Holiday Magic (Second Chance) (12 page)

She smiled her thanks and sat down at the breakfast bar.

He watched her eat, but didn’t say a word. He poured them both a second cup and joined her at the counter.

“
I’ll need to check the generator and bring in some wood. I think I’ll do that before I clean up. I’ll probably have to move that branch out of the way too.”

“
You’ll have to wait for me because you’re not going out there alone. Neither of us is.”

“
Yes, ma’am.” He saluted making her laugh. “You’ve gotten bossy all of a sudden.”

Her face got serious. “Mark, we need to talk about what happened.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it. We both had a shock yesterday, but I hope you meant what you said about being friends.”

“
Of course, I did, but that’s not what we need to talk about.”

Chapter Twelve

Now she had made the decision to tell him about Lucy, she didn’t know where to begin.

She stood and reached out her hand. “Let’s go sit in front of the fire. It’ll be warmer there. Come sit with me on the couch.” She felt chilled as though her spirit realized that she could be making a huge mistake, but was powerless to stop her.

Mark followed her to the sofa, and when she looked at him, he reminded her of a child who had just lost his best friend.

He’s expecting bad news,
she thought.
I hope I’m right and he won’t think so. What if I’m boxing him into a corner? What if he doesn’t want things to go back the way they were?

She remembered the early morning reaction of his body, and it gave her the willpower to continue. If all he might want from her was sex, it was a place to start.

He sat on the couch, but Georgia didn’t join him. Instead, she walked over to the window and looked outside. After a few moments, she took a deep breath and turned to face him.

“
Before I say anything about three years ago, I want you to understand that it doesn’t matter to me one way or another. What did or what didn’t happen doesn’t make any difference now.” At the crestfallen look on his face, she hurried to continue.

“
What I mean is that after yesterday, I realize that I don’t want to spend my life alone, playing what if, and hiding away from my emotions. I want us to be friends again, and maybe, if you want it to happen, we can see if the friendship will lead to something else. We loved one another once and…”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Mark jumped off the couch in a flash and pulled her into his arms, crushing her lips with his in a kiss that spoke of years of loneliness and loss. In her own need, she opened to him, and their tongues met in a dance older than time. The kiss gentled, and when he pulled away, she saw tears in his eyes.

“Georgia, I want that more than anything. We’ll take things as slowly as you want to take them, honey, but if you’re willing to give me a second chance, forgive me for what I’ve done, then, right now, I’m the happiest man on earth.”

Tears pooled in her eyes. “Oh, Mark, I’m so sorry. I think all of this may have been my fault, not yours,” she said, trying not to cry. She tried to push out of his arms, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“There’s no way any of it was your fault,” he insisted, defending her and holding her tighter. “I was the one who got drunk. I was the one in that bed.”

Georgia pushed away savagely and shook her head.

“No, please. You have to listen to me. You have to know the truth. It’s the only way we can ever move on, and maybe find our way back to what we had. That morning, when I went over there, I was crushed when I saw you in Lucy’s bed, and I was so sure that I knew what had happened that I never stopped to listen to anyone. I never gave either of you a chance to explain.”

He moved away frustrated, his eyes as full of tears as hers. “What was there for me to explain? The evidence was certainly condemning, and I don’t remember a damn thing. I blacked out. I was a monster, a beast that tore your heart out and tossed it away. It’s why I rarely drink anymore. I learned just a few weeks ago that I got to her place by cab, someone had given the driver her address, and I wish to hell I knew who.”

“I ran into Lucy on Thursday.”

He stopped pacing and stared at her, his face losing all color. From her face, he knew she was relaying something particularly distasteful to her. He hoped he’d at least called Lucy by Georgia’s name. That was the other thing that had never made sense. Lucy was the only one of Georgia’s friends that he had really disliked.

“Let’s have the bad news,” he said resigned.

“
She told me that it was all a prank. She said I’d overreacted, and deserved what had happened because I wouldn’t listen to anyone, and thought I was better than all of you. She said nothing had happened.”

Mark stood there staring at her. The remaining color drained from his face. How could anyone have been so cruel? It was true that he had spurned Lucy’s advances both before and after he and Georgia had become engaged, but for as long as he could remember, he had always had eyes only for Georgia. Talk about a woman scorned. He hoped that Anton realized what a cruel woman he had married. Right now, he would like to give her a piece of his mind. How dare she hurt Georgia in that way! And to make her feel that it was her fault? Well, that was just low.

“How did she do it? How did she convince one of my friends to give the cabby her address? How could I have gotten so drunk that she was able to pull it off?”

“
Eleni’s friend Joe thinks she had someone slip you a mickey,” she said. “Eleni always maintained your innocence, but I was too proud to listen. I’m sorry. Up until Lucy got sick, we were all supposed to end up at her place. I’d forgotten that.” Tears threatened to fall, and she turned back towards the window. She felt him touch her shoulder and turn her around.

“
Georgia, darling,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “You have nothing to be sorry about, and none of this is your fault. You reacted exactly the way she expected you to react. She must have said something that made you feel the need to check on her, otherwise, you wouldn’t have. How did you even get in?”

Georgia looked at him, her face showing her confusion. “She had sounded so sick on the phone, that I was worried about her. Lucy never got sick. As to how I got in, she had given me a key, so I could bring over all the food and stuff for the party, and when she got sick, we moved everything to Eleni’s. Lucy asked me to return her keys sometime Sunday morning.” She looked horrified, unable to comprehend the cold, calculated way her so-called friend had almost ruined her life.

Mark put his arms around her again and pulled her close.

“
When she told me she thought she was pregnant, she also said she wanted us to make a go of things, but I turned her down. I said I’d stand by the child if it was mine, but I wanted nothing to do with her. Two weeks later, she said she’d miscalculated, and then she married Anton. She was jealous of you, of us and our happiness, and she took it away from us, but we have a second chance now. Let’s not let anything spoil it this time.”

He put his finger under her chin and raised her head, so that he could see her beautiful face. He bent his head and kissed her tenderly.

Georgia felt all the pain she had carried with her so long slip away, and the love she had held in her heart flooded through her and into the kiss. It was going to work out. He did not blame her for what had happened, and she could no longer blame him for any of the pain she had suffered.

He pulled back slowly. “I love you,” he said. “I have always loved you and only you. Give me a chance to make you happy again.”

Her eyes sparkled with tears, but they were tears of happiness. “I love you too,” she said. “I never stopped loving you. Mark, make love to me.”

He needed no further urging. He picked her up and carried her up to their room. He laid her on the sleeping bags. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since I set eyes on you again. I haven’t been alive without you. Let me show you how much you mean to me.”

She smiled coyly. “Well, if you think you’re up to it.” 

***

The sun was shining when they finally left the loft. The chalet was toasty, and Georgia was starving. She had a feeling that she might have to work to keep her svelte figure, if her appetite was going to keep her eating the way she was. Deep down she hoped that they had created the child she so desperately wanted. She would have no problem giving up her skinny clothes for that.

She made banana pancakes, Mark’s favorite, while he showered. She remembered all of his favorite dishes and looked forward to cooking each and every one of them, and she would start as soon as they could return to the city. After three years apart, neither one of them wanted to be separated again. Georgia would move into the loft as soon as she could get packed. He would arrange to have the crate containing her design studio materials brought over to the apartment. They would put up a Christmas tree with all of the ornaments she had in the storage locker, and a few they would purchase in Palmerton as permanent souvenirs of this place. He would have today’s date put on that “Our First Christmas” ornament, even if he had to do it himself in permanent marker. She smiled. She rather liked that idea.

Early that afternoon, they dressed and went outside to inspect the damage. The space surrounding the chalet was littered with smaller branches, and as Mark shoveled a path to the garage for them, she admired the beauty of the area. Perhaps they could buy their own chalet. It would be a wonderful way to maintain the closeness they had recaptured here. She had several ideas for jewelry designs, and planned a new Blue Mountain collection around them.

When they approached the birch tree, Georgia paled when she saw the size of the branch and realized how far it had been from the house. How had she managed to pull him through the snow the way she had? He had to weigh at least eighty pounds more than she did.

Together, they moved the branch further off the path, surprised to see that the smaller branches had protected the indentation where his body had been. Blood, frozen in the snow, showed where his head had been, and the deeper scar from the tree was beside it. Another few inches to the left, and the main branch would have struck him. She shivered. If the full force of the tree had hit him, he would probably have died.

“
I guess, I really did get lucky,” he said, staring at the blood and realizing what a close call it had been.

Georgia put her arms around him and raised her lips to his. “We got lucky,” she whispered.

***

The rest of the month passed in a haze of happiness for Georgia. Tonight, Christmas Eve, she stood by the grandstand in the ballroom waiting for Mark to claim her for their last dance of the evening. She watched him cross the floor as the orchestra began to play ‘Unchained Melody’. He looked so young and handsome in his costume – Prince Adam, the Beast’s real name – and reached for her, his love there for all to see on his face. Dressed as Belle, she went willingly into the arms of her prince, the man she loved beyond all others. Beside them, Eleni dressed as Snow White and Joe as her prince danced, lost in the music and in one another. As soon as the song ended, the four of them made their way to the exit. They had another event to attend tonight.

Georgia stood next to Mark in front of the minister in City Church. After the regular Christmas Eve service, Sam and Meg had decorated the church thematically, and now sat with the other employees from Holiday Magic in the pews, together with Gwen and her fiancé Tom, smiling at the radiant couple. He still wore his Prince Adam costume, and she had donned the newly fitted Belle wedding gown that she had designed three years ago. Eleni stood next to her, her green eyes sparkling with tears of joy. Joe acted as best man, and since Georgia had wanted the ceremony small and private, Mark had agreed. In fact, he would have agreed to anything to make this wedding a reality.

He held her hand in his, and slowly removed the resized engagement ring he had given her as soon as they had returned to the city. The three days they had spent in the chalet had been magical, and thanks to his incredibly generous offer, he had persuaded the Ingram’s to sell it to him. It was his wedding present to her. She didn’t know it yet, but they would be spending their month-long honeymoon cocooned in the Blue Mountains.

“The bride and groom have written their vows, and they’d like to speak them now. Mark, you may go first,” said Reverend James.

Mark kissed Georgia’s hand.

“Georgia, when you aren’t around, my world is empty. I want you with me always. I can’t make up for the tears you’ve shed, or the pain you’ve felt, but know that I will never let anything or anyone hurt you again. You’re the sun, the moon, and the stars of my universe. I love you above all others, and I’ll love you long after we’ve gone from this place. I will honor you in all things and place you above all others in my life. With this ring,” he slipped a beautiful gold band that matched her engagement ring onto her finger, “a symbol of my enduring love, I give you all that I am, and all that I shall ever be.”

Tears of happiness filled Georgia’s eyes.

“Georgia, I believe you have something to say to Mark,” said Reverend James, smiling at her encouragingly. She reached for the ring Eleni handed her.

She smiled, and stepped closer to the man she loved.

“Mark, you are my world, the other half of my soul, and I know that without you, I’m just a shadow of myself. I want to have your children, watch them grow, and grow old with you. I want to spend my days and my nights completing your world. I loved you then, now, and always.” She reached for his left hand. “Take this ring, one I have designed for you and you alone, and know that it is my commitment to you today and always.” She slipped the ring, a wide gold band etched with raised tree branches, on his finger.

“
By the power vested in me by the state of Pennsylvania, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”