All That's Left by Ward Anderson

Author:Ward Anderson [Anderson, Ward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-03-05T16:00:00+00:00

13

Steven has a bit of a skip in his step as he practically bounces through the front door of his hotel. Despite the sweat rolling down his back, he thinks nothing of the heat and, for the first time since he arrived, he finds the Christmas decorations in the hotel lobby to be cute instead of tacky.

“Mr. Steven!” A familiar voice greets him as he steps through the automatic doors. Still dressed as Santa Claus, Steven’s favorite doorman is obviously smiling hugely from underneath his fake white beard.

“Good afternoon, Lee,” Steven replies without taking off his aviators. “Getting out of the heat?”

“Yes, sir.” Lee smiles. “Very good, sir. Anything you need?”

Without breaking his stride, Steven continues through the lobby, calling to Lee over his shoulder, “Everything is great, Lee. Just great.”

And everything is great. Regardless of the fact that he’s in the middle of what is actually a very tricky situation, Steven feels just fine. Despite having just lost his brother, having been dumped, and having gotten involved with his brother’s lover whom he has to leave for good in a couple of days, all is well. In fact, for the first time since long before Scotty died, Steven thinks his smile is genuine.

“Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” is playing over the speakers in the hotel, and Steven finds himself humming along. That Christmas spirit seems to have finally hit him. It’s odd that, when he hears the music this time, he’s not homesick at all.

He always feels a little depressed when the season comes and goes. The week leading up to Christmas is always great, with everything from the music to the feel in the air to make him happy. By the time January rolls around, he often finds himself in a bit of a funk that’s hard to get out of until February.

It’s not that he simply loves Christmas that much. Just like everyone else, he can get tired of all the festive hoopla. It just seems to be the one time of year when he doesn’t have other things to worry about. His restaurant is booming in December, and the work is easy. All the stresses that come with relationships go away and, for years, it was the only chance he ever got to see or really speak to Scotty. And, for just six brief weeks per year, it’s a time when background noise doesn’t make him crazy. Something about the classic sounds of the season in the air drowns out all of the mayhem he normally hears every day. And something about people’s good nature during that time of the year makes him a little smoother around the edges, as well.

Stepping out of the elevator and walking to his room, Steven wonders if he can curb his schoolboy crush long enough to take a nap. Running around with Dania all morning and afternoon was exhausting, not to mention the fact that she kept him awake and drunk most of the previous night. It’s finally starting to

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