought at the market, tossing them with butter, the savory aroma filling the room. He turned the heat to low. “Would you grab a bowl? We need to mix the yeast with the sugar and warm water.” He flipped the bacon sizzling in the pan beside him.
There was something so irresistible about him standing in his bare feet, with Lila at the stove, wiping his hands on the kitchen towel. It was a sight she knew she would crave on those lonely nights by herself. She grabbed a bowl to refocus, so the thought of him being anywhere but there didn’t linger in her mind.
Theo mixed the ingredients, causing the yeast to fizz. He added olive oil and flour, dusting the counter with a little more flour. “We just have to knead this,” he said, sprinkling salt over the dough and mixing it in. His large hands manipulated the dough easily, forming a neat ball that he plopped onto the counter and stretched out into a circle. “All done. We’ll just pop it into the oven for a few minutes while we make the eggs.”
When the crust had baked a few minutes, Theo spread pesto over it, and then topped the pizza with bacon, eggs, mozzarella, and veggies, placing it back into the oven.
“What should we do while the pizza bakes?” Lila asked.
“Hm. Maybe this?” He nuzzled her neck, kissing it and giving her goose bumps.
She squirmed away playfully. But then she sobered. “I’m so happy you’re here,” she said. “I really am.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,” he replied. “You should never be alone.”
“Neither should you,” she pointed out. She’d had to live her whole adult life by herself, and she knew how to do that, but in all the years she’d had to get used to it, it had never gotten any easier. Theo had
chosen to be alone, and the idea of that was unfathomable to Lila.
“You should call your dad,” she suggested, keeping her expression lighthearted so as not to change the mood between them. “Or let me call him?”
“What?” He wrinkled his nose at her.
“Let me talk to your father. Let me call ol’ Smash.”
Theo rolled his eyes. “I don’t want you to have anything to do with him. I want to shield you from that as much as possible.”
“Oh, please. Give me your phone.” She reached around to his back pocket.
“No.” He laughed again, dodging her, grabbing the kitchen towel and snapping it in the air as if that would ward her off.
“He probably won’t even answer. Let me call him!” she said, giggling as she tickled his sides, trying to get at his phone and making him squirm.
Theo playfully defended himself, tossing the towel onto the counter and taking her wrists, using his weight to turn the tables.
“That’s not fair,” she said, laughing and trying to twist out of the grip of his large hands. His thumbs caressed her skin, sending her stomach into somersaults.
He moved her past the counter and pinned her down on the sofa, hovering over her while gently letting her go. “You’re going to have to fight me to get my phone.”
“Fine,” she said, her muscles relaxing.
Softly, his fingers trailed down her arms, giving her goose bumps. She fought the urge to kiss him, instead reaching around and swiping his cell phone from his back pocket as she slid out from under him onto the floor. She scrambled to her feet.
“Got it,” she said, waving it in the air.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Of course not, it’s—”
“Christmas,” he said, finishing her sentence. But his face dropped. “It’s not going to be all sleigh bells and happy endings, Lila. Life doesn’t work like that.”
She knew that better than anyone, but she also knew how short life could be, and how important it was never to let things go unsaid. “You might be surprised.” She held out his phone. “Call him. I’ll be right here beside you.”
Theo took his phone and held it in the palm of his hand, staring at the empty screen. Then, to Lila’s total surprise, he pulled up the number and hit call.
When someone answered, he said, “Hey, Dad. It’s Theo.”
Lila sat next to Theo on the sofa with both hands folded tensely in her lap.
“I thought I’d call…”
She’d never seen him look like that before. His shoulders were tight, his jaw rigid, his back stiff. Even when she thought she’d pushed him to the limit in the first days she’d known him, he hadn’t had that intense reaction.
“Yeah, I’m still in Pinewood Hills. I’m at the cabins. How did you— Okay.” He looked over at Lila. “See you soon.” Theo hung up the phone.
“What did he say?” Lila asked. That call had been so much shorter than she’d thought it would be.
“He’ll be here tonight at around seven.”
“Oh my gosh!” Lila clasped a hand over her gaping mouth. This was the moment when their Christmas could either be really great or completely spiral out of control. And she had no idea which way it would go.
“We have the whole day ahead of us,” Theo said, his hands folded as he leaned on his elbows over his empty plate.
“Thank you for breakfast,” she said. “You’ve been holding out on everyone in the coffee shop. With skills like that, you should be making a lot more food than the few pastries you offer.”
Lila had been amazed by his culinary skills, having never tasted a breakfast pizza as good as that scrumptious explosion of flavors on the buttery dough.
“Thanks,” he said. His smile seemed a little nervous, and she wondered if his father’s visit was weighing on him.
“You know what we should do?” Lila asked.
“What’s that?” Theo replied.
“We should get your dad a Christmas present!”
He laughed disbelievingly. “This man steals from his own son, kicks me out of his life, and causes me to lose everything I’ve worked for, and you want to buy him a Christmas present?”
“Do you have any good childhood memories of you and him?” she asked, curious.
“Before my mom walked out of our lives, we were inseparable. He took me fishing, taught me how to change the oil in a car and how to ride a bike… But when Mom left, everything fell apart. I always used to think the reason she ran off was because I was so much like my dad, and she didn’t love him, so she must not love me. I spent my whole life trying to be different from him after that. I got so muddled trying not to be him that I lost who I was. It took me a long time to figure out who I was meant to be. And I’m still learning.
“My dad changed after she left too. He was withdrawn and sad all the time. I spent most of my teenage life with nannies. Between trying to be the exact opposite of him and rarely seeing him, we slowly drifted further apart until, I remember, when I was eighteen, I sat with him at the dinner table and the two of us ate in silence, neither of us having anything to say.”
“That’s… tragic,” Lila said, her heart breaking for Theo. She knew what it was like to live without her father, but she couldn’t imagine losing him yet knowing he was still right there within her reach.
“It got better, though. The nanny was training to be a counselor—her name was Janie Simpson. I still remember like it was yesterday. She spent loads of time with me, talking, asking questions, and getting me to think. It was with her that I faced the fact that my mother leaving wasn’t my fault. It probably had nothing at all to do with me. Looking back on it now, I wonder how stable she was… If she ever thinks about how she left us, if it keeps her up at night.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But after I got it all out in our little therapy sessions, I didn’t let my mother’s actions impact me anymore. And when I came to my dad with the idea for Winding Alley Music, he and I found common ground for a while.”
“And then the money issue?” Lila asked.
“Yep,” Theo replied. “That was the end of it.”
“Have you had any contact with your mom at all?”
“I get a present on my birthday and at Christmas.”
“Maybe I should’ve been more sensitive when I asked you to call your dad,” she said, guilt pecking at her. “I didn’t know the whole story and I pushed you into seeing him. I’m sorry. Do you feel like you’re ready?”
The nerves seemed to emerge again in his smile. “You gave me a nudge, but I had to agree, so don’t feel bad.” He leaned in and gave her a tiny kiss. “Your heart is so good,” he said. Then he pressed his mouth to her ear and asked, “What do you say we go somewhere?”
“For what?” she asked, reeling from the tingles he’d sent down her arm.
“Our first official date.”
“Did you just say date?” she asked in mock surprise, but unable to hide her delight. “Where?”
“Rock climbing,” he said, biting back his amusement.
Her smiled dropped. “Come on. Our first official date will not be rock climbing.”
Theo gazed into her eyes, his features becoming serious. “Trust me.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “It’s freezing outside. The rocks will be slippery…”
He took her hands, his gaze locked with hers. “Trust me, Lila.”
While her brain screamed out that climbing rocks in the middle of a snowstorm was a terrible idea, her heart reminded her that Theo was asking for her trust.
“I trust you,” she said.
Theo leaned in and kissed her softly. Just when she’d taken in the gentle movement of his lips and the warmth of his breath as it mixed with hers, he stood up. “More of that in a little while. We need warm socks, coats, scarves, hats, gloves… With all the trails nearby, I’ll bet Eleanor has hiking gear.”
“I don’t know…” She was still processing everything h
e was telling her, in shock that she was actually considering this. “Gloves? For rock climbing?”
“You’ll see.”
“Wait,” said, grabbing his arm. “I thought I wasn’t the type of girl you’d take rock climbing. You said so when we first met.”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I said it depended on the girl as to whether rock climbing was a good idea for a first date. You assumed I meant you weren’t the type. What I didn’t elaborate on then was that it also depends on the guy.” He kissed her forehead. “Grab your coat. Let’s head over to Eleanor’s.”
Lila wondered what Theo had up his sleeve. She couldn’t wait to find out.
A narrow path led through the woods. It began at the sign where Lila and Theo parked and snaked along the hill in front of her, disappearing between the trees.
“We’re standing on a massive slab of rock at the moment,” Theo said, slipping on the backpack he’d borrowed from Eleanor and taking her hand. “Let’s get climbing.” He led her onto the path and into the endless expanse of woods ahead.
As they walked, they got higher and higher, the woods beside the path giving way to a drop-off into the valley below. On the other side of them was a wall of solid rock. Lila kept her eyes on the path with every step. “I’m nervous,” she said, her gaze flickering over to the drop-off and then back to the path.
“There’s a four-foot bank beside us,” Theo said. “It’s a long way down, but we’ve got plenty of room. You’ll be fine.” He stopped her and came up close behind her. “I’ve got you,” he said, the same way he had on the horse, and she felt her shoulders relax. “In just a minute, we’ll be there.”
They continued on, the valley below getting further down the higher they climbed through the snowy hills. The snow was continuing to fall, making her fretful. It feathered down around her, landing on her shoulders and in her hair. Her nose was getting cold so she covered it with her mittens, breathing into them to try to generate warmth. Finally, Theo pointed to a hollow in the rock beside them.
“It’s a cave,” she said in wonderment. She’d never seen a real one before.