Just Perfect (33 page)

The key to having a perfect life is having the life that’s perfect for you.

—
How to Have
a
Perfect Life

By the time Alec realized he was making an enormous mistake, he was halfway to Colorado. He’d told Christine that when you love someone, you fight to be together. You find a way to make it work.

So what was he doing giving up and walking away?

He thought about turning the Jeep around and heading back to Austin to argue and plead until Christine realized that what they had was a lot more important than the shallow, conditional love she’d been trying all her life to win from her father.

Was that possible, though? Would she ever accept the truth and find a way to let it go?

Maybe not. But was he willing to give up?

Fighting would mean risking everything on the hope that Christine would come around. If she didn’t, they’d probably wind up in divorce court, because he wasn’t sure he could live with only half her love while watching her jump through hoops to impress her father.

Was he willing to take that gamble?

Yes! he decided and felt conviction rush in. He’d return to Silver Mountain and fight his campaign from there, though. He’d do everything in his power to talk Christine into joining him, because that was the only hope he saw of their relationship working.

The chances of success, however, were slim enough to have his stomach churning as he pulled into the Central Village parking lot.

God, he’d missed the mountains, he thought as he climbed out of the Jeep. He stretched his tired back and took a deep breath of cold air, drawing in the scent of snow and pine trees and wood smoke from chimneys. Sunlight sparkled off the fresh blanket of white, making the village look like a picture-perfect postcard.

“Come on, Buddy,” he called as he grabbed his suitcase. “We’re home.”

Buddy bounded from the Jeep and shook hard, then danced with delight at being back in the land of snow.

Glancing at his watch, Alec saw it was midafter-noon. Christine would still be at the hospital. He’d called her during her shift many times, but this was not the kind of conversation for her to have at work. He needed to wait until she was home. Rather than sit alone in his apartment and stare at the clock, he dropped off his things and headed for the pub.

Trying to decide what he’d say when she picked up the phone filled his whole brain. He had no idea how she’d reacted when she returned home and found that note he’d left. In retrospect, he saw that was a cowardly and stupid way to end things. Even if he hadn’t decided to fight for her, he realized that he would have had to call her anyway to apologize and end things properly.

Entering the pub, he found Trent, Steve, and Kreiger sitting around the fire pit enjoying a midaf-ternoon break to warm their feet. They all looked up as he approached.

“Surprise, surprise.” Trent smiled as Alec dropped into the chair beside him. “Look who’s home a day early.”

“You know me.” Alec propped his feet on the hearth as Buddy settled beside his chair. “Never can wait to get back to work.”

“Oh, is that why you left Austin before you planned?” Steve arched a brow.

Alec frowned at the sheriff, puzzled by his tone. Steve sounded almost like he already knew about the breakup with Christine. When the waitress cruised by he ordered a cup of coffee.

Kreiger nodded at him. “Congratulations on your engagement, by the way.”

“Actually…” Alec squirmed. “That may be a bit premature.”

“Oh?” Steve gave him another strangely knowing look. In fact, they all looked a bit smug over something.

Alec frowned at the sheriff. “I, urn, hope you haven’t started looking for my replacement, since I’ve decided to stay. Hopefully with Christine, but things are sort of up in the air right now.”

“Well, that’s good news,” Steve said.

Alec’s confusion grew. “That my engagement might be on the skids?”

“No, that you’re staying in Silver Mountain. I was hoping you’d talk Christine into moving up here.”

“After the stupid thing I did, I’m not sure I can, but I’m going to try.”

“What stupid thing is that?” Steve asked as he pulled out his mobile phone and a scrap of paper. He glanced at the paper, then punched in a number. Whomever he called must have picked up right away because Steve held up his hand, asking that Alec wait to answer his question. “Hey, it’s Steve. I thought you might like to know that Alec is with us at the pub. Yes, he just got in and looks like ten miles of bad road. Great. See you in a minute.”

“Who was that?” Alec asked as Steve disconnected.

The sheriff grinned broadly. “Just someone I thought might want to join us.”

“Great.” Alec rolled his eyes. “That’s exactly what I need right now, to share my pain and suffering with even more people.”

“That’s what friends are for.” Trent smiled.

“What’s going on?” Alec scowled at all three of them.

“Nothing,” Steve insisted. “Speaking of sharing your pain, you were about to tell us what stupid thing you did to piss off Christine.”

He sighed heavily. “Actually, I don’t know if she’s pissed or relieved.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Steve frowned at him.

Alec rubbed his forehead to partially shield his face. “I, um, left a note telling her I wanted to call things off. So now I have to call her and explain that I’ve changed my mind.”

“You broke up by leaving her a note?” Trent laughed.

“I know.” He squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment. “It was a chickenshit thing to do, but I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Man.” Steve let out a low whistle. “No wonder she’s so pissed.”

“I told you, I don’t know if she’s pissed or not about me leaving. We’d had a really big fight the night before, so for all I know, she was glad to come home and find me gone.”

“Well, son,” Kreiger said as he rose, “one way or the other, I’d say you’re about to find out.”

“What?” Alec frowned. Seeing Kreiger glance toward the door, he twisted around and felt his heart jolt.

Christine stood by the hostess stand, the hood of her parka thrown back, fire blazing in her eyes.

“Alec Hunter,” she called in a loud voice. The noise in the bar dimmed as the afternoon crowd turned her way. “How dare you give up on me!”

“I’m no expert on women,” Steve muttered as he stood, “but I’d say that’s pissed.”

“Mega pissed,” Trent added as all three men went to sit at the bar and watch the show.

Alec’s mind blanked of everything but one thought as Christine started toward him: She’d come after him. For the past two days, he’d been terrified she wouldn’t take him back—but she’d come after him!

That first wild leap of relief wavered, though, when he saw her shaking with fury.

“You don’t do that when you love someone,” she informed him at full volume while Alec scrambled to his feet. “You don’t run out on them when they need you most.”

A quick look about confirmed everyone within earshot had turned to watch. “Uuuh… Hi, Chris. Maybe we should go upstairs.”

“Why?” She demanded as she stomped down into the pit, coming to face him toe-to-toe. “Because fighting in public isn’t proper? Because my mother might be horrified at my behavior? Because my father might not approve? Aren’t you the one who said I should stop caring so much what they think—what everyone thinks? That I should be myself, and do what I want? Well, right now, I want to tell you some things and I don’t care who hears, so screw what’s proper!”

“Okay,” he conceded warily.

Christine balled her hands into fists. A part of her was so mad, she wanted to punch him. Another part wanted to weep with joy at seeing him again. “Do you have any idea how I felt when I got home, eager to tell you my news, and found out that you’d run out on me?”

“I’m sorry.” Color darkened his cheeks. “I swear, though, I was trying to do what I thought was best for you.”

“Yes, I read your note,” she railed at him. “You decided on your own that I shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything to be with you. That I deserve to have what I want.”

“Exactly.”

“Except you took away the one thing I want most.” Her vision blurred with tears. “You ripped it away without giving me a choice. What is that if not a sacrifice? An unwilling sacrifice?”

“Christine…” He held his hands palm out, as if afraid she really would hit him. “I—”

“No, you let me finish!” She swiped at her wet cheeks. “You said that if my father’s respect was what mattered I shouldn’t have to sacrifice that to be with you. Well I can’t sacrifice something I never had. And what you took away from me means more than something I’ve been begging for, pathetically, my whole life.”

“What are you saying? I didn’t take anything.”

“You took you!
You
are what makes me happy.
You
are want I want. And
you
are the one thing I refuse to give up.”

“Really?” Pleasure lit his face.

“Yes, dammit! How dare you give up on me!”

“I didn’t—”

“I’m not finished!” she shouted.

“Okay.” A smile flirted with his mouth, as if he found this whole thing funny while she was dying inside. “Continue.”

“I know what I said after the dinner party. I was upset. And I was wrong. After I had a chance to think about it, I realized you were right. We can never be happy living in my parents’ world, and I have no right to ask you to give all this up.” She gestured about the room. “Not when I want it too. I was trying not to see that, but when my father asked me to get a prenuptial agreement, it all became blindingly clear.”

Alec’s smile vanished. “Your father asked you to get a prenuptial agreement?”

“He did.”

“All right. I’ll sign one if you want me to.”

“The hell you will!”

He frowned. “I don’t understand. Did you tell him no?”

Now it was her turn to smile. “Actually, my precise words were ‘Fuck you.’ ”

“Really?” His brows went up.

“Yes, really.”

“Good for you.” Alec laughed. “That’s a good first step.”

“What do you mean, first step?”

He took her fists in his hands. “Remember when you said you’ve never been able to forgive your father for not loving you the way he should?”

“Yes.”

Lifting her fists, he kissed each set of knuckles. “It occurred to me that you need to do that.”

She frowned. “I’m not sure I can.”

“You have to, baby.” He coaxed her fists to open so they were holding hands. “For your sake. Otherwise you’ll never stop hurting over it, and I can’t stand to see you hurting.”

She considered it a moment. “If I promise to work on that, will you forgive me for being a blind idiot for so long?”

“Chris, I would forgive you anything except leaving me.”

“Good, because I don’t like the way we tried to rewrite the end of Peter Pan.”

“Oh?”

“No. I don’t like the idea of Peter and Wendy growing up and living in the real world. What kind of happy ever after is that? I think they should live in Neverland together forever. What do you have to say to that?”

“I’d say ‘Thank God!’ ” He pulled her against him, held her tight. “Welcome home, Wendy.”

The Lost Boys seated at the bar cheered as he spun her about.

Christine threw back her head and laughed. She was home, finally home with a man who was just perfect for her. And that was the best happy-ever-after of all.

Christine woke the following morning to an empty bed in a room filled with sunshine. She had a vague memory of Alec kissing her good-bye before he left for work; then the exhaustion from days of emotional overload had dragged her back under.

Now, though, she grinned as she sat up and stretched her arms over her head. A glance out the window of Alec’s bedroom let her know it was a beautiful day outside. They’d spent all of last evening making love and talking about the future. Today she planned to move her clothes from her family’s condo to his apartment.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t hit the slopes and hopefully bump into Alec.

Dressing quickly, she bundled up against the cold and headed outside. As she walked through the village, she could hardly believe that this wonderful place would now be her home. A lot of loose ends waited for her back in Austin, but Ken Hutchens had been remarkably understanding about her need to take a few days of personal time. The thought of telling her family about her decision made her wince, but that was a problem to deal with later. A big problem that she’d learn to grapple with—slowly— with help from Alec. Her friends, at least, would be happy for her.