Page 44 of What Happens This Christmas
I laughed, shaking my head. “Anytime.”
“We should probably get going,” she told me warily.
“Is that what you want?” I wasn’t sure I did, not that she’d asked me.
Her lips pursed. It was a shame that was all I was going to get—pursed lips. I might’ve preferred eyebrows that flew up, creating a dramatic arc. Anything to signal her interest in theevening not ending. Then, she spoke. “This was a lovely outing, Nick, and I appreciate you taking me here, but—”
She was predictable, so I finished the sentence for her. “It’s over,” I supplied, bringing my thumb to my ring finger, toying with my wedding band not for the first time since I’d put it back on.
If nothing else, I had to commend Candy for her excellent ability in knowing when to shut down and pretend as though nothing had transpired.
Chapter 20
she’s ruining Christmas
Candy
“I think I’d like more lights, Gail,” I said to the event planner as I looked at the mockups she had put in front of me. The sketches were all lovely, and she had obviously worked a great deal on them. She definitely got points for understanding my vision. But there was just one more thing. It was missing something, and it couldn’t be missing anything because I didn’t want our annual Christmas Eve party to be a travesty. “I also envisioned a homey, warm, woodsy feel on the terrace, something to contrast the indoors.”
Just then, a bony finger rested on my shoulder, and I honestly couldn’t think of anything more terrifying. I was sure having front row seats to a horror movie premier would rank, but I couldn’t be bothered with hypotheticals at the moment. Certainly not when Nick’s dreadful mother had multiple fingers on my shoulder now. I’d swear, her showing up here was far too reminiscent of being visited by the ghost of Christmas past.
“Good thinking, dear. Draw more attention to the fact that your home is neither homey nor warm.”
The groan I withheld. Wherever was my darling husband? He should have been here when she arrived. Misery wanted company when it came to having to spend even one waking second with Virginia Crane, so I certainly wanted him here. I mean, shouldn’t he have had to suffer as much as I was being around her? It had been his idea that she stay with us.“We havemore than enough room, and your sister is already staying here. How would it look if we sent my mother to a hotel?” he’d asked me, knowing that I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on to fight him.
If I had thought he’d wanted me to answer his question, I would have. And why shouldn’t she have stayed at a hotel? The accommodations would have been perfectly acceptable, if not more than she deserved with her constant disapproval and lack of respect for me.
“Mother Crane,” I greeted softly, striving for a loving tone that I was confident I’d never actually achieve around this woman. It seemed more likely that designer handbags would start to grow on trees. “Nick didn’t tell me I should expect you yet.” And that fact alone only made fury ignite in my chest.
Really, sticking me with his mother was competing for first place in one of the worst things to ever happen to me. It was between that andI’m divorcing you. I loathed those three words more than I could imagine a playboy hated hearingI’m pregnant, and it’s yours.
She stood at my side, staring at me before ignoring me completely and studying the mockups like she’d have any say inmyparty. “Don’t be obtuse, dear. I don’t have anywhere else to go, and my flight landed an hour ago. Not that I’d expect you to know that. You weren’t at the airport to pick me up.” When she spoke, especially when she was making her jabs, her voice was like velvet woven from pure silk. If I didn’t appreciate velvet so much, I’d hold the memories of her against the distinctive fabric.
Virginia Crane was lithe for her age. Her platinum hair that was always coiffed to perfection was every bit as elegant as you’d imagine her to be. She never left her house without her six-carat emerald ring or her antique four-carat oval ruby ring. To say that her gems were important to her would be an understatement. Part of me wondered if when Nick’s father had been alive, she’dcherished her husband of fifty years as much as she did her gemstones. Most days, I was sure the scale might’ve tipped just a tad in their direction, but I never vocalized those thoughts.
Nick tended to see his mother as whittled to perfection at the hands of an artisan. The sun rose and set with her. Likewise, the same was true for the way Virginia treated her son. That was a kind of parental devotion I didn’t understand. In fact, early on, when Nick had first taken me to Cape Elizabeth in Maine to meet his mother, I’d missed their greeting, but I had been sure as anything that when the time came to leave, the two would kiss on the lips. It hadn’t happened, thank goodness, but the fear had been very real for a while.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced at her, silently demanding her to actually look at me when she spoke to me instead of away in the passive manner she chose. And don’t even get me started on that rehearsed line about the airport. She had made it sound like she had been left to find her own ride when I knew for a fact that was inaccurate. Nick had told me he’d hired a driver to meet her at the airport. “Yes, well, I—”
“Have company?” Virginia asked, the warning in her voice as obvious as a sledgehammer. So, she wanted me to stop talking in front of Gail.
I swallowed hard, giving up any desire I had to defend myself. “Yes. Mother Crane, this is Gail. She’s the event planner who has been working with me on our annual Christmas Eve party.”
As if Gail knew when to excuse herself, she pushed back her chair. “Nice to meet you. Candy, I’d like to take a few measurements.” She gestured to the other room and took her phone with her.
“Don’t leave on my account. I’ll just be making myself a cup of coffee since Candy doesn’t have any made for company.” She searched a few cupboards before finally finding a mug. Our chefwas at the store so I could utilize the kitchen for my meeting with Gail, but I knew when he got back, he wouldn’t be fond of her riffling through his domain like this.
Did I come into her home and treat it as a free-for-all? No, I did not. But this was Nick’s mother, and whatever she wanted, she got. Like mother, like son in that way. Honestly, though, Nick would have allowed his mother to get away with murder. I wouldn’t put it past him to take the fall for the crime. Anything for mommy dearest.
“Perhaps you want a cup?” she asked Gail before she left.
I narrowed my lips, trying my hardest not to signal how upset I was by this exchange. How dare she come in here and act like she was a better host than me? Like she was a better person than me? The audacity. If I thought Gail would have wanted coffee, then I would have made sure she got coffee. But Gail had arrived with her own to-go cup of tea, something Virginia wasn’t aware of. She acted like I didn’t know how to make someone feel welcome in my own home. I just didn’t care enough to make Virginia feel that way because in my eyes, she wasn’t. Welcome, that was.
Gail waved a hand, slicing it through the smothering air. “No, but thank you.” Without delay, she was gone, leaving just me and…her.
Evil incarnate.
She had a heart of coal. Nick had suggested I had icicles on my heart, but what about his mother? Hmm? Coal trumped ice any day.
