Page 85 of Christmas Magic

“I asked to meet with Fred. He had, after all, almost proposed. I wanted to hear the truth from him as to what was going on. When we met, he seemed distracted and eager to be done with our talk. He said he cared about me, but I got upset and…said things I shouldn’t have. Angry, he insisted he’d rather be with his buddies and stormed off. Two days later, while I was working at the diner, one of his friends dropped off a note from him. He’d returned to Orlando.”

“The blonde?” Lucian asked.

“He married her.”

“That must have hurt.”

Oh, it had. “Not long after Fred left town, I started dating another young man. I cared about him, but I didn’t love him, not the way I’d loved Fred. When he asked me to marry him, though, I accepted. As you can see”—she gestured to the house—“that relationship turned out okay for me.”

Lucian nodded but then frowned. “Didn’t you say Fred was a member of the local historical society? That would mean he’d moved back to town.”

“After his wife passed away, he rented a condo here. He’d thought about moving to Cat’s Paw Cove, because his daughter had bought a house here. He joined the historical society and was a member for a short while but then went to visit relatives in Ohio and met a woman there. He moved to be with her. I heard she’d passed away, though. He’d been in Ohio until a few days ago, when he took the post at Coquina Castle.”

A muscle ticked in Lucian’s jaw. “If I could, I’d send him straight back to Ohio.”

How she loved the jealousy in Lucian’s voice.

“Years ago, he should at least have said goodbye to you in person. What a coward.”

Cora picked up her glass again. “I try to remind myself we were both very young.”

“Still, it must have been uncomfortable for you when he joined the society.”

Cora tightened her hold on the cool stem glass. ‘Uncomfortable’ didn’t quite encompass what she’d experienced. “I avoided him as much as I could. Luckily, with Roberta being a board member too, we were able to assign him to different volunteer events than the ones we worked. He and I only saw each other for any length of time, really, at the monthly meetings and the Christmas party.”

Lucian straightened, curiosity in his gaze. “Something happened at the party?”

She shrugged. “He volunteered to be Santa. He was in charge of handing out the presents for everyone to open that evening.”

“And?” Judging by the determination in Lucian’s eyes, he wasn’t going to give up until she’d told all of the details.

“It might be best if I show you.” Setting her wine aside again, she went into the house and to the office where she kept her historical society paperwork. After retrieving her tablet, she returned to the deck. In the time she’d been away, Lucian had eaten another two cookies.

Cora pulled up a black and white photo on the tablet. “Here’s a picture of Mistletoe Diner.” She handed over the tablet so he could get a better look. She waited while Lucian studied the picture.

“At the diner, was it really Christmas every day of the year?”

“It sure was.” She leaned in to point out the rectangular glass cabinet on the wall. “My boss collected holiday salt and pepper shakers: all cats, because of the history of Sherwood kitties in Cat’s Paw Cove. People knew about her collection and came from all over to see it.” Cora enlarged the photo. “This was my and Fred’s favorite spot in the diner. See the salt and pepper shakers? They belonged on our table: fluffy white felines with red and green scarves around their necks. They’re hard to find now, and usually only in antique shops.”

“They look kind of familiar,” Lucian said.

“Really?”

“Not sure exactly why. How, though, is this photo related to the party?”

Cora linked her hands together. “When I opened my gift at the holiday party, guess what I saw?”

Surprise etched Lucian’s features. “The white cat salt and pepper shakers?”

“The white cat salt and pepper shakers. Just like the ones from the diner.”

Lucian blew out a breath and studied the photo again. “What did you do?”

“At first, I was so stunned, my mind went blank. Then, I got angry. The strange thing is, Fred looked shocked too. He insisted he’d made a mistake, but I didn’t want to hear his explanation. He’d wanted to upset me, and he had. The next day, he quit the historical society and not long after that, he left for Ohio.”

“I am glad you told me the whole story.”

“So am I.” She leaned in again, enjoying being close to Lucian. “You’ll be a much better Santa at our Christmas get-together than Fred was.”