by Robin Weaver
A familiar heaviness made every step seem impossible—trekking through twelve inches of snow seemed like an omen. A reminder that he could never have Suzette. Hell, they probably couldn’t even be friends. Naturally he’d figure out he loved her now.
Still, he had to talk to her. He wouldn’t tell her how deep he’d fallen, couldn’t. If she cared half as much about him, the confession would cause her pain. Besides, what would be the point when he planned to do the responsible thing and marry Darlene?
Whatever. He needed to make her understand how amazing she was, even if things couldn’t work out for them.
Something made him stop walking. He brushed away a snowflake and stared at the couple embracing on the steps of the old Victorian.
Who? He didn’t move, just squinted to see better in the darkness.
His stomach lurched. Didn’t take a sketch artist to recognize Suzette’s hair.
But who was she kissing?
Her voice echoed across the snow but he couldn’t make out the words. Mumbling. “Good night, Tripp.”
Tripp? Hell.
He took a step back into the shadows, breathing only a little easier when Tripp walked in the opposite direction. Spence didn’t move.
Neither did Suzette. She turned her head in his direction, almost like she knew he was there.
He doubted she could see or hear him, but he held his breath anyway. After a couple more seconds she went inside her grandmother’s house.
And slammed the door on his heart.
He had no right to feel betrayed, but he did. She’d been with him. Only two nights earlier. Had what they’d done meant so little?
He turned and started walking, not really seeing where he went. He kicked at the slush on the sidewalk. What difference did it make if Tripp kissed her?
He tried to focus on the child. He’d always wanted a son—would be equally thrilled to have a daughter. The fulfillment of one of his goals—to be a father—would come true.
Only he couldn’t envision Darlene with a baby. In his mind, only Suzette held his child. He couldn’t see anything in the future but tedium.
Surely he’d be thrilled when the joyous time arrived, but at the moment, he couldn’t conjure anything but gloom. Without a doubt, he’d reached a new low in dreary holidays.
Chapter Fifteen
O Christmas Tree Contest
“The countdown will start momentarily.”
Suzette stood in line with the other contestants in the exhibit hall, unable to believe contest day had arrived. She thanked the Gods of Mistletoe she’d been forced to enter the tree wars. Without the distraction of planning her tree, she doubted she could have gotten through the past couple of days.
The contest moderator was still talking, but she had no clue what the woman said. She glanced at the contestant next to her. “What did she say?”
The woman swallowed. Poor woman looked like she might pass out. “Three minutes until we start.”
“Thanks. And good luck.”
The woman nodded. Suzette figured the poor thing could barely talk. She looked around as she waited for the green flag signaling the start of the contest. The event had reached the max number of entrants, but seeing one hundred teams psyched to get started put a new perspective on the town’s little event.
Well, ninety-nine teams were raring to go anyway. She put her weight on one foot, testing her bad ankle. Pain shot up her shin.
“Great,” she muttered, again wondering why she’d trudged through the snow at six in the morning to get to the exhibit hall. She shouldn’t even attempt the ladder climbing required to decorate a twelve-foot tree, especially after being unable to sleep.
Only she had to accomplish something, even if that something was a half-tinseled tree. Her life had spiraled so out of control, winning seemed like an ancient goal. She just wanted to finish.
Especially after Tripp kissed her. Spence had seen them, but why had he come to her house? Why had he hidden? She’d peered through the curtains after going inside and watched him walk away. She’d know his frame anywhere.
And why did she feel bad? That blasted man had a preggers girlfriend. He had no right to make her feel guilty.
“Two minutes to go!”
Suzette could almost hate the perky moderator.
“Remember, contestants, once the contest starts, you’ll have six hours to complete your trees, so don’t waste a single minute. Anyone caught touching a tree after time is called will be immediately disqualified.”
She glanced at Katarina, standing to the far right. The woman flashed a sneer, but her scowl didn’t carry its normal ferociousness. The Queen of the Christmas Tree didn’t seem to have her normal spunk this morning. Could she possibly be nervous? Well, Katarina had nothing to fear from her.
One of the Katarina minions patted the queen on the back. Did the worker bee have a death wish? Only Katarina didn’t bark at her assistant, she leaned her head against the woman’s shoulder.
Say what? Talk about your topsy-turvy world.
At least Katarina had a full team. During her days of bed rest at the James house, Spence convinced her to list him as her second assistant instead of Bob, insisting an architectural background translated perfectly for Christmas tree symmetry.
Too late to replace him. Worse, Kaley had come down with a case of strep day before yesterday and she hadn’t replaced her either. Suzette’s team of three now included her, her, and her.
Didn’t matter. She could do it. Had to do it.
She took a deep breath. Push.
She glanced again at Katarina, hoping her nemesis would spark some competitive streak. Only Katarina didn’t look so hot. The woman looked downright green.
“Go!”
The moderator’s words registered, but she couldn’t move. Most of the contestants had rushed toward the trees, leaving only her and Katarina’s team behind the starting line.
Katarina had fallen forward.
So the tree diva had fallen? Why did she care?
No reason came to mind, but she did care. Maybe because Katarina was part of her town.
Her town?
A new clarity descended. With everything else in her life shot to hell, she finally knew where she belonged. In Merryvale of all places.
And Katarina was part of her world. She had to see what she could do to help. She sprinted toward the team favored to win. “What’s wrong?”
Katarina didn’t even raise her head. Minion Number One’s lip trembled. Couldn’t the woman speak?
She glanced at Minion Number Two. “You. Talk. What’s wrong with Katarina?”
“I think she passed out. She’s been acting weird all morning.”
Suzette pushed the woman aside and squatted next to Katarina. Her ankle protested with an intense outcry to her synapses. She ignored the pain and put her fingers on Katarina’s neck. Good. A pulse. Very weak, but there. “Call 911!”
Katarina’s eyes flew open. The woman grabbed her arm. Grabbed might be too strong a word—flopped her hand against Suzette’s skin was a more apt description. Katarina seemed frail, like an old cartoon. “No. Ambulance. People can’t…know.”
Criminy Scrooge. The woman lay on the concrete floor but worried about what people thought? “Fine. I’ll take you to the hospital myself.” She glanced toward the minions. “Help me get her up.”
She reached beneath Katarina’s back and lifted. Good lord, the woman couldn’t weigh more than eighty pounds—if that. She felt like a sack full of bones.
When she lifted her upright, Katarina moaned.
“Did I hurt you?”
Katrina shook her head but Suzette wasn’t so sure. Holy Christmas lights, she held the queen with absolutely no help from the minions. Her Labrador retriever might be heavier.
“Suzette—” Katarina swallowed, then swallowed again.
Suzette paused, worried the queen might pass out again.
“Can’t go to the— Have to finish tree.”
; She started to protest, but seemed to receive some kind of divine knowledge. The stupid tree meant more than a tree to Katarina. “We’ll take care of the decorations, let’s just get you checked out first.” She nodded her head toward the assistants. “You two. Go finish the tree.”
The two assistants glanced at each other.
“We—” Minion Number One glanced at Minion Number Two and then looked at Suzette. “We don’t know what she planned.”
Of course they didn’t. Katarina would keep her plans secret until the very last minute. Couldn’t have anyone stealing her ideas.
“All right.” Suzette nodded her head toward the plastic boxes. “Get everything unpacked. I’ll get her to the emergency room and get her back as soon as I can.”
Katarina slumped against her. Suzette shifted her weight to hold the woman steady. If possible, the queen bee looked worse. Suzette just hoped it was only an electrolyte imbalance or something like that. Eating disorders could have dire consequences. “Let’s get you out of here.”
The woman shook her head, the movements jerky and seizure-like. “No. My—”
“I’ll come back and finish your tree, Kat. I’m sure you have a schematic, right?”
“Y—yes. Why would you do that?”
“Finish your tree instead of mine?” Gripping Katarina against her, she started stutter-stepping toward the exit. “Because one of us needs to win.”
Oddly, she meant every word.
Chapter Sixteen
Fallin’ Around the Christmas Tree
With a final assurance from the nurse that Katarina’s hospital stay was only for observation, Suzette headed for her car. Ninety minutes already elapsed so she had to hurry. Katarina wasn’t in imminent danger of dying, which meant the queen bee would kill her if Suzette didn’t get her tree looking spectacular.
As she rushed past the smoking area, she glanced at a lone man creating puffs in the frigid air. He looked familiar, causing her to do a double take.
“Arnie?”
The man looked up. And immediately jerked the butt behind his back.
She almost smiled. He was so busted.
“Smoking, Arnie? You know better.”
He nodded, his expression sheepish. He looked at the cigarette before throwing it to the ground and stepping on it. “I haven’t touched these things in five years, but with all this commotion—”
Commotion? Had something happened to Spence? Dear God, she couldn’t deal with that. She might not have the man in her life, but she definitely wanted him in the world.
“What happened?” She couldn’t even ask if Spence was okay.
The older man gave her a wry smile. “It’s Darlene.”
“Darlene?” She didn’t really want anything bad to happen to the woman, but she especially didn’t want anything to happen to the fetus. Whatever had happened, the little thing was an innocent. And he was Spence’s innocent.
“She’s fine. Wasn’t hurt at all.” The old man didn’t seem happy. Why not?
“Then why’s she here?”
“She just had a little slip this morning, same place you fell. I called the city about that low place in the concrete.” What in Hades was he rambling about? She didn’t care about the stupid sidewalk.
“Did Mavis’s dog attack her too?” Talk about your stupid questions. She really wanted to ask about the unborn child, but couldn’t deal with hearing the woman had lost the baby. Not now.
Mr. James smiled, transforming his face. He seemed to find her question amusing. “No. Darlene was chasing Spence down the front steps.”
She so didn’t need to hear that.
“Them shoes that woman wears.” Arnie shook his head. “They’re a downright hazard. Must have had five-inch heels.”
A fall couldn’t be good for the baby.
She had a tree to decorate. And really couldn’t deal with any more depressing news. “I’m really sorry, Mr. James, but I have to hurry back to the Christmas Tree contest. I only came here to—I’ll call you later, but I have to get back now.”
“Of course you do. Spence is—”
She didn’t hear the rest of his sentence. She’d purposely slammed her car door and revved the engine.
Chapter Seventeen
Have Yourself a Merry Little Ceremony
“Suzette!”
She must be dreaming. Couldn’t be Kaley’s voice. Her friend had strep.
More important, she’d just gone to bed. The blasted contest would have decimated her if she’d only had to worry about her own tree. Trying to perfect anything for Katarina Snodgrass took every ounce of a girl’s energy. Her joints had been gumdrops by the time the buzzer sounded.
Bang, bang, bang. Who pounded on her door? One could only hope it was a person and not a herd of reindeer.
“Suzette!”
She wiped the hair from her face and looked at her clock—5:00p.m. Sure didn’t seem like she’d slept for four hours. She’d been so wiped, she hadn’t even hung around to look at the other entries. She’d gone straight home and directly to bed.
Still in her jeans and sweatshirt, she didn’t look for a robe, just stumbled to the door. “Kaley, I hope something’s on fire.”
Her damn friend just grinned. “Will be after I light one underneath your arse?”
“Leave me alone. I’m going back to sleep.”
“Na-uh, no way. We’re going to the Christmas Tree Spectacular. The mayor sent me to get you. You’re one of the finalists and as a sponsor, I get to stand next to you during the award’s ceremony.”
She must still be dreaming. No way would she be a finalist—she didn’t even have a tree.
Wait. Maybe Katarina had asked her to fill in for her. Scrooge’s butt. She had to go now. “Give me a sec.”
She headed toward the bathroom but turned back toward her friend. “Are you contagious?” If so, she’d take her own car. Her tired mind couldn’t be more of a threat than potential strep, but still…
Kaley shook her head. “No. I didn’t even have strep.”
“Say what?”
Her friend shrugged. “I finally went to the doctor. He took a throat culture and it was negative.”
“But he told you it was strep?”
Kaley shook her head. “Not exactly. Courtney called, you know, Katarina’s friend Courtney who works for Dr. MacMahon?”
She nodded. Thanks to five hours of intense tree decorating, Suzette knew Courtney was Minion Number Two.
“Anyway, dizzy blonde said I had strep. Insisted I should stay home and rest. Dumb butt that I am, I believed her.”
And she’d decorated Katarina’s tree. Suzette laughed. She should be angry, but all the mean girl drama seemed too weird to be true. “Still, Kaley, you’re sick. Why aren’t you resting?”
Her friend propped a hand on her hip. “That’s all you have to say? You know Katarina made Courtney do that—that poor girl can’t tell time unless the clock’s digital. Why aren’t you pissed? That She-Devil Snodgrass did everything possible to sabotage your tree and you still decorated hers.” Kaley shook her head. “I don’t know if you’re a saint or too stupid to live.”
Suzette laughed again. “Probably the latter. Let me change.” She swiped a brush over her teeth and sprayed anti-frizz gook on her hair. She knew better than to try and get a brush through it. She pulled on her boots. No reason to change clothes since she wouldn’t be taking off her coat.
No time, but she made a U-turn for the bathroom anyway and pulled out her makeup bag. If she intended to become a permanent resident, she might as well look good. Fifteen minutes later, she sat in the passenger seat.
The drive to the Exhibition Hall passed in a whirl. Partly because Spence had left her numb, partly because even her teeth were tired, and mostly because she was scared stocking-less Katarina’s tree wouldn’t win. Especially frightening because she was no longer afraid of Katarina, but afraid for Katarina.
Kaley pulled up to the entrance. “Go. You’re late. I’ll
park and find you inside.”
She hurried inside. One of the mayor’s aides grabbed her by the arm. “Thank goodness you’re here. The mayor wants all the local contestants center stage.”
A blur of faces greeted Suzette as she tried to keep up with the aide. He finally stopped by the stairs leading up to the makeshift stage. “Sit in the chair next to Katarina,” he whispered.
“Katarina?” She twisted to look at the man but he’d already walked beyond conversation range. And since when did the contestants sit?
The mayor motioned for her. Suzette took one step and winced. Her ankle hadn’t fully recovered and she’d pretty much abused it earlier in the day. Temporary stage—no railing. Couldn’t be up to code.
Elf balls. Could she make the three steps without falling?
A hand reached for her. An all too familiar hand.
She couldn’t make a scene and she needed the support so she grasped Spence’s wrist. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Glad you made it.” He certainly sounded all peppermint chipper.
Did that mean Darlene hadn’t lost the baby? Or did it mean she had? Had to be the former. If he was glad about a miscarriage, he wasn’t the Spence she knew.
She glanced at him, but his face gave nothing away. “Suze, after the ceremony, we need to talk.”
Oh, no. If he thought he could pick up where they’d left off, he was as crazy as the last shopping day before Christmas.
The mayor glared so she took her seat. Spence disappeared behind her, but with so many people staring, she didn’t dare turn to see where.
She leaned toward Katarina. “What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, Suzie-Q. And if you tell anyone I went to the emergency room this morning, I’ll hang your head next to my stocking.”
Suzette plastered a smile on her face, hoping no one had overhead. “I really am glad you’re here, but are you all right?”
Katarina’s glare softened. “No, but I will be. Thanks for doing my tree.”
Suzette glanced at the row of trees to the left of the makeshift stage. Rather clever of the committee to put the trees on trailers so they could be moved. The ten finalists were lined up for the masses to view.