Kissing Under the Mistletoe - By Marina Adair Page 0,92
Holly happy birthday from me.”
Regan waited until she heard the bell on the door jingle closed before she collapsed into the nearest chair. This could not be happening. Not once when she had considered moving to St. Helena did she ever imagine the conversation that had just transpired. When she’d come here, she knew there would be a few hurdles, but the job at Ryo and the chance to give Holly the kind of life Regan had dreamed of for her had outweighed all of the downsides.
“Hey, there you are. I wanted to talk to you before Holly—” Gabe took one look at her face and came to stand in front of her. He squatted down to eye level. She dropped her head to the table. “Regan, what’s wrong?”
“No one’s coming,” she mumbled into the green sequins, a feather sticking to her lip. No one was coming to her daughter’s sixth birthday party. The party that Holly had worked so hard on and was so excited about.
“Hey.” He slid his fingers through her hair. “It’s still early.”
She shook her head, her forehead bunching the tablecloth. “I just saw Isabel and everyone knows about Richard. And they don’t want their kids around someone who—” She couldn’t even say it. Not to him. Not when he used to look at her like that, but now he looked at her like she mattered. “Oh, God, Gabe. What I have I done? I should have never come here.”
“Mommy! Look!” Holly came bounding out of the kitchen in a white tea-length dress with a green sash and white collar. She gave a dramatic spin and the skirt belled out, reminding Regan of a snowflake princess. And the three Mrs. Clauses stood behind, looking proud as punch. “Lucinda made me the dress and Pricilla sewed on the apron and ChiChi lent me her crown.”
Holly pointed to the small tiara on her head. It was plastic and gaudy and when Regan squinted she could have sworn it said Cheetah’s Strip and Sip.
“I got it at Ruth’s bachelorette party,” ChiChi said proudly. Pricilla and Lucinda exchanged confused looks. “Her third one. When she married that podiatrist.”
“Ah.” Both ladies nodded with understanding.
“You look beautiful, angel,” Regan said, hugging her daughter and placing a kiss on top of her head. She licked her finger and stealthily tried to rub off the strip-club logo. No such luck.
“It was Lucinda’s idea. She said every little girl should get to be a princess for at least one day.” That surprised Regan, since Lucinda didn’t seem to have a feminine bone in her body. “So, Pricilla put it in the invitation that everyone should dress like a princess.”
Regan looked at Gabe, who was pinching the bridge of his nose. Gathering Holly close, setting her on her lap, she said, “Oh, honey, I just saw Lauren’s mom and—”
“She’s sick,” Gabe broke in, looking almost as surprised by his lie as Regan did.
Silently asking Regan to give him a minute, he squatted down on his haunches. “So your mom thought we should save her a cupcake.”
“I’m sad she won’t be here. She is the F to my B.”
Regan choked on that, having a whole other F and B phrase to describe Lauren’s mom, but let it go. She shouldn’t punish Lauren for Isabel being a psycho parent.
Gabe rested a hand on Holly’s head, careful, Regan noticed, not to mess with the crown. “Why don’t you and the grannies go in the kitchen and pack one or two up, and I can bring them to Lauren later.”
The grannies all looked at Regan, who was near tears, then at Gabe and nodded. They didn’t know what was going on, but they knew something was off. Problem was, so did Holly.
“Maybe we could send her home with a few of my peppermint wafers,” Pricilla said, placing her hand on Holly’s back and shuffling her through the swinging kitchen doors. Before the door shut, Regan saw Holly’s little face, perplexed and concerned, staring back at her.
She waited until she heard rattling coming from the kitchen. The last thing she wanted was for Holly to overhear them. “Gabe, that was sweet, but in a few minutes she’ll figure it out.”
“This is what I do. I solve problems. Let me solve this one.” He smiled, pulling her up to standing.
“I don’t lie to my daughter. I never have and I won’t start now just because some stuck-up—”
Gabe leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers, delivering a sweet kiss. When he