“Come on, Dad, lighten up. It’s no big deal.” He took a drink from his wine, his eyes communicating that he’d sensed his rather enormous lapse in judgment.
“What is your problem?”
Kelly was the first to find her tongue. Glancing briefly between her mom and Christopher, she honed back in on Cam. “I’m amazed that you’re even aware of what your dad was doing; you had your head in your phone all night.”
Cam’s eyes narrowed when the negative spotlight turned on him.
“And you know what? I wish someone could say that they noticed the way you were looking at me, because I barely remember making eye contact with you all evening. You didn’t participate in anything, I had to drag you out to dance, and even then you moaned and groaned the whole time.”
“Sorry I ruined your silly party.”
Kelly stood, a lot of pent-up frustration needing to be vented. “I put a lot of work into that silly party! My life here matters. I don’t think you realize what I’m giving up for you.”
Cam stood slowly and braced his hands on the table. “No one’s making you give it up, Kelly. I wouldn’t force you to leave your precious little coffee shop.”
“My precious little coffee shop?” Kelly’s voice rose in fury. “We met at that precious little coffee shop. That place is supposed to mean something to us.” She shook her head sadly at him. “You’ve changed.”
His own humiliation all but forgotten, Christopher watched as Cam seemed to give up on the remarkable woman in front of him.
“Well, maybe we don’t know each other as well as we thought we did.” Cam gave a humorless laugh. “Maybe our parents are right. We’re just moving too fast,” he mimicked, sitting down with disgust. “Maybe we could have had this conversation in private?” He took another drink of his wine and glared at Kelly.
She glared back and Liz stood. “Okay, I think Cam and Kelly need some time alone.” She looked sadly at their almost full plates. “I don’t know if anyone has any appetite left, but I’m going to finish my food in the kitchen. I skated all afternoon and I’m hungry. Bobby, Christopher, if you’d like to join me, you’re welcome. Otherwise, I guess I’ll see you at church.”
She picked up her plate and briefly rubbed Kelly’s shoulder as she walked into the kitchen. Bobby followed, seemingly satisfied with his revenge in starting the whole mess. Christopher stood; he wouldn’t last two minutes with his brother, and Cam and Kelly sure didn’t need him in the dining room. He picked up his plate and walked into the parlor. He wasn’t going to leave a home-cooked meal untouched.
***
She walked into the church alone. Kelly had been too upset to go anywhere, and after spending time listening and commiserating, Liz knew her daughter needed some time to sort things through by herself. She’d dropped her off at her apartment, promising they’d talk more in the morning. Instead of going back to the inn, Liz found her way to the church that Kelly had been attending. She parked her car and walked inside.
The room was unfamiliar, but Liz liked the simplicity of the dark wood and white walls. It felt comfortable and inviting; not all churches could boast such amenities. She found a seat by the aisle in back and sat down. She lowered her head and folded her hands, willing the insanity of the last four days to sort itself out, or at least leave her alone long enough so that she could focus on what was important.
A shuffle in the aisle caught her attention and she raised her head to meet Christopher’s gaze. He raised a brow and she swallowed and nodded, sliding over to make room. She glanced around him; he had also come alone. So much for the new family being there together on Christmas Eve.
Of course, all of that had potentially changed. Liz ached for Kelly and for Cam, and for the way the whole thing had fallen apart over dinner. It was a sad testimony to the strength of the bond that they had so fiercely defended. It hadn’t taken much to make them question each other and their plans for the future.
The small church was filling up quickly, which surprised and pleased Liz; it said a lot for the little town that her daughter now called home. She tried, again, to focus her mind on the service, but it wasn’t easy with Christopher beside her, their personal space disappearing as another couple pressed in beside them. When Christopher offered to share his hymnal, Liz felt the little wall that she’d half-heartedly built cave in. The connection with this man was nothing short of miraculous. She may have done considerable damage getting caught up in Bobby’s claims and not trusting Christopher, and she could hardly imagine how it would all turn out after the debacle with Kelly and Cam, but at least she was being honest with herself. That was a start.
They sat down after the hymn, and she all but landed in Christopher’s lap. He did his best to make room for her, and they both took off their bulky coats and held them in their laps. Liz tried not to think about every contour of Christopher’s arm and leg that could easily be felt through her dress. An hour ago, her daughter’s life had unraveled, and all Liz could think about was being pressed up against her daughter’s ex-father-in-law-to-be in church, and wondering if he would ever kiss her again.
The Bible readings helped to bring her focus back to the reason that she’d attended worship in the first place. The lights were dimmed, the darkened room lit only by the candles across the front of the church. There was a sense of quiet anticipation as the service closed with “Silent Night,” and Liz felt a peace come over her that she hadn’t felt in a long time. As the last chords of the hymn echoed throughout the church, she stood silently with the rest of the congregation. When Christopher picked her hand up and held it, she sighed and squeezed his fingers.
As if by some unspoken agreement, people left in silence, absorbing every vestige of peace available in the tiny church before going back out into the busy world. Christopher and Liz stayed, fingers interlocked, while the sanctuary emptied around them. Finally, he turned to her.
“I think that was the highlight of our four day whirlwind romance.”
Liz smiled. “I would have to agree.”
“How is Kelly holding up?”
“She was pretty upset when I left her, but I got the sense that it was equal parts frustration and embarrassment, with a little heartbreak thrown in.”
“Yeah, I think Cam is more angry at himself than at anyone or anything else.”
They walked slowly out of the church together. “It’s too bad that it happened tonight, but at least they’re in a better place to look at their relationship honestly,” Liz adjusted her scarf. “They still have time to work things out before Cam goes back to school.”
Christopher turned to her on the steps of the church. “Do you think they’ll work it out?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Do you want them to?”
She looked at his handsome face, half hidden in the shadows. “Well, of course, I want what’s best for them,” she sighed. “But I expect they’re not right for each other.”
“I think Kelly deserves better than Cam’s giving her.”
Liz agreed, but could hardly say so. “He’s a good man; I just think he’s distracted right now.”
“That’s putting it kindly.”
She smiled. “Well, I guess I’d better go check on her; at least give her a call.”
“Can you do me a favor first?”
“Sure,” she replied, curious. “What do you need?”
“Tank and Becky gave me a ride to church.”
“So, you need a ride home?”
“I figured you owed me.”
Liz laughed. “So, now I get to see the farm?”
“Not much to see at night, but such as it is, I’d love to show it to you.”
Liz warmed through at his invitation. “I would be happy to give you a ride home.”
***
Although the farm showed off much better in the daylight, Christopher had to admit that the moonlight on the snow, with the trees in relief against the winter night
sky, made the scene very idyllic. He had an undefinable need for Liz to like it.
Luckily, Cam had remembered to turn on the white Christmas lights lining the porch, and the tree, in all it’s glory, glowed through the front window. Liz wasn’t one to fawn, so it meant all the more when she turned to him with a sigh as they pulled up in front of the house.
“It’s really beautiful, Christopher.”
“The moonlight does it more justice than I thought it would.”
She looked toward the house again. “I love that your porch runs the width of your house. Do you ever just sit out and watch the world go by?”
“I get out there fairly often in good weather. Since we’re on a hill, you can see out to the ocean on a clear day. I sit and read and grade papers, and occasionally watch the world go by.” Christopher smiled. “It doesn’t pass very often, but I try to look up when it does.”
Liz laughed. “Good for you.” She turned in her seat. “I guess we won’t be doing our Christmas skate tomorrow afternoon.”
He opened his car door and stepped out. Leaning back in, he said, “There’s no reason we can’t skate together.”
“Are you asking me out, Christopher?”
He circled around to her side. When he opened her door, they exchanged a smile. “Come out here with me for a minute?”
He took her hand and she climbed out of her car, shivering a little as she stood next to him. Her face sobered as she said, “I’m sorry for letting you leave last night without making things right.” She burrowed her hands deep in her pockets. “Bobby filled my head with all kinds of stories throughout the day, and I had no business giving them the weight that I did.”
“Well, like you said, we don’t know each other very well. And it’s not like we have an easy path ahead of us, either way.”
“I know. But we’ve connected on a whole different level. I should have trusted you.” She stomped her feet to warm up, and Christopher remembered that she was still in her dress and heels.
“Sorry to drag you out in the cold.” He looked up at the house regretfully; Cam and Bobby’s presence made it impossible for him to invite Liz in. “Let’s find a way to get together tomorrow, okay?”
She nodded up at him, her teeth chattering a little. “Sounds good.”
Christopher really wanted to take her in his arms and warm them both up a bit, but they needed to talk more than anything else. Then, considering the way that they’d started their relationship and it’s relative success, he did it, anyway. Liz stopped shivering almost immediately, and he was overwhelmed by a desire to take care of her; Liz, who had taken care of herself and her daughter for all of those years and didn’t really need anyone. He pulled back and looked into eyes that were a little dazed, happy, questioning. He would be lucky to have this woman taking care of him.
“Okay, time for you to go.” Before he laid his heart out and asked her for something she wasn’t likely ready to give, he tucked her into the car and waved her off. He’d have to wait and see what Christmas Day would bring.
***
Liz pulled up to the inn, her mind in a whirl; concern for her daughter and hope for her own future warring for her attention. At least she felt like the possibilities with Christopher could be explored, eventually. That he hadn’t shut her out after how she’d behaved the night before not only pointed to the kind of man he was, but it also went a long way toward disproving Bobby’s theory. There was no easy solution for a relationship, of course, but that hardly seemed to matter when Christopher kissed her. She grinned as she climbed the steps. Her thoughts were positively juvenile and somehow, for the first time in a long time, she didn’t care.
She opened the door to the inn and reveled in its peacefulness. It still smelled like fresh baked bread from the meal they’d prepared earlier. Hearing voices in the parlor, she peeked in to say hello.
“I can’t believe you! How could you do this to us?”
Liz reeled at Kelly’s outburst.
Her daughter waved her phone. “Cam told me what he saw. Are you kidding me? Have you been trying to separate us so you could just ...” Kelly stopped and listened to her phone for a moment. “Of course, she’s here. Who else? ... I’ll call you back later.”
She rounded on Liz again. “Seriously, Mom. What even?”
Liz braced her hand on the nearest couch and took a deep breath. “Kelly, we would never try to separate you ...”
“We? Suddenly you’re a ‘we’? How long has this been going on?”
Dumbfounded at the turn the evening had taken, Liz scrambled to handle the onslaught in a way that would do the least amount of damage to her daughter. “We met when you introduced us.”
“That was what, four or five days ago?”
“Four.” Why did she clarify?
“So you became a ‘we’ in four days. What have you been doing? And when?” Kelly threw her hands up in the air. “And you thought we were moving too fast? What a joke!”
As much as her daughter deserved answers, she was in no condition to hear anything Liz had to say. “I’ll tell you everything, if you think you can calm down and listen.”
Kelly rounded on her again. She looked hard at Liz and seemed to deflate a little. “So, it’s true?”
Her heart went out to her daughter. For all of Kelly’s outrage, a part of her still hoped she was wrong. Who could blame her? “What’s true is that Mr. Harrison and I have connected ...”
“Connected,” Kelly repeated dubiously.
“I don’t know how else to say it.”
“Cam said he saw you making out by your car.”
Making out? The image almost made Liz laugh, except that there was nothing funny about Kelly finding out about them in this way. “He kissed me, yes.”
Kelly slumped down on the couch. “This is so bizarre and weird!” She looked up. “Honestly, Mom, I’d be happy for you to meet someone and maybe even fall in love, but could it be anyone else ... in the world? Why Mr. Harrison?” She put her head in her hands.
Liz wanted to comfort her but didn’t think her touch would be welcome. “We didn’t try to make this happen. We knew it couldn’t - shouldn’t - I can’t even explain how, except that we kept finding ourselves together, talking, laughing, enjoying each other’s company. It just progressed. Believe me, we were aware of the problems it might cause.”
“I get that you might hit it off, but how are you already kissing? I mean, you’re ...”
“Old?” Liz supplied.
“Well, you’re usually so guarded about that kind of thing. You hardly know Cam’s dad.”
“I know. We keep telling ourselves that.”
“ ‘We’ again.”
Liz sighed. “I’m so sorry, Kelly, for how this complicates everything. I hope you can believe that our first concern was you and Cam. We both felt you were moving too fast...”
“Oh, please!”
“I know, what could we say that would possibly make sense to you? We just thought that making a commitment to marriage needed more time, given your circumstances. Our main concern was your best interest. We knew, deep down, that nothing could ever happen between us.”
“Unless we broke up.”
“We never talked in those terms.”
“But the minute it looked like we broke up, you were all over each other.”
“I don’t know what Cam told you, but Chris, his father, only kissed me good night. Cam has been drinking; he might have embellished a bit.”
“But kissing? You? A hug maybe. But you’ve only known the guy four days and you’re kissing him?”
Liz took a deep breath. “He kissed me the first night when he brought me back to the inn.”
Kelly’s head whipped around. “And you let him? Why?”
“You’re not going to believe this, but we joked about the mistletoe on the porch, and then,” she shrugged, “he kissed me.”
Kelly really focused on Liz and tried to
read her face. “And?”
Liz cleared her throat. “We were both surprised.” She recalled that first kiss with the fondness of a long-ago memory. “The next day, and I know this sounds ridiculous, the mistletoe at the restaurant ...”
Kelly gasped. “You tried for an appetizer? When we were all waiting in the cold?”
Liz nodded, her lower lip caught beneath her teeth. “We really did get caught behind a big group, and then the hostess just kind of stopped us and pointed ...”
“And you let him kiss you again.”
“I kissed him.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, Kelly, I really did. Then we skated together that night after you left, and then the party last night ... We actually already had our first fight.”
Kelly shook her head in disbelief.
“It’s insane. I know it. I have no idea what will come of it, except to assure you that we would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship with Cam. Chances are, I’ll go home to Burlington the day after tomorrow and never see Christopher again. I give you my word to stop everything if you and Cam think you can work things out.”
Kelly looked into her mom’s eyes. “You would do that for us?”
“I hope you know I would.”
Kelly considered her for a long moment. “Yeah, I know you would.” She stood up and paced the room. “But it probably won’t be necessary. Cam and I aren’t ...” she sat back down and looked at Liz. “It’s not right between us. I was pushing so hard because I thought it was the right thing - the responsible thing. When Cam suggested we get married, I don’t know, I just got caught up in it.”
“It’s easy to do.”
Kelly almost smiled. “Do you think it’s them? Us? How did it happen to all of us?”
Liz slipped an arm around her daughter. “I have no idea. Believe me, the irony isn’t lost on us.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“That depends on you and Cam.”
Kelly sighed. “We’re talking tomorrow.”
Liz nodded. “A good night’s sleep will give you clarity.”
Mistletoe (Clairmont Series Book 4) Page 10