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“Mom used to do all that stuff. Last Christmas I guess she was too exhausted to do much.” He grimaced. “I wish I’d spent more than two days here with her.”
“You’re an entrepreneur. I’m sure she understood that.” Lucy picked up the doll and fluffed out her net and satin skirts.
“I used that as an excuse not to stay.” Caleb held her gaze. “With good communication networks there’s no reason why I couldn’t have worked from here. I just couldn’t bear seeing her face when Dad and I got into it.”
He set his hands around Lucy’s waist and lifted her effortlessly above his head.
“High enough for you?”
“Absolutely.” It took Lucy a few moments to work out how to fix the angel onto the tree and make sure she was straight. “All done.”
Caleb lowered her very slowly, making sure her body slid right over his. He kept hold of her when she reached the ground and looked into her blue eyes.
“Thanks for doing this.”
“The tree?” She raised her eyebrows. “You must have realized by now that I just love the holidays.”
“Everything,” Caleb said simply. “You just being here is making it hurt less.”
Her expression softened and she cupped his bearded chin. “I’m glad to help. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love.”
He nodded and drew her back along the hall to his bedroom. He checked that there was no sign of his father and shut the door behind him.
“Sit down.”
She went and sat on the bed, her hands in her lap, and looked up at him expectantly.
“I have a software company. I started it right out of college, and I’ve been growing the business ever since.”
“I know.” Lucy nodded. “My parents constantly held you up as an example of how a small-town person could go onto greater things if they really made an effort.”
Caleb winced. “Sorry about that.”
“They did the same to Dan.” She half smiled. “Didn’t really work with either of us.”
“The thing is—in the last year the business has grown fast, and I’ve been trying to micromanage everything.”
Lucy pointed at herself. “This is my shocked face.”
“I’ve been working seven days a week, pushing my team to exhaustion, and when Mom died, I . . .” He paused. “I just kept going because it was easier than dealing with her loss, you know?”
Lucy nodded, her blue gaze full of sympathy.
He sat on the chair opposite her. “And now we have the opportunity to expand the company even further, take more investor money, and aim to go public in eighteen months.”
“That sounds . . . amazing.”
“It is,” Caleb said. “But it’s not going to be easy.”
“You’ll get it done,” Lucy said. “You’re smart, capable, and so good at what you do that you can’t fail. I believe in you.”
Her smile was so full of her belief in him that he almost couldn’t stand it. If he went ahead and committed himself to eighteen months of hell, he’d probably never have the time to see her or his father. Did that bother her, or had she already given up on him ever hanging around?
“If I go that route, it gives me a reason not to come back here,” Caleb said carefully.
“I . . . kind of assumed that was a given, anyway.” She looked down at her hands. “I’ve loved being with you, Caleb, but I do understand that it’s temporary.” She finally looked up. “And I don’t regret it at all.”
He nodded. “Me neither.”
