The Billionaire Athlete’s Christmas Fling - Leslie North Page 0,47
ran to him. “And my daughter’s not so bad, either.” He looked from one to the other, and Tana caught the slight concern in his eyes. “I take it you’re here for the night?”
“A couple of days maybe, if that’s okay?” Lindsey would have to miss a few days of school, but it couldn’t be helped. When was she going to be old enough to make it on her own? Was that ever going to happen?
“It’s always okay,” he said, pulling her in for a hug, and kissed her temple. “My girls can come here anytime.”
“Is that Tana? I saw a car pull up in the driveway.” Her mother, book still in hand, came out and surveyed the scene. “It is. Hi, girls.”
“Hi, Grandma.” Lindsey let out a huge yawn.
“Let’s go into the guest bedroom, Lindsey,” her dad suggested. Code for giving Tana and her mom a chance to talk. “Do you have a show you want to watch?” He led Lindsey away with a backward glance and a thumbs-up.
“Frozen 2. I just watched the first one in the car. And it’s not really a show, it’s a movie, but I really like movies.” Lindsey followed him down the hall.
Tana was exhausted and wished she could go straight to bed, but that wouldn’t be the case, and she knew it.
Her dad closed the door to the guest bedroom softly, and for the second time that day, Tana felt something inside of her snap. She’d been done crying, and now her face was leaking sadness. Tana slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle the sobs, and a moment later, her mother’s arms went around her.
“Come here, Tana. Let’s sit down. It’ll be all right. Whatever it is, it’ll be all right,” her mother said, trying to soothe her the same way she’d always done.
The two women sat together on the sofa, Tana’s mom rubbing her back as she cried. Every time she took a deep breath, a fresh wave of sobs came up. Time became meaningless. After what seemed like forever, the awful pressure in her chest subsided. Tana took a fresh tissue from her mom and wiped her eyes.
“You want to talk about it?”
Tana took a shuddering breath. It was now or never, wasn’t it? She couldn’t stand to have this conversation more than once, even with her own mom. “I met a guy at the resort.” One sentence and the floodgates were opened. She told her mother everything. That first meeting on the ski slopes. Staying at his house. How Chase had such a different life from her own. The job application, the presentation—all of it. She told her about her ex, about the arrest, the theft, and the way she’d been left behind. Including falling in love. Tana tried to hold her broken heart together with both hands. Losing Chase was the worst.
“And now I might need to move in with you again.” Tana had reached the part of her story that she’d desperately wanted to avoid. The job at the Elk Lodge was supposed to seal the deal and make sure she never got to this place again. “If things don’t work out with the job. I know how these places work.”
“We’ll figure everything out. It just takes a little time,” her mom said. “We love having you. It’s not an imposition at all, Tana. You can both stay as long as you need.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. It might not be an imposition for her mother, but it felt like giving up. Tana wanted to sink into the sofa and never get out again. “I don’t want to put this on you, but I have to play it safe while I find a new job.”
“I understand. I really do.” Tana’s mom gathered her into a big hug.
But Tana had a hollow pit in her stomach. She was doomed to be alone forever—that was the lone truth at the bottom of everything else that had gone wrong.
“Mommy?” Lindsey appeared at the living room door, dressed in a fresh set of Frozen pajamas. Her parents—they were the heroes in all this. They were always waiting to catch Tana when she fell. If only she could stop falling.
“Hey, honey. What’s up?”
Lindsey padded across the room, her small brow crinkled. “Just call Chase. Make things better. I miss him.” Her daughter’s dark eyes met hers, and Tana wanted badly to tell her that it would be fine. That they could see him the next morning. But she didn’t know