The Last Noel & Secret Surrogate by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-08-09T19:16:03+00:00

Epilogue

“It’s Christmas Eve,” the man said.

The younger Hudson of Hudson & Son looked so much like his father that, for a moment, Craig thought he’d lost his mind.

He hadn’t expected the shop to be open. Sheila had told him that before his death, Lionel Hudson had been intending to close the shop and move west to be with his son.

This Hudson wasn’t a spring chicken, either. He looked like his father, but at the age of sixtysomething rather than eighty-plus.

“I know. I’m sorry. You’re trying to close up. I just saw the sign and...”

Hudson frowned, looking at him. “You’re Craig Devon, aren’t you?”

Craig was startled. “I—yes.” He felt awkward. Guilty. “I’m so sorry about your father.”

Hudson nodded, studying him, then offered his hand. “I’m Ethan Hudson. I heard you tried to save my father.”

The man was looking at him with such appreciation that Craig felt like a fraud, but he had to say something.

“I didn’t know that... I didn’t know they would kill anyone. I am so sorry. I should have been more prepared. I—”

“Please,” Hudson said, and smiled. “I’ve heard all about it from Sheila and Tim. You’re a good man. I know you would have saved him if you could. I’ve thought about it a lot, though. He wouldn’t have wanted to waste away, to die in agony. Who knows what’s for the best?” He shrugged, then grinned. “I remember him with love. That’s the important thing.”

“I thought the store was closing,” Craig said.

“Funny, I thought so, too. But then Dad...died and I came back, and I’m still here. I’m glad, too. I loved this place when I was a kid. I’d sit on my dad’s lap when he’d take out his magnifying glass and study a stone. In a way, working here, running this place, I feel like he’s still with me.” He offered Craig a strange and rueful smile. “Sometimes you learn what really matters, huh? I remember one time, there was a ring a woman wanted to sell. Even I knew the stone wasn’t a good stone, but my dad paid her really well for it. And afterward he told me that what’s valuable in life isn’t things, it’s what those things mean to people and what can be made of them.” He paused, then said, “Sorry, I guess Christmas Eve is making me nostalgic.”

Craig looked away for a moment, then said, a question in the words, “The sign...it still reads Hudson & Son.”

“One of my boys moved out here with me, and he works here, too. He’s off tonight, though. He has little kids and, well, you know. It’s Christmas Eve, he’s got a lot to do. I needed to be here alone today, anyway.”

“Yeah,” Craig said huskily, feeling awkward again. He cleared his throat and looked into the jeweler’s cases. “You’ve got some beautiful pieces here.”

“Thank you.”

“That solitaire...”

“Are you thinking about getting married?”

Craig looked at him and felt the oddest little tug in his heart. Was he thinking about it? Hell, yeah!

But was she?

He was scared.

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