A Heart of Stone Christmas (3 page)

“Of course. Where else would I be?”

Out getting me another present, princess.

“I’m off. Kiss the kids for me because I don’t want to wake them up.”

“Will do. See you at noon.”

As I walked out to the garage, I snuck a peek into the nursery and saw all three children still asleep, each one doing that little pout they always did as they slept. It was a rare event. In the past year since they all came home, they’d been awake every day when I’d left for work. It seemed like only yesterday we’d finally placed Diana in her crib with her brother and sister following weeks in the hospital after them, and now they were experiencing their first real Christmas.

I didn’t know how much they’d remember of the holiday, but since Nina would take hundreds of pictures like she always did for big events in their lives, in the future they’d see how I surprised their mother with a trip for all of us to the new villas in Bucharest. I’d sworn Cara to secrecy and all the plans had been made, so all I had to do was be home by noon to collect my family and by Christmas morning we’d be in the newest Richmont villas enjoying any luxury we could think of.

“Mr. Stone? Do you have a moment?”

I turned to see Cara poking her head out of the door that led to her wing of the house. Her dark eyes wide, her middle aged face showed her worry about something.

“Is something wrong, Cara?”

Shaking her head, she whispered, “No. Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to mention that I saw on the news this morning that we’re supposed to get hit by a big snowstorm late this afternoon. Will that do anything to your plans?”

“No. The schedule is we fly out this afternoon, so we should miss the storm entirely.”

“Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure.”

Cara’s expression changed to her usual pleasant one free of concern, and I had to ask if my surprise was still that. “Have you had any sense Mrs. Stone knows about my plans?”

“Oh, no. I’m sure it will be an absolute surprise when you spring it on her. I’ve made sure to pack all the children’s things secretly this morning, and if she asks where any of their clothes are, I’ll be telling her I’m washing them. Everything’s set.”

A door closed down the hall and I looked to see if Nina was coming, but the coast was still clear.

“Thank you, Cara. I appreciate your help with this. My wife would come up with a thousand reasons why we shouldn’t travel around the holiday, but I’m dying for her to see the new villas so I’m afraid I’ve had to take to subterfuge to get her there.”

“It’s my pleasure, Mr. Stone. I hope she can forgive my fibbing.”

“Not to worry. Nina’s very forgiving, so it won’t be a problem. See you around noon, and if anything happens that could upend my plans, please make sure you call my office at the number you have. Michelle knows to put you through any time you call.”

“Of course. I’m sure everything will go just as planned and your surprise will be delightful for all of you.”

“See you in a few hours, and remember to let me know if anything comes up,” I said as I turned to head toward the garage.

Forty minutes later, I pulled into my parking space and made my way up to my office to meet with Michelle and do a final check with the pilot to make sure we were all ready to go. I couldn’t wait for Nina to see the surprise I had waiting for her.

My assistant looked shocked as she watched me walk through the office suite door. “Tristan, what are you doing here? It’s Christmas Eve. I thought you’d be home with Nina and the kids getting ready to fly out.”

Resting my briefcase on her desk, I opened it to give Michelle her Christmas gift and bonus. I handed her the box Nina had specially wrapped and her note about the gift Michelle had sent us. “I couldn’t forget you on Christmas. The note is from Nina about the fruit basket, which has been delicious, by the way.”

Michelle beamed a smile up at me and politely set the gift aside. “Thank you. I’m sure it’s lovely, as always, Tristan.”

“You have to open it, or Nina will never forgive me for my lack of details about how you looked when you saw what she picked out,” I said with a chuckle.

“You two are so sweet. Thank you,” she said as she carefully opened the blue and silver foil wrapping paper to uncover the box containing the Gucci bag. Nina had raved about it, so I assumed Michelle would like it. Personally, I had no idea whether it was great or hideous. Women’s purses weren’t my field of expertise.

Michelle held her gift up to show me and gushed about how much she loved it, so I’d have something good to tell Nina when she asked for all the details later.

“Tristan, please tell Nina I love it! She has wonderful taste, and you spoil me every year.”

“Since I met Nina. I have to make up for all the time I didn’t treat you as well as I should have.” Reaching into my briefcase once more, I took out an envelope and handed it to her. “This is from me. It’s nothing as beautiful as the purse, but I hope you know it’s meant from the heart.”

Michelle opened the envelope and pulled out the check I’d written for two thousand dollars for her Christmas bonus. When she saw the amount, her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Oh my, thank you! I appreciate this so much, Tristan.”

“Good because I appreciate all that you do for me. I’m heading into my office to make last minute calls about the trip we’re leaving on in a few hours, so unless you have anything for me to sign or handle, why don’t you go home before the storm Cara says is coming rolls in?”

“I didn’t see anything about a snowstorm on the news last night. Is it supposed to be bad?”

“Bad enough, so unless you want to have a four hour trip back to Queens, I’d say go home and start the holidays with your family. Merry Christmas, Michelle.”

“Merry Christmas, Tristan. Please wish Nina and the babies a wonderful Christmas for me too.”

I left Michelle to pack up her things to go home while I called the pilot and Cara one last time to check that everything was set. The pilot had nothing but good news for me. The storm Cara had seen on the weather this morning was heading in from the west, and since we were flying east, it wouldn’t affect us. All I had to do was get home and surprise Nina and the holidays could begin.

Nina

“Jordan, I think something’s going
on with Tristan,” I said as I threw on my hat and coat.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I have a weird feeling about him and Cara. I’ve heard them whispering a few times in the past week, but he hasn’t said anything to me about any problems with her. I can’t imagine what they’re whispering about. I always deal with her about the babies, so what are they talking about?”

“You aren’t actually saying you think your husband, who adores you and acts like you walk on water, is having an affair with Cara, are you?” Jordan asked in a voice filled with sarcasm.

“Don’t say it never happens. Powerful men often run off with their nannies.”

“Yeah, if they’re twenty-two year old blondes with huge boobs! Cara is what, like in her forties? She’s got to be ten years older than him, and while I’m not saying she’s hideous, I can’t imagine Tristan going with her. He loves you, Nina.”

“So she is pretty?”

“Yeah, in a sort of stick figury kind of way. She’s a little skinny, but I guess you could say she’s okay. But that’s beside the point. Tristan isn’t having an affair with the nanny, Nina. I think you’ve lost your mind.”

“I need to head into the city to find some things out. You’re off today, right? Can you come?”

“What do you mean? Are you planning on stalking your own husband to find out what he’s up to?”

“I just need to know, Jordan.” I hated admitting that, but it was true. If it sounded as sad I as I thought it did, so be it. I needed to know if my husband was sleeping with the nanny.

“Nina, I’m not going to help you snoop on Tristan. This is madness. I think you’ve had too much country fresh air out there. You need to spend more time in the city.”

“Fine, then I’ll go alone. I’m going to need to get some time by myself, so will you at least help me shake Jensen?”

“What about the kids?”

“I don’t want to drag a trio of one year old babies out into the cold. They’ll stay here with Cara.”

“You mean you’re going to leave your kids with the woman your husband is planning to leave you for?”

“Jordan!”

“Okay, I’m going to stop this craziness right here. Tristan isn’t sleeping with Cara. They’ve been whispering because he’s planning a huge surprise that he needed her help in pulling off. He’s taking all of you to Romania to the new villas opening at the Richmont hotel in Bucharest. There. Don’t you feel stupid now?”

I sat speechless staring out the living room window as Jordan’s words settled into my mind. A surprise trip for all of us to the villas he was so proud of? I felt like such an ass.

“I’m so stupid, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are, but we all still love you anyway. Now stop being crazy and have some damn eggnog to calm yourself down. Tristan made me promise not to tell you, but now that I have, you have to pretend like you didn’t know. He’s really psyched about this trip.”

“I know he’s so happy about the new villas. I feel awful now, Jordan. I think I’m going to go down to the jeweler near my house and pick up the cufflinks I saw a few months ago to give him as a little surprise from me.”

“That sounds nice. Promise me you’ll call me when you get back from your trip, okay? I think you might be going insane out there in the sticks. You need to come back to civilization more often.”

“I promise. We can have lunch and you can bring me back to sanity. I’m sure Tristan would love that.”

“Good. Enjoy the trip and Merry Christmas, Nina.”

“Thanks, Jordan. Merry Christmas!”

I ended my call and stuffed my phone into my pocket as I headed down toward the garage to tell Jensen I wouldn’t need the car this morning. Always hesitant to let me go on my own, he’d tell my bodyguards immediately if I let him know I was headed the whole mile to the jewelers on my own, so instead I pretended like I’d decided not to leave the house at all. Thankfully, he believed me so I was free to go buy Tristan’s surprise gift all on my own and without my usual shadows.

*     *     *

I made it to Melner’s
Jewelry shop on Main Street in record time for me. Twenty minutes in the freezing cold and light snow will do that to even the most out-of-shape person. Thankfully, the store wasn’t closing until noon that day, so I had a few minutes to pick out Tristan’s gift and then get back to the house before he returned from the city.

The man behind the counter reminded me of Santa Claus, in a way. Round with a full white beard, he had crystal blue eyes like all those old fashioned pictures of Santa Claus always had. Nearly bald, all the hair on his head had seemed to have migrated down to his face. He looked up as the bells on top of the door jingled and when I closed the door, he smiled and stood up from his stool behind the glass display cabinets.

“Merry Christmas, young lady. What can I do for you today?”

I pointed to the display case at the end of the row farthest from the window and said, “I saw a set of cufflinks a while back that I’d like to surprise my husband with. I’m hoping they’re still here.”

The jolly jewelry store owner smiled. “I know just the ones. I think I remember you. You were in here with your husband when I saw you, I think. Tall, dark haired young man?”

“Tristan. Yes, that’s my husband. We were here looking at a necklace for me then, but I snuck a look at those cufflinks and I think they’d be perfect for him. The onyx next to the gold is just stunning, and I know he’d love them.”

Mr. Melner reached in and took out the black velvet display from the case to set it on the counter for me to see. “Yes, here they are. I don’t sell too many sets of cufflinks anymore. Young men just don’t wear them like we did in my day.”

I ran my finger over them and nodded. “I bet they don’t, but for his job, Tristan has to get dressed up in tuxes more than most men, so the cufflinks will be used often.”

“What does your husband do?”

Looking up from the counter, I smiled and bragged a little about Tristan. “He’s the CEO of Stone Worldwide. He owns the Richmont hotel line.”

“So that’s the Tristan Stone I’ve heard about in town. Your husband is quite popular around these parts. I just heard the other day that his foundation donated a truckload of toys to the hospital for Christmas.”

“It did?” Tristan hadn’t mentioned anything about the foundation doing that. I’d known about the center in Poughkeepsie, but not this. And to think that I’d thought that wonderful husband of mine was cheating on me with our nanny. I really was a fool sometimes.

“He’s very generous. It’s true. That’s why I wanted to surprise him with these cufflinks. He’s surprising me with a trip to see one of his new hotels too.”

The elderly man winked at me. “Sounds like a pretty great guy has a pretty terrific wife too. When are you leaving?”

“Today, I think. I’m not supposed to know about it, but I found out.”

He looked out toward the front windows of his store. “You better hurry then. That storm is coming in faster than they thought.”

I turned and saw the sidewalks already covered and huge snowflakes coming down at a rate much faster than I’d ever seen. “I didn’t even know we were expecting a storm. When was it supposed to get here?”

“I heard this afternoon, but since it’s only ten in the morning, I think they might have miscalculated. Let’s get you all fixed up here so you don’t have to worry about driving on the snowy roads.”

“I didn’t drive, so I should be okay. A nice walk in the snow will do me good,” I joked as I paid for the cufflinks and he boxed up my gift.

“Thank you, sweetie. Have a wonderful holiday. I didn’t catch your name, though.”

Taking the bag from him, I said, “My name is Nina. Nina Stone. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas too, Mr. Melner!”

Happy I’d been able to buy Tristan the cufflinks I knew would surprise him, I set off in the snow to make it back to the house before he came home from work so I could wrap his gift and get it under the tree without him sneaking a peek at it. I had about an hour, so unless the weather suddenly became a blizzard, I’d be fine.