A Clandestine Corporate Affair - By Michelle Celmer Page 0,49
season for forgiveness, and for his son’s sake, Nathan would put aside the bitterness and be a family.
Thirteen
As they sat down to dinner, Ana warned everyone that she wasn’t much of a cook, and to eat at their own risk. And maybe it was beginner’s luck, or she had hidden talents, because the meal was hands down the best Christmas dinner Nathan had ever had. Even her father, who Nathan had the feeling was not typically liberal with the compliments, raved about the food. Nathan hoped that now he would see how talented and resourceful Ana really was. In many ways she was still the woman he’d met a year and a half ago, only so much more, and he was proud of the person she had become.
Jordan, who in contrast was very liberal with the compliments, whether he meant them or not, seemed genuinely impressed. Nathan was surprised that despite the mixed company, the evening wasn’t nearly as awkward as he would have expected. It probably helped that everyone deliberately avoided the subject of the oil business. Even her father seemed to realize that he was on shaky ground. He seemed humbled. Maybe his making that comment, hurtful as it was, was a blessing in disguise.
Ana’s father left at seven-thirty, and Jordan hung around playing with Max until it was time for him to go to bed. If nothing else, it looked as though he would be a good uncle.
“He’s a great kid,” he said, after Ana took Max into his room to get him ready for bed, and Nathan walked Jordan to the door. “What is it with all the kids lately? It must be something in the air. First you, then Adam, now Emilio.”
“What about Emilio?”
He pulled on his coat. “That’s right—you left the party yesterday before he made his announcement. His fiancée is pregnant. They just found out. I didn’t think anything could shake that guy. He’s like granite, but I think he may have actually been a little misty-eyed. He looks really happy.”
“There’s definitely something to be said for finding the right woman,” Nathan told him. “Maybe you’ll be next.”
“The problem I find is that there are so many right women, I’m not sure which one to choose.”
Nathan grinned and shook his head. “It’ll happen. Probably when you least expect it. You’ll meet someone and you’ll just know.”
“Was it like that with Ana? Because I recall you saying that you broke it off.”
“And it might have been the worst mistake of my life. I’m just lucky that she was willing to give me a second chance.”
“You’re getting sentimental, which can only mean you’ve had way too much to drink.”
Actually he was stone-cold sober, but he didn’t argue.
Jordan slugged his arm. “Go sleep it off. And Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas. And drive safe.” He watched his brother disappear into the night, then he shut and locked the door and set the alarm.
He found Ana in the kitchen washing dishes by hand. “Is the dishwasher broken?”
“It’s already full and running. This is what’s left.”
He stepped up behind her, slipped his arms around her waist, nibbled her ear. “Are you sure you don’t want to leave these for tomorrow?”
“It’s tempting, but I really hate waking up to a dirty kitchen.” She smiled up at him hopefully. “If we do it together it’ll take half the time.”
Half the time ended up being an hour. When they were finished, they heated mugs of spiced cider in the microwave then cuddled up on the couch in front of the fire. Ana had barely spoken since everyone left, and Nathan was beginning to wonder if something was wrong.
“Is everything okay?” he asked her. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”
She sighed and rested her head against his chest. “Just tired. It’s been a really long day.”
“That it has.”
“It didn’t work out exactly as we planned, but I think it went okay.”
“Better than I anticipated, considering the guest list.”
“It was really strange opening the door and seeing my dad there. And even stranger when your brother showed up.”
“Yeah, that was definitely unexpected.”
“He was really good with Max. I wouldn’t have pictured him as a kid person.”
“As long as it’s someone else’s, I guess. He doesn’t seem to have any desire to settle down and have a family of his own. Of course, neither did I.”
“This is probably a terrible thing to have to ask, since he is your brother, but he’s not going to say anything to the board at Western Oil about us, is he? I