Burning Bright

by Chris Cannon

  Bryn clapped along with everyone else, while she tried to reason with her inner five-year-old who really wanted to kick Jaxon in the shins. Part of her had thought she might impress him tonight. That he might see her as an attractive female, rather than someone he was burdened with. Apparently, that was not the case and she’d just have to suck it up and get over it. It was Christmas. And she was going to have a good time…possibly at his expense.

  “Aren’t the trees beautiful this year,” she said to him.

  He nodded.

  “Young man, my granddaughter asked you a question and I know your mother raised you to do better than nod at your dinner date and then ignore her.”

  “I did, actually,” Lillith said.

  Jaxon froze for a moment and then he broke out the fake Blue smile Bryn had seen all summer. “The trees are beautiful. The juxtaposition of the gold against the silver is stunning.”

  “I agree,” Lillith said. “The trees are stunning. Anything else you’d like to comment on?” She glanced at Bryn.

  Jaxon sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Not until there is another male at this table.”

  “Asher is male,” Bryn pointed out.

  Jaxon nodded. “You’re right, but since he’s nonverbal he’s not much help.”

  “Since when do you need help making conversation?” Bryn asked.

  “Since all the women at this table seem to be hostile.” He stood. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

  “I think you’re lying,” Bryn said in a sing-song voice.

  Jaxon stood and, in as dignified manner as possible, fled.

  “If this wasn’t so funny I’d be furious,” Bryn said.

  “What is going on between you two?” her grandmother asked.

  “Remember when you said he wouldn’t know what hit him? Well he knows and apparently he is not the least bit impressed.”

  “I don’t understand,” her grandmother said.

  “Me, either. When we went to mingle he didn’t say a word to me. The girls complimented me on my hairpin and asked if it was a Vanleigh.”

  “It is,” her grandmother confirmed.

  “Good to know.” She sighed. “You know what? As Lillith pointed out, I don’t need a male’s approval to feel good about myself, but I would like to know what the hell his problem is.”

  “He’ll have to dance the first dance with you after dinner,” Lillith said. “That isn’t optional, so you can talk to him then.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Jaxon came back to the table when dinner was served. Bryn focused on her food and on making conversation with her grandmother, Lillith, and her grandfather who, surprisingly enough, had joined them.

  The interaction between her grandparents almost seemed flirtatious, which Bryn found amusing. Maybe, after his Directorate-sanctioned straying over the years, her grandfather had realized what a treasure his wife was. The whole marriage-is-a-business-partnership-that-produces-children idea bothered Bryn. It would be nice to think of them having a real marriage after all this time.

  Jaxon smiled and nodded and gave succinct answers to any questions she lobbed at him. After awhile she gave up.

  When the chocolate mint cake was served, Jaxon frowned. “You’re going to eat cake?”

  That was the first real thing he’d said to her, so she answered honestly. “My grandmother and I discussed it. I can’t be afraid to eat cake for the rest of my life. Even though I plan to carry out a lifelong ban on carrot cake, other cake is acceptable. And this particular chocolate mint cake is awesome.” She took a bite and sighed in satisfaction.

  “I’m not a fan of chocolate and mint, so you can have mine.” Jaxon pushed his cake toward her.

  “Thank you.” Was he over whatever his problem had been earlier?

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to speak to Quentin.” And he was off like a shot.

  “At least that was something,” Lillith said.

  “Two whole sentences worth of conversation,” Bryn said. “I’m such a lucky girl. But he did give me his cake.”

  As the dessert dishes were cleared away, the orchestra played the opening bars for Blue Christmas.

  “That’s our cue,” her grandfather said. He stood and held out his hand to her grandmother. “May I have this dance?”

  “Of course.” Her grandmother took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.

  Bryn watched them dance, moving together in perfect synchronicity. “I think something has changed between them, in a good way.”

  “I believe you’re right, which gives me hope that Ferrin might warm up one day.”

  “Maybe,” Bryn said because she didn’t want to burst Lillith’s bubble.

  As the song drew to a close, Bryn kept a lookout for Jaxon. He wouldn’t openly defy convention, would he? Because that would really tick her off. Ferrin came to greet Lillith. He took Asher and held him in one arm while he led Lillith to the dance floor. He managed to dance while holding Lillith and the baby, which was impressive. Maybe Lillith would get her happily ever after one day.

  Bryn glanced around. Almost everyone else was out on the dance floor. Less than a dozen people remained seated at their tables. Most of them were older than her grandparents. And most of them were looking at her. What was that about? One of the elderly ladies nodded toward the dance floor like she was suggesting Bryn go out there. She’d love to go out there, but not by herself.

  Where was Jaxon? He needed to show up ASAP because people were going to notice that they weren’t dancing, and she didn’t want to deal with any grief from her grandparents. She waited and…nothing.

  Wow. This whole sucky situation felt all too familiar. The only good thing about being contracted to marry Jaxon was that she wasn’t supposed to be left out like this again. They were supposed to be a team. Maybe he was just late returning from the restroom. Bryn scanned the area and that’s when she spotted him. He was already on the dance floor, dancing with someone else.

  What did that mean? Wasn’t he “legally bound” to dance the first stupid dance with her? That’s the way Lillith had made it sound. Maybe Bryn had misunderstood.

  Jaxon turned so that he faced her direction, his eyes glided over her like she was invisible. To him, maybe she was. And that ticked her off even more. Fire stirred in her gut. She focused on snow and pushed the flames down. What was going on with him? They’d been on friendly terms when they left school less than a week ago. Had he decided to publicly humiliate her in revenge for turning his hair pink?

  Now what? She could sit here and have everyone gawk at her, or she could leave. She stood and exited the room as calmly as possible. She headed for the restroom, which was empty, thank goodness. She stood at the sink with the water running in case anyone came in, so she could pretend she’d just turned the faucet on and was about to wash her hands rather than the truth that she was hiding out because the one person she was supposed to be able to depend on to ask her to dance had abandoned her. And it’s not like she’d done anything wrong. This strange new behavior was all him.

  She checked her reflection in the mirror. Her hair and makeup still looked good. Her dress was beautiful. Whatever this was about, it wasn’t her. At least that is what she’d tell herself to get through the rest of this crazy train wreck of an evening.

  She slapped the water faucet off, squared her shoulders, and exited the restroom. Before she reached the ballroom, her grandmother intercepted her. “What are you doing out here? I thought you’d be dancing.”

  “I’d be happy to dance,” Bryn said, “but no one asked me.”

  “You can’t expect to dance with anyone but Jaxon.”

  “Funny story,” Bryn said with a catch in her voice. “He never came back. He never asked me to dance. He danced the first dance with someone else.”

  Her grandmother just stared at her.

  “And no, I’m not joking.” She needed her grandmother to have a solution to this
situation. “So any idea on how I should handle this?”

  Frost shot from her grandmother’s nostrils. Bryn had never seen her grandmother lose control of her element so she was pretty sure Jaxon was a dead man. And right now, she was okay with that. “Come with me,” her grandmother said. “Act like everything is fine.”

  “Let the fun begin,” Bryn muttered as she followed her grandmother back into the ballroom and sat at their table. Someone brought them more cake. Bryn ate cake, smiled, and waited for Jaxon to come back so she could stab him with her fork.

  Lillith came back with a smile on her face. She took one look at Bryn and sat down. “What’s wrong?”

  “Find your son and bring him to this table,” her grandmother said in a tone that should have made Lillith fear for Jaxon’s life.

  “Of course.” Lillith came back a few moments later, with Jaxon, who looked irritated.

  “Sit,” Bryn’s grandmother said in a tone that should have cued Jaxon in to the fact that something was wrong.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Do you wish to dissolve your marriage contract?” Bryn’s grandmother asked in a tone that could have cut to the bone.

  “What?” Jaxon paled.

  “I can’t think of another reason why you would publicly snub Bryn by dancing with someone else during the first dance at the Christmas Ball,” her grandmother said.

  The weight of the situation seemed to register on Jaxon’s face. “I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean to—”

  “To humiliate me?” Bryn said. “Because even I, with my mixed background and lack of social skills, know that you were supposed to dance with me to present a united front and show everyone that we’re together.”

  Jaxon looked stunned. “I’m sorry. When Rinata asked me to dance I didn’t consider what other people might think.”

  “Oh,” Lillith said. “I didn’t realize she was here.” She looked at Bryn. “Rinata is Rhianna’s older sister.”

  Son of a bitch.

  “I now have an inkling of why you might have made such an egregious social blunder, but, be that as it may, your behavior is unacceptable. You will make this up to Bryn. You will think of some way to make it clear to everyone here at this party that you made a grave error in judgement and it is no way a reflection on my granddaughter. Do you understand?”

  “Yes ma’am.” He took a deep breath. “Bryn, do you want to dance?”

  “Honestly, I’d rather stab you with this fork”—Bryn picked up the utensil by her now empty cake plate—“but I will dance with you to prove a point.”

  Jaxon stood and offered her his hand. She took it and let him lead her to the dance floor. Once they were there, she stared at his shoulder rather than make eye contact with him or with anyone else while they danced.

  She waited for him to say something. They danced through two songs before he said, “I am truly sorry.”

  “I’d like to believe that.”

  “Look at me,” he said.

  She sighed and then met his gaze. Sincerity shone from his bright blue eyes. “I didn’t dance with Rinata to slight you.”

  “Even if that’s true, at worst, you maliciously abandoned me, and at best you completely forgot about me. Neither of those reasons make me feel any better.”

  “What can I do?” he asked, pulling her a little closer.

  “I don’t have a clue,” she said. “You better figure something out, because I won’t have the entire Blue Clan smirking behind my back all night.”

  “I didn’t think you cared about what other people thought,” he said.

  “I don’t.” Although it was becoming alarmingly clear to her that she did care about what he thought and why the hell did being in his arms feel so comfortable? She had to make him understand. “How would you feel if you’d come to ask me to dance like you were supposed to do and discovered I was already dancing with someone else?”

  “I’d be furious,” he said, “but in this case there were extenuating circumstances.”

  “I know, but no else in this ballroom is aware of that fact.” The song ended. “Honestly, until you make this right, I’m done with you.” And she walked off the dance floor, leaving him to look like the idiot for once.

  When she reached her table, both her grandparents sat there. She wasn’t sure which one was angrier. Before they could ask any questions, she said, “I told him to fix it.”

  “How does he intend to do that?” her grandfather asked.

  “Not my problem,” Bryn said. “I’m through playing nice until he does.” She was afraid they’d tell her to go suck up to him. That was not going to happen.

  “I respect your resolve,” her grandfather said, “but you’ll still uphold the contract.”

  “Of course I will,” Bryn said. “If for no other reason than to annoy Jaxon and Ferrin.”

  Her grandmother smiled. “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thank you. I guess now we wait and see what Jaxon can accomplish before it’s time to exchange gifts. When is that?”

  “Twenty minutes,” her grandfather said. “But I can adjust the time frame.”

  “Let’s see what he does,” said Bryn.

  “He seems to be up to something,” her grandmother said.

  Bryn turned to see Jaxon with his mother and Rinata. They were talking to a table of young couples. A few of them glanced over at Bryn. She gave them her best I-am-not-fantasizing-about-incinerating-my-future-husband-with-a-fireball smile and hoped it was convincing.

  Jaxon, Rinata, and Lillith approached each table and made small talk with the Blues sitting there. Occasionally, one of the occupants would join them in speaking to other people which caused a ripple effect.

  Would whatever he was doing work? For her grandparents’ sake, she hoped so. Finally, Rinata and Jaxon approached their table, while Lillith went back to sit with Ferrin.

  “May I join you for a moment?” Rinata asked.

  “You may,” Bryn’s grandmother said.

  Rinata sat and Jaxon followed suit.

  “We’ve spoken to every table, explaining that I asked Jaxon to dance so we could talk about my sister and he was too polite to refuse.” Rinata turned to Bryn. “I meant no disrespect.”

  “Thank you for explaining the situation to the other guests,” Bryn said.

  The volume of the orchestra surged. “If you’ll excuse us, Rinata,” Bryn’s grandfather said. “I believe the gift exchange is about to begin.”

  “Of course.” Rinata stood and headed back to her table.

  The doors to the ballroom opened and the waitstaff rolled in carts of presents which they passed out among the guests. Per tradition, her grandmother handed her grandfather his gift first. It wasn’t big enough to be a box of stinky cigars like last year. What could it be?

  He ripped off the paper and opened the plain cardboard box, revealing a brass telescope with gears and knobs which appeared to be an antique. He seemed genuinely pleased. “Thank you, Marie.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He handed her a gift, which was too big to be a jewelry box. She opened it and laughed. Inside was a hat with netting and flowers that looked like a modern work of art. “I love it.”

  The sound of other families opening their gifts drifted through the air. Her grandmother passed Bryn a key ring. “The estate was a bit difficult to wrap, so I thought this would be easier.”

  “Thank you,” Bryn said. Am I supposed to exchange gifts with Jaxon now? After the idiot move he’d made, she didn’t want to. “Why don’t you go spend time with your family? We can exchange gifts later.”

  “I’m not sure that would be appropriate,” Jaxon said. “Mrs. Sinclair, what do you suggest?”

  “Bryn, why don’t you exchange gifts now and then he can leave.”

  Crap. “Okay.” Bryn shoved his gift across the table. “Here you go.”

  He pulled a black velvet jeweler’s box from his pocket and passed it to her. “Ladies first.”
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br />   He’d bought her jewelry? She’d worked hard to find a gift that was personal, something he might truly like. If he bought her a generic, look-how-expensive-this-piece-of-jewelry-is type of gift, she was going to be pissed. She popped the lid and stared inside at the bracelet. A bracelet she thought she’d never see again. The snowflake bracelet her mother had given her which had been stolen and supposedly pawned to fund the rebel attacks.

  Bryn ran her fingers over the interconnecting snowflakes the size of quarters and the diamond in the center of each one that was the size of a dime. “Where did you find it?”

  “My father discovered it among some of the items recovered from the rebels, minus the diamonds, of course. I had those replaced because I thought you’d want it back.” He sounded like he wasn’t sure if he’d done the right thing.

  “Thank you.” She took the bracelet out of the box and tried to put it on.

  “Let me help you.” Jaxon fastened the clasp for her.

  Bryn held her arm up and smiled at the snowflakes sparkling on her wrist. “I love it.” And she did. In a strange way, it felt like she had a piece of her family back. Maybe he wasn’t a complete jerk after all. She gestured toward the box from the bookstore. “Your turn.”

  He carefully removed the paper without ripping it. When he saw the leather-bound copies of Lord of the Rings he appeared confused. He picked up the first book and carefully opened the brown leather cover, smiling at the inscription on the first page. “How did you know?”

  “I called your mom because I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Jaxon, I know your father has something he wants to give you,” her grandfather said. “Why don’t you go see what it is? You can come back for cocoa afterward.”

  Jaxon left the table and headed to his family. Bryn relaxed in her chair. “That went better than I expected. Now I have gifts for both of you.” She handed her grandparents their gifts.