A Christmas Bride by Hope Ramsay

Author:Hope Ramsay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2016-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

David’s laughter died the moment Willow squared her shoulders and marched off into the woods. Mother had managed to cut her down to size in about a nanosecond, and that pissed him off.

“Why are you here?” he asked, putting his hand on Natalie’s shoulder to keep her from scampering off into the woods after her fairy godmother.

“Roxy stopped by, and I thought it would be fun for you and Natalie to join us at the Red Fern Inn for tea or cocktails.”

David doubted that Roxy had just “dropped by.” Mother had been shoving Roxy in his face for several weeks now. And if Mother had really wanted to meet for drinks somewhere, she would have called or texted. No, she had used Roxy as an excuse to check up on the status of the paint party. Mother was probably hoping Willow’s party would fail, and that Jeff and Melissa would change their minds when they realized how dilapidated the inn had become.

“What on earth made you think that I could join you for cocktails today? You knew today was the paint party.”

“David, dear, I didn’t expect you or Natalie to be painting. Really. If Jeff and Melissa want to get married here in this…place, well, I suppose no one can stop them. But I didn’t really expect you to help them. To be honest, I expected you to go fishing this morning.”

“Mother, like it or not, this is my house, and that makes me the official host of Jeff and Melissa’s wedding reception. You need to accept both of these facts.”

“David, I know this is your house, but not by choice. I mean you—”

“I chose to marry Shelly. That wasn’t a mistake.” He fingered his ring.

“Well, whatever, you know what I mean. Charlotte’s Grove is your home. It’s the house you’ll inherit one day. This place is merely a liability you’re planning to sell.”

He could hardly argue that point, so he didn’t. He let his mother rant on.

“I can understand why you decided to help your cousin. After all, you are both members of the same family. But I will never understand why you hired that woman. You know she has a terrible—”

“Don’t,” he said, his voice going hard.

“Don’t what?”

“Say what you were about to say. I don’t want to hear about Willow Petersen’s reputation.”

“Well, you should. Have you even bothered to read what they’re saying about her in the Wall Street Journal? David, her father was that horrible punk-rock person who killed himself. And we all know what her mother is like.”

“Yep, we sure do,” Linda said from somewhere behind him. “And trust me, Lucas was a good man. A little confused, but his heart was made of gold.”

Mother sniffed. “David, really? I can’t believe you’re spending time with these people.”

“Why? You’re the one who is always telling me I need to get out and connect with the people if I’m going to run for Congress. So, here I am, connecting with folks. I want you to look around at the people assembled here.

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