Hell on Heels Christmas (18 page)

“I want to talk to her.”

When JC took another aggressive step forward Regan stepped between the two men. JC grabbed her arm and squeezed.

“You don’t have to talk to him, Regan. You don’t owe him anything,” JC said.

“
If he wants closure I’ll give it to him,” Regan said.

JC released her and she grabbed Daniel’s arm, grabbed a coat at random off the rack and walked back outside. The cold slapped her in the face as she dragged Daniel down the steps. She saw the limo waiting and mentally rolled her eyes as she turned to him.

“Well, Happy Thanksgiving. You should’ve called!” she said with a bright smile.

Daniel watched her warily. “You aren’t answering my calls.”

She slapped her hand on his chest so hard he took a step back. “Exactly. So why are you showing up in my hometown, at a stranger’s house to ruin my Thanksgiving?”

“You never celebrate the holidays. I didn’t think you’d be with other people.”

Because she avoided holiday gatherings like the plague and she was a loner. That hit home and she put her hands on her hips.

“I’m home and I’ve decided to enjoy this holiday shit so what do you want?”

He spread his hands. “Regan.”

His voice was chiding and she was pissed to find he still had the power to make her feel ashamed of herself. Daniel was almost ten years older and he’d been more of a father figure than a boyfriend. She looked up to him and learned the secrets of business from him. She owed him a lot but she’d paid him back tenfold for her loyalty to the company and the efforts she’d gone to help him expand.

“Daniel,” she sighed and shook her head. “Screwing your secretary is so tacky. You can be really smart but you’re stupid too.”

He shook his head. “You’ve changed.”

She relaxed and laughed. “No. I’ve always been this way. This is the first time you’ve seen me be myself.”

He cocked his head to the side and looked her up and down. To give him the full effect she held the coat open so he could examine her jeans and shirt. He hadn’t seen her in anything less formal than a pantsuit since she started at his company.

“I was hoping you’d be ready to come home.”

She scoffed. “You mean
head back into the office.”

“I screwed up but you didn’
t have to leave.”

She turned up the collar on her coat
and felt her face beginning to freeze. “You know, I’m actually glad you cheated on me. It gave me a reason to leave. I love your company but I need to live for more than that.”

“Well, what do you want?”

There was that damn question again. Why did people keep asking her that? Sensing weakness Daniel took her hand in his and squeezed.

“You don’t have to come back to me bu
t you can have your job back. I’ll increase your salary, send you abroad more or ground you in the States if you want.”

She sighed. “You know we’re talking more about the job than us?”

Daniel grimaced. “It’s mixed together.”

“No. It was only business.”

“We worked well together.”

“And that’s it.”

Daniel stared. “You’re gonna stay in this town?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come back to New York.”

“Nope. I wasn’t happy there.”

He looked around, every inch the snobby billionaire. “You’re happy here?”

She didn’t like the incredulous note in his voice. “My family lives here.”

“But I can make you rich. Why would you stay here?”

“Because money isn’t everything, Daniel!”

A patronizing smile curved his mouth. “Regan, when you’re ready to come back to me, give me a call.”

“I don’t think so.”

He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips before she could avoid him.

“You never know
what will happen in the future. If you find yourself at loose ends you have my number. Happy Thanksgiving.”

He walked towards his limo and ducked inside. She heard footsteps
behind her and turned to see Brooks. His eyes were narrowed with anger and she knew from the bulges in his pockets that his hands were clenched in fists.

“
You really can speak French,” he said.

Regan blinked, realizing she’d automatically reverted to French when she saw Daniel. It was a habit she’d picked up after being together so long.

“He want you back?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going?”

She blinked. “No.”

He relaxed fractionally. “That’s good.”

Seeing Daniel who was so detached and now Brooks who wore his emotions on his sleeve was fascinating. The two men who proposed to her couldn’t be more different from one another. Both men saw potential in her that she didn’t see in herself but in totally different capacit
ies. Daniel saw a businesswoman and Brooks saw…

“Where do you see me in the future?”

Brooks didn’t miss a beat. He walked forward until he towered over her. His eyes gleamed in the setting sun. “I see you taking over several businesses in White Mist. I see you living with me, seeing your mom every day and helping her with the shop.”

She considered. “I like that.”

He leaned down. “All of it or some of it?”

She thought of Daniel’s coldblooded business offer and examined the strain on Bro
oks face. He was rigid, waiting for her to answer.

“All of it.”

“I was standing on the porch and I couldn’t understand what you were saying. You laughed and he kissed you. I didn’t know what I was going to do if you got into the limo with him.”

“
Daniel and I have a complicated relationship.”

“No shit. What did you tell him?”

“That I’m going to stay.”

He still looked uncertain so s
he leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Maybe she wasn’t traditional wife material and maybe she would always have that wandering gene from her father but she cared for Brooks and her family. She felt no desire for the luxury Daniel could provide or the job that she’d once dedicated every waking moment to. She wanted to be home.

“Is that s
leaze ball gone?” Missy called from the door.

“Yeah.”

“Good. Come back inside.”

They went back in and one look from Brooks convinced everyone not to bombard her with questions. The rest of Thanksgiving passed with talking, laughing,
eating every hour, playing board games with the kids in front of the fire and decorating the Hawking’s tree. JC snapped pictures here and there and took a group shot. People wanted pictures with their families and Regan stayed as far away as possible until Missy and Valerie dragged her into the Delaney shot. With Luke and Angel in her arms and her family clustered around her she felt the sting of tears. Brooks stood beside JC watching her and she looked at him instead of the camera. Brooks came towards her after JC snapped off several pictures.

“You think we can bow out?” Brooks murmured, hands on her waist.

“Not before we take our family picture,” Paula said.

Regan tried to get out of the way but Brooks locked his hands on her and placed her in front of him. Kerry and Paula stared at him but Uncle Al slapped his knee and chortled. Regan saw her mom and Missy whispering on the side and shot them a threatening look as JC called her attention back to him.

“Smile Regan!”

She heard the laughter in his voice and was tempted to kill him. This
so
wasn’t funny. When everyone started to leave Brooks kept her hand in his as if afraid she would slip away. She didn’t argue when he bustled her out to his truck and they drove to his house. He rushed them to his bedroom and after he set her on the bed he unwrapped her carefully, never taking his eyes from her. When they came together time stretched and she shuddered as his rough hands moved over her skin. He called her name as they climaxed and he held her tight against him long after their breathing evened out.

“
Stay with me,” he murmured into the night.

“
Yes.”

JC left several days later with lots of images of White Mist
and a secret smile on his face when he left. Brooks bullied her into spending the nights at his house again while she worked night and day on the website until Brooks or her mom threatened to take away her laptop. She shipped more packages than everyone in White Mist combined. The phone calls, texts and voicemails from New York slowed and trickled to a stop and Regan found herself relaxing even more.

White Mist decorated the town for Christmas. There was a huge Christmas tree in the middle of the square and lights were strung from one building to another so cars drove beneath
a blinking canopy of lights at night. When it came time to decorate the Delaney tree at her mom’s house Valerie baked sugar cookies and the kids ate most of them instead of bothering to decorate them like Valerie wanted. Regan sat in the middle of it all- nieces and nephews crawling over her, their parents yelling at their kids or each other, Valerie calling for help from the kitchen while Christmas music played in the background. She sat on the couch, staring at the tree which dazzled her with sparkles and cheer. Brooks sat beside her and put an arm around her.

“Tired?” he asked.

“No. I’m good,” she said and leaned into him.

He was so different from the guys she dated when she left White Mist yet
she and Brooks melded together as if they’d never been apart. She was done with trying to figure out if and when her restlessness would return. She was coming up on two months in White Mist which felt more like a year and she was… great. She didn’t examine or question herself. She just absorbed the contentment for now. She had a family, a man who loved her and a business to keep her occupied.

Brooks and her mom kept Christmas music playing 24/7 and she found herself excited for Christmas for the first time in ten years. She sang along with Amy Grant as she drove through town and wrapped Christmas baskets with her mom and reluctantly delivered baked goods to the neighbors and spent the whole day talking until she was almost hoarse.

Brooks bought a Christmas tree and when she refused to help him decorate he deliberately made it look horrible. He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist and he laughed when she got up in the middle of the night to rearrange the ornaments. Brooks forced her to go Christmas shopping with him and for the first time was in the predicament of trying to find the right gift for everyone. When she decided to give everyone gift cards Brooks stared at her.

“It’s Christmas. People need a gift to unwrap,” he said.

“Christmas is about the birth of Christ,” Regan said defensively and blushed when he guffawed in her face.

It took her a whole week to get a gift for everyone. She was so proud of herself.
The week before Christmas Valerie, Paula and Regan practically lived at the shop. For the first time in thirty years the shop was nearly empty. It was an embarrassment to unlock the door and say they were open for business when they had nothing to show. The older women chortled with glee as they learned how to post their items online and watch their money multiply in leaps and bounds.

On Christmas Eve there was an electric emergency so Brooks headed off to work and Regan trudged over to Missy’s house to torture her sister. Max dropped the kids off at Missy’s as he headed out to work
since Holly was visiting her parents who lived several hours away. Missy put Regan in charge of the kids so she could clean the house and wrap the last of their gifts. Regan had a blast with the kids, dragging them out of the house into the newly fallen snow. By afternoon the kids were comatose and Regan sat at the table with Missy who plopped an eggnog and Kahlua drink in front of her while the kids napped.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you handle the kids well since you never grew up,” Missy said snidely.

“You’re welcome for saving your stupid ass,” Regan retorted.

“So what’s up with you and Brooks?”

“What do you care?”

“He’s always had it so bad for you and the way he watches you… God, he must be good in bed.”

Regan tipped her nose in the air. “Of course he’s amazing in bed. I made him that way.”

Missy leaned forward. “Go on.”

Regan raised her brows and drank a hefty amount of her drink and sat back as warmth rushed through her veins. “It’s always been like this between us.”

“So why did you say no to him all those years ago?”

Regan clenched her teeth. “I didn’t want to stay here. I had plans.”

“Plans.”

Regan shook her head. “Don’t start with me.”

Missy shrugged innocently. “I’m just trying to get the facts.”

“You’re a legal secretary not a lawyer. Get it straight.”

“I could have been a lawyer.”

“A bad one,” Regan muttered into her drink.

Missy kicked Regan under the table. In reflex Regan kicked back. Harder.

“Mom’s glad you’re here,” Missy said.

Regan said nothing. She got up and made herself another drink with more alcohol and perched on the counter and saw Missy’s hand tighten on her mug of tea.

“You’re good at business.”

“Daniel taught me.”

Missy shook her head. “You say that so casually as if it’s normal that you left here penniless, end up with a billionaire and handle a job you never went to school for. I swear, sometimes I think you’re the luckiest bitch on earth. It’s really annoying by the way.”

“It wasn’t a walk in the park,” Regan retorted.

“I know but here I’ve been thinking the worst and you were making six figures. What the hell? Sometimes I think you’ve changed and then there are times like now,” she glared at Regan swinging her feet on her sanitized countertop, “where you act like you never left.”

“I changed because I had to. If I wanted to survive in the real world I had to talk different, look different. I thought I changed too much to come back but I guess I changed just enough to be okay here.”

“You’re more than okay here aren’t you? You have Brooks and family. Are you still thinking of leaving after the New Year?”

Regan jumped off the counter and put the cup in the sink. “I don’t know.”

A short silence.

“Why are you so afraid to commit?” Missy demanded.

“I don’t know if there’s more that I want to do.”

Missy slammed her cup on the table and got to her feet. She came over to Regan who waited for the girly slaps but all Missy did was poke her in the chest.

“You love Brooks.”

Regan staggered back and stared at Missy with a horrified look on her face
“How could you say that to me?”

“Because it’s true and you’re too much of a coward to admit it. Jesus, the man would do anything for you and here you are still looking for the exits. What more do you want?”

The anger faded, leaving a yawning despair that made Missy stare.

“I don’t know,” Regan said.

Regan walked out of the house and turned up the collar of her coat and pulled on a cap. The cold stung her face and within minutes she couldn’t feel her cheeks but she didn’t care. She headed to the shop because she didn’t feel like going to Brooks’ empty house. She shooed Valerie and Paula out of the shop so they could finish wrapping gifts and set up her laptop on the counter. For several hours she lost herself in work and tried to ignore Missy’s words. When the bell tinkled Regan looked up and saw Allison walking towards her. Regan wasn’t happy that Allison’s engraved glass and pottery was a best seller but money was money. She pasted on a fake smile as Allison came forward with a box in her arms. She had a bouncy ponytail, fuzzy earmuffs and a fluorescent pink jacket. How had Brooks married this woman? She was nice but she was so…
pink
and
nice
.

“I’m glad I caught you,” Allison said and set the box on the counter.

Regan grit her teeth. “Why?”

“I c
an’t tell you how grateful that you put my stuff online. My house is filled with my work and before you started selling it, I was beginning to think I should stop because it takes up a lot of my time.”

Allison
pulled out wine glasses etched with a miniature version of White Mist decorated in its Christmas splendor.

“This is your best work yet,” Regan said, business mind pushing aside the personal.

Regan held one of the glasses up to the light and wondered how many days Allison spent engraving one wine glass. Her work was beautiful and unique, no doubt about it.

“If you love it you shouldn’t stop,” Regan said and picked up the next glass which showed the mountain ranges
of Montana.

“
How do you know I love it?”

“You spend maybe a week or more on each glass. You wouldn’t slave over that unless you loved it.”

“I just wanted to thank you,” Allison said with a smile.

Regan nodded briskly. “These glasses will sell within a week.”

“And I wanted to give you this.”

Allison handed Regan a set of wine glasses wrapped in clear cellophane and Regan didn’t say anything as she took in each glass. One glass was etched with her mother’s house, another of the Delaney family. It was so detailed and exact that Allison must have copied it from a picture taken during Thanksgiving
. To her horror she felt tears gather in her throat. The last two glasses were a picture of the shop and one of her and Brooks.

Allison clapped her hands together. “
Aren’t they great?! I wasn’t sure what to think when you came back but I’m glad you did. Brooks is happy.”

Regan gave her a flat look. “Did you know I screwed Grady?”

The smile dropped from Allison’s face. “You slept with my husband?”

“A couple times,” Regan said calmly.

Allison gaped at her and Regan let silence fill the space for a full minute before she spoke again.

“I just wanted you to know what it feel
s like to live in the same town as a woman who screwed the man you’re with,” Regan said.

“You didn’t sleep with Grady?”

“No but if you keep trying to talk to me about Brooks I might just try.”

Allison stared at her as if she were a demon. “Why would you say something like that?”

Regan swung her foot. “I’m a bitch and I don’t want you talking to me about your marriage with Brooks. It pisses me off.”

Allison adjusted her earmuffs and pressed a hand over her stomach as if the thought of Regan sleeping with her husband made her ill. That’s how Regan felt whenever she remembered Allison’s wedding day to Brooks. She wasn’t mad at Allison but she didn’t want to talk
about Brooks with her.

“I just have to say one thing,” Allison said, showing some backbone. “Marrying
Brooks when I wasn’t in love with him and he wasn’t in love with me was wrong. I know that but I don’t regret it. I know what it’s like to be in a marriage where you don’t love your husband so I treasure what I have with Grady. I hope you and Brooks make it all the way.”

Regan nodded as the bell tinkled again. She was relieved for a full twenty seconds before she saw Wade’s baby mama accompanied by four other girls that looked way too similar to her. The trashy Carson sisters. Fantastic.

“What can I do for y’all?” Regan called.

Steph’s mean eyes narrowed. “Payback’s a bitch, Regan Lee.”

“Your face healed,” Allison said innocently.

Steph focused on the small perky woman and a mean smile crossed Steph’s face as she snatched one of the wineglasses from the counter and examined it.

“This sure is nice,” Steph said.

The
Carson sister’s giggled and watched maliciously while Allison, completely oblivious to the danger smiled delightedly.

“I made it yesterday. It took me three days to-”

Steph tossed the wineglass to the floor where it shattered. Regan leapt over the counter as Steph got in Allison’s face.

“Why don’t you run on home like a good girl while we take care of Regan Lee?” Steph hissed.

Even as Regan tried to step in front of Allison the smaller woman erupted. Allison launched herself at Steph, claws extended. Steph screamed as Allison grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked for all she was worth.

“Holy shit,” Regan said, impressed. So maybe Brooks had
better taste than she’d thought.

The four sisters converged on her and Regan leapt into action. She kicked at the biggest sister’s kneecap and heard a sickening crunch right before the first Carson sister let out a bloodcurdling scream.
She really did love her stiletto boots. They sure came in handy. Regan grabbed a bare branch out of a huge vase and used it as a sword against another sister, going for the eyes. Steph’s sister screamed and shielded her face with her arms. Regan grabbed an ugly paperweight they hadn’t sold and chucked it at her forehead. She crumpled like a rag doll. Regan examined the third sister who was around the same size and used her famous right hook to plant a nice bruise on her cheekbone and slammed her head against one of the empty shelves for safe measure.