1225 Christmas Tree Lane - Debbie Macomber [68]
Kent broke eye contact with her. “She isn’t here.”
“Isn’t here? Did she stay at the B and B?”
“Not…exactly.” He bent down to take off his boots.
“Then where is she?”
Kent glanced at his watch. “I imagine she’s at the airport about now.”
“The airport?” Sophie repeated. “I thought she was spending Christmas in Cedar Cove.”
“That was her original plan. She came with me, hoping to meet up with a sailor she’d met when he was on leave in California. Apparently, she read more into the relationship than she should have.”
“What?” Beth asked in shock. “She came to meet up with a sailor? But…”
“Danielle was hoping to see this guy, Hunter. She and I were talking about that, and I told her I still had feelings for you, but wasn’t sure what to do when you asked me to come here for Christmas. She offered to come with me and—”
“Wait.” Beth’s hand flew to her chest. “I asked you? I think there’s been some misunderstanding.” Beth noticed that the girls had skittered off as she spoke.
Kent frowned. “You mean you didn’t?”
Beth frowned, too. “Are you saying you weren’t the one who wanted to spend Christmas as a family?”
“Bailey! Sophie!” Beth and Kent shouted at the same time.
“Bailey Madison. Sophie Lynn,” Beth threw in for good measure.
Their two daughters reappeared, looking sheepish.
“Okay, we admit it,” Bailey said, hands in her back hip pockets. “The thing is, Sophie and I think this whole divorce is wrong. We thought if the two of you were together at Christmas, you’d realize what a terrible mistake you made. Then Dad had to go and ruin everything by bringing Danielle.”
“I didn’t exactly bring her,” he clarified. “Danielle told me she intended to visit the area at the same time, and we discovered we’d be on the same flight and had booked rooms at the same bed-and-breakfast.”
“Just a minute,” Beth said in confusion. “But she works with you, right? That’s all true?”
“Yes. She works in the accounting department.”
“Are…are you… Have you ever been involved?”
“Good heavens, no.”
“But…”
Kent broke eye contact. “While we were at the airport waiting for the plane, we started talking. Just like I already told you, I explained that I wasn’t sure how I felt about being here this Christmas. I missed my wife, but the girls had hinted that you were seeing the local vet and I didn’t want to be a fifth wheel. So Danielle said what you needed was some competition and I…agreed. I felt it was worth a shot, anyway. So she put on this ridiculous act and—” He shrugged, glancing up the staircase at Beth. “I regretted the entire charade immediately, but by then it seemed too late. The whole thing had taken on a momentum of its own….” He shrugged. “I just hope you can forgive me.”
The girls sent each other a triumphant smile, as if they were personally responsible for this turn of events.
Kent continued to hold Beth’s look.
She bit her lip and started down the remaining steps.
“Problem is,” he told his daughters, “I don’t know how your mother feels about me. It’s been three years.”
“Mom’s crazy about you,” Bailey said.
“Of course Mom loves you,” Sophie added her voice to her sister’s. “She’d be a fool not to.”
“What about Ted Reynolds?” Kent asked.
“What about him?” Bailey returned. “Mom loves you, not Ted.”
“I’d rather have your mother tell me so herself.” Kent stood with one foot braced against the bottom step. He stretched out his arm to Beth.
She placed her hand in his. “Oh, Kent, I’ve never stopped loving you. I never will.”
He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her down the last two stairs, setting her feet on the ground.
As Beth slipped her arms around his neck, she buried her face in his shoulder. “We’ve both been so foolish.”
He kissed her again and then again, as if he couldn’t get enough of her.
Cradling his face with her hands, Beth gazed into his eyes, aware of their daughters grinning from the sidelines.
“These girls have a lot of ’splainin’ to do,” Kent said in a stage whisper.
“It was Bailey’s idea,” Sophie maintained.