Livi checked a number of wedding venues to see if she could find something that might feel a little more special than the community center. She did find a place in Icicle Falls. Primrose Haus was a charming old Victorian with beautiful grounds. It was a little pricey but it looked worth every penny.
Except she didn’t have that many pennies to spend.
“Don’t worry about the cost,” her father said. “If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do. I have some money put by.”
“I don’t want to eat up your savings,” she protested.
“I only have one daughter,” he replied. “I want this to be special for you, Snowflake.”
“Hey, it’s your day. Do what you want,” Morris said when she showed him the pictures online.
“You don’t sound all that enthused,” she said.
He shrugged. “I don’t get why the reception has to be so fancy.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting something fancy,” she argued.
“I guess.”
“Honestly, Morris. You could show a little more enthusiasm.”
“I am enthusiastic. About marrying you. The rest is just trimmings. Why does everything have to be such a big deal with you, Liv?”
“Everything? This is our wedding, Morris. It should be a big deal.”
“Okay, I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant why do we have to pretend we’re rich? Who do we need to impress?”
“You think I’m trying to impress people?” Livi asked in a small voice. He made her sound so shallow when all she wanted was to have a pretty storybook wedding. Surely it wasn’t wrong to want one special moment in her life.
“Are you? I’m trying to be practical here. The community center is easy for everyone to get to and plenty big.”
That it was. A drafty old lodge that had been around for generations. Nothing special.
“But do what you want,” Morris finished. Be shallow and superficial.
Livi decided to be practical. Streamers and balloons and some flowers and the community center could be spruced up.
It also wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. In fact, Elsa Olsen, who ran the Pine River Park Department, had offered it to her for free. “Anything for you, Livi, you know that,” she said.
“It was the smartest decision,” she said the next day when she and Kate sat at their usual table in Tillie’s Teapot.
“You should have the reception where you really want it,” Kate argued. “Don’t just settle.”
“I’m not settling. I’m being practical.”
“Are you sure you’re not settling...for everything?”
Livi didn’t bother to pretend she didn’t know what her friend was talking about. They’d had this conversation more than once since she got engaged.
“I’m happy, Kate. I really am.” In the end, it had turned out that Morris was the man for her.
“Where are you going on your honeymoon?”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
“You can bet it won’t be Paris.”
No, it wouldn’t. She’d be lucky if she could talk Morris out of his idea to go camping. “I don’t need to go to Paris. I don’t need to go anywhere. I’m happy right here in Pine River.”
“I know. I’d just like to see you happier.”
This was getting old. “I couldn’t get any happier, so you can stop worrying,” Livi said firmly, closing the subject.
It was true. She was finally getting married and her biological clock could stop ticking like a time bomb. She was going to have a great life helping people and raising a family. She and Morris were already looking at houses and they had their eye on a cute little Craftsman with a double car garage and a small backyard with an apple tree in it. They’d be married and moved in in time to harvest the apples. And maybe by the next fall they’d have a baby. They were going to start working on having a family right away. The man, the house, the kid—her future was picture-perfect.
And her life was great. So there.
March blew in, along with Livi’s birthday. Morris was taking her out for dinner, this time just the two of them.
“Where’s he taking you?” Bettina asked as they put their computers to sleep for the day. “Oh, wait. Don’t tell me. Family Tree.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Family Tree,” Livi was quick to say, although she’d love to have gone somewhere a little more special. But oh well. This would be special because it would always be their place, the place where they got engaged.
Livi went home and showered and lotioned and perfumed up and put on a simple black dress, which she accented with a green scarf and black stilettos. She checked out her reflection when she was done. Yes, she looked good. Happy. Fulfilled.
The doorbell rang and she slipped off the shoes and hurried downstairs to let Morris in. She was hopping into a shoe when she opened the door and saw Guy Hightower standing on her front porch.
“Don’t shut the door,” he said, holding out a hand to keep it open.
As if she could. She couldn’t move. She stared at him, one shoe on, one in her hand, sure he was a hallucination.
He waved a hand in front of her face. “Livi?”
That snapped her out of it. “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming back here,” she said as she leaned against the doorway and slipped on her other shoe.
“It took all the nerve I had. Nice shoes, by the way. They show off your legs.”
“Never mind my shoes. Where have you been? You’re no longer at Hightower.”
“You were looking for me?”
“For a donation,” she snapped. He frowned and she continued, “I figured under the circumstances perhaps Hightower would like to reconsider its position on charitable donations to our organization.” There. That sounded better. Nice and professional.
“That’s the only reason?”
“What other reason should I have?”
“Missing me? Wanting to talk things out?”
“There was nothing to talk out,” she said stiffly.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Then I guess it didn’t matter that you couldn’t find me at Hightower. Want to know why I left?”
“Not particularly,” she lied. “Why did you leave?”
“Because I realized it wasn’t a fit for me anymore.”
“What are you doing now then?” she asked, the anger sliding out of her.
“Trying to figure out where I go from here. I’ve got enough investments to live on for a while. I can take my time sorting things out.”
Sorting things out. What did that mean? And why was she so interested? She shouldn’t be interested. She’d moved on. She was getting married.
“What are you sorting out?” she asked.
“Who I am, for starters. Who I want to be. I’m thinking of turning my hand to fund-raising. God knows I’ve got the connections.”
“Fund-raising,” she repeated, trying to frame the picture of this new Guy Hightower in her mind. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to think even. All she knew was that her heart was racing.
“You look good, Livi,” he said softly.
The race got swifter. He looked good, too. He was wearing an expensive overcoat over equally expensive slacks. She looked behind him for his expensive car.
“I don’t have it anymore,” he said, reading her mind.
“What happened to it?”
“I sold it.”
“You sold it?”
He nodded to the humble-looking model sitting out by the parking strip. “That’s my new ride. Gets good gas mileage.”
“Not very impressive.”
“I’m not out to impress. Anyway, I thought the money I got for it could be put to good use somewhere.” He held out a manila envelope. “I have something for you. Take it,” he urged when she stood there staring at it.
She took it and switched to staring at him.
“Open it.”
She did and saw what looked like several checks inside.
“One’s from my mom,” he said. “I meant to mail it but that seemed cowardly. If a man’s going to eat humble pie, he should have a witness. I hope this will help Christmas from the Heart.”
She pulled out a check and gasped. Then she stared at him again.
“Just trying my hand at this to see how good I am.”
She pulled out another check. He was good. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I need to. I got pretty pissed when you lit into me.”
“I shouldn’t have.” He’d been a man trying to make up for a bad decision. She hadn’t let him, not once she learned who he was.
She’d been so focused on noble deeds that she’d failed to see how ignoble her grudge against him had been. Remorse set in. Why couldn’t she have handled things differently? Why couldn’t they?
“I could have allocated something for Christmas from the Heart. I went with the more high-profile nonprofits. It was all about Hightower’s image. I’ve learned a lot about image since then, Livi.”
“I wish we’d had this conversation earlier.” If they had, what would her life look like now? It didn’t matter. It was too late.
“I guess I had some lessons to learn. And, honestly, I couldn’t come back without proof that I’m on a different path. I hope this proves it.”
“Everything you did while you were here proved it.” She’d been too humiliated to admit that.
“I’m trying to start a new life, Livi. I’m hoping maybe you’d be open to being part of it.”
Too late. She was finding it difficult to get the words out.
“Even Scrooge got a second chance.”
She held up her left hand. There was the ring and that said it all.
His smile fell. “Bentley?”
“Yes.” Why did she want to cry when her life was so good?
“When?”
“This fall.” It was hard to get her voice above a whisper.
“I guess what we’d started was...”
“A fantasy,” she supplied.
And here came reality. Morris parked his truck and jumped out. Guy turned, and at the sight of him Morris’s easy smile hardened into tightly pressed lips.
“I guess I’m too late,” Guy said. “Are you happy?”
Livi felt tears stinging her eyes. She pressed a hand to her lips. Of course she was happy. She nodded. Why had she been so quick to rush on with her life?
Morris had reached the porch. “What are you doing here?” he demanded, glaring at Guy.
“Dropping off some donations for Christmas from the Heart. I hear congratulations are in order.” Guy held out his hand.
Morris looked at him suspiciously but took it, and they shook.
“I’m glad for you, Livi. I didn’t deserve you.”
“Damn right you didn’t,” growled Morris.
“But I want you to know I’m working hard to become the kind of man you thought I was when you first met me. Wish I’d told you sooner.”
Sooner was in the rearview mirror. She was moving on and Guy Hightower wasn’t a central figure in that move.
Morris stepped to her side and put an arm around her. “How long you in town for?”
Guy looked at Livi. What was she seeing in his eyes? Longing? Disappointment? Maybe both. It just wasn’t meant to be for them.
“Not long, I guess,” he said.
“Where are you staying?” she asked, and felt Morris stiffen.
Guy gave a half smile. “The River’s Bend. They had a vacancy. Can you believe it?”
Morris grunted. Livi stayed silent. There was nothing to say to that now. Nothing to say at all.
Guy backed down the steps. “Anyway, I hope those contributions help.”
“Thank you,” she said, and watched him walk away.
“Let’s go,” Morris said.
He was quiet all the way to the restaurant, and still quiet after he’d slid in next to her in their corner booth.
“Can I start you two lovebirds with drinks?” asked Coral.
Morris frowned at the little vase with the green carnation sitting on the table, announcing the fast approach of St. Patrick’s Day. “Champagne.”
Neither of them looked like two happy people out for a night of celebration. Coral raised her eyebrows at Livi. What’s going on?
Livi shook her head.
“You didn’t have to order champagne,” Livi said as Coral left them.
“It’s your birthday. I wanted it to be special,” Morris said. He let out a sigh that made his big chest heave.
“Morris,” she began, anxious to reassure him. To reassure herself.
“This isn’t gonna work, is it?”
“Of course it is,” she said. It was halfhearted. She heard it in her voice.
So did he. He shook his head. “We were the same back in high school, but we’re not now. We haven’t been for years, have we?”
“Morris, don’t.”
He went on. “I don’t want to travel and I could care less about TV shows with people looking for a house on a beach somewhere on the other side of the world. I like it right here. I like my job and I like going out for pizza or watching a game or a movie on TV. That’s enough for me. Is it for you?”
Of course it is. Say it. Livi sat mutely, staring at him.
“Give me your hand.”
She held out her right hand. His somber expression was rattling her, almost as much as Guy’s sudden appearance.
“No, your other hand.”
No, this wasn’t right. She couldn’t hurt Morris this way. “Morris, I’m happy in Pine River.”
“You could be happier.” He reached over and took her left hand. She watched with both horror and relief as he wiggled the ring off her finger.
“Oh, Morris,” she said sadly as he dropped it on the tablecloth.
“If we’d really been right for each other we’d have been married years ago. I love you, Liv, and I want you to be happy.”
But she didn’t feel happy. She felt awful. “Morris,” she pleaded as he slid out of the booth.
He didn’t say anything and the next thing she knew she was sitting alone, surrounded by couples.
Coral arrived with the champagne. “Where’s Morris?”
“Gone.”
There was no sense staying in Pine River. That story was finished. Guy went back to the motel for his things. He wouldn’t have Livi Berg, but he’d have the gift she gave him, the desire to be a better man.
It didn’t take long to pay his bill and grab his overnight bag. He was walking to his car when Morris Bentley pulled into the parking lot in his truck.
He parked it next to Guy’s car and got out. “Going somewhere, Hightower?”
“Yeah. I’m leaving. What are you doing here?”
“Making sure you don’t leave. She’s at the restaurant.”
Guy stared at him, not sure he was understanding.
“It’s you she wants.”
What man in his right mind would give up Olivia Berg?
Bentley scowled. “Go on. What are you waiting for?”
Nothing! Guy opened his car, threw in his overnight bag.
“Hightower.”
He stopped, halfway in.
“If you ever make her cry I’ll beat the shit out of you.”
“Deal,” Guy said. He got in, shut the door and peeled out.
Livi poured herself another glass of champagne. The first one had been for shock treatment. The second glass was for... She wasn’t sure. Consolation. Not every woman could manage to lose two men in one night.
Morris she hadn’t really lost. He’d always be her friend. But Guy, the new and improved Guy—he’d been on her porch and then he’d been gone. She shouldn’t have let him go. He really was the man for her, the right man. She thought back to the simple pleasures they’d enjoyed—playing cards, walking in the snow, watching a movie. None of those things were glamorous, certainly not on a par with traveling the world. But that hadn’t mattered. Morris had it right all along. It didn’t matter where you were or where you went. It only mattered who you were with. And she knew who she needed to be with.
She had to find him, but now she was stranded at the restaurant without a car. She fumbled in her purse for her cell phone. She’d call her dad, get him to run her over to the motel.
What if Guy had decided to leave? Panicked, she dug faster. Where was her phone?
“Looking for something?” asked a deep voice.
She looked up and there was Guy. She could feel happiness rising in her, filling her chest, tears prickling her eyes. “Only you.”