CHRISTMAS MORNING DAWNED bright and clear, with a pristine blue sky and a new dusting of snow that made everything look fresh and white but didn’t play havoc with road conditions. Tori had slept at her mom’s, and would stop in at the Sandpiper later. They kept a very light staff on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and they had minimal bookings, too. Still, essential staff were away from their loved ones on Christmas morning, so she’d arranged for them all to have breakfast midmorning. The crew would have breakfast meats and eggs cooked by Neil and his sous chefs, and she’d brought in pastries from a local bakery. She’d even made a huge bowl of fruit salad herself and left it in the massive fridge.
Now, though, at barely eight o’clock, she sat beside her mother’s decorated spruce tree, looking at the arrangement of presents beneath it.
She had a lot to be thankful for. She was healthy, her baby was healthy, she had a job she loved and a mother who doted on her. And yet the holiday felt lusterless and underwhelming. All because she couldn’t get the father of her child off her mind.
“I made you tea,” Shelley said, coming in from the kitchen. They were both dressed in fuzzy new pajamas; getting new ones on Christmas Eve had been a tradition for her when she was a kid, and in the past few years they’d taken to buying them for each other. She handed Tori the cup and sat down on a footstool nearby, cradling her own cup of coffee. “So. Have you opened your stocking?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Let me turn on some Christmas music first.”
With the sound of carols in the background and the lights on the tree turned on, Tori reached for her stocking. Inside was her favorite chocolate, a three-pack of maternity underwear, some soft and fuzzy socks and the usual toiletries—body wash, deodorant, shampoo. There were some treats, too, like a new kind of tea and a little box of mini-facials. “Mom, this was too much.”
“Don’t be silly.” Shelley was opening her own stocking, with her favorite treats and beauty brands, as well.
There were only a few presents under the tree. Two for each of them from each other, and there was one from the staff for Tori and one from the other nurses on Shelley’s unit. Tori oohed over a new maternity outfit in the first box, and then watched as her mom opened her new pressure cooker she’d asked for. Her second gift contained a gorgeous lemon-yellow crocheted blanket.
“Oh, Mom.”
“I haven’t crocheted in years, but I figured this was as good a time as any to get out the old hook and take it up again. Do you like it?”
Tori ran her hand over the soft, fine yarn. “I love it. The baby will love it, too, because Grandma made it.”
“Merry Christmas, sweetie.”
“Open your last one, Mom.”
She handed the gift bag to her mom. Shelley reached inside and took out a small box, then opened the box and withdrew the Christmas ornament. It was a glass ball with white and gold and the word Grandma painted on it with glitter.
“Where in the world did you find this?”
“In a little shop in New York.” She had a similar ornament still tucked away in a drawer in her room. The one she’d bought for Jeremy but had forgotten to give him. She’d grabbed it at the last minute and put it in her luggage, hoping it would make the trip without breaking.
She’d been so excited that day. And that night, she and Jeremy had slept together.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She put on a smile. “Really. We’re both fine.” She put her hand on her tummy. “And hungry.”
They’d picked up the paper from their gifts and were just heading to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door.
“You expecting someone?” Tori called, as she opened the fridge door and got out eggs and ham for omelets.
When there was no answer right away, she straightened and poked her head out of the kitchen. “Who is it?”
Jeremy stepped into the entryway. “It’s me.”
She shouldn’t be so glad to see him. But she was. He was here. In Nova Scotia. In her mother’s hall. On Christmas morning.
“Hi,” she said, belatedly realizing she was dressed in penguin pajamas with slippers on her feet and her hair in a messy ponytail.
“Merry Christmas.”
It was incredibly awkward and emotionally charged. Shelley took a step back and murmured, “I’ll just go start breakfast,” while Tori and Jeremy stared at each other for a long, painful moment.
“You look wonderful,” he said, his voice soft, and she wanted to believe him so badly it hurt.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to ask for your forgiveness.” He stepped forward but only to the edge of the mat; a film of snow was on his shoes. She went to him instead, not necessarily for intimacy but more for privacy. Her mother’s house wasn’t large, and conversations were easily overheard. She laughed a little as Shelley made an inordinate amount of noise with frying pans.
“You look like your mom,” he said gently. “She frowns like you, too. Told me I’d better get it right this time.”
Tori’s cheeks heated. “Mom doesn’t mince words.”
“Neither does her daughter. And I’ve recently discovered that both of you are pretty much right.”
She didn’t want to hope. But it was Christmas. And he looked so handsome in perfectly fitted jeans and his peacoat, his hair slightly mussed and his gray eyes focused on her so intently.
His gaze swept down to her belly and back up. “You’re feeling okay?”
She nodded, her throat tightening. “Yeah, we’re both okay. The baby’s been moving around a lot.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.”
“Tori—” His voice broke off, and then he took a breath and squared his shoulders. “I went to see my mother. And I told her what I should have told her the night of the party. I told her that I love you, and I love this baby, and that I want to do right by both of you. And I owe you such a huge apology, Tori. I never showed my emotions. Not in that house, not with any of my relationships, because every time I did I got punished for it. But you invited me to. You gave me a safe place with no judgment and I used that gift to hurt you. I’m so sorry, Tori. More than you know.”
She stood there dumbly, not knowing what to say or do. It scared her how much she wanted to believe him. She’d had time to think over the past several days, and really look at what had happened. He’d hurt her terribly at the party, while she’d still been stinging from his mother’s cold reception. And she’d felt incredibly out of her depth. And no, he hadn’t told her that he loved her, but he had tried to explain and she hadn’t let him.
Because she, too, was scared. And she’d run.
“You love me?” she asked. “And the baby? Not just so that we won’t be in separate countries or living in separate homes?”
He swallowed. “I loved this baby from the moment I saw that picture on the ultrasound machine. And I think I loved you all along. But Tori, your family is here. Your job is here. I won’t ask you to leave that behind, not if you don’t want to.”
“And I will stay here, and you’ll stay...”
His gray eyes softened. “In New York. We’ll work this out on your terms, Tori. I can’t force you to forgive me, or love me. But you’re going to be a wonderful mother, and I think the best way for me to be a good dad is to make sure you’re happy.”
Her eyes stung as tears sprang into them. “But you said you love me.”
He nodded, and his eyes were bright, too. “I do. Enough to let you go, if that’s what you want.”
She caught her breath, and it sounded almost like a sob, but she wouldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t cry today. “What if that’s not what I want?”
The air between them stilled. “Then come over here and put me out of my misery.”
She took three halting steps and then threw herself into his arms. His tightened around her, holding her close, the baby sandwiched between them. “You feel good,” he whispered in her ear. “I was sure you’d tell me to walk out. Thank you for not doing that.”
She nodded against his coat and sniffed. “It’s partly my fault, too. I was overwhelmed and feeling like someone’s poor cousin, and I wanted you to stand up for me. When you didn’t... I just wanted to go home, where it was familiar. I used your mistake as an excuse, rather than talking it out. And I ran away.”
“You had good reason. But, sweetheart...” His breath was warm against her ear. “I made a mistake. I didn’t stop loving you. I just was too afraid to say it. Loving people has always made me weak, so I told myself I was incapable of it.” He pushed back a little so he could look into her eyes. “Until now.”
And then he kissed her, a wild welcoming that seemed to put everything right that had gone wrong. It wasn’t the kiss of a coward or a pretender; it was the kiss of a man claiming the woman he loved. And when his hand cradled her baby bump, she closed her eyes and let the bit of gratitude that had been missing this morning trickle in.
“I hate to break up this happy reunion, but I have ham and cheese omelets and home fries for anyone who’s hungry. That includes you, Jeremy.”
He looked into Tori’s eyes. “I don’t deserve that kind of welcome,” he whispered.
“Don’t be silly. This is how family works.” She clasped his hand. “We mess up and we forgive each other. I was awfully lonely this morning, Jeremy. Wishing you were here. Wondering if I should call you and what I should say. I’d forgiven you for what happened at the party, but I was still afraid, you see.”
“You were gone about ten minutes before I started missing you,” he murmured, kissing her forehead. “And my real brothers—Cole and Bran—told me I was an idiot for blowing it. It has to be love,” he continued, squeezing her fingers. “Nothing else could ever hurt me this much.”
Considering the pain he’d been through as a boy, that was saying something. And what was more, she believed him. Because the Jeremy at the party wasn’t the real Jeremy. She’d had time to think about that and realize that she’d let one five-minute conversation negate everything else between them. The Jeremy in all the other moments was the real man. And he was something special.
“Let’s have breakfast, then.”
“Okay. And then I want you to get dressed, because I have something to show you.”
“You do?”
“A surprise.”
“You and your surprises,” she said, making a tsk sound. But as they walked to the kitchen, Christmas was suddenly very merry indeed.
While Tori was having a quick shower and getting dressed, Jeremy grabbed a dish towel and started drying dishes for Shelley.
“Mrs. Sharpe?”
She looked up at him, her hands in the dishwater. “You’d better call me Shelley, don’t you think?”
“Maybe another time. Right now... Well, since Tori’s dad isn’t here, I’m going to ask you.”
She reached for the dish towel in his hands and dried hers off, then looked up at him. “Ask me what?”
His stomach quivered. This emotional nakedness was all new to him, and he was terrified he was going to get a lecture once he said what he needed to say. But it was the right thing to do.
“Ask you for permission to marry your daughter.”
Her gaze bored into him, and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. After what had happened, he rather expected he was being measured and coming up short.
“My girl can make up her own mind.”
He nodded. “Yes, she can. But your family is different from mine, and your approval means a lot. So I’m asking anyway.”
Her expression softened. “If Tori says yes, I certainly won’t stand in her way.”
He sagged with relief. “Okay. Phew. Thanks for not giving me the third degree.”
She touched his arm. “Look. Clearly I don’t have to worry about her materially, her or the baby. My biggest concern is for her heart. I saw her face when she realized it was you at the door, and I saw yours, too. There’s far more between you than just a baby. So I’ll leave you two to work out whatever future fits.”
“Even if I take her away?”
She nodded. “Even then.”
“Mrs. Sharpe?”
“Shelley. And yes?”
“I wish I’d had a mom like you.”
To his surprise, she handed him back the dish towel and patted his arm. “Well, now you do.”
She went back to washing dishes as if she hadn’t just turned his world on its end.
When Tori came back to the kitchen, he and Shelley were talking about Sharpe Christmas traditions. He broke off midsentence when Tori appeared in the doorway. She wore a new outfit of navy leggings and a soft gray sweater that molded to her shape and made her look so beautiful and maternal he thought his heart might burst. “Look at you,” he said, putting down the towel.
“It’s new. From Mom, for Christmas.” She turned in a circle. “See, Mom? Fits perfectly.”
“You look lovely.” Shelley let the water out of the sink. “Now go on. Jeremy has a surprise for you. I’ll expect you back for dinner at five.”
“We’ll be back before then,” Jeremy assured her. “You shouldn’t have to cook a whole Christmas dinner yourself.”
“Take your time,” she said with a laugh. “The prep’s done. I’m going to put the bird in the oven and have a nap. Maybe read one of the books I got from the girls at work.”
He held Tori’s coat for her—still the parka that needed replacing—and then took her hand, leading her to his rented car. “Did you stay at the inn?” she asked, waiting as he opened the door for her.
“No, here in Lunenburg. I didn’t want you to know I was in town yet.”
“Oh.”
“Come on. I’ve got something to show you.”
They drove past Liverpool and toward the Sandpiper, and then past it. He looked over at her face as he turned up the lane leading to the house on the beach, the one they’d looked at after their feed of fish and chips. Her eyes widened.
“What are we doing here?”
“You’ll see.”
The gate was open, and they drove through, up the drive to the house. A huge wreath was on the front door, and just like at her mom’s, a light dusting of snow made everything postcard perfect. He parked and got out of the car, patted his pocket, and went around to open her door. She put her hand in his and got out.
“Jeremy?”
“Come on.”
He led her to the bluff overlooking the private stretch of beach. The wind was brisk off the water, but not bitter. The caps were white and the faint sound of the breakers touched his ears. This had been the right choice. No question.
“Tori?”
“Yes?”
“Remember the night we watched Miracle on 34th Street?”
She nodded.
“And there was the scene, at the end of the date, where Bryan proposes and she turns him down?”
Tori’s eyes widened as she turned away from the ocean and stared up at him. “What?”
It was now or never. “You said to me, I don’t know why she’s so mean to Bryan. And I said, because she’s scared. Plus they had to work to get to their happy ending.”
She nodded, just barely, and he reached inside his pocket. “I know you’re scared. I’m scared. But we shouldn’t let that stop us from being happy. Not if we can be scared together. I’m ready to work toward that happy ending if you are.”
And he held out the red ring box, identical to the one in the movie, and opened it.
Tori stared at the ring. It was possibly the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen, nestled in velvet, winking in the winter sunlight. “You’re proposing?”
“I am. I even asked your mom for permission.”
She choked out a laugh, imagining how that conversation must have gone. “Oh, you didn’t.”
“I did. Because while my family is a hot mess, yours isn’t. I thought it would mean a lot to you.”
She sighed. “It does.”
“Tori?”
She couldn’t stop staring at the ring. “Hmm?”
“Will you marry me?”
She looked up at him, all gray stormy eyes and wild hair and sexy vulnerability. It was hard to believe that a chance affair months earlier had led to this moment, but it had, and he was standing before her, asking her to be his wife.
And she knew now, without a doubt, that he’d lied to his mom and he’d been honest every step of the way. The proof was in his smiles, in his tender gestures, in the way he made her laugh. In the way they made love. He wasn’t perfect. And neither was she. But he was hers, and she was his, and it was time she had a little faith.
So she nodded, said yes, and told him to put it on her finger.
When he slid it over her knuckle, she started to cry. It was beautiful, but what it meant was more so. They’d stopped being afraid and had started facing things together.
He kissed her softly, his lips cold from the wind. “So that’s not the only surprise,” he said against her mouth.
“It’s not?”
“Don’t you wonder why I brought you here?”
She looked around. The for-sale sign was gone from the yard. There was a wreath on the door. “I don’t know, but don’t you think the owners will wonder why we’re standing out here on their bluff?”
He reached into his pocket again, and this time he took out a key and placed it in her palm.
She lifted startled eyes to his.
“I doubt it, since I’m the new owner.”
“You... What?”
He grinned at her now, excitement flashing through his smile. “You love it here. I love it here. I don’t necessarily want to relocate, but can you think of a better summer home? You can be close to your mom whenever you want. We can spend summer days building sandcastles with our kids on the beach. We can put a boat in here and sail down the coast. Have bonfires in the back. Marrying me shouldn’t have to mean you leave home behind. Not when we can manage to have you here. And if you want to keep up with your innkeeper roots...” He swept his arm to the other side of the property. “The guesthouse is there. You’re right. You could turn it into a vacation rental with no trouble at all. If you want to.”
She couldn’t believe it. “You bought me...a house? For Christmas?”
He nodded.
She started to laugh. And then she laughed more and more until the sound of it echoed through the winter air.
“What’s so funny?” His brows pulled together.
“Just that when we were looking at houses, you said this one wasn’t large enough to suit. And now it’s yours.”
“I said it wasn’t suited for Bran. Me? Well, I realized that it’s not the house but the love inside it that matters.” He spread his arms wide. “I came from a huge mansion with every advantage, but little love. Honey, let me tell you, this house is plenty big enough, as long as you’re inside it.”
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. She wasn’t sure if fate was a thing, or serendipity, or what, but something had brought him here last summer and turned her world upside down. It was wonderful.
“Let’s go inside,” she suggested.
“You’ve got the key.”
She went up the walk and turned the lock easily. Inside smelled like pine cones and cinnamon. There was no furniture, but in the corner of the living room, by the fireplace, was a huge decorated tree.
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” he said from behind her.
She spun in a circle. “It really is. And now is the perfect time to give you your present.”
She loved the look on his face right now. He’d thought he’d been in charge of all the surprises today, but she had one more.
“But you didn’t even know you were going to see me.”
She reached into her handbag and took out the little gift bag she’d hidden in his apartment. The one that had made it through without getting crushed in her luggage, despite being hastily shoved inside without soft packing to keep it safe. And before this Christmas tree was the perfect moment. She handed it to him and smiled. “Merry Christmas, Jeremy.”
She stood back while he removed the tissue, then reached inside. The little box was the same as her mom’s had been, but what was inside was even more special.
He opened the lid and took out the ornament she’d bought.
It was white, too, but in pink glitter it spelled out “Daddy’s Girl” in swooping cursive.
His gaze shot up to hers. “Daddy’s girl... We’re having a girl?”
She nodded, tears clogging her throat. The look on his face right now... It was almost the same as when she’d first told him about the baby. Terror and surprise but now with an added ingredient: joy.
“I found out a bit by accident, just before we left for New York. I was going to tell you the night I’d decorated your apartment, but then we kind of fought and then we made up and it wasn’t the right moment. But now...now it’s right. We’re having a baby girl, and you can hang that ornament on our very first Christmas tree.”
Instead he came to her and crushed her in a hug. “I am not sure what I ever did to deserve you, but thank you. For rocking my world. For loving me. And for giving me a second chance. I’m not going to let you down, Tori. Or our baby.”
And when he’d hung the ornament on the tree, they stepped back, held hands and moved into a new future as a family.
If you enjoyed this story, look out for the next book in South Shore Billionaires trilogy
Coming soon!
And check out these other great reads from Donna Alward
Summer Escape with the Tycoon
Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate
Best Man for the Wedding Planner
All available now!
Excerpt from Falling Again for Her Island Fling by Ellie Darkins.
Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!
Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards
http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010003