Hating Christmas (Holiday Series) (3 page)

Hoisting his bag again, Levi let his dad draw him
into the house’s small foyer and dropped his luggage as he returned
his father’s hug.

“Gosh, it’s great to see you, son. It’s been too
long!”

Hugging his dad with a sudden rush of emotion, Levi
felt choked up for a moment. He missed the old man, now that they
were living so far apart.

“It’s great to see you, too,” Levi responded as soon
as his father loosened his grip.

“And here’s the new family,” his dad said, swinging
an arm toward an older woman who stood nearby, her smile looking as
strained as Levi’s suddenly felt.

Particularly when his glance swung to the younger,
shapely woman who stood beside her and he recognized….

His redheaded nightmare from the airport.

For a confused moment, Levi just looked at her.

The woman stood next to his father’s new wife with
the same shocked recognition on her face as he was sure his
expression showed. He knew he wasn’t dreaming, but….

“What the hell,” he muttered at the same time he
heard her breathe, “OMG!”

His father—bustling to awkwardly pull the older woman
forward—didn’t seem to have heard either exclamation.

“Levi, this is Audrey. You remember your step-mother,
of course.” His big, gregarious dad looked even larger next to the
slight woman he put his arm around, the expression in his eyes a
little anxious.

“Nice to see you again, Levi,” the older woman
offered calmly, adding, “we’re glad you could make it. I know your
work keeps you very busy. We’re glad you could get away.”

Michael laughed a hearty chuckle that sounded fake.
“And Hollywood is quite a distance from here.”

Audrey reached out for the younger woman. “I don’t
believe you’ve met my daughter, Holly, yet—“

“Unless you know each other from working in the
entertainment business,” his father stuck in, laughing again.
“Holly Fitzgerald. Remember? I mentioned that Holly makes
documentaries. She was in—where was it?” The older man looked over
at his step-daughter. “Ghana? When her mother and I got
married.”

“Zambia.” Her gaze was still locked on Levi’s face
with a startled expression in the blue depths.

His dad waved a hand, as if chastising himself for
forgetting. “That’s right. Zambia. I get those countries mixed up.
Holly was filming in Zambia when Audrey and I up and decided to get
married after we found each other again.”

“It was a little sudden.” Levi continued to stare at
Holly. The name seemed to fit her, but he couldn’t get over the
fact that the sexy redheaded, irritated woman in the airport was
actually his new step-mother’s daughter.

“Yes, it was. Sudden, I mean.” Holly stepped forward
to shake his hand, her expression speculative.

“Actually,” Levi said with deliberation, their hands
still locked, “Holly and I flew in on the same plane from
California this morning.”

“Yes, we did.” She took her hand back from his
grasp.

“You did?” His father looked delighted as he waved
them into the living area.

“Yes.” Holly slipped into a chair by the fireplace,
across the room from a Christmas tree that was so heavily
decorated, it was hard to see the green boughs. “He tried to steal
my seat and then he took my bag from the carousel.”

Levi glanced around. Christmas decorations seem to
sit on every surface.

“That was before she jammed on her rental car brakes
and made me rear end her.” He smiled thinly at her.

“I did not
make
you rear end me,” Holly
retorted. “You did that all on your own.”

“Well, since you’d cut me off and there wasn’t any
room to stop—“

“Now children,” his father interrupted with another
hearty-anxious laugh.

“You had an accident? I’m glad neither of you were
hurt,” Audrey said, glancing at her daughter. “Was there much
damage to the cars?”

“Hardly any.” As Holly reached a reassuring hand out
to her mother, she threw Levi an annoyed glance. “And I did not cut
you off.”

“I’m sure my insurance will cover everything,
regardless,” he assured her, returning look for look.

“Well,” his father started again as they all sat down
in the chairs grouped around the Christmas tree, “I’m certainly
glad you could both be here.”

He smiled fondly at his wife, whom he’d sat by.
“Audrey just loves the holidays, don’t you, honey?”

His wife, who had struck Levi from the first as being
on the quiet side, just said, “Yes.”

“That’s why she named her baby girl Holly,” his dad
joked.

“Thanks, mom,” Holly stuck in, making a face.”

“Don’t you like the name?” Levi asked. He knew he’d
seen her somewhere before, but he didn’t remember where. The face
didn’t ring any bells, but her name was elusively familiar.

Holly’s smile was strained. “It’s fine. I’m just not
a fan of all the Christmas crap.”

“Holly.” Her mother chastised her with the word.

Levi didn’t feel this was the time to agree with his
soon-to-be ex-stepmother’s daughter. “Really?”

“Mom, you know it’s just another month for me.
Besides people are annoying at this time of year—spending money
they don’t have and acting all fake-happy with people they don’t
even like.”

Levi had to agree with this assessment, but he
couldn’t resist saying, “Not to mention how irritating they are to
travel with.”

She looked at him. “Don’t start with me. You’re the
one who took—“

“I know.” He shook his head sadly. “I sat in your
seat by accident and grabbed your bag by accident—“

“Making me have to run after you just to get it
back!”

“I probably deserved you cutting me off in the rental
car and causing me to run into you.” He smiled disagreeably at her
again,.

“You certainly have a lot of
accidents
,” Holly
stuck in, her voice snide.

“Now, now. Let’s don’t start all that again.” His
father’s chuckle was forced. “We need to get along if we’re going
to enjoy the holidays.”

Levi decided not to respond to this.

“Let’s go in to lunch,” Michael said with the forced
cheerfulness that was starting to get on his son’s nerves.
“Audrey’s been cooking all morning.”

***

Silence filled the awkward space between Holly and
Levi, Michael having shooed her and his son into the living area
while the older couple cleaned off the table, saying they should
talk about
all the acquaintances
they had in common.

Holly tried not to snort at this. She’d put together
the pieces, and she knew better than anyone that she and Levi
didn’t generally occupy the same territory. Michael’s son just
happened to be Levi Harper, big time agent to many of the
up-and-coming stars and starlets in the film industry. Not to
mention several really big established names.

And he just happened to be the agent for Mac Toledo,
who Holly had a signed contract that he’d with to work with her in
this Zambian documentary. Although Levi was Mac’s agent, he and
Holly hadn’t had any dealings. Bless his soul, Mac had a conscience
about the less-fortunate in this world and he’d already signed a
contract to work for scale.

Levi now seated himself on her mother’s vintage plaid
sofa, crossing one elegantly-shod foot over the other, looking
polite, but bored. “So, you make documentaries?”

“I would guess you don’t give a crap about what I
do.” Holly tried to keep the derision out of her voice as she
smiled at him. They had different agendas, different working styles
and different investments in the business side of film-making.
There wasn’t any point in getting nasty about this, but she didn’t
think they needed to pretend like they had much to say to one
another. She didn’t think he came into her dealings with Mac
Toledo. At least she hoped not.

“I wouldn’t say I don’t give a crap,” Levi murmured,
his dark brows lifted.

“Let’s don’t act like we have anything in common
because we know differently.” She sat back in the matching plaid
chair, switching the topic without hesitation to the larger concern
at hand. “What do you think about our parents getting married? They
haven’t even seen each other since they were in their teens!”

His gaze narrowed. “You mother seems like a nice
woman.”

“She is.”

“My dad’s been single a long time, though. It can be
difficult to get used to considering someone else. His last divorce
was final nearly twenty-two years ago.”

Holly got his meaning. Subtext was her specialty.
“You think he can’t adjust to being committed?”

He looked down, frowning. “My father is a decent,
loyal guy. If anything, he gets too committed, too quickly.”

Jumping on the inference, she said, “You think they
got married too fast.”

Levi looked up, his expression unreadable. “I’m sure
it probably didn’t seem too fast to your mother.”

“What do you mean?” Curious and irritated all at
once, Holly couldn’t help bristling at the note in his voice. She
wasn’t in favor of this impulsive marriage, either, but she had a
gut feeling that there was something demeaning in his
statement.

He shifted a little on the plaid couch, saying in a
level voice, “I can imagine a guy with my dad’s…situation, probably
seemed like a great catch. He has all his teeth, doesn’t gamble to
excess and is financially set.”

Holly gasped. “You can’t be serious. My mom is doing
fine financially—“

Looking down at the aged couch, he said with a sleek
smile that made her want to hit him. “Of course, she is.”
“—and she wouldn’t marry a guy unless she thought she loved
him—“

“Naturally.”

“—so you needn’t be so condescending.” Sitting
straight up now, Holly felt herself vibrating with indignation.
“And, by the way, your dad has moved in with my mother, not the
other way around.”

“I just think,” he said in a pseudo-apologetic voice,
“that it’s easier for women to
fall in love
with men who
can…give them the lifestyle they desire.”

With a glance at the door to the dining area, she
lowered her voice, “You
snake
. How dare you insinuate that
about my mother? You don’t know her and you have no right to jump
to that kind of conclusion.”

He sat up a little, aiming a cold smile in her
direction. “You’re right. I barely know your mother—hardly less
than my father does—but I’ve met plenty of women who screw men for
money—“

Holly gasped. “How dare you!”

“—and,” he went on in a voice as low as hers, “I’ve
seen men crushed by marriages they thought were genuine, loving
partnerships, but that turned out to be nothing more than an
expensive divorce in the making.”

Recognizing the anger vibrating in his words, she
stared at him in shock, defensive words springing into her throat.
He couldn’t talk bad about her mother!

“It’s just a reality—a sad leftover from the past
decades of male supremacy in the workplace, no doubt—that women
often attach themselves to the men they feel can provide the best
income.“

“You think my mother married your father for his
money,” Holly said in a scoffing voice. “Does he have a lot of
money? Is he a millionaire or something? If so, it’s the first I’ve
heard of it.”

Levi replied with obvious reluctance.
“He’s…comfortable.”

She started to tell him hotly that through frugality
and good-handling of her father’s life insurance money, her mother
was a little better than comfortable. Holly opened her mouth
impetuously to utter the words, but stopped herself in time. What
if Michael Harper didn’t know about her mother’s nest egg? No sense
in blurting that out before the annulment was final.

Levi leaned back on the worn couch, his arm along the
back swinging his suit jacket open to reveal a trim midsection.
“You work in Hollywood. You’ve seen plenty of women screwing men
out of money.”

“And vice versa!” she shot back. “I’ve seen plenty of
men screwing women out of money—“

“That may be happening more, as women earn more,
but—“

“—and I’ve seen even more older, powerful men
screwing desperate women over just because they could.”

Levi’s jaw tightened as he sat forward. “Let’s don’t
play around here. Lots of women have come after my father for his
money—and no, he doesn’t have that much, but it still pulls in the
vultures—“

She gasped again, but he just went on.

“—who want to pick his bones dry. My dad isn’t a
tough guy. He’s sweet and generous and way too giving—“

“Unlike you!”

Levi’s responding smile was thin. “No, I’m not sweet
or generous. I’ve learned how to get everything out of a
situation.”

Her hands griping her knees, she said, “That’s
certainly your reputation!”

“Just so you know. I plan to extricate my father from
this marriage as quickly and as ruthlessly as needed.”

“Extricate him?”

“Yes, without your mother getting a dime. He’s
already done that stint and he’s been through enough.”

She could see a tiny muscle twitch along his jaw.
Apparently the tough negotiator wasn’t as objective when his father
was involved.

Levi leaned back again, stretching his arms along the
top of the couch. “Dad’s got representation, of a sorts. I do the
dirty work and I’m here to make sure no woman takes him to the
cleaners.”

“You know what? Despite the fact that I’d loved to
sock you in the face for what you think of my mother,” Holly smiled
at him thinly, “we’ve both come to this horrendous Christmas
celebration with the same goal. We’re actually were working toward
the same end. Jerk.”

***

Holly trudged through the trampled snow, following
her mother as she delved further into the Christmas tree lot. With
the setting of what little sun they had here in the winter in
Minnesota, the temperature had dropped even lower.

“Mom, are you sure you need
another
tree?”