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She reached across the table and squeezed his hand briefly. “I’m sorry. Have things between them gotten any better now you’re older?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see them.”
“Not ever?”
She looked shocked. Not surprisingly, given how close she was to her family and the love that showed in her face when she spoke of them.
Not all families were like his.
And he didn’t want her to think that he was all bad. “I speak to them sometimes. I never forget birthdays or Christmas gifts.”
“You just don’t want to go back there.” She sounded understanding rather than judgmental.
“It’s not just my parents.” He sighed. “I have three older sisters. They all made the same mistakes as my parents, and they’re all divorced now. My sisters, I mean. My oldest sister did it twice. I’ll never understand why she thought she could change either of them.”
“You can’t change someone else. And the only person who can change you is you,” she said. “You have to want to change, and your head’s got to be in the right place before you can even try it, or it won’t work.”
“Exactly. I didn’t want to be like them. So I hitched a ride east when I was sixteen. I found myself a job, worked my way up.”
“To being the second in command at one of the biggest PR agencies in Philadelphia. That’s pretty good going.”
He shrugged. “Because I was focused on my career. I wanted it badly enough to make it happen.”
“But?”
Funny how she’d homed in what he wasn’t saying. What he’d been thinking ever since he’d walked into the hospice that afternoon and his life had turned unexpectedly upside down. “But what you were saying about the only person who can change you is you—that’s true. Today was a test.”
She frowned. “How?”
“My boss is retiring next year. He’s looking at who’s going to replace him.”
“But you’re second in command. Aren’t you the obvious choice?”
“Maybe.” That’s what Mitch had thought. Until his boss had dropped the bombshell. “But C.J. thinks I don’t have a heart. That’s why he asked me to be Santa. To prove that I do.”
“Do you think you passed?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know.” He spread his hands. “But I do know it’s changed me. Today’s made me realize that C.J.’s right. Focusing on business all the time is only half the story. Those kids made me feel—well, humble. I’ve stayed separate from people in the past, because I don’t want to make my family’s mistakes. But it doesn’t have to be like that. There’s another way.”
“If you choose to take it.”
“I’ve never believed in all that love-at-first-sight business, but I do know you make me feel different. Like nobody else has made me feel. I want to be different. I can’t give you any guarantees but, yes, I want to give this a try.” He reached over to tangle his fingers with hers. “With you.”
“I said I wasn’t going to get involved again. I was going to work out what I wanted to do with my life, then focus on my career.” She looked at him. “I’ve never, ever gone to bed with someone without knowing them for months—and I’ve not even known you a whole day! But you’ve taught me something. That it’s okay to take a risk.” She held his gaze. “Betty’s not going to be that mobile for a while. I’ll need to stay here to help out until she’s fit again. As you said, there are no guarantees. It might work. It might not. But the only way we’ll find out is to give it a try.”
“So will you give me a chance?”
She smiled at him. “Yes.”
“Which,” he said, “kind of makes me your Christmas present, Ellie Brown.”
She grinned. “One I’m certainly going to enjoy unwrapping. Merry Christmas, Santa. And I might just be wearing your Christmas stocking…”
About the Author
Kate Hardy is an award-winning author of over 50 books for Harlequin and is thrilled to be writing now for Indulgence. She lives in Norwich in the east of England with her husband, two children, springer spaniel, and too many books to count. She’s a bit of a nerd who loves cinema, the theatre, history and cooking (which is why she has to go to the gym five times a week!), and adores anything Italian.
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