Page 49 of Reunion at Mistletoe Lodge
“What knitting emergency?” Barb frowned. “What is Priscilla knitting?” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Apparently, we’re knitting wooly hats,” Julie read the text message. “She needs them in two days.”
“Great,” Barb said, nodding, her eyes catching Priscilla’s from across the room. She smiledat Barb before turning to instruct her staff on where to position a table for her new group of knitting recruits. “Did you set this up?”
“No,” Zac said, shaking his head, thinkingthat was not subtle of Priscilla at all.“I was drawn into this by my sister.”
“Sister?” Barb looked at him with a frown.
He turned and pointed to Paige, who was helping Priscilla organize the knitting group she’d just stolen from Barb. “Yes, she’s the one helping Priscilla steal your painting crew.”
He saw the surprise reflect in Barb’s eyes. “That’s your sister?” She pointed to Paige.
“Yes,” Zac said with a nod and grinned. “Can’t you see the family resemblance?”
He saw Barb look from Zac to Paige. “Not really.”
“We have the same color eyes and hair,” Zac pointed out, smiling.
“Why are you here, Zac?” Barb asked him, putting the bauble she was painting down.
“To help you paint baubles,” Zac told her, eyeing the ones that had already been done. “And by the look of it, you could use my help.” He picked up one. “I know Christmas decoration making is all about the fun…” He gave his head a shake. “But what on earth?” He turned the picture toward her. It was a purple blob with a bit of green sticking up from its center.
He saw a flash of amusement in Barb’s eyes before she schooled her emotions. “It’s a plum.”
Zac’s brows shot up, and he looked at the blob again. “Seriously?” He turned it around. “Oh! Right. So it’s abstract art, then?”
“I guess,” Barb said, biting her lip, trying not to smile. “The ladies were trying really hard.”
“Well, let’s hope they knit better than they paint!” Zac rolled his eyes, put the bauble down, rolledup his sleeves, chose a brush bauble, and started to paint. “What are you painting?”
“Just a reindeer,” Barb told him.
“Can I see?” Zac asked. Barb turned it to him. “Oh wow. I didn’t know you were so good with art.”
“There’s alotwe don’t know about each other,” Barb told him bitingly. “Are you and your family leaving now that Liam has regained his memory?”
Barb didn’t meet his eyes when she asked, and she stared at the bauble she was painting.
“No,” Zac told her, and Barb’s eyes flew to his. “My sister and brother want to stick around for the Christmas ball.”
“Why?” Barb asked, her face falling as she stared at him.
“We’ve already paid up to the first week of the new year,” Zac answered with a shrug, his eyes holding hers. “And I would really like to get to know my daughter and spend some time with Oscar.”
“No!” Barb hissed, putting down the bauble and shoving her paintbrush into the jar of water. “No. That’s not going to happen.”
“Barb,” Zac said, “you and I need to talk about us and the kids.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at Zac in disbelief. “Us?” Barb’s words were laced with bitterness. “There is notusanymore, Zac. I don’t think it really ever was. We were two lonely people in the middle of Africa, and we just got carried away.”
“What?” Zac’s heart stopped for a few seconds as he held his breath while her words sank in.Is that really how Barb feels or what she thinks?“That isnotwhat happened. I love you, Barb. More than anything in the world. You, Oscar, and Charlotte mean everything to me.”
Barb stared at him as if he’d grown two heads for a few seconds, and he noticed her cheeks were slightly flushed as her eyes narrowed. “Don’t youdare talk about love to me!” Her eyes blazed with a mix of anger and hurt as she met Zac’s gaze. "If you really loved me, Zac, you would never have just ghosted us like that. You would have found a way to let me know what was happening. Instead, you left me, left Oscar, and never even bothered to check the messages I sent you. You didn’t even know I was carrying our child."
Zac winced at her words, the pain evident in his eyes. "Barb, I was protecting you and Oscar. I thought it was some of your uncle’s men who had tried to kill Liam. I couldn’t risk them knowing where you were. The safest thing I could do was stay away and keep you out of it. If they had found out about you, about Oscar, they would have used you to get to me."
Barb shook her head, her voice trembling with emotion. "But you didn’t protect us, Zac. You abandoned us. You know Oscar never gave up on you. Every night, he’d tell me that he’s sure Dad is on some secret mission that he can’t tell us about.” She shook her head. “You know, I didn’t even know you had a sister until we were on our way back from the hospital.” He saw her look across the room. “I saw a photo of her on your arm ina newspaper. Do you know what I thought when I saw that?”
