Her Christmas Surprise. Kristin Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ Olivia took a sip of coffee. “How was your flight?”

      He gave a wry smile. “Which one? There were four.”

      “Any. All of them, I guess.”

      “Uneventful. Which is a fine thing in a flight.” Especially the kinds of flights he habitually took. It had taken him days to work his way from the bush to Chilton, just one of the prices he paid for the life he led.

      So different than here. He stared at the grounds outside the window, now covered with a light dusting of snow. “When did you get this?” He nodded at the drifts.

      “A couple of days ago. A nor’easter. I lost two rose bushes. The gardener didn’t get them properly mulched in time.”

      “Don’t you hate when that happens?”

      She blinked. “What?”

      “Maybe they’ll come back in the spring,” he said instead.

      “Perhaps. In the meantime, we’ve got all this snow. I don’t know how much of it will stick, though.”

      “Why, is it supposed to warm up?”

      “For a few days.”

      They both stared out at the snow as though it were the first time they’d seen it. The truth was, they didn’t know how to be with each other after all these years. It was worse than being with a stranger—with a stranger, what he said wouldn’t matter. Here, every word had resonance. The seconds ticked by. The silence stretched to the breaking point. Lex cleared his throat. “This is—”

      “Is your—”

      They stopped. “You first,” Olivia said.

      He nodded at his cup. “Good coffee.”

      “I’m glad you like it.”

      “One of the things they do well where I go is coffee.”

      She shook her head. “I don’t know why you insist on going all these dangerous places.”

      “You can get in worse trouble in some neighborhoods in New York.”

      “I don’t know why a person would go there, either.”

      He resisted the urge to say the obvious. Instead, he cleared his throat. “So how is the DAR?”

      “Fine. We’re working on the Christmas gala. It’s only two weeks away.”

      “A lot to do.”

      “Oh, there is. Flowers, seating charts, music.”

      “Sounds like a lot of meetings.”

      “Always. I’ve had more cups of coffee in the past two weeks than you’d believe.”

      “Coffee can be good.”

      “It can. You always liked it, even when you were young. It’s so strange to have you here,” she blurted.

      Out in the open, he thought. “It’s strange to be here.”

      “You’re a man.” She shook her head. “When you left, you’d barely started shaving.”

      “Once a week, whether I needed to or not,” he said ruefully, brushing his knuckles over his shadowed jaw.

      “I guess time has a way of changing things.”

      “Generally,” he agreed.

      “I’m talking around it, aren’t I?”

      “You’re allowed.”

      “Not when you’ve come all the way from Africa to help me. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know who else to call.”

      “So where do things stand?”

      “I assume you’re referring to Bradley’s legal troubles.”

      “Actually, I’m referring to yours.”

      It took her a moment to reply. “We have an appoint ment tomorrow at two with Frank Burton, to discuss the details.”

      Frank Burton, his parents’ lawyer for as long as he could remember. “He on the case?”

      “He’s been in touch with the authorities and can tell us what they’re doing to find Bradley.”

      “I assume you’ve tried the obvious stuff like calling his cell phone.”

      “The service is shut off.”

      “E-mail?”

      “No reply.” She shifted in her seat. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”

      “If there’d been a reasonable explanation, he wouldn’t have bolted.” And if she’d truly believed in it, there would have been no distress call. “Even if he’s innocent, running makes him look guilty.”

      “I just can’t believe that Bradley would do a thing like this on his own. It had to be that girl pushing him into it.”

      That girl. A wealth of disparagement in the words. “His fiancée? I thought you liked her. I thought she fit right in with this scene.” Which made her about as far from anyone he’d want anything to do with as possible, but, hey, it wasn’t his life.

      Except for the fact that he was now thrown into the middle of it.

      “I don’t think she was good for Bradley.”

      He heard the obstinate denial in her words, knew that she wanted above all to avoid believing the worst of her son. “Mom,” he began, “I don’t think—”

      She waved her hand, dismissing it. “There’s no point in speculation. Let’s wait for the details. They’ll find him and we’ll know everything soon enough.”

      Or not. Lex, of all people, knew how easy it was to go underground when you wanted to.

      Olivia stood. Conversation over. “Why don’t I show you to your room?”

      They climbed the staircase, walked down the familiar hallways. And stopped at the door of his old room. “I hope it’s all right. It’s the only one that’s made up, except for Bradley’s. We turned yours into a guest suite after you left.” She gestured at the pale green walls, the color of spring.

      New beginnings.

      Old memories.

      Lex walked slowly inside, ignoring the new furnishings, heading toward the window. It had been the view he’d liked best, even when he’d been shut in for punishment. He could look across the grounds and off in the distance see a slice of blue where the sea glittered under the sun.

      And dream about escape.

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