Kitabı oku: «The Complete Christmas Collection», sayfa 5
CHAPTER FOUR
SHE WOKE UP next to the dog. He was a comfortable and warm weight stretched against her side, but he snored. Not that the noise had bothered her. It was after eight o’clock and she was due at work in an hour. She’d need every minute to get ready.
“Good morning, Al.”
His tail thumped once and he wriggled closer, his eyes closed. Grace patted his rump and eased herself to a sitting position. Her foot throbbed, but not as painfully as last night. She’d managed to get into her nightgown without Nico’s help—Patsy had selected her only flannel gown instead of one of her many cute pajama sets.
After her weepy breakdown, he’d offered to help her out of her clothes to make her laugh. She’d refused, making him laugh. He’d fixed her a cup of herbal tea and delivered it, with an assortment of his mother’s cookies, to the nightstand while she was in the bathroom washing the tears from her face.
She would never, ever take Percocet in a man’s presence again. Not unless the man was her husband and she had just given birth to triplets.
She managed to climb out of bed and brush her teeth with the help of her crutches before she heard the knock on the door.
“Come on in.” She was resigned to the fact that he would see her dressed like a ninety-year-old woman. He may as well see what she’d be wearing when she was ninety.
He opened the door and peered in. “Hey. How are you doing?”
“Okay.” She sat on the bed and wished she could crawl back in next to Al, who was pretending to be asleep. Nico looked wide-awake, cheerful and heart-stoppingly handsome. The man looked ready to flip a thousand pancakes.
“Did you sleep?”
“Al and I both were practically comatose.” She wished she’d put on makeup. Patsy had emptied the entire contents of her bathroom drawer into a gallon ziplock bag, so she had no excuse for not putting on lipstick and eyeliner, for heaven’s sake.
“You look a lot better than you did last night.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re not as pale. How’s the pain?”
“Not bad at all,” she fibbed.
“Can you walk?”
“With the crutches.”
He looked over at her bed. “Al! Time to go out!”
The Labrador didn’t budge.
“I know he’s alive.” Grace laughed. “He wagged his tail for me a few minutes ago.”
“He’s faking it. He hates snow.” Nico looked at Grace. “Want some coffee before I haul him out of here?”
“Yes. Give me a few minutes to get dressed.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll bring it to you. Cream, no sugar, right?”
“How did you know that?”
“The executive chef at The View knows everything,” he informed her. “Stay right where you are. I haven’t brought a woman coffee in bed for days.”
“Very funny,” she said to his back as he left the bedroom. Or maybe he wasn’t joking. According to the tabloids, Nico’s social circle had once included the Kardashians and Sports Illustrated models. She hadn’t heard of him dating anyone in Lake Placid, but then again, there were plenty of beautiful women on the ski slopes and at the Olympic park. She wondered if any of them wore light blue flannel dotted with pink roses.
“Woof.”
She heard the child’s voice the same time Al did.
“Woof, woof!” Al finally raised his big head and turned brown eyes in her direction.
“Hey, Al! Wanna go for a ride?”
“Woof woof woof!” came the answer, just as a tall, thin boy ran into the room.
“Hey, Al, what are—”
The boy skidded to a stop, turning a pair of dark eyes toward Grace. He had the same head of thick dark waves as Nico, the same angular features and easy smile. He was dressed in a warm jacket and knitted cap, and his gloved hands held a bright blue leash.
“Whoa,” he said, sounding exactly like his uncle. Grace assumed this child had to be Nico’s nephew, the one who took his dog for walks and lived nearby. “Uncle Nico has company!” the boy called over his shoulder before returning to Grace.
“Hi,” he said.
The dog suddenly came to life and let out another happy bark before easing himself off the bed to greet his friend.
“Hi. I’m Grace,” she said, wishing she was dressed but glad she wore flannel at the very least. The boy’s mother stepped into the room and stopped as soon as she saw Grace.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” she managed to say. She was tall, with short dark brown hair and a handsome, angular face. Dressed in jeans and a puffy red vest with matching sweater, she looked as ready to take on winter as her son. “I didn’t know Nico had company.”
“I’m Grace Clarke.” She held out her hand and attempted to get to her feet, but Nico’s sister intervened.
“Marie O’Rourke. And this is Brian, my son. You’re hurt.” She put out a hand to stop Grace from moving. “Stay where you are.” Her gaze darted to Grace’s nightgown, then to her booted foot and on to the rumpled bed. “What happened?”
Nico came to the rescue. He stepped into the room and handed Grace a mug of coffee. “Grace works at the lodge. She slipped in the kitchen last night and I brought her home.”
“Does it hurt?” Brian asked.
“Yes. But not as much as it did last night,” Grace said. “And Al kept me company.”
The dog leaned against Brian and licked his hand.
“I hung your clothes in the closet,” Nico said, jerking a thumb to one of the wide doors opposite the windows.
“Thanks, Nico. And thanks for the coffee.”
“Are you up to go in to work or do you want to hang out here for a few hours?”
“It’s Secret Santa day,” she reminded him. “Staff brunch at 10:00 a.m., remember?”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. We drew names?”
Maria turned to him. “Isn’t that why you asked Cathy to make you a—”
He put his hand over her mouth. “Secret Santa, big sister. They take these things seriously at the lodge.” Nico turned to his nephew. “Come on, let’s give Grace some privacy.” He ushered the dog, his sister and his nephew out of the room and shut the door behind them.
“As soon as they leave I’ll make you a frittata,” he whispered. “With a crunchy potato layer that will make you weep with joy.”
She thought of the calories. Her mouth watered. Her foot throbbed.
Her heart melted.
CHAPTER FIVE
“YOU’VE GOT IT BAD, little brother.”
“I’m going to pretend you’re not here.” Nico didn’t bother to argue. Once Marie decided something, the sun would have to fall out of the sky to change her mind. How her mild-mannered husband stayed sane was a mystery to the entire family. Ignoring the cold, he leaned against the back door’s frame and waited for his sister to continue, as he knew she would.
“She’s beautiful. And she spent the night.”
“She slept with Al, not me.”
“So you say.” She eyed him speculatively. “Wait till Mom hears about this. She’ll think Christmas came early.”
“Mom doesn’t have to know anything.”
“What? Are you kidding? Brian’s going over there to decorate cookies again this afternoon. You think he’s not going to tell his grandma that Uncle Nico had a friend over? A pretty female friend with a boot on her foot, just like the one that Elizabeth in Mrs. Rayak’s class had last year when she fell off the ski lift?”
“I could pay him. What’s the going rate for keeping his mouth shut?”
Marie shrugged. “He’s not motivated by money. Unfortunately. I offered him five dollars not to tell his father that I said three very bad words when that guy backed into me last week.”
“Yeah? What happened?”
“Oh, his insurance company will pay for it. There was a witness.”
“I meant with Brian.” Nico liked the kid. For a nine-year-old, he pretty much had it together. He managed to tiptoe through the minefield of having an older sister and a younger one quite well. His ability to stay calm and detached in the midst of female drama made him more like his father than the Vitelli side of his family.
“He told me he had heard worse at school and to be cool.”
“You are cool.”
“I am,” Marie said. “I’m forty-two and I’m definitely cool. Now, let’s talk about you.”
“I’m going to ask her to dinner Thursday.”
“That’s Christmas Eve.”
“I know.”
“That’s big.”
“I’m aware of that. I hope the family doesn’t scare her off.”
“Nico, we’ll be on our best behavior.” She frowned. “I mean, we’ll do our best. Maybe ‘best behavior’ is a little optimistic. But for you to bring a woman to Christmas Eve? This is really big. How long have you known her?”
“Since I started work here. I see her almost every day at the lodge.” And I’ve been half in love with her since the first minute I saw her.
Nico thought it wise not to say that aloud.
“She’s why you wouldn’t let us fix you up. How long have you been, uh, dating her?”
“I’ve been, uh, dating her since last night.” He enjoyed the look of surprise on his sister’s face. “I told you, she fell in the kitchen at work and hurt her ankle. I brought her home to help her out. To take care of her.”
“And now we’re back where we started,” his sister said. “You’ve got it bad.”
“I do,” Nico admitted. “But it’s not mutual. Yet.”
“It will be,” Marie assured him, giving him a quick hug. “Just be your charming self. And ply her with chocolate. Women like that.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”
“You’ve never failed at anything you set out to do.” She frowned. “Except when you tried out for football. That was pretty much a disaster.”
“I’ve put on some muscle since then.” But he would never be able to throw a ball fifty yards and actually hit a target.
“Don’t be too charming,” Marie warned. “That California stuff was ridiculous.” She gave him another hug. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
“Me, too.” He waved them off, watched Al lift his leg on his favorite holly bush and then turned back to the house.
He would romance Grace with food and attention. She was a very private person, but she’d let down her guard a little last night.
And she’d smiled at him when he’d brought her coffee.
That was a promising start to the day.
THE FUTURE BRIDE was the happiest person in the Wildwood event room, but Grace was the most pampered. She sat at a table close to the fireplace, her legs resting on the seat of another chair, her narrow skirt tucked primly over her knees. On one foot she wore a golden tan suede knee-high boot. On the other was the decidedly unfashionable walking boot, with one of Nico’s white athletic socks underneath it to keep her toes warm.
Nico Vitelli hovered over her, something that did not go unnoticed by the staff attending the Christmas brunch. Between Nico’s interesting behavior and the news of Noelle’s wedding, there was plenty for the employees of the lodge to discuss over coffee and plates piled high with food. Much to everyone’s delight, Nico had arranged a sumptuous buffet. Grace made sure the presents were piled underneath the Christmas tree and a member of the housekeeping staff had a fire burning in the fireplace.
Those who were working the morning shift took time out to have a cup of coffee and a bite of food, wish everyone a merry Christmas and open their gifts. Those on later shifts stayed longer to visit. Because the lodge was too busy in December to have a big Christmas party, the owners held an enormous outdoor party in June for the staff and their families. Grace had organized the Secret Santa brunch when she was hired at the lodge and it had quickly become a holiday tradition.
Thanks to Grace, the background music was a rousing New Orleans Christmas compilation. Patsy had agreed to hold off on Bing Crosby until after one o’clock, but only because Grace was on crutches and therefore an object of pity.
Patsy was bursting with questions, so the second Nico returned to the kitchen, she leaned closer. “Okay, tell me everything. What’s his house like? It’s the big white one about half a mile down the street, right? With the big porch?”
“I didn’t notice the porch, but the house is old and big and gorgeous.” She took a bite of a cinnamon roll. Just one bite wouldn’t hurt, would it?
“And where did you sleep? Did he make you dinner?”
“I slept in the guest room. He bought me candy. And made me breakfast. And served me coffee in bed.” She didn’t want to admit she’d enjoyed every minute. She didn’t want her friend to think she was crushing on the Hollywood chef. “By the way, why did you pack the granny gown instead of my pajamas?”
“In case you were in a cast. Can’t get pants on over a cast, you know.”
“I never thought of that.”
“You’ve never had a kid with a broken leg. I looked for something silk, with lace, but all you had were jogging pants and T-shirts.”
“I like silk and lace,” Grace sputtered. “But it’s winter. Silk and lace are stored with my summer things.”
Patsy sighed. “Of course they are.”
“How many calories do you think there are in one of these?” She held up a star-shaped sugar cookie frosted with pink-and-yellow icing.
“Zero. It’s Christmas. Calories don’t count. Were you surprised when you got Julie Barrett’s phone call?”
“I was thrilled.” Grace smiled. “It was absolutely perfect.”
“This is a nice turn of events.” Patsy took a bite of a star-shaped cookie. “Noelle deserves something good.”
“It’s going to be fun to put this together. This morning I showed her everything I had planned and she was thrilled with it all. She said she felt like she’d won the lottery. I left a message for Julie to tell her how kind that was.” Grace wriggled in her seat, trying to ease a cramp in her calf.
“What’s wrong?”
“The darn thing hurts more than I thought it would,” she admitted. “It’s just a simple sprain, but the doctor said it could be uncomfortable for quite a while.”
“I’m sorry,” Patsy said. “I know I’ve teased you about going home with Nico, but this really is a bad time to be limping around on crutches, even with Mr. Hollywood over there helping you out.” They both watched Nico laughing with two blushing housemaids. “But at least the wedding was all planned. And if you have a lot of running around to do, I can take care of it for you.”
“Thanks. I can put together the decorations while I’m sitting down. Noelle said she’d help in any way she can, but she has a lot of things to pull together in two days.”
“She told me she had the dress, though, so that’s one of the big things crossed off her list.”
They saw Noelle and her son enter the room. Josh whispered something to his mother and then made a beeline for the buffet table. Noelle approached Nico, who seemed to be taking the role of host seriously.
“He’s so darn cute. I’ve never seen a boy who eats so much, but then again, I raised a girl,” Patsy commented.
“Noelle says all of his friends are like that.” She wondered what it would be like to raise a son by herself. But now Noelle and Josh had Ted, and the Green Beret appeared to be the kind of man a boy could look up to. They watched as Nico and Noelle talked for a moment. He gave her a quick hug and then turned to Grace and smiled.
“Please tell me he cooked for you,” Patsy pleaded. “I have to know.”
“He did.” And now he was heading toward them.
“So you and George Clooney have something in common,” Patsy teased.
“Who would have guessed?’
Nico, carrying a cup of coffee, joined them at the table. His white chef’s jacket made him look terribly sexy, in a television star kind of way. He plopped into the empty chair next to Grace.
“Good morning, Patsy.” He looked at the open box in front of her. “What’d you get?”
“Shower gel. Love it.”
He turned to Grace. “Whose name did you have?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Sure you can. I had Carol, in Housekeeping. I bought her gourmet birdseed. She has parakeets.”
Impressed, Grace had to ask, “Does ten dollars buy a lot of fancy birdseed?”
“It does, surprisingly.”
Patsy looked fascinated. “And you knew she had parakeets because...?”
“I went to school with her husband. I ran into him at the pet store. Al has a corn allergy.”
“Who’s Al?”
“His dog,” Grace told her.
“Oh. I didn’t know dogs could have allergies.”
“It gives them skin conditions. Here’s your gift,” Nico said, setting a silver gift bag in front of Grace. “It was under the tree, in the back.”
“Thank you.” She’d meant to go over and find her gift, but the thought of hobbling over there on crutches had stopped her.
“Are you going to open it?”
“Grace always saves hers,” Patsy said.
“I like to open gifts on Christmas morning.” She savored the presents tucked under her little tree. Her father would send a check, but her aunt’s and cousin’s gifts were already there, waiting to be opened. She would add this pretty silver bag to the others. The tag dangling from the silver ribbon had Grace printed on it in a woman’s handwriting. “Did you cheat again and take my name, Pats?”
“Nope.” She chuckled. “I cheated and took Noelle’s.”
“Patsy is in charge of name distribution,” Grace told Nico. “She volunteers every year so she can pick who she wants to give a gift to.”
“And then it’s random,” Patsy insisted. “Totally up to fate.”
Hmm. Fate had assigned Grace the challenge of buying a gift for Nico. With the stipulation that a gift could cost no less than five dollars and no more than ten, she’d struggled to come up with something remotely appropriate for a man who cooked professionally. She’d opted for a practical gift instead. Patsy had set her up and she knew it.
“Where’s yours?” Grace asked. What had he thought of the telescoping ice scraper for his car? It was difficult to wrap, so she’d covered it in red tissue paper, tied a bow and a name tag on it and stored it in her office for the past week. She’d asked Patsy to sneak it into the room and prop it up near the tree.
“My fancy snow-removal tool is in my office where no one can steal it.” He grinned. “I guess someone assumes I’m not prepared for winter.”
“Or wants to make sure you’re safe,” Patsy suggested.
“Or saw you cleaning your windshield with a scraper from the dollar store,” Grace added.
“Come to think of it, you did see me doing that once,” he said. “And you loaned me yours. So thank you.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s from me,” she said, but she smiled at him.
“True.” He pushed the silver bag closer to her. “Open it. I can’t stand the suspense.”
It wasn’t from Nico, thank goodness. Patsy hadn’t gone so far as to arrange that, which was a relief. He’d bought birdseed.
“I have something for you,” her friend said. “You can take that home and add it to your pile.”
“Don’t you think it’s more fun to wait?”
“Sometimes,” Nico said. “When you don’t have any other choice.”
She lifted the tissue from the top of the bag and pulled out a fluffy knit scarf composed of blended shades of aquamarine and light blue.
“Oh, it’s beautiful!”
Patsy agreed, touching the wool. “It feels like alpaca. Or mohair?”
“I don’t know,” Grace said, “but it’s so soft.”
“And matches your eyes,” Nico declared. “Are you sure you don’t have a secret admirer? Other than me, I mean.”
“Stop teasing,” she said, fingering the scarf. “It looks handmade.”
“Someone must have made it especially for you,” Patsy said, shooting Nico a suspicious look.
He ignored her. “Aren’t you glad you opened it? You can wear it tonight when I drive you home.”
“Home to my place,” Grace said.
“Home to mine,” he countered. “We have a wedding to organize, remember?”
“No, we don’t. It’s all done. We can finalize the details later this afternoon.” She intended to dip ornaments in glitter and assemble the lights in the canning jars while she kept her foot elevated. The darn thing had already begun to ache more than she thought it would. Spending another night being pampered by Nico sounded more tempting than she wanted to admit to herself.
“Al will be heartbroken.”
“There is one thing you two might need to consider,” Patsy interjected.
“What?”
“A bridal shower.”
“A bridal shower?” Grace hadn’t even thought about something like that for this last-minute wedding, but why not? “When?”
“Tomorrow night,” Patsy said. “Noelle’s friends on staff have been talking. You know how close they are. We could invite Noelle’s and Ted’s friends, plus some of the family. They wondered if they could hold it here. A couples thing. They talked to me about it last night because they didn’t want to bother you until they knew you were okay.”
“This room is available,” Grace said, considering the possibility. “It was originally reserved for the rehearsal dinner.”
“The ex-groom said he hoped the preparations wouldn’t go to waste,” Patsy said.
“Yes. I got that message,” Nico replied. “ Mason wanted Ted and Noelle to have whatever couldn’t be refunded.”
“So we use Wildwood for a couples shower?” Grace saw Noelle and her son near the Christmas tree. Josh found a present with his name on it—Grace had made sure there would be something for him—and held it up to his mother. “If Noelle and her fiancé agree.”
“Or we could surprise them,” Nico suggested.
Patsy nodded. “I think her friends would like that idea.”
“Well,” Nico drawled, looking at Grace. “The romance continues.”
