said.” He tapped the book in his lap. “No space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused.”
“I got it. Thanks, Pop. See you at dinner.”
* * *
JUST BEFORE SIX on Christmas Eve, Eliza looked around the heavenly-smelling kitchen. “I think that’s everything. What are we forgetting?”
Sue took in all the dishes and the warmers waiting to be carried into the dining room in a few moments. Though Eliza had helped out where she could in creating the feast—along with most members of the family at one point or another—Sue was quite firmly back in charge in her kitchen. Her foot wasn’t hurting nearly as badly, she claimed. With the little knee walker, she could get around wherever she needed in the kitchen.
“That should be everything. The ham has been glazed, the potatoes are crispy and perfect, the rolls are baking. I think the only thing left to do is for you and I to freshen up for dinner.”
Eliza shifted. “I still feel a little weird crashing their family dinner, don’t you?”
“Not a bit. After all you’ve done to throw this whole house party together this last week and a half, you should be sitting at the head of the table. Everything has gone smoothly because of you.”
That wasn’t even half true but she didn’t want to argue with Sue on Christmas Eve.
“Anyway, Aidan wants you there,” the cook went on.
She thought of that fleeting, charged moment when she had been coming down the stairs with the children and had seen him in the great room talking to his father. The look in his gaze had left her feeling so jittery and off-balance, it was a wonder she hadn’t stumbled over a step.
“Have you spoken with him today?” she asked.
“No,” Sue admitted. “He’s been making himself scarce. I think he’s got some big project he’s working on. He’s been holed up in his office most of the day on those computers of his. I took him a sandwich earlier but I’m not sure he even touched it.”
Eliza frowned. “He has gone to so much trouble to have his family here. You would think he would at least try to spend a little time with them.”
She hated to see him become so obsessed with work that he missed out on this family holiday he had been planning since his surgery.
“Sometimes he gets like this. An idea comes to him and he can’t rest until he figures out how to make it work. It’s just one of his quirks. You learn to live with it.”
She wouldn’t be learning to live with it. She would be leaving Snow Angel Cove within the week and he would be taking his workaholic quirks back to California.
“It’s Christmas Eve. He should let his brain rest for a few hours and enjoy the moment with his family.”
“Maybe someone needs to go remind him of that. Someone whose opinion he cares about.”
Sue gave her a meaningful look that made Eliza flush. It wasn’t her place to offer opinions about anything—not that he would care what she thought.
“Good idea,” she answered smartly. “Let me know what he says.”
The other woman snorted. “You know I meant you, missy. At least go knock on his door and remind him dinner will be ready at seven sharp, whether he’s there or not.”
Eliza wanted to come up with some excuse to avoid the task—but how could she send Sue traipsing down the length of the house, maneuvering around kids and dogs, on her bad foot?
“Sure,” she said, trying to give in as gracefully as possible. “I have to round up Maddie, anyway, in order to change for dinner.”
Outside his office door, she paused for a moment and took a deep breath, willing down the silly butterflies that now seemed to be marching in time to The Nutcracker suite. Just as she reached a hand up to knock, the door opened from the other side and, abruptly, he was there.
He froze, looking confused and disoriented to find her outside his door.
“Oh. Hi.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that intense look in his eyes that made her feel young and giddy and very, very female.
“Sue just sent me to pry you out of your office. It’s nearly time for dinner.”
“Right. I set an alarm to remind myself. I was just heading that way.”
He looked exhausted, she thought, his eyes blurry through those sexy glasses and his hair sticking up as if he had been running his hand through it.
She could clearly see his scar, raw, white and terrifying. Glimpsing this rare vulnerability affected her far more profoundly than it should. If he walked out to see his family now, everyone would see it. Questions would fly like sparks going up the chimney and his big, dark secret would be out.
Should she tell him, or should she let the truth come out? She still believed he was wrong to withhold that information from his family, especially after meeting them and seeing their love for him.
She sighed. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t be sneaky like that. “Before you go out there, you should probably take a minute to, um, do something with your hair.”
“What’s wrong with my hair?”
“Nothing, really. It’s just...it’s sticking up a bit and your scar is showing.”
Telling herself it was no different from helping Maddie, she reached a hand up and pulled the locks gently back in place. He froze at her touch and then, for an almost imperceptible moment, she almost thought he leaned into her hand.
The air between them seemed to thicken, heavy with awareness, tension, all the unspoken emotions between them.
“Thank you,” he murmured. In his blue eyes, she saw gratitude and clear awareness. He knew she was helping him cover up something she thought should already be out in the open.
She dropped her hand quickly to her side. “I hope you would do the same for me, if I had a brain surgery scar I was foolishly trying to keep from my family.”
His laugh was low and rusty-sounding. “You know I would.”
“Of course, here’s another good way to keep secrets from them,” she said pointedly. “Invite them all to spend the holidays at your lovely home but then just hide out the whole time in your office. They’ll never suspect a thing.”
He looked rueful. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s been a crazy couple of days. I’ve got a last-minute project I’m trying to wrap up but I’m almost done.”
“Well, we told everyone seven for dinner. It’s close to that. Sue wanted me to let you know.”
“Thanks.”
She should walk away. Her time was not her own, after all. She still had to find Maddie and change her clothes and her daughter’s, run a comb through her hair, maybe add a little
