“I certainly am. Take care Kelsey. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
“What?” she demanded. “You wont be back home for Christmas, or New Year?”
“I’m going to be tied up with this until well after year end. The books are in a dreadful state. Even if I work all the hours God sends, it won’t be done when it needs to be. I’ll be working on through. It’s okay though. It’s just how it is this year. You and Annie will be working anyway so it isn’t like I’m missing out on anything. I wasn’t planning to drive up to my mom’s this year. I don’t think I could take a whole day of husband number four.”
As they hung up, Kelsey vowed to make sure that Brett was not alone with a set of spreadsheets on Christmas Day. She and Annie would finish at the hospital by three. They could easily drive to Miami and take a festive feast to share with Brett. Tucking Annie’s cell into her scrubs pocket, she hurried to find her friend.
She found Annie leaning against the staff room door, flirting with Duncan Grayling. It was quite clear that he found Annie mesmerizing, and she looked happy as a kid with a new bike. Kelsey grinned to herself. At least one happy couple had been brought together by her Christmas Lasagna Night. Annie glanced over at her, stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to Duncan’s cheek before banishing him to his work.
Kelsey handed over Annie’s cell. “You two look cozy,” she teased.
“It’s getting a little hot and heavy,” Annie admitted. “I like him. He likes me. No strings, no expectations.”
“Sure. Whenever anyone says that to me, I start to question just how head over heels they’ve fallen. If you’re that into him this early, be careful, Annie.”
“I’m a big girl. I can manage my own love life, unlike some I could mention,” Annie said, turning the tables on Kelsey.
Kelsey grinned. “Touché,” she acknowledged. “Brett called. Sorry I answered, but I thought it might be you trying to call to see if you could find your cell.”
“Did he have any luck with Joe?” Annie asked clearly glad of the change of subject.
“No, he didn’t. Joe didn’t take it. Why did you let me think you’d accused Brett?”
“I didn’t mean to. Sorry about that,” Annie said. “So we’re still none the wiser.”
“No. But Brett did say that he’s going to be all alone, stuck in Miami until after New Year’s. That sounds horrible,” Kelsey said, pulling a grim face.
Annie laughed out loud. “Mmm, Christmas and New Year’s in Miami. All those parties and parades. I can’t think of anything worse,” she said sarcastically. “Really, he’ll have a great time. After all, we’ll be working, too. Don’t hear us complaining and we have to do it just about every year. He’s a pencil pusher. He usually gets weeks off usually around Christmas.”
“I know. That’s not what bothers me. It’s that he’ll be alone. I thought we could maybe drive up after work and do dinner together?”
“You can, honey. But I have plans,” Annie said, licking her lips.
“Duncan? I thought you were getting together for Christmas Eve.” Kelsey was happy for Annie, but felt a little let down. She’d been relying on being able to spend Christmas night with her best friend, given that nobody else she loved would be around.
“We are, but he wants me to meet his family on Christmas night,” Annie said a little sheepishly.
“That really is serious. Just how long were you two seeing each other before you went public?” Kelsey demanded. It was clear that this little romance had been going on much longer than anyone had known. She tried to push the feelings aside and not poke out her bottom lip at the thought that Annie might not trust her.
“About three months,” Annie admitted. “I was going to tell you, but it was always just this thing we thought was going to fizzle out. We agreed that it’d be easier not to tell anyone so there’d be no awkwardness here at work. But, it hasn’t fizzled and I don’t think it’s going to, so we went public at your party. I wanted to tell you but I promised him I wouldn’t.”
“Sure,” Kelsey said wearily. “I feel like everyone’s been keeping secrets from me. You, Brett. I’ll find out that Mom and Pop aren’t really with Gabe but sold the house and absconded to Barbados next.”
“No you won’t,” Annie said firmly. “Stop being so dramatic. There’s nothing to stop you serving yourself up to Brett as a Christmas gift, sweetie. I’m sure he’d be delighted to have you show up in Miami just to see him.”
8
Miami may well have been a party city, but Brett barely noticed the festival atmosphere in the streets as he struggled to get to the bottom of his project. Heidi had become distant and barely even acknowledged his presence in the office. He rather missed the flirtatious banter they had once shared, and he certainly missed her bringing him a coffee every couple of hours. He’d tried to explain what happened, and he was sure that Heidi could see just how hard he was working, but she seemed determined to punish him.
In the silent moments alone in his hotel room, before he collapsed into deep and dreamless sleep, Brett wondered about what had happened to the snow globe. He didn’t know how he might help Kelsey find out, though he suspected she would probably give up soon enough. After all, it wasn’t like the burglar had taken treasured family heirlooms, or the TV. It was just a snow globe, given to her by a man who had hopes that would never be fulfilled.
No, it had been given to her by Mrs. Claus, a sweet old lady who’d had high hopes that she was becoming a competent match maker. She’d been sorely mistaken. She was a rotten match maker. Brett let out a long breath and pushed away the silly embarrassment that he was trying to push the responsibility of his bad decision off on someone else. An imaginary someone else, at that. What a clown he was.
As he hung up his suit jacket and trousers, he checked on the packages in the bottom of the wardrobe and told himself he would wrap them tomorrow, as surely, he wouldn’t always be this tired. He stripped off his shirt and tie, ripped off his socks and collapsed onto the bed, enjoying the cool sensation of the air-conditioned breeze as it played over his skin. He pulled a sheet up over himself and turned out the light.
He expected to fall asleep as fast as he’d done all week, but for some reason tonight, even though he was as weary as he remembered being in a very long time, his mind simply would not stop churning over the conversation he’d had with Kelsey. She’d sounded like herself, if maybe a little tentative. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but she’d seemed very different. It was probably delirium from too much work and not enough rest, but she’d sounded as though she wanted to talk about the other night, about what had happened—or not happened. His memory of the almost kiss was disconcerting for him to remember, but he couldn’t let himself forget.
He’d expected nothing other than lots of reiterations of the we’re just friends line, but she’d not said that, not even hinted at it. Brett couldn’t help hoping that meant something had changed. That maybe there was hope for him, for them.
He closed his eyes and saw her smiling face. He watched as his mind played back a memory movie for him. She’d been tending to one of her patients as Brett had wandered onto the floor. He stopped just outside a patient’s room when he’d heard her voice. The old man had been confused and crotchety. Kelsey had been so calm and tender with him. She’d somehow soothed him and got him to not only stay in his bed, but he let her take his vitals and then he took his meds.
Then there was the time, at the first Christmas Lasagna Night, when they all sat in front of her tree, drinking eggnog and eating decorated sugar cookies. She’d encouraged everyone to tell their favorite Christmas stories. He’d told her about the time his dad had taken him to Dallas, Texas. They’d visited a ranch and had ridden horses and lassoed cattle. It had been just weeks before his father had died of cancer. He’d known that his time was limited, of course, but he wanted him to have the very best memories of him.
Annie had told them about a trip to visit her grandparents, when she was ab
out ten. Her grandpa had taught her how to pump up the tires on her bike and her British nanna had taught her to make plum pudding. She’d let her put the shiny coins into it as they stirred the mixture ready to go in the pudding bowls, telling her to make a wish on each one. Everyone had smiled at the thought of Annie blowing on the coins before dropping them into the batter, wishing for a pony, a doll, and her parents to get back together after their divorce.
But, it had been Kelsey’s story that had made them all wish they had been blessed to have such a Christmas themselves. She’d spun a web of a perfect family Christmas. From the carols and candlelight in the town square in Stanbury, to laying out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer there was a heavy thread of tradition. Cutting and decorating their huge Christmas tree each year had been the kick-off to the season and that event only paled to the actual holiday.
Her Christmas morning had involved jam-packed stockings at the end of the bed, that she and her brother Gabe had always been excited for, and then taken in to their parents who had feigned ignorance to each toy and treat they pulled out. Snowball fights and building snowmen were fitted in around church and a feast, before settling around the fireplace and toasting marshmallows as Kelsey’s Pop told stories. Few people would ever relate to such an idyllic Christmas and some might even dismiss it as a lie. For Kelsey, it was Christmas and it was perfect.
Brett sat bolt upright. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. He couldn’t possibly leave someone like Kelsey alone at Christmas. She, of all people, needed to be surrounded by those she loved. He still had so much work to do, but some things were simply more important than ensuring a few numbers were logged on the correct lines of a spreadsheet and catalogued properly in the database. He’d be the only one working anyway since everyone else would be with their families.
He had to go home. He had to go back to Islamorada right now to make sure she knew that just because she couldn’t be with her family this year, she wasn’t alone. He wanted to tell her that for as long as he lived, she never would be alone if had had any say in the matter.
He turned on the light and quickly pulled on some jeans and a sweater. Then remembered, he was two hours away. He could even go into work early and still get back to Islamorada before Kelsey even finished her shift tomorrow night.
He undressed and sank back into bed, sleep finally claiming him. His dreams were full of Kelsey. Her beautiful eyes smiling at him, as he watched her unwrap her gifts and then shower his face with kisses for having bought her just what she’d always wanted. He woke in the morning, wishing he could remember what had been in that particular package. He couldn’t think of anything he could want more than to give her everything she’d ever longed for.
He woke to the sound of his cellphone ringing. It vibrated against the bedside unit harshly, it’s annoying ring tone grating against his eardrums. “Hello,” he said, his voice gruff from sleep.
“Hey, it’s me, Annie.”
“Hey, Annie,” he muttered, sitting up slowly and rubbing at his eyes and face.
“You’re not even awake?” she asked. “Brett, it’s nearly ten!”
“You’re kidding?” he said, his eyes pinging wide open. He turned to look at the clock on the unit beside him. “No! It can’t be. I was going to go to the office early, so I could get done early and—”
“And?” Annie queried.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter,” Brett said. “What do you want?”
“Remind me never to have a crisis in the morning. You are seriously grumpy when you wake up. Should I warn Kelsey, or would you rather she found out on her own?”
Annie was teasing, but Brett wasn’t in the mood. He’d really been determined to get back and spend Christmas Eve, and as much of Christmas morning with Kelsey as he dared, but now he doubted he’d be able to spend any time with her at all. He’d messed up, and he didn’t need Annie’s meddling to make him feel any worse about it.
“Annie?” he said, his tone conveying a warning.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “I’ll play nice. But, I thought you’d like to know that we found out what happened to the snow globe.”
“You did?”
“We did. Hannah from accounting dropped it. The globe didn’t shatter, though the base has a crack from front to back. She took it and hoped to get it fixed and return it before Kelsey even noticed. But, it turned out she couldn’t get it repaired. Kelsey’s sad, but I think she’s glad to know what happened to it.”
“Why didn’t Hannah say something in the first place?” Brett wondered out loud. Keeping things hidden didn’t make anything any easier. It just made it worse when the truth came out.
“Who knows, but at least we know it wasn’t an actual burglar or someone we know acting with malicious intent,” Annie said. She paused. “Kelsey’s going to be alone tonight.”
Brett held his breath and counted to three. Annie saying it made it real, and he cursed himself even more for being such an idiot as to oversleep. “Aren’t you going over to her place?” he asked, trying to make his voice even.
“I’m going to meet Duncan’s parents. I promised him,” Annie said, though Brett could tell from her voice that she was apprehensive about it.
“Annie MacCain, actually meeting a guy’s folks. Well, that’s a new one,” he said with a short whistle.
“Don’t,” Annie warned him. “I’m this close to chickening out of all of it. I keep wanting to convince him to come to Kelsey’s instead.”
“If it’s too soon, maybe you should,” Brett said. “If you’re that nervous about it maybe it’s a sign you should wait.”
“I’m not nervous. It’s just…” she tailed off.
“It makes it all very serious,” he added for her.
“Yeah, something like that. I’m not sure if I’m ready.”
“Then you have to tell him. He’s a good guy, he’ll understand. He may even be relieved,” Brett added. “Sometimes us fellas, well, we do what we think women expect. He’s probably never been with someone confident like you, who just doesn’t need that kind of reassurance that the relationship is real.”
“Thanks, Brett,” Annie said. “I hope you’re right. I’ll talk to him – because I don’t think I’m ready to meet his parents. I hope he’ll understand that it has nothing to do with how much I like him or that I don’t want to meet them. I just don’t want to do it right now.”
Brett smiled as they hung up. Annie was out of her depth. It was unusual. She was usually so unflappable. She cared about Duncan, that much was more than obvious. Her not wanting to hurt him told Brett that very clearly. But she had to take this at her own pace, as well. Brett hoped he’d given her the reassurance that she needed, because he’d lay money that Duncan wasn’t feeling ready for such a big step, either.
He made his way to the Baptist Hospital and up to the finance department. Heidi was hovering by his desk. “We were so worried about you,” she gushed.
“I overslept,” he admitted. “I’ve been getting in early and leaving just before I collapse at night. I think it caught up with me.”
“I’ll get you some coffee. We all finish at lunchtime, and wondered if you wanted to join us for lunch?”
Brett was pleased that he was no longer in the doghouse and smiled at her warmly. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to make up the hours I missed this morning.”
“Why don’t you come? It’s Christmas, you can’t just work until all hours.”
“Thanks, Heidi, I wish that were true,” he said sadly, thinking of the place he wished he could be tonight, and it wasn’t with the guys from the office here in Miami.
9
The hospital was unusually quiet. As many patients as possible had been discharged to spend Christmas with their families. Usually, Kelsey would have been glad of the respite, but today it just gave her too much time to think about how lonely and miserable her Christmas was going to be this year. Annie was going to Duncan’s parents on Duck Key, Brett was in Mia
mi. Janine from orthopedics had her baby a week ago and was on maternity leave and Ashley from the apartment above hers was in London with her fiancé. It would just be Kelsey and Winston waking up tomorrow morning to a snow-less Christmas morning.
Feeling lonesome, she picked up the phone and dialed her brother’s place in Vermont. Cheery voices greeted her, her sister-in-law, then the kids and finally Gabe spoke to exhort her to leave a message. “If you’re there,” she said, “pick up. I need to speak with you, or Mom.” She paused, praying one of them would hear, but when nobody picked up she dropped the receiver back onto the cradle and sighed heavily.
A flashing light on the board and a shrill buzzer made her jump. She checked the room number and wearily got to her feet to go and investigate. “Hey there, Mrs. Wilson,” she said forcing a smile as she entered. “What do you need?”
The elderly woman looked at her from over her gold wire framed glasses, which she wore far down her nose when she did embroidery. Kelsey moved closer to the bed to see how the current piece was coming along. “I dropped my scissors,” Mrs. Wilson said, apologetically. She’d broken her hip in a fall down her stairs, and she hated to have to ask for help.
Kelsey picked them up and handed them over. “Has the doctor been to see you yet?” she asked, quickly checking the woman’s chart.
“He has,” Mrs. Wilson said. “He says I can go home, but must come back if I have any more pain. My son will be here in a bit to take me.”
“I’m so glad. I know how much you want to be with your family.” Kelsey’s voice cracked as she said the words. She wanted to be with hers, too. “I’ll check to see if your discharge paperwork is ready and then I’ll be back to help get you dressed. We’ll get you a last dose of medication before you go, too.”
“Thank you, dear,” Mrs. Wilson said fondly. “I cannot thank you enough. You’ve been so kind to me while I’ve been here.”
“You’ve been a pleasure,” Kelsey said truthfully. If all her patients were as sweet, every day would be a dream. “In fact, I’ll do what I can to spend an extra few minutes with you. I have time today, so I’ll take you down instead of the nurse’s tech.”
A Snow Globe Christmas (Ornamental Match Maker Book 5) Page 6