Chapter 14
Fourteen
AIDYN
Two Days until Christmas
Garrett’s kitchen is a dream. That warms my heart.
Because Garrett knows jack-all about kitchen appliances.
And he didn’t pick the most expensive, which I would expect.
He picked the ones I would have chosen. Which means he listens to me.
On Saturday mornings, when he was still in New York and just visiting, we would watch the cooking shows.
I always complained about the choices made and the equipment used.
Don’t get me wrong. My kitchen in the diner is well-equipped to feed an entire town—though not all at once. But if something breaks, we fix it. I rarely buy new. It would eat away at our profits.
And he has two ovens. A man after my own heart. As I prepare the pumpkin cheesecake, his hand presses against my lower back. I didn’t even hear him come in.
“How’s the baking?”
My hands are full, so I turn and nod for him to get closer. Then I kiss him. “Have I mentioned I fucking love you?”
“Once or twice. But I love hearing it.”
This kiss is more as he captures my bottom lip and bites down. I have to pull away to keep my cheesecake from falling.
“Now go away. You’re distracting me.”
Once the cheesecake is setting up in the refrigerator, I go in search of Garrett.
He’s decorating the living room, and it looks amazing.
He draped a lush garland with eucalyptus, pine cones, and small berries over the mantel and added a flocked evergreen wreath above it.
Even the bookcase is decorated with delicate crystal Christmas trees.
The room is bursting with color, but it doesn’t look thrown together. It’s classy. Just like him.
I pick up one of the trees. It’s delicate. And beautiful. I carefully return it to its place. “I’m impressed.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him closer.
“Hmm. I can feel how impressed you are.”
I laugh. “Competent Garrett does things for me. Do we have time for a —”
His phone beeps. “Hold on. Sorry.”
It must be a text. His fingers fly as he responds.
“Nat?” I guess.
“Yes.” He sighs and presses his thumb against his forehead. He’s stressed.
“Go,” I say, pushing on his chest. “Take care of things.”
“Are you sure, Aidyn? I mean, you closed the diner.”
I kiss him. “I’m sure. But don’t take too long. And no leaving tomorrow during the family dinner.”
He laughs. “That shouldn’t be too hard since we’re not open tomorrow.”
After a few more kisses that I stretch out just because I can, he leaves. It does help knowing he’s just a mile or so down the road.
While he’s gone, I do as much prep as I can. Tomorrow needs to go well. No disasters.
It’s midmorning before Jane brings Lanie home. Where the feck did that thought come from? This is Garrett’s home, not ours.
Lanie is now obsessed with mint hot chocolate. We sit around Garrett’s kitchen table with our mugs. I eye the Bailey’s Irish Cream. Would it be insensitive to add some to my hot chocolate?
As much as I’m still angry with Jane, I love seeing my daughter happy and excited. She has a lot of moody days, but hell, so do I. It would be good for her to have someone to share things with—someone not her dad. Can I trust Jane? I can’t let Lanie get hurt again.
As Lanie and Jane argue over the best Christmas movies, snippets of last night’s conversation with Garrett bombard me.
I want everyone to know, Aidyn. It’s getting harder and harder to hide that you and Lanie are my whole world.
Losing Emily is my punishment for loving you.
I press my hand to my chest, but it doesn’t ease the pressure.
“What do you think, Da?”
“Sorry?” I blink away the memories and focus on my daughter. I ignore the smirk Jane’s giving me.
“The best Christmas movie. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation or Elf?”
I sip my drink, pretending to think about it. “Die Hard.”
She slaps the table. Unlike our wobbly one, this table doesn’t move. “Da! That wasn’t one of the choices.”
“Well, it should have been.” I laugh at the outrage on her face. “I haven’t seen the others.”
“Movie night!”
Jane laughs as I shake my head. “You just had a movie night. And watched those movies.”
“But it’s not Christmas until you’ve watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”
“Good to know. Should I return your present? Or save it for next year?”
“Ugh, Da. You’re the worst.”
She sounds so much like Garrett that emotion clogs my throat.
Lanie’s phone goes off and her face lights up. “It’s Riley.”
I nod. “Go on then. But don’t be on the phone all day. We’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow.”
She rushes out of the room, already talking and laughing. I try to push my worry away. She’s earning my trust. I have to let her do that.
“Did you and Garrett get a lot done?”
Jane. Right. Now I’m stuck alone with her. But I’m not ready to deal with this. She wants forgiveness. To return to where we were before. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready for that.
“A fair amount.”
She snorts at that. And it reminds me of twenty-year-old Jane popping into the diner to give me crap. But the scars on her face remind me this isn’t the same girl. She’s been through a lot.
I shake off any lingering sympathy. She made her choices.
But I owe her for giving us the night together. “Thanks for…” My mind goes blank. Well, not exactly, I’m remembering Garrett’s face as he rides my cock. I clear my throat. “Just thanks.”
She grins like she’s enjoying my discomfort. “You’re welcome. What happened to Garrett? He’s not still sleeping?”
“Work emergency.”
We’re both quiet after that. Is she judging him for going in? Am I? I told him to go. But still…I down the rest of my hot chocolate. It’s now barely warm. The prep work is done. Is there anything else I can do to get out of this conversation and this room?
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Jane takes her cup and Lanie’s to the sink. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
My immediate reaction is to tell her no thanks. But this is her Christmas too. And she’s been helpful.
“How do you feel about wrapping presents?”
We pile everything into the dining room. The table is bigger than the one in the kitchen, giving both Jane and me room to work. I have Lanie’s gifts under a blanket in case she comes in. I text her to let her know to warn me first.
I shake my head at the stack of presents. “I may have gone a bit overboard.”
“You think?” Jane shakes her head. “Damn, Christy. Is the entire kingdom of Lutiana coming for Christmas?”
“Hush, now.” My smile drops. What am I doing? I rub the back of my neck and look over at her. “Can you help me or not?”
“I still don’t understand how you can decorate beautiful cakes, but your wrapping skills look like the work of a toddler.”
She’s not wrong, but I have no answers. I hand her gifts to wrap. “I put sticky notes on them in case I forgot who they were for.”
“Oh my gosh! Remember that time you hid one of Lanie’s presents and found it two months later?”
“In my defense, the lass had a ton of presents that year. She dinna even miss it.”
“And it was the best Groundhog Day present ever.” She laughs, and for a moment, she reminds me of Emily. “How long did you and Em buy her presents on Groundhog Day?”
“The next year, but then she wanted to know why the groundhog wasn’t bringing her friends presents.” The memories seem fresh. Emily always bought us matching family pajamas. I can see her opening presents, hugging Lanie and me. She loved Christmas so much. I wish she were here now.
But do I?
Of course I do. I’d give anything to have her back with us.
Give up Garrett?
I shut my eyes, but it doesn’t stop the thoughts in my head.
“Christy?”
Standing, I clear my throat. “Jane, can you start on these? I’m just gonna take care of something real quick.”
And if she realizes that’s code for “find someplace to have a good cry,” she doesn’t call me on it.