The Holiday Bride (4 page)

“Don’t worry, dear. It will all come back, eventually.”

“The trip to the doctor’s sure to help,” Grant said.

“Doctor?” Lucy wondered.

William laid another slice of turkey on a platter. “I forgot
to mention. I’m taking you to see Dr. Mass tomorrow.”

Emma smiled reassuringly. “He’s been our family physician
for years.”

Lucy felt her face warm. They were all being so kind to her.
Had to be the Christmas spirit. “You don’t know what it means to me, how nice
you’ve been. I mean, I could have wound up anywhere, really. There are bound to
be terrible places out there.”

“Yes, right,” Grant said.

“Bound to be,” Emma added.

Dinner passed with Emma and Grant asking the grandkids what
they’d been up to, and how their friends were in school. Everyone seemed to get
on reasonably well, even William with his parents, despite their
eccentricities. Serving plates circled round and round until Lucy was sure
she’d eaten enough to hibernate for winter.

“More stuffing, dear?” Emma asked, hovering a brimming ladle
over her dinner plate.

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” Lucy said. “I’m stuffed!”

“Tell us about the elves,” Carmella said sweetly.

Justin grinned in her direction. “Yes, do tell us about
those elves. Are they ordering from
Victoria’s
Secret
now?”

William and Grant turned on him at once, parroting together,
“What would you know about
Victoria’s
Secret
?”

Carmella looked around the table. “Who’s Victoria and what’s
her secret?”

Emma gave Grant a hard elbow and spoke in low tones. “What
would
you
know about
Victoria’s Secret
?”

Grant coughed loudly, as William cleared his throat.

“I’m sure Bridget has better things to talk about. Don’t
you, Bridget?”

He met her gaze, and Lucy’s heart stilled. With him sitting
there, and her sitting here, at opposite ends of the table, she could almost
imagine them as husband and wife. And what a marvelous husband he’d make, too.
He was accomplished, and settled, she thought, glancing around at the
comfortable place. Not rich, but well off enough, and boy did he ever seem to
love his family. From the happy feel in the room, the emotion was mutual. Not
only that, he was easy on the eyes. Way too easy. Lucy tucked the hand wearing
the engagement ring in her lap, wondering if the guy she planned to marry was
half as grand. A sultry rendition of Billy Holiday singing “
All of Me”
played in the background.
Take my lips, I want to lose them... take my
arms, I’ll never use them... How can I go on without you...?

William stared at her expectantly, and Lucy realized he was
waiting for her to say something.

“This stuffing
is
delicious,”
she said, suddenly lifting the serving bowl. “I think I
will
have some more.”

“Do you cook much, dear?” Emma asked.

Lucy realized she was making a glutton of herself, nervously
heaping mound upon mound on her plate. She stopped and looked up. “Um
...
cook?” Now, that was something she
was used to
being around. But, doing?
Hmm. “Honestly, I can’t exactly tell you. But I do know this, I’m totally used
to being around food.”

William grinned at her, oddly charmed by this. “Anything in
particular, or everything in general?”

Lucy thought hard, willing even the tiniest tidbit to come
to mind. Her eyes fell on a candy dish of green-and-red-wrapped holiday
chocolates sitting on the sideboard. “Chocolate,” she said brightly, knowing
that was right. “Anything—and everything—chocolate.”

Carmella appeared inordinately pleased. “No fooling? Daddy
loves chocolate, too.”

Justin lowered his eyebrows. “Yeah. He does the most
disgusting thing with—”

“Justin, knock it off,” William said, plainly embarrassed.

“Yes well, enough of that,” Emma said. “Just let me clear
the plates and I’ll serve dessert.”

“Bodacious bourbon pecan?” William asked.

Emma nodded.

“Make mine a double!” Justin said.

Lucy felt awkward not offering to help. “Here, let me take
some of these,” she said standing. At once, her knees buckled, sending her back
into her chair.

“I think you’d best stay off your feet a bit longer,”
William said with a kind look. “At least until your legs feel steady.”

Lucy met his eyes and her cheeks caught fire. He was so kind
and caring. With that sensible banker haircut, she might never have known it
just passing him on the street. But in here, all cozied up with his family, she
saw William for who he really was. He was the sort of man who looked after
people. It was a feeling that Lucy hadn’t known in a long while. That much, she
believed was true. Even if she couldn’t trust in anything else.
  

By the time coffee and dessert were over, Lucy had gathered
her reserves and was feeling much better. She’d insisted William let her dry
the dishes, and after a bit of lighthearted banter, he’d given in.

“You don’t stay put very well, do you?” he asked, as she
finished up.

“Please, William. I want to... need to do something to
help.” She set a clean pot on the counter and capped it with its lid. “The
dinner was delicious, thank you.”

He studied her with earnest brown eyes. “And I want to thank
you, too. Thank you for playing along with Carmella. It would break her heart
if she knew the truth.”

“I’d sure like to know it. I’m hoping the doctor can help
tomorrow.”

He leaned back against the counter, studying her. “You know,
I don’t believe in that Santa bit, of course, but I’d sure like to know how you
got in my house.”

“Yeah, me too. You say everything was locked up tight?”

“As a drum.”

“Maybe there’s a rusty basement lock, or unsecured window?”

“What kind of father do you think I am? I double-check this
place every night. It’s just like Fort Knox.”

Lucy drew a breath. “Well, I certainly didn’t drop down the
chimney.”

He met her eyes and his gaze lingered. “At least we’ve
agreed on that.”

The seconds ticked by as Lucy watched him watch her, her
heart pounding. She didn’t know this man from Adam, but still, when she was
with him, she had an uncanny sensation of being home.

“Still nothing doing on the memory?” he asked.

“Except for some weird little details, like knowing I love
chocolate, I just draw a blank.” She hung her head. “I feel really terrible.
I’ve ruined everyone’s Christmas.”

William reached over and gently raised her chin in his hand.
“Don’t you go worrying about that. You haven’t ruined our Christmas at all. But
someone out there is sure to be having a rotten night.” He glanced down at her
engagement ring, then once more met her eyes. “Someone’s bound to be looking
for you.”

A few miles away, Mitch checked the wall clock in his real
estate office, cursing out loud. It was snowing even harder than yesterday. He hadn’t
even made it home last night, despite his four-wheel drive. He’d had to sleep
at the office. Mitch stared through the plate-glass window at the pounding
snow, knowing his chances of getting out of here now were slim to none. But
heck, he had lots to take care of anyway. He could get a jump on those closing
papers, and snooze in the break room when he needed to. Yeah, there was a plan,
he thought, taking another swing of eggnog from the quart carton on his desk.

He scooped up his cell and dialed Lucy’s number.

Hi, it’s me. Leave a
message at the beep.
 

“Hey, sweetheart. Merry Christmas. It’s me, Mitch. Say, I
really hate to do this to you again. But Luce, if only you knew the size of
this deal. I’m serious. This one is the grand tostado. I mean,
loaded.
We’ll have everything we always
wanted, just you wait and see. The two-car garage, a whole closet full of
clothes just your size. Luce, you’ll even be able to cut back on your hours at
the diner. Maybe quit your job completely.

“The only thing is, hon, I’ve got to get this contract faxed
by midnight. Now, I know this is a holiday and all, and I feel so totally
terrible about you spending it alone. But, I swear, I’ll make the whole thing
up to you. Next year will be completely different.”

Out on the porch, William said good night to his parents.
He’d tossed on his coat so he could speak to them in confidence, but the down
parka was a poor barrier against the biting wind. “Mom, Dad,” he said, as Grant
wrapped himself in his big, brown scarf, “I want to thank you both for
everything. The gifts were really terrific.”

“Yeah, especially the pretty blond one,” Grant said.

Emma tugged at her gloves, adjusting their fit. “What are
you going to do with her?”

“Like I said, I’m planning on taking her to the doctor
tomorrow. Maybe he can help us figure out why she can’t remember.”

“Or
what
she can’t
remember,” Emma said. “I want you to be careful, William. Now, I know she seems
nice... But sometimes the quiet ones turn out to be the most dangerous.”

“Your mother’s right, son,” Grant said. “You really don’t
know anything about this girl. Are you sure you want her spending the night?
This isn’t college, you know.”

“I appreciate your concern, both of yours. Really I do. But
I can take care of myself.”

His mother met his eyes. “It’s the children we’re worried
about. Little Carmella really has her hopes up. We had no idea.”

“I know, Mom,” William said sincerely. “I had no clue,
either.”

A fire blazed in the hearth as Carmella snuggled up against
Lucy, who read to her on the sofa.
“And
laying his finger aside of his nose and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose…”
Carmella’s
eyes drooped and she cooed happily, gently fading into slumber as Lucy uttered
the final lines,
“Happy Christmas to all,
and to all a good night.”
Lucy quietly closed the book, yawning herself. It
had been such an eventful day, and who knew what tomorrow would bring? At the
moment, she was cozy and warm, and way overstuffed with stuffing.

Justin looked up from a wing chair beside the Christmas
tree, where he’d been engrossed in a handheld game. “You act like you actually
know something about it,” he said bitterly.

Lucy glanced down at the book, then met his eyes. “Well, I
do. I mean, this story, of course. It was always one of my favorites to read.”
She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she did.
What is it about this place?
 
This room?
“Right here, by this fire.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Justin,” she asked, her eyelids growing heavy. “Just what
is it that you don’t like about me?”

“The same thing I don’t like about all girls. You’re weird.
In fact, you’re the weirdest. If you think I buy that
Santa dropped me down the chimney
business...”

 
She wanted to
stay awake, really she did. She needed to talk to William about tomorrow, and
sleeping arrangements for tonight. But the firelight was so soothing. She and
Carmella together felt so right. It took her back to an earlier time, a time
when the world was safe and family meant home. Even Justin’s snarking couldn’t
combat the lull of the Sandman, beckoning her to drift away. A song came back,
a lullaby, she thought... her mother’s voice, rich and warm. And then, she felt
her body sag into the sofa, all tension letting go.

When William reentered the house, he encountered an idyllic
scene. Bridget and Carmella dozed together on the sofa,
The Night Before Christmas,
by Clement C. Moore, clutched in Bridget’s
hand. It was an old edition, one his parents had read to him as a child many
years before.

He quietly hung his coat on the rack, not wishing to disturb
them. William swallowed hard, resisting the warmth in his eyes. He couldn’t
recall having seen Carmella so contented in a long, long time. At least that
made one of them, William thought, noting Justin’s glum appearance in the wing
chair nearby. He played his new video game with intensity, yet his expression
was sullen.

“Time for bed, Justin,” William said softly.

“But, Dad...” he protested

“Up!” William commanded, thinking it had been a full day for
all of them.

Justin rose begrudgingly, casting a wary eye on Bridget.
“Who is she really?”

“I don’t know, son. But I’m sure as heck going to try to
find out.”

“Yeah, well, you’d better. Before she does any more damage
around here.”

“Damage?”

“Just look at them, Dad. How do you think Carmella’s going
to get over this? She’s already lost one mom.”

“Yes, son. And so have you.”

“Here’s the different between me and the fuzz brain. I don’t
want another mom any time soon. The one we had before was good enough to last
me.”

He stormily trudged upstairs, leaving William confounded.
Justin was at such a hard age, William didn’t know how to handle him half the
time. And lately, he’d been more and more out of sorts. Having Bridget intrude
on his holiday apparently hadn’t sat well with him, either. But William needed
to work on the boy. It was good for him to understand that charity came first,
at the holidays especially. It wasn’t like Bridget had chosen to come here. She
was just as confused about her circumstances as the rest of them were.

Well, best to get everyone settled for the night so they
could move on with solving things tomorrow. William leaned forward to scoop the
sleeping Carmella into his arms, then suddenly he pulled back. He studied the
portrait before him, a deep melancholy taking hold. They truly were a picture
together, Carmella in her springy curls and Bridget with her arm wrapped
protectively around the little girl. William stood there for a long while,
firelight lapping at his face. He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to
stem the tide of his emotions. But they welled within him, anyway. And, in that
moment, William understood that Carmella hadn’t been the only one hoping for
someone else in this house. In his heart, he’d wanted someone, too.