Wonderland

by Bridget Midway

  Ten minutes later, Ryanne pushed through the door out of the stairwell, opting to take the steps instead of waiting by the crowded elevator on her floor. Seeing that there were just as many people by the elevators on the first floor, she was happy she’d taken that route. She didn’t want to keep Carson waiting and miss their ride. Her mother had called right before she’d left the room, wanting to make sure she was still coming in tomorrow. She reassured her, hearing the noise of her siblings and their families in the background, then rushed off the phone.

  Moving around a group and covering the distance in steady strides toward the lobby, Ryanne passed a few offices, ignoring them. However, when she heard Carson’s name, she stopped, turned, and backtracked, happy she didn’t have to prowl around the lobby looking for him.

  When she located the room she stopped. The door was open, the wide window in it allowing her to see inside. Carson was in the room, his back to her, but there was a woman with him, and it wasn’t a hotel employee. Ryanne didn’t recognize the woman as anyone she may have run into while at the resort this week. The short woman, very pretty with Macintosh-apple-red hair, was dressed from head to toe in pink designer chic apparel. Ryanne doubted if one thing the woman wore cost less than six hundred dollars, from her knee-high full suede high-heeled boots to the pink Prada purse that hung off her shoulder. Just looking at the woman made Ryanne feel like she was dressed in a bargain basement special, and unattractive to boot.

  “I miss you.” The woman had her hand on Carson’s chest.

  “You still haven’t told me why you’ve been trying to track me down, Ashley.”

  Ryanne was about to announce her presence when the woman’s name rang a bell and caused her to pause. Ashley was the name of Carson’s ex-girlfriend. Had she been at the resort the whole time?

  Carson pulled the woman’s hand away. Ashley pushed her red-painted lips out in a pout. “I didn’t want to interrupt your trip, but I’m pregnant, Carson. I have nowhere else to turn. I think we should get married.”

  The world shifted beneath Ryanne’s feet. If a baseball bat wielded by Jackie Robinson had hit her in the stomach just then, she would not have felt more unbalanced. Carson’s ex was pregnant with his baby and wanted them to marry. Carson would finally have the family he’d always wanted, with a woman who’d left him but now had returned for the father of her child.

  Ryanne had begun to foolishly hope, over the last few days, that those dreams of his would be fulfilled with her. She needed to get away. She couldn’t continue to watch her dreams dashed before her eyes. They had only agreed on a few days of fun, friendship, and sex, and now it was over. She turned away.

  “What?” Carson’s voice erupted behind her, but Ryanne didn’t stop. She flew down the hall, bumping blindly into people, and back up the stairs to her room.

  * * * *

  Thirty minutes later, Carson was back in the lobby with only a few minutes to spare as they loaded up the last sleigh. After hearing Ashley blubbering for way too long about her situation, he took her to the front desk to try and get her a room for the night, but discovered they were fully booked until after New Year’s. Now, Ashley was in his room, resting in his bed. He knew he wouldn’t need it for the night because he’d stay with Ryanne until she had to leave out for her early flight to Florida, where she’d spend Christmas with her loving family. They’d put off talking about their future for too long. Tonight they’d discuss it. Just as he’d told Phillip, he wanted Ryanne in his life permanently.

  Frowning, he looked around, not seeing Ryanne among the guests in line. He did see Phillip and his merry bunch, though.

  He went to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from getting into the sleigh. “Hey, Phil, you see Ryanne out here?”

  “No, I haven’t, but two other sleighs just pulled off, she may have been on one of them and will just meet you in the village.”

  That didn’t make sense to Carson. He thought Ryanne would be in it for the romance of the ride, the two of them side by side as the snow fell around them. Perhaps she’d come down while he’d been back upstairs and left with one of the other groups, knowing they’d end up together by the tree for the lighting festivities.

  “Sir, you boarding?” an older gentleman in the front seat holding the reins asked Carson.

  “Hm, yeah. I’m in.” He climbed up and squeezed into the last vacant spot as they pulled off.

  An hour later, the old man parked the sleigh next to the two empty ones in the village. Carson rushed out. The hour-long ride seem to take forever as he paid little attention to the surrounding view, counting the minutes until he could see Ryanne and hold her in his arms again.

  Phillip and the other partiers headed toward the shops, while Carson followed another group in the opposite direction to the large fir tree. Once there, he weaved through the large crowd, looking for Ryanne’s blue-striped cap.

  After fifteen minutes of examining every female out there, he realized Ryanne wasn’t among the people oohing and ahhing as the tree now shined brightly. Deciding to go back to the resort and try to find her, he headed up the path. Out of the days he and Ryanne had been together, he wished he had asked for her cell phone number, but it hadn’t seemed important when she had been by his side the whole time.

  She wasn’t in the lobby when he got back, so he took the elevator up to her room. Knocking on her door, he became frantic, wondering if something had happened to her. Did she become ill with some type of mountain fever? Had she slipped in the shower and hit her head and was even now lying on the floor in need of help?

  Back downstairs, he rushed to the desk clerk, not caring how frazzled or out of sorts he looked. “I need you to call Ryanne McCall’s room. If she doesn’t answer, I need someone to use a master key to let me in so I can check on her.”

  “Calm down, sir. I can call another guest’s room, but unless I know it is an emergency we can’t enter it.” The desk clerk, an Asian woman, patted her palms in the air as if to make him feel at ease.

  It didn’t. He took a deep breath. “I understand your protocol, but she’s not answering her door.”

  “Maybe she’s sleeping, or at one of the activities.”

  “She was signed up to go on the sleigh ride.”

  “Then she might be in the village. That ride ended there, for the tree—”

  “I was on the ride and in the village and she’s not there.”

  Another clerk at the other end, who had been the one to inform Ashley there were no rooms, moved toward them. He wore a tag pinned to his red uniform coat with supervisor stitched into it. “Did you check the lounge? There are a lot of guests in there mingling.”

  “It’s doubtful she’s there. Please, just call the damn room.”

  The two clerks must have picked up on the low warning tone of his voice.

  The woman glanced at the guy; he nodded, giving his permission to her, and she began typing. “One second, sir.”

  He waited while she went into the guest log, Carson assumed.

  She looked up at him and asked, “What is her name and room number?”

  “Ryanne McCall, room 623,” Carson supplied.

  Before the woman could enter the data, the male clerk said, “Ms. McCall checked out an hour ago.”

  Carson’s head turned with a snap in the direction of the supervisor. “What do you mean she checked out? That’s ridiculous! She wasn’t leaving until tomorrow.”

  “I’m sorry, sir.” The young man did appear apologetic.

  Carson didn’t care.

  “Did she say why she was leaving? Did something happen with her family?” He slid down the counter in front of the man, no longer needing the female clerk’s assistance. He wondered if Ryanne had gotten a call from her family; maybe something had happened to one of them. But why she wouldn’t wait to talk to him he didn’t know.

  “What’s your name?”

  Raising a single brow, Carson stared at him. “Carson Rodman. What does that
have to do with anything?”

  The supervisor opened a drawer below his desk and pulled out a small cream envelope with the hotel’s logo on it. “She left this for you.”

  Taking the letter from the man, he sighed, grateful that Ryanne hadn’t rushed away without thinking about contacting him. He thanked the man and stepped away from the desk as he opened the note.

  Carson,

  These few days have been amazing. I wish they didn’t have to end so soon. However, reality had to set in eventually and we both knew it. No promises, right? I wish you all the best. I know you’ll be a great father. I’ll never forget you.

  Yours,

  Ryanne

  Carson stared at the words on the paper, reading them the first time in confusion as he comprehended that somehow Ryanne must have learned that Ashley was pregnant. The second reading was with annoyance, because Ryanne didn’t come to him and allow him to explain. Finally, he read it again with determination and a budding plan.

  Damn right you’re mine. If Ryanne McCall thought that she would get away from him again after she’d been brought back into his life, she’d better think again.

  Chapter Ten

  “Hello, sweetheart.”

  Ryanne smiled at her father’s voice on Sunday night. She’d just walked into the house after going in to her office for most of the day trying to catch up on work. She’d already had a stack of things to do before she was selected for the conference, and being away had caused more things to fill her inbox. Ryanne pushed aside the two weeks in between; it was something she only allowed herself to think about while she lay in bed praying that sleep would come.

  “Hi, Dad. Sorry I didn’t call you and Mom this morning after church as usual. I went in to work.” Kicking off her shoes, she sat on the couch.

  “No worries. I knew you’d call us in a couple of days to wish us Happy New Year.”

  She was concerned now. It was out of the ordinary for her dad to call her. Usually her mom called and when she was done chatting away about her grandkids, she’d give her father the phone. “Is everything okay with you and Mom?”

  “We’re doing very well. Nothing has changed since you saw us a few days ago.”

  Now she was confused. “Then you’re just calling to say hi?”

  “No, sweetheart. I’m calling because I had a visitor come by and see me today.”

  She curled her legs beneath her hip. “Really? Who?”

  She still wasn’t sure why her father was calling. It was strange, because unlike her mother, who went around and around a topic, her father was usually more direct.

  “Carson Rodman.Haven’t seen that young man since he was around nineteen and in college. Seems to be doing well for himself.”

  As her father rattled on about Carson’s traits, Ryanne was trying to breathe. Inhaling deeply, she allowed her mind to replay the image of the man that stole her heart in Starview, Colorado. Christmas had rekindled so many feelings between them—then in a moment it had all been taken away again.

  “Ryanne, sweetie, you there?” Now her father sounded concerned.

  “Yeah, Dad, I’m still here. Why did he come see you? Did he just happen to be in town for work or something?” Her parents were close to Daytona, where some of the NASCAR races took place, but she couldn’t see Carson searching them out if he were handling some programming issues at the Florida Speedway. Especially with him becoming a father soon. Would he invite her parents to his wedding? God, no.

  “No. He came to speak to me.”

  “Why?” Her throat was tight; she felt as if her heart was lodged there.

  “Well, baby girl, I’ll let him explain that to you whenever he’s ready. Just promise me you’ll hear the man out.”

  Hear Carson out? If he called her, she wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to answer the phone without letting her broken heart come through in her voice. Caring for him when she was younger and thinking she would never see him again had hurt. However, having him physically, loving him, and not being able to be with him was devastating. Squeezing her fist tight, she refused to allow herself to travel down that dark emotional road. Knowing that if she went there she’d break down.

  “Sweetheart?”

  “I promise, Dad.”

  “Okay. I love you very much, and I’m proud of you.”

  Those words brought tears to her eyes. She knew her parents loved her, but so often her mother’s focus was directed at altars and cribs. Ryanne rarely believed she pleased them with her professional accomplishments. “Thanks, Dad.”

  After she ended the call with her father, she put on sweatpants and a T-shirt and grabbed the latest book she had been reading and stretched out on her couch. She needed an escape, to put the memories of Carson out of her mind; it was too risky to her emotional state not to. Or worse, sitting around waiting to see if and when he was going to call.

  * * * *

  New Year’s Eve

  “Ryanne, how’s the Douglas account coming?” Todd entered her office and stood on the other side of her desk.

  She tried to keep her attention on the monitor to avoid giving the senior manager any encouragement to linger. “Fine. I just have a few more numbers to enter and in the next few minutes I should have them to Mr. Jacobs.”

  “Great, he wants to head out in the next ten minutes.”

  There was no need for Todd to tell her that her boss was trying to get out the door. The entire office staff was trying to get out. They only had to work a half day for the holiday and people had big plans for the night.

  “He’ll have it.” Glancing at the open folder on her desk, she located the data she needed and after a few more keystrokes she was done. She took a moment to review the few documents before she saved and attached them to an e-mail directed at Mr. Jacobs’ personal assistant.

  Pushing her chair back, she looked up at Todd, who still stood there staring at her. “It’s done.” Translation: Now get the hell out of my office.

  “I haven’t heard you talking about your plans tonight for the new year.” He sat on the corner of her desk.

  “I have a few things to consider. So, sorry if you were going to add another party to my list, but I’m all full.” She really only had two options: go to the party at Mattie’s house that she and her boyfriend Bob were throwing, or watch the New Year’s Eve special on television with a big bowl of ice cream. The latter was more appealing to her.

  “Come on, Ryanne. Lester Mann throws the best manager party. I’d let you come as my second date so you wouldn’t have to go alone. Besides, Ryanne, you have to kiss someone at midnight.” His smile looked sleazy.

  Oh, God, I think I just threw up in my mouth.

  “Then she’ll be kissing me.”

  The smile dropped off Todd’s face as he stood and turned toward the door to see the arrival, blocking her view of the door. However, she didn’t need to look around her coworker’s frame to know who was there. Carson.

  “I’m sorry, we haven’t been introduced.” Todd pushed his shoulders back and tried to make himself taller as he approached Carson, who towered over him by a good three inches.

  Ryanne stood slowly and admired the man who commanded attention in her office. Carson looked good. Damn good. He was dressed in a black suit with a sky-blue tie. She’d gotten so used to seeing him in a snowsuit or jeans, she never considered how sexy he would look in a dress suit. He was panty-wetting sexy.

  She reminded herself that this guy was soon to be a father, and maybe even another woman’s husband.

  “Just call me Carson. You don’t mind if I have a few minutes alone with Ms. McCall, do you?”

  “No…no. Um, Rya—Ms. McCall, I’ll see you later.”

  “Next year,” Carson corrected, not taking his eyes off her as Todd hustled toward the door.

  “Yeah. Next year.” Todd bolted.

  She and Carson just stood there staring at each other. He allowed his gaze to travel across her face, taking everything in as if he were t
rying to assure himself that nothing had changed since he saw her a week ago. When his eyes lowered down the length of her body, over her blouse and skirt, she could feel the heat of his gaze like a touch.

  Her nipples tightened and her clit throbbed.

  Stop it, Ryanne.

  “May I close your door?” Those gray eyes returned and met hers.

  “Of course.”

  He turned, shut the door behind him, and then crossed the room. He stood where Todd had, but unlike the other man that annoyed her, Carson made her body feel on edge with excitement.

  “You look beautiful.”

  She fought against the heat in her cheeks. “What are you doing here?”

  “Where else would I be, sugar-lips?”

  He was going to make her say it. “With Ashley, supporting her through her pregnancy.”

  He ignored that. Instead he asked, “Can you come around the desk so I can hold you?”

  “No.” God, she wanted to. With every fiber of her being she wanted to leap over the desk into his arms. But she didn’t. “Why did you go see my father?”

  “Because I wanted to do things right.”

  “What things?”

  He took a seat in the chair on the other side of her desk, looking casual and unhurried. “You know, Ryanne, when I was a teenager, and had so many dreams about you, I would imagine myself going to your father’s house and asking his permission to date you.”

  That bit of knowledge gave her a moment of pause. “Well, that was then. It’s too late now. We’ve changed, grown up. One of us has started a family.”

  Once again he ignored her snide comment. “It’s never too late when fate has blessed you with a second chance. It did that for us.”

  His sweet words were reigniting her hope again, when she had no place for hope. “Carson, you are making this harder for me.”

  “What, sugar-lips?”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Why would my telling your father that I love his daughter more than anything else in the world and I want to one day—hopefully in the next year—see him walk you down the aisle to me make this hard for you?”