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“You want me to stay to save Christmas? For your family?”
“No. I want you to stay for me. Saving Christmas is just a benefit.”
The last thing my mom had said to me as I was going into the airport was, “Swallow your pride and take the money. No matter what he offers, take it.” She expected Ethan to try to pay me to leave, like a dirty secret he wanted gone. And that made sense. So much sense that him asking me to stay made none. But I liked the idea of saving Christmas for our family. I liked it a lot. The Showgirl Saves Christmas is a movie I would watch!
“So…stay on as your wife?”
“No. God no, Lexie. I’ll pay you.”
Ethan
I’d said something wrong. That much was obvious. She went pale and then bright red. She stepped back and poured all of her attention onto the Christmas tree in the corner. In her pink coat she stood out against all the Christmas colors. She kept tightening the belt around her waist and I wondered if she could even breathe at this point. But that cinched waist was making the most of her curves and I was trying to do the gentlemanly thing and not notice, but it was impossible not to.
But Cujo in her purse growled at me every time my eyes slipped below her chin.
“Is that tree real?” she asked.
“Yeah. We…it’s from our tree farm.”
“Right. Of course.”
My phone was buzzing again. The city needed more parking for the Jamboree, thanks to my brother’s arrival, and I needed to sign off on the change to the budget. My sister was texting from the barn and I’d had the email address on the Kringle Inn and Christmas Tree Farm website forwarded to my inbox and it was binging every ten seconds with inquiries.
I could hear the phone at the front desk ringing and my dad cursing at it because he always accidentally hung up on someone when he was trying to put them on hold.
But that was all secondary.
“Lexie, did I say something wrong—”
“Nope,” she said, her smile was blinding. “I’ll do it. Six thousand cash for the three weeks and I keep all my tips.”
“Tips?”
“That’s right. Get a little proper customer service around here and there should be tips. Deal?”
“Yes.”
“Do I stay here?” she asked and looked around. “I suppose not. The inn must be full.”
“You can stay at my house. I live in town.”
“You let all your employees stay at your house?”
“No,” I smiled at her. “Only my wives.”
“Oh my god! Are you already married?” She staggered back, looking like she might cry. “Henny warned me this might happen and I didn’t believe her, but she worked with a girl last year who was married to a guy for three years before she realized he had another wife.”
“No! No. God no. Lexie. I swear. You are my only wife.” Something awful suddenly occurred to me. “Wait… are you here for a divorce because you have someone in your life? A boyfriend or fiancé?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, there’s a dentist. But he hasn’t even asked me out.”
I honestly couldn’t believe a woman like her didn’t have men begging her for dates all day long. But I was relieved there was no one I was going to have to murder and stuff in a box.
“So? When do I start?” she asked.
“Whenever you’d like.”
She looked down at her dog, who looked up at her with silent love. And then Lexie shrugged, like they’d just discussed it. “Well, It’s not like I’m doing anything else right now.”
Holy shit. Yes! YES! She’s staying. It felt like I’d won a second chance.
“I will give you a tour but then I need to run into town. My dad can show you the ropes at the desk, not that you need any help. Seriously, you were amazing.”
“It’s just being nice to people and respectful,” she said. “Don’t act like I won the Noble Prize.”
“Nobel.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s Nobel Prize. You know something, never mind. Let me introduce you to my d,ad and I’ll find you some suitable clothes.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” She kept jumping on what I was saying like I was trying to hurt her feelings or judging her.
“Well, that coat’s not going to keep you warm.”
“Oh, well, a coat would be nice.”
And a hat. Mitts. In fact, if she was going to stay she needed a bunch of things. Like pants.
I started to open the door so we could leave but then I shut it, giving us another small moment of privacy. Because I remembered how excited I’d been to see her. How her name had come out of my mouth like an answer to a question I’d been asking myself for a year.
“Lexie,” I said, my voice low.
“Yeah.”
“I’m really glad to see you again,” I said. “I’ve thought about you and that night a million times this last year.”
