Beyond the Mistletoe: A Christmas Romance (Beyond Love Book 7) (2 page)

“I haven’t loved you for a very long time.” Paul’s eyes fell from mine. “Not the way a man needs to love his partner.”

The room got smaller by the minute. All four walls squeezed in on me. I couldn’t bear the weight of his words, but then things slowly started to click.

Our prenuptial agreement.

We’d made it to seven years this past November, which entitled him to one-quarter of my savings. The one caveat my attorney advised me against, but Paul insisted on. I was the one who came into our relationship with a substantial amount of money I’d socked away, but I never thought that factored into anything. We’d always lived somewhat frugally and money  never seemed to be an issue. Apparently, I was wrong.

My hand recoiled from his shoulder as if I’d been burned.

And on many levels I had.

Every part of me had been singed with deceit.

Did he ever love me? Had everything been a lie? Was I the only one who’d been in love?

“Our families are coming over tomorrow for Christmas. What do we tell them?” My words were only a whisper to the stranger in front of me.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We’ll have a nice Christmas like we’d planned, and I’ll be out of the house by the end of the year. There’s no point in ruining anyone else’s holiday.”

“Just mine. You wanted to make sure I knew before morning? Couldn’t you have waited?” The anger built at an unstoppable rate.

“I’ve waited long enough.”

He spun on his heels and walked out of the studio. Loneliness surged through my body, and bit-by-bit, the walls sprang up around my heart. If I was going to get through the next twenty-four hours, I needed to get good at pretending.

And I became an expert.

I never did shed a tear that night, not one. Granted in the days, weeks, and months to come, I shed more liquid sorrow than anyone ever should, but in that one bitter haze of confusion, all I felt was anger toward the man who played the biggest trick on me in my thirty-plus years of existence. The betrayal ran deep.

He tricked me into believing he loved me.

Chapter Two

Present Day

“I don’t know how I got so lucky. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted and more.” I glanced at the gorgeous specimen sitting on the couch.

His brown eyes caught the sun’s last bit of light before nightfall, and I couldn’t help myself as I chuckled aloud. He was just too cute, and he was all mine. Life had a way of turning around.

“It’s not every single day someone comes across a partner who completes them in every possible way. Do you know how hard it has been to find someone who likes going on hikes, enjoys tasting all my experimental recipes, and not to mention, worships the ground I walk on? I’d almost given up hope, Bodie.”

Bodie grunted, and my insides lit up with happiness. I smiled to myself and inhaled the sweetness from the last batch of cookies I’d pulled out of the oven.

I knew perfection was unrealistic in relationships, but I felt we were teetering on the brink of it.

Placing a few cookies on a plate, I walked over to the couch and took a seat next to him. His brown eyes took me in before falling to the gingerbread cookies, and I noticed just how long his dark lashes were. He greedily snatched up a cookie off the plate and finished it in an instant. Gazing at me for more, I nuzzled into his neck and gave in.

Bing Crosby singing
White Christmas
played in the background, and I truly felt in my element. It might have taken six years, but maybe there was a glimmer of hope that I’d learn to love the holidays again.

“My only complaint is that you drool during your sleep, and your whiskers are really pokey.” I scratched Bodie’s chin, and he sat up straighter, his eyes focused on the last gingerbread man. “But I know that’s not your fault.”

My hands fell from Bodie’s chin, and he immediately pawed me for more pets and the last cookie.

“Now if only I could bring you to Gabby’s wedding as my date, I’d be all set.”

I glanced around my cozy family room and let out a sigh. I had a lot of decorating left to do. The Christmas tree was still at a slight tilt, but I was just thrilled I got the nine-foot tree anchored in the stand all by myself. As long as we didn’t have an earthquake, the tree should make it through the holidays without crushing Bodie or me. I still had our stockings to hang, and dancing Santas to arrange near the fireplace, but I was getting this place more ready for the season than it had been in years.

The front door opened and a huge gust of icy wind funneled down the hallway as Gabby stepped inside and hollered a cheerful greeting.

“Knock, knock,” Gabby sang out. “It’s freezing out there.”

“Maybe I can convince Gabby tonight that you’re my plus one,” I whispered to Bodie. His tail wagged, and I was certain as long as he could have some cake, he’d be an excellent date.

“Hopefully your wedding dress will be lined with fleece,” I teased, standing up from the couch. “I can’t believe how cold it’s been this fall.”

Bodie looked at me longingly, and I scratched his ear before dashing off to take Gabby’s jacket.

“I definitely need to thaw out.” She smiled and shivered.

“Do you think it will actually snow?” I asked, giving Gabby a big hug before taking her jacket to hang up. The already packed closet made squeezing in another puffy jacket challenging but doable.

“If not down here, it will definitely snow up by the lodge.” She grinned and took in a deep breath. “Do I smell gingerbread?”

I nodded.

Even though the girl owned a bakery, she could never get enough sweets, but who was I to talk? I worked at her bakery and still baked treats for Bodie and myself.

“Would you like one?” I caught her eyeing the rack of gingerbread cookies.

“Absolutely.”

Gabby was not even two weeks away from walking down the aisle with Jason. They were a great couple, deeply in love, and their relationship was almost as perfect as mine was with Bodie. Their love was one of those that made a person realize that sometimes fate needed to step in and clobber someone upside the head a few times to steer a person in the right direction, and that’s exactly what happened to them both. Those two were stubborn to begin with, and now they were stubbornly in love. It made me realize what love in my life should have been. I’d settled and hadn’t even realized it.

She helped herself to the cookies, and I poured us each a glass of milk before we took a seat at the breakfast bar. I dusted a few crumbs off the granite and grabbed her some paper napkins.

“So, I’ve been meaning to tell you this, but we’ve been so busy at work I felt I needed to make the trek.” Her gaze avoided mine, which worried me.

I lived on Hound Island, which only had four ferries a day, two in the morning and two in the evening. It made visits challenging and usually an overnight affair. But if whatever Gabby wanted to tell me required a trip to see me, I wasn’t looking forward to whatever was about to spill out of her mouth.

“I don’t know how to put this,” she began.

I bit the gingerbread man’s head off and stared at her. Gabby’s golden blond hair was in a thick braid and wispy strands framed her delicate features. Even after a long day running the bakery, she looked incredible. I, however, needed a date with my red hair dye to revive the dull color. I was born a brunette, but since my divorce I enjoyed being a redhead because my ex-husband hated the look.

She took a sip of milk, buying herself more time.

“Just say what you have to say. Is it the bakery? My job?”

Gabby shook her head and looked somewhat relieved by my guesses. “Not at all. The bakery is growing at an unbelievably great pace, and I can’t imagine not having you there.”

“Then spit it out.” I let out the breath I’d been holding in.

“You know how we’re having our bachelor/bachelorette party up at the lodge the weekend before the wedding?”

I nodded. “Do you need me to stay at the bakery after all?”

Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind staying home one bit. Weddings and holidays weren’t exactly my favorite things on earth. I was still in the baby-step stages of both. I did my best to fill my life with the joy of the season, but it was a feeble attempt at best. And weddings… Don’t even get me started.

“No. Not at all. The bakery is covered. I’d be traumatized for months if you didn’t come.”

My heart sank slightly.

“Then what’s up?”

“Lily has a friend who she thinks would be perfect for you.” Gabby bit her lip and waited.

“What do you mean perfect for me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at not only my boss, but one of my closest friends. It was a tricky spot to be in. Not to mention Lily was one of Gabby’s best friends and a bridesmaid. It would be impossible to ignore this mystery setup. And I certainly couldn’t ditch the blind date at the last moment like I usually did. I was stuck.

Gabby fidgeted, but she couldn’t hide her smile as she continued with the details of their plan. “Well, Lily thinks she’s a matchmaker and has found someone she thinks you’ll like.”

The pit in my stomach grew to the size of a gully. Dating was not my thing.

“I told you about my online dating fiasco—”

“And how you canceled your profile after only two weeks. You didn’t even give it a chance.”

“Because the experience was horrible. I didn’t even bother going on the last date I accepted with a new guy.”

“Well, hopefully you at least canceled with the guy and didn’t just stand him up.”

My cheeks reddened.

“I’d forgotten to message him until the next morning, and I did feel horrible about it. But I got so busy at the bakery that when I got home, Bodie needed to go for a walk, and before I knew it, I’d crawled into bed with a good book.”

“Are you serious?” Gabby’s eyes widened. “That’s horrible. He’s probably wounded for life.”

“Doubtful, but I do feel really bad about it.”

“Yeah. It sounds like it.” She rolled her eyes. “But you can’t blame the bakery on forgetting that one. You’re sabotaging yourself and your dating life. Plain and simple. Your subconscious has decided that dating isn’t important.”

“I’m not sabotaging myself. I’m content living a blissful existence on the island.”

“On one of the smallest islands in Washington tucked away from most of civilization. It sounds to me like you’re turning into a hermit.”

“And precisely what would be wrong with turning into a hermit?” I crossed my arms and flashed a grin.

Gabby groaned and shook her head, but she pressed on. “Anyway, the guy will be at our party at the lodge.”

“The bachelor/bachelorette party? Please tell me you’re kidding.” I slapped my head with my palm.

“Not kidding at all. Come on.” She grinned. “It’ll be good for you.”

“It’s one thing to be set up on a blind date over coffee, but it’s quite another to be expected to see the guy for an entire weekend. What if we don’t hit it off, and then forever after, we’ll be dodging one another. Can you say awkward?”

“Not only can I say it, I can spell it.” Gabby wriggled her brows, and I wanted to slug her, all in good fun of course. “And you’d only have to dodge one another for the weekend if it went belly-up. He’s unable to make it to the wedding so don’t be overly dramatic.”

I groaned.  Gabby was the sweetest girl I knew, but she also had a no-nonsense manner that kicked me in the gut at moments.

“Sometimes the best things in life blossom from getting out of your comfort zone.”

“Seriously, this could go really wrong, and I’ll be stuck up in the mountains with no way to escape.”

“But we’ll all be there with you,” she assured me.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I laughed. “My dating life has now become a spectator sport.”

Bodie sensed my pain and jumped off the couch to waddle his way over to me. I bent down to give him a grateful scratch but realized all he had planned was to sniff out the cookie crumbs.

Traitor.

“It’ll be fine. He’s really cute, and he’s a lawyer.”

I cringed.

“What?” Gabby asked, almost offended.

“My ex was an accountant.”

“So?”

“I tend to stay away from any men in suits.”

“Who are you kidding?” Gabby chuckled. “You stay away from all men. Period.”

“I’m not that bad.”

Gabby’s brow arched.

“Well, maybe I am.” I sighed and shook my head. “I guess if he’s a total dud, I can hide out with Bodie in my hotel room.”

“Not on my watch, but yes. Tell yourself whatever you need to in order to get to the lodge. This gingerbread cookie is fantastic.”

“Thanks.”

“Not my recipe?” she asked.

“I added orange zest.”

“Wow. We might need to include this in our daily selection.” She grinned. “Would you mind?”

“I’d be flattered.”

Gabby stood up and walked over to a painting I’d just finished for her and Jason. I’d propped it on a side table near the television. It was one of their wedding gifts, but I’d left it out to see if Gabby would gravitate toward it or not. Paintings were so personal, and what I felt they might like, they might hate. I was hoping my little test wouldn’t backfire.