Chloe sat in the back of Grayson’s black Yukon with Ty. They’d just come from dropping off Estelle at the Denver airport. Chloe couldn’t have asked for a better send-off for her friend and manager. Although Estelle did the whole stiff-upper-lip thing, Chloe could tell that having Cat and Grayson there meant the world to her. Her plan to bring Estelle and Cat closer, and remind her sister and Grayson how much they loved each other, had worked brilliantly. At least their improved relationships made everything Chloe had gone through at the fashion show worthwhile.
Ty bumped her shoulder with his. “I’m going to miss the old girl. It’s just you and me now, Diva. Unless you’re moving in with Easton. You’re not, are you?”
She caught Grayson’s eyes in the rearview mirror and her sister’s glance from the passenger seat. It was as bad as the barbeque at the ranch on Saturday night. Chloe had felt like she and Easton were under a microscope with everyone watching their every move. Within five minutes, she’d wanted to go back to Lookout Point or to his cabin. But Easton hadn’t asked, and if she was honest, she’d been a bit disappointed. Not that she let him know.
But maybe it was better if they take things slow. If she wanted proof that it was, all she had to do was look at her track record with men. She’d rushed headlong into her relationships. And, invariably, a few weeks later, they’d fizzled out and died. Leaving her beating herself up for making another mistake.
“No, we’re dating. It’s not like we’re engaged or anything.” Chloe O’Connor and Easton McBride. How many times had she scribbled that in her binders, making a heart around their names? Too many times to count. You’d think now that her long-ago dream had come true, she’d be over the moon. But all she seemed to do was worry, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He’d always been the unattainable guy. He’d been the prince, and she’d been the frog.
“Dating here, right? You’re not going back to LA.”
After spending the past three days hiding out from the press, the last thing she wanted to do was go back to LA. If she’d thought the picture from the engagement party was bad, it had nothing on the ones of her getting arrested. The gossip rags were running the photos side by side. And wasn’t that a ringing endorsement? Like any director would hire her now. And the thought of roaming around the beach house by herself, with nothing to occupy her time, wasn’t all that appealing. Of course Easton wouldn’t be there either. At least here she had a personal life, one that was looking up if she dealt with her insecurities. “No, I think I’ll stay in town for a while longer,” she told Ty. “I’m sure, a month from now, someone will bump me out of the actor-behaving-badly tabloid wars.” It was then that she realized even if she wanted to go back to LA, she couldn’t. The sheriff was issuing her community service assignment today. If she weren’t dating his brother, she’d be tempted to file an abuse of power against Gage. And wouldn’t that further endear her to the citizens of Christmas?
Her cell phone rang. “Speak of the devil,” she murmured, then took a deep breath and put a smile in her voice. “Good morning, Gage. How are you? How’s the family?”
Her sister looked back and grimaced, then picked up her phone. Cat’s reaction made Chloe wonder if she should be worried, but Gage was being pleasant enough. “Yes, thank you. Estelle got off okay. We’re on our way back now. Four o’clock at…Pardon me, could you repeat that? I think we have a bad connection.” Chloe prayed she misunderstood him because her pulse had already begun to flutter in her throat, her body becoming warm and clammy beneath her buttercup-yellow halter dress.
He repeated the assignment. She’d been right the first time. “No, you can’t force me to do this. I refuse, I absolutely refuse to chair the committee to save Christmas High. I’ll run a drama program or a literacy program. I’ll do anything but this, and if you try and force me to, I’ll sue—”
Cat leaned over the seat and grabbed the phone from Chloe and handed her hers. “Talk to him. It’s Easton.”
Of course Cat called her partner. They all thought he was Chloe’s sugar pill. The one person who could keep the dramatic diva calm and make her see reason. Maybe they were right, but this time it was different. It was his brother who was bullying her and sending her into a panic attack. And she wasn’t exactly happy with Easton at the moment. He was in Aspen on a job. He’d left town the morning after the fashion show and had been gone three days. The man was not big on conversation and phone calls. She’d spoken to him briefly yesterday morning. No wonder she was feeling insecure.
Ty gave her hand a commiserating pat. He, out of anyone, would understand why she couldn’t go back to that school. Easton should, too. She lifted the phone to her ear. “Do you know what your brother just asked me to do? No, correction, told me I have to do.”
“I can guess. He wants you to work on the committee to save Christmas High, doesn’t he?”
“No, he wants me to head up the committee. I’m not doing it, Easton, and he can’t make me. I’ll call my lawyer.”
“Seriously, you’re going there again? First you were going to sue Nell and Vivi, and now you’re going to sue my brother. Didn’t we have a conversation about this on Saturday?” His tone was clipped. “I don’t understand why you’re making a big deal out of this. Yes, I get that you were bullied in high school, but, Chloe, that was years ago. You have to grow up and move past this once and for all. It’s a couple weeks out of your life. It’s not like you have anything going on right now.”
She rubbed her chest and fought back angry tears. “Did you just tell me to grow up and get over the bullying I withstood for four years? Is that what you’re telling me, Easton?”
She heard him blow out a breath over the line. “Look, Chloe, I know—”
“No, Easton, you don’t know. Out of anyone, I expected you to support me. Maybe stand up for me to your brother.” Her fingers tightened around the phone. “But you’re right, this is exactly what we talked about Saturday, so let’s end this now before someone gets hurt. Good-bye, Easton.”
“Chloe, you’re overreacting. Let’s—”
Ty gaped at her when she disconnected. “Did you just break up with the White Knight? The only boy you’ve ever loved.”
“I never would have given you the phone if I thought that’s how your conversation was going to go,” Cat grumbled. “Just once I wish you’d think before you speak, Chloe. Maybe try and be a little more like me.”
“Oh, yes, because it’s so much better to keep your feelings locked up inside. So no one knows they’ve hurt you or said something that makes you mad or—”
“I agree with Chloe,” Grayson interjected. “At least you know where you stand with her. Whereas you—”
“Really, Grayson, we’re going to go there now?”
Chloe widened her eyes at Ty, who mouthed, “uh-oh.” They both sank down in their seats as the couple finally opened up about what was really bothering them. On the one hand, Chloe was glad that they did, while on the other, it would have been less uncomfortable if they’d done so in private. Something she’d have to remember.
Ty handed her an earbud and stuck the other one in his ear. He held up his iPhone. “I’m listening to the audio version of the first book in Nell’s series, The Trouble with Christmas. Gage and Maddie’s story.”
Chloe supposed it was better than listening to her sister and Grayson squabble for the next three hours. Thanks to Maddie’s antics, the long drive back to Christmas passed quickly. And by the time Grayson pulled in front of the Sugar Plum Bakery, Chloe felt she had learned some valuable insights into her hometown…and Gage McBride. Obviously, she reminded Gage of his first wife. And oddly enough, that made Chloe feel better.
“We’ll listen to the end tonight,” Ty said, unbuckling his seat belt. “I have back-to-back appointments for the rest of the day. Thanks for the ride, you two.” He leaned forward and patted Cat’s head, then opened the door to the SUV, helping Chloe onto the sidewalk. “Stop by later and we’ll talk.”
As Cat got out of the truck, Ty jogged down the street with a wave. When her sister handed Chloe her phone, she had a hard time holding back a smug smile. During the last twenty minutes of the drive, the couple had shared soft, loving looks. She’d even caught her sister tenderly stroking Grayson’s stubbled jaw. And Cat was far from a touchy-feely kind of girl.
“Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” her sister said. “Your big mouth might have gone a ways in improving my love life, but it didn’t help yours.”
Chloe had been doing her best to forget what she’d said to Easton. In under ten words, she’d ended their relationship before it really got started. Maybe Chloe had to learn to strike a balance between how her sister dealt with her anger and hurt and how she did.
“Thank you for reminding me because I’d totally forgotten that.”
Cat smirked, then handed Chloe her phone. “He knows you’re upset. All you have to do is call and apologize.”
Now that was a problem. “I went too far. I shouldn’t have broken up with him when I was angry and on the phone. But I don’t owe him an apology, Kit Kat. He owes me one.”
Cat held up her hands. “Okay, I didn’t hear the entire conversation, so you and Easton will have to figure that out on your own. But Chloe, for everyone’s sake, can you please just do as Gage asked? Maddie was heading up the committee, but she hasn’t been feeling well, and Gage is worried about her.”
After listening to their story, Chloe had become somewhat invested in the couple’s happiness. “Is it serious?”
“She’s pregnant.”
“How nice. Connor, Lily, and Annie must be excited.”
Cat stared at her. “You remembered their names.”
“Of course I know their names, Kit Kat. They’re our step-nieces and -nephew now.” Until she’d listened to the book, she’d never remembered their names before. She supposed it had been her way of leaving Christmas and her bad memories in her rearview mirror. She never let herself get sucked into the town’s drama. She stayed above the fray and far away. And here she was stuck right in the middle of it.
“Speaking of nieces, Skye and Ethan aren’t happy you haven’t dropped by to see them and Evie.”
“I thought I was supposed to see them at the barbeque on Saturday night.”
Her sister grinned. “They couldn’t make it. Skye’s sick, too. And they have some news they want to share.”
“They’re pregnant, too?”
Cat raised her hands. “You didn’t hear it from me.”
Chloe was happy for the parents-to-be, but she couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. As the years flew by, she was beginning to think she’d never have a baby of her own. She wondered if Cat felt the same. Probably not, since she already had a ring on her finger.
Chloe hugged her sister and waited until Grayson disconnected from his call, then bent down and blew him a kiss. “Bye, my favorite brother-in-law-to-be.”
He winked at her. “If you need backup at the meeting, give me a shout. You’ve got my number.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“You’re going to the meeting then?” her sister asked.
“Yes, I am. And I’m going to sit there and not say a single word.”
“Chloe!”
* * *
Chloe slunk down in the driver’s seat of her Mustang in the parking lot of Christmas High. She watched the women walk beneath the caramel-colored brick arch to enter the double doors of the school. Suddenly overcome with a feeling of impending doom, her heart beat triple time against her ribs. Lightheaded and disoriented, it took a moment for her to realize she was having a panic attack. Once she did, she tried one of the strategies she’d found online, distracting herself by counting backward from a hundred by threes. It wasn’t working, and it became more difficult to breathe. In an effort to calm herself, she put her hands over her mouth. That didn’t work either. Now her ears were ringing. Then she realized it was her phone. She fumbled for it in her purse. She needed help.
“Hello,” she said, her voice a strangled rasp.
“Chloe, where are you?” Easton asked. He sounded angry, but it didn’t matter. She pressed the phone tight to her ear as though she could absorb his strength.
“In my car. Parking lot at the high school. Can’t breathe.”
“Okay, just sit back and relax. You’re going to be fine. You know it’s a panic attack. You talked yourself out of one before, you can do it again.”
“It’s worse. Feel sick.”
“Pretend I’m there with you, that I’m holding you in my arms. I wish I was, you know.”
“I wish…you…were, too,” she whispered, still having a hard time catching her breath.
“We’re not over, Chloe. Not by a long shot. I’ll be home tomorrow, and we’ll talk.”
“That’s what you said…last time, and then you went out…with Brandi. She’s here, you know. I saw her walk in the school…with her posse. I can’t do it, Easton. I know you want me to, but I can’t. I’m having a panic attack, and I haven’t even gone in the school yet.”
“Good girl. You did it.”
“What are you talking about? I just told you I haven’t been inside the school. I’m going to embarrass myself. I’ll start sweating and—”
“I am listening. Your breathing’s evened out. Your panic attack is over.”
“Oh, I-I didn’t notice.” She hated the attacks. They embarrassed her and made her feel weak. How could Easton want to be with her?
“Hang on a sec.” There was a long pause before he came back on the line. “Listen, I was calling to say I’m sorry. When you started talking about suing Gage, I got mad. But it—”
“I understand. He’s your brother, and I shouldn’t—”
“Chloe, would you mind letting me finish?”
“No, but I just wanted you to know I’m not suing. And even though it’s unfair, I was going to chair the committee. But now, after this—”
Easton cut her off with a sigh. “Can you give me a minute here? What I’m trying to tell you is that I wasn’t thrilled you threatened to sue Gage, but it’s not why I was mad. I was mad that you keep sabotaging yourself. You get your feelings hurt because you think everyone in town hates you, and then you pull crap that makes them hate you. Maybe hate’s too strong a word.”
“I prefer despise. It doesn’t sound as harsh.”
Easton laughed at the same time someone knocked on Chloe’s fogged-up window. “Just a minute,” she said to Easton, then rolled it down. It was Gage and Madison’s oldest daughter. “Hello, Annie.”
“Hey. Uncle E told me to come and get you and show you where the meeting is. He figured you haven’t been here for a long time and wouldn’t remember where to go.”
“Thank you. That’s very nice of you. I’ll just be a minute, all right?”
Annie shrugged. “Sure.”
Chloe smiled and rolled up the window, swallowing past the wedge of fear in her throat. She put the phone to her ear. “Annie’s here.”
“I heard. She’s one of the student reps. She’ll be attending the meeting, too. If you don’t want to go, I’ll call Gage. Get him to assign you to something else. But Chloe, I think you should.”
“Of course you do. Conquer your fears and all that, I get it. I just don’t know if I can, Easton. I’m sure this will sound stupid and immature to you, but I don’t want to save Christmas High.”
“The girls bullied you, Chloe, not the school. They’re women now, and life’s knocked a few of them around. Hopefully that’s knocked some sense in them. If it hasn’t, that’s their problem, not yours. Don’t let them get to you. Call me after your meeting.”
“All right. Thank you for calling and sending Annie.”
“Wouldn’t be much of a white knight if I didn’t look after my girl, would I?”
“You know Ty’s nickname for you?”
“Small town, remember?”
They said good-bye, and she reluctantly disconnected. She didn’t want to get out of the car, but she’d already kept Annie waiting long enough. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you.” She apologized to the teenager, then shut the door and beeped the lock button on her key fob.
“It’s okay. I know you don’t want to be here. I overheard my mom and dad talking. They didn’t know I was listening.”
“I’m sorry you had to hear that, Annie.” She didn’t know what else to say. She wasn’t going to pretend it wasn’t true. If Annie was in the meeting, she’d find out soon enough.
The young girl shrugged. “I’d probably feel the same if I were you. I was bullied in eighth grade, and I didn’t want to come to school either.”
She stopped Annie with a hand on her arm. “You’re not still bullied, are you?”
“No, Mom told me I had to stand up for myself, and it worked. You should, you know, stand up for yourself. I heard what Aunt Nell did. She pulled stuff like that on my mom until she stood up for herself.”
“I know, I read about it in The Trouble with Christmas.” Something else that made Chloe feel better. After listening to the book, she no longer took Nell’s attacks personally. Well, mostly she didn’t.
Annie held open the door, and Chloe forced herself to walk inside. The common area’s beige tiles were polished to a high sheen. Sunlight streamed through the domed ceiling while potted plants and comfortable-looking brown cushioned chairs decorated the space. To the right was the secretary’s office. There’d been two when Chloe attended Christmas High. Behind that the principal’s. She’d spent more time in the nurse’s office than Mr. Lowry’s.
Classes were dismissed at three, but there were still students hanging around. A couple of them waved at Annie and said hi, looking at Chloe with interest. One of the girls appeared to recognize her and shyly approached. “Can I have your autograph?”
Chloe smiled. “Of course,” she said, taking the proffered glitter pen and signing the girl’s notebook.
Before long, a crowd gathered around them, and Annie, looking at her with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, said, “Chloe’s taking my mom’s place. She’s the new chair of the Save Christmas High committee. Isn’t that great?”
Chloe narrowed her eyes at the teenager who she was beginning to think had inherited a manipulative gene from her great-aunt Nell. But she didn’t get a chance to refute Annie’s statement because the students began talking at once. They relayed their thoughts about their school and why it should be saved. While they did, Annie stood off to the side texting and occasionally taking pictures of Chloe.
She heard from them all: members of the football team, debate team, drama club, and band. They were wonderful kids who obviously loved their school and their friends. Friends that would be, Chloe learned, separated, in some instances, by the new boundary lines being drawn up so as not to cause overcrowding at the other schools.
She happened to glance at the clock on the wall and realized they’d been talking for more than thirty minutes. “It’s been lovely meeting you all, but I don’t want to be late for the meeting.”
As she started to walk away, the boys and girls invited her to come and watch their respective teams. “I’ll try and—” Chloe began before Annie interrupted her.
“Text me the times and dates, and I’ll make sure Chloe is there,” her self-appointed social secretary said.
Chloe crossed her arms and tilted her head. Annie grinned, then shrugged. “Christmas High isn’t how you remember it. If you get to know everyone, you’ll want to help save the school.”
“You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, Dad says I take after my uncle E. He helps out at the football practices when he can, so you’ll want to go to those,” Annie informed her as they walked down the hall. “Computer club, too. And you should definitely try to make a rehearsal for the drama club. They’re really good.”
Chloe heard a whooshing noise. It was the sound of her getting sucked into Christmas. “Send me the details, and I’ll try to make it,” she said, stopping in front of the glass cases that held the athletic trophies. The McBride boys had their names on more than their fair share. Her brother and sister did, too. Chloe pressed her nose to the glass to get a better look at the football trophy from their final year of high school. Easton had been captain and star quarterback of the team. Cat had been head cheerleader. They were voted prom king and queen, too, but after what Chloe did, they were no longer talking at that point. Chloe didn’t go to the prom. She couldn’t face Easton. Her sister did though.
Chloe turned at the camera’s flash. Annie shrugged. “Uncle E wanted another picture of you.”
“Have you been texting and sending pictures to him the entire time?”
“Yeah.” Annie read the incoming text and rolled her eyes. “He said to tell you he likes your jeans.”
Chloe smoothed her hand down the dark denim. When Ty found out she was attending the meeting, he insisted she attempt to fit in by dressing down. He’d badgered her for two hours. She’d finally given in and picked up a pair of skinny jeans from Naughty and Nice and a long-sleeved black T-shirt with pink sparkles. She’d completed the outfit with a pair of her favorite black-and-pink peep toes.
“Do I look okay?” Chloe asked self-consciously.
Annie nodded. “Better than the dresses you always wear. You look younger.”
“Really?” Chloe said, not quite believing her. But if it was true, she might have to revisit her opinion of jeans.
Annie angled her head, then nodded again. “Doc Martens might look better than your high heels though.”
Chloe no longer trusted Annie’s fashion sense. “You sound like my sister.” She looked down the hall. “Do we have time to stop at the library?”
Annie’s eyes dropped to her cell phone. “Sure,” she said, then led the way. And as Chloe stepped into the room, it was like walking back into her past. This was the one place she’d felt safe at school.
“Chloe O’Connor, is that you, dear?” She turned to see the librarian, Mrs. Woods, behind the desk. Chloe ran over and hugged her. “It’s so good to see you,” she said and meant it. Mrs. Woods had been the one person other than Easton who she’d opened up to at school. It had been the librarian who’d encouraged Chloe to follow her dreams.
Mrs. Woods hugged her back. She smelled like books and lavender powder. “It’s good to see you, too. Your mother always lets me know what you’re up to. And I never miss an episode of As the Sun Sets.”
A pang of guilt twisted in Chloe’s chest. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Woods. I should have dropped by when I was in town. I will from now on.”
“You’re old enough to call me Vera, dear. And I’d love to see you more often, but you know the board is talking about closing the school.” The older woman looked around the room with its brick walls lined with bookshelves. “I’ll probably retire. It wouldn’t be the same working anywhere else. But you can drop by my house anytime.”
“Chloe’s not going to let them close the school, Mrs. Woods. She’s the new head of the Save Christmas High campaign.”
Chloe arched an eyebrow at Annie. The teenager gave her a smirk that was scarily similar to Nell’s.
Vera pressed her hands to her chest. “Chloe, that’s the best news I’ve had in ages. If anyone can change the board’s mind, it’s you. Your celebrity alone will have them sitting up to listen. I hated the thought of retiring, and now, because of you, maybe I won’t have to.”
Chloe glanced around the library, her eyes lighting on the table in the far corner of the room. It was where she and Easton had played chess. The place where she’d fallen in love with a teenage boy who’d been dealing with his mother’s cancer diagnosis. Chloe had been there for Easton, but the woman standing behind the desk, at risk of losing a job that she loved, had always been there for Chloe. “I’ll do my best, Vera.”