Season of Joy

by Annie Rains

  Everett thrust his hands in his jacket pockets and tried not to remember the look on Rosalie’s face when she told him they were through.

  “We were so close.” Kevin blew out a breath. “You brought the debt down from a couple million to a couple hundred thousand.”

  “I didn’t want it to end like this.” Not for Yolanda and the others. Not for the town. Not for Rosalie.

  “I know.”

  “You can blame me.” That was what he paid Everett for.

  “I know.” Kevin swung his head around to look at Everett. “But I won’t. The buck stops here.”

  “If only we could have sold that warehouse.” If only they’d had more time. “I can’t do anything more for you. Consider this my two weeks’ notice.”

  They both fell silent. Tink stared at Everett as if awaiting a command.

  Everett rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the ache that extended throughout his chest, knowing that ache originated in his heart. “If I had the money, I’d have bought the warehouse. Rosalie thought it would make a great set of loft apartments over retail and restaurant space, instead of another small mall.”

  Kevin sat up. “What a brilliant idea.”

  “Lofts?” Everett blinked at him.

  “No. You. Investing.” Kevin put Tink on the floor and reached for a pad of paper. “We contacted developers but we didn’t think to organize our own group of investors to—”

  “Buy and renovate the warehouse into income-generating space.” Everett drew a deep breath as the idea took shape. “We could recruit investors, maybe even offer different levels of financial participation.”

  “People invest in civic works all the time.” Kevin scribbled names on his pad. “We’ll need a couple of big investors. But we should let folks buy in at affordable amounts.”

  “They’ll feel good about saving the town and their friends’ jobs.” Everett picked up his dog and held her close. “But we’ve only got ten days.” Less if you counted the holidays.

  Kevin raised his head. “Are you the same guy who worked budget miracles in six months? How hard can forming an investment group be?”

  “Hard, not impossible. But hard.” Everett latched on to his boss’s enthusiasm. “We’ll need a renovation budget and projected rents.”

  “Luckily, we’re on good terms with a Realtor by the name of Haywood, who probably knows a few good contractors.”

  Everett grinned.

  “Well?” Kevin asked. “What are you waiting for? The clock is ticking.”

  “Right.” Everett hurried downstairs with Tinkerbell.

  If he could work some Christmas budget magic, he could save a few jobs. And it was a long shot, but maybe he could stay in Sunshine and salvage things with Rosalie. Permanently.

  Chapter Ten

  The emergency meeting of Sunshine’s town council was held on the afternoon of Christmas Eve in the high school gym.

  They’d needed a venue large enough to fit everyone who wanted to attend. And everyone wanted to attend. Even Rosalie.

  Everett had seen her come in with her family. When the meeting started, he sat next to Yolanda in the front row, holding her hand while Kevin explained how important it was to invest in Sunshine and fielded questions. Yolanda had helped pull things together, both for the warehouse and for a special project of Everett’s. They were in this together.

  Kevin being Kevin, he wore an expensive suit and his professional smile. If he’d chosen to go into car sales instead of politics, he’d probably have owned a chain of dealerships by now. “Before we make contracts available to those interested in investing, I’d like to turn over the floor to our town manager, Everett Bollinger.”

  The audience booed.

  “Pay no attention to the peanut gallery.” Yolanda stood with Everett and gave him a hug. “I’ve spent over half my life working for this town. You, my dear Ebenezer, are one of the good ones. If my job is saved, I have you to thank. May both of our Christmas wishes come true.”

  “Thanks for helping me prepare for this.” Everett kissed her cheek and whispered, “How about I get up on that stage and do something everyone will remember later?”

  “Go slay.” Yolanda grinned.

  Everett climbed the steps to the stage and took the microphone. He straightened his glasses and surveyed the crowd until he found Rosalie sitting between her mother and her sister. They’d come wearing matching scowls.

  “Ladies and gentlemen.” Everett tugged down the ends of his ugly Christmas sweater. Yolanda had helped him pick it out. It was purple with a Christmas tree strung with flashing lights. “Before we begin, I’d like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.”

  Rosalie’s eyes widened, and the crowd quieted.

  “When I was hired to help Kevin and his staff get the budget back in line, I’d never heard of Sunshine, Colorado. I came here…” He’d toyed with glossing over this part but in for a penny…“I came here. Age forty.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I earned every one of these gray beauties working in six different cities, doing exactly what you hired me to do here. But all my experience only prepared me for the financial challenges. It didn’t prepare me for the challenges of the heart.” Everett tapped his chest, sending the star at the top of the tree glittering.

  He may have been on stage but he spoke directly to Rosalie. The shadows were back beneath her eyes. He had himself to blame.

  “I wasn’t prepared for the close-knit community of Sunshine. For the extended families and friends who make up modern-day families.” He cleared his throat. He’d considered skipping this next part too. “Most of you know my ex-wife is a convicted felon. Many of you probably know I was the one who uncovered the way she was cooking the books. The day I confronted her…the day I had to turn her in to the police…I thought that was the most heartbreaking day of my life. I loved her. But by abiding by the law, I learned my wife didn’t love me as much as she did money. Anyone’s money.”

  The audience shifted, whispering, judging.

  Everett didn’t care. He still only had eyes for Rosalie. “When I arrived in town, I was still reeling. It was nearly two years later, but I hadn’t rediscovered a way to trust my fellow man. So when I showed up in town with my fancy ties and my shiny shoes”—he’d heard people whispering to Yolanda about that—“I didn’t care, because I hadn’t come here to make friends. Or to find true love.”

  There was more whispering and perhaps less judging. Nothing pleased a crowd like a teaser. And he’d mentioned the L-word.

  “Despite that, a few of you won my respect, like Kevin. And a few of you earned my trust, like Yolanda. And one woman won my jaded, guarded heart.” Everett pointed toward that woman. “Rosalie.”

  The crowd murmur rose to a soft roar. People turned in their seats, looking for the object of his affection.

  “She’s pretty spectacular,” Everett said. “Her store is awesome, and the idea to turn the warehouse into mixed-use space was hers.”

  This news created a smattering of applause.

  “But…” Everett had to raise his voice to be heard, even with the microphone. “But before our love could even get off the ground, we announced the possibility of layoffs.”

  And they were back to boos.

  “Hang with me on this, folks.” Everett caught Rosalie’s eye. “Because as much as Rosalie and I are different, as much as we’ve discussed our careers are on different paths, they’re not.” He lowered his voice, imagining Rosalie was standing next to him, not sitting half a gymnasium away. “We were both raised to make do but lately that feels more like we’re just getting by. Honey, you think I need a big house and a fancy car. I don’t. Not as much as I need you. I’ve put money down on one of the lofts in the warehouse. You think I need the prestige of working for a big city from inside a corporate office? Not as much as I need you, babe. I want to work toward a future with you in Sunshine. And since I’ve accepted a permanent position as town manager, I’m not going anywhere except on long wa
lks with the woman I love and our two dogs.”

  Rosalie gave him that warm smile he loved so much. She stood and made her way to the aisle while Everett made his way down the stairs and to her side.

  He dropped down on one knee. The crowd was silent now.

  “Rosalie.” Everett snapped open a blue velvet jewelry box containing a ring Yolanda had helped him pick out. It was big enough to be noticed and small enough to lack ostentation. “I love you. I love the way you saw the good in me and the way you think about the happiness and welfare of others. I love the way you consider pets part of the family. I love that you’re brimming with ideas and that you’re not shy about telling me what you’ve come up with. But most of all, I love that you found a place in your heart for me.” And by the look of things, despite her words the other night, he still had a place there. “Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”

  “Yes,” said her sister, Kimmy, earning a shushing from everyone around them.

  Rosalie’s warm hands closed around his, closing the ring box. She drew him to his feet. She didn’t smile. She didn’t speak. She simply stared into his eyes.

  Kimmy chuckled.

  Nerves had Everett talking. “You know what season it is, don’t you, honey?”

  “Christmas?” A hint of a smile flashed past her lips before disappearing.

  “The season of love and forgiveness.” He was in desperate need of both. “I don’t want there to be secrets between us. The Widows Club bought you that cup of hot chocolate, not me. But I’ve regretted not buying it every day since. Can you forgive me? Enough to marry me?”

  “Yes,” Rosalie said simply, although he’d asked so many questions it wasn’t clear what she was agreeing to.

  “Yes, you’ll marry him?” her father asked before Everett could.

  “Or yes, it’s the season of love and forgiveness?” her mother asked, hot on her husband’s heels.

  “She didn’t even look at the ring,” Kimmy said, laughing. “How can she say yes to anything?”

  “I don’t need to see the ring.” Rosalie hadn’t broken Everett’s gaze. “Yes. Yes to everything,” she said. “As long as my Scrooge says he’ll be my Santa too.”

  “I’ll be your anything, love.” Everett’s arms came around her. His Christmas wish was coming true. “And I’ll be your always.”

  “That’s all a girl can ask for.” Rosalie kissed him, long and slow.

  The meeting went on without them. Two ranchers, Tom Bodine and a man Everett didn’t recognize, invested heavily. Enough other residents put up money to make Yolanda’s Christmas wish come true.

  Later, Kevin announced their financial goals had been met and Sunshine was saved. No layoffs would be made.

  All in all, it was a great Christmas. Everett got everything he wanted—love, forgiveness, and a balanced budget.

  About the Author

  Melinda Curtis is the USA Today bestselling author of lighthearted contemporary romance. In addition to her Sunshine Valley series from Forever, she’s published independently and with Harlequin Heartwarming, including her book Dandelion Wishes, which is currently being made into a TV movie. She lives in California’s hot Central Valley with her hot husband—her basketball-playing college sweetheart. While raising three kids, the couple did the soccer thing, the karate thing, the dance thing, the Little League thing, and, of course, the basketball thing. Between books, Melinda spends time with her husband remodeling their home by swinging a hammer, grouting tile, and wielding a paintbrush with other family members.

  Learn more at:

  melindacurtis.net

  Twitter: @MelCurtisAuthor

  facebook.com/MelindaCurtisAuthor

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