Two Hearts for Christmast (6 page)

Yvette sat Robin in his chair, and warmed up his dinner.  She sat down and fed him.  Everyone was trying to engage Lacey in conversation and cheer her up.  It wasn’t working.  Suddenly, Christopher came through the front door.  He was carrying a huge stuffed penguin and a box of chocolates.

“
Daddy,” Robin gushed.  He was the only one that excited.

“
Hey little man,” he replied to his son.  Christopher went straight to Lacey and knelt in front of her chair.  “Hey, munchkin.”

She looked at him sadly.  “Hi, Dad.”

“
I’m so sorry I missed your play.  I feel awful that I wasn’t there to see your first lead role.”

Lacey nodded.  “What happened?  Why are you so late?”

“
I had a big problem with one of the buildings I’m working on at the farm.”

When his mom and dad would’ve piped in to ask, he looked over and said, “I’ll tell you later.”

 “
I got everything taken care of, but it took much longer than I anticipated, Lacey.”

 “
I get it.”  She stood up.  “Thanks for dinner, Grandma and Pop Pop.  Thanks for the gifts, Aunt Addie and Dad.  I’m tired so I’m going to bed now.”

Everyone said goodnight.  Christopher stood up and sat the giant penguin she’d left over by the counter, along with her chocolates.  He sat down in the seat she’d vacated and shook his head.  “That was a disaster.”

“
What did you expect?” Yvette asked.  “Tonight meant the world to her, Chris.  It was her first lead, and she wanted nothing more than to have her family there to see it.”

“
I know.  I screwed up royally, and I’m sure it will be a long time before I’ll be able to make it up to her.”  He glanced at his wife.  “Or you.”

Yvette stood up.  “I’m going to put Robin to bed.  Margaret and Anthony, thank you so much for coming and sharing in Lacey’s special night.  You’re more than welcome to stay.  I’m sorry we can’t offer more than the pull out in the family room, but it is very comfortable.”

“
Honey, it’s fine.  We booked a hotel for the night so don’t you worry about us.”

Yvette went over and hugged them.  “Thank you both.”

“
Our pleasure, Yvette.  We’ll see you tomorrow.  Don’t you dare cook; we’re bringing over breakfast, okay?”

“
You’ve done so much already,” Yvette replied.  “It’s bad enough you can’t even use your own townhome when you’re here and—”

“
Nonsense,” Margaret interrupted her.  “You all being here is breathing new life into this house.  We’re glad to help in any way we can.  Now you relax, and sleep in tomorrow.  We’ll get here early so you don’t have to cook.”

Tearfully, Yvette nodded.  “Thank you.”

“
Son, see us out,” Anthony replied in a voice that brooked no refusal.

“
Yes, sir.”  Christopher got up, kissed Robin on the cheek and then walked his parents out.

***

“
What the heck was that?” Anthony ground out.  “How could you miss your daughter’s play?”

“
Dad, it was important,” Christopher stressed.  

“
What’s more important than Lacey’s performance?” his mother chided.  “That’s a moment you can’t get back, Chris.  Whatever’s going on with the business could have waited until tomorrow.  You know family comes first.”

“
It did…” he blurted out.  “You know what I’m working on.  Look, I know I messed up, but it couldn’t be helped.  I’ll tell you both about it later.  Right now, I’ve got a disappointed daughter to make amends with, and an angry wife to face.  If anyone’s sleeping on that couch tonight, it may be me,” he said, seriously.

“
Well if you do end up there, you’ve earned it,” he mother concluded.  

“
I know.”

Despite being angry, she kissed her only son.  “I love you, Chris.  We’ll see you in the morning.”

“
Love you, too, Mom.  And thanks for being here for my family tonight.”  His eyes connected with his father.  “I really do appreciate you both.”

Anthony pulled him close and slapped him on the back.  “Don’t make it a habit of disappointing your wife and kids, Chris.  No good can come of it.”

“
I understand, Dad.  And I won’t.”

His father grunted his approval, and then took his wife by the hand.  “Let’s go, Maggie.  We’ve got a hotel room and I plan on making the most of it.”

His wife let out a shocked gasp.  “Tony, really.”

He laughed and held the door open for her.  He shut it and walked around the car to his side.  “A happy wife is a happy home, Christopher.”

He nodded.  Right now, he had little of either.  Christopher waved as his parents pulled off.  A long sigh escaped his lips.  His day had not gone according to plan, but he had to stay the course.  It was too late to back out now.  He ran a hand over his stubbled jaw.  
This will either be the best idea I’ve ever had, or the worst.  
With determined steps, he strode back into the house.  He had some fences to mend, and the sooner he got to it, the better.

8 CHAPTER eight

Christopher chose the path of least resistance first.  He popped his head in to his son’s room.  The lights were out, but the moment he cracked the door and peeked in, his son bolted up in his toddler bed.  He walked over and sat down next to the small bed.

“
Daddy.”

His heart tightened.  “Hey, Robby.  You should be sleep, little man.”

“
Daddy, up.”

“
Not now, Robby.  It’s late and you need to go to sleep.”

His son held out his arms, and unable to help himself, Christopher gathered him up for a hug.  But instead of Christopher giving him a hug, Robin put his head on his shoulder, and patted his father’s arm.

Emotion ripped through him.  “You’re giving Daddy a hug, huh?  Thanks, Robin.  Daddy really needs one right now,” he said, quietly.  “I’ve got two beautiful ladies in there that I need to apologize to.”

“
Kiss.”

Christopher smiled.  “It’s gonna take a lot more than just a kiss, buddy.”

He gave Robin a final hug and kiss, and tucked him back under the covers.

“
Goodnight, Robby.”

“
Night Night, Daddy.”

Standing up, Christopher walked silently out of the room and shut the door lightly behind him.

He walked down the hall to Lacey’s room.  He knocked gently on the door.  When she bid him to enter, he opened it and went in.

“
Hi, sweetheart,” he said.  “Can I talk to you a minute?”

She nodded and sat up higher in bed.

Christopher walked over and sat down at the foot of her bed.

“
Lacey, I know I’m not your favorite person right now, but I want to make sure that you know how much I wanted to be there tonight.  And not just that, but how important you are to me.  I would never purposefully hurt you.”

“
I know,” she murmured.  “But I wanted you there, Daddy.  I was so nervous, and then when I looked out and saw Mommy, and Robin and even Grandma and Pop Pop and you weren’t there…it made me sad.”

“
You’re right, Lacey.  My not being there put a damper on your big night.  I can’t explain, other than to say that I had a crisis at the farm that couldn’t be avoided.  It was my responsibility as the man in charge, and I had to stay there and make sure it got fixed.  I realize that it doesn’t help your disappointment, but it was the only reason I wasn’t there, Lacey.  I hope in time you can forgive me.”

She was silent for a few moments before she said, “I already forgave you, Dad.  I know emergencies come up.  I’m over it.”

He scrutinized her closely.  That wasn’t a complete truth, but he didn’t press his luck.  He moved closer and gathered her in his arms.  He kissed the top of her head.

“
I love you, Lacey.”

“
I love you, too, Dad.”

He tucked her in like he’d done Robin.  He was about to leave when he noticed the penguin he’d given her sitting on her window seat.  She had brought it upstairs.  It made him smile.  Turning out the light, Christopher stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door gently behind him.  He walked further down the hall, squared his shoulders, and went into his bedroom.

Yvette was lying in bed, using her laptop.  She glanced up when he walked into the room and shut the door.

“
Hi,” he said, sitting on his side of the bed and facing her.

“
Hi,” she replied before shutting her laptop and setting it on the floor.

“
I just came from Lacey’s room.”

“
Is she okay?”

“
Yes.  I…I wanted to make sure that she and I were okay before she went to bed.  It was important for her to know that I would never intentionally hurt her, or not be there for her.”

“
I’m glad,” Yvette told him.  “I’m sure that meant a lot to her.”

“
Yvie, it wasn’t my intention to let you, or Lacey down tonight.”

“
I know, Chris, but I don’t understand what happened.  What could possibly have been more important than being here for your family?  Whatever incident happened on the farm couldn’t wait until tomorrow to clear up?”

“
No, it couldn’t.  Yvie, I couldn’t ask the other men to stay and rectify the situation when I wasn’t willing to do the same.  That’s not the kind of boss I want to be.  I know I disappointed all of you, but…I had to stay until the problems were fixed.”

“
What are you even working on?” she asked.

Christopher paused.  He didn’t want to lie to her, but he had to.  “You know how rickety one of the barns is on the south side of the property.  Well, I’m renovating it, and today one of the support beams fell and—”

“
Oh my God,” Yvette breathed.  “Was anyone hurt?”

“
No, everyone was fine, but I didn’t want to leave it like that and risk further damage or someone being hurt.  I had to make sure it was fixed.”

She bolted across the bed and into his arms.  “Chris, I’m sorry.  Why didn’t you just tell me that when you were on the phone earlier?  Why all the cloak and dagger?  I would’ve understood.  We all would have.  Your safety and that of the men working on the outbuilding is a priority.  We all understand, Chris.”

He hugged her and hated himself for lying, but there was no way to avoid it.  His plan was almost completed.  Just a few more weeks, and he’d be able to reveal everything to Yvette.  He hoped he could keep his true intention a secret long enough.

“
I love you, Yvie.” He kissed her passionately.

“
I love you, Christopher.  So much.”

He released her and then went into the bathroom to take a shower.  He would have a talk with Adelaide soon.  He hated keeping secrets from his wife, but he needed someone that could help keep Yvette in the dark until he was ready to come clean.

Christopher stepped into the shower.  The heated water soothed his tired muscles, and his battered soul.  His family was his life, and there was no way he ever wanted to let them down.  He had a plan, and he needed to stay the course.  If he could pull it off, he’d be the happiest man alive.  
Just a little while longer, sweetheart.  It will be worth it, I promise.
 

The next morning, the alarm blared into the silence at six o’clock.  Yvette groaned and rolled over.  She curled into the fetal position and snuggled lower into the covers.  Christopher reached his arm out and hit the off button.  He took a few more moments to come fully awake.  He leaned over and whispered into his wife’s ear.

“
I’ve got the kids this morning, sweetheart.  You sleep in.”

“
You sure?” she murmured.

“
Yes.  Mom and Dad are coming with breakfast.  We’ve got it.”

She muttered something Christopher couldn’t make out before drifting back to sleep.  He got up, and padded into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.  The night before coming back to him as the water temperature weaved its way into his conscious and woke him up.   Though Yvette had not appeared too angry with him, Christopher knew that she was still disappointed, and that feeling ate at his insides like acid.  He wanted to do something nice for her to make it up, but what?

It turned out that an unexpected gift was coming to them by way of his parents.

When they arrived, they had all sorts of goodies with them.  Margaret borrowed Yvette’s apron and got to work laying out breakfast.  They had a fresh fruit medley, bagels with containers of cream cheese, and muffins, Margaret brought eggs, bacon and sausage and cooked those up while Anthony poured out juice and milk.  Christopher made Robin’s breakfast, and then went to wake up Lacey.

Thirty minutes later, the Darcy family was seated around the table enjoying their meal.  When Lacey finished, she went upstairs to finish getting ready for camp.  The moment she left with her carpool, Margaret looked to her son.

“
Chris, your dad and I have a proposition we’d like to discuss with you.”

“
Sure, what’s up?”

“
How about we watch the kids this weekend while you and Yvette have some alone time.  Now before you say no, hear me out.  Your dad and I know how hard you’ve been working, and all the hours you’ve been putting in at the farm—and while we approve of why, you still need to smooth things over with your wife.”

“
Mom, I—”

“
We’re not taking no for an answer,” she said, firmly.  We’ve booked you and Yvette into a suite at the Umstead.  You check in this afternoon.  Your dad and I will stay and keep an eye on the kids and Adelaide.”

Christopher was shocked at his parents’ offer.  “I don’t know what to say,” he said, humbly.