Her Convenient Christmas Date

by Barbara Wallace

  “Excuse me. Are you Lewis Matolo?”

  Looking up from the glass, Lewis saw a man in a bellman’s uniform. “I saw you walk in,” the man said.

  He was middle-aged, with salt-and-pepper hair and weathered brown skin. “My name is Darcus Alajua,” he said. “You met my grandson David at the Youth Ambassador Event.”

  The man pulled a phone from his jacket pocket to show its wallpaper—a picture of Lewis and a young boy of around eight.

  “I remember him,” he said. “Speedy little thing. Good footwork.”

  “I wanted to thank you. Meeting you is all he’s talked about for the past week.”

  “Wow, with Christmas right around the corner, that’s a pretty big feat,” the bartender remarked.

  Lewis was surprised. He remembered praising David’s skills a few times, but he hadn’t given the boy any additional attention or singled him out in any way that would merit the boy being that impressed.

  “I’m glad he enjoyed himself” he said.

  “It’s more than enjoyed,” Darcus said. His eyes dropped to the screen for a moment and grew misty. “David came to live with me a year ago because his mother...my daughter...has some demons. He’s been discouraged, feeling sorry for himself. Sports has been the one thing he’s enjoyed.”

  “I know the feeling.” He’d been in David’s shoes once.

  “I know and when you talked about how football saved you, how it helped pull you out of tough times, it lit a fire in him. He’s excited about something again.”

  “I’m glad. You tell him not to give up, and to keep playing. Sports isn’t about being a superstar. It’s about belonging and being a part of a team and learning to work at what you love.”

  The older man smiled, the lines on his cheeks fading and his face turning youthful. “I can see why he enjoyed your talk.”

  “I enjoyed giving it. Being with the kids reminded me of why I fell in love with football to begin with. When you grow up like I did, you need that escape.”

  “Yes, you do,” Darcus said. “That’s why it means a lot to the kids when someone like you comes back home.”

  Comes back home. Was that what he’d done? “Can I see that photo again?” he asked Darcus.

  This time he studied David’s face. The kid was looking at him like he had hung the moon.

  Who else had looked at him like that? Susan.

  Lewis handed the phone back with a smile. All his life he’d needed—wanted—a place where he belonged. He thought that place was football. But it wasn’t. Athletic stardom had never come close to how he felt when working with those kids. The only thing that made him happier had been when he was holding Susan.

  You don’t need the spotlight. All you really need are a few people who care.

  Susan’s smile had felt more like home than any stadium or spotlight ever could. She’d believed in him. Understood him. He hadn’t needed the spotlight to win her support.

  And he’d sent her away. Since when did he not go after what he wanted? He was Champagne Lewis Matolo, for crying out loud!

  He pulled out his wallet. “Do me a favor, will you?” he asked Darcus. He handed the man a hundred-dollar bill. “You take this and buy David the best football cleats and shin guards money can buy. Tell him his friend Lewis owes him for making him see something very important.”

  * * *

  If the company Christmas party had taken place in a winter wonderland, then Thomas and Rosalind’s vow renewal was being held in its more glamorous cousin. Her brother had spared no expense in making the Christmas Eve ceremony special, right down to the grand piano he’d had installed in the living room for the occasion.

  “I may have gone a little crazy,” Thomas admitted as he took Susan’s coat along with the bags of Christmas gifts she’d brought for the next morning.

  “Rosalind would have been happy renewing our vows in the middle of a field, but Maddie wanted to have a sparkly wedding.”

  Susan took in the myriad of lights and candles, enough to rival the Kew Gardens display. The regular lighting had been turned off because the decorations provided more than enough illumination.

  “Good thing you don’t overindulge your daughter,” she said.

  “Hey, it’s Christmas Eve. If you can’t go crazy with decorations at the holidays, when can you?” He kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas. You look lovely.”

  “Thanks.” She’d splurged on an evening gown for the occasion. Silver with sequins. No more hiding herself in the corner. If she was to be a square peg, she was going to own her edges. “I’m afraid I don’t feel very lovely though.”

  “No word from Lewis?”

  “Afraid not. We had an interview with Personal Magazine scheduled for yesterday, but I got a call from his agent saying the interview was canceled.”

  No surprise there. For a short while she’d hoped they might go through with the interview to contradict the negative publicity, but apparently not. Like Lewis had pointed out, how did you contradict the truth?

  The answer was, you don’t. She had this pipe dream that Lewis would use the article to make their casual encounters into something more. But he hadn’t.

  The fallout from Scam-pagne Gate, as it was lovingly called in the press, was swift and loud. Radio stations all over the UK commented on the story all weekend, which in turn, led to the morning shows holding roundtable discussions about celebrity ethics and England’s search for gossip. Lewis was once again a bad boy while her reputation vacillated between coconspirator to besotted victim.

  As for Collier’s? The company was experiencing their best holiday season in years so either people didn’t care that she was involved with Lewis or her being involved with Lewis had helped the company project a saucy, youthful edge. Either way, at least something good had come out of the scheme.

  Thomas eyed her with concern. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I feel like a right idiot,” she said. She’d fallen for a man when she’d known from the start he wasn’t interested in a long-term relationship. “But, I’m not the first person to have had their heart broken. I’ll survive.” It killed her when she thought of how good she and Lewis could have been together, but she couldn’t make him love her. As magical as the past few weeks had been, she deserved more. First and foremost, a man who loved her back.

  “Yes, you will,” Thomas replied. “Just remember, you’re not alone. Your family will always stand by you.”

  She smiled. “I know.” Now.

  Perhaps more than one good thing had come out of the debacle.

  Rosalind’s dose of reality had been hard to hear, but it also gave her a lot to think about. It made Susan take a good look at her behavior over the years. She’d become such an expert at pretending she didn’t care about being an outsider, that she failed to see all the times she’d been offered a place inside. She had brothers who cared about her. Sure they were all completely different, and she would never mesh completely with them in a million years. But as Thomas showed the day she and Lewis were outed, when the chips were down, they had her back.

  “By the way,” Thomas continued, “we found out how the paper got the story. Turns out one of the bartenders at the hotel has a cousin who writes for the Looking Glass. She overheard Courtney and Ginger talking at the bar and convinced them to tell her the entire story. She then turned the info over to her cousin.”

  “Lewis warned me there were spies everywhere. What are you going to do about Ginger and Courtney?”

  “Since I don’t handle personnel issues anymore, I told senior management that while I wasn’t happy with their behavior, I would leave the final decision to them. And you.”

  “Me?”

  “Last time I looked, you were the one who handled human resources,” he said. “Plus, you were the victim. If anyone should weigh in with an opinion, it’s you.”

/>   In other words, Courtney’s and Ginger’s fates lay in her hands. How circumstances had changed.

  Over the week, she’d thought quite a bit about the gossipy twosome. She finally realized that their need to put her down said more about them than it did her. What their reason was for disliking her, Susan didn’t know, but that didn’t mean their opinion was correct either. In fact, a long talk over coffee with Maria proved their opinion was in the minority. Susan was simply so busy wrapping herself in protective distance that she hadn’t noticed.

  The question now was how bad a punishment did they deserve? “They didn’t purposely leak the story,” she said. “More like they were being petty and foolish.” On the other hand, their pettiness had caused her and Lewis a lot of pain. Mostly Lewis. When it came to Susan, the story had only hastened the inevitable.

  “Still, they did do damage. It’s only by sheer luck Collier’s didn’t suffer some kind of backlash.”

  “You can say that again. Personally, I think we should fire them,” Thomas said.

  “Not me.” Susan couldn’t believe what she was about to suggest. “I’d rather suspend them for two weeks and give them a stern warning.”

  Her brother lifted his brows. “Seriously?”

  “And I want them to know that I was the one who saved their catty little butts.” She wasn’t so magnanimous that she didn’t want them to owe her.

  “Excuse me, you two.” Linus stepped into the entryway. “Do you plan to spend the entire evening talking in the entryway or do you plan to attend the party?”

  “Merry Christmas to you too.” She kissed him on the cheek.

  He looked past her shoulder. “Are you here alone?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Just checking. I need a drinking companion. Come with me to the bar.” He tucked her arm into his. “By the way,” he said over his shoulder, “your wife wanted me to tell you the maid of honor is getting antsy. She’s worried you’ll take too long and prevent Santa Claus from coming.”

  “You know,” Susan said as they stepped into the main living room, “Thomas insists that Maddie will be running Collier’s someday. I’m beginning to think he’s right.”

  When Thomas said only a few friends and family would be invited, he hadn’t been joking. Only a handful of people, a dozen at most, were in the room. Most were gathered by the piano listening to the Christmas carols. Four stockings, fire-engine red, hung from the mantel, the newest one a miniature version of the other three. The magic of it all was like salt poured into her heart, but she forced a smile for her brother’s sake. It was just a broken heart. She would survive.

  Linus led her to the opposite side of the room where a portable bar had been staged. Susan’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

  “You again!” she said. “Are you the only bartender in London this holiday season?” The bartender let out a hearty laugh. “I’m beginning to think so. I was drafted into service by my uncle Chris. He’s over there by the guests.” He pointed to a portly man with a white beard and red reindeer sweater.

  “Well it’s good to see you...?” She realized she’d never gotten his name.

  “Nick,” he replied. “Is your boyfriend with you?”

  A little more salt burned her heart. “I’m afraid we aren’t together anymore.”

  “That’s too bad. You two made an adorable couple.”

  She’d thought so too. “Some things don’t always work out,” she said sadly.

  “Or maybe they just take time,” he replied. Evidently they taught positive thinking at bartending school. “Can I get you a house special?”

  “What’s it called this time? Nick likes to name his drinks,” she told Linus.

  “Yep, and in honor of tonight’s special event, we’re serving True Love cocktails.”

  “Fabulous,” Linus replied, sounding slightly more enthusiastic than she felt.

  “Trust me,” Nick told them. “You won’t regret the choice.”

  Their cocktails were barely in hand when the pianist played a loud fanfare. “If you could take your seats,” he announced. “Our ceremony is about to begin.”

  Maddie appeared at the top of the spiral staircase, and as the pianist played a soft classical piece, she began picking her way down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she scurried to the front of the room to hug her father. She looked adorable. Susan smiled, then looked at the empty seat beside her.

  How she wished Lewis were here.

  Rosalind was next, looking resplendent in a simple white silk dress. She positively beamed with happiness. No wonder Nick named the drink True Love.

  Feeling a little nauseous, Susan took a large sip and watched the ceremony. The look of utter adoration in her brother’s eyes made her heart ache. How wonderful must it be to be loved the way Thomas loved Rosalind.

  Some day, she told herself. Some day she would have that. At the moment, her heart still wished it were Lewis, but after a week, it was time for her to accept that that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, she’d be grateful for the time they’d had.

  As she blinked away the dampness from her eyes, she felt someone settle into the empty seat beside her.

  “I hope those are tears of joy.”

  Susan stopped breathing. She was almost afraid to turn her head. Was that really Lewis sitting beside her? “You... I...”

  He put his fingers to his lips. “Shh. There’s a wedding going on.” A second later, his hand captured hers.

  The rest of the ceremony passed in a fog as the only thing Susan could focus on was the man beside her. Did his being there mean he returned her feelings or was he simply fulfilling one last obligation? A tear slipped down her cheek.

  “Hey, now,” Lewis said as the rest of the group burst into applause. “What’s this?” He reached across and fanned her cheek with his thumb, his fingers lingering on her jaw when he finished.

  What was he doing, smiling at her like she was the most important person in the world? People were still applauding and congratulating the happy couple, but she needed to know. The moment was too surreal to believe. Or rather, too perfect to believe.

  “Come with me,” she said. Slipping past the crowd, she led him to the vestibule where they could talk in private. There, partially hidden by a poinsettia tower, she turned to him and finally asked what she’d been dying to ask the entire ceremony. “Why are you here?”

  “I got your invitation.”

  A week ago. She’d left her message a week ago.

  She tossed her drink in his face.

  “What was that for?” Lewis wiped the True Love from his face.

  “Why do you think?” It was an instant reaction and probably over the top, but dammit! “You left me hanging for an entire week!”

  “Is everything okay?” she heard Thomas ask.

  All five members of her family appeared in the doorway, prepared to stand by her. Even distracted by Lewis, the show of solidarity squeezed her heart.

  “Thanks, but I’ve got this,” she told them. “Lewis was just about to explain what the hell he was thinking showing up here after being MIA for a week.”

  “I was trying for a romantic gesture.”

  “You call leaving me hanging romantic?”

  “Don’t be daft. I wanted to call you back as soon as I got the message.”

  Out of nowhere Nick joined the group, brandishing a cloth napkin. Lewis took the cloth and wiped the last of the liquid from his cheeks. “Okay, I should have called you back as soon as I got the message, but I was out of town on business. I decided it would be better if I waited until I saw you in person so I could say I love you properly. Clearly I made a mistake.”

  “Clearly you did... Wait.” Did she hear him right? “What did you say?”

  “I said I made a mistake.”

  “No, before that.�
��

  Lewis smiled. “I said I love you, Susan Collier.”

  Before she could say another word, he drew her into a kiss. He tasted like peppermint and True Love.

  God bless silly cocktail names.

  “I’m the biggest idiot on the planet,” he whispered when they parted. He rested his forehead against hers, his eyes shut tight. “I was so afraid of... I spent my entire life certain the only reason anyone would want me was because of what I could do on the field. That if I weren’t a star...if I weren’t in the spotlight, that people wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t be good enough for anybody.” Pulling back, he opened his eyes to reveal unshed tears. “Especially not for you.”

  “You are an idiot.” Her lips were trembling so much, the words barely made it out. “I don’t care what you do. I never did.” The irony of his confession hit her and she started to laugh. “I thought I wasn’t good enough for you.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, you are so far out of my league. I consider myself lucky that you would ever give me the time of day.”

  “We’re both idiots,” she said. Letting their insecurities keep them from happiness. “I love you, Lewis Matolo.”

  He brushed her cheek. “I love you too, Susan Collier.”

  They were the three most beautiful words she’d ever heard.

  “My last grand gesture didn’t go right, but maybe this one will,” he said. “I know we both have a lot of issues to work out, and I can’t promise what the future is going to hold for us. But I’d like to find out.”

  There was a gasp from the room as he dropped to one knee. “Therefore, in front of your friends and family, I’m asking if you’ll...date me. For real.”

  “Yes,” she replied, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “I would be honored to be your real girlfriend.”

  “Daddy, are we having another wedding?” Maddie called out.

  “Maybe someday,” Susan replied, her heart giving a leap at the smile her answer brought to Lewis’s face. “Right now, I think I’ll focus on having a very merry Christmas.”