The 6'1" Grinch (10 page)

“Maybe she was lying.”

Hollie shook her head. “She showed me her engagement ring. It was huge.”

“I don't know what to say.”

The doorbell ringing prevented her from saying anything. She went to answer it, but Elena raced ahead before Sarah could get there. “I'll get it,” she yelled.

Hollie dropped the lights she was holding when she heard Elena squeal with delight, “Noel!”

What was he doing here? How did he have the nerve to show up to face her? He must know she'd discovered his little secret.

She didn't want to see him. Didn't want him to see her. She rubbed her eyes.

Sarah came to fetch her.

“He wants to see you, Hollie,” she said, knowing Hollie would have heard Elena.

“Tell him no.”

Elena came running in with a small, gaily wrapped box. “Noel brought me a present!”

“Put it under the tree, honey,” Sarah instructed, her eyes pleading with Hollie. “At least talk to him,” she said.

Not wanting to make a scene and ruin the evening, Hollie agreed and went to the door, where Noel was waiting to see her.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“No. I'll come out.” She reached for her coat and slipped into it, going outside to join him.

“Hollie, you've got to let me explain.”

She didn't answer him at first, biting her lower lip to keep from blurting out her hurt. Finally she said, “I don't think you can give me a satisfactory explanation, Noel. Anyway, it's your fiancée you owe the apology to, not me. She's the one with the claim on you, with your ring on her finger. I saw the ring, Noel. You aren't really going to stand there and tell me it's not your engagement ring she had on, are you?”

“It's my ring,” he agreed. “But—”

“Goodbye, Noel.” She turned to go back inside, but he grabbed her arm.

“Wait, Hollie, you have to listen. At least hear me out. You're wrong about—”

Rick, who had apparently been watching from the kitchen window, opened the door. “Is everything all right out here, Hollie?” he asked, concern and protection in his voice.

“Yes, I'm fine,” she told him.

He went back inside, leaving them alone.

“What you don't understand is that Marcy Walker is my ex-fiancée.”

“So you had a little fight. I'm sure you'll patch it up. Meanwhile I have a life to get back to,” Hollie said, looking at his hand on her arm.

He released his hand.

“No, you aren't listening to me, Hollie. I wouldn't have slept with you last night if I was still engaged to Marcy. She broke our engagement on Christmas Eve—last year. It seems that now she thinks she made a mistake and wants us to give it another try.”

“And I think you should,” she lied, shaking off a gust of cold wind that made the pine tree by the mailbox shiver.

“Hollie, you're being unreasonable. Why won't you listen to what I'm trying to tell you?” he pleaded, his hands shoved in his pockets so he wouldn't grab her again.

“I know what I saw, Nod. I came to your hotel to ask you here tonight, to try to convince you that running away wasn't the answer. But when I got to your room I saw that you weren't running away, but toward another woman. A half-dressed woman in
your
hotel room wearing
your
engagement ring. There isn't any spin you can put on that that I will believe. I think you should just go, please.”

“Maybe you're right. I never did have much luck this time of year.” He turned and walked away toward his car.

It took everything Hollie had not to run after him and stop him. But she didn't want just any man. She wanted a man who wouldn't disappoint her. A man she could believe in.

When Hollie went back inside, Sarah was setting the table and Elena was hanging tinsel on the tree as Midnight danced at her feet, trying to snag some.

“What can I do to help?” Hollie asked, forcing a note of brightness into her voice.

“Here, you can mix the salad,” Rick offered. “On second thought, I'll do the salad and you chop the onions to go on top of the chili with the shredded cheese.”

Hollie knew he'd offered her the onion job because there were tears in her eyes and chopping onions would help her hide the reason for them. Sarah had found herself a real catch. She hoped her friend realized it.

The rest of the evening went downhill from there.

Rick and Sarah were so smitten with each other that it was painful for Hollie to be around them. But she was a good friend, and complimented Rick on his cooking, made happy conversation with Elena and tried to assure Sarah with her eyes that she was fine.

She only had one second of doubt about her decision to send Noel away.

It was the moment Elena pestered her about when Noel was coming back and why he'd left without eating.

When Hollie explained that he'd only come by to say goodbye before he left on his vacation, Elena asked permission to open the present he'd left for her.

To defuse the situation, Sarah had agreed that Elena could open her present from Noel.

Hollie almost began crying again when she saw what the gift was. Somewhere he had managed to find a set of stack rings small enough for a child's finger. Elena was so excited she danced around showing everyone her jewels.

Right after that Hollie took her leave.

Setting up milk and cookies for Santa was something Rick and Sarah could share. She didn't belong.

For the first time Hollie felt really alone, even though she'd been alone all her life.

She didn't even bother to turn on her Christmas lights when she got home. Darkness welcomed her and she embraced it.

C
LAUDIA
C
LAUS RUBBED
her temples.

She had made a mess of things. She thought she'd read the manual that came with Santa's laptop, but somewhere along the line she must have done something wrong. After all, Santa used the computer to make children's Christmas dreams come true. All he did was type the wish into the computer and it was a done deal.

Perhaps she shouldn't have interfered in Hollie's life.

She had made Hollie miserable. She'd been so sure that Noel was the right one for her. Had been so sure that they were soul mates.

Both deserved their share of happiness.

Santa was not going to be happy with her when he found out she'd taken the special laptop and made a mess of things. She couldn't go back to the North Pole for Christmas having failed at her first project.

What had gone wrong? She'd spent years reading romance novels and dearly loved a happy ending.

Totally believed in them.

She should have started out smaller, worked on a first crush, an infatuation or something like that. It would have been like using training wheels to learn how to ride a bike.

True love was the big one and she was an amateur. Santa made it all look so easy, making everyone happy.

She'd found out it was easy to make someone cry.

Making them laugh—now that was the hard ticket. But she
would
do it. She still had time to make true love happen before Christmas was over.

She reread the manual.

And realized she'd forgotten to press Save.

She pressed the button to save Hollie's Christmas.

Meanwhile, back at the North Pole…

“T
IME TO GO
, Santa,” Terrell said, checking his watch.

“I suppose.” Santa sighed, taking his red suit from the head elf.

When he was all dressed, down to his polished black boots, Terrell walked with Santa out to the sleigh, where the reindeer were stamping impatiently, excited to begin their long flight. They'd made bets as usual about the length of time it would take them to make the trip.

Prancer never won, but he always came back with the fullest tummy. He had a nose for sniffing out who put a bunch of fresh carrots on their doorstep for the reindeer.

When Santa was settled into his sleigh and the sacks of toys were secured—the magic, bottomless sacks—Terrell took a piece of paper from his pocket. “This is for you, Santa,” he said, handing it over.

“What is it—another name to add to the list of toy deliveries?”

“No, it's where Mrs. Claus is staying.”

“You found her!”

Terrell nodded. “And, sir, there's a picnic basket in the back with a romantic dinner for two. I thought you might want to have a late-night snack with your wife….”

December
25

H
OLLIE WAS DISAPPOINTED
in herself when she woke up Christmas morning with raccoon eyes, having gone to bed and cried herself to sleep.

She shoved the covers off and went to take a shower, having had enough of feeling sorry for herself. It was self-indulgent and she was having none of it. She was taking her holiday back. Putting the Merry back in Christmas. Taking control.

Noel might have discombobulated her and derailed her and swept her off her feet and crashed her over a romantic cliff, but she was a survivor.

It was a day for fresh starts, believing in miracles and loving someone, even if it was only yourself.

After a breakfast of angel cookies and hot chocolate, she went out to get her mail, which she'd forgotten yesterday.

When she reached the mailbox, she found that it contained a surprise. Someone had left her a posy. A completely charming gesture. The arrangement was made up of apricot tulips, veronica, bouvardia and hypericum, and at this time of year had to have cost the earth.

Enchanted, she pulled the arrangement from the mailbox. Holding it where it was tied with a big red bow, she plucked the small white card and read: Merry Christmas.

The flowers hadn't been left that long ago. They weren't wilted from the cold. She looked around to see if a car was parked nearby, but there was none. Whoever had left them was gone.

And then she dropped the card, and when it fluttered to the ground it landed facedown. On the back Noel had scrawled his name.

He'd just been here.

She'd just missed him.

Why couldn't Ms. Claudia have left well enough alone? Why did she have to bring her a six-foot-one-inch grinch to break her heart?

She wouldn't think about him.

She wouldn't.

Once inside, she almost tossed the posy in the trash, but at the last second popped it in a small vase of water, instead.

It dawned on her suddenly what the fresh flowers meant.

Noel hadn't gone to the Caribbean with Marcy. Hadn't gone to the islands at all.

What did that mean?

She pushed the doubts from her mind, turned on the stereo system and put on her favorite CD of carols.

Then she lost herself in work, cleaning out her briefcase. When she had all her paperwork neat and tidy, she realized that her key was missing once again.

But this time it couldn't be Elena who'd lifted it. She must have left it at the house Noel had bought on Mistletoe Lane. It was the last time she remembered having it.

The owners would be back in the morning, so she needed to go to the house and hope she'd left something unlocked so she could retrieve the key.

She wanted to get out of the house anyway. There were too many memories of Noel being in her home. So she got dressed in warmer clothes and headed out.

Christmas was the quietest day of the year.

The streets were deserted as she drove to the house. She thought of Elena and wondered if she'd liked her Barbie in pink. She'd have to call her when she got home and share the excitement of Christmas morning with her over the phone.

Noel's luxury car parked outside the house when she pulled up the drive was a surprise.

She must have left the key with him.

Her first instinct was to leave. But she couldn't leave because she had to retrieve the key. So she got out of her car and walked up to the house.

She tried the door before knocking. It was open.

Should she go in? Maybe Noel was here with Marcy. Maybe he was showing her around the house he'd bought for her. She didn't know if she could handle seeing that.

But she needed the key. So she opened the door and went inside.

“Is anyone here?” she called out.

No answer.

It was very quiet in the house. Maybe he was looking around outside. She twisted her hands together nervously.

She could do this, she promised herself.

Taking a deep breath, she headed for the kitchen, which was the most likely place Noel would have set down the key. However, she didn't make it to the kitchen.

Instead she stopped in her tracks when she saw Noel sitting on the floor in front of the empty fireplace. He was staring at the diamond ring he held in his fingers.

She cleared her throat. “I came for the key,” she said.

He looked up in surprise. “It's on the kitchen counter.” He nodded toward the kitchen, which adjoined the dining room.

“What do you do, buy a woman an engagement ring every Christmas? Is that how you get your kicks?” she couldn't resist accusing.

“No, not this year. I told you this is last year's ring. I told Marcy to keep it, but when it became clear to her that I wasn't interested in having her back, she threw it at me and left.”

“I see.” Could he be telling her the truth? She wanted desperately to believe him. Finding Marcy half-undressed in his room had been a shock, a terrible blow to her self-confidence.

“Did you know I bought this house for you?” he asked, searching her face for some sign that he hadn't been wrong about them.

“What?”

“That was why I wanted to know, wanted to be sure you loved it. I wanted us to be happy in it. As happy as you are in the little house you now have. I wanted us to raise a family in it. You see, Hollie, I realized when I saw your house that I wasn't looking for a house at all.” He hesitated. “I was looking for a home.”

And she was crying again. “Oh, No-oel—”

He got to his feet then and gathered her in his arms.

“Oh, Hollie. I thought I was done taking risks in my personal life. But once I met you I didn't have any choice. It was as if someone picked you out for me personally. Someone who knew who my fantasy soul mate was.”

Hollie let Noel wipe her tears away with the pads of his thumbs as he vowed, “I want you. I need you. I love you, Hollie. Please put your magic in my life. I didn't know how alone I could feel until I thought I was losing you. We belong together, Hollie. Like apple pie and ice cream, like Hootie and the Blowfish, like Christmas and Santa Claus.”

She smiled at the last. “There's never any mistletoe when you need it,” she sniffed.

“Hell, we're on Mistletoe Lane, sweetheart,” Noel said, laying on a kiss that made Ms. Claudia sigh.

Happy endings were the
best.

Meanwhile, back at the North Pole…

“I
'VE MISSED YOU
terribly,” Santa said, caressing Claudia's cheek.

“You mean you weren't too busy to notice I was gone?”

“You're my wife. How could you think I wouldn't miss you?” Santa asked, hugging her.

“Oh, my, is it me, or have you lost weight?” Claudia asked.

“I've been pining away for you.”

“Then you didn't find where I hid the Christmas cookies….” Claudia Claus chuckled. She got up and promised to be right back with a surprise for him.

When she returned she had a big tin of homemade Christmas cookies and a six-pack of micro brewery beer.

“Where did you get than?” Santa asked when she sat back down beside him in front of the fire.

She handed him a cold bottle of “Santa's Suds,” as the label on the long-necked beer bottle said, and took one for herself. “I had the beer made special for you at a small brewery in St. Louis. And the cookies were hidden in the box the treadmill came in. If you had set it up to use, as you promised, you would have found them.”

Santa clinked his glass to Claudia's and toasted with a twinkle in his eye, “To my wife, I promise to set up the treadmill and never to take you for granted again.”

“And to use the treadmill,” Claudia added, as they both took a sip.

“Now I have a present for you,” Santa said, slipping a small package from his pocket.

“What is it?” Claudia cried in delight.

“Open it and find out.”

She unwrapped the package with a speed that rivaled Elena's. “Oh, Santa! It's beautiful.”

“There's going to be a tennis court to go with it. That way we can exercise together.”

“And have a love match,” Claudia said with a sigh.

“Ho, ho, ho.”