world to see his eyes fill with wonder when we turned the tree on. It was like… like he was witnessing magic.”
“Magic?” I asked.
“The magic of Christmas. He was too young last year to really grasp it. But now he knows who Santa is. He understands what Christmas morning brings. And we’re teaching him that this is a time to give. He’s already started going through some of his old toys so we can donate them next week.”
“Your children are going to grow up to be good humans, Miriam.”
She smiled proudly. “I think you’re right.”
“Of course, I’m right. Look at what you and Robert have built for them. It’s inspiring, Miriam, really.”
She giggled. “Inspiring? Please, Kathryn. We both know you don’t want any of this.”
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t inspiring. I’ve seen how hard you both worked. I’ve seen the tears you shed when times were tough.”
“Fair enough.” Miriam tapped her nails lightly against the side of her wine glass. “Are you going to put up a tree this year?”
“What do you think?”
“I think Christmas is what you make it, and I think you’ve been missing out for the last decade because you’re too busy working to stop and smell the roses.”
I laughed. Miriam was always worrying about me. “You know how I feel about Christmas. It makes me happy that it makes you happy, but I’m really not interested in dramatically changing everything about my life for one month. The decor, the cooking, the baking, the events, the commitments, all of it. It’s just too much. I’m too busy.”
“Because you insist on staying busy,” she said dryly.
“Because my work is everything to me. I work too hard to blow money on a consumer holiday. The whole thing is too sparkly, too loud, and too damn happy. It’s all fake.”
Miriam rolled her eyes at me. “Christmas brings people together.”
“So does a job well done, and I’m going to knock Perfect Pairings out of the park without getting distracted by the glitter and gold.” I smiled at my friend as she shook her head at me. “You love me as I am, workaholic or not, right?”
She sighed. “Always.”
Chapter 10
Ethan
As soon as I stepped off the elevator at the JDR Agency on Monday morning, I walked into the North Pole. It was official.
Christmas was here.
Jon hired a decorating company every year to come in over the weekend and dress the office up for the holidays. It was never the same, but it was always classy, elegant, and joyful. Jon refused to use any colors but the traditional festive colors of red, gold, green, and silver. He swore up and down that purples and blues had no place in a Christmas tree or on a strand of garland, and I had to admit I agreed with him.
But to each their own.
Christmas music played through the wall-mounted speakers as I strode across the Turkish rug in the lobby and paused to say hello to Caroline at reception. She looked up from her computer screen and smiled warmly at me.
“Yes.” I nodded. My gaze went to the brooch she wore below her left shoulder of a holly leaf and red berries. It was sparkly and quite pretty. “Nice pin.”
She ran her fingers over the gold-trimmed leaf. “Thank you. It was my grandmother’s.”
“She had good taste.”
I left Caroline when the reception phone rang, and stashed my jacket and briefcase in my office before moving to the break room to brew some coffee. Lucky for me, someone had already seen to it, and there was a piping-hot pot of the good stuff waiting for me. I poured a cup and opened the fridge for the creamer to find that Jon had stocked it with new flavors for the holidays, including cinnamon, peppermint mocha, and salted caramel. I chuckled to myself and reached for the plain stuff.
While I stirred my morning brew, I was joined by Jon, who held out a mug expectantly. I filled it up for him before setting the pot back on its base.
“Morning,” I said.
“Morning. What do you think of the office? Nice this year, isn’t it? They really outdid themselves.”
“Looks good to me,” I said.
“The only thing missing is the tree.”
I hadn’t even noticed. Usually, Jon bought a real tree and had it delivered on the first of the month, which would be tomorrow. I assumed one would be arriving and he’d want to put it in the