Christmas at Holiday House - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,100

she didn’t have the energy for a confrontation with him right now. She almost slipped inside the dressing room, but he caught up with her before she could do more than take a step in that direction.

“I saw you out on the balcony with Katya. She looked upset. Is everything okay?”

She nodded. “A few last-minute jitters, but I think everything is under control now.”

He looked shocked that she had handled the crisis by herself. Lucy didn’t blame him. She couldn’t believe the things she had said to Katya about love and fear.

She was even more shocked that they still resounded through her with the ring of truth.

At that moment, Katya came out of the dressing room with her mother and sisters behind her. All had been set to rights and she looked stunning, with a new peace about her that had been missing for two days.

She came to Lucy and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thank you,” she said in Russian. “Thank you for being so wise and for reminding me that love is the most important thing of all.”

Lucy couldn’t look at José, grateful he didn’t speak the language, as Katya glided down the hall.

* * *

Lucy wasn’t sure how she made it through the rest of the wedding ceremony and the long hours of partying afterward. It helped greatly that José seemed to disappear after the ceremony itself, presumably to handle some other crisis at the hotel or one of the others in town.

The wedding itself had been beautiful. The groom had cried, which had made Lucy want to cry, too. Afterward, Katya and Daniel’s families both proved language barriers were irrelevant when it came to dancing and drinking and having a wonderful time to celebrate the bride and groom.

By the time the last of Katya’s family left the ballroom and Lucy’s services were no longer needed, it was after midnight and Lucy was exhausted. Her brain ached from trying to remember vocabulary she hadn’t used in a long time, and her feet hurt from dancing with Katya’s three brothers and her uncles, who were all delighted to tell her stories about home.

She couldn’t wait to go to her own home, slip off her heels and collapse on her bed.

First, she had to retrieve her coat, which she had left hours earlier in the closet outside Ethan’s office.

She headed for the elevator to the Lancaster Hotels administration offices, waving to Jolene Turner, who had worked at the front desk forever.

When she reached the offices, she couldn’t help noticing a light was burning in José’s office and his door was ajar.

Unfortunately, she had to go past it to grab her coat. Through the sliver of light, she could see his head bent over a laptop as he worked on something, his tie loosened and his hair falling into his eyes.

She fought the urge to slide into his office and push that hair out of his way.

Not her place, she reminded herself. She had made sure of that.

Tears welled up as she stood there outside his office, the emotions of the past two days hitting her all at once. What was wrong with her?

Love.

She loved him.

The answer seemed to settle over her like a soft snowfall.

This ache in her chest had to be love. It was the only explanation that made sense. She loved him. She had loved him for a very long time.

In her shock, she must have made some sound. Or perhaps he merely sensed her presence. He lifted his head, his gaze going instantly to her. In that second, she saw raw, unfiltered emotion in his expression.

Instead of making her want to flee, she wanted to sink into his arms, to tell him she was so sorry.

He rose and came out into the hallway.

“You’re leaving? Is the wedding over?”

She, who was fluent in eight languages and understood several more, could only nod.

“That’s a long day. Thank you for helping out.”

She managed to find her voice, though it sounded hollow, rough. “I was glad to do it.”

“What happened today with the bride? You said she had last-minute jitters?”

Lucy let out a breath. “Yes. She overheard something one of Daniel’s cousins said, and it made her fear the marriage was a mistake and one day he would regret marrying her.”

“How did you bring her around?”

Her face felt hot suddenly. She wanted to give him some trite answer, but she couldn’t do it.

She wanted to tell him the truth.

She looked away. “I reminded her how much Daniel loved her and couldn’t