Christmas Romance Collection

by Melissa Hill

  He walked her to the outer edge where she could make out some of the landmarks below.

  “I’m glad you like it. I always think it’s at its best this time of night, so peaceful. Most people tend to visit during the day.”

  She could only nod in agreement. There was something magical and slightly dream-like about it. If Rachel were here she would say that it was like a scene out of a movie, but ever practical, Terri thought it was merely the reality of how high they were, and how monumental the city seemed as they looked down upon it.

  Ethan watched her face as she circled the observation desk.

  She searched and scanned almost every bit of the landscape as he pointed out buildings and sights. He stood close behind her, and could feel her quiver a bit. Guessing it was from the cold air, he removed his suit jacket and put it around her arms.

  She turned to face him, his arms still resting lightly on her shoulders.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “This was a great idea… I love it.”

  As stared into her emerald eyes, Ethan wanted nothing more than to remain in this spot, frozen in time, with Terri in his arms against the ever-romantic backdrop of the New York skyline.

  This place had always been special for him and he loved sharing it with her.

  The words unleashed before he could stop them himself. “I’ve missed you Terri. I’ve missed this.” He watched her for a reaction, waited her for to stop him, but she didn’t, so he continued, “I think I know why you left, why you couldn’t be with me any longer, I really do. But tonight, let’s not worry about reality — just live in the moment, OK?”

  He made one more move, closer to her and she did not resist, she could not. Her feet were cemented to the ground, her body anticipating, wanting what she knew would come next.

  Ethan scooped his arm around Terri’s waist, pulling her close as he lowered his head to meet hers. His lips dived into hers, stealing her breath away. Her body sank against his, while he used his other hand to stroke her fiery curls and caress her face.

  Then she pulled away a little, using her hand to gently push against his chest. The air escaped her as she heaved gently from both surprise and excitement. She pressed her head gently into his chest and let it rest there.

  “Please, please say something.” Ethan was desperate to hear from her.

  No matter, what that she had to say, he just wanted to hear her voice. He knew what he’d just done was probably too sudden, too rash, but he couldn’t help himself. Seeing her again had brought back all the emotions he’d tried to rid himself of every day since she left him.

  “Ethan I—I—I’m sorry.” Terri suddenly broke free from his arms and rushed inside, not wanting to look back. “I have to go.”

  She put her hands on her lips, feeling a warmth that still resided on her own skin after his touch.

  And as she entered the elevator with his jacket still round her shoulders, feeling very much like Cinderella before the clocks struck midnight, just before the doors closed, Terri stole a backward glance at Ethan staring out into the night sky, and sent him a silent apology.

  I’m so sorry …

  22

  “Terri? I know you’re in there. Please open the door.”

  She rolled over in bed, placing the white blanket over her head, hoping the world would just disappear.

  “Please. I just need someone to talk to,” Rachel’s voice broke a little, as she lowered it to a whisper. “Something happened with Gary last night. I don’t know what to do. I need to talk to someone.”

  Terri turned over again, this time allowing her body to drape over the side of the bed. She reached towards her phone, and glanced quickly at the time, noticing a few missed messages and calls (all from Rachel). It was eight am and the memory of the night before still burned in her brain.

  Getting up, she trudged to the door, slowly opening it just a crack.

  “Thank you.” Rachel moved towards the bed, sitting on the mess of overturned blankets while Terri went directly to the in-room cafietiere to prepare them a pot of coffee.

  She had a feeling it would be badly needed by both of them.

  Rachel launched into a hurried retelling of her and Gary’s exchange of words the night before, his annoyance about her approach to planning the wedding, the worrying things he’d said about them having children to him returning late last night and slipping in to bed alongside her without a word. This morning, she opened her eyes to find him already gone before she woke, obviously still miffed about their argument.

  She fought back tears as she let it all out. Terri handed her a coffee and listened as she sipped the hot liquid from the paper cup.

  “What am I going to do? The welcome dinner is tonight, and our wedding is tomorrow — barely twenty four hours away! How am I supposed to fix this in time?” Rachel sniffled as she reached for the tissue box sitting on Terri’s nightstand.

  “You cant fix it, hon.”

  “What?” The bluntness of Terri’s answer shocked her.

  “You can’t fix it. I hate to say it, but maybe Gary has a point, you have been somewhat …obsessive about the wedding.”

  “But …but why wouldn't I be? It’s supposed to be the most important-"

  “Yes, yes, the most important day of everyone’s life, I know. But Rachel, despite what you think, the day itself while important shouldn't be the be-all and end-all. What’s more important is that you and Gary are on the same page. And from what you’ve been saying, that doesn't sound like it’s the case — about one thing in particular I mean.”

  Terri didn't really have the energy, or the inclination to go through all this just now, but she knew better than anyone how Rachel could be about something she’d set her heart on. And she suspected she knew was going on with Gary. Rachel’s detailed account of last night’s fight had given her an inkling.

  “I don’t know what you mean…”

  “Rachel. I know you. The wedding’s tomorrow and all that can be arranged has already been arranged. Everything’s in place — you’re ready to go. Which means that you have no doubt already turned your attentions to the next part of your ideal happily ever after … am I right?”

  “You mean, having a family? Well, yes of course. It’s only natural that this comes next isn't it? It’s just … I’ve waiting so long for all this, to start a new life and new family with someone. It’s important to me, you know that.”

  “Exactly. It’s important to you. But maybe not so important to Gary just yet. Maybe he just wants time to enjoy married life with his new wife, before throwing yourselves into all the baby stuff and the mania that comes with it.”

  She looked shocked at the very idea. “But he’s never said anything like that. I just assumed that we’d …”

  “Exactly. You just assumed. Rachel, I love you, but we both know you do tend to get carried away by your own ideals of what the perfect reality should be. You’ve been dreaming of this wedding all your life and have done everything you can possibly do to make it a reality. So why not just relax a little and enjoy the moment, rather than looking too far into the future and concentrating on your next ideal, the whole happy family thing.”

  With a jolt, Terri realised that she too was guilty of such a thing, though in a completely different way. She recalled Ethan’s words from the night before.

  Just live in the moment…

  But that was different. She was more than able and indeed perfectly willing to face up to reality; Rachel was the one who’d always had trouble letting go of the dream.

  “But what if Gary doesn't want kids?” Rachel sobbed. “It would break my heart. I can’t wait to get started. Only last week, I was talking about painting the spare room.”

  Terri now knew for sure that this was likely the root cause of Gary’s distant behaviour recently. If his fiancee was already talking about turning bedrooms into nurseries with less than a week to go before their wedding … perhaps she couldn't blame him for getting cold feet.

&nbs
p; She knew better than most how Rachel’s ability to get swept up in one of her dreams could be overwhelming, and for her friend’s sake, and the sake of her happily ever after vision, she needed to bring her back down to earth.

  “Rachel, try to take things one step at a time OK? This time should be about you and Gary, and the commitment you’re making to one another. Stop running ahead of yourself. Just enjoy the ride.”

  Again, Terri couldn't help but think that she was somewhat of a hypocrite in advising Rachel to do that, when she couldn't do the same thing herself.

  But speaking of enjoying the ride …“By the way. What was all that last night with Ethan? Those tickets didn't just materialise out of nowhere — nor did that so-called errand to the airport. Don’t think I didn’t see what was going on.”

  “Oh come on. I thought last night was the perfect opportunity for you two to have some time alone together — some time to figure out what is truly going on with you. The tickets… well they were always going to be my gift to my bridesmaid. I was planning on going with you, but then I figured Ethan would make a much better date.”

  “Well thanks for the gift, but I don’t appreciate the meddling.”

  “Ah come on, Terri admit it. Ethan makes you happy and you make him happy. Of course you should be together, but you can’t see that, or worse you refuse to see it. Talk about me being blinded by dreams, you’re the one who’s blind, if you can’t see how you two are meant to be together.”

  Terri sat back down, her head resting deep in the palms of her hands.

  An overwhelming exhaustion overcame her. She did not want to have this discussion. “Rachel, we’re already been through this; it could never work. Ethan and I don’t even live in the same country, never mind that I’m not the maternal type, like you. I’m sure even Gary can see how good you are with Daisy, and you would be an amazing mum to any child you might bring into this world. But that’s not me. I was never one for dreams of big weddings and perfect families.”

  “What were your dreams about then, Terri?” Rachel asked, genuinely curious. “The restaurant? Because from where I’m standing, that’s very much a reality. So what else? World domination on the sourdough front perhaps?”

  Terri could not respond. Her mind raced with Rachel’s words.

  What was her dream? Did she even have one? Was she supposed to have one? Surely that kind of thing was for just for kids growing up, not adult women in their late thirties with jobs and mortgages and restaurants to run?

  She didn't know. All Terri did know was that this conversation was supposed to be about Rachel’s aspirations not hers.

  She tried to direct her friend back on topic.

  “Give poor Gary a break,” she said then, still unable to believe that she of all people was now feeling sorry for Gary Knowles. “He loves you and you two are getting married tomorrow in this fantastic city …”

  “Fantastic city?” Rachel raised an eyebrow. “So you’re a New York convert then?”

  Terri thought again of the Manhattan lights shimmering beneath her the night before as she and Ethan stood atop the Empire State Building, the lively atmosphere of Central Park the day before, and the regal beauty of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  She was certainly getting there.

  23

  Ethan and Daisy were heading out for lunch in Times Square.

  “Dad, did you ask Terri if she wanted to come with us?”

  “No, buttercup. She wouldn’t be interested.” Ethan knew that it wouldn’t be long before his daughter asked about Terri.

  He hated to have to disappoint her young heart yet again.

  Her eyes narrowed. “What did you do last night? Didn’t you follow the rules? Please tell me you weren’t stupid, dad. Girls hate stupid men — especially girls like Terri.”

  “Oy. We do not say ‘stupid,’ and no, I was not as it happens. We had a nice time, but just as friends.”

  He tried to be diplomatic, as if he was fine with the situation. But in his head, Ethan was unsure what had happened—how one moment of pure joy turned into Terri running away from him again.

  “I don’t believe you, you know.”

  “Daisy, we’ve been here before. Life isn’t like fairy tales. You can’t just make people fall in love, because you want them to.” Ethan’s wounded heart and indeed pride was catching up with him, making it harder to give her Daisy-friendly answers.

  “I don’t believe you. You love her, Dad. She loves you. It is supposed to work out.” Daisy walked off to change into her outfit. She slammed the bedroom door behind her, leaving her father alone in the living area.

  He lay flat on his back on the bed, attempting to replay each moment as it had occurred last night. But nothing registered amiss. Nothing rang alarm bells or told him it was wrong. They’d had a great time, had been enjoying each others’ company, just like before.

  Yet he had lost her again.

  He felt Terri’s absence everywhere as the day lingered on.

  He wanted to laugh with her about how awful the tourist restaurant’s food in Times Square was, or how he and Daisy had got lost in the subway on the way there, much to his daughter’s delight.

  He wanted to point out the trumped-up billboards for Chef L’Adorna’s restaurant, and reminisce about just how awful the man’s cooking was in reality.

  But Terri was somewhere else in Manhattan, off on her own mission to pick up her bridesmaid dress, help Rachel with the final touches in preparation for that evening’s welcome dinner party, and to set her plans in motion for Rachel’s final night as a single woman. Or so she hoped.

  Now, as wedding guests filed into the hotel dining room, she kept her mind occupied on the night ahead, trying to focus on ways to get Rachel out of the cousins’ outrageous hen party plans for later.

  She tried to drown out the voices of Linda and Cora as they went on and on about how their time at the spa that afternoon with Rachel was “sheer bliss”.

  Instead, her eyes were fixed on the doorway as she waited for Ethan and Daisy to arrive at the party. She wanted to be aware of them well in advance so as to compose herself for the inevitable, embarrassing face to face.

  Looking away briefly, she then studied Rachel and Gary. Though they were hosting the party with cheerful aplomb, the happy couple stood quite some distance away from one another, each conversing with other guests.

  Rachel had the same, forced smile she’d worn all day. She and Gary evidently hadn’t cleared the air, and the bride was obviously not enjoying herself.

  Terri sprang into action. She went to her friend’s side, saving her from another moment with Cora and Linda’s mum, a distant relative with whom Terri knew she had little in common. Whispering in Rachel’s ear, she said, “At eight, after the meal is finished, you and me are getting out of here, OK?”

  “What’s happening at eight?” Rachel’s interest was piqued.

  “It’s a surprise. But I'm going to ask you to play along with whatever I ask OK?”

  “Just you and me … but what about the others? I thought we were all going out for the hen night.”

  “Let’s just say that your cousin’s version of tonight involved cowboys and strippers. Mine involves something you might actually enjoy.”

  Rachel giggled, sounding much more like her old self.

  She certainly needed an escape from this glum atmosphere in which Gary still wasn't speaking to her, his mother sat in judgement of her, and her cousins shrieking voices were giving her a headache.

  Thank goodness for her best friend.

  Ethan and Daisy arrived just in time for dinner to begin.

  His and Terri’s seats were directly across from one another as she’d arranged. She wasn’t going to shirk anything; she and Ethan were adults and she knew they needed to have this out sooner rather than later. She didn't want any unnecessary awkwardness or embarrassment lingering for the wedding tomorrow, so there was no pussy-footing around.

  Daisy sat alongside her
father, and turned to chat with Justin, Stromboli’s chef, who had just arrived in the city a couple of hours before.

  Seeing the opportunity, Terri caught Ethan’s attention. “Can we talk?” she said forthrightly. “I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn't have left before you.”

  Despite himself Ethan was annoyed. She was always so damned mature, so adult about things. He was fully prepared for an uncomfortable situation tonight. He’d thought it would be awkward, certainly hadn’t expected it to be this … civilised.

  He tried not to be angry, but when he’d come in earlier and had seen her giggling with Rachel, he’d become annoyed. He wanted to see her conflicted as he was about what had happened last night. Terri acting like nothing at all was amiss felt like simply another slap in the face, and an affront to his feelings.

  Didn’t she care about him at all?

  “I take it you got back to the hotel OK …”

  “Yes. I found a taxi out on the street. I was going to wait, but I wasn't sure you’d want to me to …” Her voice trailed off and she took a deep breath. Ethan knew exactly what was coming.

  “Last night …”

  “Was fun,” he finished, before she got the words out. He didn't want to hear it, didn't want to draw things out any longer than was needed. Clearly nothing had changed; Terri might care about him but still wasn't prepared to take a chance that they could be more, that they might have a real future together.

  He didn't understand it, but he had no choice but to respect it.

  “Yes, it was fun.” She laughed a little, obviously relieved.

  “How’s Rachel?” Ethan went on, intent on changing the subject. “She seems a little strained. Pre-wedding jitters? I remember those well. I had a serious attack just on the morning Jane and I were to walk down the aisle.”

  “Seriously?” Terri was surprised at this sudden confidence, and also a little stung by the mention of Jane. She followed his gaze towards her friend, who did indeed look glum.

  “Absolutely. Horrible feeling, completely overwhelming as if everything is spinning out of control. Rather like how I felt when I first found out we were having Daisy.”