31. Kitty

31

KITTY

‘ H ave yourself a merry little Christmas… ’

Soft, festive music carried through the house and filled the entire building with warmth, right into even the darkest corner of the room. The Yuletide Ball was in full swing in the back ballroom. Guests trickled in by twos and threes, and the most delicious smells wafted up from the kitchen. Whatever Melanie was cooking up in there was going to be the most memorable yet.

Behind me, Rook hummed along to the music as he laced up the final ribbon strands of my dress, and each time his fingertips skimmed my bare shoulder blades, I shivered. I wasn’t cold. He just made me excited with every single touch. And I was going to have that for the rest of my life.

His humming turned into gentle, musical whistling, and I watched the faint smile across his lips grow in size in the mirror.

“There we go.” Rook finished the knot and then gently grasped my shoulders. “All done.”

“You sure?” I placed both hands on the jeweled bodice and breathed in to test how much room I had. “Nothing is going to slip when I’m out there greeting people?”

“The only way you’re getting out of this dress is by my hand.” Rook pressed up behind me and slid his arms slowly around my waist until his hands rested over my stomach. “And believe me, the temptation is more than I can bear. Can you even comprehend how good you look to me right now?”

I laughed and ran my fingers through my hair. Tonight, I’d abandoned my usual braid and swept all my hair from the left to the right, where it was then draped in soft waves over my shoulder.

“I can take a guess,” I murmured, meeting his eyes in the mirror. “Because you look just as good, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands off you.”

I turned in his grasp until I was facing him, then raised both hands and cupped his face. There was a new sparkle in Rook’s eyes that I hadn’t seen before, like life had reignited in the depths of his soul, and I loved it.

“Do we really have to attend?” Rook’s voice lowered slowly, and he pressed his lips gently to mine.

I allowed the kiss for a few seconds, then broke away and whined softly. “You’ll spoil my lipstick and—oh, my God.” Laughing, I moved my hand and swiped my thumb along his lower lip to remove the red stain that had transferred over.

“I think it looks good.” Rook grinned, playfully biting my thumb on its way past. “Red is absolutely my color.”

“Oh, really?” I lifted one brow. “I’ll give you some tips afterward, then.”

“I knew you’d guide me.” Rook chuckled, and despite the stain transfer, he kissed me again. For a few moments, I was weak and leaned into his embrace to soak up the kiss. Until I remembered I still had to get through this entire night, and then I pulled back. “Have you spoken to my father yet?”

“No.” Rook shook his head. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Spoke to me about what?” Dad’s timing was rather impeccable as he strode into the study, adjusting his tie. Seeing him still gave me a tight gut clench on reflex.

Would that ever go away? I had no idea, but his apology was a good start.

Rook stiffened under my touch, and then we parted so that we were no longer pressed against one another.

“I heard you canceled the highway deal yesterday,” Rook said. “And that it’s caused quite a disaster.”

As Rook spoke, I turned back to the mirror and picked up the ruby necklace my mother had chosen to go with the dress.

“Bad news travels fast,” Dad muttered as he reached the drinks trolly. “Not many people enjoy losing out on a deal that large right before Christmas.”

“But it’s the right thing to do,” I said, clasping the necklace around my throat. With such glittering gemstones, no one would notice the faint bruising from Anton that I’d covered with makeup.

“It is the right thing to do,” Dad repeated.

“Well,” Rook continued. His reflection stiffened, and he stepped closer to my Dad. “I think I have a solution for you.”

Dad lifted his head and paused pouring his drink. Despite his apology, the tension between him and Rook was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Some things were going to take months to sort out, but as long as Dad showed Rook the respect he deserved, I was happy to let them work at it.

“A solution to what, exactly?”

“I’m not a businessman, but I understand that butchering that deal when construction has already begun nets a loss on both sides. So what if you didn’t close down construction so much as… adjust it?”

“Adjust it?”

I couldn’t take my eyes off them as I slid my earrings into place. Rook had already told me his idea, and I thought it was amazing. I just hoped Dad saw it the same.

“Yes. Instead of destroying the forest and ripping up the tourist trade, you could enhance it. Do you remember the outlying safe houses I got approved when I started working here? Well, on my travels before I arrived, I noticed that the forest was filled with abandoned cabins.”

Dad nodded curtly, although I could tell he wanted to bite back at the destroying the forest comment. “From when this used to be primarily a river-fishing town.”

“Well, you can’t bring back the fishing, but you could renovate all of those cabins. And add more. Every single one of them would make a gorgeous holiday home. I can think of countless people just all over social media who would swarm to spend a few weeks at an authentic cabin buried in the forest, yet close enough to town for necessities. You’ve already got the construction permit, and the workers and the vehicles are here. All you have to do is readjust the goals.”

Rook spoke quickly and calmly, laying out what he was thinking, and my heart swelled with pride for him. Not only was his idea amazing, but it was also nice to see him taking such an interest in the town. It must be a guy thing because it was also like he was apologizing to my dad.

Earrings in place, I slid the cool metal bracelet onto my wrist and then finally turned around. Dad’s eyes flickered to me, and they lingered for a moment until he cleared his throat.

“You know,” Dad replied, “I’d had a similar thought myself.

“Dad,” I warned. The last thing we needed was his ego getting in the way.

“Not the cabins, exactly,” Dad continued quickly. His attention shifted back to Rook. “You know, that’s quite an idea. I hadn’t given much thought to those old things.”

“Mostly because you were going to destroy them,” I muttered quietly.

“Possible,” he sighed.

“It would be one hell of a tourist injection,” Rook said. “And I’ve spent only a few months with this town and its people, but they are incredibly welcoming to guests. Placing Silver Hills back on the map as a tourist hub can only be a good thing.”

Dad drank slowly, then he nodded and approached Rook. I tensed, watching as Dad raised his arm, but thankfully, all he did was place his hand on Rook’s shoulder.

“Tell you what. Once Christmas and New Year are out of the way, we’ll take a look at those cabins. Count them, see what damage needs to be repaired, and draw up a plan.”

While Rook remained tense, his smile seemed genuine. “I look forward to it.”

“Samuel! Samuel, where are you—there you are. Stop dilly-dallying!” Mom hurried into the room, flashed me a smile, and then grabbed Dad’s hand. “The Franks are here and I am not entertaining them by myself!”

With that, she swept him out of the room, and Rook puffed out a loud sigh of relief. I laughed and took his hand.

“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“You have no idea,” Rook muttered.

“Men,” I groaned. “You all make things so complicated.”

“Oh, really?” Rook caught me by the waist as I stepped away and swept me back against him. “I think I’m a pretty simplistic man. Because right now, I only have one thought in my mind.”

“Does it involve me and this dress?”

“Maybe.” Rook leaned in and pressed a very gentle kiss to my lips.

“Red looks good on you, Rook,” snorted a voice, and we turned to see Melanie had joined us.

“Melanie! Oh, my God, you look gorgeous!”

She wore a floor-length, figure-hugging silver dress that shimmered like water each time she moved. Attached to one of the spaghetti straps was a carefully applied badge stating Catering , and her hair was swept up into large curls atop her head.

“You like?” Melanie fluffed up her hair as she turned around to give me a full view of her dress, then came toward me and caught my outstretched hand.

“Yes! You look so good!”

“Agreed.” Rook smiled, keeping one hand on my waist. “It’s good to see you, Melanie.”

“You too.” She beamed. “Wow, don’t you scrub up well? The both of you… I don’t know who I’m more jealous of!”

Laughing, I pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. The warm scents of cinnamon and chocolate filled my nose, and I moaned softly.

“Is that your perfume or the cooking?”

“I can’t tell.” Melanie puffed out her cheeks. “You know, when I agreed to do this, I didn’t fully understand how much food we would need to feed the entire town!”

“I didn’t expect to see this many people.” I chuckled. “We’ve had to get security to close the road so that people can use it as parking spaces.”

“It turns out that once everyone heard the highway construction had been closed down, permanently, they were all suddenly in the Christmas spirit,” Rook replied. “Can’t say I blame them.”

“He couldn’t have waited until after the ball?” Melanie groaned dramatically. “If I have to make another ham and cheese puff, I might just quit.”

“Leave it to your team.” I squeezed her hands affectionately. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” Melanie beamed, then her face crumpled. “Are you okay? The two of you? After what happened, I was so worried that something?—”

“Don’t you worry.” I stepped closer to her, giving her the strongest smile I could. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m alive because of you. If you hadn’t called Rook, then I don’t even want to think about what could have happened, so thank you.”

“Let that be a lesson.” Melanie scoffed softly as tears sparkled against her dark lashes. “Don’t stand me up on a dinner date.”

We laughed and fell into a tight hug that Rook joined, and peace soaked into my soul. Anton was in jail. The love of my life and my best friend were right here with me, and finally, it had snowed.

This was the best Christmas ever.

“Oh, one more thing,” I realized as we broke apart, and Melanie hurriedly wiped away her tears.

“Oh?”

“Are you interested in being an auntie?” I asked.

Melanie’s head snapped up and her eyes widened. “What?”

“I think you’d make a good auntie,” Rook agreed.

“An auntie? What? What are you—oh, my God, Kitty are you…?” She looked down at my tummy, then back to my eyes. “Are you pregnant?”

“Yes.” I laughed, then I squealed as she swept me up into a hug.

“Oh, my God, this is amazing!” Melanie cried. “Congratulations! You’re going to be a mom! Oh, my God, I am going to be the coolest aunt there ever was!”

Laughing, I managed to glance at Rook as Melanie squeezed the life out of me. Then she broke away and threw herself at Rook to give him the same treatment. It was less effective, given his bulk, but it was heartfelt all the same.

“Congratulations!” She hugged him tight.

“Thank you.” Rook grinned and pink warmed his cheeks. “And thank you for everything.”

“Everything?” Melanie stepped back, sniffling and adjusting her dress.

“You were there for me, even when you didn’t know me. You can try and say that’s your job as a bar owner, but you really had my back and I appreciate it.” Rook grasped her upper arm and lightly squeezed. “Truly.”

“Oh, you guys!” Melanie looked upward to try and stop more tears from falling. “I can’t take this!”

“Love you, Mel.”

“Fuck you.” Melanie laughed, blinking furiously. “Right, I need to make sure nothing is on fire or burned, and even if it is, just tell everyone the food is amazing, okay?”

She kissed my cheek and hurried away out of the room. I chuckled, watching her leave, and then turned to Rook.

“Do you think she was happy?”

“I don’t know,” he teased. “It was kind of hard to tell.” Then he crooked his arm and offered me his elbow. “So, care to attend the ball with me?”

Grinning, I looped my hand around his elbow and cuddled close. “Certainly.”