The Christmas Inn (20 page)

“The other member of the family has arrived.” She eased away
and peeked around him, looking for Ethan.

Mary entered the room, a look of surprise on her face. “You
both look so…natural there in front of the tree, but I’m afraid I have to run.
One of the guests spilled wine on the carpet in his room, and we’re really busy
with getting all the guests settled and the Christmas getaway activities
going.”

“Not a problem, Mary, and thank you so much for babysitting
Ethan. Marnie and I’ll take it from here. I’ve got Francine’s sister coming to
look after Ethan during dinner tonight.”

“Oh, that’s the other thing I needed to tell you. She called
while you were meeting with the people from Advantage to say she’s ill. I could
come back and stay with him if you like.”

“Absolutely not. You’re here all the time as it is. Leave it
with me. I’m sure there’s someone in the village who’s available.”

“Dad!” Ethan tossed his winter jacket on the floor by the door,
and raced over to the tree, his face alight with enthusiasm, his cheeks a bright
pink.

Luke picked up his son, his cool cheeks and scent of outdoors
filling his nostrils. “You’ve been outside playing, haven’t you?” he asked.

Marnie pulled Ethan’s hat off his head, smoothing his
curls.

Ethan leaned back in his father’s embrace. “I made a snowman.
He’s this big, with a carrot for a nose.” Ethan spread his arms wide, bumping
Marnie’s cheek.

“Hey, easy there, big guy.” Luke’s eyes met Marnie’s.

“No damage to report,” she said, grinning as she took Ethan’s
fingers in hers.

Ethan frowned. “Why you not go outside with me?”

“I was talking with your daddy. I’ll go the next time, I
promise.”

“Now?” Ethan asked, his head coming to rest on his father’s
shoulder, filling Luke with an unfathomable ache. How was it that until Ethan’s
arrival in his life, he’d believed he had experienced all love had to offer? Yet
loving Ethan was so different, so intense—an all-encompassing love that never
failed to surprise him.

“It’s time for dinner and bed, my man,” Luke said, holding his
son close.

Ethan lifted his head off his father’s shoulder, squinting as
he pulled at his father cheek. “Can I have mac and cheese?” he asked.

“Don’t you eat anything else?” He hitched Ethan farther up into
his arms.

“Hot dog?” Ethan asked, pulling at his father’s nose.

“I can make either,” Marnie said.

“Mac and cheese it is,” Luke said, lowering Ethan to the
floor.

Luke and Ethan followed Marnie into the kitchen where Ethan
promptly climbed into his favorite chair and watched expectantly as Marnie moved
about the space.

Oh, man, how I miss this.

Emotion clogged Luke’s throat. He scrubbed his face to prevent
Marnie from seeing the tears threatening to overcome him.

Who’s the one hiding their emotions
now?

Thankfully, Marnie was busy at the stove. He settled into a
chair at the table and soaked up the comforting feeling of having her there with
him, moving about the kitchen as she fixed Ethan’s dinner.

Marnie placed Ethan’s plate in front of him and sat down at the
table across from Luke.

“What are you going to do about a babysitter for tonight with
Francine’s sister ill?” she asked as they watched Ethan devour his meal.

Checking his watch, he was appalled to discover that the
Christmas Eve dinner would be starting in less than an hour and he didn’t have a
babysitter. “Oh, no, I forgot! Let’s see. I have a list here of possible
sitters.” He reached behind him to a drawer where he kept the phone book, and
began to scan the list.

“Why don’t I stay with Ethan?” Marnie asked.

“Don’t you want to go to dinner with me?”

“I do, but we’ll have lots of dinners together in the future.
Besides, It’ll give me a chance to get to know the new men in my life a little
better.” She gave him an impish smile.

He had no intention of leaving her out of his plans tonight.
He’d had a hard day and needed her with him. “Not an option. I’m not letting you
out of my sight.” He searched the phone book, and retrieved two names and
numbers, and began dialing. To his dismay, neither babysitter was available. Of
course not, it was Christmas Eve. Who’d want to babysit tonight? “I should have
done better than this. How could I not have had a backup plan?”

“It’s been a busy day, and you’ve had a lot on your mind.”

“But I wanted to take you to dinner,” he said.

“I understand, but we can’t do anything about it now.” She
checked the kitchen clock. “And you have to get dressed.”

As much as he hated to agree, she was right. “On one condition.
You’re staying over tonight.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Why wouldn’t I want it?”

“We… Our relationship…it’s new. It’s Christmas Eve—”

He placed his hands on her arms. “Marnie, it’s what I want.
I’ll get Max to make you a special dinner, and I’ll bring a bottle of champagne
for our private celebration after I’m finished with my hosting duties.”

She brushed her hair off her face, her glance skipping to
Ethan. “Okay, but we have a very special mission tonight.” She nodded in Ethan’s
direction. “Getting ready for Santa,” she mouthed over the scraping sound of
Ethan’s spoon over his bowl.

“More!” Ethan held out his spoon and bowl to Marnie.

She scooped out more pasta from the pot on the stove and topped
up Ethan’s apple juice. “We’ll have lots of time to celebrate when you get
back.”

His heart shifted in his chest as he followed her to the stove
and pressed his lips along the nape of her neck, his body responding in a very
obvious way. “I’d better get out of here before I do something that will have
Ethan talking for weeks.”

“Mmm. That feels wonderful,” she sighed, leaning back into his
arms.

“Don’t tempt me,” he warned.

“Hurry back,” she said, turning in his arms and pulling his
face down for one last kiss.

Not wanting to leave, he held her for a few minutes longer.
“Oh! Forgot to mention. I’ll have another man with me when I return. Henry is
probably still in his bed behind the reception desk, but he likes to spend his
nights with Ethan.”

“Henry likes cookies,” Ethan announced triumphantly, and they
both laughed.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

M
ARNIE
WAS
AWASH
IN
FEELINGS
she couldn’t
describe as she watched Luke stride out of the kitchen and down the hall toward
his bedroom. It was as if she had finally come home, as if being here with Luke
and Ethan was the most natural thing in the world.

She waited for Ethan to finish his dinner and then cleaned up
the kitchen. Ethan asked a million questions about Santa—when was he coming,
would his daddy be back when Santa got here and whether Santa would come into
his room. She answered all of his questions, as best she could, only to have him
come back to some of the questions again and again.

When she was done cleaning up, Ethan raced into the living
room, scooped up his jacket and searched his pockets. “I got the treat for
Santa,” he said, waving a clear plastic bag containing a half-dozen cookies over
his head.

“That’s great. What will Santa drink with his cookies?”

“Chocolate milk,” Ethan said with conviction as he eyed the
bag. “I’ll give him just one cookie.”

“And who will get the rest?” she asked, knowing the answer.

“Me…and Henry.” He looked at her from under furrowed
eyebrows.

Luke came down the hall, dressed in a tuxedo, and looking so
handsome it made her gasp. “Wow! Now I wish I was going with you. I’d better
dust off my club.”

“Your club?”

“All the better for beating off the women trailing after you,”
she teased.

Luke laughed. “What women? There are no single women here,
remember?”

“You’re a sitting duck if you believe that married women aren’t
tempted.”

“You could always send Ethan to ward off the women,” he
joked.

“I’m not sure your guests are ready for rocket man, and besides
he’s got a previous engagement with me.” She tousled Ethan’s hair.

“You can read to me,” Ethan announced, his head bobbing as he
raced off to his room and returned with an armload of books.

Ethan dropped his books on the coffee table and held his arms
out to Marnie. She picked him up. “I guess I’m reading.”

Once he was settled in Marnie’s arms, he leaned toward his
father. “Love you, Daddy.”

He kissed Ethan’s cheek. “I love you, too.” He leaned toward
Marnie and kissed her on her lips, a lingering kiss that had Ethan squirming in
protest.

Luke put his hands on her shoulders, sandwiching Ethan between
them. “Don’t let him go to bed before I get back, if you can help it.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem. We’re in the middle of
negotiations over whether Santa should have all the cookies, or whether Ethan
and Henry should have some of them. I see a sugar high in his future.”

Luke chuckled as he made his way to the door. “See you
later.”

“Bye, Dad,” Ethan yelled in his outdoor voice, making Marnie
wince.

He wiggled out of her arms and made for the sofa. She read the
first two books to him and then insisted that he get his teeth brushed and his
pajamas on. He went willingly, the cookies forgotten at least for now.

Max arrived with her dinner, a Cornish hen with stuffing,
garlic potatoes, a Waldorf salad and plum pudding in a tiny baking dish. “I wish
I could stay and visit, but things are hopping in the kitchen and I need to get
back. You’re keeping the kid? No babysitter I hear,” he said.

“Yep. And we’re enjoying ourselves. I’ve been reading to him,
and he reads along with me.”

“He’s one bright little boy,” Max said as he turned to
leave.

“Thanks for dinner.”

“Anytime.” With that, he was out the door, and Marnie took her
meal to the kitchen, sitting in a chair where she could keep an eye on Ethan
while she ate what turned out to be the best meal she’d had in ages. After she
took her last bite of plum pudding, she settled on the sofa and watched a
children’s Christmas program with Ethan for a while, marveling at how engrossed
the child was in the story of the Grinch who stole Christmas.

Taking advantage of the break, she dug her cell phone out of
her purse.

Despite her feelings around the call she’d had with her mother
earlier, she felt guilty that she wouldn’t be there this evening. She glanced
over at Ethan, who was sucking his thumb, watching wide-eyed as the Grinch did
his worst to ruin Christmas.

Was this her Grinch performance? Deserting her family at
Christmas? She dialed her parents’ number, and her dad picked up on the first
ring. “Hi, there.”

“Hi, Dad,” she said, instantly missing everyone, especially her
time with her dad making caramel popcorn and chocolate fudge to the blaring
accompaniment of Bing Crosby, her father’s favorite Christmas crooner.

“How’s your Christmas Eve going? I hear there’s a new man in
your life,” her father said, his voice nearly lost in the background confusion
of people singing along with the music.

“Yes, Dad, there is—” Tears clogged her throat, and she choked
on her words.

“I’m happy for you. I really am, but it’s not the same here
without you.”

“You mean you miss my cooking and bartending,” she said,
attempting to keep a teasing tone in her voice.

“I miss
you
. So does your mother.
Here, I’ll put her on before she tears the phone from my hands.”

“Hi, Marnie.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Wait a minute. I’m going to the bedroom so I can hear you,”
her mother said. “Are you having a good Christmas Eve?”
Without us
was implied but not spoken.

“I’m having a wonderful evening with Ethan, Luke’s son.”

“He left you alone on Christmas Eve?”

“Only for a couple of hours while he hosts a dinner for his
guests.”

“Marnie, I don’t understand. What happened to his wife?” her
mother asked carefully.

“She died in a car accident three years ago. Ethan was one at
the time.”

“Oh, how difficult it must have been for Luke…for his little
boy.”

“Yes, it was, but he…we’ve been given this chance to be happy.
And I love him, and he loves me. He’s hosting a dinner tonight, but he’ll be
back in time to put Ethan to bed, and then we’ll put the Santa gifts out for
Ethan.”

“Marnie, you sound so happy.”

“I am, and I want you to be happy for me.”

“Marnie, I shouldn’t have said some of the things I said to you
earlier. I was a little upset at not having you here for Christmas. But it would
appear that your life has taken a whole new direction. I can’t wait to see you
and hear all about it.”

“We’ll be there the day after tomorrow. Luke wants to meet you
and the family and have you meet Ethan. You’ll love them both, you really will,”
she said hopefully.

“If you love him, that’s all that matters.”

“Luke plays the piano,” Marnie said, looking for something to
connect her mother to him.

“The piano?” Her mother’s voice mellowed. “That’s how your
father and I met. He was playing in a jazz club to pay his college expenses, and
I was giving music lessons to cover my tuition.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“No? I guess the subject never came up before.”

“How did I not know about you and Dad meeting that way?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about your father and me. And a
lot we don’t know about you, it would seem.”

“Mom, I need you to understand that the minute I met Luke I
knew this time it was different. I can’t explain it…somehow there was this
feeling, this sensation that I’d been waiting for this person.”

“That’s how I felt about your dad. It was the first time I’d
been in a jazz club. I hated jazz, but I loved your father from that moment on.
But let’s talk about all that later. Is there any chance he and his son could
stay here for the week between Christmas and the New Year?”

“I could ask him.”

“When will you be home?”

“We’ll be there sometime the day after Christmas.”

Please trust me, Mom. Please let me find
my new life with Luke. I need you to believe in me.

“Marnie, I want you to be happy, to have someone in your life
who loves only you.”

Marnie swallowed and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Mom, I
can’t wait to get home to you and Dad.”

“And we can’t wait to see you. Meanwhile, you enjoy your time
with Luke and Ethan. I’ll miss you this evening and tomorrow, but we’ll see each
other soon.”

“Thank you, Mom. Merry Christmas.”

She put down the phone and looked around the room with its
Christmas decorations and the little boy lying on the sofa. Her heart swelled
with emotion—with love for everyone on this night of all nights.

She settled in to watch
How the Grinch
Stole Christmas
with Ethan. He rested his head on her shoulder, and
she kissed his curls, thinking that this could easily be the best Christmas
ever.

* * *

L
UKE
LOOSENED
HIS
TIE
as he ran down the corridor toward his
apartment, with Henry in hot pursuit. He couldn’t wait to see Marnie and to get
started on their first Christmas together. Suddenly his life was rife with
possibilities.

He eased open the door and tiptoed in to find Marnie and Ethan
snuggled together on the sofa, the TV turned off. Henry promptly climbed up on
the sofa, giving a huge sigh of relief as he flopped down. Next to the tree,
Ethan had set out a glass of milk and three cookies, which meant that Marnie
must have negotiated pretty hard with Ethan. They both appeared to be
asleep.

He touched the back of the sofa, and Marnie woke suddenly,
glancing around before her eyes came to rest on Luke. The smile she gave him
flooded his heart. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he whispered.

“What time is it?” she asked, yawning as she sat up.

“Nearly nine. I’ll put Ethan to bed, and then we can get back
to us.” He came around and gathered his son in his arms, the faint smell of
cookies filling his nostrils as he lifted him up against his shoulder. Ethan
squirmed, opening his eyes for a few seconds before falling back to sleep.

Marnie stood up and stretched. “He cuddled right into my arms
tonight and fell asleep,” she murmured wistfully.

He smiled at her. “The two of you looked like you belonged
together.”

“We do. I love him.” She smoothed Ethan’s curls off his
forehead and placed a light kiss there.

“What about me?”

“Your turn is coming,” she teased.

“I’m counting on it,” he said before heading down the hallway
to Ethan’s room. Henry jumped off the sofa and followed him.

He put his son in bed, pulling his Spider-Man sheets over his
sleeping form before kissing him gently on the forehead, a ritual that had been
part of his life since the day Ethan had been born. “Merry Christmas, Ethan,” he
whispered.

Henry curled up on the rug next to Ethan’s bed, and heaved a
huge sigh of contentment. Luke crossed the hall to his room and changed out of
his tuxedo and into a T-shirt and jeans.

Back in the living room, Marnie met him with a glass of red
wine. “By the way, my dinner was fantastic. You have a great chef.”

“Don’t you mean ‘we have a great chef’?” he asked, taking the
wine and raising his glass in a toast. “To us and our new venture. In business
and in life.”

“To us,” she said, clinking her glass with his, her face
radiating happiness.

“And to our first Christmas,” he said, kissing her, welcoming
the way she moved her body against his. “Keep that up and there will be
consequences,” he said.

“Why shouldn’t I?” she asked, putting their glasses on the
coffee table and sliding her arms around his neck. “We’re alone, finally. We
love each other.”

“And we still have some work ahead of us. Remember who’s coming
tonight?”

“Will Santa be the only one?” she asked, her expression sexy
and playful.

“Definitely not, but first I have Santa duties to perform.”

“Hmm. I have a few performances in mind, as well.”

“Ooh. Can’t wait,” he said, kissing her before practically
galloping to the hall closet where he reached up to the top shelf, behind the
box of Ethan’s shoes and boots.

“I got him the train set he wanted, and another set of Lego.
The rest of his gifts are in the closet in my bedroom.”

They knelt down together, and Luke began assembling the
train.

“You don’t wrap the Santa gifts?” she asked.

“No. When I was little, the floor in front of the tree was
always covered in unwrapped gifts from Santa, and of course, the milk and
cookies were gone.”

“Ours were never wrapped, either. I was always the first one up
because I couldn’t wait to see what Santa had brought me.”

Luke finished up what he was doing, and then turned to her.
“I’ve waited so long to feel…to love again.”

She took his hand. “Me, too.”

He went out to the kitchen, and brought back two glasses, and
then popped the cork on the champagne. They toasted again and sipped the bubbly
liquid. As they sat together, with the light of the tree on her face, he knew he
was the luckiest man alive. “I have something for you,” he said.

“Oh, no! You didn’t buy me something, did you? I didn’t get
anything for you or for Ethan, either. How could I have been so
thoughtless?”

He took her hand. “What matters is that you’re here with me.”
Dropping her hand, he went into his bedroom and came back with a small parcel.
“Open it,” he said, his voice suddenly tight with emotion.

She took the jeweler’s box and slowly untied the ribbon, her
gaze questioning. “What is this?”

“Something I saw when I was in the village after they finally
cleared the snow. It seemed like the perfect gift for you.”

She opened the box, and there, nestled in velvet, was a charm
bracelet with a silver disc dangling from it. She turned the disc over in her
fingers.
Marnie and Luke
.