Eve's Christmas Wedding
Page 8
***
"I can't remember when I've enjoyed an evening more." Eve sank to the sand, slipped off her sandals, and dug her toes in the sand. "Oh, that feels so good."
"Tell me about it," Jolly agreed. She handed Eve a glass of white wine and sat beside her. "There was some pretty stiff competition in that limbo line."
Eve laughed. "Oh, Jolly, I'm going to miss you all so much when I leave."
Rapz, who was laying on his back in the sand making the tropical version of snow angels, lifted his head and looked over at her. "Does that include me too, Eve?"
"Most definitely." And she meant it too. "I can't believe that I ever doubted that Santa and the North Pole existed."
Jolly laughed. "We don't take it personally. It isn't always easy to believe and trust in something that you can't see and hold."
"Like love," Rapz said, his voice sounding far more serious than it normally was. "Sometimes I think that's the hardest bridge to cross."
"I hear you." She didn't want to think about Hunter tonight but he'd been on her mind all throughout the wedding and reception. As happy as she'd been for Kris and Kyle as they exchanged vows, hearing their pledges of eternal love had hurt. She sighed.
Jolly's smile was sympathetic. "It's not too late, you know. For you and Hunter."
Oh, but it was. And it hurt too much to talk about. A life without Hunter, she realized, was going to require a strategy. The only plan she could think of was to white knuckle it, one day at a time, for as long as it took.
***
Hunter made his way through the throng of elves waiting outside the arrivals and departures area. Despite the advantage of height, he was outnumbered and heading in the opposite direction of the crowd. His sleigh had landed just as the newlyweds were boarding their sleigh headed down below for their honeymoon.
The festive mood was palpable, but this didn't surprise him. He could easily attribute part of the upbeat energy to it being Christmas Eve, but he also knew that Eve was responsible in no small part. All of her hard work pulling together a last minute wedding had no doubt paid off in an amazing ceremony and insanely fun reception. He hated having missed it but he was here now. Now he needed to make it to Eve's side and plead his case.
A horrible thought struck him for the first time. What if Eve had already left? He stopped an elderly elf. "Excuse me, do you know if Eve Bennington is still here?"
The elf flashed a toothy grin. "Last time I saw her she was enjoying a glass of wine. Hey, that was some wedding, huh?"
"I don't doubt it," he said. With a nod of thanks, he headed towards Eve's room. So his luck was holding out thus far, but he knew the hardest part was yet to come. He didn't deserve her forgiveness, or her love, but he had to make one last try.
***
Eve snapped the lid of her suitcase shut. She'd had to borrow it from Jolly to fit in all of the mementos that her new friends had given her, not to mention all of the baby gifts the elves had made for Staci's baby. Eve looked around the empty room and realized that if she was ever going to go, now was the time. During the reception, Santa and his family had relentlessly pressured her to accompany them to Maui. Kind as the offer was, she knew she wasn't going to be fit company for quite awhile. The best thing she could do, she'd decided, was to go back to Manhattan and throw herself into her work. Valentine's Day was right around the corner and with it, a good number of weddings to micromanage.
She heaved the suitcase onto the floor and reached into the closet for her coat. It was then that she saw her unopened gift from Santa. Hesitating only for a moment, she carried it to the bed. She stared at it for a long moment. Despite not knowing what was within it, she'd come to know Santa well enough to understand that he didn't give gifts without great thought. Which meant whatever was tucked in the box, was something special. She resisted the temptation to leave it in the closet unopened. Santa deserved better.
She untied the pink silk bow and lifted the lid from the box. She gingerly moved several layers of silver flecked tissue paper aside. A white shantung silk dress lay neatly folded, and Eve recognized it at once. Her eyes grew moist as she reverently lifted it out of the box and held it up against her.
"Oh, Santa," she whispered aloud. "How did you know?"
She turned to look at her reflection in the full length mirror. The dress was strapless, with a wide ballerina pink satin sash at the empire waistline. With one hand, she reverently traced the seed pearls and crystals hand sewn just below the bust line. She knew every detail without having to look at it because this was her dress. The dress she'd designed when she was twelve years old. Back when she'd been young enough to believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters.
When she heard a knock on her door, she wasn't surprised. It stood to reason that Santa would come to see if she had opened her gift. "Come in," she called over her shoulder, her attention still riveted on her dream dress.
"Hello Eve."
She whirled around. "Hunter?" Her heart began to hammer in her chest. "What are you doing here?"
He took a few tentative steps into the room. He gazed at the dress she was still holding up against her, before his eyes met hers. "I've come for you."
"For me?" She barely recognized her own voice for the uncertainty she heard in it. Hunter looked slightly disheveled and exhausted, but a trip to Italy and back would do that. Even so, the sight of him nearly took her breath away. "Why aren't you in Vatican City?"
"Because you're not there." His half-smile was tentative. "I did go, but as soon as I got there, I realized the mistake I've made."
Her deep desire to shield her heart from any further damage went to war with hope. "I don't understand. Did you see the Pope?"
"I did."
His words were like a bucket of cold water thrown over her. Nothing had changed. Hunter had gone on assignment, conducted his interview, and came back to her. Until the next time he got a call. But she wasn't going to do this.
She lowered the dress and, with one last look at it, she folded it carefully and held it cradled in her arms. "I don't know why you came back here, Hunter, but I'm leaving. I need to get back to Manhattan."
"We'll go together."
She heard the question in his voice.
"No." She willed herself to look away from him but she couldn't. It was as if a magnetic attraction tethered them together. "You made your choice when you chose to interview the Pope."
Hunter took several steps toward her. "I didn't interview him, Eve. I chose you."
She frowned. "But you just said you saw him, didn't you?"
"I did see him, but it wasn't for an interview. It was an audience."
"An audience?" she repeated.
He nodded. "That's right, I knew before I arrived in Italy that I'd made the worst mistake in the world leaving you. I apologized to His Holiness for wasting his time, and I told him that I needed to get back to the woman I loved."
Eve stared. "You chose me over the Pope?"
Hunter's voice was gentle, but strong and assured at the same time. "I chose you. I choose you. Over everything. If you'll have me."
Eve fought back against the sob that rose in her throat. "But you had an audience?" she persisted. Her heart was on the line, and she needed to make sure she understood.
In answer, Hunter reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. "I asked the Pope to bless this." He opened the box and held it out to her.
Transfixed, Eve could only stare at his offering. A heart shaped ruby stone was surrounded by diamonds. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Please, Eve, take it. As a token of my love and devotion to you, I'm giving you my heart."
She began to reach for it and then realized that she was still holding the dress Santa had given her. She turned to lay it back in the box, and as she did so, her hand touched an envelope she hadn't noticed earlier. Her name was scrawled in bold letters on the front. Without hesitating, she opened the card and quickly read the message inside.
/> My dear Eve,
Every desire which is most precious to us must begin with a dream, and a belief, before it can become real. Dream, Eve, and believe. Your heart knows what it wants. Listen carefully to it.
With love,
Santa Claus
Eve closed her eyes. Her heart did know it wanted. Dream and believe, she could hear the words as if Santa himself were whispering them to her. He was right. Her heart did know what it wanted. It wanted forever. With Hunter.
She lovingly folded the wedding dress her dreams had created before turning back to face him. "Yes."
His face broke into a smile. "Yes?"
"Yes." Eve moved into his arms. "Yes to forever." She reached up and brushed a kiss across Hunter's lips. "Yes to us."
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Other books by this Author:
Miss Kane’s Christmas
Mrs. Saint Nick
The Return of Kris Kringle
The North Pole Prize
The Christmas Makeover