“Not a problem,” she said automatically because that was her thing. Just as Hugo could be cold and distant, businesslike when pain overwhelmed him, she became accommodating, not letting anyone see her hurt, upset or confusion.
Maybe it was time for that to stop. Maybe she was tired of being the one everybody counted on. Tired of being the one who always did the right thing.
And maybe that was the lesson in losing her husband. It was time to stand up for herself.
Her phone pinged with a text.
Where are you? I can’t find you. Someone said they thought you’d left.
Hugo.
He was probably looking for her because he’d decided he wanted more icing on the gingerbread cookies…or no icing…or more flowers…or fewer flowers. A detail that shouldn’t matter. But he was a fussbudget.
She debated not answering him.
But no matter what she decided about herself personally, he was still her boss. Her employer. She would do her duty.
I’m at home. We’re packing to leave.
Leave? You’re not coming to the party?
She took a second. She’d spent the past weeks working her butt off to make this the perfect Christmas Eve. Part of her had envisioned Noah chitchatting with Santa. Her mom had bought a beautiful party dress. She’d used Hugo’s shopper again to get a wonderful red velvet dress to wear. But every time she pictured herself at the celebration of Hugo’s greatest success, she saw him coolly greeting her, then shipping her and her family to a far corner. Because they weren’t anybody. The family of a subcontractor. Not even an employee.
No.
Erin! You have to come!
Not really. We’re homesick. Eager to be in our own space.
For ten minutes there was no reply.
Then…
I’m sending the limo to bring you to the hotel. After that, if you still want to leave, Ronnie will drive you all to the airport.
She almost politely refused but realized very businesslike Hugo had made her a proposition she couldn’t refuse. An easy limo ride to the airport? Rather than a cab when she wasn’t even sure all her suitcases would fit in the trunk?
Okay.
Her little family was completely packed when Ronnie showed up at her door.
“I’ve been instructed to leave your mum and son. After you assist Hugo, we’ll come back and get them.”
“We have to leave for the airport by three.”
Ronnie nodded. “Then we’d best be going.”
He took her directly to the Harrington Park lobby doors and dropped her off. A light snow began to fall as she ducked under the portico and into the hotel that bustled with the activity of newly arrived guests.
Her heart swelled. These were the people she’d created Hugo’s vision for. Parents who had brought their kids all those years ago were now grandparents with adult children and little ones tucked at their sides.
She skirted the long check-in line and headed to the office, but one of the registration clerks stopped her. “Mr. Harrington is in the penthouse. He instructed me to tell you to go up.”
She sighed. Surely to God he didn’t want her to decorate the penthouse for some sort of private party for business associates?
Annoyed, she rode the elevator to the penthouse, only to have the doors open on a fully decorated sitting room. Holly and fir branches hung over doors. Christmas lights edged the kitchen island. A decorated tree stood in front of the wall of windows, half hiding the view of London.
She looked around in awe. “What’s this? Are you having a party up here later?”
He handed her a glass of champagne. “I thought Noah might like it. Especially if he stays over tonight.”
“We’re not coming to the Christmas Eve party. We’ll be over the Atlantic and in our own beds in a few hours.”
He set his glass on the kitchen island. “Look, I know I handled everything poorly.”
“You did a great job of getting this hotel renovated and the perfect party planned. And you know it.”
He winced. “Reverting back to our business relationship?”
“You’ve said it yourself. You’re my biggest client.”
“I’m also the guy who loves you.”
Her gaze jumped to his.
“I felt it that day. The day you found the envelopes. It didn’t sneak up on me. It sort of whooshed through me when we were making love. But I lost it, or maybe it confused me, when you showed me those cards.”
“I shouldn’t have. They were none of my business.”
“They were definitely your business. But the pain of my past had to be dealt with first.” He paused, peeked over at her. “I found a second batch of cards. Same place you probably found the first batch. These were from my mum to me.” He paused again, then quietly said, “She vindicated me.”
Everything she thought about him, this meeting, her own feelings of hurt, fell out of her head. “She vindicated you?”
“Yes. She believed me. She believed Nick had bled Harrington Park dry. She knew she’d made a mistake giving it to him and a worse mistake asking me to leave. But he’d scared the hell out of her. I got the feeling she was the victim of emotional abuse.”
“Oh, Hugo.”
“I know. I also know that I was too young to have seen it. And in my last conversation with Jay and Sally, I told them it was time we had a normal relationship. Not some trumped up thing where I’m their knight in shining armor.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Jay and Sally are fine. More settled than I am. They don’t need a domineering big brother to fix everything for them. They just need a big brother who loves them.” He took a breath. “I think my family has suffered enough and it’s time for us to let go. I’m going to tell Jay and Sally that tonight.”
Erin whispered, “I think you’re right.” Not only because she agreed with him but because he was telling her—first—before he told Jay and Sally. Confiding in her. Warmth pooled in her heart. Her head cleared. Everything that had happened in the past two days disappeared and her feelings for Hugo rose and bloomed.
“I love you, you know.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not sure how that happened. I was so broken that I’d spent over a decade believing I was a stoic businessman who wasn’t meant for love. It was easier to believe that than to deal with the possibility that I’d failed and couldn’t get my family back together again. Turns out, I don’t have all the responsibility. Some of it is up to Jay and Sally.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through all this, Hugo.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m grateful we fell in love despite the mess my life was in.” He laughed and held out his arms to her. “I’m so sorry you got caught in the middle of all this.”
She’d realized it would happen. She’d known that she’d become part of him dealing with a messy past. She’d tried to prepare for it. But suddenly it didn’t matter. She raced into his arms, let him pull her against his solid chest, and breathed in the feeling of being loved, being wanted, being trusted.
“Nothing like that will ever happen again.”
“I certainly hope not. Losing your dad, your mom struggling, a thief coming into your life…that’s too much for a family to go through twice.”
“Agreed.”
He glanced down at her and she looked up at him. Both smiled, and then Hugo laughed. “I can’t believe I found you.”
“I was always there. Right under your nose.”
He frowned. “Really?”
“I had the biggest crush on you.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did. You should have seen the fantasies I created about us.”
“You’ll have to tell me some day when we have time.”
“Or maybe we could recreate one or two.”
&n
bsp; * * *
He laughed, then kissed her. She rose on tiptoe to kiss him fully, and he held her against him so tightly he knew he’d never let her go.
That thought reminded him of the ring in his jacket pocket, and he broke the kiss. Without any word of explanation, he reached for it as he got down on one knee.
“I think it’s time we make it official.” He opened the ring box, displaying the three-carat diamond solitaire.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, Hugo!”
“Will you marry me?”
“But we haven’t known each other long enough to—”
He slid the ring on her finger. “To what? Fall in love? We both know we did. And we both know we’ve gone through a lifetime of experiences these past two weeks. Enough that we can be sure.” He smiled at her. “Say yes.”
She pressed her lips together to hold back a flood of emotion, then said, “Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes.”
He rose and took her into his arms, kissing her until their kisses turned hot and steamy and he pulled away. “Bedroom?”
“Yes. But first, we have to call my mom. She’s undoubtedly got her coat on and is standing by a mountain of luggage.”
“We could send Ronnie over there to get them, luggage and all. Then we could come up here after the Christmas Eve celebration and have Christmas morning together…all of us watching Noah open his gifts.”
She kissed him. “It sounds perfect.”
It did to Hugo too. His brother and sister would always be in his life, but Erin was the woman with whom he’d make a family.
EPILOGUE
THE DOUBLE DOORS to the courtyard garden were pulled apart and Hugo took a breath. “Ready?”
Erin glanced at the stunning garden. He could see her taking in the fir trees and winterberry shrubs. The skating rink was rimmed with lights and would be opened for skating the following day.
She smiled up at Hugo. Her red velvet gown fit her curves to perfection. The white boa-like trim around the sweetheart neckline gave just the slightest peek at the swell of her breasts. The diamond shimmering at her throat winked at him. His Christmas gift to her.
His heart constricted. He’d spent years wanting only to reconnect with his brother and sister. Though his parents had modeled real love for him, somehow that hadn’t registered in his brain enough for him to realize that was what he really needed. Someone who cared for him on a level he could neither define nor describe, but a place in his heart so deep and so pure it lifted his soul.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
He took her hand, the diamond on her ring finger nestled against his palm, and he smiled. She was his. And he was hers. They’d never be alone again.
The doormen at the entry sent a signal to the band, which abruptly stopped playing. The MC scrambled to the stage, taking the mic.
“May I introduce the third of the Harrington siblings, Hugo Harrington, and his fiancée, Erin Hunter.”
The crowd parted as they walked to the stage. Familiar faces of people who’d attended the original Harrington Park Christmas Eve celebrations smiled at him. There were new faces too. Not new people. The children who’d accompanied their parents to the magical wonderland of Harrington Park Hotel were now adults, attending with their kids.
He accepted congratulations and a few handshakes as he walked to the stage and stopped at the mic. Erin stood by his side.
“This was my father’s dream,” he began quietly. “He’d made that dream a reality for many years before his life ended too soon. We mourned his loss and eventually the loss of our legacy, but we have it back now. And we intend to make every Christmas Eve the highlight of our lives. Thank you all for coming.”
He and Erin left the stage to thunderous applause and the ringing laughter of children. He scanned the crowd and found Erin’s mum with Noah, standing by the tree waiting for them.
He’d never realized how much he wanted children, but looking at the elaborate celebration with Christmas gifts piled high under the tree, an entire table of Christmas treats and an upcoming visit from Santa, he longed to be a father. Not just to Erin’s son—soon to be his son—but to a few new children.
They walked over to the grove of fir trees where Sally and Jay awaited them.
Jay laughed. “Nothing like a grand entrance.”
“This is a grand hotel,” Hugo said, unable to stop the smile that rose like the sun in the spring. “It deserved a grand reopening.” He looked from Sally to Jay. “Ready?”
Jay reached for the ornament with his name on it, but Sally put her hand on Hugo’s forearm. “Not quite.” She glanced down, then caught Hugo’s gaze again. “I need to apologize.”
Hugo brushed that off. “No. Sally. Really. All that’s over. We start fresh tonight.”
“Yes. I agree. But there are some things that need to be said. I was duped by our stepfather. Mother was too. It didn’t take me years to figure it out, but it did take until now for me to realize how much he hurt you. Saying I’m sorry doesn’t change things. But I think it’s a step we all need in order to be able to put the past behind us.”
Hugo’s breath caught. He hadn’t realized how much he’d yearned for someone to say that. “Thank you.” Not wanting to linger on the past, he lifted his ornament. “Now, let’s officially start over.”
Agreeing, Sally smiled. She picked up her ornament. Jay had his.
Hugo faced the audience. “Every year, my siblings and I would place a new ornament on the tree. The idea was that eventually family ornaments would replace all those red and green balls,” he said, pointing to the simple red and green ornaments. “Tonight, we pick up that tradition where it left off.”
As they turned to place their ornaments on the tree, someone in the crowd cried, “Hear! Hear!”
Waiters in tuxes and white gloves brought out trays of champagne. When they reached Hugo, Jay and Sally, each took a flute, Jay handing his to his fiancée, Chloe, and Sally handing hers to Prince Edward Chen, the love of her life. Hugo handed his to Erin and all three commandeered another flute—Sally’s filled with orange juice because of her pregnancy.
“To Harrington Park!” Hugo shouted, raising his glass.
The crowd echoed, “To Harrington Park!”
With the toasts made, the crowd dispersed. Hugo had instructed the band to take a ten-minute break. As parents led children to the goody table that lined the far wall or over to the tree to peruse the gifts, he turned to Sally and Jay.
“There is one more thing.”
About to take Sally’s hand, tall, sophisticated Edward stepped back. One of Chloe’s eyebrows rose. Hugo wasn’t sure what the betrotheds of his siblings were expecting of this night, so rather than have their nerves frazzle, he quickly reached into his pocket.
He pulled out two envelopes and handed them to Jay and Sally. “I’d like you to be joint owners in the hotel with me.”
Sally gasped.
A quick burst of laughter came from Jay. “Are you kidding?”
“This hotel was all of our legacy. It’s about family. It belongs to all of us. Not just me.”
Sally murmured, “I don’t know what to say.”
“I think you said it before.” Before she knew he would be giving her one third of the hotel. She hadn’t apologized because he’d given her fair share to her. She’d done that out of truth and love.
His gaze met Sally’s and she smiled.
They really were getting a chance to start over. As family.
He reached over and slid his arm around Erin’s waist. “Besides, I’m going to be a little busy.”
Erin laughed. “He’s taking me to see all of his hotels.”
“And Noah,” Hugo agreed, taking Erin’s son from Marge’s arms. The little boy grinned at him.
“While I spend some time with my relatives,” Marge said with a laugh.
“I love Ireland and feel like I’m home.”
“I feel the same way about Tianlipin,” Sally said.
“Which makes me and Chloe the official family nomads.” Jay laughed.
“And that means we’re going to have to divide the responsibilities for running the hotel.”
Jay said, “All three of us? I thought you’d want to run it.”
Erin smiled. “Hugo and I have decided to move to London.”
Jay gasped. “That’s great!”
“But I own a lot of other hotels,” Hugo said. “That’s why we all have to help with the Christmas Eve celebration. All promise to attend.”
Sally shook her head at Hugo. “As if we’d miss it.”
Jay raised his glass for another toast. “We’re a family again.”
Warmth flooded Hugo. He had his siblings back, a fiancée, a little boy and a soon-to-be mother-in-law, and he was returning to London. Returning to the person he was supposed to be all along. A little wiser. A lot more compassionate. And very happy.
His life could not be better.
* * * * *
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