This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all, Simon. Kitty’s looking at Aidan like she’s about to turn his world upside down.” Colleen stood with her sidekick at the elevators near the atrium watching as her daughter-in-law welcomed Harper and Ella Rose to the manor.
Aidan and his ex-wife were just back from signing the papers on the sale of their marital home. Harper had yet to buy one of her own. She’d always been the picky sort. One of those mansions on Ocean Drive would be her style.
But for now, they’d be living in Colleen’s old suite of rooms in the tower. The thought of having Aidan’s little one here for the holidays made Colleen’s heart sing. Well, it would have been singing if it were still beating.
Colleen thought it quite a feat that Ella Rose being at the manor was able to cheer her up even for a few moments. A cloud of impending doom had been hanging over her head ever since Kitty had absconded with the book. Jasper wasn’t himself either. He’d been in a right panic from the second he’d returned to his room to discover The Secret Keeper of Harmony Harbor was missing.
After tearing his room and the manor apart, he’d begun interrogating the staff and guests and any outside tradespeople who’d been working at Greystone. But not once had he thought to question the thief. Beside himself as he was, Jasper apparently didn’t notice that Kitty had barely left her room for the entire week. She’d been holed up in her tower room reading each and every page of Colleen’s memoirs.
Colleen knew this because she’d been by Kitty’s side practically the entire time. But no matter how hard Colleen tried, she couldn’t come up with a way to get the book out of Kitty’s possession. Nor did she have a clue what her daughter-in-law meant to do with her newfound knowledge.
Well, she hadn’t until this very moment. It was the sorrowful look on Kitty’s lightly lined face and the comforting way she rubbed her grandson’s arm for no foreseeable reason that gave Colleen’s daughter-in-law’s intentions away.
“Does she not think that the knowledge bedeviled me? That I didn’t weigh the consequences of the truth coming out to all those involved and choose to remain silent for a reason?” Colleen gave her head a frustrated shake before saying to Simon, “Here they come. Find Jasper and see if you can get him to follow you to Kitty’s room. If he does, make a right fuss. Go spastic cat so he’ll go against his moral code and use his master key to invade Kitty’s privacy.”
Meow.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be standing guard, waiting for Kitty to strike.” Because bejaysus, after going on near five decades, she could read her daughter-in-law’s body language and expressions, and everything pointed to her telling Aidan that Josh Winters was the one responsible for his mother and sister’s deaths.
Meow.
“Stop nagging me. That’s all I’ve got so far. If I… What’s the matter with you?” she asked when Simon bumped her leg with his head. Once he had her attention, he padded over to sit at Ella Rose’s feet. Colleen looked up to find the little girl’s baby-blue eyes focused directly upon her.
Simon gave her a smug meow.
Colleen smiled and mouthed, You can see your GG?
Her great-great-granddaughter smiled and nodded with not so much as a hint of fear in her eyes. Unlike Mia and George, Ella Rose had spent a fair amount of time with Colleen, so it stood to reason she wasn’t troubled by the sight of her. Then again, the child had her father’s genes. He’d been the fearless one. Except in matters of the heart. Even more so now after having it broken. “Oh, but you’re the spitting image of your auntie Riley, poppet,” Colleen said, feeling choked up and hopeful at the same time. She had another partner in crime.
Harper looked down at her daughter, following the direction of her gaze. “Darling, what is it? What do you see?”
Colleen touched a finger to her lips and then mouthed, Our secret.
Ella Rose smiled and nodded and then looked up at her mother. “I thought I saw an elf peeking in the window.”
“An elf? You thought you saw an elf? You mean like a leprechaun or a—”
“Not an Irish elf, Mommy, a North Pole elf. One of Santa’s helpers.”
“Do you hear that, Aidan? Our daughter is seeing elves peeking through windows. I agreed to allow Ella Rose to spend an hour with your girlfriend at her bookstore while we were at the lawyer’s office, and look what happens.” Harper grabbed Aidan’s arm and dragged him out of Ella Rose’s hearing. “In an hour, your girlfriend has managed to undermine everything we’ve tried to instill in our child. Ella Rose believes in Santa Claus, Aidan! Santa Claus for godsakes.”
“Just relax. Julia wouldn’t do that. She knows we keep the holiday low-key and Santa-free.”
Harper might not have caught Aidan’s grimace, but Colleen did. No one had celebrated Christmas like Mary Gallagher. Colleen had known it would be only a matter of time before Aidan embraced the holiday like he used to. None of this Santa-free nonsense. He couldn’t help but celebrate the age-old Gallagher holiday traditions when he was in love with Julia Landon, a Christmas elf herself.
Colleen felt a twinge where her heart used to be. Couldn’t Kitty see the love shining in Aidan’s eyes every time he mentioned Julia? Why couldn’t…? Colleen stopped abruptly in the middle of her inner rant as the truth smacked her right between the eyes.
Her daughter-in-law wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt Julia or Aidan or tear the couple apart. Kitty knew how high a price Julia would pay for keeping a secret from the man she loved because she’d kept a secret from her husband and suffered mightily for it. She still did. Colleen had tried to ease the burden Kitty had carried for all these years, but nothing she said ever helped.
“Really, you think someone whose store has more fake snow and glitter than a snow globe and dresses as an elf is going to be able to keep the holidays low-key? Because unless this is just a fling…” Harper’s eyes rounded in surprise. “It’s not just a fling, is it? Oh God, please tell me you are not in love with a woman who believes in Santa Claus!”
Aidan rubbed his jaw and then looked at his hand as though just remembering he was beardless. Colleen was glad of it. He looked more like the great-grandson she knew and loved. “Come on, Julia doesn’t really believe in Santa Claus.”
“You didn’t answer my question, Aidan. I deserve to know and have some say as to who will be spending time with our daughter. If I find someone else, I’d respect your right to have a say too.”
Aidan opened his mouth and then closed it. Turning his head, he appeared to be looking at the twinkling Christmas tree outside the atrium before he admitted, “Yeah, I’m in love with Julia. But you don’t have to worry about Ella Rose spending time with her. She’s incredible with kids. Look how easily Ella Rose went with her today, and she barely knows Julia. We had to practically drag her out of the store.”
“Of course we did, because Julia was playing dress-up with her and plying her with hot chocolate and cupcakes. Plural, as in cupcakes, Aidan.”
“Big deal. It’s more important that Ella Rose is happy, isn’t it? You said so yourself. She has some major adjustments to make. Can’t we just let her enjoy the holidays like every other kid? Celebrate—”
“Oh, you’ve gone and done it now, my boy. I can practically see the steam coming out of Harper’s ears.” Colleen glanced back at Ella Rose and caught the worried expression on the child’s face. Colleen had to put a stop to this before Aidan and Harper exchanged heated words as they were wont to do when they fought. The couple were hot blooded and hot tempered. It’s how Colleen had known they weren’t a good match.
Thankfully, Kitty must have sensed the same thing and called out, “I’m going to take Ella Rose to the kitchen to get her some snacks for the room. Do either of you want anything?”
“Snacks? No. No snacks. She’s already had more than enough treats at Books and Beans,” Harper said, and returned to her daughter’s side with Aidan following behind, rolling his eyes.
Colleen didn’t miss the sad smile Kitty shot her grandson at the mention of Julia’s shop, before she said, “All right then. I have something I need to take care of.” She bent and kissed the top of Ella Rose’s head. “I’m so glad you’re spending the holidays with us. I’ll see you all later.”
“Do you need a ride to the thing at Maggie’s gallery tonight, Grams?” Aidan asked Kitty.
“Thank you, dear, but I won’t be attending. I’m a bit under the weather.”
Colleen prayed that was so and that she’d earned a reprieve. If Jasper found the book and realized what Kitty was up to, maybe he could talk some sense into her.
* * *
Aidan sat on the end of the canopied bed in the tower room beside his daughter, who was educating him and his ex on all things Santa Claus.
“Now, darling, we’ve had this talk before. Santa doesn’t exist.”
“I’m sorry, Mommy, but he does too.”
Harper gave him an I told you so look. “And who told you Santa is real, Ella Rose? Did Julia?” his ex asked in a smoothly persuasive voice, ready to pounce on any evidence that proved Julia had gone against their wishes.
Aidan was trying to figure out a way to come to Julia’s defense if—who was he kidding, when—his daughter confirmed her mother’s belief. The last thing he wanted was to give Harper any reason to stand in the way of his relationship with Julia. It had shocked the hell out of him, terrified him if he was honest, because he’d not only fallen in love with Julia, but he adored the woman. But if Harper made him choose between the woman he loved and his daughter…
Ella Rose shook her head. “No, George did. Uncle Finn, Aunt Olivia, and George are leaving for Kenya in the morning, so she came to Books and Beans to say goodbye to Julia. All the kids love Julia.”
“They sure do, don’t they, pumpkin? Julia’s a special lady,” Aidan said, unable to keep the smug pride from his voice.
“Yes, well, children typically respond well to someone who gives them everything they ask for.”
“How come she didn’t give me another cupcake when I asked?”
“Because Julia respects Mommy and Daddy’s rule of not too many sweets before dinnertime,” Aidan said.
Harper snorted. “Would that be before or after she gave her two?” She patted Ella Rose’s knee. “So, darling, tell me why George was discussing Santa with you.”
“All the kids were. Julia made a special party for George and the storytime kids. It was supposed to be Saturday, but George won’t be here.” Ella Rose’s happy smile fell, and she swung her feet. “They were talking about Santa, and I told them he wasn’t real. Derek got mad at me and pushed me. George told him to stop being a bully. She said it wasn’t my fault my parents brainwashed me against Santa.” She looked up at them. “Why did you do that?”
Harper ignored the question and snapped, “Where was Julia when this was happening?” Aidan wasn’t happy about his daughter being bullied either, but he knew Julia would have intervened had she’d been there.
“She was at the coffee bar getting our snacks. That’s why I got two cupcakes.”
“And did she also take George and Derek to task?”
Ella Rose shook her head and smiled. “No, she told us a story about Millie the Mermaid. I like Millie. The other mermaids didn’t like her because she was different. They made fun of her, too, and it hurt her feelings. So she tried to be the same as everyone else, but she wasn’t happy anymore. Then one day she met a shy fish who wore glasses, and he told Millie she had to find the courage to be different. Every day Millie and the fish worked on finding her courage. And when the big shark came, Millie found her courage and saved the school of fishes.” She made a ta-da motion with her hands.
“That’s a very good story, darling.”
Ella Rose nodded. “Julia’s going to give me my own copy when it gets published. She’s really smart, you know. She writes books. George said she wrote one about you, Daddy. But we can’t read it be—”
Aidan didn’t think this would be a good time for his ex to hear about Julia’s sexy books. “Okay, so who wants to grab a bite to eat before I have to leave?”
Harper frowned at Aidan and then said, “I hope Julia told Derek to apologize to you.”
“Yes, she did. And she said that just because someone doesn’t believe what you do doesn’t make you right and them wrong. We have to respect each other’s differences.”
Harper gave him an apologetic I guess I overreacted look. “I appreciate that Julia doesn’t talk down to you because you’re children. That’s why Mommy told you that Santa isn’t real and neither are the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I respect you too much to lie to you, darling. And now, you see, I’m not the only one. Julia doesn’t believe in—”
“Oh, yes, she does, Mommy,” Ella Rose said, her eyes shining. “Julia believes in Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, and fairies too. She believes in everything magical, and I do too!”
Aidan covered his laugh with a cough.
“Don’t you dare. This is your fault for getting involved with a woman who is delusional. Who in their right mind believes in fairy tales and—”
“It’s okay, Mommy. Julia says not everyone can see the magic.”
“All right, Ella Rose, I think I’ve heard just about enough about Julia for—”
“She says why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary?” Ella Rose jumped off the bed and did a pirouette. “I’m going to be extraordinary just like Julia when I grow up.”
* * *
“I never should have doubted you, my boy,” Colleen said as she moved across Kitty’s suite to where Jasper stood holding The Secret Keeper of Harmony Harbor. “Now you’d best skedaddle before Kitty comes back. She—” Colleen broke off at the sound of a beep.
Jasper muttered a curse that would have singed Colleen’s ears had she not used the word plenty of times herself. The situation called for it. There was no time for him to hide.
Kitty entered the room. Her head snapped up, her gaze shooting to Jasper and the book in his hands. “What are you doing in my…? Oh,” she said as though realizing she couldn’t rightly call Jasper out for invading her privacy when she had done the same.
With a woebegone expression on her face, Kitty walked to the sitting area. Her pretty ruffled white blouse, black leggings, and boots somehow managed to make her look stylish and fragile at the same time.
“You must hate me now that you know what I did,” she murmured as she lowered herself onto a blue-and-white-striped wingback chair.
Jasper took a seat across from her. Setting the book on the coffee table, he tapped the leather-bound cover. “I didn’t read the book in its entirety. Only the parts that referred to Ava and Olivia. But even if I had, I could never hate you, Miss… Kitty.”
“I don’t understand. Why, if you’ve had the book this whole time, wouldn’t you read it all?”
“Because I respect the privacy of others. I wouldn’t want anyone to know my secrets, so why should I know theirs?”
“If you’re trying to shame me, my boy, you’re wasting your breath. You’re not saying anything I haven’t said to myself before. I’ve paid a price and have no doubt, before this is over, I’ll pay some more,” Colleen said, taking the wingback chair nearest Kitty.
“But as I’ve learned,” he continued, “sometimes knowing what someone is hiding is the only way to help them.”
Colleen smiled. So maybe he wasn’t trying to shame her after all.
“I’m afraid I’m not so honorable as you, Jasper. I know your secret now.”
He nodded. “I thought as much.”
“I don’t understand why you never came forward. You are the true heir of Greystone Manor. Your father was the firstborn, not Ronan’s. I can’t believe how you and your mother were made to suffer because Niall Gallagher refused to recognize you as his child. Just because your mother was his mistress didn’t…” Kitty trailed off, turning her head to look at the winter seascape beyond the French doors. “I have no right to judge. I’m as bad as your father.”
“Surely not,” Jasper said, the hint of a tender smile touching his lips.
“You don’t know what I did.”
“No, I don’t. As I told you, I only read a few pages of the book. But perhaps you’d feel better if you told me. And it only seems fair. You know all of my secrets after all.”
“I… You’re right, I do.” She looked down at her hands. “I had no idea you had feelings for me, Jasper. I feel like I should—”
“Please, don’t say anything. I never meant for you to know. I apologize if it’s caused you any undue distress.”
“But what if I’m flattered? What if I’m happy to know that you do?”
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You forget I’ve seen your list of Harmony Harbor’s most eligible bachelors. I wasn’t on it.”
She gave him an impish grin. “Yes, you were. Only you wouldn’t know it. Since there’s nothing that gets past you, I call you Christopher, as in Christopher Plummer. The actor?” His brow furrowed, and she lifted a shoulder. “You remind me of him.”
“Oh, I… I’m not sure what to say to that,” he said, looking disconcerted.
“You don’t have to say anything. And you must know, I won’t say anything about what really happened to Antonio DiRossi. Rosa will never hear it from me. No one will, Jasper. I’ll take your secret to my grave.”
“These things have a way of coming out. But perhaps I’d feel more confident if you were to share your secret with me, Kitty.”
Colleen snorted. She knew Jasper better than anyone. There was only one reason he wanted Kitty to share her secret. He could see that it weighed heavy on her, and he wanted to help. She doubted Kitty would share her secret with him. If Colleen hadn’t overheard her at the hospital, Kitty would have taken it to her grave.
To her surprise, Kitty told him of the letter that had arrived for Ronan only days after they had wed. It was from a woman, Bridgette Green. Ronan had briefly dated the woman while on holiday in Ireland. He hadn’t cheated on Kitty in the true sense of the word. After Colleen had accidently let it slip that Ronan had once been in love with Rosa, Kitty had temporarily broken their engagement a few months before their wedding. So, as insecure as she was at that time, when Kitty learned this Bridgette Green was pregnant with Ronan’s child, she burned the letter instead of sharing it with her husband.
“At the beginning of every year, I vowed I’d tell Ronan, and then another year passed and then another. I thought if I told him that night, as he lay dying in the hospital, that it would give him a reason to live. But he was already gone. Colleen heard me though.” Her gaze moved over Jasper’s face. “You hate me now, don’t you?”
“No, as I told you before, I could never hate you. I can see this still weighs heavily on you. With your permission, I’d like to try and track down Ronan’s son.”
“Would you?”
“I would do anything for you, Kitty. Surely you know that by now.”
Her cheeks flushed becomingly. “Yes, I think deep down I’ve always known.” She smiled and then grew pensive.
“What is it?”
“I’ve discovered the identity of the drunk driver that killed Mary, Riley, and indirectly Ronan. I’m torn, Jasper. Torn between sharing the information with my family and protecting two women who were as dear to Mother Gallagher as they are to me. My grandson and son have only now found their way to happiness, and if I tell—”
Jasper nodded and briefly closed his eyes. “Josh Winters.” He frowned. “But what does he have to do with Maggie?”
“She’s his biological mother. And Julia has known since Josh died that he was behind the wheel that night. In her defense, Mother Gallagher asked her to keep it to herself. To protect Maggie, I think. And as I understand it, Josh asked that Julia keep the truth from us until Hazel died.”
“Oh, the webs we weave,” Jasper murmured, and then lifted his gaze to Kitty. “We’ve both lived with our own secrets for far too long. The rest of the family needs to know about Josh. It may take time, but in the end, I believe Master Aidan will forgive Miss Julia, and Colin will find his way back to Maggie.”
They’d made up their minds. There was nothing Colleen could do now. Nothing to do but pray.