Mistletoe Kisses & Christmas Wishes: A Christmas Romance Boxed Set Book Bundle Collection

by Leah Atwood

  Corey didn’t even turn his head as she walked out of the room. She followed the hallway and spotted her coat piled with others on a bed. Thank goodness she’d brought some ‘mad money’ to see her home in an emergency. She hadn’t expected to need it, though. Outside on the dock she took a moment to fill her lungs with clean air before pulling her cell phone from her pocket. She’d better call a cab.

  Maybe Matt will help me.

  Much as she hated to admit it, he’d been right about Corey. She’d eat crow if she had to, but more than anything she wanted Matt to comfort her. She punched in his cell number and waited with her breath held. Her call went to voice mail. He must have it turned off, maybe charging. She tried his home number. The phone rang and went on ringing. She was about to hang up when his familiar voice spoke in her ear. “Hello.”

  Her heart lifted, but as he went on talking she realized it was only a recorded greeting. She ended the call without leaving a message. Why wasn’t he answering? Hopefully he wasn’t avoiding her now. The thought brought a lump to her throat, and she nearly gave in to tears.

  She’d better pull it together. A dark dockside street wasn’t the place to lose it. She came to a lighted bus stop with a covered bench, which felt safer and gave her a point to direct a cab to. Her fingers fumbled at her cell phone’s keyboard, and the screen kept blurring, but she finally managed to arrange for a taxi to take her to the ferry.

  Hours later and after another expensive cab ride, she opened her front door, too tired to do more than kick off her shoes. Tomorrow she would put her red dress in the burn barrel along with any hopes she’d harbored about Corey.

  The ringing of her cell phone dragged her from sleep. She groped for it on the nightstand, almost knocking over the bedside lamp. Matt’s name glowed on the screen, right beside the time.

  “Why are you calling me at one o’clock in the morning?” She asked instead of what she really wanted to know. Where had he been when she’d needed him? That might sound possessive and give him certain opinions about her interest in him.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” Her voice wobbled, giving the lie to her words.

  “Sorry I wasn’t home. Why’d you call me so late?”

  “I had a sudden desire for your company.” She sat up and pushed the hair out of her eyes. “Are you just getting in?”

  “What did Corey do?”

  Her breath hitched. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Did he hurt you?” There was no mistaking Matt’s tone of voice.

  “No. At least not physically.”

  “I’m thankful for that much.”

  She cradled the phone against her ear. “Matt?”

  “What?”

  “If you had been home, would you have come for me?”

  He sighed. “What do you think?”

  “I-I don’t know anymore.”

  “Yes. Satisfied?”

  “Thank you.” She needed to remind herself yet again why she couldn’t be interested in Matt.

  Chapter Eight

  Hailey ordered her usual mocha and sat at the table she and Matt always shared at Seattle Coffee, but today his chair was empty. She hadn’t expected this, not after his reaction to her nightmare date. She shredded her second napkin and finally accepted that he wasn’t coming.

  The place, although filled with people, made her lonely without Matt. Outside on the sidewalk with cars rushing past was no better. At the corner she punched the walk button. The light seemed to take forever to turn green. The truth stared her in the face, though she didn’t want to look back.

  She deserved this.

  In all the ways that counted, Matt had shown her his love. In return, she’d taken him for granted, ignored his feelings, and even used him for a shoulder to cry on.

  She reached her desk and a decision at the same time. Because of her long commute, her company had given her special permission to arrive and leave early to avoid rush hour traffic, but Matt kept a normal schedule. She ought to be able to catch him before he left work. She trudge through the rest of the day, and at last was following the sidewalk past Seattle Coffee to Matt’s skyscraper.

  Feeling more than a little sheepish, she perched on a bench across from the elevator and waited for him to come out. When he did, she almost didn’t recognize him. The only familiar thing about him was the fiddle case he carried. Gone were the wild hair and mismatched clothing. Clean-cut and wearing understated business attire in a way that made him look downright attractive, he walked toward her.

  She jumped up. “Matt…”

  He frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  She held onto her smile. “I had to come, to tell you…”

  He raked a hand backward through his hair, leaving it rumpled. “I’m sorry, Hailey. I don’t have time for this. I’m late.”

  “Don’t you want to hear what I have to say?”

  He shook his head. “I told you I need some time. You shouldn’t have come.”

  Trying to talk to him had only made matters worse. Would he even care that she’d come to apologize?

  Maybe it was too late to make amends. The thought made her stomach ache.

  He turned his back on her and walked away.

  Needing fresh air, she stumbled onto the sidewalk and turned south in the direction of the ferry.

  She didn’t mean to follow Matt, but he was only a block ahead. Curiosity pricked her. The man was on a mission to be walking like that. He’d said he was late somewhere. Where he went was none of her business, but could she help it that he was going the same way as her?

  The light turned green, and she stepped off the curb just as a beat up car turned the corner. She leaped back as brakes squealed. The youthful driver glared at her as if he wasn’t the one at fault, gunned his engine, and left her behind. It was too late for her to cross. She’d have to wait for the next green light. Matt outpaced her by two blocks now. Just ahead of him, the curving front of Benaroya Hall reared upward. Home of the Seattle Symphony, Benaroya Hall drew the best of the best and elite crowds to match. Matt went into the building through a side door. What had he been in such a rush to do there? Maybe he had to deliver a file or something. He did work for a chamber music association.

  He’d gone through the doorway with his fiddle case under his arm, only now it looked a lot like a violin case.

  Chapter Nine

  Matt closed his violin case with a sense of relief. He’d worked long hours to perfect his violin solos on his own, and now he needed to mesh with the orchestra. It had been a tough rehearsal, with little time left to work out the music before the Evergreen Christmas concert opened to a sold-out audience. Beyond the stage, the house lights were dimmed. It was time to go home, where he would call his sister and accept her invitation to Christmas Eve dinner. She was right. He needed to move on with his life.

  Charlie signaled to him from his place at the head of the orchestra. Dressed in jeans and a cardigan, he looked very different from the tuxedo-clad conductor he would become for the Christmas concert. Tucking his violin case under his arm, Matt went to see what he wanted.

  Charlie’s forehead puckered. “Got a minute?”

  “Sure.”

  Together they walked away from the musicians who were still packing up their instruments. Charlie tilted his head inquiringly. “Is something on your mind?”

  “What makes ask?” It was true, of course, but he thought he’d hidden his bemusement better. Time and again throughout the evening, thoughts of Hailey had intruded. He shouldn’t have been so short with her, but she’d startled him, showing up at his company like that. At any moment someone might have betrayed that he owned it.

  “I know music.” Charlie said it humbly, but indeed he did. Celebrated as both a conductor and composer, Charles Van Bergen had won fame while still in his twenties. With his boyish face, he looked little above that still, but his wisdom was that of an older man.

  Matt’s face warmed. “I’
m afraid I slipped into playing by rote. It won’t happen again.”

  Charlie slung an arm around his shoulders. “I know what you are capable of, my friend. I was there in Vienna when you moved an entire audience to tears. Whatever the trouble, you must set it aside or it will hold you back.”

  “Point well taken. Thanks.”

  Charlie’s words followed Matt outside, where rain shimmered in circles cast by street lamps. He turned up his collar, but by the time he reached the parking garage next to his office building, he was soaked. He shook water from his coat before stowing it on the back seat.

  The Bentley purred as he guided it onto the road, the tires swishing on wet pavement. He massaged the back of his neck, working out kinks, as his thoughts returned like loyal dogs to Hailey. He’d first met her while dashing into Seattle Coffee dressed for a concert of gypsy violin music. In a hurry, he’d bumped into her, spilling her coffee down the front of her business suit. There had been no time to do more than hand her some napkins, buy her fresh coffee, and give her his phone number so he could pay to have her suit cleaned.

  She’d called the next day, and they’d talked for a long time. During their conversation, she’d struck him as a little too ambitious, something that brought Amy a little too forcefully to mind. After wrestling with himself for a couple of days, he’d invited her out for coffee. She’d been hesitant about meeting him but had shown up anyway. They’d been getting together for coffee ever since.

  He only had himself to blame for deceiving her. He’d lied about more than his identity. Pretending friendship was all he wanted had been dishonest.

  He owed Hailey a huge apology, some honesty, and a mocha.

  Chapter Ten

  Deeply involved in writing a letter to an agent about a liability risk for a food vendor, Hailey jumped when the phone at her elbow rang. She picked it up. “Hello?”

  “I’m a dog.”

  “Corey.”

  “Don’t hang up.”

  She fought the temptation long enough to ask the question uppermost in her mind. “Why are you calling?”

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “But we’re on the same floor in the same building.”

  “I’d come to your desk if I thought you’d talk to me.”

  “Why should I?”

  “I want to ask your forgiveness.”

  She groaned inwardly. If he’d said anything else, she might have been able to fob him off with a clear conscience. “You seem to make a habit of that.”

  “Please? This is eating me up.”

  Could she trust him to be sincere? Probably not. Should she give him a chance to be heard? Maybe. It was all so confusing, but one thing she knew. There was no way she was going to get involved with him again. “Meet me in the lobby in ten minutes.”

  “Thank you.”

  She slammed the phone down and tapped the end of her ballpoint pen against her desk repeatedly just to make it click. The precise sound comforted her. Nothing in her life at this moment came near to being as orderly. She should be spending her break with Matt not Corey. But Matt wouldn’t be there. She had to accept that fact.

  Corey was waiting for her in the lobby. He took her elbow, and by unspoken consent, they went outside. He turned toward the walled garden.

  She pulled away. “Let’s just walk.”

  He didn’t try to take her arm again but stayed near. They headed downhill in the direction of the water. A cold wind was blowing in off the surface, and she hunched into her jacket for warmth. They stopped at the first cross street and waited for the light to turn green.

  Corey turned her to face him. “I’m sorry I messed things up between us.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “Will you let me explain about Tisha?”

  “If it makes you feel better.”

  “I’ve known her a long time, since we were kids, and I guess she’s a little possessive of me.”

  “You guess?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Not at all. She wanted me to know she has a prior claim.”

  He frowned. “That’s just it. She doesn’t.”

  “Tell that to Tisha.”

  “I did.”

  “What?”

  “I told her to lay off at the party.”

  “That must have been after I left.”

  “Where’d you go, by the way?”

  “Home. I’d had enough.”

  “I did look for you, just so you know. I felt terrible about what happened.”

  That was too much. “You didn’t seem to feel badly while Tisha was draped all over you.”

  “I was trying to let her down gently, but that only ended up confusing things. Now I’m in hot water with both of you.”

  “It’s hard to sympathize.”

  “Can you forgive me?”

  “That might take a little time.”

  “I’m hoping you’ll give me a second chance.” He pulled her into his arms.

  “No, don’t.” She twisted out of his embrace. “That’s not going to happen.”

  His eyes widened a little, as if she’d startled him, and no wonder. Whenever he’d tackled her before, she’d always caved in to her infatuation. Beyond physical attraction, she hadn’t given much thought until now to what it meant to love and be loved. This wasn’t it, though. Being manhandled, manipulated, and constantly confused was not her idea of romance.

  Love should be like the tender relationship her parents had shared. Now that she put it in that perspective, much was becoming obvious, as if her mind was a foggy windshield that suddenly cleared.

  “It could never work between us, Corey.”

  He looked affronted. “Why not?”

  “I could laugh, if it wasn’t so sad, but I’m in love with someone else.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Matt slipped out the door of Seattle Coffee and turned his back on the kissing couple. At first when he’d seen Hailey through the window, he’d been confused. Why was she bringing this man, who must be Corey, to meet him? But they weren’t coming inside. When Corey kissed her Matt understood that she must have thought he wouldn’t be here. He had said he needed time.

  Intent on putting as much distance between himself and Hailey as possible, he started off, heading nowhere in particular. He wouldn’t try to go back to the office until he’d calmed down. Following random green lights landed him at Pike Place. He skipped the market in favor of the small park to the north. In summer, a strange mix of residents, office workers, and tourists overran Victor Steinbrueck Park, but today only a few people shared were taking advantage of a clear, dry day to go for a stroll. He gazed past the stretch of green grass to where a ferry plied the water and let the tranquility of the scene soak into him.

  It occurred to him that he was clutching his violin case like a life preserver. He set it on a bench and decided to open it. The weight of his violin felt comforting and familiar in his hands. Tuning his instrument took little time, and soon he was touching bow to strings. It had been a long time since he’d played like this. His fingers wandered over the strings, creating a quicksilver melody and assigning chord progressions with ease. His instrument became his voice, singing a melody that could not be found on a page, for it was his heart’s cry.

  At some point people gathered, their faces reflecting the rapture he felt, and he lowered his bow to a smattering of applause. A man in a brown suede coat with ruffled brown hair dropped a twenty in his case.

  He nodded his head in thanks.

  His small audience called for him to play again, but he thanked them for their attention, packed his violin into its case, and moved on. At the entrance to the market, he took a moment to drop the twenty into the bronze pig to be distributed to the poor.

  Music always changed his perspective. Sharing it with others took him out of himself in a way nothing else could. He hadn’t asked for the talent God had given him. The joy it brought came always at a cost. Charlie’s words returned to
him in memory. Whatever the trouble, you must set it aside or it will hold you back. He knew what he needed to do, although it was like tearing his own heart out.

  He had to stop seeing Hailey.

  Chapter Twelve

  Fingernails drummed on Hailey’s desk, making her start.

  Izzy laughed. “Sorry. Where were you?”

  Heat rushed into her cheeks. “Thinking.”

  “You’d better not let Kelsey see you staring at the wall like that.”

  “I shouldn’t be spacing out, anyway.” She locked her screen and stood up.

  Izzy put a hand to her back and stretched. “What were you thinking about?”

  “Only that I’m an idiot.” Hailey started down the hall for the break room.

  Izzy caught up to her. “There’s a man involved, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “Will you talk more quietly, please? Two men.” Hailey kept her voice low. “I’m swearing off them for life.”

  “Just so you know, that’s always the first sign.”

  “Of what, exactly?”

  “That you’re about to find romance.”

  “What?”

  “It’s true, or at least in novels.”

  “Izzy, this is real life.” The break room was thankfully empty. Hailey slumped into a chair and put her head into her hands. “It serves me right, but the man I love wants nothing more to do with me.”

  Izzy sat across from her at the table. “You never know. Corey might come around.”

  “Corey? Who said anything about Corey?”

  “Didn’t you?”

  “No.”

  “Then, who—“

  “Matt.”

  “Ah!” Izzy infused the small word with a lot of meaning.

  “Is that your smug way of saying I told you so?”

  “Never that, chica.”

  The gentleness in Izzy’s voice made Hailey want to cry all over again. She’d been doing a lot of that in the week since Matt stopped coming to the coffee shop. Izzy pressed a napkin into her hand, and Hailey dabbed the corners of her eyes.