Santa Brought A Son. Melissa McClone

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      Chapter Two

      As the new Mr. and Mrs. Mark Slayter finished their stroll down the aisle to the tune of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” the bells in the steeple chimed. Reed followed the stream of wedding guests outside to the steps of the 275-year-old church. People milled about as if it were a spring afternoon, not early December with a wintry chill in the air.

      “I’m Rebecca,” an attractive woman with hazel-green eyes said to him. “Are you a friend of the groom or the bride?”

      “The groom,” Reed answered. “Rebecca Donnelly, right?”

      “You know my name, but I’m positive we’ve never met before.” She smiled seductively. “I would never forget a man like you.”

      “You sat next to me in physics and world history senior year.” Her blank look didn’t surprise him. “Reed Connors.”

      Her mouth gaped. “I’m sorry, Reed. I didn’t recognize you.”

      “That’s okay,” he said. “I only lived in Fernville a couple of years. No reason for you to remember me.”

      She pursed her glossed lips. “Can I make it up to you?”

      “Possibly.” His hint of suggestiveness left Rebecca nodding and batting her heavily mascara-covered eyelashes.

      As he made the one-block stroll to the reception, Reed searched for his friends from high school. They had to be here, but he didn’t see them. He reached the reception site, the town’s recreation center. An odd choice for a wedding reception considering he used to compete in chess tournaments there. The only difference between then and now was a new sign out front.

      Inside, a framed picture of Mark and Kelli sat on an easel. A white mat with guests’ signatures and greetings surrounded the photo. Reed picked up the pen, scribbled the words “May the force be with you as you live long and prosper together” and signed his name. Mark would understand as only a former Star Wars/Trekkie geek would.

      With his seat-assignment card in hand, Reed stepped through the pine-garland-trimmed entrance to the multipurpose room and was transported from the recreation center’s nondescript decor into a romantic winter wonderland.

      The scent of pine permeated the air. White gauzy fabric with sparkling snowflakes on it covered the walls. Garland entwined with white lights was draped over them. Next to the dance floor stood a twelve-foot Christmas tree decorated with white lights, red bows and crystal hearts. A smiling angel, with wings spread wide, graced the top of the tall tree. Reed’s assistant had sent a gift for him, and he wondered if it was under the tree with the other wedding presents.

      Had Samantha done all this? The girl he remembered hadn’t seemed interested in flowers unless they were for a prom corsage. Though she’d been more concerned about whether they clashed with the color and style of her dress. But Reed had thought he’d seen more in her. Too bad he’d been wrong.

      Reed passed a group of carolers dressed like characters from a Dickens novel and made his way to the other side of the room. He located table four.

      “Hey.” Reed was happy to see three of his closest friends from high school and two women seated here. “I’ve been wondering where you guys were. It’s been a long time.”

      “I don’t believe it.” Wes Harkens, who had a goatee and a lot less hair than Reed remembered, rose from his seat and shook his hand. “Mark said you were coming, but I didn’t see you at the church so I thought you hadn’t made it.”

      “I was with Mark until right before the ceremony,” Reed said, thinking how good it had been to catch up on the past eight years with his old friend. “Mark was as cool as a cucumber, but once I saw Kelli, I understood.”

      As his three buddies nodded knowingly, the attractive brunette sighed. “Don’t you guys think about anything else?”

      “Sorry, honey. We don’t.” Dan Crenshaw, as tall as ever, but no longer as skinny as a twig, laughed. “I thought a million-dollar deal would spring up and keep you away, Reed.”

      He smiled. “I don’t make the deals, just make sure everyone knows about them and Wintersoft.”

      “But you must be doing well. Wintersoft is a great company.” Patrick Fitzgerald, who looked eighteen not twenty-eight, hugged him. “Good to see you, Reed.”

      “You, too,” he said.

      The introductions continued. Reed met Dan’s fiancée, Jenn, and Wes’s wife, a pregnant, auburn-haired beauty named Claire. For two guys who’d never dated in high school, they had done well in the spouse department. Patrick, who hadn’t outgrown his thick black-rimmed glasses and too-short pants, seemed to have come alone, but two empty seats at the table still remained.

      “Looks like we’ll have all the single women to ourselves,” Reed said to Patrick.

      “Maybe you will.”

      “Thank goodness,” a familiar feminine voice said. “I never thought I’d find it.”

      One glance and Reed’s heart skipped a beat. He felt the same way he had the first time Samantha had bounced into the computer lab in her short cheerleader skirt and tight sweater asking for help with her algebra homework. She had never meant to be a tease, but she had been a natural flirt who drove all males, regardless of age, to the brink of insanity.

      “Table four.” She glanced at her table-assignment card and at each of the table’s occupants. Her gaze lingered on Reed for a moment longer than the others, and he wondered if anyone else noticed or saw the wariness in her eyes. “Looks like I’m at the right place.”

      All three of his friends stared at Samantha with the same look of awe they had in high school. Patrick nearly tripped over himself to pull out her chair. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Here you go, Samantha.”

      Her face glowed with a radiance Reed didn’t remember. Must be the lighting. No one could look that good.

      “Thank you,” she said.

      Patrick’s red cheeks brought back so many memories about Samantha for Reed. His senior year he’d hacked into the school computer system to get her class schedule. The first day back at school he’d managed to “bump” into her between every class, but more than once he’d been too shy to say anything but hello. He’d been so pathetic. At least that was in the past.

      Reed sat, leaving an empty seat between him and Samantha. The smart thing to do, he told himself, even though the idea of sitting next to Art Wilson—the man who had tormented him through high school and married the girl of Reed’s teenaged dreams—didn’t thrill him, but he was an adult and no longer in a losing competition. He could handle it. And Art.

      Samantha picked up her flute of champagne. “Wasn’t СКАЧАТЬ