Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
T he trio had begun playing Christmas music, and Fisher was surprised that he was actually enjoying the music. He didn’t listen to string trios much, but he’d have to do it more. The Christmas music was especially enjoyable, and he didn’t even typically like Christmas music. Maybe he just hadn’t heard the right kind.
“You seem preoccupied this evening,” Margo said as he danced with her a third time. It would be the last time. The evening was almost over.
“I was offered a big promotion earlier today. I mean, I was told I was getting one. I guess there is the formality of me accepting, but it’s pretty much a shoo-in.”
He’d checked his email just before he walked out the door, and there was something that had made him pause before he had responded with a resounding “Yes, I’ll take it!”
“I guess it’s really good for you,” his sister said, and he could tell she was trying to look happy.
The strains of “O Holy Night” sounded softly in the background. With the beautiful harmonies that the strings created and the glittering Christmas decorations that brightened the entire lodge where they had eaten supper, it was almost magical in its atmospheric beauty.
He hadn’t realized that Tris was so talented. He remembered her winning several musical awards in school, but since they didn’t have an orchestra, she had never played somewhere that he heard her other than in church.
“You don’t look very happy,” he said as they glided along in time to the music.
“I was just hoping that you would come back home sometime. You know? I get that you wanted to go make your mark after college and prove that you could run with all of the big business guys, but… I just miss you, you know?”
“I’m only two and a half hours away. You can come see me anytime.” But he didn’t make the drive nearly as often as he should and had found himself only coming home twice last year and once the year before.
Even then, they were rushed trips where he drove and went back in the same day so he didn’t end up staying overnight.
There just always seemed to be things that needed to be taken care of at the office.
“Of course. And you can come see us too. But it just doesn’t happen, does it?” she said, and he realized that his entire family probably felt like that. They just hadn’t complained because they didn’t want to make him feel bad.
He had certainly never said that he missed their small town, but when he was jogging on the beautiful walkways that Richmond was famous for, he often did think about how much he wished he were home, out of the buildings and flat land, and back in the mountains.
But more than that, he missed the small-town people. Their care about daily life, the way his sister just made a reservation for him at the local B&B, and he didn’t even have to hand over his driver’s license. He just showed up, and they knew who he was.
That didn’t happen in the city. That didn’t happen anywhere. Nowhere but here for him, because this was where he was from.
“I saw Tris looking at you several times. You guys have some fun history,” Margo said, probably in an attempt to change the conversation which had kind of stalled out.
“I’ve seen Enzo looking at you several times, and then at me too, like he’s annoyed that I stole his bride for even one dance.”
“This is the third dance, and you didn’t steal me, I wanted to spend time with you. You know, maybe it’s because I’m getting married, or maybe it’s because I’m in my mid-thirties and I’m looking really hard at forty, but… Life goes by so fast. I spent so much time doing things that aren’t important with people that I don’t even like. Moving back to Mistletoe Meadows was the best decision I ever made.”
She shrugged her shoulders as the song ended and they broke apart, clapping politely. “But just because it was the best decision for me doesn’t mean it’s the best decision for you. Although, Mom and Dad aren’t getting any younger, and Mom could really use some help taking care of her parents.”
He nodded but then shook his head. “Maybe in a few years, after I’ve put this promotion on and worn it for a while. I’ve worked for this for a long time, and I’m not the slightest bit interested in giving it up, even though you’re right. I wouldn’t mind coming home.”
She looked disappointed but understanding as they stepped back and Enzo claimed his bride-to-be.
They were getting married the day after next, and then Fisher was heading back to Richmond, not even planning to stay after the wedding.
Even as he thought that, he knew his sister was right as he watched her walk away. He barely knew her. And he longed to know her better.
His eyes shifted to the musicians, who had started playing “Mary, Did You Know?” And his eyes caught on Tris. She wasn’t looking at her music, and although he couldn’t see her full-on, because she had switched chairs with a different musician and now had her profile to him, it looked like her eyes were closed and she was just enjoying what she was doing.
She looked relaxed and happy, and he remembered how cheerful she was when she had greeted him today. Surely she had problems in her life, but it didn’t seem that way. She wasn’t sizing him up to see if she could figure out how big his bank account was, or how much of an asset he would be for her to have in her corner, and whether or not he was worth the work it would take to get him on her team.
Maybe he should consider what his sister had said. He seemed to be getting cynical. And maybe he was right, after he’d worn this promotion for a year or two, then he’d think about coming home.